Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 1.814 million viewers in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center on the USA Network, which is down from the 1.842 million viewers the previous week.
This week’s show was the lowest viewership for 2020 thus far, which continues the streak of ratings being down for the flagship show of the company as the world battles the coronavirus outbreak. It was also the lowest viewed episode since December 23, 2019, which drew 1.835 million viewers. Monday was the second all-time for a non-holiday show.
RAW Viewership
Here is the hourly viewership breakdown, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
Hour 1: 1.945 million (1.940 Last Week), 0.56 Demo (0.59 Last Week)
Hour 2: 1.888 million (1.866 Last Week), 0.53 Demo (0.56 Last Week)
Hour 3: 1.619 million (1.720 Last Week), 0.43 Demo (0.54 Last Week)
Some of the matches that took place include Aleister Black, Apollo Crews & Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade, Angel Garza & Austin Theory in a six-man tag team match, Liv Morgan vs. Ruby Riott, United States Champion Andrade (w/Zelina Vega) vs. Apollo Crews, and Cedric Alexander & Ricochet vs. Ever-Rise (Chase Parker & Matt Martel).
RAW featured the return of Samoa Joe, who had been off of WWE television since February, as he replaced WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler on commentary. The in-ring return of former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal occurred after she was on the sidelines for nearly a year due to injury.
Finally, the main event saw the contract signing between WWE Champion Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins.
Jinder Mahal returned to WWE last night on RAW. The former WWE Champion defeated Akira Tozawa in his return from an extended stay on the injured list. It was his first match since a WWE house show on June 15th, 2019. A knee injury hindered Jinder for over 10 months.
WWE correspondents caught up with Jinder backstage at RAW last night. The former champion said he feels disrespected by the WWE fans and his fellow Superstars during the interview.
“Congratulations? You want to congratulate me? I feel disrespected. I feel disrespected by my peers, by the WWE universe,” Jinder said during the conversation. “People thought I was gone for good. I was injured, I had knee surgery, they thought that was it.”
Jinder then continued to talk about his many accomplishments in WWE. These include his run as WWE Champion from May 21, 2017, until November 7th, 2017.
“I’m a former United States champion, a former WWE Champion. I haven’t forgotten that. Akira Tozawa hasn’t forgotten that and I strongly suggest that all of you do not forget.”
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) star Chris Jericho has offered his thoughts on WWE’s recent roster cuts amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. WWE recently laid off a huge list of in-ring talents, and also furloughed a lot of its employees as well.
During a recent interview with TV Insider, Jericho has offered his thoughts on WWE’s talent cuts. In regards to how AEW will respond to the influx of free agents that are now on the market, “Y2J” says he has no clue.
“It’s an interesting time right now, because a lot of guys got released. By proxy, you went from a business that was very profitable in many different levels to everything grinding to a halt. Hopefully, many of them will get picked up by the different companies.
“Some guys may have to go overseas. I don’t know what AEW has planned. That’s not really my wheelhouse. But I’m sure everybody is going to land where they should land. It’s just how it goes.”
Jericho has taken a bit of a break from in-ring competition in 2020. He has only competed in one singles match this year, that being his title loss to Jon Moxley at Revolution.
Jericho has been doing a lot of commentary work as of late on Dynamite, and recently fell out of the weekly AEW Rankings.
Last week’s edition of Dynamite was headlined by Dustin Rhodes vs Kip Sabian in the 1st round of the TNT title tournament. Rhodes put his career on the line in the match as well. Rhodes defeated Sabian and will now face Jake Roberts’ client Lance Archer in the semi-finals.
AEW published a promo from Roberts recently where the legend talks about the upcoming match between Archer and Rhodes.
“Let me think about this, Dustin,” Roberts begins the promo. “Last week, you were talking about retiring if you couldn’t beat Kip Sabian. Christ, you squeaked by that. My friend, it’s not a good thing because now you’re set to go against Lance Archer.”
Dustin Rhodes is also shown in the video. Rhodes noted that he now understands he has the support of the AEW fan base.
“Lance Archer doesn’t need the fans, he feeds off his own anger,” Jake Roberts continued. “He wants to hurt somebody and you happen to be a Rhodes, that makes it even better.”
“I’m laying it out there plain and simple, Lance will F you up!”
“It’s better to acknowledge the fear and the truth and walk away,” Roberts continued. “If you don’t walk away from this, you’ll be carried away from this. Goodbye, old friend.”
In 1998, there were rumors that WCW wanted Chris Jericho to join the NWO. On the Nitro just after Road Wild that year, the NWO’s Giant helped him win the TV title. Many fans took that as the beginning of Jericho joining the group. It never happened, however, and Giant helping Jericho win the title was never explained.
