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Latest News:
WWE notes: Front office changes, $39 million lawsuit settlement
WWE announces dual-brand battle royal for Survivor Series pre-show
Contract signing, Daniel Bryan vs. Jey Uso set for WWE SmackDown
NJPW BOSJ results: Hiromu Takahashi vs. BUSHI
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WOL: AEW vs. NXT ratings surprises, Smackdown tonight, Undertaker Cameo, more! 11/20
JNPO: Christian Casanova is ready for his big moment 11/20
Wrestling Weekly: Zelina Vega and unions in wrestling 11/20
B&V: Bryan and Vinny review AEW and NXT head-to-head! 11/19
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WON NEWSLETTER: November 23, 2020 Observer Newsletter: Unionization in pro wrestling, Survivor Series changes
A look at the issues involving the firing of Thea Budgen aka Zelina Vega, as well as a number of historical stories regarding issues with talent and management is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We explain why the ending was inevitable based on the circumstances, look at WWE and SAG AFTRA, Andrew Yang, Gabrille Carteris and the different players involved in the story. We look at what wrestlers and fighters earn as compared to other top athletes and why the discrepancy, what the Saudi Arabia flight story showed, what is fair for WWE to do and what isn’t, complaints by talent regarding an exemption, as well as a number of historical stories related to the topic that feature such names as Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura, Superstar Billy Graham, Ivan Koloff (twice), Johnny Valentine and many others.
Also in this issue:
Update to the Survivor Series card with changes and injury notes.
WWE’s move to Tropicana Field in a few weeks.
New Japan’s Super Juniors and tag team tournaments, this week’s schedule and updates.
Seth Rollins’ schedule, Alexa Bliss engagement, NXT Takeover notes, lots of WWE injury updates, Undertaker answers retirement questions, Miz talks why he moved to Texas, description of new President Nick Khan, how WWE & AEW did compared to other sports this past week, WWE and AEW ratings in Canada and England, WWE market value and the most-watched shows on the WWE Network for the past week.
Saturday’s UFC show, the background and match-by-match coverage.
Dragon Gate’s Kobe World show, the biggest show of the year from Japan’s second largest company.
Why television networks should be interested in purchasing UFC or WWE outright as far as a long-term investment that will pay off in the long run.
Television business, with ratings breakdowns in every segment for Wednesdays and every category for other shows, looking at stats not available elsewhere to get the deepest read into how shows are doing, what categories are doing well and how shows compare with previous weeks and one year ago.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
For this weekend, we are going to have shows the next four nights. Garrett Gonzalez and I will be back for a Friday night show tonight. Bryan and I will have shows on Saturday after the UFC PPV show and Sunday after Survivor Series, plus Monday night after Raw.
Even though Dana White said he believes Khabib Nurmagomedov is going to fight again, Nurmagomedov said this past week that he’s done. White told TMZ that he would bet that Nurmagomedov would fight again, against the winner of either the Dustin Poirier vs. Conor McGregor fight or the winner of Michael Chandler vs. Tony Ferguson. White also said he’s got nothing planned for Jon Jones. “When he’s ready, all he’s gotta do is let us know…but we have no inclinations whatsoever that his guys is coming to fight.”
There was some house cleaning at WWE today. John Brody, the Executive Vice President and Global Head of Sales and Partnerships is now gone. Mark Kowal, who was the Controller and Principal Accounting Officer is also gone, and has been replaced by Karen Mullane. Mullane comes in with a $415,000 per year salary. a $61,500 signing bonus and $166,000 worth of stock.
UFC 255 tomorrow night:
ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. Eastern:
Louis Cosce (170.0) vs. Sasha Palatnikov (170.5)
Kyle Daukaus (185.5) vs. Dustin Stoltzfus (184.5)
Alan Jouban (170.5) vs. Jared Gordon (171)
ESPN 2 AND ESPN + at 8 p.m:
Daniel Rodriguez (170.5) vs. Nicolas Dalby (170)
Antonina Shevchenko (125) vs. Ariane Lipski (126)
Joaquin Buckley (182.5) vs. Jordan Wright (185)
Brandon Royval (125.5) vs. Brandon Moreno (125)
PPV at 10 p.m:
Mauricio Shogun Rua (205.5) vs. Paul Craig (205.5)
Katlyn Chookagian (125.75) vs. Cynthia Calvillo (124.5)
Mike Perry (175.5) vs,. Tim Means (171)
Valentina Shevchenko (124.5) vs. Jennifer Maia (124.5) for the women’s flyweight title
Deiveson Figueiredo (125) vs. Alex Perez (124.5) for the men’s flyweight title
Perry missed weight by 4.5 pounds and forfeits 30 percent of his purse to Means. I have no clue why UFC is booking Perry, and worse, what he’s doing on the PPV while Royval vs. Moreno are not.
