NXT Superstar and former NXT Cruiserweight Champion Lio Rush has opened up about his time away from the ring during his hiatus. Speaking with TV Insider, Rush confessed how he had “lost sight” of his WWE goals before his reemergence on the black-and-gold brand. Prior to this, Rush had been appearing on RAW as Bobby Lashley’s hype man.
“Last year was all over the place as far as ups and downs, trials and tribulations to get back to the WWE right now,” Rush confessed. “As far as how I approach WWE right now and my position, I’m setting the goal for myself this year in 2020 to just have fun. I feel like last year I kind of lost sight of that, I lost sight of why I wanted to be in WWE in the first place. I tried to control a lot of things that weren’t in my control.”
He noted how he is focusing on having fun and allowing things to happen organically. He is still working on the things he can control, and it’s a mindset he is bringing with him into WWE.
Lio Rush On NXT
Rush spoke about his surprise at receiving a phone call from Triple H, asking him to be a part of NXT. Despite the surprise, he couldn’t deny his excitement at the opportunity. He stressed how it’s an “incredible” time to be a part of NXT.
“When I got the call from Triple H to be in NXT again, I was a little surprised. At the same time, there was a level of excitement there. A lot of the USA viewers were familiar with me from my time on Raw, so I had an advantage in that sense to be one of a few who have had that exposure before. The level of talent on NXT is incredible. I can’t even wrap my head around how many top-tier athletes are in NXT right now at the performance center training every day.”
Lio Rush recently fell short in a championship match against the current NXT Cruiserweight Championship, Jordan Devlin.
Charlotte Flair has been paving a legacy of her own since she first began wrestling in WWE. Despite her own hard-earned success, some still point to her living in the shadow of her Hall of Fame father, Ric Flair. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Charlotte broached this topic, and how she uses the slight as fuel and motivation.
“I never have a hard time motivating myself. Being known only as Ric Flair’s daughter fuels my fire to keep working harder and becoming stronger,” she said. “Being my dad’s daughter is a huge chip on my shoulder. I think that’s why I’ve had so much success—nothing’s ever good enough. I’ll continue to prove the haters wrong.”
Charlotte Flair On Becky Lynch’s WWE 2K20 Cover
During the interview, she was asked about her long-time frenemy Becky Lynch. Primarily, Lynch being one the front cover of last year’s video game WWE 2K20 alongside Roman Reigns. Charlotte shared how she was excited for her friend, explaining how having Lynch on the cover in her ‘The Man’ t-shirt, positioned in front of Reigns, sends “such a positive message.” She noted how one woman succeeding and doing well means that the entire division is doing well.
WrestleMania 35 Helicopter Entrance
Charlotte Flair made history alongside Becky Lynch and “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey at last year’s WrestleMania 35 event. For the first time ever, women headlined “The Grandest Stage of Them All.” To capture the significance of the moment, WWE gave the competitors a chance to shine during their entrances. Flair, for example, got to enter the arena via helicopter—something she revealed wasn’t her idea.
“That was definitely not my idea,” Flair shared. “Do you think I actually went to the boss and asked for a helicopter? I didn’t even know about the entrance until our last go-home show before ‘Mania. They were like, ‘Hey, we have this idea. What do you think?’ And I was like, ‘That is incredible.’ With so many playbacks to my dad, it was very cool.”
Charlotte Flair is set to challenge NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 36. The event takes place on April 5th from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
SmackDown Superstar Naomi recently returned to in-ring action at WWE’s January event, Royal Rumble. She recently joined the Women’s Weekly Wrestling podcast to discuss a range of subjects. During their conversation, she revealed how she had pitched for WWE to send her to their black-and-gold brand NXT.
“I asked about a year ago to go down to NXT to work,” Naomi revealed. “I just think NXT is awesome. I love NXT and also, the time I wasn’t being used much on the main roster so, I was like, ‘Dang, can I go down there and just see what I can get into, what could happen, and the talent down there is just so good.’”
Naomi had one NXT Superstar in mind if she had been granted her request: Bianca Belair. For her, it didn’t matter if they were feeding or teaming together. She revealed she had a dream of them making history as the first-ever African-American WWE Women’s Tag Team champions.
