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1NEW JAPAN: TV-Asahi Ch. 2 in Japan is promoting a 30 years of Liger celebration 
2with Liger taking over the station for a 24 hour marathon on 12/30 and 12/31. 
3That would be the equivalent of an NBC or ABC in the U.S. doing a 24 hour 
4marathon building up the retirement of a wrestler
5
6The company announced its schedule through early March. If there is a key thing, 
7it is that they have major plans for early February big shows, and there is no 
8Honor Rising tour this year, which is more a confirmation of relations with that 
9company not being what they once were. After the two Tokyo Dome shows on 1/4 and 
101/5 and New Year’s Dash on 1/6 at the Ota Ward Gym, will be the Fantastica Mania 
11tour will be 1/10 to 1/20. The shows are 1/10 in Osaka, 1/11 in Ehime, 1/12 in 
12Kyoto, 1/13 in Nagoya, and then four dates, 1/16, 1/17, 1/19 and 1/20 in 
13Korakuen Hall. In February, the three New Beginning shows are 2/1 and 2/2 in 
14Sapporo at the Hokkaido Prefectural Gym, and 2/9 at Osaka Jo Hall. That’s a big 
15one as usually they only run Jo Hall for Dominion and run the Edion Arena for 
16the other big Osaka events during the year. To run Jo Hall, they will need a 
17major main event and deep show one would think. They are running the Tiger 
18Hattori Retirement show on 2/19 at Korakuen Hall, as the first of three straight 
19nights in the building. Those were the ROH Honor Rising dates in recent year. 
20The 48th anniversary show will be 3/3 at the Ota Ward Gym in Tokyo, as it always 
21is since that’s the gym the first New Japan card ever was held in 1972
22
23The tag team tournament standings as of 11/28: 1. Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi 
247-1 and Evil & Sanada 7-1; 3. Juice Robinson & David Finlay and Tama Tonga & 
25Tanga Loa 6-2; 5. Colt Cabana & Toru Yano and Minoru Suzuki & Lance Archer 6-3; 
267. Jeff Cobb & Mikey Nicholls and Shingo Takagi & El Terrible 5-5; 9. KENTA & 
27Yujiro Takahashi 4-4; 10. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima 4-4; 11. Bad Luck 
28Fale & Chase Owens 3-5; 12. Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi 3-6; 13. Togi Makabe & 
29Tomoaki Honma 3-7; 14. Hirooki Goto & Karl Fredericks 2-6. Hiroshi Tanahashi & 
30Toa Henare 2-7; 16. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi 1-9. Even though he’s lost no 
31falls, and probably will lose no falls, something about Tanahashi being in 15th 
32place in a 16 team tournament under any circumstances doesn’t feel right. 
33Especially because Henare is the most underrated guy on the roster. Sabre & 
34Taichi are both also faring worse tan expected
35
36There is only one live show this week on New Japan World, a 4:30 a.m. Eastern 
37time show from Korakuen Hall with Goto & Fredericks vs. Cobb & Nicholls, Nagata 
38& Nakanishi vs. Yano & Cabana, Kojima & Tenzan vs. Sabre Jr. & Taichi, Robinson 
39& Finlay vs. Fale & Owens, Kazuchika Okada & Sho & Yoh vs. Kota Ibushi & Yota 
40Tsuji & Yuya Uemura, Makabe & Honma vs. Tonga & Loa and Evil & Sanada vs. Ishii 
41& Yoshi-Hashi. It will only be broadcast in Japanese. The following week has the 
42final three nights of the tournament which will be in English on 12/5 in Fukuoka 
43at 4:30 a.m. Eastern, 12/6 in Kumamoto at 5 a.m. Eastern, and the final night is 
4412/8 in Hiroshima at 3 a.m. Eastern. Basically it’s a couple of hours after UFC 
45ends on Saturday night. There is no final match as 12/8 has a full card of 
46tournament matches and whoever ends up with the highest point total wins. 
47Although I’m sure with the booking, that the last match of the show will be the 
48championship match
49
50In tournament matches this past week: 11/23 in Kawasaki before 1,833 fans saw 
51Cobb & Nicholls over Tenzan & Kojima in 9:56 when Nicholls pinned Kojima after a 
52power bomb. Evil & Sanada beat Nagata & Nakanishi in 10:31 when Evil pinned 
53Nakanishi after the magic killer. Makabe & Honma beat Cabana & Yano in 8:12 when 
54Makabe pinned Cabana after a King Kong kneedrop. KENTA & Takahashi beat Sabre 
55Jr. & Taichi in 11:10 when KENTA cradled Taichi. Robinson & Finlay beat Takagi & 
56Terrible in 8:07 when Finlay pined Terrible with an amateur Granby roll. Ishii & 
57Yoshi-Hashi beat Tanahashi & Henare in 12:48 when Yoshi-Hashi beat Henare with 
58Karma. Main event saw Tonga & Loa over Suzuki & Archer in 14:31 when Tonga 
59pinned Suzuki after a stun gun.. . 11/24 in Nagoya drew 3,536 fans to Dolphins 
60Arena, which isn’t particularly great for the building but the tag tournament 
61with normal matches isn’t going to do big numbers. Suzuki & Archer beat Nagata & 
62Nakanishi in 9:47 when Archer pinned Nakanishi with the claw. It should be noted 
63how Gedo is looking at things when with the Suzuki/Archer team, it’s Suzuki 
64losing the falls when they have to most of the time, while Archer is the one 
65taking the falls. Fale & Owens beat Makabe & Honma in 9:45 when Owens pinned 
66Honma after a package piledriver. Cabana & Yano beat Tanahashi & Henare in 10:08 
67when Cabana pinned Henare with a Superman press. Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi beat Tenzan 
68& Kojima in 11:08 when Ishii pinned Tenzan after a brainbuster. Takagi & 
69Terrible beat KENTA & Takahashi in 10:14 when Takagi pinned Takahashi with Last 
70of the dragon. Cobb & Nicholls beat Sabre & Taichi in 11:51 when Cobb pinned 
71Taichi with the tour of the islands. Evil & Sanada beat Tonga & Loa in 13:40 
72when Evil beat Tonga with the scorpion deathlock
73
7411/25 in Komatsu before 2,168 fans saw Tenzan & Kojima beat Yano & Cabana in 
759:08 when Kojima pinned Cabana after a lariat. Robinson & Finlay beat Nagata & 
76Nakanishi in 9:18 when Robinson pinned Nakanishi with pulp friction. Cobb & 
77Nicholls beat Tanahashi & Henare in 10:15 when Nicholls pinned Henare after a 
78power bomb. Suzuki & Archer beat Takagi & Terrible in 11:12 when Archer pinned 
79Terrible using the claw. Tonga & Loa beat Goto & Fredericks in 8:22 when Tonga 
80pinned Goto with the gun stun. That’s a big surprise since Fredericks would be 
81the guy on the team to drop the falls. Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi beat Makabe & Honma 
82in 12:56 when Ishii beat Honma with the butterfly lock. Evil & Sanada beat KENTA 
83& Takahashi in 12:20 when Evil pinned Takahashi after the magic killer
84
8511/27 in Hamamatsu before 1,320 fans saw Takagi & Terrible beat Goto & 
86Fredericks in 10:39 when Terrible pinned Fredericks with a flying body press. 
87Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi beat Nagata & Nakanishi in 10:01 when Yoshi-Hashi beat 
88Nakanishi with the butterfly lock. Suzuki & Archer beat Tenzan & Kojima in 12:10 
89when Archer pinned Kojima using the claw. Robinson & Finlay beat Cobb & Nicholls 
90in 9:38 when Robinson pinned Nicholls with pulp friction. Sabre Jr. & Taichi 
91beat Makabe & Honma in 10:23 when Taichi pinned Honma with Black Mephisto. Tonga 
92& Loa beat Fale & Owens in the battle of Bullet Club 10:07 when Loa pinned 
93Owens. Main event saw Cabana & Yano, a team you would never think would win a 
94main event match in New Japan, beat Evil & Sanada in 13:22 when Cabana pinned 
95Sanada with the Superman press. I wonder if Cabana had to slap himself to take 
96up from this weird dream when he got that finish
97
9811/28 at Korakuen Hall before 1,606 fans, which would be just shy of a sellout, 
99saw Yano & Cabana beat Goto & Fredericks in 8:08 when Cabana pinned Fredericks 
100with a Superman press. Fale & Owens beat Nagata & Nakanishi in 8:10 when Fale 
101pinned Nakanishi with a schoolboy. KENTA & Takahashi beat Tenzan & Kojima in 
10211:32 when KENTA made Kojima submit to Game Over (LeBell lock). Suzuki & Archer 
103beat Makabe & Honma in 12:27 when Archer Honma with the claw. Takagi & Terrible 
104beat Tanahashi & Henare in 13:04 when Takagi pinned Henare with Last of the 
105Dragon. Tonga & Loa beat Cobb & Nicholls in 14:47 when Loa pinned Nicholls. Evil 
106& Sanada beat Sabre & Taichi in 17:52 when Sanada pinned Sabre after a 
107moonsault. That should lead to a British title match with Sabre vs. Sanada 
108either at the Tokyo Dome or with Revolution Pro.
109
110OTHER JAPAN NOTES: A press conference was held regarding Bushiroad taking over 
111Stardom which becomes official on 12/1. The new chain of command will be Takaaki 
112Kidani, as the head of Bushiroad, then Hirada, the head of Kicksroad, which is 
113the overseeing company of Stardom (as noted before, they are putting Stardom 
114with the same company as their kickboxing company and separate from their larger 
115New Japan Pro Wrestling company), and then Rossy Ogawa as CEO of Stardom. Milano 
116Collection A.T., a former wrestler who is the television announcer for New 
117Japan, will be the new head coach and trainer of the women wrestlers. They will 
118have television on BS NTV. That is the satellite station of the NTV network. The 
119network had been the home of pro wrestling in Japan dating back from Rikidozan 
120in 1954 through the JWA, All Japan and Pro Wrestling NOAH until a financial 
121crisis caused them to cut NOAH, which has left the company struggling ever 
122since. Starting on Jan. 2, they will have a 30 minute show on Thursday nights at 
12311:30 p.m. and that show will be replayed on Tokyo MX on Sundays at 1:35 a.m. 
