The first AEW Dark episode of the year has been uploaded to YouTube:
Following last week’s New Year’s Eve Year in Review episode, tonight’s show features two matches that were taped at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida last Wednesday. Chuck Taylor joined Excalibur on commentary.
SCU (Scorpio Sky, Christopher Daniels & Frankie Kazarian) are in six-man tag action against Kip Sabian & The Hybrid 2 (Jack Evans & Angelico). Awesome Kong also takes on Skyler Moore.
The Shawn Spears & Preston Vance vs. Billy Gunn & Austin Gunn match that took place before Dynamite last week isn’t included on Dark. This was the first time that Austin Gunn had wrestled for AEW, though he was an entrant in the Over Budget Battle Royale at All In.
Tomorrow’s Dynamite is taking place at the Landers Center in Southaven, Mississippi. Dave Meltzer reported that — as part of AEW’s tribute to the legends of Memphis wrestling — Dave Brown will be appearing as a guest commentator on the AEW Dark tapings.
PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.
(Search “wade keller” to subscribe in podcast app or CLICK HERE to subscribe in Apple Podcasts.)
The Monday, Feb. 4 edition of WWE Monday Night Raw on USA Network drew a 1.78 rating, down from last week’s post-Rumble edition of Raw which drew a 1.92 rating but above the two-weeks-ago rating of 1.73.
The first hour draw 2.656 million viewers, this second hour a slight drop to 2.552 million viewers, and then the now-typical big third hour drop to 2.321. That’s a first-to-third hour rating drop of 335,000. The average drop-off this year is 395,000.
The third hour closed with the Kurt Angle & Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin & Drew McIntyre main event, plus “A Moment of Bliss,” EC3 vs. Dean Ambrose, and Lio Rush vs. Bobby Lashley.
Each of Raw’s three hours were the top rated shows on cable Monday night with ratings in the key 18-49 adult demographic of 0.9, 0.9, and 0.8. Raw’s first two hours were first in total viewers, edging out “The Rachel Maddow Show” on MSNBC with a substitute host, which came in third with 2.508 million viewers total.
RECOMMENDED: Raw Ratings uptick for the episode the day after Royal Rumble, comparison to last two years, hourly drop-off, Monday ranking among all shows
In the wake of WWE’s announcement that this year’s WrestleMania will move to Orlando, FL, in front of no fans due to the coronavirus outbreak, postponements and cancellations began to pour in from various indie promoters who were planning on taking advantage of tens of thousands of wrestling fans in town for a variety of annual shows and signings.
Here’s the current list as of this writing:
WWN’s WRESTLExpo
EVOLVE’s Gabe Sapolsky made the announcement Monday that their various events have been postponed indefinitely. They will begin to reach out to ticket holders over the next few weeks on refunds and other options as they attempt to collect thousands in deposits and other expenses to help cover it. The Expo included shows like the WWN SuperShow, PROGRESS, wXw, EVOLVE 150, and others.
WrestleCon
They also announced their cancellation Monday, comprised of the Mark Hitchcock Memorial Supershow, World Wide, Joey Ryan’s Penis Party 2, and Ethan Page’s Body Guy Extravaganza among others. (An issue with the host venue made its way around wrestling Twitter Monday night as WWE canceling before the city and county did apparently caused a contractual issue with getting their money back.)
The cancellations also include the New Japan Lion’s Break Project 3 show in addition to the Impact Wrestling One Night Only throwback show. Impact hasn’t announced the news yet, but earlier Monday when canceling two March events, they said they would review “the recommendations from the appropriate government agencies and local communities” with regard to their two April events.
GCW Collective
GCW made the call to postpone Monday night, saying events like Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport, Joey Janela’s Spring Break 4, Effy’s Big Gay Brunch, Warhausen’s WrestleVania, and others will be packaged together on a future date. They are offering refunds, but also are hoping many keep their tickets for the rescheduled dates.
