Viewership data is in for Monday’s WWE RAW and Friday’s SmackDown. Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
RAW Viewership
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 1.735 million viewers, which is down from the 1.757 million viewers last week.
SmackDown averaged 2.044 million viewers on FOX in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. This is up from the 2.042 million viewers that the show did for the previous week’s episode of SmackDown.
The show averaged 2.040 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was down from the 2.043 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets.
The first hour drew 2.076 million viewers while the second hour did 2.003 million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did 2.030 million viewers while the second hour did 2.055 million viewers.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.50 rating in the 18-49 demos, the same from the 0.50 rating as last week’s show.
AEW has released new top-5 rankings for its men’s women’s and tag team divisions. MJF is now the #1 ranked men’s single’s competitor in the company.
AEW Men’s Single’s Rankings
AEW World Champion: Jon Moxley (12-0) TNT Champion: Cody (10-1)
MJF (6-0) (previously unranked)
Lance Archer (5-1)
Brodie Lee (5-1)
Kenny Omega (4-0)
Darby Allin (6-3)
As Cody is now the TNT Champion he leaves the single’s rankings and is replaced by his rival, MJF. #1 Maxwell Jacob Friedman returns to the rankings following having been removed as he dealt with various injuries. MJF defeated Jungle Boy at Double or Nothing and Marko Stunt on last week’s Dynamite. Cody defeated #2 Lance Archer in the finals of the tournament at Double or Nothing.
The rest of the division’s rankings remain unchanged.
Brian Cage may not appear in the rankings but he has earned a title shot against Jon Moxley. Cage debuted at Double or Nothing and won the Casino Ladder match. Moxley and Cage will headline Fyter Fest 2020.
#3 Brodie Lee picked up his first loss in AEW at Double or Nothing when he lost his title shot against Jon Moxley.
#4 Kenny Omega wrestled in the Stadium Stampede match won by the Elite. #5 Darby Allin was in the Casino Ladder match but failed to win.
AEW Women’s Division
Champion: Hikaru Shida (10-1)
Nyla Rose (5-2) (previously champion)
Kris Statlander (4-4)
Britt Baker (4-4)
Yuka Sakazaki (1-1)
Penelope Ford (3-3) (previous unranked)
There is a new AEW Women’s World Champion. Hikaru Shida defeated Nyla Rose at Double or Nothing to win the title. #1 Nyla Rose drops to the #1 contender spot as a result.
#2 Kris Statlander picked up a victory over #5 Penelope Ford at Double or Nothing.
#3 Britt Baker was injured in a tag match on Dynamite last week. She is scheduled to address her injury on tonight’s show.
#4 Yuka Sakazaki hasn’t wrestled since the AEW Dark that was filmed at Revolution on February 29th.
#5 Penelope Ford debuts in the rankings for the first time. She lost to #2 Kris Statlander at Double or Nothing but defeated KiLynn King on Dark. Ford also defeated former champion Riho on Dark back in March in what was quite the upset at the time.
AEW Tag Team Division
Champions: Kenny Omega & Hangman Page (6-0)
Best Friends (9-3)
The Natural Nightmares (4-0) (previously unranked)
Private Party (4-2)
The Dark Order (5-0) (-2)
The Young Bucks (2-2) (-1)
#2 QT Marshall and Dustin Rhodes made a huge leap this week in the rankings. The Natural Nightmares defeated Alex Reynolds and John Silver from the Dark Order on Dark this week for their 4th straight victory. Allie was shown eating QT Marshall’s apple ominously in the crowd during the match in what could be the beginning of an angle.
#1 the Best Friends have likely earned a title shot after securing their top-ranking in a match against #3 Private Party on the Kickoff show this week.
#4 The Dark Order fell 2 spots this week, likely due to inactivity. With travel restrictions between the US and Canada for athletes being eased soon, we could see Evil Uno and Grayson back shortly, however.
#5 The Young Bucks fell one spot, likely due more to the Natural Nightmares moving up so highly in the rankings more than anything else. They were on the winning end of the Stadium Stampede match at Double or Nothing.
The Jurassic Express fell out of the tag rankings this week.
The ‘Murderhawk Monster’ Lance Archer recently appeared on the Talk Is Jericho podcast. The former TNA, WWE and New Japan performer would discuss a number of topics from his career; including how he would end up leaving Japan after eight years to join All Elite Wrestling.
“So everything was a whirlwind” Lance Archer began, discussing the transition back to the United States. “We literally just finished the World Tag League last year, I got home on December 9th I think? AEW was coming to Dallas on the 11th so I got home on a Monday and AEW was in Dallas on the Wednesday.”
Lance Archer would elaborate further, saying “I know Billy [Gunn], so many of the guys like Trent, who was getting ready to work with Moxley. I know Kenny Omega and all these guys, they’re friends of mine.”
The Murderhawk Monster would then reveal that initially he was just going to the show to see friends, not actually looking for a job at the time.
“I was like I want to go see my friends, I’m not going looking for a job. I’m not going to bother anybody, I don’t want to be that guy going ‘hey man can you can you hook me up brother?’ I didn’t want to be that way you know? And things were good with me in New Japan so it wasn’t like I was in essence needing to do that at the time.”
Lance Archer
Lance Archer Meets Tony Khan
Lance Archer would then talk meeting AEW President Tony Khan for the first time. “So I just wanted to go see my friends and it was one of those situations where I got to meet Tony for the first time and we had a good conversation. He and I talked that night and we talked about the possibility of something in the future. It came to be that they found out that I didn’t have a full contract; I had never had a full contract working with New Japan for over eight and a half years. Or just eight years at that point.”
