DAILY UPDATE
Latest News:
Two title matches added to ROH Death Before Dishonor
Callihan challenging for Impact World title at Bound for Glory
WWE Saint John live results: Rollins vs. Corbin street fight
Women’s Tag Team title match set for WWE Clash of Champions
UFC 242 live results: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Dustin Poirier
Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal to headline UFC 244 at MSG
ROH Global Wars Espectacular results: Bandido vs. Jay Briscoe
Impact Wrestling results: LAX put their Impact careers on the line
Latest Audio:
WOL: Weekly wrap-up, AEW tickets, Raw in MSG, Jericho belt, more! 9/6
Left My Wallet: Vinny vs. Producer Rob 9/6
F4W NEWSLETTER: Chris Jericho becomes first AEW World Champion Joseph Currier gives his thoughts on AEW choosing Jericho as their inaugural champion. Plus, Vinny’s TV reviews.
When AEW debuts on TNT on October 2, they’ll be doing so with Chris Jericho as their champion.
Saturday’s All Out pay-per-view ended with Jericho defeating Hangman Page to become the inaugural AEW World Champion. After Jericho kicked out of the Dead Eye, Page hit a Buckshot Lariat and went for the Dead Eye again. The finish saw Jericho reverse the move and then connect with his Judas Effect elbow strike to win the title.
The match was very good, but it fell short of being the epic main event you’d want to crown your first World Champion with. The dynamic just didn’t work quite as well as AEW wanted. The fans would ideally have been desperate for Page to defeat Jericho and become champion. But people weren’t all that interested in booing Jericho — and Page didn’t have the momentum that he needed going into the match. The way Page won his way into getting the title shot was probably a misstep. It’s understandable that AEW wants to create their own unique match concepts and give them meaning, but Jericho defeating Kenny Omega at Double or Nothing felt like a far bigger deal than Page earning his spot in the title match through winning the Casino Battle Royale. While Page got wins at Fyter Fest and Fight for the Fallen, they weren’t against big enough opponents and they weren’t strong enough victories for people to see him as being one of the top two wrestlers in the company.
Jericho was an obvious choice to become AEW’s first World Champion. He’s an easily recognizable star that lapsed and casual fans will already be familiar with. There will inevitably be criticism over a new company choosing a 48-year-old wrestler as their initial champion, but AEW isn’t at any risk of being seen as a nostalgia promotion. It’s fine to have one wrestler in their late 40s in a top spot. Signing Jericho and pushing him heavily is a no-brainer for any start-up company. Jericho is still wrestling at a high level, helps bring credibility to the promotion for those who aren’t already fans of The Elite, and has protected his image by only working in main event-level matches with great opponents since departing WWE.
Current subscribers click here to continue reading.
WON NEWSLETTER: AEW All Out review, Chris Jericho title saga, more
A full review of AEW All Out, and the saga of Chris Jericho’s stolen belt are the lead topics of discussion in this week’s double issue Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We have complete coverage of All Out from a live perspective, as well as the television version of the show. We talk about what worked, what might not have, and what we can learn about match order when laying out a card. We have the latest on the business of the show, including preliminary pay-per-view numbers.
We have coverage of AEW and WWE running the same markets, and have notes and numbers on how each promotion is doing in selling tickets there. We also have all the details on the Chris Jericho AEW title story.
NJPW Royal Quest is covered as well in the new issue. We have star ratings for the matches, as well as business notes for the show.
The upcoming WWE Clash of Champions show is covered in detail. We have a preliminary card for the show.
We also cover the WWE writing team shake-up that took place this week.
NXT U.K. TakeOver: Cardiff is covered in detail as well, with everything from match reports and star ratings, to attendance and what we can learn from the show.
We have a story on Cris Cyborg signing with Bellator, and talk about potential opponents for her.
The new issue also has a history piece covering Harley Race’s St. Louis wrestling history. A lot can be learned from the piece, thanks to the late Larry Matysik’s Wrestling at the Chase Record book.
We also have Ryan Frederick’s coverage of the 8/31 UFC event in Shenzhen, China.
The passing of Australian wrestling legend, Norman Frederic Charles Lowndes, known as Sir Norman Frederich Charles III, is covered as well. We have notes on his life and career.
We look at AEW’s hype show that aired on TNT, and break down the viewership for the show, and what can be learned from it.
We also have news and notes on all of the top wrestling and MMA promotions in the world.
We have full coverage of all the WWE television shows from the past week.
As always, we have in-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows,the key demos for the WWE shows and what can be learned from them.
We also have the results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
Current subscribers click here read.
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 Network News reported that Sasha Banks will be featured on a new episode of WWE Chronicle. It will premiere on September 14, which is the night before Clash of Champions. Banks is challenging for Becky Lynch’s Raw Women’s Championship at the PPV.
A new episode of Table for Three will air on the WWE Network after Raw on Monday. It will feature Torrie Wilson, Mandy Rose, and Carmella.
The Undertaker made an appearance on ESPN’s College GameDay today at the University of Texas.
Matt Hardy posted a parody video joking that someone tried to steal his belt at a LongHorn Steakhouse. Hardy tweeted: “For the record, I am not making fun of @IAmJericho. I just saw an opportunity to make a cute parody of last week’s wacky events & remind people of how entertaining I can be. Chris is a great friend & is an industry master of evolution & reaction.”
Tommaso Ciampa tweeted that today marks exactly six months since his neck surgery.
Roman Reigns was interviewed in the fall edition of Leukemia Matters magazine.
Ric Flair told TMZ Sports that he’s signed a deal with Adidas: “Ready for the good news? Adidas thinks I’m ‘The Man.’ I signed a deal with them, and we’re fixin’ to make Nike the 2nd brand. It’s not gonna be Air Jordan anymore, it’s gonna be Air Flair, and I can’t jump.”
Batista is on the latest UpUpDownDown video talking about Gears 5 with Tyler Breeze.
This week’s WWE video top 10 list is on women’s division heel turns.
Pro Wrestling
In an interview with IGN, Cody Rhodes hinted that AEW is considering adding a TV title but said there are no plans for it at the moment: “There’s a title we’re considering. And it’s something people can probably guess since we’re going to be on TV, hint hint, but there are no plans for it at the moment. Right now we revolve around the AEW Championship and in D.C. we’re going to name the first ever AEW Women’s Champion, and that’s such a beautiful belt. I don’t know if people know, up close, that rose gold is layered into it. Brandi, Kenny Omega, and Tony did a great job getting that title.”
Cody apologized for taking part in a homophobic chant at Triplemania. An AEW spokesperson issued a statement to Outsports: “Cody joined his teammates at AAA TripleMania for what he understood to be their post-match tradition in Mexico and was unaware of any negative connotations. Certainly the last thing Cody would want to do is to hurt or offend anyone, anywhere.”
On Instagram, ODB wrote that she woke up to find her food truck on fire. She posted pictures of the damage and noted that no one was hurt.
Tokyo’s metropolitan government posted a video of NJPW president Harold Meij talking about the city.
UFC/MMA
Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov defeated interim champion Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi today to become the undisputed champion. Nurmagomedov won by submission with a rear-naked choke in the third round. He’s now 28-0 in his career.
Only one judge gave Nurmagomedov a 10-8 in the first round.
Conor McGregor tweeted after Nurmagomedov’s win: “Book my rematch for Moscow.”
Daily Pro Wrestling History: WWE Unforgiven 2008
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!