POST IT NOTES
**Rewind-A-Dynamite is live tonight at 10:15 p.m. ET with Wai Ting and I reviewing the final Dynamite before the Full Gear pay-per-view. We will be live for Double Double, Iced Capp & Espresso members of the POST Wrestling Café with the show available late tonight for everyone.
**On today’s POST Daily News, Wai Ting and I discuss Raw’s viewership drop on Monday and the third-hour collapse, thoughts on NXT 2.0 and the announcement of War Games next month, the report on UpUpDownDown and Xavier Woods, and a preview of tonight’s AEW Dynamite card from Indianapolis. You can listen to the show on Patreon or watch it on YouTube.
**Tuesday’s edition of upNXT is featured on the site with Braden Herrington & Davie Portman reviewing the latest episode of NXT 2.0 and their thoughts on the evolving product during its changes, the announcement of War Games, and a Poker Showdown set for next week. The two also share their thoughts on the recent cuts by WWE and take your feedback.
**On Thursday, Nate Milton will join me for the POST Daily News update that is available on YouTube and Patreon. The next edition of The NWA Podcast will be released this Saturday with Nate, Kris Ealy, and Andrew Thompson.
**Wai Ting will be joining the upNXT crew later this week for an edition of Best Match Ever looking at the “SmackDown Six” from 2002. The show will be released on the upNXT Patreon feed.
**This weekend, we will have reports on the site covering AEW Full Gear, NJPW’s Battle in the Valley, ROH Honor for All, and both Game Changer Wrestling cards.
POST SCHEDULE
Tonight: Rewind-A-Dynamite with John & Wai [10:15 p.m. ET]
Thursday: The British Wrestling Experience
Friday: Rewind-A-SmackDown with John & Wai [11:15 p.m. ET]
Saturday: The NWA Podcast
Saturday: AEW Full Gear POST Show
Sunday: Wrestlenomics Radio
WRESTLING NEWS
**AEW Dynamite takes place from the Indiana Farmers Market in Indianapolis for the final Dynamite before the pay-per-view. Below are the matches and segments announced for tonight:
*Contract Signing: Kenny Omega and Hangman Page
*Bryan Danielson vs. Rocky Romero (their first singles match since February 2008)
*Dax Harwood vs. PAC
*Dr. Britt Baker, Jamie Hayter & Rebel vs. Tay Conti, Anna Jay & Thunder Rosa
*Dante Martin & Lio Rush vs. Matt Sydal & Lee Moriarty
*Tony Schiavone speaks with The Inner Circle
**Bryan Danielson appeared on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani on Wednesday to promote tonight’s match with Rocky Romero and Full Gear on Saturday night. Danielson spoke about his origins in grappling and learning in the New Japan Dojo beginning in 2002 where he was roommates with Lyoto Machida.
The decision to leave WWE after his contract expired was discussed and the process of opting to sign with AEW. He signed a three-year deal with the promotion and is unsure if it will be the final contract of his career. He noted how hard the choice was, stating he loved WWE and specifically Vince McMahon with both AEW and WWE offering him the option of working outside the company. His options were WWE, AEW, select one-off shows without signing a contract, or just becoming a full-time father with two children.
The most interesting aspect was Danielson being asked about the mass cuts WWE has executed since April 2020 and Danielson questioning why a company can get out of a long-term contract by providing 90-days notice but it doesn’t work in the other direction when talent is unhappy and wants out.
In some ways I get it, and, in some ways, I feel like it’s not right and it’s hard because my father-in-law (John Laurinaitis) is the head of talent relations there and has to call them.
One of the things that I’ve always had a hard time with, and I’ve been fired from WWE twice, so I kind of get this. It’s one thing if somebody does something bad but like, for example, if you’re under contract to WWE and you’re not happy or you’re not happy with the company or whatever it is. If they can fire you and give you 90 days (notice), you should be able to give them 90 days to be released from your contract. But on the flip side, if they’re only firing you for budget cuts when they’re more profitable than ever, um, I just don’t think that that’s right.
They signed a lot of people to high-end contracts when AEW kind of started to keep people from going to AEW or whatever it is. But then, they realized, ‘Oh, well AEW can’t sign all of these people’ so, now that the people that have too many high-end contracts or whatever it is, if they feel like they’re getting paid more than they should be getting paid they’ll let them go or whatever it is. But you offered them a contract, be it for three years or whatever. If you overpaid them, that’s your bad and you’re still a very profitable company, so that’s kind of my take on it. I wish they wouldn’t, you know what I mean?
