Daily Update: Brock Lesnar, Afa, Cora Jade

Latest News

• WWE Raw live results: Seth Rollins vs. Jinder Mahal World title match
• Nic Nemeth vs. Matt Cardona announced for GCW The Coldest Winter 2
• Report: UFC Saudi Arabia show postponed until June
• Cora Jade suffered ACL tear at NXT house show
• Hulk Hogan helps rescue driver of overturned vehicle

Latest Audio

• Wrestling Observer Radio: All the weekend shows plus Roman Reigns, Cora Jade, line-ups and more
• Bryan & Vinny & Craig Show: Collision with awesome main event, BOTB IX with great streetfight

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week's Wrestling Observer Newsletter

• January 15, 2024 Observer Newsletter: 2023 business year in review

• The biggest crowds of the year for pro wrestling, boxing, MMA and even college wrestling
• What pro wrestlers were drawing the biggest crowds most often
• How each promotion did as far as drawing in 2023
• The biggest gates of the year
• Pro wrestling history--the biggest drawing card every year dating back to 1916
• Most years for any wrestler in history as the leading draw
• 50 Biggest drawing cards of all-time based on annual dominance and longevity
• Royal Rumble update
• Early notes on AEW Revolution and how the main event was set up
• The life and times of Killer Khan, the top drawing actual Japanese native when it comes to major crowds in U.S. history and the feud with Andre the Giant, Choshu's Army and a look at pro wrestling in the 70s and 80s in the U.S., Japan and Mexico.
• New Year Dash, New Japan's next major shows, and future of several of New Japan's top guys
• The most detailed look at the ratings for the past week, weekly standings, nightly competition, ups and downs compared to last year, segment-by-segment.
• Former world champion open to moving to Mexico and working full-time
• Unique tournament in Mexico starts next week
• Promotion talks about its unique 2024 theme
• Movie on life of a current pro wrestling star release date
• Key intermediary in WWE/All Japan deal
• New Japan major shows for 2024
• New international promotional alliance
• Business of the Iron Claw movie
• Are WWE & AEW stars employees or independent contractors, what the new law says and why wrestling may fall through the cracks
• Notes on next season of Dark Side of the Ring
• Nic Nemeth in Puerto Rico
• Mustafa Ali independent return
• Return of TNA
• New major AEW & WWE hires
• Update on Worlds End PPV numbers
• Kota Ibushi injury update
• International TV ratings
• Lots of new major UFC fights
• Joshua vs. Ngannou business thoughts
• More on Raw TV deal
• Looking at how Raw would be expected to do on Amazon Prime
• Where Rock vs. Roman isn't happening
• CM Punk's UFC pay notes
• Pat McAfee controversy

This Week's Retro Observer Newsletter

• October 9, 2006 Observer Newsletter: Brian Pillman, Kurt Angle

Monday Update

Bryan and I will be up tonight talking Raw and the rest of the latest wrestling news with Wrestling Observer Radio. We have a show from last night up on the site right now.

Brock Lesnar will be back on WWE television very soon.

Best wishes to Afa Anoa'i, the uncle of the Usos and Roman Reigns, who had two mild heart attacks over the weekend while being hospitalized for pneumonia. He was released from the hospital yesterday. 

Cora Jade's knee injury suffered Saturday night at the house show was believed by those in WWE to be a torn ACL.

Right now no update on whether Carmelo Hayes will be able to wrestle Tuesday. He and Trick Williams were to be a team in the Dusty Rhodes tournament and face Edris Enofe & Malik Blade tomorrow night, and no doubt creative had been worked into the match. Hayes was injured in his match Friday night on Smackdown with Austin Theory which was stopped due to injuries to both men. 

Raw tonight is the final major show up against football so the ratings should bounce back next week. It goes up against the Philadelphia Eagles vs. Tampa Bay Bucs wildcard playoff game on both ABC & ESPN. The combined audience should be the largest of the season, more than 30 million, so if Raw gets even an 0.42 it should be considered good. The show features Seth Rollins vs. Jinder Mahal for the world title, Damien Priest & Finn Balor vs. The Miz & R-Truth non-title, Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonagh vs. DIY plus the return of Gunther.

Because today is Martin Luther King Day, the ratings will be delayed with the Friday numbers (Smackdown did a strong number again) delayed until tomorrow. The Saturday and Monday numbers should be out Wednesday, and the Tuesday and Wednesday numbers should be out Thursday.

We're looking for reports from tonight's Raw show in North Little Rock, AR, with Main Event matches and anything else off television, as well as last night's results from the house show in Rio Rancho, NM to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

We're also doing weekend polls on NJPW Battle in the Valley and ROH Hard to Kill, thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to dave@wrestlingobserver.com

For Google searches, the only thing boxing, MMA or wrestling related over the past week was Saturday's UFC show, which was No. 7 for the day (very high number since we're in NFL playoffs and the Real Madrid vs. Barcelona game was big) at 200,000. It was UFC's first show of the year but it was only on ESPN+ and was an Apex arena show and did what a WWE PPV does.

Peacock set its record for viewing with Saturday's Chiefs vs. Dolphins wildcard playoff game with 23 million viewers. That's not just on Peacock as it was on TV in the Kansas City and Miami areas and did a 45 rating in KansasCity and a 14.5 in Miami. It is being claimed that this was the largest audience in the history of streaming in the U.S. The key as it pertains to wrestling is that a lot of new people signed up for Peacock for this game and thus it would in theory boost the Royal Rumble viewing number.

Thursday on AXS will air two major matches. Will Ospreay vs. Josh Alexander airs on Impact, and the New Japan TV show will be an hour devoted to Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson from the Tokyo Dome.

Trinity Fatu is expected to finish up with TNA at the tapings this coming weekend in Orlando, FL. She will then return to WWE.

Thanks to Jacob Pepper, Gerard Di Trolio and Michael Yoen for weekend show reports.

The matches not on the NJPW show that we've heard the most about this weekend was the NOAH main event with Kenoh vs. Go Shiozaki for the GHC title.

The Tai Tuivasa vs. Marcin Tybura heavyweight fight that was scheduled for 2/17 in Anaheim, CA on PPV, has been moved to 3/16 at the Apex Arena.

All of the matches at The Collecti shows in Philadelphia from 4/4 to 4/6 went on sale today with 20 percent off individual event ticket prices.

A horse named Tatanka won the fifth race Saturday at Gulfstream Park in Florida (thanks to Barry Werner)

Empire State Wrestling Frontier Freeze on Friday in Niagara Falls, NY at the Frontier Fire Hall features 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Channing Decker.

Stan Hansen will be appearing for AIW on 2/3 in Akron, OH at the Tadmore Shrine.

PBS in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area tomorrow will debut "Jesse Ventura Shocks the World," a documentary about him winning the election as Governor of the state in 1998.

Gable Steveson is once again scheduled for Friday's Smackdown show, but for a dark match. He's been doing that the last two weeks.