124The show will consist of edited highlights of the top matches from the week and 
125some interview segments. There will be a big push for recruiting new talent 
126using the name “Stardom Cinderella Audition 2020,” looking for potential new 
127talent between the ages of 15 and 30. Japan has a very different type of rules 
128for this type of thing. WWE, or a U.S. group, would never recruit someone under 
129the age of 18 for a multitude of reasons while a lot of the best woman wrestlers 
130in history in Japan were recruited at 15 and left high school early. They are 
131also pushing a new Stardom Fan Club and will be pushing hard to get more social 
132media followers. Stage one of the new plans is directed at building the Japanese 
133market. Even though Stardom World, the streaming service, has more subscribers 
134outside of Japan, step one is the home market and not worrying about 
135international business yet, and we’re told, probably not for a long time. They 
136also did contract signings for the two main events on the 12/24 Korakuen Hall 
137show, which are Mayu Iwatani vs. Kagetsu for the World of Stardom title and 
138Arisa Hoshiki vs. Konami for the Wonder of Stardom title, plus there will be a 
139singles match with Hana Kimura vs. Giulia. Kidani will appear live ad speak to 
140the crowd at that show. We’re told the higher-ups want to focus on Kimura, 
141Hoshiki, Utami Hayashishita, Iwatani and Tam Nakano to market the company, and 
142not so much on Momo Watanabe, Jungle Kyona and Kagetsu. Ogawa will be running 
143the wrestling direction and booking, but Bushiroad, as owners, will have a lot 
144of influence on his direction
145
146Hazuki, also known at times as HZM, 22, announced at the 11/24 Stardom show that 
147she will retire from pro wrestling with her final match on 12/24, facing Natsuko 
148Tora. She was one of the most popular wrestlers in the promotion. According to 
149those in the company, she made the decision earlier in the year that she wanted 
150to live a normal life. She said that wrestling (in a pre-show match) in April in 
151Madison Square Garden fulfilled her dreams and that played a part in her 
152decision. She is healthy and had no issues with the company. She wanted 
153wrestling to be a phase in her life and she is happy with what she did and is 
154ready to move on. In the main event of that show, Goddesses of Stardom tag 
155champs Jungle Kyona & Konami beat Arisa Hoshiki & Tam Nakano when Konami used 
156the triangle submission on Nakano. Konami then issued a challenge to Hoshiki for 
157her Wonder of Stardom title which will headline 12/24. On the 11/23 show, which 
158included AEW wrestlers Bea Priestley, Jamie Hayter and Riho, Momo Watanabe & AZM 
159& Utami Hayashishita won the Artist of Stardom trios titles from Kagetsu & Natsu 
160Sumire & Andras Miyagi. Miyagi turned on Kagetsu and Sumire and AZM submitted 
161Sumire after Miyagi had beaten her down
162
163DDT ran Korakuen Hall on 11/24 before 1,214 fans with Harashima retaining the 
164KO-D title over Yuki Iino in 16:51 with the Somato. Iino got the push now as a 
165former rugby star because of how big the Rugby World Cup has been in Japan. Iino 
166was compared to Otis or Ishii although not in the same universe as Ishii in the 
167ring. Said to be a **** match. There’s been no new talk of Harashima vs. Kenny 
168Omega since they did their in-ring tease a few weeks ago. Daisuke Sasaki & Soma 
169Takao kept the tag team titles over Masahiro Takanishi & Chris Brookes in 13:43 
170in what was said to be a ***½ match with no comedy. The other major match was a 
171comedy bout with Antonio Honda & Miyu Yamashita facing Jiro Kuroshio & Konosuke 
172Takeshita. It was pretty much all comedy including a point when Honda & 
173Yamashita went to do a tope and both went down like their knee gave out. That’s 
174a standard Honda spot he does almost every night but was new for Yamashita, a 
175woman wrestler
176
177OWE, which is the group with the Stronghearts from AEW that is now based in 
178Cambodia after leaving China, ran on 11/24 in Fukuoka before a sellout of 520 
179fans. The show was mostly the Chinese wrestlers they trained, Cima, T-Hawk & 
180Lindaman as well as Alex Zayne, who is the guy who is a super athlete that got 
181over huge over BOLA weekend for PWG. They also sold out Shinjuku Face in Tokyo 
182on 11/28
183
184Big Japan ran Korakuen Hall on 11/26 before 980 fans with the semifinals and 
185finals of their annual tag team tournament. The Strong style finals, which is 
186basically the division with straight hard hitting wrestling, saw Yuji Okabayashi 
187& Shigehiro Irie beat Daichi Hashimoto & Hideyoshi Kamitani in 10:32 when 
188Okabayashi pinned Hashimoto after a splash. The death match division, which is 
189weapons style wrestling, had a fluorescent light tubes and thumbtacks death 
190match where Rickey Shane Page & Ryuji Ito beat Masashi Takeda & Takumi Tsukamoto 
191in 12:45 when Page beat Tsukamoto with a choke backbreaker into light tubes and 
192thumbtacks. In the finals, conducted under death match rules, Okabayashi & Irie 
193beat Page & Ito in 16:19 when Okabayashi pinned Page after a lariat.
194
195HERE AND THERE: The NWA announced the lineup for their Into the Fire PPV show on 
19612/14 from Center Stage in Atlanta. The show will start at 6:05 p.m. Eastern, so 
197part of the idea is that the show will be over before the UFC PPV starts at 10 
198p.m. that night. It’s a very busy weekend with ROH having a PPV the night before 
199and WWE the night after. Nick Aldis vs. James Storm in a two out of three fall 
200match for the NWA title is the main event. Ashley Vox & Allisyn Kay will face 
201two members of a trio of Melina, Thunder Rosa and Marti Belle. Fans will get to 
202vote on which two are in the match. Colt Cabana will defend the National title 
203but his opponent wasn’t named, plus Eli Drake vs. Ken Anderson and Question Mark 
204vs. Trevor Murdoch
205
206The documentary on the life of Bruno Sammartino opens on 11/29 in New York and 
207Los Angeles. It will have a one week release through 12/5 at Cinema Village in 
208New York City and at the Monica Film Center in Los Angeles. There are plans for 
209a larger release later as they wanted something before the end of the year for 
210possible Oscar considerations. The trailer heavily focused on Arnold 
211Schwarzenegger comments, but did feature WWWF footage so they were able to work 
212out a deal with the company. It also heavily talked about his childhood, the 
213situation with his mother and nearly dying while in the mountains in World War 
214II. I’ve only seen one review of the movie, from the Los Angeles Times, from a 
215critic who clearly was familiar with Sammartino and he labeled it a 
216disappointment. Larry Rickert, a Pittsburgh media personality who was friends 
217with Sammartino was one of the key people involved with the movie. I believe 
218some of the stuff in the movie, largely based on Sammartino’s love for his 
219mother, aired a few years ago on Pittsburgh television
220
221The annual WrestleCade weekend in Winston-Salem, NC takes place 11/29 to 12/1. 
222Listed as headliners for appearances are Michael Hayes, Jimmy Garvin, Iron 
223Sheik, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, The Dudleys, Great Muta, Sid Vicious, Arn 
224Anderson, Lilian Garcia and Melina
225
226After getting his WWE release last week, Albert Hardie Jr., back as ACH, did his 
227first match since leaving NXT. He wrestled in San Antonio, where he s from, on 
22811/22 for Heavy Metal Wrestling. He put over Chandler Hopkins in the main event. 
229After the match, he said the show was like a dream he was trying to piece 
230together. He said he hoped he would wake up tomorrow happy, told the crowd that 
231life is short and you have to live every day like it’s your last. He said the 
232fans were there because they love pro wrestling and Texas. Fans brought him a 
233Texas flag and a crown because his nickname on area indies is the King of Texas
234
235Pat O’Connor, a former NWA world heavyweight champion who was generally 
236considered one of the best workers of the 50s and 60s, after a strong amateur 
237wrestling career, was voted into the Whanganui Sports Hall of Fame in New 
238Zealand, where he was from. O’Connor held the NWA title from 1959, when he beat 
239Dick Hutton, before losing to Buddy Rogers on June 30, 1961, at Comiskey Park in 
240Chicago. Rogers-O’Connor was one of the biggest matches in pro wrestling 
241history. It set a gate record that held up until the 1971 Fred Blassie vs. John 
242Tolos match. Some say the Blassie-Tolos gate claim was exaggerated and the 
243record held up longer. It was claimed to be a U.S. attendance record of 38,161 
244fans although there is a claim that in the 30s Danno O’Mahoney drew a bigger 
245crowd in Boston. The actual legitimate attendance record held up until the 1987 
246Hogan-Andre match for the U.S, and the 1986 Hogan-Orndorff match in Toronto for 
247North America. O’Connor was a two-time national amateur champion, winning in 
2481949 and 1950, as a heavyweight in New Zealand and won a silver medal as a 
249heavyweight in the 1950 British Empire games. He turned professional rather than 
250wait for the 1952 Olympics. He was then trained by former NCAA champion Butch 
251Levy and went into pro wrestling in 1950 and quickly became a major star. 
252O’Connor was generally considered the best babyface style worker of the era. He 
253was also Sam Muchnick’s booker in St. Louis from the late 60s until the early 
25480s, working with Larry Matysik the last few years and always protected as a 
255significant star until his retirement in those days when there were so few 
256ex-NWA world champions that having that status basically meant you were 
257considered a legendary figure by fans. His technical style was way ahead of its 
258time and he’s one of the few guys from that era who could be transported to 
259today and his in-ring would fit in with little adaptation. He had ownership in 
260both the Central States territory and St. Louis. He wrestled through 1982, 
261retiring from the ring on Sam Muchnick’s final show with a big ceremony on 
262January 1, 1982. He did a tour of Japan for his Japanese farewell, and wrestled 
263a number of matches in the Central States through the rest of that year. His 
264final match was a WWF Legends Battle Royal in 1987 at the Meadowlands, which, to 
265show the respect they had, it came down to O’Connor and Lou Thesz, with Thesz 
266winning. O’Connor died from cancer in 1990 at the age of 65
267
268It has now been one year since Cuervo was hit in the head with brick thrown by 
269Angel o Demonio in an infamous incident. Cuervo said that he still can’t 
270remember parts of that match and said that he needed CPR three times that night 
271before he stabilized. He has not been able to return to the ring and is 
272suffering from panic attacks, depression and anxiety. There is talk he will be 
273returning to the ring some time soon. He was supposed to return last week in 
274Puerto Rico but the show ended up being canceled. There are teases he will be 
275back in the ring very soon for the IWRG promotion in Mexico, perhaps on 12/1. 
276There is the obvious question that if he comes back will he do a program with 
277the guy who easily could have killed him. The answer is likely up to him because 
278there’s no doubt promoters would be open for it, even though there is a very 
279ugly side to the idea of it
280
281Brian “No Neck” Keck, who was one of the best heavyweight amateur wrestlers in 
282the U.S. and briefly did both MMA and pro wrestling, passed away this past week. 
283Details are limited but his family confirmed the story. Keck, who was working as 
284a wrestling coach of the Alliance MMA team in San Diego, went to Mexico to 
285attend a soccer game and died in that country. He would have been in his late 
28640s. Keck placed multiple times in the U.S. nationals in freestyle wrestling, 
287including in 2001, when he was under contract to WWF. He was based in Louisville 
288and training at Ohio Valley Wrestling. They had some strong legit wrestlers 
289there at the time like Brock Lesnar, Shelton Benjamin and Ron Waterman. Those 
290guys did legit training with each other, as Waterman once told me that the only 
291guy he ever wrestled who he simply could not stop his takedowns was Lesnar. Keck 
292got enough training to where he left Louisville for a weekend and, with no 
293knowledge of the company, went to nationals, where he placed top eight. WWE had 
294no knowledge of it until the results came out that he had placed and were not 
295happy about it. He was one of the first top level U.S. wrestlers in his prime to 
296try MMA in 1997, with guys like Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman and Tom Erikson. 
297He only had one fight, in Brazil, losing to Pedro Otavio, one of the top Vale 
298Tudo fighters in Brazil of that era, finally submitting after nearly 20 minutes. 
