Daily Update: Violence in Mexico, WWE Raw, Mayweather vs. Pacquiao

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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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Monday Update

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— Bryan and I will be back tonight to talk all the news of a very busy today with Wrestling Observer Radio.

— After the death of cartel leader Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera Cervantes and rioting that ensued in parts of Mexico, tons of shows were canceled. CMLL is running tonight in Puebla as scheduled as well as Tuesday at Arena Mexico. The rioting has not spread to Mexico City. The Guadalajara show tomorrow has been canceled. The soccer game in Queretaro was canceled last night but they did play in Monterrey. Shows in Mexicali, which is a border city, Veracruz and Acapulco were all canceled. The promoter for a Sunday show in Reynosa announced all the AAA talent on the show has been pulled. Monterrey, where WWE is taping on Saturday, is right now on the no-travel list although there have been no major problems there.

— Netflix has announced a Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao rematch at Sphere in Las Vegas on 9/19. I’m guessing they will jack the ticket prices up like crazy in that building and it’ll do one of the biggest gates ever. This has been quite the week of big fight announcements on Netflix.

— Raw has a major show in Atlanta. The top talent from Smackdown was scheduled for the show due to the AJ Styles tribute. They had nearly 12,000 tickets out earlier today so a big crowd that could sell out. The main is the Styles tribute plus the return of Brock Lesnar. The last chamber qualifiers are Jey Uso vs. Bronson Reed vs. Original Grande Americano and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Kairi Sane vs. Iyo Sky.

— The first of what will be a lot of Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano preview stuff by MVP Promotions.

— The first press conference for that fight has been moved to 3/6 at 11 a.m. in Madison Square Garden.

— Wednesday’s AEW show did 692,000 viewers and an 0.12 in 18-49. The viewer number is the best the show has done in the Big Data era, but 18-49 is the same as last week. When I’ve been talking about how numbers don’t make sense, the show did 0.17 in 35-49 but 0.91 in 50-54. This is inexplicable.

— Thursday’s TNA Impact did 233,000 viewers and an 0.05 in 18-49. They were down a little from last week. No obvious red flags.

— ROH has announced TV tapings on 3/1 at the WJCT studios in Jacksonville. It’ll be a free show with matches starting at 3 p.m., but you have to reserve tickets or you may not get in. It’s an old TV studio type atmosphere. The studio is located near Tony Khan’s office at the Jaguars front office location. It’s a trial taping and if it goes well it will become the home of ROH. At this point these tapings will be for the ROH web site.

— Today is the 24th anniversary of the first ROH show at the Murphy Rec Center in Philadelphia. Amazing Red beat Jay Briscoe. Mark Briscoe couldn’t get licensed in Philadelphia to do that show because he wasn’t 18. The main event saw Low Ki win a three-way over Bryan Danielson and Christopher Daniels.

— At today’s Fantastica Mania show in Aichi, Sho & Soberano Jr. won the main event over Mistico & Desperado when Soberano Jr. pinned Mistico with the fire driver. This sets up Mistico vs. Soberano Jr. for the CMLL light heavyweight title on Friday night at Korakuen Hall. The two were to have a singles match but they did the angle to set up the title match today. They are running the smaller Edion Arena in Osaka at 4 a.m. Eastern with the finals of the tag team tournament with Mistico & Mascara Dorada vs. Magnus & Averno plus Atlantis & Atlantis Jr. & Templario vs. Hechicero & Ultimo Guerrero & Soberano Jr.

— We don’t have a list of where NXT will be preempted tomorrow outside of Chicago. In Chicago, the show will air at 11 a.m. Sunday on WGN due to airing the State of the Union address (thanks to Richard Wierzbowski).

— Real American Beer is doing a relaunch with Colby Covington as the new face of the brand. They announced he’s joined the brand as a long-term partner and investor. Covington will be promoting the beer at live events for RAF and all RAF programming.

— Jackie Redmond won’t be on Raw tonight because she was covering the U.S. vs. Canada hockey game in Italy last night. She said she will be on the TNT NHL game broadcast on Wednesday night but couldn’t make it home for tonight’s show in Atlanta.

— Some notable deaths on 2/23 include Richard Wilson/The Renegade 27 years ago today at the age of 33, Nick Roberts, the father of Baby Doll who was 72 when he passed away 24 years ago, Art Michalik, a former 49ers star and football coach in Southern California who had a long pro wrestling career, who was 91 when he passed away five years ago (thanks to Tony Richards).

— Tickets for Raw & Smackdown for WrestleMania week in Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena go on sale tomorrow to the general public. There is a pre-sale that started today.

— Chad Mendes was injured and pulled out of Saturday’s RAF show in Tempe, AZ. He was to face Benson Henderson. Henderson will now face former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling.

— Impact on Thursday has Mike Santana & Leon Slater vs. Nemeth Brothers, The Hardys & Righteous vs. The System, Lei Ying Lee vs. Dani Luna, Mance Warner vs. AJ Francis and Tasha Steelz vs. Jada Stone.

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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.