DAILY UPDATE
Latest News:
UFC 257 live results: Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier 2
Baker, Miro, Fenix, Davienne debut part of 17-match AEW Dark
Two segments added to next AEW Dynamite
WWE SmackDown draws second-highest overnight ratings since April
WWE SmackDown video highlights: Kevin Owens stands tall
New champions crowned at NJPW Road to The New Beginning
NJPW Road to The New Beginning results: Junior tag title match
Quarterfinals set for WWE NXT men’s Dusty Classic
LeRae & Hartwell advance in WWE NXT women’s Dusty Classic
NJPW Strong results: Ren Narita vs. Bateman
Latest Audio:
Left My Wallet free show: Impact Wrestling’s Matt Cardona
WOR: A talk with Randy Hales, Hank Aaron & Paul Varelans memories
F4D: Lance Storm on zombies, storylines and great matches, RAW, tons more!
JOB LISTING: Web/UI Developer(s)
Experience with OnLamp (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP)
GITHUB and Linux command line experience while be helpful as well.
CMS – Drupal and WordPress. vBulletin
Possible experience with AWS (s3 specifically), Dreamhost, UI development
Cloud based hosting experience a plus
Javascript also a huge plus
While this is a diverse request this doesn’t have to be just one person! If you fit any part of this please feel free to inquire.
This is not just for projects related to F4WOnline.
Send all inquiries to [email protected] with title WEB DEVELOPER.
If you have inquired before, please send your information again.
Latest Free YouTube Video:
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!
WON NEWSLETTER: January 25, 2021 Observer Newsletter: Why a quarantine policy could affect wrestling & MMA
We’ve got a double issue of the Observer out this week with notes on how President Biden’s new policies on international travel will affect wrestlers and fighters from different countries.
Also in this issue:
The new WrestleMania plans, including how the Super Bowl plays into it, the time frame for the shows for both nights, the inside hopes for attendance and how the dynamic is different this year as to what gets announced. We also look at the decision making in regards to Dallas and Los Angeles, update the Royal Rumble and also have notes on match plans.
Coverage of Impact Hard to Kill, with notes on the key angles, the departure of Madison Rayne, Taya Valkyrie and Ethan Page, Page’s scathing words after his departure, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Dwayne Johnson’s new TV show about his life, new WWE signees, Dusty Rhodes men’s and women’s tournament, Kofi Kingston talks his injury, WWE television personality gets an ESPN TV show, A.J. Styles talks retirement, lawsuit update, where wrestling shows ranked with network sports, who is looking for new entrance music, what aspect of WWE’s major events are they trying to sell, why Raw will have two very tough dates for competition soon, as well as the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.
Coverage of both UFC shows over the past week and the story behind Max Holloway’s setting records.
A story on the life of Paul Varelans, an early star of UFC and MMA around the world, as well as his different forays with four different pro wrestling companies as well as his infamous angle with Taz in ECW. For the first time, Missy Hyatt talks publicly about the situation plus comments from all involved. We look at the tournament days of UFC, crazy street fights, and much more.
A story on the life of Guy Hauray, the voice of WWF in France for a generation.
A story on famous carnival shooter and pro wrestler Dick Cardinal, who was the oldest living pro wrestler at the time of his death.
History of the biggest draws in pro wrestling each year from 1916 to 2020, including what wrestlers were No. 1 for the most years.
Win-loss record of every WWE talent in 2020 including who wrestled the most dates, who never lost, who never won and more.
Television ratings of the past week, segment-by-segment numbers for the past two weeks on Wednesday, who was watching in different age groups, how different segments did on Raw & Smackdown.
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 [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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.
SATURDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
WWE sent its condolences to Larry King’s family and friends following his passing: “WWE is saddened to learn that Larry King passed away at the age of 87. The talk show titan reimagined possibilities in the world of television with his iconic ‘The Larry King Show.’ Prominent figures from the entertainment, sports and political worlds graced his show nightly, but King made a special impact on the national coverage of wrestling. ‘They are incredible athletes, their fan following is amazing, but their results are never in the paper… To me, if someone is interesting, then I am curious. And wrestlers—and wrestling—are interesting,’ King once told Sports Illustrated. When ‘The Larry King Show’ debuted on Ora.TV in 2012, King featured a special WWE Superstars episode that included John Cena, The Miz & Maryse, Big Show and more. After being named Social Media Ambassador for Raw, King would bring his legendary show to the red brand in 2012. It was an eventful night for two-time Peabody Award winner, as the A-Lister memorably couldn’t help but crash his set and King also provided some life advice to Daniel Bryan. WWE extends its condolences to King’s family and friends.”
A standout promo by Kevin Owens aired on last night’s SmackDown. Owens explained that he’ll never stop fighting because both of his grandfathers refused to quit when battling illnesses that should have made their lives much shorter. Owens said his grandfathers were his biggest fans and the one regret he’ll always have is that he didn’t make it to WWE in time for them to see it.
Roman Reigns spoke to Fox Sports about making his return to WWE TV last August: “I watched a couple of the shows. I did not follow it thoroughly. I tried to use as much of the time to be with my family and just really focus in and be present here at home, but on a few of the shows that I saw, I was just like, ‘Man, this is trash.’ Like, you know what I mean? And that’s me, from the very top, thinking this because I always want to be way better than everybody else. This is no disrespect to what they were doing. They were busting their ass working really hard. But, for me, I was like, ‘Man, I just know when it’s time to pull my trigger, I know exactly what I want to do. I know exactly the kind of stories I want to tell and the different tools I want to utilize in order to connect with our crowd, our audience that’s watching at home.’ But, I knew it was all based off of emotion. I knew I had to be emotionally connected to what I was doing to be able to wear the skin of the character that I’m trying to convey to our audience. So, that was the most important thing is that I could completely focus in and concentrate 100 percent on what I was trying to do and the emotions that I was trying to convey throughout my narratives.”