Chris Jericho was completely bemused at this, referencing how WWE had previously taken the likes of AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Gallows and Anderson from New Japan. “Even after they raided Gallows and Anderson, AJ and Nakamura they didn’t sign you up to a contract!?” Jericho asked.
Lance Archer would then reveal that newer talent in New Japan are now signed to full contracts. “They did have guys and I’m absolutely blessed for those guys. The [Will] Ospreays and Juices [Robinson] and guys like that. They were all under contract, but I was a guy that had been with the company for over eight years and never was.”
Do you think that New Japan are going to miss having Lance Archer on their roster? Let us know in the comments
Matt Riddle reflected on his confrontation with WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg at last year’s SummerSlam pay-per-view event.
The first news about this came from Riddle, who shared the story when he appeared on the SummerSlam Watch Along Livestream.
Due to the comments made by Riddle about the legendary pro wrestler in the past, when they ran into each backstage, they exchanged some words.
The NXT star made an appearance on today’s episode of The Bump where he was asked about his relationship with Goldberg.
Riddle started out by stating that they have differing opinions and mindsets about the business. He stated that he likes to push the pace and expects a lot from himself. Riddle understands that they don’t see eye-to-eye on that type of thing and how to work.
“He doesn’t want to be my bro, I completely understand. I didn’t really want to be his bro. That’s just how the cookie crumbled.”
Regarding the confrontation at SummerSlam, Riddle recalled how Shane McMahon was down the hall from them at the arena and watched the whole thing. It turns out that McMahon thought that they were going to fight.
“And after, Shane was like, ‘Thanks for not swinging on Goldberg.’ Could you imagine? Matt Riddle punches Goldberg unconscious in the back. I can’t do that. That is not a stallion move. You get a match set-up and beat him in front of millions. That’s a Stallion move.”
Riddle will take on Timothy Thatcher in a Cage Fight on Wednesday’s episode of NXT.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson thinks his 18-year-old daughter Simone has major potential in the world of professional wrestling.
Simone Johnson signed with WWE back in February. She has been training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando. She could be seen in the crowd (behind plexiglass) during Monday’s WWE Raw.
The Rock recently sat down with Access and spoke about his daughter following in his footsteps. The Rock says he’s proud of his daughter, who has big shoes to fill as a fourth generation wrestler.
“Simone has been training to become a WWE,” The Rock began. “It’s so cool. I’m so proud of her because that world, that is a difficult world not only to be in but it’s a difficult world to make it in.”
Simone Johnson talks about fulfilling her WWE dreams
The road to greatness in WWE is never easy. For Simone Johnson, she has a rich family legacy to live up to. The Rock also feels it’s more difficult being a woman in the business, despite progress made in recent years.
“It’s also doubly-difficult when you’re a woman,” he said. “She goes in there and she not only has big shoes to fill and is well-aware of our family name but also has this desire to create her own path, which is the best part about it. Also, she goes in humble, hungry, and is a student every day and just wants to learn. I’m very proud of her.”
When asked about Simone’s in-ring ability, the Rock didn’t hold back.
“She’s badass,” Rock said about her in-ring ability. “Yes, she kicks ass.”
Impact Wrestling presented the semi-finals of its #1 Contenders tournament this week. They also announced that Deonna Purrazzo is on her way to the promotion after having been released by WWE last month.
Impact Tag Team Championships The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) (c) defeated Cody Deaner & Wheels
#1 Contenders Tournament (Semi-Finals) Trey defeated Michael Elgin
Trey Upsets Michael Elgin To Advance To Tournament Finals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rbS01UBzoc
Heading into this week’s main event, few were giving Trey a chance in his match with perennial title-contender Michael Elgin. Trey surprised many with his ability to hang with Elgin during the match but ultimately it looked as though Elgin was going to take the match. Just as Elgin seemed like he had Trey right where he wanted him, Sami Callihan’s ICU music and video began to play. Elgin defeated Callihan in the 1st round of the tournament.
Although Callihan never came out, the distraction was all Trey needed to land a pinning combination on Elgin and score the upset victory.
Deonna Purrazzo is coming to Impact Wrestling. Before the night’s main event, a vignette featuring Purrazzo aired. In the video, Purrazzo explains what being a “Virtuoso” means. The 25-year-old had been with WWE for the last 2 years before being released last month.
The North Visit The Deaner Family Compound
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yegKYSPk0o
Josh Alexander and Ethan Page traveled to the Deaner compound for a tag title match this week. Page, Alexander, and Deaner have been unable to travel to recent Impact tapings due to US-Canada travel restrictions.
Deaner selected a rather large man by the name of Wheels to be his teammate in this cinematic-style match. The match quickly spilled all over the compound. Alexander and Deaner ended up on top of a trailer and Alexander hit a piledriver to take Deaner out of the match for a while. The North then double-teamed Wheels and eventually attacked the referee for a perceived slow count. While this was going on, the various Deaner family members rescued Cody from atop the trailer.
Deaner returned to the match in hot-tag fashion. He looked to have Cody down for a 3-count after a DDT but the referee was still down. Then the North’s personal ring-announcer from recent matches hit a low-blow on Wheels and fast-counted him to give the North the win.
The segment ended with the North running away from the compound with the belts as the various Deanner family members chased them.
Ace Austin Advances To Tournament Finals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McqUZhfdDLU
Former X-Division Ace Austin is now just one win away from being the new #1 contender to the Impact World Championship. He scored an arguable upset victory over Hernandez in the semi-finals of the tournament to kick off the show this week.
