Daily Update: Shows in Mexico canceled due to violence, UFC fallout

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania updates. Update on ticket sales to both shows as well as AEW Revolution and explanations of why and current interest level in tickets.
  • Notes on the giant gates WWE drew for WrestleMania last year and John Cena’s retirement.
  • How much Mania tickets have increased in recent years
  • Odds on this week shows
  • Gina Carano vs. Ronda Rousey and a history of how women’s MMA overcame so many obstacles due to those two. We look at what each did, their background, the story behind the 2014 fight that never happened and why this fight is happening, as well as addressing very serious questions regarding the fight.
  • A look at nostalgia fights and different ways to do them and how they work or don’t work
  • A look at the life and career of the Great Mephisto, one of the most creative minds in wrestling as a wrestler and booker of the 60s and 70s, including his heyday in San Francisco and Australia and stories about his confrontations with Roy Shire, copying from and teaming with The Sheik, Booking WCW in Australia, and a life that start as a street hustler in the depression to facing Hulk Hogan in his first match ever in Northern California.
  • The most detailed look at the television ratings over the past week, with comparisons, Nielsen and Netflix flaws, Olympics and more.
  • Major change in CMLL rules and thoughts about it
  • This past week in CMLL including a hot Friday night sold out show with Mistico vs. Templario
  • Mistico talks Observer awards
  • Saya Kamitani update
  • FantasticaMania first night
  • Cain Velasquez update
  • Notes on the death of Brett Wolverton and Kerwin Silfies
  • Mick Foley television series
  • Longest lasting pro wrestling ring announcer
  • Eve sets UK record
  • Tag team holds titles in Europe & Japan at the same time
  • TNA No Surrender notes
  • More on mainstream coverage of Brody King
  • More on WBD sale
  • Report that Trump will kill current deal
  • AEW in Australia notes
  • Sean Strickland is an idiot
  • Dana White talks boxing
  • Gable Steveson fights again and update
  • Janel Grant lawsuit update
  • Another WWE European tour and PLE show
  • Bad Bunny wrestling update

This Week’s Back Issue

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Sunday Update

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— I’ll be back tonight for a show. It’ll be either with Bryan or Garrett that I guess is to be determined by schedule.

— The shooting of El Mencho (famous Mexican gang leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes), one of the most powerful cartel members (leader of the CING group), has rocked the country. Mass violence has broken out in many parts of Mexico. A ton of wrestling shows have been canceled and more will be. Everyone is concerned and people are afraid to go out in several different states in that country. There is an unwritten rule that gangs don’t do violence in Mexico City because the tourism business is so big and if they did, that would kill the business and hurt the economy for everyone. But outside of Mexico City, shows are being canceled left and right. I expect some stuff to be made official in CMLL in the next 24 hours.

Lots of people in places like Jalisco and Michoakan are afraid to leave their homes. Schools in Jalisco and Nayarit are closed tomorrow. The Puerto Vallarta government is strongly urging residents and visitors to stay indoors and avoid non-essential travel. Public transportation services are temporarily suspended in that city. Drivers are advised to avoid the roadways. Businesses are asked to temporarily close and hotels are advising guests not to leave the premises. I’ve had people suggest that the wrestling business in Mexico is going to take a hit from this for some time to come.

— On Tuesday, a lot of the CW stations around the U.S. will be pre-empting NXT for the State of the Union address. I expect when the rating comes out it’ll include those stations so the rating will be artificially very high and will have to be adjusted later.

— The plan right now is for Friday’s Arena Mexico show to be headlined by Angel de Oro vs. Johnny Consejo (Johnny TV) in a hair vs. hair match.

— Thanks for all the nice comments on the Great Mephisto article and the Ronda Rousey & Gina Carano article in the current issue.

— Sean Strickland beat Anthony Hernandez in yesterday’s UFC main event. Dana White blamed the media for asking questions to Strickland which led to him saying stupid misogynistic and racist stuff. Then he complained about fighter pay. I mean, Zuffa signing Connor Benn to a one-fight deal that has been reported for $15 million has made many in the UFC take notice. Strickland after the show said, “You want to see the last American in the sport go and F*** (Khamzat Chimaev) up. I’ll bring a ‘ f***ing goat and he’ll get distracted.” At that point UFC cut his mic off.

— Dana White, when talking about the Benn signing, said, “Is there a bigger pussy than Eddie Hearn (Benn’s promoter). This guy’s supposed to be your friend, you’re f***ing crying? He made more money. He’s going to make more money, and he had the right to match it. He could have matched it.” White’s line on the other major boxing promoters is, “We’re literally beating up babies.”

— Take Turki’s checkbook away and this reverses in no time flat.

— White refused to say anything negative on the Rousey vs. Carano fight, saying they talked about this since last year but it didn’t work out, but said he was happy for Rousey, and happy for both of them. Rousey said in their talks she was offered the highest PPV bonus package to date, but when the deal with Paramountwas signed, they wouldn’t give them a guarantee at the level of what she perceived they’d have made for PPV and they got the deal from MVP Promotions. That indicates UFC won’t try and block the fight.

— Wrestler Nicole Lucero, real name Lincoolth Hernadnez-Lucero, was taken into ICE custody on 2/11. She is from Colombia and has lived in the U.S. for nine years. She and her husband were working on updating their immigration status. Her attorney said she entered the U.S. legally at the age of 15 and has been undergoing the asylum application process with the rest of her family when she was detaind.