In an interview with the Mirror, Daniel Bryan discussed feeling bad for Rey Mysterio when Mysterio was the final entrant in the 2014 Royal Rumble match instead of Bryan: “So actually, I felt really bad for Rey. I was actually watching the match, I was sitting with my soon-to-be wife — we were engaged at the time. We were sitting backstage waching the monitor and I could feel the temperature of the audience. I was like, ‘ooh!’ I didn’t know exactly what was gonna happen in the Royal Rumble or anything like that. And then when Rey came out and he got booed because he wasn’t me, I felt so bad because Rey is one of my heroes and he’s also one of the best wrestlers of all time, and one of those guys who still — despite having wrestled for as long as he has — still puts everything out there, constantly working hard and all of it. That’s the last person you should boo! So, really there was this weird sort of, ‘Yeah this feels good that people want me, but I feel so bad for Rey.’”
Bryan said one of his dreams is to wrestle on a CMLL Anniversary show and he hopes WWE will allow him to one day.
Bianca Belair spoke to the Sporting News about what it would mean if she were to headline a night of WrestleMania against Sasha Banks: “Everything I have approached in WWE I do it looking for a purpose. When I think about a dream match, Sasha Banks would definitely be at the top of my list. And to think about headlining WrestleMania with Sasha Banks, that would be more than just a match. It’s more than having a great match with an effort to tear the house down. Nah, that’s top-level representation that will go down in the history books for multiple reasons. It gives me goosebumps. That would be a dream come true not just for me, but for many people. That would be a very special night, and I can’t even explain what it would mean to me.”
Mick Foley posted a video giving an update on how he’s feeling after testing positive for COVID-19 last month.
After retaining her NXT UK Women’s Championship against Jinny on this week’s NXT UK, Kay Lee Ray did a post-show interview where she said she wants to face “the best in the world.”
Ben Carter clarified that he had a contract offer from WWE before he first appeared for AEW: “Just thought I’d clear something up real quick…I had an offer from WWE before I appeared anywhere else, not after. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.”
WWE Network News reported that the WWE Network will have a post-show for their WWE Icons docuseries. Here’s the description for the post-show: “WWE Superstars, Legends, and special guests take a deeper dive into the history and legacy of the WWE Icons featured in the latest episode of the WWE Network Documentaries series.” WWE Icons debuts on Sunday, January 31 with an episode focused on Yokozuna.
Layla spoke to Ring the Belle for her first interview since retiring from WWE in 2005.
WWE has filed trademarks for the names Zoey Stark, Sareena Sandhu, Gigi Dolin, Duke Hudson, Cora Jade, and Rohan Raja.
WWE’s YouTube channel uploaded the 1995 Royal Rumble match, Drew McIntyre vs. Adam Cole for the NXT Championship from the January 3, 2018 episode of NXT, and Rhea Ripley vs. Toni Storm for the NXT Women’s Championship from Worlds Collide 2020.
Other Wrestling
Matt Hardy posted a picture of damage to his car and wrote: “Today’s free advice, don’t rubberneck at wrecks or you’ll create another one. Thank goodness I’m invincible.” Hardy then added: “Just so the ‘net understands.Was driving home from Jacksonville on Friday & there was a wreck 25 mins away from my house. It created standstill traffic, which I had stopped in. A truck drove into my stopped car at about 40 mph, because he was rubbernecking the wreck. I am fine.”
Chris Jericho wrote about the passing of Larry King: “Sad to hear of the passing of the LEGENDARY @kingsthings! I had the pleasure of appearing on his show 6 times & also had him on @TalkIsJericho! He was one of my fave people to be interviewed by, because you never knew what he was gonna ask or where his train of thought would go!”
Tony Schiavone tweeted about the passing of Hank Aaron: “RIP Hammerin’ Hank. I first met Hank Aaron in 1982 in Savannah when he was the director of the Braves Minor Leagues. Our paths crossed many times both in baseball and wrestling. He was truly an American Hero.”
During a Bleacher Report AMA, Jon Moxley was asked if he would ever return to WWE on the right terms: “You gotta say never say never, because you don’t want to run back what you said years later because you don’t know what’ll happen. Just the creation of AEW was so vital to the wrestling industry, and that’s part of the reason why I’m so proud to be a part of it. I wouldn’t rule out ever doing business with them again, we had a mutually beneficial relationship for a long time. If they called I would listen, but I highly doubt we would ever be on the same page. I’d be open to an idea. I don’t not like money. I got a kid on the way and gotta put it through college so ya know. I would take a phone call, but I highly doubt anything would materialize.”
AEW Dynamite is coming to TNT Africa starting next month. The show will air on TNT Africa on Fridays.
MLW hyped that Laredo Kid could soon defend his AAA World Cruiserweight Championship in MLW.
Daily Pro Wrestling History: Hulk Hogan defeats Iron Sheik to win WWF title
CONTACT INFORMATION
Poll opinions: [email protected]
Feedback: [email protected]
Show results and news tips: [email protected]
Wrestling Observer Radio questions: [email protected]
Support the Empire~! with F4W shirts. Grab yours today