The story of the match was that Austin was able to counter the big-power moves that Hernandez would go for. The end of the match came when Austin clipped Hernandez’s knee, hit the Fold, and scored a 3-count.
Nevaeh Rescues Havok From Kimber Lee
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Cu_JAo4jgo
Previously on Impact, Kimber Lee defeated Havok after using a pair of brass knuckles. A rematch was scheduled for this week and Kimber Lee again went to use the brass knucks, having hid them in the ring apron. As she did so, however, Nevaeh made the save for Havok. It was the first time Nevaeh has actually gotten involved in the action since she’s been shown ominously watching Havok’s matches.
Nevaeh hit Kimber Lee before she could use the brass knuckles and the referee called for the bell. Havok and Nevaeh then beatdown Kimber Lee and celebrated together to end the segment.
Johnny Swinger Helps Chris Bey Defeated Cousin Jake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6d_r7whdX4
Johnny Swinger accompanied Chris Bey to the ring for his match against Cousin Jake this week. Bey and Swinger have been aligned in recent weeks and a program involving them and Willie Mack appears to be building.
Swinger helped Bey score the victory this week. Jake was forced to turn his attention to Swinger on the apron and the distraction would cost him the match. After Jake knocked Swinger off the apron, Bey hit a fame-asser followed by the Final Finesse for the win.
Swinger and Bey looked to attack Jake after the match but Willie Mack made the save.
AEW and NXT are both advertising strong lineups for this week’s programming. AEW is coming off Saturday’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view. Dynamite will feature PPV fallout and a special appearance from “Iron” Mike Tyson. NXT has a steel cage main event with Kurt Angle as guest referee.
AEW Dynamite is live from Daily’s Place Amphitheater in Jacksonville, Florida. In addition to Double or Nothing fallout, we’ve got:
“Iron” Mike Tyson appears live. AEW has yet to confirm Tyson’s role.
A Battle Royal will be held to determine the #1 contender to Cody’s new AEW TNT Championship. The title match takes place next week, June 3rd.
The Young Bucks & “Broken” Matt Hardy team up against Joey Janela & Private Party.
The Inner Circle will host a Pep Rally. The faction is never short on pep, but they need a morale boost after losing the Stadium Stampede match to The Elite at Double or Nothing.
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley will appear.
New AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida will be in action.
Dr. Britt Baker will address her injury status. According to AEW’s Dr. Sampson, Baker fractured her tibia and tore her LCL in her right knee last week on Dynamite.
NXT takes place from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL.
The main event will see a Steel Cage match between Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher. WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle will be on hand to serve as the special guest referee for this encounter. Riddle is leaving NXT soon and joining SmackDown.
NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte and an unnamed partner of her choosing will face Rhea Ripley and Io Shirai in tag team action.
Drake Maverick vs. Jake Atlas vs KUSHIDA will determine the winer of the Group A block in the ongoing Cruiserweight round robin tournament. The winner faces El Hijo del Fanasma in the finals. to crown a new NXT Cruiserweight Champion.
NXT Champion Adam Cole will have a “live negotiation” with NXT General Manager William Regal regarding Velveteen Dream.
While the Undertaker’s wrestling days might be coming to an end, the Deadman says he’ll never retire from the industry completely.
During a recent interview with Postmedia in Canada, the 55-year-old icon says he will always be involved in wrestling, even when he’s no longer fit for active competition.
“I’ll never, ever retire completely,” Undertaker said. “I may not get in the ring and wrestle anymore, but I’ll always somehow be involved I’m sure within the industry. For 30 years, I’ve been a mainstay in the ring.”
The Undertaker helped create another WrestleMania moment at this year’s event. The positive reception to his Boneyard Match with AJ Styles has many fans wondering if “cinematic” matches might extend the Undertaker’s career. Others have said it offers Taker a chance to close his career on a high-note. Taker compared the possible end of his career to how John Elway and Brett Favre ended theirs.
“There’s the John Elway ending and there’s the Brett Favre ending,” Taker said. “John Elway wins the Super Bowl and retires. Brett Favre leaves the Packers and he goes to the Jets, then he goes to the Vikings and he just never gets there again. Then his last game is kind of sad. I’m trying really hard not to have that ending and coming to grips with the fact that I may not get the Elway ending.”
“That’s what this whole process has been. I’m trying to weave a real intricate web here and I’ve got to make some really tough decisions very soon.”
The full interview with the Undertaker can be read here.
Kenny Omega recently defended AEW’s Women’s division from a detractor online. A user on Twitter stated that Deonna Purrazzo’s signing with Impact Wrestling was a missed opportunity for AEW and Omega responded.
“Truly happy for Deonna but I’m incredibly proud of our division and its athletes. You should try watching some of our matches. Start with the recent title match from a few days ago and then honestly tell me we need help,” Omega Tweeted.
Truly happy for Deonna but I’m incredibly proud of our division and its athletes. You should try watching some of our matches. Start with the recent title match from a few days ago and then honestly tell me we need help.
Hikaru Shida became the 3rd wrestler to hold the AEW Women’s championship at Double or Nothing. She defeated Nyla Rose to win the title after spending weeks as the #1 ranked contender in the division. Rose spent 101 days as champion. Her only title-defense was at Revolution on February 29th when she defeated Kris Statlander.
Inaugural champion Riho held the title for 133 days after defeating Nyla Rose for the vacant belt on the 1st episode of Dynamite. She successfully defended the belt against Britt Baker, Emi Sakura, Kris Statlander, and against Rose, Shida, and Baker in a fatal 4-way match during her reign.