Still To Come:
Ring of Honor hasn’t postponed or rescheduled their Supercard of Honor show, set for Lakeland, FL, on April 4th. While not in Tampa, the city has canceled mass gatherings several days ago.
PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.
(Search “wade keller” to subscribe in podcast app or CLICK HERE to subscribe in Apple Podcasts.)
Vince McMahon dropped a bombshell earlier today that WWE Network as we know it may cease to exist, perhaps with a major announcement as soon as this or next month.
With WWE Network subscriptions dropping below 1 million Q4 2019 (down 10 percent in 2019 overall), and no trajectory to even approach the 3 million level once floated by top WWE management, McMahon is looking at selling rights to WWE pay-per-views. With the gigantic MMA deals that UFC struck with ESPN+ and Bellator struck with DAZN for their PPV events, there could be a window to score big with rights to WrestleMania and other top WWE PPV titles if they were split from the WWE Network package. How fans would adjust to being asked to pay $50 or $65 for PPV events they have become accustomed to paying a flat fee of $9.99 a month for access to is a major unknowns, but it’d be nearly impossible to substitute content that would replace WrestleMania, even if the Network remained the exclusive home for NXT Takeover events.
When McMahon was asked in today’s investor conference call if they will be adding more advertising to WWE Network, McMahon said that’s an option if they continue with the WWE Network as is. When asked if WWE Network is “a must have,” McMahon said nothing is “must have” and said a potential deal with a new partner for PPV rights would be “transformative.” He said players are clamoring for rights to their content which could lead to significant additional revenue.
It’s highly unlikely WWE Network would be shut down, considering the massive library they’ve built up of past content along with original series and various live specials such as the Saudi Arabia shows (which air on weekday afternoons and aren’t a viable stand-alone PPV event to charge premium prices for). What is possible, though, is that WWE could risk losing hundreds of thousands off Network subscribers in exchange for selling the rights to WrestleMania, Summerslam, and the Royal Rumble. As with UFC on ESPN, there’s an entrance fee to become an ESPN+ subscriber after which you pay a premium per-event fee to watch the event.
With Disney+ and Apple+ entering the market, among other new streaming services, and HBO and Showtime along with various other cable and broadcast networks offering stand-alone streaming channels with monthly fees, perhaps Hulu or Netflix of Amazon Prime would be interested in offering WWE PPV distribution within their platforms, exclusively for subscribers. So they would not only share in the PPV revenue, but also stand to gain substantial monthly subscribers as ESPN+ has experienced with UFC added to the portfolio of content.
McMahon gave indications that the departures of co-presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson was related to disagreements with how to allocate resources and regarding their focus and execution; he said his preferences would be more successful. (Read more about the McMahon conference call at ProWrestling.net.)
Note: I discussed this breaking news earlier today at great length on the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast with Jason Powell from ProWrestling.net and also with PWTorch VIP analyst Todd Martin on “The Fix” podcast (VIP-exclusive).
RECOMMENDED: WWE latest financials lead to 9 percent drop, WWE stock down 28 percent over last week, barrage of negative financial press headlines follow
President Donald Trump has warned that “the future does not belong to globalists” as he told world leaders gathered at the United Nations to embrace patriotism and put their own interests first.
In an address overshadowed by domestic concerns, including mounting calls for impeachment after he urged Ukraine’s president to investigate his rival Joe Biden, a sombre Mr Trump delivered a wide-ranging, downbeat address.
"If you want peace, love your nation,” he said. “Wise leaders always put the good of their own people and their own country first.
"The future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots.
"It is why we in the United States have embarked on an exciting programme of national renewal."
Mr Rouhani said he was open to discuss small changes, additions or amendments to a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers if the United States lifted sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic.
Mr Trump has said he has no intention of lifting sanctions unless Iran makes changes first.
Mr Trump’s third address to the global gathering had been hotly anticipated – his first year, in 2017, saw him stun the delegates with a broadside against multilateralism, while last year he was laughed at to his face when he claimed to have accomplished more than any other US president before him.