299In 2001, he signed with WWE and was sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling. He ended up 
300being cut shortly after he went to nationals. In 2003, he won a gold medal in 
301the Pan American Games. At one point he was the head wrestling coach at Xtreme 
302Couture when Bryan Danielson lived in Las Vegas and trained there and the two 
303trained together some
304
305Regarding the mention of C.M. Punk’s movie and the Roger Ebert grade, a 
306clarification is that obviously it was the Roger Ebert site review and not a 
307review by Ebert himself, which would be impossible since Ebert passed away
308
309Hugo Savinovich ran a show called “Fight Forever: A Tribute to Bret Hart,” in 
310Guaynabo, PR, on 1/23 under the Wrestling Superstars banner. The main event saw 
311Rob Van Dam beat Mil Muertes in a falls count anywhere match. It’s interesting 
312that Ricky Banderas, who was a huge star for seemingly decades in Puerto Rico, 
313was being used under a mask with his Lucha Underground gimmick. Blue Demon Jr. 
314beat L.A. Park when Rush interfered and cost Park the match by throwing the same 
315box full of crystal bottles at him that Park had thrown at Rush in the previous 
316match. Demon put Park in a submission. The prior bout was Rush beating Mecha 
317Wolf 450 via DQ when Park threw a box full of crystal bottles at him. Katie 
318Forbes of Impact beat Kamille Brickhouse of the NWA, the second of Nick Aldis. 
319Ken Anderson beat Mr. Aguila, the former Essa Rios. Hart was involved in an 
320in-ring segment. Killer Kross beat Brian Cage via DQ when Melissa Santos 
321interfered and hit Kross with a low blow. Savinovich interviewed Bret Hart 
322during the show and Hart talked about his early days wrestling in Puerto Rico 
323and thanked the fans. Teddy Hart went to a double count out with Chicano. They 
324announced a return date on November 21, 2020, which is an incredible amount of 
325lead time to announce for a next show
326
327The WWC ran Noches de Cameones at Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamon the same 
328night. Ray Gonzalez, 47, who along with Carlito were the two biggest stars of 
329the post-Carlos Colon and Invader era of the promotion, lost a retirement match 
330when guest referee Peter John Ramos turned on Gonzalez and gave him a choke slam 
331and he was pinned by Gilbert. Ramos is a 7-foot-2 former basketball player that 
332the WWE had interest in at one point. Gonzalez has rarely wrestled and this may 
333have been in first match in a year. Chicano worked both shows since they weren’t 
334far apart. The main event was a three-way bout with Orlando (Epico), Primo and 
335Carlito against each other for the Universal title. Orlando retained and Primo 
336turned heel after the match. He gave both his brother Carlito and cousin and 
337longtime tag partner low blows and La Pesadilla came out and the two beat down 
338Carlito and Orlando with chair shot. Pesadilla unmasked as Gilbert. Ricky 
339Banderas then cleaned house with chair shots. This was before Banderas went to 
340the other show to work under the mask as Muertes
341
342Mick Foley raised another $4,100 to get Jessica Kresa (ODB) a new food truck 
343from merchandise sales at five of his recent talk shows
344
345Gable Steveson, the University of Minnesota heavyweight who Paul Heyman and 
346Brock Lesnar have been eyeing since high school, is still suspended by school 
347because of an investigation of criminal sexual assault. He was listed at the 
348start of the season as the No. 2 heavyweight . Steveson and teammate Dylan 
349Martinez haven’t been charged but the school has a rule that any athlete charged 
350with or under investigation for criminal investigations are suspended either 
351until the case is resolved or unless the Athletic Director makes a ruling to 
352lift the suspension. Steveson is also trying to make the Olympic team next year 
353and there’s no word on how the case may affect if he will be allowed to do so or 
354not
355
356Northeast Wrestling promoter Michael Lombardi and the former Enzo Amore 
357co-promoted an 11/23 show in Hollywood, CA at the World Famous Comedy store. It 
358sold out with a main event of Pentagon Jr. & Fenix over Darby Allin & Matt 
359Sydal. Enzo beat Brian Pillman Jr. Luchasaurus beat Jervis Cottonbelly. 
360Priscilla Kelly beat Joey Ryan. David Arquette beat Bull James, who came dressed 
361up like the Shockmaster of WCW fame. Royce Isaacs of NWA & Jorel Nelson beat 
362Erik Watts & Peter Avalon. Josh Barnett also worked the show.
363
364EUROPE: Revolution Pro Wrestling ran the British J Cup on 11/24 at York Hall in 
365London. They had a good crowd but it wasn’t sold out. Several weeks back they 
366had 750 tickets sold but it likely ended up less than 1,000. In the first round, 
367El Phantasmo beat Senza Volto with a low blow after distraction from Hikuleo. 
368Good opener, with lots of rope walking and counters. Volto was off with 
369positioning and timing at times but he won the crowd over. After the match, 
370Shota Umino attacked Hikuleo. Umino grew his hair out somewhat like Tanahashi. 
371Robbie Eagles beat Cavernario Barbaro. The crowd didn’t know Cavernario but he 
372won them ver. He did the splash off the top rope to the floor. There was a 
373brutal thud on landing. Eagles won with via submission with the Ron Miller 
374special. Fans chanted “Please come back” at Cavernario. Michael Oku beat Rocky 
375Romero after a shock cradle. Romero sold the loss like total shock. The crowd by 
376the end was going crazy for Oku, who is local. Pac beat Amazing Red with the 
377black arrow to the back and brutalizer. Pac got a lot of heat by teasing moves 
378people wanted to see and not doing them. Red did a top rope Code red but Pac 
379landed on his feet. The crowd went crazy for Red when it was over. In a 
380non-tourney match, Ren Narita beat Branden White with a cloverleaf. Not much 
381heat but solidly worked Young Lions match. Next was a tag team title match where 
382champions Rampage Brown & Great O’Kharn beat Southside Wrestling tag team 
383champions Speedball Mike Bailey & Mao when Brown pinned Mao. RevPro took over 
384Southside, which was about to close down. So they had the two sets of champs 
385battle to unify the belts. Bonesaw & Corvin, the Kings of the North, Kurtis 
386Chapman came out and challenged Minoru Suzuki to a match on 12/15. Gisele Shaw 
387beat the debuting Tessa Blanchard via submission with a bridging disarm her. The 
388crowd was shocked, as everyone expected Blanchard to win and nobody believed the 
389finish was coming when it did. Blanchard had the longest lines at the Q&A before 
390the show. The finals was a four-way elimination match with Oku winning over 
391Phantasmo, Eagles and Pac in more than 20:00. Pac and Phantasmo did a great rope 
392walking spot. Phantasmo put Pac on his shoulders and continued to walk the ropes 
393with Pac still on his shoulders. While still doing so, he hit a Super Samoan 
394drop as well as an arm drag on Oku as a combination move. Pac was DQ’d for 
395hitting Oku with a chair shot. Phantasmo pinned Eagles with a kung fu punch to 
396the groin and a roll-up after a ref bump. Oku recovered from the chair shot and 
397made a comeback. They kicked out of all kinds of big moves until Oku did an 
398Avalanche Canadian Destroyer, a running Canadian Destroyer and put him in a 
399liontamer style half crab and got the submission. The crowd was chanting “tap, 
400tap, tap,” at him. At the trophy presentation, Pac attacked Oku and threw the 
401trophy out of the ring and this set up their singles match on 12/15, so this is 
402where Pac not losing actually made sense to build the next show. We were told it 
403was a fantastic show, with no super match you have to see but great pacing and 
404matches that started with little heat ended up red hot by the end
405
406Joe D’Orazio, who was 97 years and 120 days on 11/24, became what was believed 
407to be the oldest British pro wrestler in history. He is the oldest living pro 
408wrestler. Gerry Hoggarth, who passed away in August, died at the age of 97 and 
409119 days. As best we can tell, the oldest person ever in the industry was Harry 
410Elliott, the Seattle promoter, who was just shy of 102 when he passed away in 
4112006. Abe Coleman, who passed away in 2007, was the oldest wrestler that anyone 
412has been able to find a record of, at more than 101 years old
413
414Progress ran the Electric Ballroom in London on 11/24 with Paul Robinson beating 
415Timothy Thatcher to keep the Proteus title and tag champs Jordan Devlin & Scotty 
416Davis beat Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch.
417
418MLW: After having a contract impasse, Court Bauer and Tom Lawlor came to terms 
419on a new deal on 11/21 and he will remain one of the company’s signature stars 
420going forward
421
422The next show is the Opera Club on 12/5. It’ll be an eight man single 
423elimination tournament at the Melrose Ballroom, playing on the Opera Cup which 
424was a New York traditional event in the early days of pro wrestling in the city, 
425but that tradition ended in the 1940s. The first round matches are Davey Boy 
426Smith Jr. vs. Shinjiro Otani, MJF vs. Alex Hammerstone, Timothy Thatcher vs. 
427Richard Holliday and TJP vs. Brian Pillman Jr. Also on the show is Jacob Fatu & 
428Ikuro Kwon & Simon Gotch vs. Cima & Lindaman & Shigehiro Irie, Jimmy Havoc vs. 
429Mance Warner in a blindfold match as well as The Von Erichs, Lawlor and King Mo 
430Lawal.
431
432ROH: Marty Scurll will be working Final Battle even though his contract expires 
433on 11/30. Scurll teams with Flip Gordon against Bandido & Flamita. Scurll had 
434agreed to work the show no matter what. Right now there is nothing official on 
435what he will be doing after Final Battle. Also added to the show is Dan Maff vs. 
436Jeff Cobb
437
438They announced 2/28 in Nashville and 2/29 at the Family Arena in St. Charles, 
439MO. They’ll have to cut way down in the latter arena since that’s a 10,400 seat 
440arena
441
442Rush has been pushing for ROH to bring in his father, Bestia del Ring, and his 
443friend, La Mascara.
444
445IMPACT: Tessa Blanchard is out of action with an eye injury suffered on the 
446British J Cup show for Revolution Pro with Gisele Shaw. She was scheduled for 
447the Thanksgiving weekend WrestleCade show in Winston-Salem, NC. She will still 
448be appearing but not wrestling
449
450They did a comedy-based TV show this week withe the idea they were transporting 
451back to 1983 doing small territory wrestling, something of a spoof on Stampede 
452Wrestling. Don Callis wore this long blond wig and said his name was Sexton 
453Hardcastle, which was Edge’s name before he became Edge. Tessa Blanchard, 
454Allysin Kay and Jordynne Grace spoofed being the Four Horsemen. Cody Deaner and 
455Cousin Jake spoofed being the Fabulous Ones.
