Daily Update: Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair, Sid Scala, new AEW dates

Latest News

• Big E shares two-year broken neck update, still not cleared for WWE return
• AEW wrestler Riho in process of renewing visa
• WWE reportedly lays off longest-tenured employee after 38 years
• AEW Rampage to air live Saturday episode next week
• Kenny Omega on CM Punk: 'There's no issue between him and I'
• Jey Uso vs. Finn Balor announced for WWE Raw
• NJPW returning to Washington, DC for Capital Collision
• WWE SmackDown video highlights: Tama Tonga debuts

Latest Audio

• Wrestling Observer Radio: NJPW Windy City Riot recap, Ospreay vs. Levesque

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F4W/WON Convention

This Week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• April 15, 2024 Observer Newsletter: WWE WrestleMania 40 review, AEW airs CM Punk/Jack Perry All In footage

One of the biggest issues of the Observer is out this week. Tons of interesting information on current news and lots of historical figures. It's full coverage of a weekend of major events.

• Poll results on all the major shows
• Historical nature of WrestleMania 40 including business notes in depth, gate, PPV, attendance, merch, it's all there.
• Ticket demand
• Historical nature of Rhodes' win
• How WWE has changed due to Dwayne Johnson
• A look at the booking of both nights
• Internal talk on Rock vs. Rhodes
• More changes from WWE to TKO
• How many WWE PPV buyers watched Revolution and Hard to Kill
• How the WWE/AEW dynamic has changed
• Future WWE direction
• A look at Dynamite with the Jack Perry/CM Punk footage and Will Ospreay interview
• Whose ideas these were and what the background was
• Different lines and why they were said
• Full Stand & Deliver coverage
• The life and times of Akebono, a Japanese cultural figure
• The early 90s heyday of sumo
• The Bob Sapp fight and doing kickboxing and MMA
• The long pro wrestling career and his various roles
• His brief WWE run
• UFC 300 looked at
• AEW 2024 PPV plans
• New Japan Sakura Genesis coverage and next major shows
• Bryan Danielson vs. Blue Panther singles match looked at
• ROH Supercard of Honor coverage
• Gary Shaw, a controversial figure in MMA and his role in promoting Kimbo Slice and putting women's MMA on the map against major opposition
• Jon Jones' latest incident
• A look back at Al Zinck and the heyday of pro wrestling in the Maritimes
• The most detailed look at the ratings of the past week, weekly standings, placings for the night and time slot, major competition for each show, segment-by-segment numbers and more.
• Rey de Parejas tournament from Dragon Gate
• One of the greatest U.S. amateur wrestlers in history may retire in a few weeks, or this summer
• A look at the Olympic trials
• Wrestling TV show headed to Netflix
• Indie Hall of Fame
• The Boys answer back at charges they were fired for no-showing
• International TV ratings
• Ticket sales for all the upcoming WWE & AEW shows
• Update on lawsuit filed by former MMA superstar against Disney, backed by Elon Musk
• Vince McMahon's stock sales, how much cash he's made, value of current shares and how much does he still own
• How much Dwayne Johnson has made for his being on the TKO Board thus far
• Changes in WWE management
• Why so many wrestlers today as compared to the past get busted mouths
• Slammy Awards

This Week's Retro Observer Newsletter

• December 11, 2006 Observer Newsletter: Paul Heyman, ECW December to Dismember

Saturday Update

• Paul “Triple H” Levesque posted a tweet promoting tonight’s UFC 300 event: “Big night for our friends @ufc. A blockbuster card for a milestone event, at an awesome arena… this is going to be one for the history books. #UFC300 @danawhite”
• Jade Cargill & Bianca Belair said in a post-SmackDown interview that they want to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles. They teamed together in a two-on-two match for the first time last night, defeating Chelsea Green & Piper Niven. The Women’s Tag Team titles are currently held by Asuka & Kairi Sane.
• WWE announced an appearance by Tony D’Angelo for this Tuesday’s NXT episode:
• Tony D’Angelo left Stand & Deliver without the NXT Championship after losing to Ilja Dragunov, and now he, Channing ‘Stacks’ Lorenzo, Adriana Rizzo and Luca Crusifino will regroup and address their next steps.
• Find out what The Family will say live on Tuesday at 8/7 C on USA!
• PWInsider reports that WWE released Sid Scala this week. Scala had been an on-screen authority figure in NXT UK when that brand existed.
• During an appearance on Steve-O’s Wild Ride, Ronda Rousey said she wishes she got as much time to rehearse matches in WWE as Logan Paul gets:
• He's great on the mic. He does a great job on the mic. I wish I was allowed the time to rehearse that he gets. It's not evenly spread. He's like their next big star. They are rolling out the red carpet. It goes to show that if you give people the time to rehearse and the resources, you can do amazing things. It's frustrating that everybody doesn't get that treatment. My first match with them was incredible because we had six weeks to rehearse, all the best minds in the business coming and putting in their two cents and it was an instant classic. Then, they never did it again. I was like, 'Why isn't this the model?' They're doing that with Logan Paul and he's having these fantastic performances. Look what you guys can do when you actually put organization and effort into things. It blows my mind that this billion-dollar company is succeeding in spite [of] itself in so many ways.
• Natalya reflected on meeting Abdullah the Butcher during WrestleMania week: “Had the honor to finally meet Abdullah ‘The Butcher’ who worked for my grandfather’s wrestling promotion, Stampede Wrestling. Abby (as Stu called him), helped contribute so much to my grandfather’s promotion. It was great to be able to say thank you to him and tell him how much my grandfather Stu loved him!”
• Cody Rhodes shared photos of his daughter Liberty with the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship belt.
• WWE uploaded a vlog documenting Bayley’s WrestleMania 40 experience.
• Naomi, LA Knight, and AJ Styles appeared on The SmackDown LowDown.

AEW/Other Wrestling

• AEW announced three new show locations for June:
• Wednesday, June 5: Dynamite in Loveland, Colorado
• Thursday, June 20: Collision in Allentown, Pennsylvania
• Wednesday, June 26: Dynamite/Collision in Buffalo, New York
• Tony Khan congratulated Jon Moxley on winning the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: “Congratulations to @JonMoxley, the new @njpw1972 IWGP World Heavyweight Champion! Mox won the title tonight + made history in the same city Chicago and same arena @WintrustArena where he won his first ever @AEW Championship. Congratulations @njpwglobal on a great show tonight!”
• Nic Nemeth vs. Eddie Edwards has been announced for TNA Wrestling’s TV taping in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 21. The taping is taking place one day after Rebellion, where Nemeth is challenging Moose for the TNA World Championship.
• Matt Cardona vs. PCO and Leon Slater vs. Myron Reed have also been added to the April 21 TNA TV taping.
• Today marks the 27th anniversary of the first ECW PPV, Barely Legal 1997.
• The latest episode of Talk is Jericho features an interview with Willow Nightingale.
• EVP and Head of Global Production Mike Mansury was the guest on AEW Unrestricted this week.