Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2023/05/24/pollocks-update-aew-collision-announcement-peggy-lee-leather-passes-hogan-talks-retirement-match/
POST IT NOTES
**Rewind-A-Dynamite is live at 10 p.m. ET tonight with Wai Ting & John Pollock.
**The ASK-A-WAI Mailbag Show with Wai Ting and I returns on Thursday and we will be taking all your questions from the POST Wrestling Forum. The show will be available to all POST Wrestling Café members.
**This Friday at 1 p.m. ET, Brandon Thurston and I will be speaking with journalist Karim Zidan. Zidan has written for the New York Times, The Guardian, and Bloody Elbow, and recently launched his Sports Politika Substack. We will be chatting with Karim about WWE’s return to Saudi Arabia and the attitude towards the shows after five years since its deal with the Government of Saudi Arabia began.
**Next week’s Rewind-A-Wai show is covering NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II from August 2016 which includes Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura, Asuka vs. Bayley, and The Revival vs. DIY at the Barclays Center. If you would like to select your own pick for a future review, there are several spots open on the Espresso Executive Producer level of the POST Wrestling Café.
POST SCHEDULE
Tonight: Rewind-A-Dynamite with John Pollock & Wai Ting
Thursday: ASK-A-WAI Mailbag Show (Patreon)
Friday: Pollock & Thurston – WWE & Saudi Arabia with guest Karim Zidan
Friday: Rewind-A-SmackDown at 10 p.m. ET (Patreon)
Saturday: WWE Night of Champions POST Show
Sunday: AEW Double or Nothing POST Show
Monday: Wrestlenomics Radio (special day)
Monday: NXT Battleground review with Davie Portman & Braden Herrington
WRESTLING NEWS
**The go-home episode of Dynamite prior to Double or Nothing airs tonight from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas (the site of AEW’s inaugural event in May 2019). WrestleTix reported earlier today that just over 4,100 tickets have been distributed for tonight’s event, which is an underwhelming figure for a historically strong market for the company – even with the pay-per-view on Sunday in the same city. While the show is centered around the final hype job for Double or Nothing, all attention is on Tony Khan’s news of where the first Collision event will take place and what that means for the status of CM Punk. Obviously, if the United Center is announced, it will be taken as confirmation Punk is on the show. Multiple outlets including the Wrestling Observer believe that Chicago will be announced tonight with Dave Meltzer adding that unless something unforeseen occurs, Punk will be on the debut episode of Collision.
Below are the advertised matches & segments:
*Tony Khan’s announcement about Collision on 6/17
*The Four Pillars speak
*AEW International Championship: Orange Cassidy © vs. Kyle Fletcher
*ROH Tag Team Championships: Lucha Bros. © vs. Claudio Castagnoli & Wheeler Yuta
*World Trios Championship: House of Black © vs. AR Fox, Blake Christian & Metalik
*Taya Valkyrie vs. Lady Frost
*Contract signing between Chris Jericho and Adam Cole
*FTR to speak
*Ricky Starks to speak
Dynamite airs against Game 4 of the Florida Panthers vs. Carolina Hurricanes. If the Panthers win tonight, they win the series and there would be no game on Friday night, allowing for Rampage to air in its regular slot, per Dave Meltzer. If the Hurricanes win tonight, Rampage would be airing late Saturday night after TNT’s NBA coverage. (Correction: We earlier stated that the NBA had a game tonight, but Game 5 between Miami and Boston is on Thursday).
**Former WWF women’s wrestler Peggy Lee Leather (Peggy Fowler) died earlier this week at the age of 64. Lee started her career in 1980 and was part of the WWF for the first five years of her career often teaming with Leilani Kai and Candy Malloy. In 1981, she did several dates for All Japan Women and returned three years later. When the WWF added the women’s tag titles in 1983, Lee teamed with Wendi Richter to challenge inaugural champions Velvet McIntyre & Princess Victoria around the territory. Her run with the company ended in 1985 during the national expansion era and Lee went to Montreal, Florida, and then the AWA. On December 13, 1988, she was part of a Street Fight Lingerie Battle Royal at SuperClash III. In the ‘90s, she worked for various independents including South Atlantic Pro Wrestling. She was part of the revived Women of Wrestling (WOW) syndicated program in 2000 wrestling as “Thug” and was part of the group’s ill-fated pay-per-view in February 2001 where she wrestled Selina Majors in a steel cage match. After various one-offs over the next decade, she had her final match in 2013 on another WOW TV attempt, losing to Jade.
**Hulk Hogan appeared on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani to promote his new line of CBD products that will be out in eight weeks. Everything with Hogan is always taken with a percentage of a grain of salt but he’s angling for a retirement match despite all the back surgeries and the state of his health. Hogan said that Shane McMahon called him three months before WrestleMania this year about doing one more match after seeing a photo of Hogan at Madison Square Garden (McMahon did tweet a photo matching this description but was from February 2022, not this past year).
Walking in the hallway @TheGarden with my 3 sons for the @NYRangers game and passed this.
Made me think…@HulkHogan, got one more in ya? pic.twitter.com/Dnpm0Q7S6o
— Shane McMahon (@shanemcmahon) February 28, 2022
Hogan said there was no way he could have done a match this year but is hopeful of having a retirement match and would like to do a match with Steve Austin while noting next January is the fortieth anniversary of winning the WWF title from the Iron Sheik. Hogan has not wrestled a match since 2012 when he was with TNA and is turning 70 in August, which coupled with all his health issues would suggest that another match in WWE would be improbable. Hogan was asked about whether issues from the past were going to affect his legacy and he briefly mentioned the racist comments made on tape, which surfaced in 2015 stating they were a “speed bump” but people knew that wasn’t who he really was. When asked about regrets, he said it was using the leg drop for all those years instead of a move like a sleeper hold.