He was preceded by Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s newly-elected far-Right leader, who delivered a fiery response to those who criticised his environmental policies. Mr Bolsonaro, like Mr Trump, is a climate change sceptic who is pushing to allow logging and mining in protected reserves.
Jair Bolsonaro, the president of Brazil
He said those who saw the Amazon fires this summer as a global problem were “colonialists”, insulting Brazil’s sovereignty. He accused them of wanting to keep Brazil’s indigenous people like “cavemen”, rather than allowing them to develop their own lands.
"It is a fallacy to say that the Amazon is the heritage of humankind,” he said.
Mr Bolsonaro said it was “a misconception” to say that “our Amazon forests are the lungs of the world.”
Mr Trump’s speech, by contrast, was more predictable. Indeed Wilbur Ross, his 81-year-old commerce secretary, snoozed gently in his seat.
Mr Trump addressed migration, urging migrants not to cross over into the US illegally, and called for nations to respect religious freedom – emphasising the right of countries to restrict abortion access on religious grounds.
Mr Trump called on China to respect the Hong Kong protesters, and once again defended his trade war.
Tear gas is thrown during protests in Hong Kong on September 15
He accused China of currency manipulation and dumping, and called for reform of the World Trade Organisation. He said China should not be able to “game the system at others’ expense” through the WTO.
“As far as America is concerned, those days are over,” he said.
He urged North Korea to denuclearise, and hit out against Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan leader – while the Venezuelan delegate pointedly read a book about national hero Simon Bolivar. In a striking admission he did not mention Juan Guaido, the US-backed interim president, by name.
Also notable was his failure to mention the Israel-Palestine agreement he has been promising for the past three years, and his skipping of references to Syria or Yemen.
Mr Macron, the French president, delivered – as in previous years – a rebuttal to Mr Trump’s rhetoric.
“I don’t believe the crises we are facing can be defeated by turning inwards,” he said.
“I truly believe in patriotism,” he added, but said it was a patriotism that didn’t equal isolationism.
“One that believes in sovereignty, and the need to cooperate. Today we need to reinvent multilateralism. A modern multilateralism based on cooperation, that strives to create results – and we have demonstrated the effectiveness of this.”
North Korea and the United States have agreed to resume stalled working level talks on October 5, seven months after the collapse of a summit in Vietnam between the two countries’ leaders, the North’s state media reported on Tuesday.
Pyongyang and Washington have agreed to have preliminary contact on Friday, before officials come to the table over the weekend to try break the diplomatic stalemate over the North’s nuclear missiles programme, KCNA said, citing Choe Son Hui, the vice foreign minister.
“The delegates of the DPRK side are ready to enter into the DPRK-U.S. working-level negotiations,” Ms Choe said in the statement, using North Korea’s official name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
“It is my expectation that the working-level negotiations would accelerate the positive development of the DPRK-U.S. relations.”
The location of the proposed meeting has not yet been revealed, and there has been no immediate public confirmation from the Trump administration.
The tentative breakthrough was announced just hours after Kim Song, North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations, berated the US for its failure to restart the talks, which hit an impasse when Donald Trump, the US President, and Kim Jong-un failed to reach an agreement in Hanoi in February.
The announcement was relayed through Choe Son Hui, the vice foreign ministerCredit:
Artyom Korotayev/TASS
Pyongyang said in early September that it was willing to kickstart disarmament negotiations by the end of the month if Washington adopted an “alternative” approach that met the interests of both countries, warning that a failure to do so could “spell an end to bargaining.”
In his speech at the UN General Assembly on Monday, Kim Song said it was time for Washington to share its new proposal.
“Assuming that the U.S. has had enough time to find out a calculation method that can be shared with us, we expressed our willingness to sit with the U.S. for comprehensive discussion of the issues we have deliberated so far,” he said.