But I also understand, it’s business in America. Profits tend to be the most important thing to companies a lot of times and you can even talk to the people within the company, like, I love Vince McMahon, I do. I have learned so much from him, but companies are not people, right?
Danielson went on to state that he assumed that it’s how the wrestling business operated but then saw how AEW handled talent releases throughout the pandemic. He noted AEW released three people during the pandemic and that Tony Khan opts to allow deals to expire rather than make cuts before the deal ends. He stated this did play a factor in his decision-making.
**Greg Oliver at SLAM! Wrestling has a story on the recent passing of “Dazzler” Joe Cornelius, who died on October 30th at the age of 93 after battling dementia. In the story, Oliver writes that Cornelius was working as a maintenance engineer and was encouraged to try pro wrestling and would debut in Germany and rose to become a top name by 1955 traveling around Europe and getting publicity through television and movie work. He wrestled until 1967 and put out his autobiography in 1984.
William Regal tweeted the following about Cornelius after learning of his passing:
I’m very sorry to hear of the passing of “ The Dazzler” Joe Cornelius. A wonderful Pro and lovely man. I spent several years traveling the World with Terry Rudge who told me lots of wonderful tales of Joe. A tale of Joe made @bryandanielson become The Dazzler
— William Regal (@RealKingRegal) November 10, 2021
**Below are the matches for tonight’s episode of MLW Fusion ALPHA streaming at 7 p.m. ET on its YouTube channel:
*Opera Cup Semi-Finals: Davey Richards vs. Bobby Fish
*Los Parks vs. 5150
*12-Man Survival Tag Match: EJ Nduka, Richard Holliday, Zenshi, Savio Vega, Warhorse & The Blue Meanie vs. King Mo, Gino Medina, Kevin Ku, Ikuro Kwon, KC Navarro & The Beastman
**The WWE Superstar Gaming Series returns on Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET on the company YouTube channel. The stream will be hosted by Xavier Woods with WWE talent Big E., Bayley, Samoa Joe, and Liv Morgan involved along with T-Pain, Mari Takahashi, and other streamers. The timing is interesting after Tuesday’s report from Fightful over the standoff between the team at UpUpDownDown and WWE over compensation for Woods from the channel, which has led to minimal content appearing on the channel over the past three weeks.
**WWE has partnered with The National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation for a multi-year period to honor those receiving the Medal of Honor. WWE is going to work with the museum to tell the stories of various recipients and begin with today’s WrestleMania on-sale party at AT&T Stadium. For each souvenir ticket issued at tonight’s party, $1 will be donated to the museum while the partnership will extend to WWE’s television platforms including this Sunday’s Tribute to the Troops special where Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams will be honored. Williams is the last surviving recipient of the Medal of Honor in World War II.
**Malakai Black spoke with Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT about his arrival in AEW, the potential of working with Buddy Matthews again, a House of Black stable, his program with Cody Rhodes, and sharing high praise for Dante Martin after their recent match on TV:
I think for a kid in his early 20s, to have the ability that he has, that match for me was a way of saying it’s make or break. He’s fearless. He’s extremely talented. He’s a little ahead of himself, but that’s where people like me step in to bring him back a little bit more. From a competitive point of view, I feel he has the capacity, if he stays the right course, to have this Will Ospreay effect on high-flying wrestling. And that’s incredibly high praise. Whether you love or hate him, Ospreay is a guy who when I saw him I told him – and you can ask him this – ‘If you stay the course, you’re going to change the high flying part of wrestling.’ Same with Ricochet.
**Our condolences to Lio Rush, who announced the passing of his grandmother on Tuesday:
Just got some rough news that my grandmother has sadly passed from a heart attack. We talked about how she looked forward to seeing me wrestle on TV again. Tomorrow I’ll be making my @AEW debut without my grandmother. But i know she will still be watching. This is for you.
**Nia Jax has changed her name on Twitter, now going by her real name of Lina Fanene, and made a joke about her recent release:
First she broke my arm, then she dragged me out of the business 😭😩 @QoSBaszler pic.twitter.com/MGg7x1qBIG
— Lina Fanene (@NiaJaxWWE) November 10, 2021
**AEW has posted its Road to Full Gear feature including another phenomenal promo from Eddie Kingston building towards the CM Punk match. With the segment on Rampage and all the attention Kingston has received for the piece in the Players’ Tribune, this feels like a really big match on Saturday.
