Statement on The Pro-Wrestling Digest series + Another excerpt from the cancelled 151th edition | ROH, MLW, NWA Complete January 2024

The fact is RW+B isn't something that I, nor The Update Collective, is making a profit. We get decent views despite being unable to commit to more PR efforts and I always appreciate the readers that continue to support our little workhorse efforts here. That's sadly not enough to allow for the freedom that we'd love to have.

The magazine format that we attempted for The Pro-Wrestling Digest last month was something I am pretty proud of. Considering the big number and all, I think it was rather appropriate as well. I was very excited about 151, too. It's just not possible. Missed deadlines aren't the only issue here, but it gets to the point when we just need to be real.

We try. Hard. But time is forever our enemy and I already get very little sleep as it is.

So, it's with a heavy heart that I am cancelling the magazine format for now, along with issue 151. I'll continue to dribble out excerpts that were finished and ones nearly finished in the coming days. The series itself, in any form that it takes, is on hiatus.

The Update is in transition, too. Expect to see tweaks, attempts, and maybe some stumbles, but I am hopeful RW+B can rebound once more and get back to being one of the healthiest sites that it can be.

Thank you.

-Red


Ring of Honor


Tony’s less fortunate brand, serving as a weird entity that feels a lot like AEW’s old YouTube shows behind a paywall, had a few noteworthy matches and moments in January. The biggest stuff seems to have largely occurred on AEW programming, if it makes you feel better. Ring of Honor is basically a shell of its former self and it’s pretty fair if you just stick to the special events and televised spots.

If you care and missed the paywall stuff, like most people, here’s what to know:

Fletcher continues to make the best of the Aussie Open situation and is currently ROH TV Champ. In January, he successfully turned away Willie Mack, Angelico, and Christopher Daniels. Those three matches were some of the highest rated things on Cagematch for the brand, with each landing in the 6-7 range.

Claudio and Bryan Keith had a fun throwaway on episode 47 of the HonorClub run.

Vikingo put the AAA Mega Title on the line in a throwaway victory against Action Andretti.

The Undisputed Kingdom picked up some reign-padding matches over the Iron Savages and then the duo of Gravity and Gringo Loco.

Castle chased Johnny Whatever He’s Calling Himself Now all over the place.

Billie Starkz wants Athena. This was perhaps the best part of the product for the month.

Major League Wrestling



Major League Wrestling still exists ladies, gentlemen, and nonbinaries, and Court is ready to give us another year of matches that sound nice on paper but underperform in practice. It says a lot that the same matches happening elsewhere are almost always better than they are when they happen under an MLW roof.

They ran a Kings of the Coliseum show where everything was seemingly okay but largely forgettable. Here’s a few notable results:
  • Janai Kai retained the Featherweight strap over Hyper Misao.
  • The Second Gear Crew bested Lawlor and Bishop to keep the brand’s tag belts.
  • RSP is still National Openweight Champ, beating AKIRA in a Taipei Death match.
  • Alex Kane kept the World Heavyweight Championship, turning away Richard Holliday.
  • Court brought in Riddle and had Fatu put him over before he left to greener pastures.
They also added an event called Reload on YouTube, for those that might be interested. Here’s a few “notable” results from that show:
  • Kane and Riddle teamed to beat WTF’s Bishop and Lawlor.
  • Kojima beat Callihan.
MLW represents a lot of variety, but it doesn’t do it very well. Do not feel inclined under any circumstances to make time or spend energy on this brand. The effort level is minimal and there are far better things to watch or do.



National Wrestling Alliance

Congratulations to NWA! They’ll be on the CW!! I mean, on their app. Is that a big deal? It sure is to Corgan and seemingly no one else. January’s output from the cold promotion that Billy’s trying to poke with a stick featured: cokccain3

The last two episodes of the Return to Robarts. The final installment of the set served as a championship focused edition of Powerrr and saw Kylie Page successfully defend the Women’s Tag belts on her own (her partner had the flu) against Kate and Jay with a little assistance from her sister. The event also featured Kenzie Page successfully retaining the World Women’s Championship against Miss Starr. In the main event, EC3 kept the big one, defeating Jax Dane in less than eight minutes. A low effort episode from one of the weaker promotions in the US region.

They uploaded Retrospective themed content online after, leading up to their CW move, in case you want to see glimpses of when this company still had a chance.

Does NWA interest you at all? Let us know so we can determine whether or not to use space on them.