“I love Bianca, and her personality and her spirit is even more beautiful so, that was one idea I had,” she explained. “I either wanted to go work against her or to be with her or to do this story but it wasn’t the right time and also, ‘B’ is a star all on her own and I think they want her to be that and come into her own but, it’s just a dream of mine because we’ve never officially had two African-American tag team champions.”
Despite Naomi’s interest in becoming a part of NXT, WWE obviously didn’t allow her to move brands as they have for other Superstars. Following her Rumble appearance, Naomi has since returned to action on Friday nights for SmackDown.
Viewership data is in for this week’s battle in the WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite Wednesday Night War. AEW won in total viewers. It was close in every demographic group except Adults 50+, where NXT tied with AEW with a 0.38.
Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
WWE NXT Viewership
NXT on the USA Network averaged 794,000 viewers, which is up from 757,000 last week. In the 18-49 demo, they drew a 0.25 rating, up from the 0.24 rating the previous week.
The episode featured The Velveteen Dream vs. Roderick Strong, NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin defended against Lio Rush, Kayden Carter vs. Chelsea Green, and the fallout from NXT TakeOver: Portland.
AEW Dynamite on TNT was watched by 893,000 viewers, up from the 817,000 viewers last week. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite pulled in a 0.31 rating, up from the 0.30 rating that the show did last week.
AEW Dynamite featured matches such as Cody Rhodes vs. Wardlow in the first-ever Steel Cage Match in AEW history, Jeff Cobb vs. Jon Moxley, #1 Contenders’ Tag Team Battle Royal, and AEW World Team Champions Kenny Omega and Hangman Page vs. The Luca Bros.
Soon to be two-time WWE Hall of Famers Scott Hall and Kevin Nash recently appeared on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast. The former ‘Outsiders’ tag team were discussing the nWo faction on the show amid the group’s induction into the WWE Hall of Fame in April.
Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Syxx, Hulk Hogan and ?
Hall and Nash are being inducted alongside Sean ‘Syxx’ Waltman and Hulk Hogan, two of the bigger members of the eventually inflated group (Hogan of course being the main star and initial leader). During the show Graves asked the pair who they would consider should be appearing with them on stage at the ceremony. Scott Hall mentioned Eric Bischoff, who has been a name brought up by fans and critics alike recently. Kevin Nash however had a more intriguing suggestion:
“Kevin Sullivan. Though this was Eric’s idea, Sullivan was the one that made sure… there’s always been this equation; that if you’re heels, in order for you to be successful…it’s like a hot air balloon. The more you ‘heat’ that balloon the higher it goes.”
Driving Force Behind The ‘Heat’
Nash elaborated further, confirming that Sullivan was one of the driving forces behind the nWo group keeping their ‘heat’ every week. “Sullivan just really battled day in day out to make sure that they didn’t take heat off us. Nobody got to the nWo. And so he [Sullivan] always books heat, his booking of that heat is what made the nWo.”
Scott Hall would then eco Nash’s thoughts, saying “I want to concur Corey. Kevin Sullivan, who I’m a huge fan of, it was like what we call back in the day like a heel Booker. I’m gonna pile on with what Kev said. We were hot coming in the door because we came off Vince’s [McMahon] TV. We were Razor [Ramon] and Diesel, and what are they doing here!? This is before [the] internet, this was before anybody had a cell phone. People thought it was real, people thought Vince sent us there to destroy WCW.”
The nWo will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this April as part of WrestleMania 36.
You can catch the After The Bell podcast every Thursday through Endeavour Audio.
Outspoken former WWE and WCW Superstar Kevin Nash made some intriguing comments on this week’s edition of the After The Bell podcast. Nash answered a hypothetical question from host Corey Graves; indicating what ‘could’ have happened if ‘Big Daddy Cool’ hadn’t of gone to WCW back in 1996.
Kevin Nash and Scott Hall in WCW
Both Kevin Nash and his ‘Outsiders’ tag team partner Scott Hall completely changed the landscape of professional wrestling when they left the WWF in 1996 to join the rival company: World Championship Wrestling. When it was revealed that Hulk Hogan was also part of their group; the nWo was formed and completely changed WCW’s fortunes at the time. This led to WCW having an impressive 83 week win streak over the then WWF. This with the nWo at the helm.
