DAILY UPDATE
Latest News:
WWE SmackDown live results: Number one contender’s gauntlet
Brian Myers signs contract with Impact Wrestling
Two teams added to WWE NXT Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic
Daniel Bryan pushing to bring more NXT talent to WWE SmackDown
Brian Johnson signs new contract with Ring of Honor
AEW Dynamite & WWE NXT ratings impacted by news competition
Britt Baker vs. Thunder Rosa pulled from AEW Dynamite
Rhea Ripley’s WWE main roster call-up imminent
Latest Audio:
Big Audio Nightmare: Wrestle Kingdom 15, New Year Dash, more
WOL: THE 2021 ANNUAL PREDICTION SHOW!
Wrestling Weekly: A very real confrontation with COVID-19
B&V: Bryan and Vinny review AEW and NXT head-to-head!
Mat Men podcast: Bullet Club reunion?
JOB LISTING: Web/UI Developer(s)
Experience with OnLamp(Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP)
GITHUB and Linux command line experience while be helpful as well.
CMS – Drupal and WordPress. vBulletin
Possible experience with AWS(s3 specifically), Dreamhost, UI development
Cloud based hosting experience a plus
Javascript also a huge plus
While this is a diverse request this doesn’t have to be just one person! If you fit any part of this please feel free to inquire.
This is not just for projects related to F4WOnline.
Send all inquiries to tonyleder@f4wonline.com with title WEB DEVELOPER.
If you have inquired before, please send your information again.
Latest Free YouTube Video:
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!
WON NEWSLETTER: January 13, 2021 Observer Newsletter: More on the death of Brodie Lee, Wrestle Kingdom 15 review
We’ve got a few more notes related to the illness and death of Jon Huber.
Tony Schiavone said that the AEW Unrestricted podcast with Jon Huber/Brodie Lee was taped one day before he got sick. It went up on 11/2 but was taped a few days before that.
Huber was first hospitalized in Tampa when his lungs stopped working for reasons that still aren’t clear. The fact he was tested more than a dozen times for COVID-19, shows that the doctors at the Mayo Clinic were looking for that to be the reason. But every test came up negative, including for antibodies which would show if he somehow previously had it and it slipped through the cracks. He was being tested by AEW every time he came to television, which would mean sometimes weekly, and other times every other week.
AEW, and in specific, Megha Parekh, the Senior Vice President and Chief Legal officer for both the Jacksonville Jaguars and AEW, as well as the Khan family’s General Counsel, were able to get him moved, via airlift, from the hospital in Tampa, where the family lived, to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville on 10/31. The treatment at the Mayo Clinic was top-notch but also very expensive so a lot of strings had to be pulled. The diagnosis by that time was bleak, and while the odds were always strongly against him, there was hope the Mayo Clinic could save him.
Subscribers click here to continue reading.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to dave@wrestlingobserver.com or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to dave@wrestlingobserver.com.
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett Gonzalez and I will be doing our weekly show tonight covering the latest wrestling and MMA news.
Best wishes to Les Thatcher, who said earlier today that he tested positive for COVID-19 and is battling pneumonia related to the virus. Thatcher, who does a podcast on this site, has been around pro wrestling for 60 years and has done virtually everything both in the ring and related to promotion, television and media that one could do in the business.
Bill Apter talks about the death of Bobby Davis.
Regarding the too sweet stuff at the end of Dynamite on Wednesday, WWE did send the Young Bucks a cease and desist on doing that in 2017 which led to the short-lived attempted 1 sweet hand sign. Tama Tonga apparently said that the cease and desist never happened but the Young Bucks said they since forwarded him a copy of the letter. The WWE sent the letter to them after they did a skit on BTE which was a parody of when DX invaded Nitro. AEW legal did clear selling a new T-shirt related to this.
The Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism announced that a limited number of fans will be allowed to attend the 1/16, 1/20 and 1/23 UFC shows at Etihad Arena.
There will be a Giant Baba Memorial show on 2/4 at Korakuen Hall with this card of talent from a variety of companies:
Jinsei Shinzaki & Mitsuya Nagai & Tomoaki Honma vs. Kotaro Suzuki & Andy Wu & Alejandro
Mitsuo Momota & Takao Omori & Masao Inoue & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs. Masa Fuchi & Atsushi Onita & Great Kojika & Shiro Koshinaka
Bushi vs. Atsuki Aoyagi
Minoru Suzuki & Hikaru Sato vs. Yuji Nagata & Yuma Aoyagi
Keiji Muto & Suwama & Satoshi Kojima vs. Kaz Hayashi & Masayuki Kono & X
They will also be airing the February 4, 1982 match with Baba vs. Stan Hansen on the screen.
