Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2022/11/16/pollocks-news-update-full-gear-approaching-1-million-gate-logan-paul-update/
POST IT NOTES
**Rewind-A-Dynamite is live at 10 p.m. ET tonight with John Pollock & Wai Ting. Tune in live on the POST Wrestling YouTube channel and hit the subscribe button as we go live after Raw, Dynamite & SmackDown/Rampage weekly.
**There is a big edition of MCU L8R available for Café members today with Wai Ting, WH Park, Rich Fann, Nate Milton & Scrump giving their thoughts on Wakanda Forever, which was just released. The 2+ hour show is available for POST Wrestling Café members and the video version for members at video.postwrestling.com.
**Davie Portman is in New York for this week’s POST anniversary and is joined by John Siino for upNXT this week.
**This week, I joined Josh Nason’s Punch Out on the Wrestling Observer site to chat about the fifth anniversary of POST Wrestling and our live show this Saturday in Newark.
**On Thursday, we’ll have another Observer Hall of Fame Q&A on the site with Pat Laprade discussing the historical candidates.
**We have a feedback thread posted for next week’s edition of Rewind-A-Wai where we will cover the NWA TNA pay-per-view from December 11, 2002. This card includes Jeff Jarrett vs. Curt Hennig for the NWA title, Jerry Lynn vs. Sonny Siaki for the X Division title, AJ Styles vs. Amazing Red, and a Chairs and Chains match! You can post feedback and questions on the POST Wrestling Forum and we will release the show next Tuesday for POST Wrestling Café. Future editions of Rewind-A-Wai in the coming weeks include an episode of WWF Superstars, the Broken Skull Sessions, and WrestleMania 8 from April 1992.
**The master list archive of Rewind-A-Wai events covered can be viewed on the POST Wrestling Forum.
POST SCHEDULE
Tonight: Rewind-A-Dynamite (10 p.m. ET)
Friday: Rewind-A-SmackDown with Kate from Montreal & Nate Milton (Patreon)
Saturday: AEW Full Gear POST Show with John & Wai
Sunday: Wrestlenomics Radio
WRESTLING NEWS
**The final Dynamite before Full Gear takes place from the Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Connecticut tonight, and have announced a lot for the show:
*Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara vs. Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli
*ROH Trios Championship: Death Triangle vs. Top Flight & AR Fox (Darius Martin’s first match since April)
*World Title Eliminator Tournament: Ethan Page vs. Bandido
*Title Eliminator: Toni Storm vs. Anna Jay
*Anthony Bowens vs. Swerve Strickland
*The Acclaimed release a music video
*Jon Moxley and MJF to speak
*Samoa Joe to appear
*Dr. Britt Baker and Saraya speak
**AEW Full Gear is approaching a $1 million gate, which would mark the fifth time this year that the promotion had reached that figure. Tony Khan tweeted that the gate for the Prudential Center this Saturday has eclipsed $900,000 and is offering a signed Full Gear chair from everyone on the card for the person that puts them over the $1 million figure. AEW has generated a seven-figure gate for Double or Nothing, Forbidden Door, All Out, and Grand Slam this year.
**Jake Paul was interviewed on DAZN over the weekend at the Global Titans card in Dubai. In the chat, he provided an update on his brother Logan following his knee injury at Crown Jewel. Jake said they were concerned his ACL was affected but it’s believed to only be his MCL and meniscus and is currently rehabbing it in Los Angeles. On his own podcast, Logan Paul called it a “shi—y injury” but wouldn’t go into the specifics of it yet. He said it could have been worse, but it could have an impact on his WWE and boxing future, noting he’s already canceled a fight that he had lined up for January 14th and they had an opponent. Logan is actively campaigning for a match against John Cena at next year’s WrestleMania.
**Wrestlenomics released the quarter hours for this past Friday’s Rampage, which was the show’s second-lowest 18-49 audience in its regular time slot since launching. The show decreased throughout the hour both viewers and the demo with the main event between Orange Cassidy and Lee Johnson averaging 411,000 viewers and 129,000 in 18-49.
