AEW PPV on deck
It has been a busy stretch for big pro wrestling shows as Impact and WWE had PPVs last weekend and NXT ran Halloween Havoc this past Wednesday.
Now it is AEW’s turn as it presents Full Gear on PPV Saturday night.
Among the top matches are Jon Moxley defending his AEW championship against Eddie Kingston in an I Quit match, Adam Page faces Kenny Omega in the Eliminator tournament finals, FTR defends the AEW tag titles against The Young Bucks, MJF faces Chris Jericho and Hikaru Shida defends her AEW title against Nyla Rose.
Also announced have been Cody defending the TNT title against Darby Allin, Matt Hardy faces Sammy Guevara in an Elite Deletion match and Orange Cassidy will face John Silver during The Buy In preshow.
Old AEW shows for sale
AEW announced that all five of its previous PPV shows are available to buy at www.ShopeAEW.com.
Remembering Tracy Smothers
Word broke on Wednesday that Tracy Smothers passed away at the age of 58.
Smothers had a solid run in different promotions and had stops in WCW and ECW.
A talented performer who never received his just due in terms of a singles career, he was known as a tag team specialist.
In 1990, he teamed with Steve Armstrong to form The Southern Boys in WCW and they faced The Midnight Express at the NWA/WCW Great American Bash in what is considered one of the top tag matches of all-time.
How good was it?
The match is used by wrestling trainers to teach students the psychology of pro wrestling.
Perhaps Smothers’ best role, despite being from Tennessee, was a member of the Full Blooded Italians (FBI) group in ECW.
Despite not having an Italian bone in his body, Smothers pulled it off and fans bought into the character despite knowing Smothers’ heritage.
I had the pleasure of working with Tracy a few times in 1999 and 2000.
Despite being the “name” and me being the new kid, he made sure I was able to get my offense in so that I look good regardless of who would be winning the match.
Tracy is one of those few good people in what can be described at times as a shady business, and not one performer has ever said a bad word about him.
Sure, Tracy could get riled up here and there, but who doesn’t get worked up from time to time?
Respected by everyone who ever met him, Smothers paid forward what he learned in spades to several generations of wrestlers.
The mold was broken with Tracy, there won’t be another like him and the wrestling business won’t be the same without him.
WWE announces 3rd Q numbers
Thursday afternoon, WWE announced their 2020 third quarter numbers.
The number that stood out the most is that revenue was $221.6 million for the quarter, an increase of 19% or $35.3 million from the same time frame a year ago.
Cell, Havoc thoughts
WWE presented another solid PPV last Sunday with the main matches carrying the show.
While I still wish Bayley and Sasha Banks would have been held off until WrestleMania, they are magic together.
The slow build of the new Roman Reigns character continued, and Randy Orton won his 14th world title.
Halloween Havoc was also a solid show Wednesday night.
I recommend watching both on WWE Network when you have time.
CTE lawsuits tossed
On Oct. 22, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second Circuit announced that all claims against WWE dealing with CTE were dismissed.
Netflix doc on Vince
Dave Meltzer reported Thursday that WWE and Bill Simmons are working on a multi-episode documentary series on Vince McMahon.
This Day in History
In 1997, WWF champion Bret Hart gives his notice to WWF and signs a contract with WCW.
A confidentiality agreement was signed that was supposed to keep Hart’s decision a secret until after the Survivor Series PPV on Nov. 10.
However, word leaked and many in the business knew Hart was leaving before Survivor Series.
This led to the famous Montreal Screwjob where Shawn Michaels defeated Hart via submission for the WWF title at Survivor Series when Vince McMahon called for the bell.
This week’s question
The Rock inducted Ken Shamrock into the Impact Hall of Fame. Does this mean The Rock and WWE are on the outs? Tom, from Mt. Pleasant.
There are no issues between WWE and The Rock.
Shamrock credits The Rock for helping make him into a star in WWE and asked The Rock to induct him, which he did last weekend.
Email questions/comments to powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to @BillHughes_III.