AAA is finalizing a date for TripleMania this year. It will be within a few weeks because the year is coming to a close. It’s not scheduled for 12/26 as has been reported in some places, or at least wasn’t as of yesterday.
New Japan is back for tag team tournament night on Sunday morning at 3 a.m. Eastern, or midnight Pacific late Saturday night from Saku:
Yuji Nagata & Yota Tsuji vs. Satoshi Kojima & Tomoaki Honma
Sanada & Shingo Takagi vs Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toa Henare s. Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi
Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano vs. Evil & Yujiro Takahashi
Juice Robinson & David Finlay vs. Jeff Cobb & Great O’Khan
Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs.; Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr.
WWE
A correction from something printed earlier. The WWE will be moving out of the Amway Center in Orlando after the 12/7 Raw, not after the 12/4 Smackdown. So they will be going directly from the Amway Center on 12/7 to Tropicana Field in St Petersburg on 12/11. They can run there until at least mid-March it looks like.
For Smackdown tonight, Drew McIntyre appears on the show for a contract signing for his bout with Roman Reigns. Also announced are Daniel Bryan’s return against Jey Uso and Seth Rollins vs. Murphy.
Undertaker’s Tik Tok debut.
The Bellas and Daniel Bryan have moved from Phoenix to the Napa Valley in California This story touches on them being in Northern California when we were engulfed by smoke. (thanks to Barry Werner)
Denise Salcedo interviews Leon Ruff.
UFC
UFC is dedicating its 12/5 show to the Stuart Scott Fund. Scott had a strong connection with MMA. Viewers will be able to make donations to v.org/ufc
Raoni Barcelos has pulled out of a 12/5 fight with Merab Dvalishvili. The Nevada State Athletic Commission would not clear Barcelos to fight because he fought in early November.
AEW
Chris Jericho on Konnan’s podcast.
OTHER
Highlights from last night’s Bellator show. A.J. McKee is the real deal right now.
Invicta tonight from Kansas City on UFC Fight Pass was to be headlined by Emily Ducote vs. Montserrat Ruiz for the strawweight title. Both fighters made weight but enhanced safety standards forced the postponement of the fight. So the main event is now two-time Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison (7-0) making her debut at 145 against Courtney King (4-1). Harrison, who competed in the Olympics at 171 pounds, said the last time she weighed 145 was at the age of 17.
A review of the documentary “You Cannot Kill David Arquette. (thanks to Lee Wall)
Kevin Eck’s weekly ROH news.
On Week By Week with guest host Ian Riccaboni, hear EC3’s response to Jay Briscoe’s challenge and the latest news on Final Battle 2020.
International Wrestling Australia has its first live event since March tomorrow in Sydney at St. Johns Park Bowling Club. IWA is Australia’s longest-running pro wrestling promotion, having run 22 years. It has run more shows than any other promotion over the years, and in more different venues. (thanks to Kirk Beattie)
CWE announced a Johnny Devine training camp on 12/5 and 12/6 in Winnipeg. He noted that he’s helped the careers of Jinder Mahal, Josh Alexander and Kaito Kiyomiya. For more info you can contact info@cwecanada.ca
Konami will be missing this weekend’s Stardom shows due to a fever. The company immediately removes everyone from the weekend with a fever these days.
NFC on 12/11 at District in midtown Atlanta in a Toys for Tots benefit show. They ask everyone to bring an unwrapped toy to the show with them. There will be 12 MMA fights.
EPW on 12/5 in Perth, Western Australia at the Gate One Theatre. This is the company’s first show since March. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Daily Pro Wrestling History: CM Punk wins WWE title at Survivor Series 2011
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