Also at Double or Nothing, former title-challenger Kris Statlander defeated Penelope Ford. Britt Baker was originally scheduled to face Statlander but suffered an injury on last week’s Dynamite. Baker is scheduled to address her injury and timetable for return on tonight’s show.
Seth Rollins recently had an interview with Sports Illustrated where he talked about things like his new role as the Monday Night Messiah, his coffee shop and more.
Roman Reigns has been away from WWE programming since before WrestleMania and this is the longest he has been off TV without any injury or health scare since his debut.
Reigns has since came out and explained that he is trying to protect his family and talking about his best friend, Rollins said that it was nice to see him come out and explain the reasoning behind his absence:
“Oh yeah. They’re just turning out twins, man. This is their second set of twins now, which is crazy to me. I’ve never met anyone that had two sets of twins back-to-back. I was fortunate to get the news a while back, and it was nice to see him come out and explain why he’s been taking time off.
He’s got five kids running around at home, and he’s trying to help the wife out and make sure everybody’s safe.” said Seth Rollins. “It’s awesome. It seems like everybody is getting in on the new kid thing these days (laughs).”
The former World Champion also talked about Becky Lynch’s pregnancy announcement on Raw saying that he thought it was perfect to watch her go out and tell the world exactly the way she wanted.
Seth continued by revealing that he was right behind the curtain watching Becky’s announcement on the monitor and it was the first time he really felt like they were going to be parents. You can check out Rollins’ full interview at this link.
WWE has announced a number of big matches and segments for next week’s episode of Monday Night Raw, including a champion vs. champion match for the show.
Apollo Crews surprised everyone when he defeated Andrade and became the new United States Champion on this week’s episode of the Red Branded Show.
The company has since announced that the new champion will have his first defence on the upcoming episode of the show and he will face an opponent of his choosing.
Another interesting match which has been announced for the show includes the current Raw Women’s Champion Asuka who will be facing the NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair in a non-title champion vs. champion match.
Asuka won the Money In The Bank and she was awarded the Championship after Becky Lynch relinquished the title. On the other hand, Charlotte Flair won the Royal Rumble and went on to defeat Rhea Ripley for the championship at WrestleMania 36.
Both these matches are in addition to the announced retirement segment for the former World Champion Rey Mysterio which WWE confirmed earlier.
Seth Rollins is expected to hold the ‘retirement ceremony’ for Mysterio on the show and it would be interesting to see how this segment between the two high flyings stars unfolds.
Rhea Ripley made her WrestleMania debut on this year’s edition of the Show Of Shows where she defended her NXT Women’s Championship against Charlotte Flair.
During a recent interview with Wrestling Friends podcast, the now former women’s champion talked about the big bout and revealed how she felt about it afterward.
Ripley revealed that she started crying after the match was over because she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she was very happy:
“I remember, after the match was done, even though the outcome wasn’t exactly what I wanted, it didn’t matter. Once the match ended — it was such a stressful day, you have no idea — I remember, everything was done, the cameras were off and I just started crying. I was bawling.
Everyone came down to the ring and were like, ‘please tell me these were happy tears.’ ‘Guys, you have no idea. I’m so happy. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders as well.'” said Ripley. “I was super stressed and I was so happy because it is WrestleMania and it still means a lot. I was happy that we did well.”
The Australian star also mentioned how WrestleMania 36 was her first time wrestling in an empty area with no audience because, before that, she had wrestled during the NXT Fans Appreciation night in early March.
Rhea Ripley will get a chance to win her title back when she will face Charlotte Flair and Io Shirai in a triple threat match at the NXT TakeOver: In Your House event on June 7
Though she has since revealed that her boss Tony Khan did not mind the incident and she is allowed to attend WWE shows without facing any consequences.
During her recent appearance on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Baker talked the other side of things and revealed if her boyfriend and the current NXT Champion Adam Cole is allowed to attend shows of their company:
“He [Adam Cole] originally was told he can’t come to our shows. For All In actually, he had a plane ticket booked, and then they told him you can’t go. So he still came to be support. He just watched it on his phone in the hotel room so he could be at the after party afterwards. We both wanted to go.
Recently, they’ve changed their tune, and he was able to come to our New Year’s show. And it’s great for him too because this is his family like The Young Bucks and Adam Cole go way back. They have been together long before Adam Cole and Britt Baker were together.”
The AEW star also talked about her relationship with the NXT champion. She revealed that the two talk about wrestling a lot and Cole helps her by critiquing her matches.
Apart from this Britt Baker talked about her wrestling career and during the episode, the co-host Tony Schiavone told a funny story about the NXT star.
It appears that the recently released WWE NXT star Deonna Purrazzo has made her mind about her future and she is all set to join Impact Wrestling very soon.
The company aired a vignette on her during this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling. In the video she claimed that she is a Virtuosa who expresses outstanding technical abilities.
The former WWE star also confirmed the news on Twitter with a post about Impact. You can check out Purrazzo’s post and the video hyping her Impact debut below:
Deonna Purrazzo made several WWE appearances during the same time period as well before she officially signed a contract with the company in May 2018.
She competed in the second Mae Young Classic tournament after joining the company officially. Though she didn’t wrestle a lot for the promotion and the former NXT star only had 16 televised matches in WWE before being released earlier last month.
The released NXT stars have a 30 days non compete clause opposed to the 90 days period required for the main roster stars which means that the released stars from the Black and Yellow brand are all free to sign with any promotion they like.
Cody Rhodes became the first man to hold the AEW TNT Championship by defeating Lance Archer at Double or Nothing this past weekend.