Bischoff commented recently on Jericho not wanting to join the faction on an episode of his 83 Weeks podcast. He told Conrad Thompson that Jericho wasn’t in a position to turn anything down.
“He didn’t turn down anything, Chris didn’t have creative control,” Bischoff said on the show. “Could it have been suggested? Could he have balked? Yeah, I’ll go with that as a possibility.”
According to Jericho’s book, he felt as though he had a good thing going outside the NWO at the time.
Bischoff continued to say he has no recollection of wanting Jericho to join the NWO.
“There may have been some discussion about the NWO – which, by the way, I don’t recall because I can’t imagine that making any sense. The only thing I really recall and I’m probably fast-forwarding just a little bit is Chris really wanted to work with Bill Goldberg and that was a problem for me for a lot of reasons. There were a couple of reasons that were pretty significant.”
Bischoff continued to say that he may have suggested the idea to Jericho but it was never anything firm.
“I guarantee you I never went to Chris and said ‘Chris this is what I want you to do’ and Chris said ‘no, I’m not going to do that.’ That never happened.”
On the debut episode of AEW Dynamite, Chris Jericho aligned himself with Sammy Guevara, Jake Hager, and Santana & Ortiz. Shortly after, the faction would be named “the Inner Circle.”
During a recent interview with Sportskeeda, Jericho commented on the possibility of adding new members to the group. According to Le Champion, he’s not opposed to the idea but it would have to make sense in storyline.
“It depends on what happens in the storylines,” Jericho said about adding more members to the faction. “To me, everything is based on the story, the story that we’re telling, what fits, what doesn’t fit. I think one of the downfalls of the original nWo was when they started having Virgil and guys like that in there. It kind of takes some of the exclusiveness and cool factor.”
“I’m not opposed to it, but I’m not actively searching for new members,” Jericho continued.
Jericho has been on commentary during recent episodes of Dynamite. He was also dropped from the top-5 rankings that were released on Friday. Jericho has only wrestled one single’s match in 2020, dropping the AEW World Championship to Jon Moxley at Revolution.
Former NXT star Deonna Purrazzo was one of the stars that were let go by the company last week and the list includes names such as Kurt Angle and Rusev.
The former WWE star recently had an interview with SportsKeeda where she talked about things such as the support she has received since her release from the company and more.
When asked how she felt after getting the call from the
company, Purrazzo claimed that she knew in her heart that she would get the
call and revealed that she was unhappy with her position in the company:
“I kind of knew, in my heart, that I would get a call last week. It’s not something that I didn’t expect because I was unhappy for the last six or so months with what I was doing in NXT – and I let office people know that. We had conversations where I said, if nothing is going to happen for me, I’d just rather be let go.”
Deonna Purrazzo also discussed how the company did not announce the NXT releases publically but she decided to go online and address the situation after knowing about it.
Apart from this, the former NXT star also talked about her future and a potential AEW run as well. You can check out her comments about possibly joining WWE’s rival promotion at this link.
WWE Superstar and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez has reportedly been released by WWE. This according to Dave Meltzer on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio. Velasquez has not been used on WWE programming since the Crown Jewel show in Saudi Arabia. That was back in October of 2019.
Cain Velasquez Cut
The former UFC Heavyweight Champion was reportedly released by the company as part of the recent budget cuts. WWE had signed Cain Velasquez to a multi-year deal however these contracts allow the company to release or cut talent at any time. Velasquez joins the recently released likes of Heath Slater, Zack Ryder, Kurt Angle and Rusev.
Meltzer noted during the episode of WON that AAA may be looking to bring Velasquez back into the fold as he was a short term success there before joining WWE. There had been interest from All Elite Wrestling before Cain signed with WWE, so he may be looking to leverage that to get a deal with the Jacksonville based promotion.
Although at this time it is unlikely that AEW will be looking to bring in too many talents. With of course live event and merchandising numbers being hit due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The full list of on-air and NXT talents cut now stands as follows:
Drake Maverick
Curt Hawkins
Karl Anderson
Luke Gallows
Heath Slater
Eric Young
EC3
Lio Rush
Erick Rowan
Sarah Logan
Referee Mike Chioda
Erick Rowan
Primo
Epico
Mike Kanellis
Maria Kanellis
Zack Ryder
No Way Jose
Rusev
Cain Velasquez
Deonna Purrazzo
Aleksandar Jaksic
MJ Jenkins
Nick Ogarelli
Taynara Conti
Dan Matha
Cezar Bononi
Mars Wang
Tino Sabbatelli
Mohamed Fahim
Marcos Gomes
Faisal Kurdi
Edgar Lopez
Hussain Aldagal
Yifeng
Kassius Ohno
Also Check Out:
Heath Slater Talks About His Future After WWE Release
UFC fighter Colby “Chaos” Covington recently appeared on an episode of SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The 15-2 American Top Team affiliated fighter would appear on the show to express his want to move into the world of professional wrestling, specifically WWE.
