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Tag: dave meltzer

  • Wrestling Weekly: WWE Injuries; Schedule or Style?

    Just how much has the injury bug that’s bitten WWE in recent years been a result of the schedule?  That’s the main topic of discussion on Wrestling Weekly!  Les and Vic will start the show with some sad news about Danny Miller, who is a longtime friend and former tag team partner with Les.  After some quick talk about Roderick Strong and Zack Sabre Jr.(4:25) and the very few things that went well on Raw this week, (6:47) we’ll take a look at Dave Meltzer’s article in the new Observer regarding how many of the guys who work the most matches in WWE in recent years have suffered significant injuries the following year (13:41).  Is it the schedule?  Is it the style?  Or is there something that has to do with one of those things that may not be talked about often enough?  After that, we’ll open the mailbag and answer questions about Vader (40:09), adding talent to the WWE main roster for the brand split(44:00), Randy Orton being a bully (47:09), guys who didn’t speak great English during the territory days but got over big anyway (50:50), promotions that had split crews years ago (53:41), and whatever happened to the elbow drop (56:44)?  Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

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  • Wrestling Weekly: Cody Rhodes Quits, AJ Styles Dilemma, WWE Brand Split

    From Cody Rhodes to Extreme Rules to the build to Money in the Bank to the WWE brand split, it’s been an incredibly eventful week and Les and Vic return to talk about it all!  We’ll start with Cody and the statement he released that didn’t do him any favors at WWE Headquarters, how many guys feel the way he does, and having a lot of respect for him being willing to walk away from a good amount of money if the money doesn’t come with the opportunity he’s seeking.  Vic was live in the building for Extreme Rules last Sunday and he’ll talk about a feeling he couldn’t shake while watching AJ Styles vs Roman Reigns (18:41) and just how far (and for what reasons) AJ Styles is willing to go to have a great match.  Also, is that willingness doing him any good within the company at this point?  No discussion would be complete this week without touching on the brand split (47:10) and the announcement that Smackdown is moving to Tuesdays and going live in July.  We’ll talk the idea of 2 champions as opposed to 1 and something that might be missing from the product today that will be essential to the brand split being a successful one this time around.  We hope you have a happy and healthy holiday (in the USA) weekend and thanks for listening~!

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  • Dave Meltzer’s WWE WrestleMania Diary: Foley reality show, Mauro and WaleMania

    *As the story goes, there were practices for aspects of a big stunt on Sunday.    

    *On last night’s Steve Austin podcast with Mick Foley, where daughter Noelle did a cameo, they confirmed earlier reports of Foley doing a family reality show of the network, which will include Noelle training to be a WWE performer.  She’s already on the network doing some segments.

    *NXT will start live at 8:30 p.m. with a few dark matches.  The TV broadcast starts at 9 p.m.  The’s local time, add an hour later for Eastern time.  Ticketholders, or at least some, were sent an e-mail this morning telling them about the new start time for the show at the Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

    *Unlike last year where things were spread out all over town, NXT, Evolve and ROH are all within walking distance of each other.  Going to be weird as a lot of people with ROH tickets are also going to NXT, so I’m guessing there will be an exodus about 50 minutes into the ROH show.

    *It’s hilarious, because based on the vibe here, if Roman Reigns turns, it may get one of the biggest babyface pops.  That’s all I hear of people saying how much they want him to turn. 

    *Mauro Ranallo will be announcing the first three matches of WrestleMania, and hosting the WWE Network first hour as well as the USA Network simulcast second hour.

    *WaleMania was last night.  First, I want to say think you to everyone I got to meet from the site last night.  It was really cool meeting people from all over the country and all over the world.  Tons of wrestlers were there and I’m probably leaving out a ton of names but among them were Jim Ross, Konnan, Kevin Sullivan, Big E, Alberto Del Rio,  Chris Jericho, Zack Sabre Jr., Eddie Edwards, Will Ospreay, Mojo Rawley, Enzo Amoe, Liv Morgan, Amanda (Mandy Rose) from Tough Enough, MVP, Carlito, Primo, Mark Henry, Taya, Pentagon Jr., Drago, Melissa Anderson (Mariposa), Kobra Moon, Justin Roberts, Virgil, Teddy Haft, Chelsea Green (recovering from a broken collarbone while wrestling in India), Noelle Foley, several ex-WWE writers like Alex Greenfield and Ed Ferrara (who now is a teacher at Full Sail University and has never attended an NXT show).  Wale is a huge fan and student of wrestling.  This looks to be an annual part of the WrestleMania weekend on the Thursdayprior to the show.