He reminded the gathering of the statement issued by Mr Trump and Kim after their first historic meeting in Singapore in June last year, where the two leaders agreed to foster new relations and work towards the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
“More than one year has passed,” he said. “The relations between the DPRK and the US have made little progress so far and the situation of the Korean peninsula has not come out of the vicious cycle of increased tension.”
“It depends on the US whether the DPRK-US negotiations will become a window of opportunity or an occasion that will hasten the crisis,” he said.
Mr Trump, who is keen for a foreign policy win ahead of the 2020 presidential election, and his administration have repeatedly urged the North Koreans to come back to the negotiating table, despite Kim repeatedly testing short-range missiles throughout July and August.
China has reacted with fury after the general manager of basketball team Houston Rockets tweeted his support for the protests in Hong Kong.
Basketball is hugely popular in China, and highly profitable for the US sport’s governing body, the National Basketball Association (NBA). Furthermore, the Chinese Basketball Association president is currently Yao Ming, who played with the Rockets from 2002 to 2011. Yao’s NBA success made the Rockets a favourite among Chinese fans.
Rockets’ manager Daryl Morey ignited controversy on Friday by re-tweeting an image which was captioned: “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.”
He deleted the tweet, and the team’s owner, Tillman Fertitta, quickly distanced the team from Mr Morey’s tweet.
Mr Morey – one of the league’s most visible officials on social media, with over 200,000 followers – then backtracked, stating: “I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event” and emphasising that his words were “my own and in no way represent the Rockets or the NBA.”
1/ I did not intend my tweet to cause any offense to Rockets fans and friends of mine in China. I was merely voicing one thought, based on one interpretation, of one complicated event. I have had a lot of opportunity since that tweet to hear and consider other perspectives.
— Daryl Morey (@dmorey) October 7, 2019
His contrition did not quell the anger, however, and Chinese sponsors announced they were withdrawing their support. Shoe company Li Ning and the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Card Center both said on Sunday that they were “pausing their partnerships” with the Rockets.
The Chinese Basketball Association said it was suspending cooperation with the team, and the Chinese consulate in Houston issued a statement expressing anger.
The NBA on Sunday night described Mr Morey’s statement as “regrettable” in having “deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China”.
The NBA, long known as the most tolerant of sports leagues, defended Mr Morey’s right to freedom of expression.
But in a Chinese-language statement posted on Sina Weibo, a popular Chinese social network, the league took a different tone, saying it was “extremely disappointed in the inappropriate comment.”
“He has undoubtedly seriously hurt the feelings of Chinese basketball fans,” the statement read, echoing a common trope seen in the Chinese state media.
A protester is arrested in Hong Kong on Monday
The timing is awkward for the NBA, with two of its most celebrated teams, the LA Lakers and the Nets, due to travel to the country this week to play two exhibition games.
Joseph Tsai, the new co-owner of the Nets and the billionaire co-founder of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, attempted to make amends, describing Mr Morey as being ill-advised.
He referred to the protests as a “separatist movement,” a common sentiment in China but a label the demonstrators deny, and framed the movement as a matter of “territorial integrity of China,” though most protesters insist they are uninterested in independence.
“I don’t know Daryl personally,” he said.
“I am sure he’s a fine NBA general manager, and I will take at face value his subsequent apology that he was not as well informed as he should have been.
“But the hurt that this incident has caused will take a long time to repair.”
A graphically violent parody video, reportedly shown at a meeting of Donald Trump’s supporters at his Miami resort, depicted a likeness of the president shooting and stabbing his opponents and members of the news media in a church.
In the video, the US president’s critics and media members are portrayed as parishioners fleeing his gruesome rampage, The New York Times reported.
The fake Trump strikes the late Sen. John McCain in the neck, hits and stabs TV personality Rosie O’Donnell in the face, lights alight Sen. Bernie Sanders’ head and shoots or otherwise assaults people whose faces are replaced with news organisation logos.
The video, which appears to be an edited scene of the film “Kingsman: The Secret Service”, was shown last week at an American Priority conference at Mr Trump’s Doral Miami resort, the newspaper said. Mr Trump was not there.