Covington’s last MMA fight took place in December 2019, where he took a TKO loss against Kamaru Usman. That bout was for the UFC’s Welterweight Division title, and since the loss Covington has gone public with his want to leave the octagon and enter the squared circle. Colby Covington recently told SB Nation’s “What the Heck” show; “Not this summer, but next summer (2021). I’ve been practising [pro wrestling] moves and really working on my promo and mic skills. Also control and slowing things down and understanding the art of wrestling.”
Drew vs Brock
“Mark [Henry] it’s funny you bring up the name Drew McIntyre, you know?” Colby Covington began on Busted Open. “He’s a guy that’s coming out, he’s a big, powerful guy. He reinvented himself. He beat Brock Lesnar, that’s no joke.”
Top of The Mountain
Covington would go on to say that if he wants to enter WWE then he needs to be aiming for the top of the mountain; that being the WWE Championship. “Maybe, Brock [Lesnar] was overlooking him? Although that’s kind of weird because Drew McIntyre is almost seven foot tall (laughs). I’m getting to the top of the mountain, I’m trying to fight Drew McIntyre. That’s where the view is the best.”
Colby Covington vs Drew McIntyre
‘Chaos’ would elaborate further, saying “I’m not looking to pick on someone smaller than me, and guys? Let’s be honest. WWE may not want this because of the violence and it being too dangerous. The last time I checked? People love danger and violence so let’s give it to them. Because I expressed myself by saying that I want to go to WWE to wrestle. BUT, it sounds like Drew McIntyre expressed himself like he wants to FIGHT. If WWE does not want to sanction this? [Then] I recommend, we can do it in a ‘no sanctioned’ country. Maybe we do it in the UK? Maybe we do it in Saudi Arabia? But I think there needs to be a fight between me and Drew McIntyre, you know? David versus Goliath.”
There have been a number of ‘shoot’ fighters coming into the WWE over the past few decades, with arguably the most successful coming from amateur wrestling backgrounds, namely Kurt Angle and Brock Lesnar. Covington himself has a solid collegiate wrestling resume, and with that he brings an ability to promote/market his fights that could be a boon for WWE.
Do you think that Colby Covington could be successful in WWE? Let us know in the comments
This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw saw Apollo Crews picking up a big victory over a current champion but things didn’t end the way he wanted to.
The former NXT star teamed up with Rey Mysterio and Aleister
Black on the show to face the team of Angel Garza, Austin Theory and Andrade in
a 6 men tag team match.
Apollo won the match for his team while pinning the US
Champion Andrade in the process. This win earned him a shot at the US
Championship later in the night.
However, the Raw star ended up suffering a leg injury while
attempting a Frogsplash in the championship match and the bout was stopped
because he couldn’t continue the match.
The company later announced on their website that Apollo Crews is not medically cleared and so he will not be able to compete in the upcoming Money In The Bank ladder match as announced.
The company has not confirmed a replacement for the high flying star so it would be interesting to see who ends up taking his place in the upcoming match.
The Money In The Bank this year will be contested at the WWE Headquarters on May 10. After Crews’ removal, the remaining confirmed participants for the bout are Daniel Bryan, Aleister Black, Rey Mysterio and King Corbin.
WWE announced the release of over a dozen stars earlier this month including names like Kurt Angle and Rusev. However the actual count was even bigger and there were many names which were let go by the company quietly.
Kalisto who has not been seen on WWE programming in recent
months became subject to such rumors and so the WWE star had to come forward to
clarify his status.
The former US Champion recently released a new video. He confirmed that he is still with WWE and revealed that he has actually been out of action due to a shoulder injury:
“I wanted to take this moment because I am seeing a lot of fans tweeting at me, messaging me: ’Where am I?’ ‘Am I still in WWE?’ and the answer is yes.
But unfortunately, I got hurt back on December 31, at the staples center in LA. So I ended up having ACL separation on my shoulder and some ligaments. Thank god no surgery but it’s a longer recovery.”
Kalisto continued by saying that he watches SmackDown and he
believes his Lucha House Party partners Gran Metalik & Lince Dorado will
win the tag team championships.
The former Champion did not provide a timetable for his return so it’s hard to say when he will be back on WWE TV but we will keep you posted on his status.
Heath Slater had been a company man for WWE from a long time and the former Nexus member has spent most of his wrestling career working for WWE in various roles.
However, the former 24/7 Champion is not associated with the company anymore and for the first time in his career, he has the option to choose from the various opportunities that are available in the wrestling world right now.