WrestleMania
“I wouldn’t have dropped the belt” Kevin Nash began. This referring to the WWF Championship that he won in 1994 and eventually dropped in 1995 after indicating that he was leaving the company. “I wouldn’t of dropped the belt to Bret, who would then give it to Shawn [Michaels], unless I was guaranteed to win at WrestleMania. I really wouldn’t have done it. It would have been three big losses in a row. I needed a big win right there.”
The match that Nash is referring to is of course his WrestleMania 12 bout against The Undertaker. This would of course meant the end of Taker’s streak. However, it is worth noting that back in 1996 the ‘streak’ was not being referred to on television. “That could have been a possibility” Nash stated. Nash also claimed that Undertaker would’ve likely been happy to “do business” at the time.
How Things Could’ve Changed
“I’m not saying that would have happened, I’m not saying Vince [McMahon] wouldn’t have put me over, but I definitely wouldn’t have crossed up without something. [But] I was leaving, so man it was just like ‘alright.’ there’s a lot of things that could have changed.”
For fans of Undertaker’s streak it seems advantageous that Nash would leave for the competition at the time. Nash also wanted to make it abundantly clear that he did not want to leave WWF at the time. However the seemingly open chequebook of Turner Broadcasting made it almost impossible for he and Scott Hall/Razor Ramon to stay in the WWF.
You can catch After The Bell every Thursday through Endeavour Audio.
Samoa Joe could potentially be on the shelf for an extended period of time due to an injury suffered at a recent WWE commercial shoot. According to a report from Pro Wrestling Sheet, Joe hit his head on a table while filming a stunt for a commercial last week. While there is no timetable for Joe’s return, it is being reported that he could be out of action for “a considerable amount of time.”
Joe was recently pulled from a tag team match on RAW due to potentially suffering a concussion as well. The injury occurred on the January 27th, 2020 edition of RAW from the AT&T Center in San Antonio. Joe returned to action on a February 8th, 2020 house show. He also missed some time with a broken thumb in late 2019.
Samoa Joe Out of Action
Joe recently took part in a podcast with Fightful where he mentioned that Vince McMahon didn’t initially want him in WWE.
“Everywhere that I’ve gone—ROH I remember walking into and Gabe Sapolsky telling me, ‘listen, we can’t afford to fly you in from California, you’ll never work here again, but thanks for coming tonight,’ and shortly afterwards ‘hey, you’re working every show from here until forever,’” Joe said.
Samoa Joe Championship Statistics
WWE Championships:
NXT Champion (2x)
United States Champion (2x)
TNA/Impact Wrestling:
TNA Heavyweight Champion (1x)
Tag Team Champions (2x) w/Magnus (1x) w/himself? (1x)
NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley recently spoke to Metro in the UK about her friendship with Simone Johnson. The 18-year-old daughter of the Rock was recently announced as a new signee at the WWE Performance Center.
”I’m very, very excited for Simone. She’s one of my close friends, and I’m so happy that she’s here at the Performance Centre with us,” Ripley said of Johnson.
Ripley would continue to talk about advice she has already given Johnson.
“The main thing I always tell her whenever I do see her is to just ignore the drama, stay in your own lane, work the hardest and try your best. Just succeed and excel within your own brackets of talent.”
Ripley continued to talk about advice she’s given to Johnson. She says she is helping her stay away from the drama that comes with the business.
“Just try and not let everything get to you, because that’s the hardest bit in any sporting background. It’s just the drama that comes with sport unfortunately, and the one thing I’m trying to get her to stay away from.”
The full interview with Rhea Ripley from Metro in the UK can be found here.
Many fans noticed that Raven could be seen attending last night’s Dynamite show in Atlanta. The former leader of the Flock was seated not far from where Evil Uno and the Dark Order spokesperson appeared in the live crowd during the tag team battle royal.
AEW posted the following Tweet with the caption “Did you see it? The exalted one is always watching.” Raven is sitting ominously in the crowd acting very unfazed by the brawling Stu Grayson and Scorpio Sky next to him in the video.
Did you see it? The exalted one is always watching.
Raven has been the leader or apart of several factions with a similar dark cult-esque type feel to them as the Dark Order has. There is perhaps nobody in wrestling history more closely associated with such angles.