    *About the only actual news that came out of the event was MVP saying that he’s starting with Lucha Underground.

    *There is a real buzz among this audience regarding Lucha Underground.  I think it’s the combination of something entirely different and the hot live audience that gives the show a cool feel.  They made a huge mistake not running a live event this weekend. 

    *Bryan and I will start our nightly audio shows tonight after the NXT show.

    Check out all of our WrestleMania 32 weekend coverage.

  • Wrestling Weekly: 21 questions, thoughts on Joe Garagiola, more!

    Your hosts Les Thatcher and Vic Sosa are back with the latest Wrestling Weekly to talk on the passing of former wrestling & baseball announcer Joe Garagiola and just how big a star he was in his day.  We also discuss the end of Bobby Roode and Eric Young’s TNA careers (14:27) as well as the start of a TNA run for Pepper Parks, who got started in the business training with Les. (17:31). 

    From there, Vic put together a list of questions for Les (28:42) that require him to dip into his wrestling memory bank — not just of his career but of his childhood as well. Along the way, Les will share some of the big names he grew up watching, how many of them he had a chance to wrestle, the toughest promoter he ever worked for and a lot more. 

    Enjoy the latest edition of Wrestling Weekly!

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  • Wrestling Weekly: the future of WWE roster cuts, Sting, Vintage Observer review

    On this week’s Wrestling Weekly, Les Thatcher and Vic Sosa look back at the days when you could count on a bunch of roster cuts from WWE shortly after Wrestlemania and wonder if it might be time for that to happen again.

    We’ll also talk Sting in the WWE HOF (29:01) and remember the night one of Les’ dear friends was honored by WCW in a very moving ceremony (34:36). As always, we’ll close the show with the mailbag (42:48). 

    Thanks for listening and have a great weekend~!

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  • Dave Meltzer to receive honor from National Wrestling Hall of Fame

    Photo: NY Times

    Wrestling Observer Newsletter founder Dave Meltzer will receive the Jim Melby Award from the National Wrestling Hall of Fame’s Dan Gable Museum later this year in Waterloo, IA.

    On the induction weekend of July 14-16, Dave will be recognized during the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame induction weekend. The Jim Melby Award recognizes excellence in professional journalism, named in honor of Jim Melby, a professional wrestling historian and journalist. Tickets are available for the entire weekend by emailing the museum or by calling (319) 233-0745.

    Also set to be inducted during the weekend: former UFC fighter and MMA personality Chael Sonnen. Four more inductees will be announced later this year.

    From the press release:

    “I am very proud to receive this honor because of what it entails and because of my great respect for Jim Melby and the connection with Lou Thesz,” said Meltzer. “In 1971, I sent a newsletter to Melby, and he praised it in his fan club column in Wrestling Monthly Magazine. I started getting subscribers based on his recommendation. The truth is, there is not a chance in the world my life would have taken the turn it did without Melby, and he was so gracious with me when I was in my preteen and teenager years.”

    Besides his work being read here on our site, Dave can also be read on MMA Fighting.com where he contributes as an MMA Senior Writer. He’s published, edited, and written the Observer newsletter since 1983 and has worked for The National Sports Daily and Yahoo Sports in his long career.

  • WOL 11/27: Eva vs. Bayley, Dave Meltzer talks TLC, Steve Sims talks Lucha Libre!

    Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive returns today with our Black Friday show! Tons to talk about including NXT from Wednesday with a masterful troll job in the Eva Marie vs. Bayley match, plus Dave Meltzer appears to talk TLC and Dr. Lucha joins us to talk all the news in Lucha Libre! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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  • WOL 11/5: Seth Rollins blows out knee, this week in the Wrestling Observer, Caleb Konley

    Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with a huge show. Dave Meltzer joins us to talk all the news on Seth Rollins being injured and stripped of the WWE Title, thoughts on the newest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and more! Plus, Caleb Konley joins us to talk indy wrestling, EVOLVE this weekend and more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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