Slater recently appeared on the Chasing Glory podcast and talking about his future, the former SmackDown champion said that there are many cool things in the wrestling world right now and he wants to dabble into some of that:
“I have never been outside of the WWE. You know, I
never got to go to Japan. I’ve never been to any other federation. AEW is amazing,
they’re doing good stuff, [they’re] good people. Impact is doing good things.
I’ve never ever got to go to ROH; they have so much good talent coming from
there. Even NWA is back up with their old school stuff.
There are so many cool things out there that you can do, that’s what excites me.” said Heath Slater. “I want to dabble into some of this because I have never in my life done it. This is like a new journey for me.”
The former NXT star also claimed that he was burned out in
his position at WWE mentioning how he had been on the road for more than 10
years.
Heath Slater started his wrestling career in 2004 and he was picked up by WWE in 2006. He had been featured on WWE programming regularly ever since his main roster debut in 2010 before being released earlier this month.
Last week’s episode of SmackDown featured the 25th-anniversary celebration of Triple H’s in-ring debut for the company, however, it didn’t manage to attract the audience and the show saw another decline in viewership numbers.
The episode of the Blue Branded Show featuring the return of Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Vince McMahon drew a total of 2.005 million viewers, according to Showbuzz Daily.
This is an 8.3% decline from the previous episode of the
show which had drawn 2.187 million viewers. This number is also down from the
overnight viewership released on Saturday morning which was counted at 2.014
million viewers.
The episode managed to draw a 0.5 rating in the key 18-49 demographic compared to a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demo for the previous episode of the Blue Brand. The episode ranked #7 in ratings for the 18-49 demographic.
The show made a new record for low viewership with these
numbers as they are the lowest SmackDown audience that have been registered
since the start of this year.
This is also the new lowest SmackDown viewership since the show moved to Fox Network in October last year and with WWE returning to taped shows recently, the numbers are only expected to get worse in the foreseeable future.
Jinder Mahal has made his return to WWE television.
The former WWE Champion did so during Monday’s episode of RAW in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center on the USA Network by beating Akira Tozawa in a singles match.
Mahal, who has a new look as he cut his hair short, squashed the 205 Live star in a short match that was capped off with his finisher to win the contest.
The last that fans saw him, Mahal hadn’t been doing much on television since last year on RAW or SmackDown. He had been involved in recent WWE 24/7 Title chase segments where he became a two-time WWE 24/7 Champion but lost the title.
Last June, Mahal went to Birmingham, Alabama to undergo knee surgery at Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center.
At the time of the injury, he noted in an Instagram post that while wrestling Ali, who won the match, at the WWE live event in Denver, Colorado on Saturday, June 15, he ruptured his patella tendon.
One positive thing going for him at the time was that Mahal had signed a new deal that is said to be for 5 years.
As expected, Samoa Joe made his return to WWE television on Monday’s episode of RAW in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center on the USA Network.
While Joe didn’t return to in-ring action, he did rejoin the announcement team. Earlier in the day, his return was reported by Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet. He replaced WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler.
Joe had done commentary for the flagship show of WWE before. Last year, he replaced Dio Madden on the team.
It was reported back in November that Joe, who received rave reviews from fans, was being recognized backstage for how good he is in that role.
The reason that Joe was chosen for this role was due to him being out of action after suffering a thumb injury back in September. It turns out that injury also put him back in the chair as a color commentator in 2020.
The “RAW: Must Be Monday” commercial was filmed in February and released in March.
It turns out that this is the same commercial where Joe suffered a concussion while filming it. At the time, it was reported Joe suffered the concussion while taking a bad table bump during a commercial shoot.
As recent as last week it was reported that Joe wasn’t medically cleared from his concussion.
The April 27th edition of RAW aired from the Performance Center in Orlando. Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins signed the contract tonight to make their WWE Championship match official for the Money in the Bank PPV on May 10th.
WWE RAW Results (4/27)
Apollo Crews, Rey Mysterio, Alesiter Black def. Andrade, Angel Garza, Austin Theory
Bobby Lashey def. Denzel Dejournette
Liv Morgan def. Ruby Riott
Jinder Mahal def. Akira Tozawa
Andrade def. Apollo Crews to retain the United States Championship
Cedric Alexander & Ricochet def. Ever-Rise
McIntyre & Rollins signed the contract to make their WWE Championship match official for Money in the Bank
Here are 5 takeaways from this week’s show:
Apollo Crews, Rey Mysterio, Aleister Black Picked Up A Win
MVP kicked off the show and welcomed Rey Mysterio, Aleister Black, and Apollo Crews to the VIP Lounge. Crews defeated MVP to qualify for the MITB Ladder match. Samoa Joe was on commentary instead of Jerry Lawler.