456
457AEW: Kenny Omega was on Observer radio this past week and talked about a 
458multitude of subjects. Regarding the match with Jon Moxley, he said that if he 
459was to consider himself one of the best wrestlers in the world, he had to prove 
460that doing many different styles. He went thorough that most of the spots, from 
461the broken glass from the table he took the Paradigm shift on in an angle, to 
462the mouse traps from a video, and the barbed wire bat and broom all came from 
463things that had been done to promote the match and were part of the story. He 
464said that other then the Phoenix splash on the boards, that he was basically 
465fine other than some of the cuts in his hand were a pain after the match. He 
466said he was given the indication the Phoenix splash wouldn’t be that much worse 
467of a bump than doing it in the ring, but it was. I believe that’s where his 
468black eye came from but said in the landing he smashed his face up and would 
469never do that spot again. He said it would be a long time before he does a match 
470like that again. He appreciated that a lot of fans liked it and called it one of 
471the best matches of that style and also understood not everyone did. He said his 
472main focus has been the women’s division and noted that right now as management 
473he’s putting his own matches last and that he’s done matches of late that were 
474pretty much called on the fly, which he called they go into the ring PWG style, 
475because his main focus is everyone else’s matches and that takes up much of his 
476time. He helps lay out all the women’s matches and often other matches as well, 
477and also has a hand in creative. Even though he is doing far less matches he 
478said the creative process is very mentally draining. He also noted that the 
479company’s goal right now is to get new talent over. As I’ve noted, there are two 
480schools of thought here. As far as booking for the live ticket paying audience, 
481and from a traditional wrestling standpoint, because that was the money, the 
482booking has been strong in the sense they are spending a lot of time giving 
483exposure to new talent to build a foundation and The Young Bucks in particular 
484have been putting people over constantly, with the idea they and Omega are 
485already over to the people who are the existing fan base, and they are behind 
486WWE but if you consider that in ROH when they had pretty much the basic crew 
487besides Moxley and Chris Jericho, really a crowd of 1,500 was considered a good 
488night so they are close to triple that every week. But for television, I believe 
489the key at first should be that Jericho and Moxley were the only established 
490current television stars. People know Dustin Rhodes but he hadn’t been pushed as 
491a top guy in more than a decade, Cody was a midcarder and Pac was super 
492talented, but he wasn’t pushed at all on Raw and while he shined on 205 Live, 
493that had very limited viewership. So the idea to me is that they needed to focus 
494on getting Omega and Cody and The Young Bucks over first as television stars, 
495which none of them were. Cody feels like one now because of his promo work and 
496he was pushed great in the Jericho program. Omega is intriguing to somebody new 
497and the fact he is a headliner was strong, but he hasn’t been New Japan Kenny 
498Omega. He said that isn’t the idea to be right now. The Young Bucks come across 
499as guys who the crowd is into, are super talented, but traditionally super 
500talented guys that lose all the time on television are not viewed as superstars 
501or television stars, although The Young Bucks to a degree are proving that to 
502the under-50 television audience it is changing. Omega said there would be new 
503signings in the women’s division in 2020 and it would be getting a lot better. 
504Regarding Japan, we had a long discussion that was not on the show. He said he 
505knew who was behind his having trouble getting in and was outright told at 
506customs, and that there was an attempt to keep him out of the country for ten 
507years. For legal reasons he didn’t want to discuss it in detail and that it’s an 
508ongoing issue, but said he took care of everything beforehand when going back so 
509he was allowed in, even though there was an attempt to block him all three times 
510he went this year. He said it was not anyone he had dealt with and categorized 
511it as businessmen just doing what they perceived was their jobs and that he felt 
512those people in New Japan proper probably wouldn’t have known about it and that 
513he was not against working for New Japan in the future. Regarding NXT, he said 
514he watched the show, was complimentary of the show, said that it is a good thing 
515the race is close but said he didn’t personally consider it a war, that in his 
516mind they are just trying to build their new company. He praised Adam Cole (in 
517fairness, I brought up Cole in the conversation) but said he really liked the 
518Full Sail University crowd and how they enhance the show. He talked about going 
519to Japan and DDT and putting on entertaining intergender matches which is 
520something he can’t do in AEW. He also noted how great he thought Dragon Lee was 
521and how excited he was to do the match, saying that he knows Lee from New Japan 
522and how great Lee is, but they have never once touched in the ring, in singles 
523or tags. He also talked about an upcoming AEW video game. He said he couldn’t go 
524into details on it but that he would be heavily involved with it
525
526WWE has tried to oppose some of the trademarks that Cody Runnels was attempting 
527to gain the rights to. We don’t know which ones in specific, but he has largely 
528tried to gain the intellectual property rights to a lot of WCW names that WWE 
529hasn’t used or trademarked. WWE is opposing his claims on at least some of them. 
530Cody has been trying to gain ownership of things for usage in AEW, such as Bash 
531at the Beach that is being used in January. In particular he’s looking for 
532ownership of ideas that his father came up with. Runnels filed for new 
533trademarks for SuperBrawl and Slamboree, which were the names of two other WCW 
534PPV events
535
536Kylie Rae, for the first time, addressed her departure from AEW with a post 
537saying, “I don’t know how to start this and I can’t speak on other’s behaves. I 
538can only speak for myself and what’s in my heart. I don’t know many rumors and 
539honestly try to stay away from everything, obviously. But here: nobody made me 
540leave. AEW took my career to new levels and I’m beyond grateful for every 
541opportunity and experience that has come along the way and wish nothing but the 
542best. It’s a great group of people who truly love wrestling and just want 
543everyone to succeed. I’ve always tried to be a good person but I make many 
544mistakes along the way. I needed to get my mind, body, and soul right with God. 
545I wish I had the answers but the truth is I don’t. We all go through obstacles 
546in life and we may want all the answers but we don’t need them. It’s God’s plan 
547and he has shown me what’s truly important in life and to find a blessing in 
548every moment because in the blink of an eye, everything can be gone. So instead 
549of bashing, let’s just love one another and appreciate what we have, or 
550something like that lol sorry I’awkward.” Rae had, and still does have, a great 
551natural appeal and was the best worker of the Americans that AEW had on the 
552roster. She and the company kept very private about the issue or issues that 
553caused her to disappear. I know that they wanted her to return in Chicago for 
554All Out if she was able to, but she asked for her release before the show after 
555disappearing from wrestling for months. She is back wrestling and doing 
556independent shows
557
558The 1/29 Dynamite show will come from Cleveland
559
560Former WCW announcer Chris Cruise contacted the Maryland State Athletic 
561Commission regarding the Omega vs. Jon Moxley I Quit match at the Full Gear PPV 
562show on 11/9. He asked about commission rules on blading, and allowing matches 
563to continue if a performer is bleeding either intentionally or unintentionally 
564and if there was a commission doctor at the show. After repeated requests, he 
565was told that the commission prohibits wrestlers from deliberately lacerating 
566themselves or their opponents, or introducing human or animal blood into the 
567match, none of which happened in that match. The commission noted that they were 
568at the match and there was a doctor assigned to the show. The commission also 
569stated they were conducting a formal investigation into the match and thus, 
570since the investigation is ongoing, they can’t comment on questions regarding 
571the match. I’m not sure what the investigation would be on
572
573Right now there are no plans for a Joey Janela vs. Kip Sabian program. Penelope 
574Ford just slipped the line in on the PPV interview and when Janela tweeted that 
575he wouldn’t do that program, that was legit. Not that it could never happen, but 
576right now it’s not happening. It was notable they avoided each other in the 
577Battle Royal on 11/20
578
579Regarding Kris Statlander, it looks like she’ll be signing here. She and WWE 
580were close to a deal but they had not sent a contract and then AEW booked her. 
581WWE was under the impression she was coming in January and both sides want her. 
582Her working here the last few weeks, and we know AEW is looking to sign her as 
583well, would indicate AEW is the likely final destination
584
585. Notes on the 11/27 show in Chicago. They drew 6,100 fans to the Sears Center. 
586Considering the night before Thanksgiving has been historically death for live 
587pro wrestling, and it was the fifth show in six days in the market, that figure 
588was good even if it was lower than Raw or Smackdown. The idea of going to 
589Chicago, which was already booked for four WWE dates this week, didn’t make 
590sense on the surface, but the idea is that Tony Khan wants to make Labor Day and 
591the night before Thanksgiving traditional nights in Chicago and it’s not like 
592WWE is likely to book four dates in a row every year in the days before. The 
593crowd in Chicago wasn’t as hot as for NXT, but that’s because it was TV and not 
594a Takeover. Even with the market burnout that may have hurt Survivor Series and 
595clearly hurt Raw, they had the second hottest crowd of the week. . The second 
596hour was very good but the first hour was the worst hour they’ve done on TNT. 
597Everything just seemed off. No Tony Schiavone this week as he had commitments to 
598college basketball in Hawaii. In the first match for dark, Jimmy Havoc pinned 
599Brandon Cutler in 10:00. Havoc stapled a check on Cutler’s forehead after the 
600match. The show opened with Soul Train Jones, the former Virgil/Vincent 
601introducing the Chris Jericho Thanksgiving celebration. Jericho is usually the 
602master of these type of things, but the mic was off and it went too long. The 
603crowd was super hot at first with “Thank you Jericho” chants. He pushed his new 
604product, “A Little Bit of the Bubbly,” a new sparkling wine that he, actor 
605Stephen Amell and AEW are putting out. It’s being made by Amell’s Nocking Point 
606Wines, a company he founded in 2013. He said it comes from the best grapes from 
607Nepal. He called out the Inner Circle. Sammy Guevara gave him a present which 
608was a photo of Jericho & Guevara. Santana & Ortiz gave him new flip flops and 
609cold medicine and made Jericho an official Boricua. Jake Hager came out with a 
610goat which was named Chris Jerigoat. There was a giant present box and when they 
611unveiled the box, it was Ted Irvine, Jericho’s father, sitting down wearing a 
612New York Rangers jersey. Irvine played for the Rangers from 1970 to 1975 and in 
613a 2009 book about the team, was named one of the 100 greatest players in the 
614history of the team. Anyway, I was just waiting for a reference to Stan Mikita 
615or Bobby Hull, the Golden Jet, who were the two most famous players on the 
616Blackhawks when he was a Rangers, and really two of the most famous players of 
617that era, with Hull the biggest star in the league at one point. He talked about 
618how he used to beat the crap out of Bobby Hull. The reality is that’s so far 
619back it didn’t get too much heat. He said the Blackhawks were wimps then and 
620would always be wimps. He gave everyone Rangers jerseys with everyone’s 
621nicknames, Le Champion, The Spanish God, The Big Hurt, Thug and Ruffian. Jericho 
622then gave Justin Roberts a letter to read, which was supposedly a letter from 
623TNT thanking Jericho for the success of AEW. They pushed that Roberts grew up in 
624the area and went to Buffalo Grove High School. By this point the segment was 
625too long and really the pops for the local reference for Roberts weren’t that 
626big. Jericho slapped Roberts and they all beat him up. Excalibur made a line 
627about how they were beating a guy up in his home town, a spoof on how WWE always 
628does that and used to always try to ridicule Jim Ross in Oklahoma. Christopher 
629Daniels, Frankie Kazarian and Scorpio Sky were disguised as members of the 
630marching band and they made the save. Dasha Gonzalez did the ring announcing the 
631rest of the show. Chuck Taylor & Trent beat Pentagon Jr. & Fenix in 7:51. Orange 
632Cassidy came out with Taylor & Trent. Cassidy was wearing a turkey suit and did 
633a twisting dive to the floor on Pentagon & Fenix. Fenix worked the first several 
634minutes wearing a sweatshirt. This match was just off. Maybe the ridiculous 
635schedule and crazy high workrate is starting to catch up with Pentagon & Fenix 
636or it was just a bad night. Fenix was clearly not the same guy as last week. 
637Taylor did a flip dive on both but actually missed them by flying over them. 