Irwin Rivera, the UFC fighter arrested yesterday (see newest Observer) for stabbing two of his sisters is suffering from mental illness according to manager Ali Abdelaziz. One of his sisters put out a statement saying she loves her brother and also blamed the violent crime on mental illness.
WWE
Smackdown tonight has Big E vs. Apollo Crews for the IC title and Street Profits vs Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode for the tag team titles. 205 Live has the Bollywood Boys vs. August Gray & Curt Stallion and Ariya Daivari vs. Ashante the Adonis.
With the death of legendary baseball manager Tommy Lasorda of the Los Angeles Dodgers today at 93, it’s noted that he was the ring announcer for the Los Angeles version of WrestleMania 2 (which was held in three cities) and the Hulk Hogan vs. King Kong Bundy match.
UFC
The 1/23 Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier fight will be airing at drive-in theaters around the country for $59. Each ticket will admit a full cover, truck or SUV for up to six passengers. All theaters will adhere to CDC guidelines.
UFC also announced it would contribute $1 million to the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas to continue studying long-term effects of repeated head trauma.
Cage Fury Fighting Championships, the promotion that C.M. Punk announces for, has signed a new multi-year contract to continue airing all of its shows live on UFC Fight Pass.
Belal Muhammad vs. Dheigo Lima has been added to the 2/13 show. They were to have met earlier but Muhammad tested positive for COVID-19.
OTHER NOTES
Impact has an Impact+ special tomorrow night featuring a one-night Super X Cup tournament and an I Quit match with Moose vs. Willie Mack.
Matt Striker and Gia Miller will be co-hosts for the Hard to Kill Cell-ebration on the morning of 1/16, the day the show airs. It will begin at 11 a.m. and be held on Zoom. Announced as appearing are Rich Swann, Deonna Purrazzo, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson, Don Callis, Eric Young, Kiera Hogan, Tasha Steelz, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley.
Kevin Eck’s weekly ROH news column.
Toadstool’s newest release was inspired by Mick Foley. (thanks to Lee Wall)
Former ROH star Jimmy Rave is trying to raise money through Go Fund Me to get a prosthetic arm.
International Wrestling Australia announced these dates: 1/9 at the Sawtell RSL Club, and 1/16 at the St. Johns Park Bowling Club,
As of yesterday, Brisbane, Australia was in a three-day lockdown to try and control the spread of the new UK strain of COVID.
Riot City Wrestling on 1/16 in Adelaide, Australia with Rocky Menero vs Barren in a Monster’s Ball match.
New Age Wrestling announced a 2/6 show in Melbourne, Australia (thank to Kevin Chiat)
Bare Knuckle Fighting announced the top matches for its 2/5 show in Lakeland, FL, headlined by Paige VanZant vs. Britain Hart, as well as former UFC fighter Johnny Bedford vs. Dat Nguyen and former UFC star Chris Leben vs. Quentin Henry. The show will air on all television PPV outlets as well as on FITE.TV
KSW announced a battle of undefeated fighters for its 1/30 show with Shmail Musaev (14-0) of Russia facing Uros Jurisic (11-0) of Slovenia. Jurisic signed a multi-fight deal with KSW and this will be his debut. Olympic weightlifting Olympic gold medalist Szymon Kolecki (8-2) facs Martin Zawada (29-15-1) in the show’s main event, plus Salahdine Parnasse (14-0-1) defends the KSW featherweight title against Daniel Torres (11-4) of Brazil.
Salina de la Renta will be the Executive Producer of Wednesday’s MLW episode.
Daily Pro Wrestling History: Edge cashes in MITB to win WWE title
CONTACT INFORMATION
Poll opinions: dave@wrestlingobserver.com
Feedback: feedback@wrestlingobserver.com
Show results and news tips: newstips@wrestlingobserver.com
Wrestling Observer Radio questions: mailbag@wrestlingobserver.com
Support the Empire~! with F4W shirts. Grab yours today