MVP said that winning the Ladder match will cement Rey’s legacy. MVP asked Apollo Crews if he has what it takes to win the MITB Ladder match.
Apollo was about to answer but was quickly interrupted by Zelina Vega, Angel Garza, Austin Theory, and United States Champion Andrade. Vega said that nobody in the WWE Universe wants to hear what Apollo Crews has to say.
Vega claimed that the WWE Universe cannot get enough of Andrade, Angel Garza, and Austin Theory. They wanted Rey, Aleister, and Apollo to give up their MITB slots and Rey laughed at that notion. A brawl then broke out and it led to a match.
Match Recap: Black dominated early and trapped Garza in the corner. Apollo and Austin tagged in and Crews planted Theory with a massive Suplex. When RAW returned from a break, Austin Theory had Black trapped in a Headlock in the middle of the ring. The action went back forth until Apollo Crews planted Andrade with a Powerbomb for the pinfall victory. After the match, Apollo Crews and Andrade traded words backstage. Crews wanted a title shot and slapped Andrade in the face to end the segment.
Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, and Asuka were supposed to compete in a Triple Threat match tonight but it wound up not happening.
A brawl broke out before the bell rang and Shayna dominated early. Nia Jax battled back and was the one left standing. Nia’s music then played and the match never began.
Opinion: I understand that WWE wants to make Nia Jax look unstoppable again but this sucked. RAW is three hours and we just watched a 6-man tag team match for 45 minutes. I’m not sure why we couldn’t just get the advertised Triple Threat match.
Former WWE Champion Jinder Mahal made his return on this week’s episode of RAW. Jinder battled Akira Tozawa.
Match Recap: Mahal and Akira locked up and Jinder immediately slammed him to the mat. Mahal stood over Tozawa with a grin on his face before launching him out of the ring. Jinder followed Tozawa outside and slammed him into the ring apron.
Jinder threw Akira into the barricade before bringing him back into the ring. Mahal then hit the Khallas for the pinfall victory.
Andrade Retained Because Apollo Crews Couldn’t Continue
Andrade defended his United States Championship against Apollo Crews tonight on RAW.
Match Recap: Andrade controlled the action early and applied a Headlock in the middle of the ring. Crews broke free but Andrade sent him to the canvas and stomped on him several times. Andrade hit Crews with a couple chops in the corner before stomping him back down to the mat. Andrade sent Crews back to the outside and leveled him with a Clothesline as RAW went to a break.
When RAW returned, Andrade was still in control and focused his attack on Apollo’s knee. Andrade applied a Half Crab but Crews was able to escape. Apollo hit a Belly to Belly Suplex and perched Andrade up on the top turnbuckle. Crews slammed Andrade to the mat and hit a Standing Moonsault for a near fall.
Andrade connected with Double Knees and went for the cover but Apollo kicked out at the last moment. Andrade followed it up with a DDT for another near fall. Crews connected with an Enziguri and then a Slam for a two count. Andrade and Apollo battled on the top turnbuckle.
The United States Champion went for a Superplex but Crews knocked him down with a headbutt. Crews went for a Splash but Andrade got out of the way. Apollo grabbed his knee in pain and the referee checked if Crews could continue. The referee ruled that Apollo couldn’t continue and called for the bell.
The referee determines @WWEApollo can no longer continue with the knee injury.
Later on the show, Crews was interviewed backstage. Apollo was on crutches and got choked up. Apollo didn’t answer a question and the announcers played up that his status for Money in the Bank is unknown.
Opinion: The finish sucked but it made sense because Apollo’s knee was the story of the match. I didn’t really want to see Crews win the United States Championship a couple of weeks before competing in the Money in the Bank Ladder match.
Jerry “The King” Lawler moderated the contract signing between Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre for their WWE Championship match at Money in the Bank.
After the introductions, McIntyre suggested that Jerry leave the ring given how all the contract signings end in a fight. Drew quickly signed the contract and slid it over to Rollins.
Seth paused before signing as McIntyre said time is ticking. Rollins claimed that he doesn’t want this, he has to do this. Seth added that the WWE Championship needs to be with him and that Drew will be a great champion some day.
Rollins claimed that McIntyre was not a leader and that the industry needs someone that can guide them. Seth vowed to be the “light in that darkness”. Rollins added that he suffered for the title and he doesn’t want to see that happen to McIntyre.
Seth told McIntyre that he doesn’t want to be the one to crush McIntyre’s dream but that is a sacrifice he is willing to make for the greater good. Rollins claimed that this will all make sense to Drew in time and when it does, he will lead McIntyre as well.