— There was WWE on TV tonight with CW airing the A&E Bio on Steve Austin in primetime and ESPN airing an edited version of the 2026 Royal Rumble show also in prime time. For those on the West Coast, it’s airing shortly.

— The name Dorian Van Dux that WWE trademarked last week is for Mike D Vecchio, meaning he’ll be starting immintely on NXT. He’s been working house shows.

— Countdown to AEW Revolution airs Saturday night on TNT at 10 p.m. right after Collision.

— Steve Corino wrestled this weekend for PWF.

— Kushida reportedly became the first Japanese wrestler to wrestle in Alaska yesterday and the first to be given a piledriver on the snow. At least that’s what’s being claimed. This took place for the 907 Wrestling promotion.

— Raw tomorrow has added Maxxine Dupri vs. Nattie to the AJ Styles tribute, the return of Brock Lesnar and Chamber qualifiers with Jey Uso vs. Bronson Reed vs. Original Grande Americano and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Iyo Sky vs. Kairi Sane.

— AEW Dynamite for Wednesday has only announced Jon Moxley vs. Clon, Brody King vs. Mark Davis and Orange Cassidy vs. Gabe Kidd. They will also finalize stips for MJF vs. Adam Page’s PPV match.

— Congrats to Bruce Buffer who celebrated 30 years as UFC ring announcer last night in Houston.

— WWE is looking at blacking out all public airings of Elimination Chamber on Saturday because the show hasn’t sold out. In the end, it will be a full house, but this is likely not to be the best P.R.

  • — FantasticaMania today in Osaka:
  • El Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Shoma Kato b Tiger Mask & Tatsuya Matsumoto
  • Yujiro Takahashi & Sho & Yoshinobu Kanemaru b Ultimo Guerrero & Satoshi Kojima & Okumura
  • Philip Marlowe Jr. (Yota Tsuiji) & Titan & Shingo Takagi & Bone Soldier Jr. (Taiji Ishimori) & Daiki Nagai b Stigma & El Desperado & Ryusuke Taguchi & MasterWAto & Masatora Yasuda
  • Templario vs. Soberano Jr. vs. Hechicero went to a 10:00 draw
  • Averno & Maganus b Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. in the 2026 tag team tournament semifinal. Averno pinned Atlantis Jr., which sets up Atlantis Jr. defending the historica light heavyweight title against Averno on Thursday night at Korakuen Hall
  • Mistico & Mascara & Dorada b Futuro & Valiente Jr. in the other semifinal. People have been raving about this one.

— On the Google searches for the weekend, nothing from pro wrestling had any traction this weekend. Yesterday’s UFC show had 215,000 searches which is a strong Fight Night number. The show was the No. 2 television show and No. 4 show overall on Paramount yesterday and up six percent in viewers from the show two weeks ago.

— Ratings for AEW on Wednesday and TNA on Thursday should be out tomorrow.

— For best matches of the weekend, I saw some of Friday’s Josh Alexander vs. Esfinge match and what I saw was excellent and super heated. AEW Collision was unusually good in that the action in every match but the Megan Bayne squash was good, and really most bouts were great. As for in-ring wrestling, it was a hell of a television show. Alexander vs. Claudio Castagnoli was uniquely good in a different way from most matches nowadays because it was built around creative stuff. I guess the Young Bucks matches usually are as well. FTR vs. Rascalz was exactly what I’d expect prior to the surprise finish, which immediately puts the Rascalz in the title picture. The other bout I heard raves about was the Osaka match today with Misitco & Mascara Dorada vs. Futuro & Valiente Jr. I figured that to be great given Futuro & Valiente Jr. don’t get main events in Mexico. Also mentioned to me was the Yuki Ueno vs. Kaisei Takechi main event of the DDT show.

— Sean Brady vs. Joaquin Buckley will be the main event of the 4/25 UFC show at the Apex. Renato Moicano vs. Chris Duncan will headline the 4/4 show at the Apex.

— Jailton Almeida was contacted by MVP Promotions to face Junior Dos Santos on the Rousey vs. Carano undercard on 5/16. But he turned it down to sign with ACW out of Russia. Almedia was just cut by UFC even though he was ranked in the top ten at heavyweight, believed to be for having a boring fight.

— House of Glory from Friday night in New York: Midas Black & Jay Lyon b JJP & KB Prime, Gabby Forza b Amira Sahar, Joey Silver b Diamond Virago-DQ, Private Party b Angel Vazquez & Idris Jackson, Andrade El Idolo b Charles Mason-COR, MJF b Zilla Fatu to keep the AEW title. They shot an angle with MJF and Andrade for a possible future AEW title match here that aired on Collision last night.

— On Real Time with Bill Maher on HBO, Bill did a joke saying that at every State of the Union address the President enters the room like he’s Conor McGregor entering the Octagon (thanks to Jeff Beecher)

— The 3/6 Eve show at The Big Penny Social in Walthamstow, London, England with Jamie Hayter vs. Miyu Yamashita has sold out all seats but there is standing room available. The 3/8 show at the Indigo in the O2 Arena is completely sold out.

— Super Calo turned 55 today. The original Mr. Niebla was born on this day 53 years ago. (thanks to Tony Richards)

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Dave Meltzer
Dave Meltzer

Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.