Boxing legend Mike Tyson was on hand to present the championship belt to Cody. It was a historic moment that is etched in the history books. Iron Mike will appear live on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite on TNT.
Fresh off his appearance at AEW’s Double or Nothing Pay Per View, Iron @MikeTyson will make his #AEWDynamite debut LIVE THIS WED, May 27th at 8/7c on TNT!
AEW released a ‘first look’ at the TNT Championship prior to Double or Nothing. Early impressions from opinionated wrestling fans were mixed. During the pay-per-view, AEW commentators revealed that the belt was “incomplete,” with production slowed down as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
AEW’s TNT Championship (v1)
The AEW TNT Championship belt was created by belt maker RED Leather. The company put out the following statement addressing the belt’s ‘in progress’ design:
“Unfortunately due to Covid-19 the platers I used are working on skeleton crews and can only work on respirators / emergency equipment. Once regular business resumes this belt will get some much needed highlights in nickel and gold as well as a relief TNT logo.”
During the AEW Double or Nothing post-show media scrum, Cody reiterated that the belt is still in progress and a final version will be unveiled as early as this coming week.
According to RED Leather, the following is “nearly exact to what the final belt will be.”
AEW TNT Championship render: “Nearly exact” to the final design, according to RED Leather
A Battle Royal will be held this week on AEW Dynamite to determine the #1 contender to Cody’s AEW World Championship.
Discussion: What do you think of the updated version of the AEW TNT Championship belt?
WWE Superstar Mandy Rose recently appeared on the Gorilla Position podcast. The SmackDown Superstar would discuss a number of topics from her recent career with the company. These would include the red-hot storyline involving her and Otis, Becky Lynch now leaving the company and what it is like pitching directly to Vince McMahon.
One of the points raised to Mandy Rose was just how involved Vince McMahon is in terms of storylines in the company. With the likes of the XFL and other ventures potentially taking time away from the WWE Chairman; Vince McMahon is still extremely involved in the minutia of the company’s narrative aspects.
Mandy Rose on McMahon’s Involvement
“He’s very involved” Mandy Rose began. “He’s involved in everything, Vince’s a huge fan of it and he takes a lot of pride in it. He really wants it [WWE] to continue to grow and become the best it can be.”
Mandy Rose would then talk specifically about her ongoing storyline with Otis. It has been reported recently that McMahon has been heavily involved in the SmackDown storyline in particular. The Chairman of WWE apparently sees a lot of potential in Otis especially, and is keen to capitalise on that.
“That makes us feel great” Rose stated, talking about McMahon’s ongoing involvement. “Obviously we take so much pride in it as well. So as a team? We’re all willing to put our opinions in and kind of develop the story the best way we can come up with. Bring the best ideas for our fans to enjoy.”
It’s highly likely that Vince McMahon will continue to be heavily involved in the company’s presentation and storylines going forward. Pre-pandemic, there were constant reports of McMahon demanding re-writes of the RAW and SmackDown scripts just hours/minutes before the shows were due to begin.
Do you think that Vince McMahon will step down any time soon?
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Ronda Rousey hasn’t performed in a WWE ring since the main event of WrestleMania 35. Rousey has been acting, performing on reality shows, and even voicing a character for a Mortal Kombat video game since she’s been gone.
Triple H recently spoke to TMZ about Rousey potentially coming back to WWE. The Game said she is welcome back at any time and also stated that Rousey is one of the greatest performers WWE has ever had.
“Of course, we want her. Of course, we do! One of the greatest performers for us ever,” Triple H said to TMZ about Ronda.
Triple H would continue to speculate about what Rousey’s plans could be and also to comment on Rousey calling pro-wrestling “fake” on Steve-O’s podcast.
“I think Ronda’s in a place in her personal life where she’s figuring some things out,” Triple H continued. “But, the thing with Ronda is you never know what she is saying. Is she attacking the business really or is she attacking the business because she knows that’s what will light up the fans that love the business?”
Rousey made a surprise appearance at the Royal Rumble in 2018. She would team up with Kurt Angle and face Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania that year. Rousey would then win the RAW Women’s Championship at SummerSlam 2018. Rousey would hold the title all the way until WrestleMania 36 when she dropped it to Becky Lynch.
“We still have a great relationship on everything [with Ronda] and when she is ready, absolutely [we’ll have her back].”
Triple H’s comments about Rousey can be heard in the player below:
Enzo Amore was with WWE from 2012 until 2018. He made his main roster debut in 2016 along with his tag partner, Big Cass. During that time, Arn Anderson was working backstage in WWE. Recently on the Arn Show, Double-A gave his thoughts on Enzo.
“Enzo was a guy that put a long time in down at NXT with his partner, Big Cass, and they had a pretty schtick going down there,” Anderson began. “Once they came up to the main roster, though, you go into a whole different learning phase, or you’re supposed to. If you’re going to be hanging around, you’re going to go through a whole new ‘let’s start over, here’s the way we do things on RAW, here’s the way we do things on Smackdown.'”
Big Cass and Enzo Amore arrived on the main roster with a great deal of fan fare. WWE fans knew who they were and knew to chant along with their catch phrases. Unfortunately, according to Arn Anderson, Enzo in particular might have had some issues with maturity that hindered their success.
“You can’t be too hardheaded about that because there are people trying to help you. If you don’t listen to those people and you fail, it’s on you. If you do listen to those people and do everything you can possibly do to pull off what they are telling you to pull off, then you got a shot at it. I just think Enzo might have been a little too headstrong about how he felt things should go.”