McIntyre thanked Rollins for his speech and said that things are clear now. Drew changed his tune and told Seth that he is full of shit. McIntyre wondered where Rollins’ followers were now and noted how Rollins never accepted any fault for the fans turning on him.
Drew added that nobody ever wants to hear Rollins and he somehow is able to get his foot stuck in his mouth and up his ass as well. McIntyre told Rollins to go for the throat at Money in the Bank because he sure as hell is going for Seth’s. Rollins stated that the big picture will become clear at Money in the Bank and Drew will be better off for it.
Rollins was about to tell McIntyre to have faith in him but Drew didn’t want to hear it. McIntyre bounced Rollins’ head off the table and set up for a Claymore Kick. Murphy attacked Drew from behind and beat him down in the corner of the ring. Seth and Murphy shared a hug before McIntyre leveled Murphy with a Claymore Kick to end the show.
Opinion: I really enjoyed this segment and it was by far the most entertaining part of tonight’s show. Overall, I thought this week’s RAW was painfully boring and I sincerely hope the go-home show next week is better. It is damn near impossible for it to be worse.
Luke Gallows is attempting to gain the trademark rights to the term “Sex Ferguson.”
He did so under his WrestleMerica promotion on April 22nd with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). WrestleMerica had filed trademarks for Good Brothers, Big LG and Talk’n Shop in the past as well.
The filing for the trademark notes that it is for the following:
“G & S: Hats; Hooded sweatshirts; Pants; Shirts; Sweatshirts” as well as “G & S: Entertainment in the nature of wrestling contests; Entertainment services, namely, live appearances by a professional wrestling and sports entertainment personality; Entertainment services, namely, personal appearances by a professional wrestling and sports entertainment personality; Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer; Entertainment services, namely, providing podcasts in the field of professional wrestling, sports entertainment, and pop culture; Entertainment services, namely, providing video podcasts in the field of professional wrestling, sports entertainment, and pop culture; Presentation of live show performances; Presentation of live comedy shows; Providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network; Providing online interviews featuring a professional wrestler, sports entertainer, and podcaster in the field of professional wrestling, sports entertainment, and pop culture for entertainment purposes”
The former WWE star had previously filed for the trademark in July 2017. However, in April of the following year, he allowed it to expire. He previously used the Sex Ferguson gimmick on Colt Cabana’s Wrestling Road Diaries.
Once he went to WWE, he changed it to “Tex Ferguson” as more of a PG version of the character in order to use it for WWE’s Southpaw Regional Wrestling mini-series.
Gallows and Karl Anderson were released from WWE two weeks ago when the company decided to make mass firing of staff and talent.
Longtime WWE employee Gerald Brisco has been furloughed by WWE.
Brisco has been with WWE since 1984. He’s been key figure behind the scenes for decades. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer noted on Monday night that Brisco was released. However, the 73-year-old legend set the record straight that he is not officially gone from the company.
What a writer made a mistake, to set things right. I have not been let go yet I’ve been placed on furlough don’t know who leaked the wrong news. I hope get back to helping young folks find there dream. If not it been on heck of a run #cantkeepawrestlerdown
Earlier this month, WWE decided to release or furlough several wrestlers as well as producers from their contracts with the company.
Brisco worked with McMahon at the WWE Headquarters in Stamford, CT and later became one of McMahon’s most trusted advisors. In fact, he was only a few people who knew ahead of time about the 1997 Montreal Screwjob on Bret Hart at the Survivor Series pay-per-view event.
Brisco also served as a character on WWE RAW during the Attitude Era and later became the company’s top talent scout.
During his time as a scout, he had connections in the amateur wrestling world as a former Oklahoma State wrestler.
In fact, he discovered Brock Lesnar as a junior at Minnesota. Not only did he sign Lesnar to a WWE deal but also did so for various top amateur wrestlers of the last 25 years who worked for WWE.
AEW commentator Taz is also hosting a Q&A session this week. The Taz Q&A streams live on Facebook and YouTube this Thursday night at at 8pm (Eastern). Use the hashtag #AskTaz on social media to submit your questions.
Here is your chance to ask @OfficialTAZ your burning questions as he will be doing a live Q&A on our Official YouTube & Facebook pages on Thursday, April 30th at 8 pm EST.
Here is AEW’s latest Road to the TNT Championship Tournament update. This week’s installment hypes the two tournament Semifinal matches taking place this week on Dynamite:
The 201st episode of Being the Elite was released on YouTube today. At the start of the episode, Matt and Nick loosely address rumors that BTE was finishing soon.
“When are we going to end it, who knows?” Nick asked.