**Tony Khan is holding a conference call with the media on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET, which POST Wrestling will be covering.
**Monday’s episode of Raw in Canada averaged approximately 222,000 viewers and 118,000 in the 25-54 demographic on Sportsnet 360, which was a drop of nine percent in viewership but a five percent increase in the demo from last week’s show. Canadian figures have been delayed this week due to the holiday on Monday but we should have the NXT numbers on Thursday.
**Dark Side of the Ring co-creator Evan Husney spoke with Knockturnal about the upcoming season, which debuts next Tuesday on Vice TV with an episode on Chris Candido & Tammy Sytch. Two episodes that were rumored for season four that are not airing were on Mike Awesome and Scott Hall, which Husney addressed:
It’s tricky because when something leaks, it is both bad and good. Sometimes when you’re exploring a story like Mike Awesome, for example, which is a story that I’d love to be able to tell. Mike Awesome was really one of my favorite wrestlers growing up as a kid. Like, seriously, like I was a huge ECW fan growing up. We were exploring that as a potential episode. And I think because of the leak, some people who are close to Mike just kind of got cold feet about what would come out and what would happen in the episode, what we’d cover and unfortunately, the episode kind of fell through for that reason or the access to that story did.
**ECW Press has announced that Tim Hornbaker’s upcoming biography of Ric Flair is available for pre-order with the cover art revealed on its site. Hornbaker has written some of the best historical books on the industry including Capitol Revolution on the WWWF, the National Wrestling Alliance, Death of the Territories, and a biography of Buddy Rogers. The book on Flair is listed for $29.95 CDN with the following description and will be out on September 12:
For more than a century, professional wrestling has cultivated some of the most eccentric and compelling personalities. As the embodiment of flamboyance and intensity, the “Nature Boy” Ric Flair stood at wrestling’s apex for decades, cementing his place as a once-in-a-lifetime athlete and performer. When he was in the ring, fans knew they were witnessing the very best, and he not only became a multi-time world heavyweight champion in the NWA, WCW, and the WWE, but his status as a generational great has been confirmed with inductions into numerous Halls of Fame.
The Last Real World Champion: The Legacy of “Nature Boy” Ric Flair is a gripping portrait of a wrestling legend. This unflinching biography explores the successes, struggles, and controversy of Flair’s life in wrestling, pulling no punches in sharing the truth behind his in-ring achievements and out-of-the-ring hardships. Today, Flair is celebrated for his pioneering career and as an iconic figure in the realm of mainstream sports entertainment. Celebrated wrestling historian Tim Hornbaker tells Flair’s complete story, with meticulous attention to detail and exhaustive research, creating a must-read for fans of wrestling, sports, and popular culture.
**Zack Sabre Jr. has been added to Game Changer Wrestling’s event in Las Vegas this Friday. The NJPW Television Champion has been added to the 5/26 event after making his GCW debut earlier this month in Brooklyn against Tony Deppen. No match has been announced yet for ZSJ. The card takes place from the Silver Nugget Casino and will stream on Fite+ with the following matches announced:
*GCW Ultraviolent Championship: Rina Yamashita © vs. Cole Radrick
*El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander vs. Gringo Loco
*Matt Cardona & Steph De Lander vs. Joey Janela & Sawyer Wreck
*Maki Itoh vs. Sandra Moone
*Zack Sabre Jr. in action
**IMPACT Wrestling on Thursday night is another taped show from Cicero Stadium and leads into Friday’s Under Siege event. The AXS TV show has the following listed:
*Speedball Mike Bailey vs. Chris Sabin
*Jordynne Grace vs. Alisha Edwards
*Rich Swann vs. Angels
*Taylor Wilde vs. Jessicka
*Chris Bey vs. John Skyler
*Kenny King & Sheldon Jean vs. Crazzy Steve & Black Taurus
*Before the Impact: Sami Callihan vs. Shogun
**Chelsea Green is the guest on Out of Character with Ryan Satin discussing the character she is playing since returning to WWE, her appearance at the Royal Rumble, and more.
**Brian Cage and Melissa Santos have announced that the couple is expecting their second child.
**The WWE stock closed at $102.13 on Wednesday.
*****
upNXT
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman review WWE NXT from May 23, 2023, featuring the “Go Home” show for Battleground & the Semi-Finals in the NXT Women’s Championship Tournament.
*****
THE WELLNESS POLICY: Children’s Mental Health
Wai Ting, Jordan Goodman, and Neal Flanagan are joined by Chris Duke, author and mental health advocate, to talk about his work in supporting mental well-being for kids and his journey through struggles such as postpartum depression.
*****
REWIND-A-RAW
John Pollock and Wai Ting review WWE Raw’s final episode before Night of Champions featuring a big angle involving Cody Rhodes & Brock Lesnar.
*****
NJPW Resurgence 2023 Review
Karen Peterson & Bruce Lord review NJPW Resurgence with the NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship Tournament featuring Mercedes Moné.
****
WRESTLENOMICS RADIO
This week on Wrestlenomics Radio: Did AEW get a renewed TV deal? AEW Collision was introduced at WBD upfront. WWE stock hit amid investor belief Fox doesn’t want to give Smackdown a raise.
*****
THE N.W.A. PODCAST
Nate Milton, Andrew Thompson and Kris Ealy return to chat about the month in wrestling including WWE Backlash, Trinity in Impact Wrestling, and a preview AEW’s upcoming events including Collision & All In.
*****
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