Arn Anderson’s comments about Enzo can be heard in the player below:
During his time away from pro wrestling, Enzo Amore has crossed over to the world of hip-hop music. He performs under the name real1. You can listen to his latest song, COVID19 ANTHEM, below:
Jeff Jarrett and Impact Wrestling are going back to court. A Tennessee judge has set a date for the trial to begin after court-ordered mediation failed to result in a settlement between the two parties.
Jarrett filed suit against Anthem media claiming the company used the GFW Amped shows without proper permission. The recording of the Amped shows was then deleted by Anthem Media. The conflict between the two sides began following Jarrett’s departure from the company in 2017.
Jarrett re-joined Impact in early 2017 and a merger of sorts began between the promotion and Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling project. On September 5th of that year, Jarrett was announced as taking an indefinite leave of absence from the company. He would not return to the promotion.
Last month, a judge ordered the two sides into mediation.
“trial date is realistic notwithstanding COVID-19, and the parties shall anticipate going forward on that date,” the court ruled regarding the upcoming trial date.
Jarrett has been working as a full-time member of the WWE creative team since March of 2019. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2018. Jarrett was inducted into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2015.
Stardom has issued further statement on the recent passing of 22-year-old Hana Kimura.
“We would like to take this opportunity to apologize for your concern and sorrow due to the sudden passing of Stardom’s Hana Kimura on May 23.
According to the police report, there is no case of foul play.
Regarding more details on the cause of death, we will refrain from publishing anything according to the wishes of the bereaving family. We do not plan to announce the details here in any press conferences or news releases. We kindly ask for your continued support.
In addition, please refrain from trying to interview the family and athletes belonging to Stardom in consideration of the current situation.
Moreover, please refrain from visiting the bereaving family, athlete’s homes, offices, the dojo, etc.
Regarding the funeral of Hana Kimura, we will not be announcing the date and time nor the place according to the wishes of the bereaving family. We would appreciate the consideration of the media and fans.
The bereaving family expresses their deep gratitude to the fans who supported Hana Kimura, and although the date and time of the event is currently undecided due to the Coronavirus situation, a memorial service for Hana Kimura will be held.
We are taking everything into consideration, and deciding on plans for videos and photos that can be shared with her fans.
Details will be announced as soon as they are decided.
We are very sorrowful on Hana’s passing, and only wish for her to rest in eternal peace.
Japan’s Communications Minister Sanae Takaichi said earlier today that the country’s laws against cyber bullying will be “revised to annul the right to privacy for deemed perpetrators of online slander and harassment.”
The proposed revisions will make it easier for victims of online abuse to find out who is behind their harassment. Current laws allow them to do so only after a long and expensive legal process.
“Online slander only serves to induce even more similar messages, and this is a serious violation of human rights,” Justice Minister Masako Mori said.
More information about the proposed changes to Japan’s cyberbullying laws can be found here.
A retirement ceremony for Rey Mysterio will be held next week on WWE RAW.
The 45-year-old veteran has been an active pro wrestler since debuting in 1989. He joined WWE in 2002 and is considered by many to be one of the greatest luchadores of all time.
Matt Riddle’s main roster debut is imminent and latest reports have now shed some light on which brand the former UFC star will be joining.
Wrestling Observer first reported the news that WWE is looking to call up the NXT star soon and his main roster debut is “scheduled to be imminent.”
Now PWinsider has provided some update on the former MMA star. Matt Riddle is soon headed to the SmackDown brand. WWE has planned this call up since before WrestleMania, but the call-up was delayed coming out of the big event. The talks of finally bringing him to the main roster heated up once again several weeks ago.
Matt Riddle was released from UFC in 2013 after testing positive for marijuana and he started his professional wrestling career in 2014. He was signed by WWE in August 2018 and he made his NXT debut in October that year.
The former MMA fighter has been featured regularly on NXT programming since then and he has made a lot of headlines with his controversial remarks about part-time talents like Brock Lesnar and Goldberg.
There is no word yet on when exactly will Riddle make his main roster debut but it’s believed that his upcoming Cage Fight with Timothy Thatcher on this week’s NXT could be his last match for the Black and Yellow brand.
The Crown Jewel travel woes made a lot of headlines last year and recently released WWE star Heath Slater was one of the stars who was stuck in the country after the show while rumors about their situation ran rampant.
The former champion recently had an interview with WrestlingInc where he talked about a number of things and also discussed their controversial trip to Saudi Arabia.
Slater said that it’s one of those things where you know something’s up but you don’t know what it is. He then added that he still doesn’t know the truth about the situation:
“It’s one of those things where you are there and you know something’s up but you don’t know what’s up, but we all got out okay. I still don’t know the truth. I heard there were mechanical reasons and it was this and it was that.
When I was on the plane, I fell asleep for five hours and when I woke up,” recalled Heath Slater “I looked over at Hawkins. I’m like, ‘Where are we at’ and he says we haven’t even left yet. ‘That’s when I was like, ‘What the heck?’
The former Nexus member recalled how they got off the plane after this and went over to the hotel. They got back on the plane after some wait and it finally left the country.
WWE held the Crown Jewel PPV in Saudi Arabia on October 2019. After the show, it was reported that a charter flight carrying most of the WWE roster including Slater and many other stars had been delayed.
This delay caused many rumors including one claiming that there was animosity between WWE and Saudi Arabia because the Kingdom had failed to pay the promotion for their previous shows but this was never proven.
The latest Undertaker: The Last Ride documentary has divided the opinion of fans. Many have been wondering if it’s the right thing for the Dead Man to break his character so publically now after keeping the kayfabe alive for decades and former Universal Champion Seth Rollins has some interesting comments on it.
