Daily Update: Weekend notes on AEW, CMLL, and Trey Miguel

AEW title change & more spoilers for Collision Maximum Carnage

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

*The changes in the WrestleMania plans, the Drew McIntyre title win, Roman Reigns return and the whys.

*WWE getting Will Hobbs while AEW signs a slew of new talent as well.  A look at each case-by-case.

*Notes on the big weekend coming to Mexico City

*Kayla Harrison injury and what is the future for the biggest women’s fight in years

*Win-loss records and total bouts for all top WWE/NXT talent in 2025

*WWE Iron Man winner from 1984-2025

*What cutting back on the schedule has taught us about injuries

*Who gets protected in booking and who doesn’t

*The problem with the current schedule and development of young talent

*A star who has been around through various eras talks timing and injuries and best schedule

*A look at TNA’s debut on AMC, what went right and wrong

*When did wrestling start being a work.  Studying of history shows it’s a lot earlier than you would think

*Odds for WWE matches upcoming

*The most detailed look at the ratings of all the pro wrestling shows this past week, as well as comparisons with the past and a look at the level of declines and why

*What wrestler has already main evented 12 sold out shows in 2026

*One woman wrestler announces retirement and another retires

*Kazuchika Okada in Japan

*Most watched New Japan World matches of 2025

*Ted DiBiase Jr. on trial

*Death of Rick Link, from fan clubs to main events

*Jesse Ventura speaks about the current political environment

*The greatest wrestler in the world signs with Eric Bischoff’s promotionT

*Tons of major independent shows coming

*AEW gets TV in new market

*Ticket sales for upcoming WWE, AEW and TNA events

*Most viewed YouTube videos from AEW and WWE

*Tag team returning to AEW

*Dana White shuts down talk of major match

*A new lawsuit filed against WWE

*Notes on the recent WWE tryout

*Notes on all the WWE arena shows this past week.

This Week’s Back Issue

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Sunday Update

— Our Friday show was covering the news of the week like the TNA show, AEW ratings and focusing on going through the awards ballot with Ethan Tyler, Garrett Gonzales and Corey Lieb. I’ll be back tonight talking about the news with Bryan Alvarez.

— Today’s Arena Mexico show which started at 6 p.m. Eastern is streaming live for CMLL subscribers:

  • Audaz & Fuego vs Infarto & Disturbio
  • India Sioux & Jarochita & Lluvia vs. Marcela & Princesa Sugehit & La Magnifica
  • Lee Moriarty & Virus vs. Blue Panther & Xelhua
  • Atlantis Jr. vs. Roderick Strong vs. Esfinge
  • Euforia & Soberano Jr. & Difunto vs. Gates of Agony & Ricochet
  • Titan vs. Komander for CMLL welterweight title
  • Templario vs. Bandido for CMLL middleweight title

— Mistico & Mascara Dorada vs. Volador Jr. & Magnus is the main event for Villahermosa tonight along with a rudos battle with Ultimo Guerrero & Hechicero vs. Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja non-title. Persephone is also back from injury or at least on the poster for tonight.

— WWE ran last night in Gdansk, Poland: 

  • Je’Von Evans b Bron Breakker when Bronson Reed interfered. CM Punk made the save, which led to:
  • Punk & Evans b Reed & Breakker in a very hot match when Punk pinned Reed. Evans and Breakker were really over.
  • Raquel Rodriguez b Bayley in a good match. Lyra Valkyria and Roxanne Perez were in the corners. They issued challenges after.
  • Uncle Howdy & Dexter Lumis & Joe Gacy b Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa & JC Mateo. Howdy pinned Mateo. Gacy and Mateo worked hard.
  • Valkyria b Perez.
  • Cody Rhodes b Drew McIntyre via DQ in a WWE title match. Super heat. McIntyre was cheered at first. Rhodes got mild boos. McIntyre cut a promo running down Poland and said he wasn’t going to wrestle. Rhodes attacked him. The gimmick worked and the crowd turned completely. McIntyre used a low blow for the DQ. They brawled after and it ended with Rhodes coming off the top rope with a splash through the table. (thanks to Konrad Iwicki)

— As noted last night on Collision, Strong beat Hechicero on Friday night at Arena Mexico to get a shot at CMLL heavyweight champion Claudio Castagnoli. They shot an angle and stipulation on the Friday night Arena Mexico show for a match that takes place on the AEW Collision show on 1/24 in Arlington, TX. Ricochet beat Titan in the main event to keep the National title. That probably plays into the Titan vs. Komander booking.

— Hechicero didn’t wrestle today in Monterrey in his scheduled main event. They announced at the show he was injured Friday at Arena Mexico. He was also booked in Villahermosa. The two cities are 875 miles apart.

— It was 55 years ago today that Ivan Koloff beat Bruno Sammartino in Madison Square Garden to win the WWWF title in one of the biggest matches in pro wrestling history. Sammartino had been champion for seven-and-a-half years straight.

— TKO’s Andrew Schleimer said they expect to hold three PPV shows this year in Saudi Arabia.

— Since people have asked about this, with MLK’s Birthday tomorrow, the TNA rating on AMC probably won’t be out until Tuesday. Ratings and details are harder and harder to come by but I believe there is enough interest in this one that it will come out, even if Programming Insider doesn’t have it.