In ECW, Raven led a stable of lackies known as “the Nest” which featured the Dudleys, Stevie Richards, Cactus Jack, and several others throughout its history. When he first brought the Raven character to WCW, he then debuted a similar faction known as The Flock with Perry Saturn, Billy Kidman, Lodi, Kanyon (though he was somewhat separate from the other members) and many others. Later in WCW, he was apart of the Dead Pool/Dark Carnival with the Great Muta, Vampiro, and the Insane Clown Posse.
In TNA Wrestling, Raven debuted “the Gathering.” This group included Alexis Laree, CM Punk, Julio Dinero, and Cassidy Riley. Later in TNA Wrestling, Raven would change things up a bit and debut a faction with A Clockwork Orange styled gimmick named Serotonin. This faction featured Johnny Devine, Frankie Kazarian, and Michael Shane.
Arn Anderson was interviewed backstage following the conclusion of Dynamite last night. Anderson is the official manager of the Nightmare Family and is now accompanying Cody to the ring for his matches.
AEW posted the following “Coach’s Corner” video with Anderson:
Arn Anderson On Steel Cage Match Between Cody Rhodes And Wardlow
“Well, I got to tell you and I didn’t want to say this to him, I’ve been proud of Cody all along. Tonight, I’m really proud of him. He crawled into that ring with a monster, he was in for the fight of his life. Wardlow is untested, he didn’t know anything about him. You lock a man in a cage, he’s going to get violent a lot of times and he’s going to overachieve.”
“Cody Rhodes stepped up to the plate, he didn’t get a single, double, or a home run, he had a grand slam. Nothing but proud of him, can’t believe what an excellent job he did overcoming all that adversity. Man, I just feel good tonight.”
Anderson also commented on Cody’s post-match comments.
“Well, if you were Mickey Mantle’s kid and showed up at a Little League ballpark there would be some expectations, I would think,” Anderson said. “Cody has always had people that were hard on him, people that were judging him, people were thinking that he’ll never be his Dad. Cody Rhodes is his own man and tonight he showed he’s a leader, he’s a battler, he’s a fighter, he’s a man that when he tells you something, you can believe it.”
Jon Moxley was the first guest on the new official AEW podcast with Tony Schiavone and Aubrey Edwards. During the conversation, Moxley spoke about his early days on WWE’s main roster with the Shield.
“I was really lucky to have a good starting off point being in the Shield,” Moxley said during the podcast.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better start,” he continued. “You can’t ask for a much better start than that.”
“It was a lot harder to break in back then. When we were in development, we had a real chip on our shoulder because we were like we’re as good as anybody up there but we’re stuck down here.”
He continued to say that NXT felt like an island where most people don’t get off.
“Even if you got the chance to go up and get on TV that you would actually break through and be successful was a lesser chance I think,” he continued.
Moxley continued to talk about how that mentality stayed with the members of the Shield when they were brought up to the main roster.
“So, same kind of mentality, when we got this tiny shred of an opportunity, we’re like nobody is taking this away from us,” Moxley said. “It was a real all for one mentality.”
Cody Rhodes defeated Wardlow in the main event of AEW Dynamite last night. The show emanated from Cody’s hometown of Atlanta, GA from the State Farm Arena. Cody climbed the cage and delivered a moonsault from the top onto his opponent for the win. After the match, Cody addressed the live crowd.
AEW posted the following video of Cody’s post-match comments:
“We’re off the air?” Cody asked before beginning his speech. “That was the best episode of Dynamite yet.”
Cody then asked the live crowd to keep up their energy for the matches taped for Dark. He also asked the live crowd to cheer for the camera operators and the behind-the-scenes crew.
Cody Thanks Atlanta For Cheering His Father
“I want to tell you the shortest story and then we’ll get Dark started,” Cody continued. “It’s about 200 yards away, it’s a street called Baker street and it’s the exact spot I fell in love with wrestling. And I’m going to tell you why. I came to a show, I couldn’t have been eight years old, I knew that my Dad was famous but I didn’t know why, I didn’t grow up in his prime, I didn’t get to see a lot of the classics.”
“I didn’t get to see you break his leg,” Cody said to Arn Anderson.
“And I came to the show and at the end of the night on Baker street is where the fans will gather right by where the boys and girls go out and Sting, Sting went out and you guys gave him such a great reception and I didn’t think anything and I went to step out myself to go to my Dad’s truck and he put his hand across my chest and he said ‘never steal another man’s pop’ and I didn’t know what he meant and when he walked out in that parking lot all of you cheered so loud for my Dad.”