Seth recently appeared on the After The Bell podcast of Corey Graves to talk about a number of different things. During the interview, he also discussed the latest documentary series on the Dead Man and Rollins interestingly claimed that it was the right time for Taker to produce the series because his character doesn’t work today.
“The smart thing about this with Taker is, he did it at the right time in his career… 12-year-old you, if you had seen The Last Ride, it would have ruined everything. But we didn’t have that. His character doesn’t work today. There are some weird exceptions, Bray Wyatt comes to mind from an ultra-character perspective who sort of slides by a little bit or gets a pass.”
“The Undertaker character is so supernatural, so now that he’s at this point in his life where he is comfortable transitioning out of the character and into Mark Calaway,” said Seth Rollins ” It makes it okay for me to watch it and see him being a human being.”
The Monday Night Messiah also responded to the controversial comments from Jim Cornette about the pregnancy of Becky Lynch during the same episode. Rollins said that Cornette’s comments caught him off guard and they hurt his feelings on a personal level.
This week’s episode of RAW aired from the WWE Performance Center. Andrade defended his United States Championship against Apollo Crews tonight. Charlotte, Nia Jax, and Natalya will face off in a Triple Threat match. The winner will get a shot at the RAW Women’s Championship at Backlash.
RAW Results (5/25)
Apollo Crews def. Andrade to win the United States Championship
Angel Garza def. Kevin Owens
Murphy & Austin Theory def. Aleister Black & Humberto Carrillo
Nia Jax def. Charlotte & Natalya to earn a shot at the RAW Women’s Championship at Backlash
Street Profits def. MVP & Lashley via DQ
Here are 6 takeaways from this week’s RAW:
Nia Jax Earned A Title Shot At Backlash
Nia Jax
An episode of the Kevin Owens Show kicked off this week’s episode of RAW. WWE finally had trainees in the audience for some ambience. RAW Women’s Champion Asuka was the guest on the Kevin Owens Show.
NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair quickly interrupted and made her way to the ring. Charlotte claimed that the RAW Women’s Championship should have been handed to her and pointed out that Asuka has never defeated her. Natalya joined the party and Kevin Owens hilariously got all of his set props out of the ring before she got there. Owens told Natalya that there is nothing to throw this week and Natalya apologized for her tantrum last week.
Charlotte told Natalya that she was irrelevant before Nia Jax marched down to the ring. The NXT wrestlers in the crowd booed Nia as Jax vowed to win the Triple Threat match tonight. Owens scampered out of the ring as Jax said she was going to bulldoze over Asuka at Backlash. A brawl then broke out and Nia quickly retreated to the outside.
Match Recap: Asuka joined commentary for the Triple Threat match during the third hour of RAW. Natalya and Charlotte teamed up and launched Nia Jax into the ring post. The action spilled out of the ring and Jax cleared off the announce table. Jax and Charlotte then traded shots on the ring apron. Charlotte unloaded with a flurry of chops and went for a big boot but Nia blocked it. Natalya and Charlotte then teamed up once again and Powerbombed Nia through the announce table as RAW went to a break.
When RAW returned, both Charlotte and Natalya hit a Clothesline on each other and fell to the canvas. Asuka rolled Nia Jax back into the ring and Natalya locked in an Arm Bar. Jax broke the hold with a massive Powerbomb and Charlotte tried to steal the cover but Natalya kicked out at two. Charlotte connected with a Moonsault off the top rope for a near fall.
Natalya hit Flair with a Crossbody off the top rope for a two count. Jax hit Natalya with a Clothesline and then delivered one to Charlotte. Flair targeted Nia’s knee and locked in a Figure Four in the middle of the ring. Charlotte bridged into the Figure Eight but Natalya broke it up with a Dropkick. Natalya then locked in the Sharpshooter on Charlotte in the middle of the ring but Nia broke it up. Charlotte sent Natalya out of the ring and made her way up to the middle rope. Nia attacked her and went for a Superplex as Natalya connected with a Powerbomb on Jax at the same time.
Natalya tried to pin Charlotte and Nia but they both kicked out at two. Charlotte locked in the Figure Four on Natalya but Nia broke it up with a Leg Drop. Jax then planted Natalya with a Samoan Drop for the pinfall victory. Nia Jax will face Asuka for the RAW Women’s Championship at WWE Backlash.
Opinion: Nia Jax was the only superstar in this match that made sense to face Asuka as they have already been developing a storyline over the past couple weeks. Charlotte, Nia Jax, and Natalya delivered a very solid Triple Threat match tonight.
Apollo Crews Captured The United States Championship
Andrade defended his United States Championship against Apollo Crews tonight on RAW.
Match Recap: Crews dominated the action and connected with a Suplex for a near fall. Andrade battled back with an elbow to the face for a two count. Crews shoved Andrade and he accidentally knocked Zelina off the apron and to the floor as RAW went to a commercial break.
When RAW returned, Apollo hit Andrade with a Clothesline and then slammed him into the turnbuckle. Andrade tied up Crews in the ropes and hit a Double Stomp the the chest for a two count. Andrade hit Double Knees again in the corner of the ring for another near fall.
Crews hit an Enziguri and slammed Andrade to the canvas. Apollo hit back to back standing Moonsaults for the pinfall victory. Apollo Crews is the new United States Champion.
After the match, Apollo Crews was interviewed and stated he can finally say that he won his first title in WWE. Crews added that he has never given up and has put in 11 years of hard work to get here.
"I can finally say I've won my first title in @WWE."