— Lots of talk regarding Trey Miguel. What we do know is that we had been told actually before the Rascalz story broke that Miguel would be debuting on Collision, and then it came out that all had signed a couple of days later. The thing is that the segment that he wasn’t on would have been taped on Wednesday. It may not have been shown before the fans in Phoenix. I would think not because if it had we’d have been talking about why he wasn’t in the segment a few days ago. Obviously something happened as Miguel wrote, “Taking a break from wrestling. Please respect my space and don’t tag me in any posts or comments. Go support the Rascalz still.” He had listed AEW on his social media and then removed it. He was released from his deal and nobody has said anything further.

— Thea Hail, Tatum Paxley, Ethan Page, Oba Femi and Lola Vice are all on the billboard at the arena in Saudi Arabia promoting the Rumble show. All the major stars are on it including Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns.

— Aleister Black suffered a broken tailbone in the ambulance match but it was said to be minor and the plan was for him to take time off after that match either way.

— Last night, after the Mistico & Dorada vs. Komander & Bandido match that sold out Arena Coliseo, Mistico, Dorada, Difunto, Soberano Jr., and Cavernario went to Arena Mexico for a sponsored show. These happen there fairly often. We rarely get results. CMLL doesn’t count that in weekly attendance since the show was sold to PanAmerican and they either invite their employees or are in charge of the tickets. The 1.15 million fans at Arena Mexico in 2025 did not include attendance at these events. Also, the top CMLL stars work far more dates than would be listed anywhere in the U.S.

— Santos Escobar returned after signing a new deal months ago on last night’s AAA show and was being groomed for a match with El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. for the Latin American title.

— Konnan was not on the English language broadcast of AAA last night. Corey Graves did the show with John Layfield. They only aired about one hour on YouTube last night and the other two hours taped will air over the next two weeks.

— Jordan Oliver and Alec Price were announced as being signed by AEW by MJF at Friday night’s Limitless Wrestling show in Lewiston, ME. MJF beat Price to retain the title in the main event. The storyline is that MJF will be defending his title on independent shows which he claimed puts him in the calibre of touring world champions like Ric Flair, Harley Race and Buddy Rogers.

— We’re looking for reports from tonight’s WWE show in Nottingham, England, results, finishes and highlights to [email protected]

— We’re looking for your thoughts on these weekend shows:

  • CMLL Friday from Arena Mexico
  • CMLL last night
  • TNA Genesis from last night
  • CMLL tonight
  • We’re looking for a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]

— Raw tomorrow at 3 p.m. Eastern from Belfast, Northern Ireland:

  • CM Punk vs. Finn Balor for world title
  • Becky Lynch vs. Maxxine Dupri for IC title
  • Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee & Penta vs. Logan Paul & Bronson Reed & Austin Theory
  • Je’Von Evans vs. Grande Americano

— The BBC did a piece today on Raw coming to Belfast tomorrow.

— Drew McIntyre and Kit Wilson were on ITV News promoting Smackdown.

— FOX News Digital talked to Izzy Dame.

— AEW Dynamite on Wednesday in Orlando has Kenny Omega vs. Josh Alexander, Samoa Joe vs. Mike Bailey, Megan Bayne & Penelope Ford vs. Toni Storm & Mina Shirakawa, Swerve Strickland vs. Kevin Knight and Jon Moxley & Daniel Garcia & Wheeler Yuta vs. Rocky Romero & Lance Archer & Hechicero. Plus MJF appears.

— Jorge Masvidal got speculation going that he is going to face Conor McGregor. Dana White said McGregor vs. Michael Chandler wasn’t happening at the White House without an explanation. Masvidal talked to MMA Junkie and was asked about the McGregor vs. Masvidal rumor. He said, “You never know, right? S***, give them what they want, not what they expect. I can say some big news. I have some fight news coming soon and it’s very big news and I can’t deny or confirm what you just said. You’ve got to let the chips fall where they may but definitely some big news headed toward the MMA community.”

— Not much on the Google trends for the weekend, obviously dominated by the NFL. Paddy Pimblett, who headlines this coming Saturday’s UFC show against Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title, was the No. 45 searched term of the weekend. Penn State won 32-3 before 12,530 fans at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Penn State was ranked No. 1 and Iowa No. 3. TNA’s Genesis PPV was No. 259. Nothing from WWE, AEW, AAA or CMLL made the list. There were no major UFC or boxing matches over the weekend.

—  New Japan had a show today in Sakura promoted by Yuji Nagata where Nagata & Aaron Wolf & Oleg Boltin & Toru Yan beat Evil & Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo in the main event when Wolf beat Togo with a reverse triangle.

— Ted DiBiase turns 72 today. Dave Bautista turns 57. Mark Briscoe turns 41. Wendy Choo turns 34. Toots Mondt, one of the most influential people in the history of wrestling, was born on this day in 1894. Mondt and Vince McMahon’s father started the WWWF and were partners dating back to the 50s. Perro Aguayo, one of the biggest drawing cards of all-time, would have been 81 today. Lord Athol Layton was 63 when he died on this day 42 years ago. The Sheik, Ed Farhat, was 76 when he died 23 years ago. The Sheik is one of the biggest drawing heels who ever lived. Pez Whatley died on this day 22 years ago at the age of 54 (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.