638Taylor later did a flip off the steps and Trent pinned Fenix with the 
639Dudebuster. They announced Trent vs. Fenix in a singles match for 12/4 in 
640Champaign, IL. Bea Priestley & Emi Sakura beat Hikaru Shida & Kris Statlander in 
6419:35. Statlander did a moonsault off the apron on Priestley. Sakura used a mic 
642stand assisted abdominal stretch on Shida. Fans were chanting for Shida and 
643popped big late when Statlander made the hot tag. The crowd was really hot and 
644there were a lot of big moves. But parts of this match were off as well. Sakura 
645pinned Statlander with a La Magistral cradle. While not official, it looks like 
646Statlander vs. Shida will take place on the 12/4 show in Champaign, IL. Jon 
647Moxley did an interview. It was just basic and not aimed at anyone. Cody beat 
648local wrestler Matt Knicks with an Oscutter and the figure four in 1:24. Cody 
649got easily the biggest reaction of anyone on any of the shows this past week in 
650Chicago. His ribs were all taped up. His forehead still had a lump and 
651noticeable cut from the Jericho match. He looked really rough and got this over 
652quickly. After the match, Cody was going to do his big interview with the 
653expectations he’d talk Jericho and MJF and never challenging for the title 
654again. Out from under the ring came The Blade & The Butcher. The Blade is Jesse 
655Guilmette, who was Braxton Sutter in Impact. The Butcher is Andy Williams, and 
656they’ve been teaming with Beyond Wrestling and other groups in the Northeast. 
657Even though you have probably a fan base that knows indies more than pretty much 
658anything except some of the real hardcore indie fan bases, it appeared nobody 
659knew who they were. Allie, now a heel with her dark bunny gimmick, also came 
660out, so she’s the manager. Allie and Guilmette are married and worked together 
661in Impact. They all beat Cody down. I’m not sure about this. Cody has a program 
662with MJF and Wardlow that really hasn’t started, plus one would think a Match 
663Beyond Program with the Inner Circle. They need to get the talent they already 
664have over as television stars before brining more people in unless they are 
665major difference makers. When a segment with Cody runs flat with the AEW crowd, 
666that is something. Fenix vs. Trent was announced for next week. Kenny Omega beat 
667Pac in 11:47 of a **** match. This match was tremendous given the time 
668limitations, as you would expect. Omega did a Kotaro crusher and Pac landed on 
669his feet, but Omega gave him the snap dragon suplex and power bombed him into 
670the turnbuckles. Omega did a Terminator dive. Pac did his moonsault off the top 
671rope to the floor. Omega either did a great job selling his right shoulder 
672realistically, or it was hurting. Omega did this great teep. Pac did a top rope 
673falcon arow for a near fall. Crowd loved this match, great heat. Pac missed the 
674black arrow. Omega hit the V Trigger. Pac escaped the One Winged Angel, and then 
675they had a series of cradles by Omega into a crucifix cradle and Omega got the 
676three count. The finishing sequence was strong. MJF beat Page to win the $43,000 
677diamond ring in 6:20. Page did a tope and a moonsault to the floor. Page had the 
678match won using the buckshot lariat, but Wardlow put MJF’s foot on the ropes. 
679Wardlow sucker punched Page and MJF pinned him with a clumsy looking crossroads, 
680which they called the double cross, so MJF used a bad looking version of Cody’s 
681finisher. DDP came out to present the diamond ring to MJF. To his credit, DDP 
682looks in great shape for his age. Then again, as a fitness instructor, it would 
683kill his gimmick if he wasn’t, but at 63, that’s no easy feat. MJF took the 
684ring. DDP went to offer his hand for a handshake. MJF put his gum in DDP’s hand. 
685Wardlow then jumped in front and MJF was mocking DDP while hiding behind 
686Wardlow. DDP said that Wardlow was about to get his ass kicked by a 63-year-old. 
687They started but had a quick pull-apart. The usual protocol from WWE would be to 
688humiliate the legend, which nobody ever likes to see, and at one time it did get 
689heat but that time ended because it became so repetitive and really made the 
690legends come across as goofs. So while everyone figured Wardlow should take him 
691out, this was really better this way to let the legend maintain dignity. Dustin 
692Rhodes came out for an interview. He wants Jake Hager. Instead, Sammy Guevara, 
693Ortiz and Santana all beat him down. The Young Bucks made the save. They build 
694to a triple superkick spot Guevara and a triple shattered dreams spot. Next week 
695will be a six-man tag. There was another Dark Order vignette where all these 
696guys are in a room being talked with like it was a cult leader and most ended up 
697with the masks on at the end. Jericho beat Scorpio in 12:15 to retain the title. 
698Very good match. It was what you would expect and what it should have been, with 
699Scorpio getting lots of near falls. Sky did an in and out Ace crusher. Jim Ross 
700made an Ace crusher remark like that isn’t the thing which sounded like a joke 
701on John Laurinaitis. Sky also used a diamond cutter and dragon sleeper. Hager 
702came out even though they announced that nobody was allowed at ringside for the 
703match. Sky went after Hager and Jericho schoolboyed him for a near fall. 
704Kazarian & Daniels attacked Hager. Jericho went for a belt shot but Sky ducked 
705and used a TKO for a near fall. Sky also did a great Frankensteiner off the top 
706and enzuigiri for near falls. Sky came off the top into a codebreaker, but he 
707kicked out. The finish saw Sky go for another enzuigiri. Jericho caught the leg 
708and countered into a Boston crab. Sky tapped out. After the match, Jericho put 
709him in the crab again until Moxley came down through the crowd to end the show. 
710So Jericho’s next title defense looks to be with Moxley. For Dark, Shawn Spears 
711beat Sonny Kiss in 5:00. After the match, Spears and Tully Blanchard laid out 
712Kiss with a stuff piledriver. The final match saw Santana & Ortiz beat Marko 
713Stunt & Jungle Boy. Lots of big spots here. They mostly beat on Stunt and 
714eventually he was pinned. After the match, Guevara came out as well and they did 
715beatdown until Luchasaurus made the save. Hager came out and he and Luchasaurus 
716had a staredown. Luchasaurus went to choke slam Hager when Ortiz & Santana 
717attacked Luchasaurus. The Young Bucks made the save. Luchasaurus power slammed 
718Guevara. The last spot saw Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy basically javelin throw 
719stunt across the ring at Guevara and Stunt gave him a Canadian Destroyer. The 
720spot looked tremendous and the pop was huge for it.
721
722UFC: It looks like the first part of the year will revitalize interest. Conor 
723McGregor has signed to fight Donald Cerrone on 1/18 in Las Vegas according to 
724what Dana White told ESPN. Cerrone hasn’t signed, but obviously this is a fight 
725Cerrone isn’t turning down. You’ve got two great talkers with a ton of charisma. 
726It’s also a fight McGregor should win unless his partying habits have ruined him 
727badly, because Cerrone did not look good in his last fight and seems to have 
728aged. But if McGregor has slipped, Cerrone is the naturally bigger guy and has, 
729or at least had, more all-around skills
730
731The second PPV show of 2020, scheduled for 2/8 in Houston, will have Jon Jones 
732vs. Dominick Reyes for the light heavyweight title and Valentina Shevchenko vs. 
733Katlyn Chookagian for the women’s flyweight title as the top fights
734
735A fight the company has tried to make four different times will have try No. 5 
736coming up as Dana White told ESPN they are looking at Khabib Nurmagomedov 
737defending the lightweight title against Tony Ferguson on 4/18 at the Barclays 
738Center in Brooklyn. Stylistically, with Ferguson’s wrestling ability and insane 
739cardio, he has the best chance against Nurmagomedov of anyone in the division. I 
740believe Nurmagomedov has already signed his bout agreement
741
742
743~~~~
744
745OTHER MMA: DAZN has now topped eight million worldwide subscribers. What’s 
746notable is the different breakdown with WWE Network. WWE Network hovers around 
7471.1 million U.S. subscribers and a little more than 400,000 outside the U.S. 
748DAZN has roughly 800,000 U.S. subscribers and 7.2 million outside the U.S. It 
749has had phenomenal growth in the last few months, which included the Canelo 
750Alvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev fight and the Logan Paul vs. KSI fight, as they had 
751four million subscribers in June.
752
753WWE: We have some updated information regarding viewing habits of wrestling 
754fans. We’ve listed overall viewership numbers as far as live vs DVR in the past 
755for Raw and Smackdown. These are the averages for the four major shows in the 
756U.S. as measured from 10/1, the start of the fall season, through the shows the 
757week of 11/11. Now this is only the 18-49 demo and not overall and is the 
758average for each show during those six weeks. What this shows is viewers in that 
759demo are far more likely than older viewers to watch wrestling delayed. That 
760makes perfect sense if you think about it. And for whatever reason, the 
761Wednesday shows, perhaps because of the nature of going head-to-head, have the 
762most DVR viewing by percentage. One would think Smackdown would be heavy DVR 
763viewing being on Friday night, when people go out, but it is actually viewed 
764more live by percentage than the other three shows. Smackdown viewership as 
765measured by Nielsen is watched 70 percent in the demo live or same day, with 
766another 14 percent watching over the next three days and 14 percent more from 
767day four to seven. Another two percent watched after seven days. Those numbers 
768are much higher than overall, including all viewers, so the key demo they are 
769looking for is the DVR demo. The problem is those viewers are also likely 
770fast-forwarding past commercials, and probably watching less than the entire 
771show (although the way the numbers are figured that also is taken into account 
772and it’s still about average minute and not total viewers) as they are probably 
773not watching every segment. For Raw, those numbers are 67 percent live, 19 
774percent over the next three days, another 12 percent days four through seven, 
775and two percent past seven days. For AEW, it is 57 percent live, 22 percent over 
776the next three days, 17 percent days four through seven and four percent after 
777more than seven days. With NXT, it is 63 percent live, 15 percent the next three 
778days, 19 percent days four through seven and three percent more than seven days. 
779On average, if you include all DVR viewership, there are 1,301,000 viewers 18-49 
780eventually watching Smackdown, 1,147,000 watching Raw, 741,000 watching AEW and 
781400,000 watching NXT on an average week. Keep in mind that the Smackdown and the 
782AEW average is inflated based on the huge first week each show had
783
784Sports Business Journal ran a piece on Punk being signed by FS 1 for the WWE 
785Backstage show. They said that six of the 24 people in the room knew Punk was 
786going to be there. Of the WWE talent, the only one told in advance was Renee 
787Young, since she was going to introduce him, but the others weren’t told. Brad 
788Zager, a Fox Sports Executive Vice President, said one of the things they want 
789from the show is shock. Jacob Ullman, the Fox Sports Senior Vice President of 
790Production and talent development, said, “To do a show on sports entertainment, 
791where we all know it’s scripted, it’s almost more like covering a television 
792show than a sporting event.” Zager said that the goal is to create moments on 
793the show that would give the show credibility to WWE fans. Punk signed the week 
794before his debut and FOX, WWE and Punk were all told to keep quiet about it. 
795Punk, Zager and Ullman went out to dinner on 11/11 in Los Angeles and all three 
796noted that they were surprised the news had still not gotten out. “It was the 
797tightest circle of people to ever know about something that we’ve done,” Zager 
798said
799
800While no surprise, the show whiffed again on the chance to show it was really a 
801news show on 11/26 when they failed to touch the Mauro Ranallo story
802
803The build to Survivor Series has been a huge hit in Canada. On 11/22, Smackdown 
804was the most-watched sports show in the country with 224,000 viewers. They had 
805several weeks of late with less than half that number. NXT, which has never made 
806the top ten and always been under 100,000, was at 170,800 as the Smackdown 
807lead-in. And even Aftermath, the WWE news show, did 99,300 viewers for sixth 
808place. It was a weak night overall for television sports in that country so that 
809helped, but those were great numbers. Raw on 11/25 did 206,900 viewers
810
811The company made a last-minute decision not to tape 205 Live on 11/22. Most 
812likely it’s a matter of having so many shows in the same building and not 
813wanting to burn out the audience with a long show on the first of four nights. 
