Daily Update: Zelina Vega, Booker T, Bloodsport
September 17, 2020 | News | No Comments
DAILY UPDATE
Latest News:
Jon Moxley, Lance Archer segments announced for AEW Dynamite
WWE Raw ratings steady despite going against NFL opening week
Sasha Banks appears in ‘The Mandalorian’ season two trailer
WWE Raw video highlights: The Hurt Business & RETRIBUTION brawl
NJPW reveals Lion’s Break Crown bracket, Strong card
Ambulance match set for McIntyre-Orton at WWE Clash of Champions
Braun Strowman to face Dabba-Kato in WWE Raw Underground
Members of WWE’s RETRIBUTION stable identified
ROH Pure Championship tourney results: Lethal-Castle, Gresham-Yuta
Jeff Hardy signs new contract with WWE
Latest Audio:
WOL: RAW, WWE commercial breaks, Mickie James update, more! 9/15
DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Old Tyme Wrestling Hour | 80s angles 9/15
WOR: RAW, Ivar surgery, Jeff Hardy, Being the Elite, Smackdown ratings, more! 9/15
F4D: Smackdown, New Japan Strong, more! 9/14
WON NEWSLETTER: September 14, 2020 Observer Newsletter: AEW All Out reviewed, more
A look at recent concussion and head trauma issues in wrestling as it relates to Matt Hardy and other recent situations in other companies is the lead story in the new issue of the Observer. We go through Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara, how it was handled, Reby Hardy’s reactions, AEW’s releases, as well as look at many other high profile situations in the last few years in New Japan and WWE, including Undertaker vs. Brock Lesnar and how that match pretty much tells you that there will always be exceptions to concussion protocol.
Also in this issue:
Other risks taken in AEW of late, along with complete coverage of All Out, with business notes inculding PPV numbers, poll results,match-by-match coverage and star ratings.
WWE’s new policy on third party bookings, with WWE clarifying many issues, talent reactions, how things seemed to change during the week, as well as reaction from others in wrestling along with Andrew Yang.
G-1 Climax tournament including the blocks and favorites.
Appellate court ruling that threw out a series of lawsuits against WWE on different grounds. We look at the legal technicalities regarding why these cases had little chance from the start, the one aspect still open and reactions from both lawyers.
Latest firings by WWE, who was involved , why they were done now, plus a look at the career of Gerald Brisco.
Click Here: Putters
Finn Balor vs. Adam Cole, Clash of Champions card, PPV schedule change, NXT UK TV show note, Styles talks retirement, AOP firing notes, Canadian ratings, Where WWE ranks in sports ratings, Cena new TV show, Lawler talks why WWE announcing has changed, WWE star nominated for an award, next week’s TV, WWE current market value as well as the most watched shows for the week on the WWE Network.
Complete coverage of this past Saturday’s UFC show.
The formation of a new pro wrestling group by a major corporation and how it differs from any group in the world as far as its main platform.
Ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to dave@wrestlingobserver.com or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
After retaining her Raw Women’s Championship against Mickie James on Raw last night, Asuka was confronted by Zelina Vega after the match. Earlier in the show, Vega walked out on Angel Garza and Andrade and told them she can’t do this anymore after they argued backstage. Vega told Asuka she’s ready for a shot at the Raw Women’s Championship. Vega slapped Asuka at the end of the segment. WWE hasn’t announced when that match will be taking place.
Vega also appeared on Raw Talk last night and discussed being more than just a manager.
With Tom Phillips and Samoa Joe both off this week, Michael Cole and Byron Saxton called last night’s Raw and were joined by Dolph Ziggler, MVP, and Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax throughout the show. This is the second straight week that Cole has filled in for Phillips.
On his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T revealed that he tested positive for COVID-19 at the end of June but just got his results back: “About an hour ago from the CDC, and the CDC told me that, yes, I have tested positive for the coronavirus — back at the end of June… I never got my result back, but they called me, rest assured, today to tell me that back at the end of June when I got tested, I tested positive. And I’ve had three tests since then, and they all came back negative. But it just goes to show how backed up we really are with this system that we’re working with as far as people finding out if they got this, or if they don’t got — I’m living proof. I’m living proof. Thank God I’m still here, and I got a healthy immune system. And God spared me on this one, but I could have been one of the nearly 200,000 that didn’t know I had this and I was gone on my way to the next life. But man, it’s bigger than that. I know what I went through for, you know, it wasn’t a long time – a couple of weeks that I went through it. I had the headaches, I had the night sweats, I lost my taste and smell for two weeks. And I thank God I was smart enough to quarantine from the family. I stayed away from everyone. I put myself off in the west wing [laughs], you know what I’m saying? And I stayed there for a couple of weeks until I started feeling better, until everything started subsiding, even my taste, I waited until that started to come back a little bit before I started meeting up with the family and what not. Thank God I did, because I could be like The Rock as far as the whole family coming down with this. Like I said, I got my mother-in-law here with us. It’s something that’s so serious. I just want y’all to be so careful with this.”
