Daily Update: John Cena, Maxxine Dupri, Ridge Holland fund

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Among the topics covered:

  • Major Hall of Fame article covering the Mexico and Japanese ballot. We go into detail on the likes of Zack Sabre Jr., Iyo Sky, Inoki & Sakaguchi, Yoshihiro Takayama, Angel Blanco & Dr. Wagner, Dorrell Dixon, El Dandy, Volador Jr., Sangre Chicana and others.
  • A look at Saturday Night’s Main Event and favorites.
  • The eye poke and crazy reaction to the Tom Aspinall vs Cyril Gane ending.
  • El Hijo del Santo will retire on the same night as John Cena and historical notes regarding his last shows.
  • A look at the wrestling career of Mike Rotunda, from star high school and college athlete to success with a number of different gimmicks.
  • Full coverage of NXT Halloween Havoc.
  • How WWE continues to change AAA and the phenomenon that is Dominik Mysterio in Mexico
  • The most detailed look at the ratings over the past week, how the new data has done a number on wrestling, Braun Strowman, World Series and an NFL rating that makes seven less sense than pro wrestling numbers
  • Women’s Grand Prix draws the largest crowd of the week
  • Lots of big matches and angles in a major week for CMLL
  • The New Japan Super Juniors tag team tournament
  • Iyo Sky vs. Mayu Iwatani in Sumo Hall
  • Updates on many legends
  • UFC star elected to wrestling Hall of Fame
  • Legal action involving former wrestlers including her mother’s prior lawsuit against her daughter who now wants to be a wrestler
  • Some very interesting independent notes
  • RAF goes the route of using MMA names and family members as its attempt to draw in Chicago
  • AEW PPV update
  • How people watch AEW TV & PPVs based on a survey we are doing
  • Advance ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
  • Gable Steveson fights Dirty Boxing
  • Tank Davis sued by former girlfriend
  • Brother of WWE & UFC head Ari Emanuel talked about as presidential candidate for 2028
  • The WWE WrestleMania ad
  • Andrade and his non-compete

This Week’s Back Issue

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Thursday Update

WWE

  • Brodie Lee Jr. shared a photo with John Cena from last night’s wrestling training session at Natalya and TJ Wilson’s Dungeon.
  • Wilson (Tyson Kidd) posted a tweet thanking Cena for his visit:
    • John, I can’t thank you enough!! For coming through and being completely selfless with both your time and information. Best part of all-it was you that wanted to come and do that on your own accord. Says a lot about you. John Cena is truly one of a kind
  • WWE Vault uploaded a 51-minute found footage video with moments from Cena’s career.
  • Natalya’s new book “The Last Hart Beating” ranked eighth in the Canadian non-fiction section in the latest Toronto Star bestsellers list:
    • HONORED. Completely blown away by how much everyone is connecting with my book, The Last Hart Beating. It’s never easy putting your heart out there, but if my story can be a tool in someone else’s handbook of survival, it’s all worth it.
  • Bayley acknowledged the 20th anniversary of women’s wrestling promotion Shimmer holding its first show:
    • HAPPY 20TH ANNIVERSARY TO @shimmerwomen
    • You changed the trajectory of women’s wrestling. You changed my life. And I wouldn’t be where I am today without you. I think that’s safe to say for a lot of us. The bond we all share from those weekends will last forever!
    • Thank you @serenadeeb, @theallisondanger, Scream Queen Daffney, thank you Canadian Ninjas, and thank you Dave Prazak for trusting me. ANNNDDDD I HOPE YOU HAVE THE HAPPIEST BIRTHDAY
  • On Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Maxxine Dupri discussed how much she’s learned from Chad Gable:
    • Oh my gosh, so much. He’s actually someone – kind of what I was saying earlier, he’s a man of few words. So when he tells me something, I take it to heart, because he’s someone that can look at something creatively. Just the business, the mind he has for this business, he’s just able to zoom out and see everything and give me these pointers that I’m like, duh, why didn’t I think of that? But I would never, and he sees it so clearly. So I go to him a lot for things like that, because when it comes to matches and just his ability to understand this business, [it] truly is out of this world.
  • Dupri explained that, when Candice LeRae mentioned her deceased brother in a segment last year, it was Dupri’s idea for her to do so:
    • Yes, 100 percent. It was that line I said, as I was the originator of the idea. So I said, we had the layout of the match where she’s going to yell at me and I’m going to walk out of the ring. And I just felt like if you want me to walk out of the ring, give me a reason to walk out of the ring. To me, I didn’t look at it as a negative towards my brother or towards my situation. To me, it felt like a positive, I get to bring light to the fact that I have a brother. To me, it was: we’re gonna acknowledge someone that’s my whole world that passed away, whether she’s saying it in a negative way or positive way. To me, it was a positive. And I love Candice, she’s an angel, such a wonderful human, a wonderful mom. I don’t have anything bad to say about her.
  • Dupri said she did make a mistake by not letting her mother know in advance that her brother would be mentioned:
    • My mom was definitely emotional about it. But again, she wasn’t emotional that Candice said something. She just didn’t know that that was going to come up. But if I would have told her, she would feel the same way that I feel. But Mondays are crazy, you know, the day gets going, you’re busy. I forgot to give her a warning.
  • Joe Hendry will be working both of NXT’s house shows in Florida this weekend.
  • After the title was vacated by Kylie Rae, WWE ID will crown a new Women’s Champion on November 17: “BREAKING….The new WWE ID Women’s Champion will be crowned on Nov. 17th at @WrestlingOpenRI at Rhodes On Pawtuxet in Cranston, RI! Whoever wins the championship will be ID’d!!! More info to come!!!”
  • Liv Morgan and Dominik Mysterio appeared in a holiday ad for sports retailer Lids.
  • Boxer Claressa Shields was the guest on a new episode of “What’s Your Story?” with Stephanie McMahon.
  • Logan Paul uploaded a new vlog.

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Joseph Currier
Joseph Currier

Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.

In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.