Daily Update: AEW Worlds End numbers, WWE SmackDown and Arena Mexico previews

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Observer is up on the site today:
*Road to WrestleMania including the booking changes and injury changes that have caused several changes of plans since they were first in place. We discuss the evolution of this year’s two main events.
*We look at how the Royal Rumble show changed on the last day
*Full Royal Rumble coverage
*Status of different matches
*AJ Styles and is this his final match
*Business notes on the show
*Plans for Elimination Chamber
*How Royal Rumble did on Netflix
*What changes in Nielsen have meant to the TV ratings and why this has happened, and how it will happen multiple more times in 2026 to a lesser degree
*Has the increased in reported viewership helped pro wrestling in the TV world
*Full UFC 325 coverage
*Death of Frankie Cain/Great Mephisto, one of the most intriguing pro wrestling characters of the 60s and 70s with ties to many different worlds
*Death of Bob Lueck, a former Stampede Wrestling headliner who was a CFL All-Star and how he was responsible for getting one of the most important and most influential wrestlers of all-time into the industry
*The most detailed look at the ratings of the pro wrestling shows this past week including placings, demos and silliness
*Box office record set
*CMLL star arrested
*AEW stars spend the week in CMLL
*Major Arena Mexico shows coming
*Reyes del Aire report
*Hiromu Takahashi leaving
*New Japan major show this week
*Fantastica Mania cards announced
*Best matches of 2025
*AEW booking direction
*New AEW signings
*Advance ticket sales for all the major WWE & AEW shows
*Dana White’s testimony regarding his job
*Pride star passes away
*Ava departure from WWE

This Week’s Back Issue

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Friday Update

— Our weekend schedule is that I will be doing the week in review show and talking the news in today’s Observer with Garrett Gonzales today and will be back with the weekend report on Sunday.

— AEW Worlds End wound up as the most purchased PPV since they went on HBO MAX, beating Full Gear, which had been the biggest since All In.

— Dynamite did 654,000 viewers with an 0.15 in 18-49 and 0.22 in 18-34. The latter two numbers, which are the most important, are the biggest of the big data era. The new system does help in total viewers a significant amount, but not much in 18-49 so these gains are a product that is on the ascent. We don’t have standings yet.

— Ari Emanuel was on Pat McAfee’s show today and said there will only be six or seven fights at the 6/14 UFC show at the White House.

— SmackDown tonight is in Charlotte, NC with Iyo Sky & Rhea Ripley vs. Giulia & Kiana James for the tag team titles, plus Chamber qualifying matches with Lash Legend vs. Chelsea Green vs. Tiffany Stratton and Aleister Black vs. Randy Orton vs. Solo Sikoa. Liv Morgan is als on the show. About 8,700 tickets were out as of earlier today.

— Balloting is closed for the 2025 Wrestling Observer awards which will come out this coming Thursday night. We had the most response I believe in our history to the awards. Thanks to everyone that participated.

— Tonight at Arena Mexico is headlined by Flip Gordon & Neon & Templario vs. Averno & Cavernario & Hechicero, Johnny Consejo (John Hennigan of AEW) vs. Soberno Jr. and Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja vs.. Mason Madden & Mansoor for the CMLL tag team titles. For Sunday at Arena Coliseo, the top three bouts are Atlantis Jr. & Esfinge & Titan vs. Cavernario & Euforia & Volador Jr., Difunto vs. Consejo and El Hijo del Villano III & Villano III Jr. vs. MxM Collection. Sunday at Arena Mexico has Atlantis Jr. & Templario & Titan vs. Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr., Gordon vs. Consejo and Magnus & Vegas Depredador vs. MxM Collection. Monday in Puebla has a rematch from last Monday’s sold out show with Mistico & Mascara Dorada & Templario vs. Cavernario & Soberano Jr & Volador Jr.

— Lots of WWE talent and AEW talent are in San Jose/San Francisco for Super Bowl media. This led to the Seth Rollins/MJF meeting yesterday. Those from AEW there are Tony Khan, Toni Storm, Orange Cassidy, MJF and Swerve Strickland.

— There will be an all-women’s show on 3/6 at Arena Mexico. They announced there would be AEW talent on the show, but no names were mentioned yet. Mei Seira & Starlight Kid from Stardom will also be challenging Jarochita & Lluvia for the CMLL women’s tag team titles.