Kurt Angle spoke to Wrestling Inc about roles he was offered by WWE and his status with the company: “Managing Matt Riddle, that was a few months ago. They offered me another job coaching. They also offered me a Legends deal. We weren’t able to get a contract done, but I’m cool with WWE. We’re in good terms. There’s no bad blood. Every once in a while, they call me to use me for something. I did a couple appearances on TV in the last few months. Today, they have me do an ad for one of their sponsors, so I did the ad for them. So they still reach out to me. I’m just not under contract, and I kind of like that.”
Angle also discussed what the coaching role would have entailed: “Yeah, I talked to Triple H about not so much going down there a lot but being on the phone or on a Zoom call with the wrestlers and talking to them, going over film, going over there technique [and] talking to them about promos. So it was a pretty easy schedule for me. Nothing came to fruition, but that’s okay. They brought up the idea a few months ago, and it kind of got lost, but it’s okay. I’m good where I am, and if they want to continue to use me here and there, that’s fine.”
In an interview with the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, Mike Rotunda discussed his release from WWE: “Well, I got furloughed in the middle of April along with a number of other people so, it’s been quite some time and didn’t look like it was gonna open back up. I kind of prepared myself for it, but I wasn’t exactly sure what was gonna happen, which I’m fine with it. Like you said, I had a long run there, I’m 62-years old and to be honest with you, it was harder and harder to do all the traveling and keep that pace. It definitely helps being a little younger when you’re trying to keep the pace that you’d have to working for WWE. Especially, my whole time there, we did live shows. Like depending on which show you were on, we did both television shows and I did a ton of live events which were like Friday, Saturday, Sunday and then TVs were Monday, Tuesday until they switched to the Friday Night SmackDown. So I definitely put a lot of time in on the road and it’s kinda nice being home. My wife and I have been married, it’ll be 36 years in October and all but three years of that, I’ve been on the road so I mean, that’s a long time and I’m actually enjoying to be home more and be around my wife and see my grandkids some more and get a chance to go fishing more so, which I like to do living here in Florida. That’s my go-to, my relaxation so it’s given me an opportunity to do more, to me something that’s important to do and it’s fun for me.”
The final number for last Friday’s SmackDown was 2.329 million viewers, up from the 2.261 million viewers it did in the overnight ratings.
Trish Stratus and Mickie James will appear on tomorrow morning’s episode of WWE’s The Bump. A WWE Timeline episode of Stratus and James’ feud will also premiere on the WWE Network on Wednesday.
NXT UK Champion WALTER and HGTV’s The Property Brothers will also be on The Bump tomorrow.
WWE’s YouTube channel uploaded Booker T vs. Kurt Angle for the WCW World title from the July 26, 2001 episode of SmackDown, The New Day vs. Cesaro & Sheamus for the SmackDown Tag Team titles from the October 16, 2018 episode of SmackDown, and Pete Dunne vs. Johnny Gargano for the NXT UK title from the November 22, 2017 episode of NXT.
Other Wrestling
Chris Dickinson and Calvin Tankman have been added to Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport, joining Deonna Purrazzo, Homicide, and Josh Alexander as wrestlers announced for the show. It’s taking place on October 11 as part of Game Changer Wrestling’s The Collective.
Cassandro vs. Sonny Kiss is set for Effy’s Big Gay Brunch on October 10. That event is also part of The Collective.
PWInsider reported that Teddy Hart “was sentenced to ten days’ imprisonment in Richmond County Jail on 9/10 following a court hearing before the Richmond City Circuit Court, Criminal Division in Virgnia, but was arrested again after being incarcerated.”
Acey Romero spoke to Sports Illustrated about his weight loss and future goals.
Miro and Mike Bennett appeared on yesterday’s episode of Busted Open Radio. Miro was asked if he’s worried about Lana being punished by WWE because of his debut promo on Dynamite: “Absolutely, but at the same time, I feel like they [WWE] should be professional and they should treat it as what it is and it’s nothing personal. They always say it’s nothing personal, it’s a business. Hopefully they do treat it as nothing personal, it’s a business because that’s what it is and I just hope that it won’t hurt her and I really do hope and I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. It’s definitely something on the back of my mind, but I know and I pray that everything will be fine because I feel like we should definitely move on. It’s 2020 for Christ sakes.”
Alex Shelley will face Ben Carter at Black Label Pro’s Turbo Graps 16 on October 3.
The parent company of Pro Wrestling Tees has applied to trademark “Shoot,” which looks to be a Cameo-style service.
Daily Pro Wrestling History: WCW Fall Brawl 1996
CONTACT INFORMATION
Poll opinions: dave@wrestlingobserver.com
Feedback: feedback@wrestlingobserver.com
Show results and news tips: newstips@wrestlingobserver.com
Wrestling Observer Radio questions: mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com
Support the Empire~! with F4W shirts. Grab yours today