Alex Phillips, event organiser, told the Times the video was played as part of a "meme exhibit" and was not associated with or endorsed by the conference "in any official capacity."
The video was shown last week at an American Priority conference at Donald Trump’s Doral Miami resortCredit:
AP
"American Priority rejects all political violence," he said, and is looking into the matter.
American Priority later said in a statement on Twitter that it had not been aware of the video and did not approve it.
"It has come to our attention that an unauthorised video was shown," the group said, adding that the video had been shown in a "side room."
"This video was not approved, seen or sanctioned by the … organisers."
#AMPFest19 official statement on unauthorized video. pic.twitter.com/w6zzhZ4Lje
— American Priority Conference (@AmericanP2019) October 14, 2019
Stephanie Grisham, the White House press secretary, said on Monday morning that Mr Trump had not seen the video but that “based upon everything he has heard, he strongly condemns this video”. She said he would watch it "shortly".
The video includes the logo for Mr Trump’s 2020 campaign but Tim Murtaugh, spokesman for the re-election organisation, told the Times the "video was not produced by the campaign, and we do not condone violence."
The setting for the massacre is the "Church of Fake News," capturing Mr Trump’s familiar refrain about news stories and organisations that he considers to be fake news.
Re: the video played over the weekend: The @POTUS @realDonaldTrump has not yet seen the video, he will see it shortly, but based upon everything he has heard, he strongly condemns this video.
— Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) October 14, 2019
In the video, Mr Trump’s face is superimposed on a killer’s body as he shoots people in the face and otherwise assaults them. Among the targets: former President Barack Obama, Black Lives Matter, Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, Bill and Hillary Clinton and Rep. Adam Schiff, who as Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee is leading the impeachment inquiry of Mr Trump.
CNN, The Washington Post, BBC, PBS, NBC and Politico are among the news organisations depicted as victims of the fake Trump’s violent fury.
In a statement, CNN said called the images "vile" and "horrific".
"The president and his family, the White House, and the Trump campaign need to denounce it immediately in the strongest possible terms," it said.
"Anything less equates to a tacit endorsement of violence and should not be tolerated by anyone."
Beto O’Rourke, a Democratic 2020 presidential candidate, said the video "isn’t funny" and would "get people killed".
The White House Correspondents’ Association said it was "horrified" by the video.
"We have previously told the President his rhetoric could incite violence," it said. "Now we call on him and everybody associated with this conference to denounce this video and affirm that violence has no place in our society."
The White House declined immediate comment.
The video is not the first time his supporters have created a video that has been accused of inciting violence.
Two years ago, he posted a video on social media showing himself body slamming and repeatedly punching a man with CNN’s logo superimposed on his face.
It is perhaps the most famous wedding venue in the world, where eloping desperados, and celebrities including Britney Spears, Frank Sinatra, and Joan Collins, have all tied the knot.
But after six months on the market A Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas, scene of over half a million 10-minute ceremonies, failed to find a buyer. This week, the "For Sale” sign was taken down.
It was the most stark example of a so-called "love recession" that has hit Las Vegas, the self-proclaimed "Marriage Capital of the World," in recent years.
The number of weddings has fallen from 128,238 in 2004 to 74,534 last year. Annual revenue is down by an estimated $1 billion, to $2.5 billion.
The chief reason…
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The crowds had been out in downtown Beirut for nine days straight without much trouble. “Thawra!”, or revolution, they have been chanting, and “all of them means all of them”, in a rejection of the entire political class.
But on Friday night hundreds of Hizbollah supporters took exception to the inclusion of Hassan Nasrallah, the Shia group’s chief, who is seen as both a political and religious leader and beyond recrimination.
The supporters, who had come out to listen to a speech from Nasrallah warning protesters of the potential for chaos, threw rocks and flags at the crowd and tried to drown out their chants.
They were quickly pushed back by the police and booed out of the square.
But the…
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