— AAA will be live on Saturday night at 9 p.m. with two matches announced, Grande Americano vs Rey Fenix vs. Dragon Lee vs. Octagon Jr., will be in a Rey de Reyes first round match plus Ethan Page & Chelsea Green vs. Mr. Iguana & Lola Vice for the mixed tag team titles. Dominik Mysterio will be there live to build to a later match with El HIjo del Vikingo over the AAA Mega title. They will als be taping for the 2/14 and 2/21 shows tomorrow night.

— Mercedes Mone returns to Winnipeg on 3/31 for Winnipeg Pro Wrestling to defend her women’s title against the winner of an upcoming tournament.

— UFC runs 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Paramount+ tomorrow from the Apex Arena in Las Vegas:

Priscila Cachoeira (135.5) vs. Klaudia Sygula (135.5)
Jakub Wiklacz (135.5) vs. Muin Gafurov (141) – Gafurov missed weight by five pounds and was fined 25 percent of his purse. The fight is going to happen
Eduarda Moura (127) vs. Wang Cong (127.5) – Both missed weight. Since they both missed weight, neither is being fined. So if you’re going to miss weight, call your opponent and tell them to stop cutting and come to an agreement on weight
Javid Basharat (135.5) vs. Gianni Vazquez (141) – Vazquez missed weight by five pounds and is being fined 25 percent of his purse
Bruna Brasil (116) vs. Ketlen Souza (115.5)
Nikolay Veretenhnikov (170.5) vs. Niko Price (171)
Alex Morono (170) vs. Danil Donchenko (170.5)
Dustin Jacoby (204.5) vs. Julius Walker (206)
Faruid Basharat (136) vs. Jean Matsumoto (135.5)
Michal Oleksiejczuk (186) vs. Marc-Andre Barriault (184.5)
Jailton Almeida (241) vs. Rizvan Kuniev (254)
Kyoji Horiguchi (126) vs. Amir Albazi (125.5)
Mario Bautista (135.5) vs. Vinicius Oliveira (136)

— Selina Slay, an OnlyFans content creator who was at ringside at the Las Vegas AEW tapings doing the Andrade stuff, wrote on her Instagram about the experience, “lmao, this is so fake.” She was harassed after that to the point she deactivated her account.

— PFL runs tomorrow at the Coca Cola Arena in Dubai with the main card starting at Noon Eastern time. It will air on ESPN+ and ESPN Unlimited, but not on television:
Pouya Rahmani (250.2) vs. Karl Williams (256.5)
Abdoul Abdouraguimov (170.2) vs. Kendly St. Louis (171)
Ramazan Kuramagomedov (170) vs. Shmai Musaev (169.6) for the PFL welterweight title
Usman Nurmagomedov (155) vs. Alfie Davis (154.6)n for the PFL lightweight title

— The PFL announced a deal with RMC Sport for a multi-year partnership to broadcast in France, Monaco, Andorra, Luxembourg and Switzerland. The deal kicks off with tomorrow’s show.

— Konnan turns 62 today. Salina de la Renta turns 29. Tojo Yamamoto was born on this day in 1927. Tony Halme/Ludvig Borg was born on this day in 1963. Mario Galento passed away 37 years ago today at the age of 74. Hall of Famer Bobby Davis passed away five years ago today at 83. Konnan (1987) and Dos Caras (1970) made their debuts on this day.

— Today is the 50th anniversary of the Antonio Inoki vs. Willem Ruska first match at Budokan Hall. This was gigantic mainstream with the idea that Inoki, the top star of New Japan Pro Wrestling, would face the 1972 Olympic judo heavyweight gold medalist in a mixed match. The bout was billed to decide the world’s top mixed fighter and was meant for Inoki to win to build up the match later in the year with Muhammad Ali. Ruska was not just a judo gold medalist but a legit badass having beaten the toughest man in Brazil, Ivan Gomes (who later became a pro wrestler) in a challenge fight that was legit. (thanks to Tony Richards)

— Mike Mondo appears on tomorrow’s Memphis Wrestling TV show.

— Mike Santana, Prisccilla Kelly and Breeze (the former Tyler Breeze) wrestle tomorrow for AIW at Penguin City Brewing in Youngstown, OH.

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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.