Daily Update: SmackDown ratings, LA Knight, Mick Foley
Daily Update
Latest News:
UFC on ESPN+ 80 live results: Sergei Pavlovich vs. Curtis BlaydesZelina Vega challenges Sonya Deville for next week's WWE SmackDownWWE Main Event results: Eddy Thorpe, Isla Dawn debutsWWE SmackDown video highlights: Matt Riddle vs. Solo Sikoa no DQ matchWrestleMania main event rematch set for next WWE SmackDownTwo title matches, Seth Rollins vs. Omos added to WWE BacklashRey Mysterio vs. Damian Priest announced for WWE RawWWE SmackDown live results: Two title matches
Latest Audio:
Wrestling Observer Radio: CM Punk, Vince McMahon biographyFight Game: There's only one pillar
Latest Free YouTube Video:
Join us in Las Vegas for our annual F4W Convention
This Week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter:
April 24, 2023 Observer Newsletter: CM Punk scheduled to return to AEW, big event updates
Highlights include:
*Update on C.M. Punk. AEW's new television deal, issues a Saturday show has to deal with and pluses of a Saturday show
*Lots of news on WWE & AEW major shows the next few months, including All In, SummerSlam, Double or Nothing and Backlash.
*Nick Khan talks the WWE/UFC merer and what it means, upcoming negotiations, how Endeavor can help WWE grow, WWE budget cuts and more
*Full coverage of AAA TripleMania, the good, the bad, the angles and more
*Full coverage of New Japan's U.S. tour in Washington, DC and Philadelphia
*Ted DiBiase Jr. indicted on 13 counts in welfare fraud cause, and updates on it
*Full coverage of Saturday's UFC show
*The most detailed look at the TV ratings from the past week, including where wrestling ranks with sports an with entertainment programing, competition, segment by segment, comparisons with last year and more
*Continuation of the CMLL champion of champions tournament
*Mercedes Mone in Japan, negotiation updates, her comments on Japan and more
*Details of the biggest women's show in Japan in decades this weekend at the Yokohama Arena
*Ticket sale update on the show
*Cinderella tournament finals
*Champion Carnival update
*Notes on major NOAH show
*Will Ospreay talks future
*John Morrison's boxing debut and comments form that
*Lots of notes on he death of Butch Miller
*Bill Goldberg and a retirement tour
*Abdullah the Butcher and financial issues
*NCAA looking at changes to wrestling rules and scoring and why
*Concert/wrestling joint promotions
*Major European show this weekend loaded with top international stars
*Impact major show rundown
*Lots of fallout to C.M. Punk returning to AEW
*Great lesson for AEW wen getting a big sports lead-in going forward
*Lots of injury updates
*Advanced ticket sales for WWE & AEW upcoming show
*Streaming numbers for WWE & AEW
*International TV ratings
*What milestone did Raw achieve this past week
*What milestone did AEW achieve this past week
*Lots of new UFC major fights
*What were the most in-demand sports tickets so far in 2023
*Former UFC fighter arrested in a $200,000 burglary
*More details on the new WWE Twitch deal
*WWE performer goes into another major sports competition next week and attempts to make the 2024 Olympic team
*Notes on two WWE signees that a betting site already has odds that one of them will be world champion by 2027
*Notes on all the WWE live events on the road over the past week
This Week's Retro Observer Newsletter:
March 6, 2006 Observer Newsletter: An in-depth look at pro wrestling's halls of fame
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Saturday Update
WWE
Click Here: Celtic soccer tracksuitAgainst the NBA and NHL playoffs, last night’s SmackDown averaged 2.088 million viewers in the fast national ratings, down from last week’s fast national average of 2.135 million. The rating in the 18-49 demo was a 0.51 in the first hour and a 0.47 in the second.LA Knight spoke about his dream matches in WWE: “Dream matches, you think about people from the past who aren’t doing it anymore. There are a couple of those. Everyone is talking about it again, the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, that makes me look at Roman Reigns. Even Gunther, with the Intercontinental Championship, Austin Theory for the United States Championship. Any one of those guys, who I could take a piece of gold off of, that would be my dream match.”Mick Foley named two things he would have done differently in his career if he had the chance: “So I could have done things that were healthier, but then I'm not the guy who got to the dance. You know, those were the things that brought me there. I wish I had not dropped elbows on the concrete in non-televised matches and used it less on TV also, and I wish I'd brought up the hand because there was no correlation to me between guys who blocked or did not block chair shots and guys who got over big time, because the guys who were the biggest stars in the business did block the chairs, and no one thought any less of them."An economic impact study found that WWE’s Clash at the Castle event generated £21.8 million for the Welsh economy.Raquel Rodriguez & Liv Morgan, Imperium, and Zelina Vega appeared on The SmackDown LowDown.Trish Stratus was interviewed on WWE After the Bell this week.Mustafa Ali recapped his experience in Jeddah during Ramadan.WWE’s YouTube channel uploaded the following matches: The Undertaker vs. Great Khali (Judgment Day 2006), Randy Orton vs. Kane steel cage match (September 6, 2004 Raw), and Ricochet vs. Robert Roode (April 22, 2019 Raw).
AEW/Other Wrestling
Kyoko Kimura, the mother of the late Hana Kimura, met Mercedes Mone: “I felt Hana in Mone. It was a Awesome time with only love. thanks soo much”Mone responded to Kyoko Kimura: “I love you! It was a very special time that I will never forget. a beautiful connection thanks to Hana. You made my dreams come true. Until we meet again”WAPT News in Jackson, Mississippi has footage of Ted DiBiase Jr. leaving the courthouse after being charged in Mississippi's welfare fraud scandal.Due to injury, Allison Danger vs. Billie Starkz was pulled from last night’s GCW Into the Light show in Atlanta. Danger tweeted: “Both Billie and I are heartbroken but you guys deserve us at 100%. Can’t wait to make this happen @GCWrestling_ asap.”Britt Baker posted a photo of the black eye she received on this Wednesday’s Dynamite. Trinity Fatu (former WWE wrestler Naomi) has abandoned her trademark filing for the name “Trinity Starr.”With Twitter making changes to its verification system, NJPW issued a statement telling fans to beware of “tweets, and especially unsolicited DMs from non official accounts.”Ric Flair was the guest on the latest episode of the Joe Rogan Experience.JD Drake appeared on AEW Unrestricted this week.