**PROGRESS Wrestling announced this week they are going to Dubai for a show on December 10th, and this was quickly met with a backlash that forced the company to release a lengthy statement defending its decision. The group is partnering with Wrestlefest DXB in the region, which is run by Mohammad Al Shehhi, who has presented cards in the past with female wrestlers and LGBTQ+ performers. It is unknown what the exact relationship is between Wrestlefest and the government of the UAE, but Will Cooling of the PW Torch site wrote about the tie-ins and the oversight of the Dubai Sports Council that is assisting with funding:
Earlier this year it secured accreditation from the government-run Dubai Sports Council. Al Shehhi outlined what they meant to them. “We were really nervous before the May event because we knew the sports council was attending and it could lead to big things, but we never expected it to move so quickly”. One must wonder whether one of the big things that flows from the accreditation is access to the resources to bring in overseas wrestlers and partner with PROGRESS. That also raises the question as to what conditions the Dubai Sports Council places on shows to ensure that the accreditation isn’t rescinded.
And lest you be in any doubt about his attitude towards working with his government, rest assure that he considers it a great ‘honour’ to be working with them. Indeed, many recent posters have the Dubai Sports Council’s logo prominently featured on them, a body that has the explicit goal of using sport to promote a positive image of Dubai to increase tourism.
**David Zaslav, the head of Warner Brothers Discovery spoke about the future of the NBA rights, which Turner Sports has held for over thirty years and will be coming due after the 2024-25 season. Zaslav was quoted during a conference stating, “we don’t have to have the NBA” which has spiked a conversation about why Zaslav would choose that tactic given the level of importance the NBA has on the network and other commitments WBD has made. The current deal has an average annual value of $1.2 billion per year, which towers above their financial commitments with the NHL and Major League Baseball, and will clearly be seeing a healthy increase above that figure. WBD is in severe cost-cutting mode and staying in business with the NBA will command a giant financial commitment by WBD. TNT recently re-signed all four hosts of the popular “Inside the NBA” studio show including Charles Barkley for a reported ten-year deal along with unknown lengths for Shaquille O’Neal, Kenny Smith, and Ernie Johnson, which would suggest TNT is very committed to retaining the NBA rights. Several outlets have reported that the NBA is seeking a long-term deal worth $75 billion in its next set of negotiations.
**AEW president Tony Khan is holding a media call on Thursday, which we will be covering on the site.
**All Japan ran a show at Shin-Kiba 1st Ring with 269 fans attending on Wednesday with the Tag League and Jr. Battle of Glory tournaments continuing. In the Tag League, Shotaro Ashino & Ryuki Honda beat Suwama & Kono, Jun & Rei Saito beat Yuji Nagata & Yuma Anzai, and Shuji Ishikawa & Cyrus beat Koji Doi & Kuma Arashi. In the Battle of Glory matches, Dan Tamura beat Hikaru Sato and Atsuki Aoyagi defeated Ryo Inoue. (Courtesy: Purolove.com)
**Thursday’s edition of MLW Fusion airs at 8 p.m. ET on Pro Wrestling TV with the following matches scheduled:
*National Openweight Championship: Alex Kane (champion) vs. Davey Richards
*Matt Cross vs. Killer Kross
*Los Maximos vs. Samoan Swat Team
**Below are the betting odds for AEW Full from BetOnline:
*Jon Moxley (+400) vs. MJF (-700)
*Toni Storm (-140) vs. Jamie Hayter (+100)
*The Acclaimed (-2000) vs. Swerve in Our Glory (+400)
*Chris Jericho (-240) vs. Bryan Danielson (+235) vs. Claudio Castagnoli (+500) vs. Sammy Guevara (+1000)
*Jade Cargill (-2000) vs. Nyla Rose (+700)
*Jack Perry (-700) vs. Luchasaurus (+400)
*Saraya (-700) vs. Dr. Britt Baker (+400)
*Darby Allin & Sting (-500) vs. Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal (+300)