**The NWA posted footage after ‘By Any Means Necessary’ went off the air with an angle involving Mike Knox attacking Trevor Murdoch. Knox attacked Murdoch and locked both of them inside of the steel cage as he continued the attack.
**Freddie Prinze Jr. is launching a podcast called WWFreddie – Wrestling with Freddie and spoke with People about his grandmother cultivating his passion for pro wrestling and how he got involved working on the creative staff for the WWE.
**Game Changer Wrestling has added a Scramble match to this Friday’s Evil Deeds cards in Detroit featuring Leon Ruff, Brayden Lee, Nate Webb, Yoya, Cole Radrick, and Chase Burnett. The promotion has announced that the show is sold out.
**Rising talent Jack Cartwheel has been added to the GCW cards on December 3rd in Houston, December 4th in Dallas, and December 17th in Los Angeles.
**A match between Sandra Moone and Dark Sheik has been added to GCW’s LA Fights card on Sunday, November 28th at Don Quixote.
**Ring of Honor has released a three-disc DVD on Adam Cole featuring matches against Roderick Strong, Chris Hero, Jay Briscoe, Jushin Thunder Liger, AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Kyle O’Reilly, and many others.
**Writer Joe Hansen has a lengthy feature on the Kenny Omega vs. Hangman Page feud going into Full Gear this Saturday.
**Hiroshi Tanahashi speaks about the 2010 G1 Climax final against Satoshi Kojima.
**BetOnline has released odds for this Saturday’s AEW Full Gear pay-per-view with the following lines:
*Kenny Omega (+400) vs. Hangman Page (-700)
*Dr. Britt Baker (-1000) vs. Tay Conti (+525)
*Bryan Danielson (-300) vs. Miro (+200)
*The Lucha Bros. (-450) vs. FTR (+275)
*CM Punk (-1000) vs. Eddie Kingston (+525)
*MJF (-200) vs. Darby Allin (+150)
*The SuperKliq (-200) vs. Christian Cage & Jurassic Express (+150)
*The Inner Circle (-250) vs. Men of the Year & American Top Team (+170)
**Cowboy Bob Orton, Ryback, and Cassie Lee (the former Peyton Royce) have birthdays today.
MMA NEWS
**Frankie Edgar spoke about his loss to Marlon Vera on his “Champ and The Tramp” podcast. Off the top, Edgar said he was happy with his performance and thought the fight was going well especially in the opening round. Edgar felt the fight could have gone longer after the front kick in round three that ended the bout. Edgar said he had a bad feeling after referee Todd Anderson went over everything in the back and had never had Anderson as his referee prior. Edgar felt it was not consistent with other fights that were given more leeway (the obvious comparison being Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler that took place earlier on the main card). Regarding his future, he gave the following answer: (Transcribed by Farah Hannoun of MMA Junkie)
Everybody’s going to bring up the f*cking retirement and this and that, and I’m not gonna answer it because I don’t know what it is honestly.I just want to know when I do retire, I’m never coming back. I’m not ready for that yet. I’m not ready to make that decision yet.
But this is probably the first time after a fight where I’m not thinking about my next fight. I’m not thinking about getting back in the gym. I know I’m never gonna stop training no matter what I decide, and I will be back in the gym soon just because I’m addicted to that. But I’m not thinking of it, and this is the first time probably in my fight career that that’s happened.
**Ag Fight was the first to report that Angela Hill will replace Nina Nunes against Amanda Lemos in a strawweight fight at the UFC Fight Night card on December 18th. Hill earned a decision win against Ashley Yoder this past March but is coming off a decision loss to Tecia Torres at UFC 265 in August. Lemos has won her last four fights in the UFC with TKO victories against Livia Renata Souza and Montserrat Ruiz this year.