Nick then said he had some bad news he had to deliver. Last week, the show ended with a tease that the brothers “had something else to do” and as it turns out, Nick went back to the hospital to get checked out. He went straight to the hospital and doctors told him his health is only at 15%. Far from what he’ll need to be to return to the ring.
Matt then said he also went to the hospital and doctors told him his back is hurt for another 2 years. He lamented that fans might get tired of him selling the injury for that long.
As they were sitting around talking, they noticed a message in the sky. At the conclusion of the episode, the message in the sky was revealed and displayed, “FTR.”
The episode also features an update on Luchasaurus searching for his tail. This week he turned to “Dr.” PJ Black for help. He ended up going on quite the psychedelic journey as a result. Brandon Cutler is starting the “kick out challenge” in an attempt to improve his losing AEW record. Colt Cabana also gets himself on the show again. Private Party is also trying to solve the mystery of who threw an exploding bear at them.
The full episode can be viewed in the player below:
Major League Wrestling presented a new episode of Fusion this weekend on YouTube and BeIN Sports. The show featured the 5th and 6th matches in the MLW vs AAA Super Series.
The full episode can be viewed in the player below:
MLW Fusion 4/25/20 Quick Results
Caribbean Championship Richard Holiday (c) defeated Chessman
Hart Foundation (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Brian Pillman Jr.) defeated Texano Jr. & Rey Escorpion Jr.
Hart Foundation Give MLW A 4-2 Lead In Super Series
Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Brian Pillman Jr. teamed up for the first time in many months this week. They took the early advantage in their match against Texano and Rey Escorpion Jr. but the members of Injustice would change that. The trio caused a distraction while Pillman was in the ring, allowing the AAA team to take control of the match.
There was several examples of referee bias toward AAA wrestlers in this match as well. Davey Boy was prevented from tagging in during a key moment for his team. Eventually, Pillman fought off both opponents and tagged in Davey Boy right in front of the referee. Davey Boy cleared house and Pillman hit a plancha to the outside. The Hart Foundation then hit a modified version of the Hart Attack (with Pillman springboarding off the ropes and Davey Boy holding up Texano) for the win!
With the win, MLW goes up 4-2 in the MLW vs AAA Super Series.
Richard Holliday Retains “His” Caribbean Championship
In previous episodes, we’ve seen that Holiday didn’t even know who he would be defending his title against in Tijuana. It should also be noted that the Caribbean Championship doesn’t actually belong to him. Savio Vega is the rightful holder of the title that Holliday is in possession of. Despite this, Holliday’s lawyer/father continues to lobby for the belt to be made an official MLW title.
Holiday informed the fans in attendance that they likely would not be able to afford his air pods, ingratiating himself to them. Chessman then took the early control of the match before Holiday hit him with a chair. Chessman would battle back but would miss a top-rope move allowing Holiday to hit the Market Crash for the win.
Low-Ki Interrupts Team Filthy Press Conference
A press conference featuring the members of Team Filthy was planned for this week. It never happened, however. Low-Ki is reported to have gone after Dan Lambert and then Team Filthy left before the press conference could begin. Lambert played an instrumental role in King Mo’s controversial victory over Low-Ki a few weeks back.
Low-Ki was filmed in the parking lot telling Team Filthy and American Top Team that they are the ones who started this war.
The officiating during the MLW vs AAA Super Series has been suspect at best. Douglas James was denied a victory over Averno after a long 2-count during his match. Tom Lawlor and Dominic Garrini were denied a blind tag in their match last week as well. It was noted on this week’s MLW broadcast that the league has issued a formal complaint to AAA regarding the officiating.
Last week on Fusion, Mance Warner shoved Alexander Hammerstone’s face into Alicia Atout’s birthday cake. This week, Warner apologized to Atout and offered her a light beer as a gift. Atout told Warner she was happy he sent MJF out of the territory and suggested he could turn his attention to other members of the Dynasty as well. Warner said he’d like to get some gold like Hammerstone’s National Openweight title.
A video was shown featuring Hammerstone saying the Openweight title is like his birth certificate, as in it always has his name on it. These two are bound to clash for that belt sometime soon.
Inustice will get a shot at the AAA Trios titles next week when they take on Los Jinetes del Aire (El Hijo del Vikingo, Myzteziz Jr. & Octagon Jr.). This match came about after Injustice and Konnan had a backstage run-in previously. Brian Pillman Jr. may be watching this match closely. The members of Injustice came out to distract him this week and Pillman still wants revenge for the faction’s recent attack on him. Pillman is also said to be losing weight in order to qualify for a middleweight title shot against Myron Reed.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds is the new video game is development.
Following the recent confirmation that WWE 2K21 has been shelved, 2K has announced the launch of WWE 2K Battlegrounds. The game will be an arcade-style action experience easy for newcomers to pick-up. The tagline reads, “Brawl Without Limits.”
