DAILY UPDATE
Latest News:
AEW Full Gear live results: Five title matches, Omega vs. Page
Number one contender’s match set for next week’s WWE 205 Live
WWE SmackDown draws best overnight ratings in two months
WWE SmackDown video highlights: Sasha Banks vs. Bayley
Title shot contract changes hands at NJPW Power Struggle
Okada accepts Ospreay’s challenge for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15
New champion crowned at NJPW Power Struggle
NJPW announces matches for BOSJ 27, Super J-Cup bracket
NJPW Power Struggle live results: Naito vs. EVIL, Ibushi vs. White
Second chance qualifier, Moment of Bliss segment set for WWE Raw
Latest Audio:
F4D: Lance Storm on NXT, Halloween Havoc, Undertaker Final Farewell, more! 11/6
WON NEWSLETTER: November 9, 2020 Observer Newsletter: The life & times of Tracy Smothers
We take a look at the life and wrestling career of Tracy Smothers with a major feature as the lead story in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer.
We look at those he helped teach, his last two decades on the independent scene, his battle with cancer, with comments from his friends and many of today’s major stars. We look at the unique first time he was in the ring, wrestling bears, playing sports growing up, the famous first TV taping he worked against five Hall of Famers in one night. We look at his runs in different territories, his first major title, the birth of the Southern Boys tag team, the best match of 1990 in U.S. wrestling, why the Southern Boys name was dropped, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, ECW, Freddie Joe Floyd, The Thugs and much more.
Also in this issue:
Kylie Rae stepping away from pro wrestling and some of the lessons this should teach us.
Preview AEW’s Full Gear show as well as WWE’s Survivor Series, looking at the matches, the booking, selling tickets and what can be expected.
The WWE Twitch situation, a WWE meeting with employees, what is banned at the Thunderdome, A&E specials, where wrestling stands in sports ratings, WWE ratings outside the U.S., college star talks WWE, next week’s TV, most-watched shows on the WWE Network and current WWE market value.
Preview both New Japan tournaments coming up. We look at how much the junior talent in New Japan has dropped over the last year and why.
The last fight of Anderson Silva in UFC and his career, as well as full coverage of Saturday’s UFC show.
Gate of Destiny, one of Dragon Gate’s signature events of the year, the angles, who is getting promoted, the future of the company as well as match-by-match coverage.
DDT’s Ultimate Party.
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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SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE
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WWE
After weeks of WWE building up her return, Carmella appeared on last night’s episode of SmackDown and attacked Sasha Banks after Banks retained her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Bayley. Carmella blindsided Banks with a superkick on the stage and then gave her a facebuster.
Roman Reigns will be making an appearance on the MTV Europe Music Awards tomorrow.
ComicBook.com has an interview with Bianca Belair.
WWE’s YouTube channel uploaded Batista vs. The Undertaker for the World Heavyweight Championship from WrestleMania 23, Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe from the July 31, 2017 episode of Raw, and the Team Raw vs. Team SmackDown women’s elimination match from Survivor Series 2016.
Other Wrestling
AEW’s full Countdown to Full Gear special is available to watch on their YouTube channel.
AEW streamed a red carpet event on YouTube ahead of tonight’s PPV.
Here’s a look at the stage for Full Gear. Matt Hardy also posted a look at the set-up for his Elite Deletion match against Sammy Guevara.
Jon Moxley spoke to the Sporting News about wrestling fans and what wrestling is to him: “It’s a bunch of different things all rolled into one. And it can be anything. A lot of different ways, like different genres this thing can be. I’m a fan of all of them. To me, wrestling in 2020, the fans are smarter and more educated. I don’t like when I’m in the locker room and some guy’s going, “Oh the marks on Twitter are saying this, bunch of stupid marks” or whatever and treating fans like they’re idiots. That pisses me off. The old-school wrestling mentality was that this is a work, and we’re carnies and we’re trying to cheat people out of money — we’re trying to present this thing, tricking them into thinking it’s real, and taking their money from them. That’s the origins of carny wrestling a century ago. That’s not what it is today. Wrestling fans, to me, are the most passionate, educated, some of the smartest fans in the world. And they really appreciate, not only the effort, they appreciate the passion of the wrestlers for their craft, they appreciate the effort, they appreciate how we’re putting our bodies on the line. Especially AEW fans, appreciate little details and storytelling and long-term storytelling. The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega are very big into small, little details in their work — they’ll drop little thing on BTE that won’t come into play for months and months later, but at the end it all ties together and makes sense.”
Eddie Kingston shared a fan-made hype video for his I Quit match against Moxley for the AEW World Championship at tonight’s PPV. Kingston wrote: “This is humbling. I am now going dark on social media. The war is on, and feel the energy. And remember when Angels are forced out of heaven there is no other choice but to become devils.”
Thunder Rosa tweeted that she’ll be watching tonight’s NWA Women’s Championship match at Full Gear very closely from home. Serena Deeb is defending the NWA Women’s title against Allysin Kay on tonight’s pre-show.
Nyla Rose spoke to Daily DDT ahead of Full Gear.
Tony Khan spoke to Sports Illustrated about AEW’s policy for wrestlers working indie shows during the COVID-19 pandemic: “I implemented a policy where people were only supposed to work indie shows when certain conditions were met. There have been times when people did not take that seriously, so I have tightened up the restrictions. I’ll still allow it under certain conditions, but people need to look me in the eye and say that the conditions are being met. Our talent and their opponent need to be tested before the show, and there also needs to be a good reason why the match is important. This is important for everyone’s safety, as well as important for our show. I’ve been flexible in the past because I thought it was good for the talent to have the opportunity to earn, as well as great for the fans and the indies as a whole. We also don’t run every night of the week, so it allows for talent to get extra reps, too. So we have a policy, and I’ll be enforcing it strictly.”
Today is Tony Schiavone’s 63rd birthday.
NJPW is holding a press conference regarding Wrestle Kingdom 15 overnight tonight: “NJPW will host a press conference on November 8. The press conference will be concerned with Wrestle Kingdom 15 in the Tokyo Dome January 4 & 5 2021. Fans and members of the media are welcome to join the conference live for free at njpwworld.com #njpw #njpst”
Alex Zayne is having his final indie match at GCW’s So Much Fun tomorrow.
Daily Pro Wrestling History: Harley Race wins NWA title from Giant Baba
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