**A boxing fight between a former NFL and NBA player has been announced for December 18th on the same card where Jake Paul will fight Tommy Fury. ESPN reports that former NFL player Frank Gore is set to box former NBA player Deron Williams in a four-round heavyweight fight on the Showtime card from Tampa, Florida. The 37-year old Williams owns a stake in the Fortis MMA gym in Dallas and played in the NBA from 2005 until 2017 with the Utah Jazz, New Jersey/Brooklyn Nets, Dallas Mavericks, and Cleveland Cavaliers. Gore is 38-years old and played through the 2020 season as a running back with the San Francisco 49ers, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, and New York Jets and rushed for 16,000 yards while becoming a five-time Pro Bowler.
**UFC strawweight contender Carla Esparza spoke with Danny Segura of MMA Junkie about her belief she should be fighting for the title next. Following Rose Namajunas’ win over Zhang Weili at UFC 268, UFC president Dana White indicated they have other options for Namajunas when asked about Esparza fighting for the belt. Esparza has won her last five fights including wins over contenders Marina Rodriguez and Yan Xiaonan and holds a win over Namajunas when they fought in December 2014 to crown the first 115-pound champion.
**Bellator featherweight champion Cris Cyborg has released the first episode of her Fight Week series leading into her title defense against Sinead Kavanagh this Friday at Bellator 271 in Hollywood, Florida. The first episode features comments from coach Antonio McKee, who is working with Cyborg for this fight.
**Josh Barnett turns 44 years old today.
ON THIS DATE
William Regal took on Daniel Bryan on a Superstars taping in Liverpool, England with the episode airing on this date in 2011. The introduction for Regal included a prank played where his theme was switched to the “Man’s Man” theme:
The final fight of Rich Franklin’s career took place on this date in 2012 where he was knocked out by Cung Le. Franklin became a star as the UFC exploded during the era of TUF where Franklin was a coach on the second season after winning the middleweight title from Evan Tanner in 2005. Franklin held the championship until October 2006 when he was dethroned by Anderson Silva, who would dominate the division for the next seven years. Franklin retired with a record of 29-7 and 1 no contest.
One of the most incredible finishes to a fight as Yair Rodriguez landed an elbow and knocked out Chan Sung Jung with one second remaining in their five-round fight on this date in 2018:
*****
SHOT IN THE DARK: NWA By Any Means Necessary, Meiko vs. Jinny on NXT UK
John Siino reviews this week’s editions of AEW Dark, AEW Dark: Elevation, NXT UK, 205 Live, NJPW Strong, NWA Powerrr, Ring of Honor, and Main Event in under 15 minutes on Shot In The Dark.
*****
POST DAILY NEWS – Wednesday, November 10
John Pollock & Wai Ting discuss Monday’s WWE Raw viewership that dropped in the third hour, the state of UpUpDownDown/WWE, and NXT confirms War Games for December.
*****
upNXT 11/9/21: The Bruiser Way
Braden Herrington and Davie Portman talk about the November 9th 2021 edition of WWE NXT 2.0 headlined by Pete Dunne vs Carmelo Hayes!
*****
MCU L8R: Eternals (2021)
Wai Ting and WH Park review the 26th Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Eternals (2021).
*****
REWIND-A-RAW 11/8/21: Kevin Owens attacks Big E.
John Pollock & Wai Ting review WWE Raw as Kevin Owens and Big E’s misunderstandings reach a boiling point through Seth Rollins’ continued manipulations.
*****
Wrestlenomics: Talent releases and CFO transition after WWE Q3 Earnings
Brandon Thurston and Chris Gullo debut the podcast on the POST Wrestling network, giving an introduction to Wrestlenomics before diving into the WWE Q3 earnings report and the fallout that followed.
*****
UFC 268 POST SHOW: Usman vs. Covington, Namajunas vs. Zhang
John Pollock and Phil Chertok discuss the excellent UFC 268 card from New York with two title fights and the best fight of 2021.
*****
THE LONG & WINDING ROYAL ROAD: Super Generation Army vs. Tsuruta-gun
WH Park and Jamesie discuss one of the most popular matches in the history of All Japan: the April 20, 1991, six-man tag match between Mitsuharu Misawa, Toshiaki Kawada & Kenta Kobashi vs. Jumbo Tsuruta, Akira Taue & Masanobu Fuchi.
*****
Browse the POST Wrestling Store
https://store.postwrestling.com
Subscribe to POST Wrestling
https://postwrestling.com/subscribe
POST Wrestling Forum
https://forum.postwrestling.com
Support our Patreon – The POST Wrestling Café
http://www.patreon.com/POSTwrestling