814Lio Rush, the champion, publicly complained about the cancellation, which is 
815never a good thing to do politically
816
817A Sports Business Journal readership survey listed WWE as getting the most votes 
818in the category of Entity Best at Producing Live Event Spectacles. WWE also was 
819voted for that award last year
820
821Wyatt is now the company’s top merchandise seller
822
823Catherine Jo Perry, 34, aka Lana, has signed a new multi-year contract. She said 
824it was a multi-million dollar deal. With most of the deals being five years, any 
825performer who is a significant television star would be signing for more than 
826$2.5 million over the course of the deal and many for considerably more. Pro 
827Wrestling Sheet first reported it and WWE confirmed the signing after
828
829A correction, or really an update on ratings listed last week for Germany. We 
830listed the prelim ratings last week. So these are final ratings. AEW on 11/15 
831did 30,000 viewers and 11/22 did 20,000. Smackdown on 11/176 did 160,000 and 
83211/23 did 220,000. Raw on 11/20 did 240,000
833
834The 12/26 Madison Square Garden show must not have gotten off to a good start 
835because they were will be doing ticket discounts this coming week for the 
836holiday season
837
838Lesnar is back on hiatus until probably around January. His next show is the 
839Rumble so he’ll be back when it comes to shoot his angle for that show
840
841Mya Lesnar, Brock’s daughter, who is 17, has committed to Arizona State 
842University on a track scholarship. Last year, as a junior, Lesnar won the state 
843title in the shot put and placed second in the state in the discus. She had 
844placed second in the shot put as a sophomore and third as a freshman. She is 
845currently ranked sixth in the nation in the shot going into the outdoor track 
846season
847
848Matt Hardy was called back for TV on 11/25 in Chicago to put over Murphy. His 
849wife, Reby, who is about to give birth and had a labor scare two days earlier 
850was asked about putting Matt on TV when she is going to give birth any day now 
851and wrote, “Some f***ing timing.
852
853While the company was in discussion with different arenas for NXT TV tapings as 
854early as January, they are committed at this point for Full Sail right now 
855through March
856
857Glenn Jacobs autobiography, “Mayor Kane: My Life in Wrestling and Liberty” was 
858released on 11/2
859
860Goldberg has put his home in suburban San Diego for sale, asking $3.2 million. 
861The 6,800 square foot home which also includes a basketball court and resort 
862style swimming pool, is on 28 acres and, since he’s avid car buff, has room for 
863more than 20 cars. It also has a barn for animals and 15 miles of riding trails. 
864He had the home built especially for his wants in 1997. The home also has a gym
865
866Chris Girard, responding to Paul Levesque saying that the mature professional 
867thing is not for talent to go on social media and talk about their issues or 
868wanting to leave the promotion and that it should be handled via private 
869conversation with management, responded by saying about Levesque, “The mature 
870professional thing to say would be no comment and have a private conversation 
871promoter to independent contractor instead of burying talent publicly to the 
872media. That’s how I do business. It’s all about the game and how you play it.” 
873Girard never publicly talked about asking for a release but had asked for a 
874release and felt Levesque’s remarks publicly were notable because of the reasons 
875he gave
876
877Mike Bennett, who is trying to get out of his contract, because he can’t wrestle 
878unless released, is looking at doing motivational speaking. He’s also willing to 
879attend shows and talk to talent and can’t accept money for this but would be 
880looking for travel expenses. There was talk that ROH would attempt to work with 
881WWE and book Bennett and/or Oney Lorcan. The sides have talked in the past, and 
882reached business deals such as ROH giving them footage for documentaries and 
883other things over the years have been discussed but the usual politics of ROH 
884being affiliated with New Japan have seemingly kept anything past licensing some 
885video as the extent of working together. Bennett was taken off everything after 
886he asked for his release but since has done everything the company has asked of 
887him to do. He hasn’t said a thing publicly since. Lorcan has continued to post 
888on social media so his situation is different
889
890Bennett did talk on the Stars and Stripes podcast about his situation, saying, 
891“Since the minute I got to WWE, they treated me great, they treated my wife 
892great, they treated my daughter great. When I came out and said that I had an 
893addiction, there was no negativity from anybody, just constant support, and so, 
894for me personally, having been almost two-and-a-half years sober, it got to the 
895point when I started reflecting on my past and what I did and it became very 
896hard for me to almost sit and reflect on the fact that I blew four years of my 
897life doing drugs, and now I felt like my mind was clear, my head is clear, and I 
898just wanted to work, I just want to wrestle. I feel like I could do and have my 
899best matches right now and it’s extremely difficult when there’s so many people 
900on the roster and you just don’t get that opportunity and like I said, everybody 
901wants to come at me and come at me negatively and say that I’m mad. I’m not mad 
902at anybody. I’m genuinely not. If WWE called me tomorrow and was like, `We're 
903gonna put you on TV, I’d do it. I’m not mad. I just want to work, and I just 
904want to work a lot. I want to be able to go home and tell my daughter that, 
905`Daddy put in the time. Daddy put in the effort.’ It’s incredibly difficult for 
906me to go on social media and preach that you have to work hard, you have to work 
907your ass off and then not do it myself, and so, I’m a worker. I’ve always been a 
908worker and now I’m kind of at the point where I just want to work and work and 
909work and I’ll go wherever that opportunity exists.” “As far as not giving me my 
910release, I think it’s like anywhere -- the Patriots aren’t going to trade or 
911release a player that they think that the Jets are going to pick up, and I think 
912we have to think of it like that. It’s not a negative, that’s just how it works. 
913It works in sports, it works in wrestling.
914
915EC 3 remains out of action with a concussion suffered at the end of September
916
917Tony Nese and his wife had a nine-pound baby boy named Eric on 11/22
918
919Kimbely Benson, best known as Viper and in WWE, as Piper Niven, was proposed to 
920and accepted over the weekend
921
922Ilja Dragunov is injured and missed shows this past week, including his 11/23 
923main event for wXw in Dresden, Germany against Alexander Wolfe. .. Reader C.J. 
924Baley said that the offer we’ve noted regarding that you can get three months of 
925the WWE Network for free if you buy three boxes of Golden Crisps or Honeycombs 
926cereal is not quite that simple. Bailey said he purchased three boxes, and sent 
927a receipt in. He was then told you need to have three different receipts as 
928opposed to one receipt for three boxes because it has to be three separate 
929purchases. Once you do that, you can get sent a promo code that arrives a few 
930weeks later. And you also have to have an active subscription, so you have to 
931buy it for a month but then you can get three months added. He noted that they 
932bought three boxes of cereal they’ll never eat thinking they were going to get 
933three months of the network free
934
935Xavier Woods told CBS Radio’s Chuck Carroll that there’s no timetable at this 
936point for his return from Achilles tendon surgery. He said it could be anywhere 
937from five to nine more months
938
939Jerry Lawler was asked about his role at Galaxy Con. He said he didn’t now how 
940long he would be on Raw, but just signed a new three-year contract earlier this 
941month. When the new Raw announcing team of Vic Joseph, Lawler and Dio Maddin 
942were put on Raw, Lawler’s role was not meant to be long-term, more the veteran 
943presence since Joseph was new at announcing on that big of a stage and Maddin 
944had never even announced before. But the feeling is that he’s done well in 
945helping the other two
946
947WWE 2K20 has donated $500,000 to the leukemia and lymphoma society. The donation 
948will support breakthrough blood cancer research to advance live saving 
949treatments and critical support for patients and their families. It was spurred 
950on by Reigns, and his being on their game cover this year
951
952Jessicka Carr, the referee, has been moved up from NXT to Smackdown and starts 
953with the 11/29 TV show. It’s funny because they did a big thing in front of the 
954fans at Full Sail on 11/27 to congratulate her for moving up while at the same 
955time trying to push that NXT is equal
956
957Evolve has shows on 12/6 in Livonia, MI and 12/7 in Chicago. The first night has 
958Walter vs. Timothy Thatcher non-title, Josh Briggs vs. JD Drake in an Evolve 
959tile match, Babatunde & Arturo Ruas & Anthony Gutierrez vs. Joe Gacy & Eddie 
960Kingston & Sean Maluta plus a battle of WWE contracted wrestlers with Reina 
961Gonzalez vs. Shotzi Blackheart. The second show has Walter vs. Briggs with 
962neither title at stake, AR Fox & Len Ruff vs. Mat Fitchett & Davey Vega, Ruas 
963vs. Thatcher, plus Andrew Everett is on the show along with Matt Sydal
964
965WWE stock closed at $62.46 per share on 11/27, giving the company a $4.907 
966billion market value. The market itself is at record levels, and WWE stock is at 
967its best mark since the third quarter call where key declines and uncertainty 
968about Saudi Arabia and international television deals led to a major price fall
969
970The list of the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network is 
971notable because of what was No. 2 and No. 3. 1. Survivor Series; 2. Stone Cold 
972Sessions with Undertaker; 3. NXT Takeover War Games; 4. Survivor Series kickoff 
973show; 5. WWE Untold - the Sting vs. Seth Rollins match; 6. Day of WWE Draft; 7. 
9742018 Survivor Series
975
976Notes from the 11/22 Smackdown tapings. This was a good show. Even though I find 
977the T-shirt brawls overdone, not idea of the brawls, but the unfocused sending a 
978million guys out in T-shirts, the fact is the interbrand stuff has made the 
979promotion across the board hotter than it has been in a long time. While the 
980crowd was small for TV in Chicago at 7,800, that’s more because of five shows in 
981six days. Those who were there were probably the hottest Smackdown crowd in 
982recent memory and the NXT brand was the most over to this audience. They’ve made 
983NXT cool which they needed to do because NXT on its own, as good as the shows 
984were, they were fading until putting the top stars on Raw & Smackdown and mostly 
985putting them over. The whole theme of this show was the three brands fighting. 
986Smackdown on the show was presented as the babyface brand with the announcers 
987cheerleading them and Reigns as the team leader. The dark match opener saw 
988Cesaro pin Crews with the neutralizer in 8:00. Said to be good. The show opened 
989with a team meeting. Corbin acted like the team leader and nobody listened to 
990him. Then Reigns took over and everyone listened to him, and he said let’s open 
991the doors and let them all in and beat them up if they come. As it turned out, 
992the key to the story was the ending where Michaels, HHH and Road Dogg came out 
993in a jeep with the idea that NXT is the cool group like DX, using the members of 
994DX (well, Michaels wasn’t around but HHH and Road Dogg were in the 1998 skit 
995they referenced) with the idea that Reigns and Smackdown had the guts to let 
996them in, unlike WCW which locked the doors. Banks was in the ring and invited 
997Team Raw to come out. Team Raw came out. Flair challenged Banks to a singles 
998match. There was a big brawl and Team NXT came out, and it ended up Banks vs. 