“We’re thrilled to introduce you to WWE 2K Battlegrounds, a completely new WWE gaming experience that will feature arcade-style action and over-the-top Superstar designs, environments and moves,” 2K’s press release reads. “We’re focusing on social pick-up-and-play fun, but with plenty of depth for those who want to get way into it.”
WWE 2K Battlegrounds will be released for home video game consoles this fall.
A trailer for the upcoming game can be viewed below.
WWE 2K Battlegrounds Trailer
As for the future of WWE 2K games, the press release confirmed again there will be no WWE 2K21 game. The company announced they have extended the development timeline for the next game.
“We are extending the production timeline and will not be releasing a WWE 2K simulation game in 2020 (T2 fiscal year 2021). We want to ensure the development team at Visual Concepts can create a great game that will entertain grizzled WWE 2K veterans, as well as newcomers who want to climb through the ropes and step into the ring for the very first time.”
2K also announced that they have hired Patrick Gilmore as the next Executive Producer.
Marty Scurll was the first guest on the new ROH Strong podcast. During the conversation, Scurll talked about the company’s decision to cancel shows and mentioned that ROH has filmed a handful of empty arena matches.
ROH was forced to cancel its planned 18th Anniversary PPV on March 13th and television taping scheduled for the next night. The company then announced on March 17th that they were canceling all shows up to May 31st.
“It broke my heart but I was like ‘we can’t run these shows,'” Scurll said on the show. “This is way bigger than pro-wrestling, like, that would be so irresponsible for us to run a wrestling show.”
Scurll continued to talk about how the predicament was particularly upsetting for him as he is just starting in his new position with the company.
“No one was more heartbroken then myself,” Scurll continued. “Even though I’ve sort of been hands-on with the show since January, I felt like these were really my first shows that I had full control of.”
“I put so many hours of time and thought into these shows.”
Marty Scurll On Canceled ROH Shows
Scurll continued to say he had a lot planned for the weekend.
“I had a lot of surprises in store for that weekend, a lot of new and exciting things,” he continued. “I wanted so badly for those shows to happen but ultimately, it wasn’t worth putting people’s lives at risk.”
He continued to say that ROH did film a few empty arena matches in Vegas. The matches involved talent who had already arrived in Vegas before the shows were canceled.
“We discussed about doing empty arena shows and everything else. We actually did film a handful of matches with no fans with some of the talent that was there just to see how it would look and if we can make something from it,” he continued. Ultimately, Scurll says the decision was made to save the “Past vs Present” concept until a time when they can do it right.
All Elite Wrestling’s Dustin Rhodes recently participated in an online Q&A session via Twitter. Some of the questions he answered regarded his interest in being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. He was also asked whether he missed portraying Goldust at all.
Although his father, Dusty Rhodes, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame back in 2007, an induction isn’t something that Dustin is overtly concerned about.
Despite this confession, he remains open-minded to the idea. He shared that “If it comes, it comes.” Until then, however, he remains focused on AEW and helping to grow and develop their “talented kids.”
That is not what I concern myself with. If it comes, it comes. I am focused on @AEWrestling and growing our talented kids.
Having first portrayed WWE’s Goldust back in 1995, Dustin has an undeniably long history with the character. When asked if he missed Goldust at all, he admitted that he didn’t.
That being said, he remains thankful for the years he was able to bring Goldust to life through his various iterations.
Dustin Rhodes recently defeated Kip Sabian to advance in the AEW TNT Championship Tournament. He is scheduled to face off against Lance Archer on this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite in the semi-finals. If successful, Dustin would advance to vie for the championship against either Darby Allin or his brother Cody Rhodes.
WWE NXT Superstar Io Shirai has opened up about the differences between wrestling in Japan and the United States.
Speaking with WWE show The Bump, Shirai detailed how wrestler win/loss records have an impact on how promoters decide on contenders in Japan.
Shirai noted how in the United States, wrestling is “more than the win or the defeat.” She highlighted how the story and process that leads into the matchup is what makes an American audience react.
When she wrestled in Japan, Io Shirai was only focused on winning. After arriving in America, however, “I realized that just winning the match won’t make me supported by the audience. It’s more about the process and the story that leads to the win or the defeat.”
It’s a moment she believes it shared between wrestler and audience. She explained how, upon realizing this, she was able to immerse herself deeper into pro wrestling.
Io Shirai is the current number one contender to Charlotte Flair’s NXT Women’s Championship. She won the right to face off against Flair after winning a #1 Contender’s Ladder Match on the 4/8 episode of NXT. Shirai defeated Mia Yim, Chelsea Green, Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, and Tegan Nox for the right to challenge Flair.