**The WWE stock closed at $77.80 on Wednesday.
**The PFL has released that price for its pay-per-view next week and it will be $49.99. The November 25th main card will include six tournament finals including the women’s lightweight rematch between Kayla Harrison and Larissa Pacheco. The card takes place from the Hulu Theatre in New York City and it’s very ambitious on the promotion’s behalf to be running a pay-per-view as I don’t see this card generating any meaningful numbers.
**This Saturday’s UFC Fight Night card is an ESPN+ exclusive and will stream on Fight Pass in Canada as it’s one of several events during the year that TSN doesn’t carry. The card is headlined by a heavyweight fight between Derrick Lewis and Sergei Spivak.
**New UFC middleweight champion Alex Pereira was awarded his BJJ brown belt on Tuesday by coach Plinio Cruz.
ON THIS DATE
This Friday, Jun Akiyama makes his AEW debut but on this date in 1996, he teamed with Mitsuharu Misawa against Johnny Ace & Dr. Death Steve Williams in the annual All Japan World’s Strongest Tag Determination League. While falling short that year, Akiyama would win the Tag League three times with partners Kenta Kobashi in 1998 & 1999, and again in 2014 with Takao Omori.
Steve Austin and Eddy Guerrero had their lone singles match, which aired on this date in 2000 on SmackDown (taped two nights earlier in Indianapolis) shortly after Austin’s return from neck fusion surgery. The two were scheduled for a program in 2002 when Austin walked out on the company and Guerrero’s plans were shuffled and ended up working with Ric Flair at that year’s King of the Ring event.
WWE presented the Survivor Series from Dallas in 2003, which was highlighted by a traditional elimination match between Team Austin and Team Bischoff with Austin’s career on the line. Bischoff’s team of Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Christian, Scott Steiner & Mark Henry defeated Team Austin’s Shawn Michaels, Booker T., The Dudley Boyz, and Rob Van Dam with Austin removed from television but returning for the lead-up to the next year’s WrestleMania. The card also saw Bill Goldberg drop the World Heavyweight Championship to Triple H after a forgettable two-month run, and Vince McMahon defeated The Undertaker in a Buried Alive match to begin the resurrection of the “Deadman” character for WrestleMania 20:
*****
upNXT 11/15/22: It’s A New Dawn
Davie Portman and John Siino chat all about the November 15th, 2022 edition of WWE NXT headlined by Mandy Rose vs Alba Fyre in a Last Woman’s Standing Match for the NXT Women’s Championship.
*****
MCU L8R: Black Panther – Wakanda Forever Spoiler Review
Wai Ting, WH Park, Rich Fann, Scrump and Nate Milton unite for an in-depth roundtable discussion about Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
*****
REWIND-A-RAW
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE Raw from Louisville, Kentucky with Seth Rollins taking on Finn Balor, and MizTV. Plus, John Siino of Shot in the Dark chats about the NWA pay-per-view from Saturday.
*****
WRESTLENOMICS: AEW’s first PPV of the post-CM Punk era
Brandon Thurston and Jesse Collings talk about the latest in wrestling business news including how well Full Gear will sell on pay-per-view and an update on WWE business since Vince McMahon’s resignation.
*****
UFC 281 POST SHOW: Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira
John Pollock and Eric Marcotte review the UFC 281 card from Madison Square Garden featuring Israel Adesanya vs. Alex Pereira for the UFC Middleweight Championship.
*****
POST PURORESU: Battle Autumn, Historic X-Over card, Tag League previews
WH Park is joined by Dream Slam Weekly’s Karen Peterson to talk about the big NJPW Battle Autumn show and how it leads into matches for Historic X-Over and Wrestle Kingdom 17.
*****
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