999Flair vs. Ripley. Banks and Cross did argue. Flair did a moonsault off the top 
1000rope onto both of them. Flair was bleeding a decent amount, looked like her nose 
1001but maybe her nose and mouth. She did the natural selection on both Banks and 
1002Ripley but the other saved. Flair had Banks in the figure eight when Ripley 
1003jumped back in the ring and got underneath Flair in her bridge and crucifix 
1004pinned her in 9:39. That was a clever finish. Flair and Banks went at it after 
1005the match and we had another T-shirt brawl. Corbin was backstage with Roode & 
1006Ziggler. Corbin dictated the strategy, which was when Raw comes out to attack 
1007Reigns, Ali and Shorty G, to let them do it, and then after that, and Raw 
1008leaves, they can beat the hell out of them as well. Bayley came out. She said 
1009that she knew Lynch was tactical but Baszler was a hothead and she knew Baszler 
1010was there and if she challenged her, she’d come out for sure. Zayn was in the 
1011ring with Nakamura. He said that they both were what was known as studs. He then 
1012unveiled a new cool-looking IC belt so they ditched the old one. Nakamura 
1013pretended to have no idea who Strong was. The Undisputed Era came out and fans 
1014were chanting “Undisputed.” Nakamura & Zayn pretty much walked away but stayed 
1015on the stage and watched the next match to set up a later angle. Adam Cole did 
1016an interview. This led to Cole & O’Reilly & Fish & Strong beating New Day & 
1017Heavy Machinery in 14:57. This was really good and the crowd was hot for it. 
1018They teased problems with E and Otis outside the ring so it looks like a New Day 
1019vs. Machinery program is coming. The guy the crowd reacted the most to was Otis 
1020with all of his unique mannerisms. When Machinery was brought up, I was told by 
1021someone who knows Vince well that either Vince will give them a few weeks and 
1022give up on them (which kind of happened at first), or Vince will get Otis, in 
1023which case Tucker will be doing a lot of jobs. Tucker is big, athletic and 
1024really talented but he’s a guy who will get lost here if Vince sees a single 
1025star in Otis. Fish & O’Reilly did the high/low on E outside the ring. Cole 
1026superkicked Tucker and Strong pinned him with a high knee. It was the right 
1027finish. Strong needed a win on WWE television going into his match. Strong and 
1028Nakamura then did a face-off on the stage when Styles attacked both. Zayn then 
1029grabbed a chair and hit Styles and Strong. Styles did a promo with Gallows & 
1030Anderson ripping on Chicago. He said Chicago wouldn’t know entertainment if it 
1031slapped them in face. He said he was the best thing in Chicago today, which led 
1032to C.M. Punk chants. By the way, some took the Punk chants as a negative, but it 
1033was very clear that a response like that was exactly what Styles was after, 
1034because when he said it, my thought was, here come the Punk chants, and I mean 
1035that as a positive for Styles as a heel. Bryan came out. He called out Wyatt. 
1036The lights went out. When they came on, no Wyatt. But Miz came out. Miz said 
1037that Bryan was weak and vulnerable and that The Fiend will tear him apart. Miz 
1038slapped Bryan. At that point they went to a commercial break. When we were back, 
1039they had a match. Bryan had the advantage. Fans had started the “yes” chants and 
1040the lights went out. When they came back on, Miz had disappeared and it was over 
1041without a finish at 6:00. Wyatt was in the corner selling, in the same position 
1042Miz was in, like we’re supposed to believe ether Wyatt took over his body, or he 
1043very quickly ate him. Miz was back on Sunday with no mention of how he 
1044disappeared two days earlier. Wyatt immediately put Bryan in the mandible claw. 
1045Then they went to a commercial break. The build for most of Survivor Series has 
1046been good, but Miz vs. Bryan has portrayed Bryan as having no chance to the 
1047level that I had no interest in seeing the match, and me not having an interest 
1048in a Bryan match is almost mind-boggling. Baszler came out and called out 
1049Bayley. She was looking up the ramp when Bayley came from behind and chop 
1050blocked her. Baszler still made a comeback and got Bayley I a choke. Bayley 
1051broke it driving her into the barricade. Bayley threw Baszler into the post and 
1052then bailed out. Corbin & Roode & Ziggler beat Reigns & Shorty G & Ali in 8:50 
1053in the main event. Ali is back to being Mustafa Ali. Good match for the time it 
1054was given. Corbin & Roode slammed G off the apron and onto the announcers table, 
1055which looked like a tough bump. So G was out and Reigns was selling. Reigns made 
1056a hot tag to Ali, who looked great. He did a tope on Ziggler and a flip dive on 
1057Corbin. Roode gave G a spinebuster on the floor. Reigns hit a Superman punch on 
1058Roode. Corbin then pinned Ali with the Deep Six. Corbin grabbed the scepter to 
1059use it on Ali, but Reigns speared him. Team Raw came out. Rollins got in the 
1060ring and he and Reigns went at it. Fans were chanting for Punk here. Then we had 
1061yet another T-shirt brawl. The whole place was chanting NXT at this point. 
1062That’s when Road Dogg, Michaels and HHH came out in the jeep leading what seemed 
1063to be dozens of guys from NXT. They continued to brawl on the floor. Strowman 
1064and Keith Lee ended up in the ring together and they went at it as the show went 
1065off the air. Really fun and effective two hours
1066
1067Notes from the 11/25 Raw tapings in Chicago. The final show of the weekend drew 
10687,200 fans, so NXT outdrew Raw by more than 3,000 fans. With sales slow, at the 
1069NXT show they announced tickets were available for Raw and that The Fiend would 
1070defend against Rollins in a cage match. And then the match didn’t happen. They 
1071did have Fiend do a dark cage match with McIntyre instead. The show was weird. 
1072Rollins turned heel in the opening segment to set up a program with Owens. Then 
1073he worked the entire match as a face and it got little heat. The stuff with 
1074Mysterio winning the U.S. title from Styles was great but aside from that, not a 
1075lot of good stuff. Dio Maddin still wasn’t back, which feels like too many weeks 
1076to still be selling the Lesnar F-5. However, after Samoa Joe did such a great 
1077job last week in the spot, he was nowhere to be found this week. The funny part 
1078of that is that this was not just my opinion on Joe, but one shared by multiple 
1079people in the company, making the decision not to bring him back in the spot 
1080strange. For Main Event, it opened with Natalya over Logan with the 
1081sharpshooter. No Way Jose pinned Eric Young. The show opened with all the 
1082wrestlers except Lesnar and Lynch surrounding the ring for Rollins to do a 
1083speech. Both weren’t going to be put in a situation where they were in a group 
1084of worker bees. Fans chanted for Punk. Rollins reacted to the chants and said he 
1085wanted to get Punk here but he didn’t want too show up. He said that Punk wants 
1086to talk about change that he’s too afraid to make himself. Vince has a rule that 
1087you never promote a big match on television that you aren’t planning on 
1088delivering, I watched this and figured this is where they are going. Punk 
1089himself has denied that, but Rollins does keep pushing it on Twitter. However, 
1090unless Vince was putting on a show to swerve everyone and that he and Rollins 
1091are the only ones who know, that isn’t the case. Vince was furious backstage 
1092about Rollins acknowledging the Punk chants and we are told that it was 
1093definitely not scripted by the writers. The fans started chanting “NXT.” Rollins 
1094said that NXT mopped the floor with Raw. Rollins said he hates that because he 
1095grew up loving Raw and hate to see what it has become. He said the show is 
1096better than that and said that last night, you all sucked, we all dropped the 
1097ball and we went from the A show to the C show. He said that we need to make 
1098this place great. It was clearly meant as one of the most unique heel turns. One 
1099person described the idea as 1997 Bret Hart, an idea that Rollins has wanted to 
1100do, where Hart was actually right in what he said and that he wasn’t a bad guy 
1101(although Hart did, in fact, do heel things), but the idea is he claimed he was 
1102a good guy but it was the fans who changed. Fans were booing. Rollins told Orton 
1103he was the weak link on Team Raw. Orton walked off. He went to Flair and said 
1104“You call yourself a Flair?” She walked off. He went to the AOP and said that 
1105they weren’t even at Survivor Series. Well, they weren’t booked. The whole idea 
1106of them not being there was to protect them from losing in the Battle Royal. He 
1107told Mysterio that he was a big fan of his growing up but he let all of us down. 
1108He said that he’s beaten Lesnar twice but Mysterio can’t beat him with a lead 
1109pipe and your stupid kid helping you. At this point, everyone walked off. The 
1110only guy who didn’t walk off was Owens. Rollins called Owens Mr. NXT and a lazy 
1111piece of crap. Owens laid out Rollins with a stunner. After the commercial break 
1112Rollins said that he’s just trying to do the right thing, and challenged Owens 
1113to a match. Rusev showed up to the building. A fan in a Mysterio T-shirt wanted 
1114to have him sign something but it turned out it was someone serving him papers 
1115that Lana got another temporary restraining order against him in the state of 
1116Illinois. Security asked him to leave, which he did. Lashley beat O’Neil in 
11171:03. Lawler talked about how Rusev should just get over her when the storyline 
1118if he was paying attention was that Rusev said he was done with her weeks ago. 
1119The match was short, and it was also just a mess. Both were off and then Rusev 
1120showed up and attacked Lashley. He beat Lashley up on the ground, and threw him 
1121into the steps. The brawl went longer than normal. It almost felt too long 
1122before he police showed up and handcuffed him. Rusev then, while handcuffed, ran 
1123into Lashley and knocked him off the ramp, and then pushed a lighting tower over 
1124onto him. Rusev was then screaming “I’m back.” AOP beat Hawkins & Ryder in 1:23. 
1125They used the super collider on both, and then Rezar pinned Hawkins after a 
1126double-team neckbreaker. Andrade beat Tozawa in 2:27 with a hammerlock DDT. 
1127Black said that he was coming to collect on what he is owed. Murphy pinned Matt 
1128Hardy in 2:56. Hardy looked in good shape. Murphy got a bloody nose. Murphy won 
1129after two V triggers. Black came out and said he was going to pick a fight with 
1130Murphy. Black hit Murphy with a jumping knee. Caruso was with Flair. She said 
1131she’s never been a team player but she was the only one who was qualified to 
1132lead Team Raw. She cut a promo on Asuka, saying that Asuka was bitter because 
1133she won the Smackdown title from Asuka and beat her at WrestleMania and ended 
1134her streak. Styles vs. Carrillo for the U.S. title never got started. Gallows & 
1135Anderson attacked Carrillo before the match. Gallows choke slammed Carrillo on 
1136the apron. Anderson threw Carrillo into the ring steps. They have Carrillo the 
1137magic killer on the ring steps. Ricochet ran in. Styles made fun of Ricochet for 
1138how long it took him to come out. They made jokes about Ricochet being a super 
1139hero. Ricochet challenged Styles to a U.S. title match. Styles turned him down. 