Seth Rollins Threatened Humberto Carrillo & Aleister Black
Seth Rollins cut a backstage promo with Rey Mysterio’s mask in his hand. Rollins said he cannot imagine how painful it must of been for Rey and his family to not be there to support him in his finest hour.
Rollins added that if getting his eye shoved into the steel steps was Rey’s final act, than it was a courageous one because it all them to move into the future. Murphy and Austin Theory showed up behind Seth as Rollins stated that they understand what it is like to be underutilized but their ceiling is limitless under his guidance.
Murphy thanked Seth for his guidance and said he needed a leader. Theory thanked Rollins for finding him when he was abandoned by his friends. Rollins vowed to make examples of Humberto Carrillo and Aleister Black later tonight to show what happens when you get in the way of the Monday Night Messiah. Later on RAW, Theory & Murphy battled Black & Carrillo as Rollins was ringside.
Match Recap: Humberto hit a massive Crossbody onto Murphy and Austin before tagging Aleister Black in. Black leveled Theory with a Clothesline and followed it up with a Dropkick. Murphy and Humberto then tagged in and Carrillo connected with an Enziguri. Theory and Black quickly tagged back in and Aleister connected with a couple of shoulder tackles. Austin accidentally booted Murphy in the face and Black capitalized with a springboard Moonsault. Black leveled Austin with a knee to the face and tagged in Humberto. Murphy knocked Black off the top rope and Austin planted Humberto with the ATL.
The A-T-L delivers the VICTORY for @austintheory1 and @WWE_Murphy…
After the match, Theory and Murphy sent Aleister Black into the timekeeper’s area. Rollins told Murphy and Theory to hold Humberto against the steel steps. Rollins told Aleister to put the chair down or Humberto loses an eye. Aleister obliged and Rollins threw Humberto to the floor.
The IIConics came down to the ring and complained about not being given enough opportunities. Women’s Tag Team Champions Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross interrupted and came down to the ring.
Billie Kay told Nikki to shut up and just stand there and be grateful. Nikki Cross said she had to work for everything while people constantly looked passed her. Cross claimed that Alexa Bliss keeps her focused and she likes to think that she has taught Bliss a little something about friendship. Nikki closed the promo by saying she cannot think of anything more iconic than that.
The IIconics then attacked Bliss and Nikki out of nowhere. They sent Bliss flying into the ring post before slamming Nikki Cross to the canvas. Billie Kay and Peyton Rose then posed with the Women’s Tag Team Championships in the middle of the ring.
MVP had WWE Champion Drew McIntyre as a guest on an episode of the VIP Lounge. MVP introduced McIntyre as the soon to be former WWE Champion. McIntyre will defend his WWE Championship against Bobby Lashley at Backlash.
McIntyre quickly knocked over the chairs and demanded that Lashley come out here. MVP told Drew that the Full Nelson won’t happen tonight because Lashley is going to save that for Backlash.
MVP brought up McIntyre’s previous appearance on the VIP Lounge and how Drew declined to accept his guidance. MVP added that he is responsible for Lashley getting a WWE Championship opportunity after 13 years. Drew pointed out that it took him 19 years to get his title shot and he capitalized by beating Brock Lesnar in five minutes.
Drew said he doesn’t need anyone thinking and talking for him. McIntyre added that the only way Lashley will take this title from him is prying it from his cold dead hands. Lashley interrupted and came down the entrance ramp. McIntyre leveled MVP with the Claymore and dared Bobby to get into the ring. Lashley retreated as McIntyre posed with the title.
Throwing it out there, is there a better finisher on Monday Night Raw currently than the Claymore by Drew McIntyre?
— Owen @ WrestleNews365 (@365Wrestle) May 26, 2020
Lashley & McIntyre Brawled To Close The Show
MVP & Lashley challenged the Street Profits to a match and it wound up being the main event. WWE Champion Drew McIntyre said he was hanging around for the match.
Match Recap: Lashley leveled Montez with a shoulder tackled and then beat him down in the corner of the ring. Lashley went for a Suplex but Montez escaped and tagged in Dawkins. Bobby sent Ford flying into the barricade and slammed him into the ring post as RAW went to a commercial break.
When RAW returned, Lashley hit a Powerslam on Ford for a near fall. MVP tagged in and brought Montez out of the ring and launched him into the steel steps. Back in the ring, MVP went for the cover but Ford kicked out at two. MVP went for a big boot but Ford got out of the way and MVP ran into the turnbuckle.
Angelo Dawkins tagged in and hit MVP with a few Clotheslines. Dawkins hit a Splash in the corner and followed it up with a Bulldog. Angelo blasted Lashley off the apron and Montez followed that up with a shoulder tackle. Ford tagged in and hit MVP with a massive Frog Splash. Lashley shoved Ford into the ring post and locked in the Full Nelson on Montez. Lashley wasn’t the legal man and wouldn’t let go so the match ended in a DQ.
McIntyre marched down to the ring and hit Lashley with the Glasgow Kiss. Lashley battled back and the two traded punches outside the ring. The action returned to the ring as referee John Cone asked the Performance Center trainees to break up the fight. Lashley hit McIntyre with a Spear and the brawl continued as several more trainees got in the ring to separate the two superstars as RAW went off the air.
Opinion: This week’s RAW dragged on and there were too many segments that felt lifeless. Lana was shown getting frustrated that MVP is now managing Lashley and it seems obvious that she is going to factor into the WWE title match at Backlash. I’m finding it impossible to get invested in this feud at the moment. It was cool to see Apollo Crews finally win a title but he and Andrade could have had a much better match than what we saw tonight.