1140Orton came out and he wanted a U.S. title bout. Styles said that he beat Orton 
1141at WrestleMania and beat Ricochet to keep the U.S. title and has nothing to 
1142prove to two guys he’s already beaten. McIntyre came out and said that last 
1143night he beat Strowman and Walter. He said Styles has never beaten him but that 
1144Chicago doesn’t deserve this match. Mysterio came out and he wanted a title 
1145shot. Styles declined and said none of the four deserve it. Ricochet then 
1146suggested them doing a four-way with the winner getting a title match. Styles 
1147didn’t like that idea, but Gallows did. And then Anderson did. So Gallows & 
1148Anderson took out Carrillo to protect Styles from defending the title, but then 
1149want four guys who are all slotted much higher than Carrillo to get a shot at 
1150the title. So Styles agreed. Mysterio won the four-way over Orton, Ricochet and 
1151McIntyre in 14:28. Good match. There was a cool spot where McIntyre was hanging 
1152from the corner upside down. Orton went to superplex Ricochet. McIntyre then did 
1153the roman chair style sit up and German superplexed Orton and Ricochet. Gallows, 
1154Anderson and Styles came out. Several near falls. Orton hit the RKO on McIntyre 
1155but Gallows & Anderson pulled Orton out of the ring and threw him into the 
1156barricade. There’s no DQ’s in WWE four-ways, and logic would be that everyone 
1157should bring their friends and interfere. Mysterio went for a moonsault block on 
1158Ricochet, who blocked it and was going for a power bomb out of it but Mysterio 
1159turned it into a cradle for the pin. Very nice looking finishing sequence. 
1160Mysterio pinned Styles in 15:16 to win the U.S. title. A ***½ match. Mysterio 
1161hit a 619 which knocked Styles into the ref who went down. Anderson & Gallows 
1162came out. Orton then ran in for the save. Mysterio hit Styles with a 619 and 
1163Styles flew into an RKO by Orton. Mysterio hit the splash off the top rope and 
1164the ref recovered and counted the pin. Dominick ran in and carried his father 
1165around the ring on his shoulders. Caruso was with Owens. Owens said that he’s 
1166always been himself. He said Rollins has always tried to be what the company 
1167wants him to be. He said Rollins had turned into a miserable, insufferable prick 
1168and called him Mr. Crossfit. Asuka beat Flair in 17:15. Flair still had some 
1169green mist in her hair from the night before. Sane was at ringside. Flair kicked 
1170Sane allowing Asuka to take over. Flair chased Sane away. They had some problems 
1171in this match. A few spots had some very noticeable miscommunication issues. 
1172There was a nice sequence where Flair went for natural selection but Asuka 
1173countered into an armbar. Flair countered into a Boston crab. Asuka escaped. 
1174Flair hit a spear and Sane came back. Flair went after her and threw her into 
1175the post. She got back in the ring and Asuka blew a world record of green mist. 
1176The mist was all around Asuka’s mouth and Flair’s face and upper chest was caked 
1177in it. The ref counted the pin which was kind of ridiculous when the mist was so 
1178obvious everywhere. Wyatt said that there would be a nice face in the Firefly 
1179Fun House on Friday. Rowan pinned Kyle Roberts in 1:22 with two claw slams. 
1180Styles acted mentally broken and didn’t want to talk, but he eventually said he 
1181wanted Orton. Caruso interviewed Lana. She said that WWE should fire Rusev and 
1182sent him back to Bulgaria. Caruso asked how Lashley was doing and she said that 
1183despite this very traumatic experience, “I’m going to be okay.” The idea is that 
1184Lana thinks everything is about her. Main event saw Owens over Rollins via DQ in 
118514:00 when the AOP interfered. The crowd hated this finish. Rollins worked as a 
1186face. The action was good but the crowd didn’t boo Rollins and the match had no 
1187heat. The AOP came out. Owens slapped Rezar and then both beat down Owens. Fans 
1188chanted “bullshit” while AOP threw Owens’ shoulder into the post over and over. 
1189They continued to beat down Owens. Rollins fired up like he was going to save 
1190Owens, but AOP left instead. Then Rollins gave Owens a curb stomp to the end the 
1191TV show. After Raw ended they did a cage match where Wyatt retained over 
1192McIntyre. Wyatt gave McIntyre three Sister Abigails and walked out the door to 
1193win
1194
1195Notes from the 11/27 NXT tapings. A solid show, nothing off the charts but moved 
1196well. There were a few scary spots. Bobby Fish was teaming with Kyle O’Reilly in 
1197a tag title defense against Keith Lee & Dominik Dijakovic. Fish was injured 
1198about one minute in. We didn’t get an update past at the moment there was fear 
1199of a concussion. Lee threw Fish over the top rope and he was supposed to throw 
1200him on O’Reilly who would break the fall. But he threw him and O’Reilly wasn’t 
1201close enough to break the fall. Since there was no planned title change and they 
1202had 20 minutes of TV time laid out for the match, they impromptu sent Roderick 
1203Strong in the ring. Strong wasn’t ready and worked in his street clothes and did 
1204an entire match basically working on the fly. It went well, not a great match 
1205but a good match. Lee gave Adam Cole a pounce outside the ring into a section of 
1206fans who looked like family/friends/trainees rather than fans as no way they’d 
1207have Cole fly into fans. He took the pounce and flew two rows deep. Candice 
1208LeRae was supposed to back suplex Dakota Kai on the apron, but missed and both 
1209crashed to the floor. They seemed okay and continued the match. In a planned 
1210spot, Akira Tozawa gave Lio Rush a German suplex off the apron and Rush flipped 
1211in mid air and landed on his face. At least he got all the way over or it could 
1212have been worse. Later, Rush kicked Tozawa in the head and it looked like a 
1213flash knockout. In the first dark match, Raul Mendoza beat Arturo Ruas. The 
1214other dark match saw Santana Garrett beat Deonna Purrazzo. The show opened with 
1215a big celebration for the success over the weekend. Rapper Josiah Williams came 
1216out and all the faces were out dancing around. The Undisputed Era came out to 
1217cut it off. Cole said that the success was all due to the Undisputed Era and the 
1218rest of you did nothing. Fans were chanting “We Are NXT” and Cole told them that 
1219none of them are NXT, and the Undisputed Era is NXT. Ciampa brought up that they 
1220lost at War Games and how War Games was the beginning of the end for them. He 
1221said the war was over and daddy won and he’s bringing goldy (the belt) home. 
1222Balor came out and said he was standing in Ciampa’s way. Ciampa said, “Prince, 
1223you just met your king.” Ciampa challenged Balor and Keith Lee challenged Fish & 
1224O’Reilly to a tag title match and said it was basking season. Fish & O’Reilly 
1225went to defend against Lee & Dominik Dijakovic. Right away was the spot where 
1226Fish got hurt. Strong just replaced him as they took Fish to the back. Nigel 
1227McGuinness talked about it being Freebird rules. Freebird rules didn’t mean 
1228someone gets hurt and the other can replace him but whatever. There’s no logical
1229
1230sense at all to do it the way they did, not that things like that haven’t 
1231happened before. But they are doing live TV and if something goes wrong, you 
1232have to wing it. Dijakovic suplexed Lee on both of them. Actually Lee didn’t 
1233land on either. Strong kept going to chop blocks to set up heat spots. The fans 
1234took to Lee as a bigger star coming off Survivor Series. Dijakovic power bombed 
1235O’Reilly with one hand and choke slammed Strong with the other. Dijakovic also 
1236did a springboard flip dive on both. He also choke slammed both at the same 
1237time. Cole came out and Lee pounced him and Cole went flying. That was awesome. 
1238In the ring, Strong & O’Reilly used the high/low on Dijakovic for the pin in 
123920:16. Candice LeRae was mad at Dakota Kai for turning on Tegan Nox, who she 
1240said was like her little sister. She said Kai was supposed to be their friend. 
1241She had Nox will get Kai but tonight Kai has to face Nox’s pissed off big 
1242sister. Mansoor beat Shane Thorne in 3:02. This was good while it lasted. 
1243Mansoor did a tope but Throne caught him in mid-air and gave him a Saito suplex 
1244on the floor. Mansoor later did an elbow suicida. Mansoor won coming off the 
1245apron and in the ring with a neckbreaker. LeRae beat Kai via DQ in 12:29. Kai 
1246came out with Nox’s knee brace as a trophy. LeRae hit a tope. There was the 
1247botched suplex on the apron. There was also a messed up tornado DDT. Kai tried 
1248to use the knee brace but LeRae ducked and power bombed her for a near fall. 
1249There were a lot of near falls including Kai using a Canadian Destroyer into 
1250double knees. LeRae used a Mistica into a Gargano escape but Kai made the ropes. 
1251LeRae went for a tope but Kai hit her with the knee brace for the DQ. Kai 
1252continued to pound on her, throwing LeRae into nit the steps and the post. Kai 
1253grabbed a chair when Rhea Ripley cran in for the save and got the chair. The 
1254crowd reacted to Ripley like she was big star. Ciampa did an interview and said 
1255Balor may have been the longest reigning champion but he’s the one who turned 
1256NXT into the A show and turned goldy into the most important championship in 
1257sports entertainment. There was a video of Cameron Grimes. Lio Rush beat Akira 
1258Tozawa to keep the cruiserweight title in 13:03. This was really good. Rush did 
1259a springboard off the ropes and Tozawa was supposed to German suplex him it 
1260appeared. Rush bounced off and Tozawa was still out so Rush just fell down. But 
1261Tozawa did recover and they went back to that spot and then followed with a 
1262second delayed German suplex. Tozawa came off the top rope with a high senton, 
1263but Rush got his knees up. Rush did a frog splash to the back and followed with 
1264a frog splash to the chest for the pin. I’d go ***3/4. Balor did an interview. 
1265Xia Li beat Vanessa Borne in 1:10. The idea is Borne was going for revenge for 
1266what Li did to Aliyah. Jessamyn Duke, Marina Shafir and Shayna Baszler came out. 
1267Li kicked Borne in the head for the pin. After, Duke and Shafir attacked Li but 
1268she held her own with them. Finally Baszler jumped in and they beat her down. Li 
1269made a comeback on Baszler, including Baszler going down to a kick that missed 
1270by a lot. Finally Duke and Shafir held Li and Baszler gave her a running kick. 
1271Baszler cut a promo saying that she beat Bayley and Banks at the same time. The 
1272fans were chanting for Ripley, who then came out. Baszler, Shafir and Duke all 
1273left the ring. Ripley said that Baszler beat Bayley and Banks, but when she went 
1274face-to-face with her, I beat you. Baszler said that you may be the nightmare, 
1275but I’m the reality and the reality is you’ll be tapping or napping like the 
1276rest of them. Ripley said “Why don’t you do it now?” Baszler then walked out 
1277with Duke and Shafir. Balor pinned Ciampa in 11:31. Beth Phoenix compared 
1278Ciampa’s offense to that of Mick Foley. I didn’t see that at all but Phoenix’s 
1279explanation is that both did offensive moves that hurt themselves. Balor 
1280dropkicked Ciampa on the floor into the barricade. Lots of near falls, with 
1281Balor kicking out of Project Ciampa and Ciampa kicking out of a double foot 
1282stop. Ciampa used an Air Raid crash on Balor, who kicked out. Cole came out. 
1283After a series of reversals, Balor went for a belt shot with Cole’s belt. Ref 
1284Jessicka Carr grabbed the belt from him. Balor used a GTR on the belt for a near 
1285fall. Balor ended up getting the pin with an enzuigiri and a 1916. Cole & Balor 
1286celebrated over a fallen Ciampa. Cole went to pat Balor on the back but Balor 
1287then hit Cole with a Pele kick to end the show with the idea nobody knows what 
1288Balor is up to