The crowd began to chant for Dusty.
“I didn’t know I wanted to be a wrestler but I knew I wanted to be famous like he is and when I got into wrestling at 15, when I debuted in 2007, you guys were pretty hard on me and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate being hard on me. It made me come back week after week.”
With the win last night, Cody is now officially scheduled to face Maxwell Jacob Friedman at Revolution.
WWE has added the return of Bella Twins, Nikki Bella and Brie Bella for a talk show segment to an already stacked line up for this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown.
The company has announced that the twin sisters will be
taking part in the “A Moment of Bliss” segment hosted by former
Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross.
The Bellas are not the only big name announced for a return
on Friday Night and former Universal Champion Bill Goldberg is also expected to
appear live on the show.
The company has also announced a few matches for the episode with the most interesting one being a #1 contenders match between Carmella and Naomi.
The winner of this bout will then go on to challenge the
current SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley for her title at the upcoming Super
Showdown event.
Though this isn’t the only announced bout and they have also confirmed that the Usos will be teaming up with The New Day to take on John Morrison, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode in an 8 men tag team match.
There is no word yet on why the Bella Twins are returning to SmackDown but they are expected to be inducted into Hall Of Fame this year and it’s possible that the company confirms this news during the upcoming segment.
While WWE has announced the NXT Championship match between Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair for WrestleMania, there are chances of this match being altered into a triple threat bout, with Bianca Belair being added to the mix.
Ripley successfully defended her title against Belair at Sunday’s NXT Takeover: Portland but in the post show interview, Triple H had indicated that the EST of NXT might not be done with the NXT Champion.
The former NXT UK star was asked about Bianca possibly being added to her WrestleMania match during a recent interview with Sportskeeda and replying to it, the current champion said that she won’t mind it:
“If they add Bianca Belair to it, I honestly don’t
mind,” Ripley said. “I love fighting Bianca, and if she got put into
the match, I’d be all for it.
I’m not going to argue about it and say that she doesn’t
deserve it, because she does deserve it. She deserves her WrestleMania moment
and, if she gets added to it, I’m not going to complain.”
Triple H had also indicated that the idea for Flair to challenge for the NXT title may have come from Vince McMahon himself and commenting on this, Rhea Ripley said that it’s insane to think that the higher-ups think so highly of her.
She explained that The Game was one of the people who inspired her to get into wrestling and to have people like him and Vince McMahon believe in her is a wonderful feeling.
AEW Dynamite aired live from the State Farm Arena tonight. The build towards AEW Revolution continued as Cody battled Wardlow in a Steel Cage match in the main event of the show.
Dynamite Results (2/19)
The Young Bucks won the Battle Royal to earn a title shot at Revolution
Kris Statlander def. Shanna
Jon Moxley def. Jeff Cobb
Hangman Page & Kenny Omega def. Lucha Bros to retain the titles
Cody def. Wardlow in a Steel Cage match
Here are 5 takeaways from this week’s episode of Dynamite:
Young Bucks Earned A Title Shot At Revolution
Young Bucks, SCU, Best Friends, Hybrid2, Private Party, Jurassic Express, Butcher & Blade, T-Hawk & Cima, Dark Order, Santana & Ortiz competed in a Battle Royal to determine the #1 contenders for the AEW Tag Team Championships.
Match Recap: Jack Evans was the first man eliminated. Private Party elimated T-Hawk after Kassidy connected with a DDT. The host of the Join the Dark Order commercials interrupted from in the crowd and distracted SCU by saying the Exalted One is near. Dark Order eliminated SCU and Young Bucks quickly eliminated Dark Order. Cima was eliminated by Luchasaurus.
Evil Uno offered Cima a Dark Order mask. Butcher eliminated Nick Jackson and had a staredown with a Luchasaurus. Santana and Ortiz sent Private Party over the top rope. Hybrid2 and Jurassic Express were eliminated. Bunny booted Orange Cassidy in the groin and Trent was sent to the outside to eliminate Best Friends. Matt Jackson eliminated Butcher. Santana & Ortiz hit Matt with the Street Sweeper and tried to eliminate him but Matt held on. Sammy Guevara tried to interfere but Matt caught him with an awesome Superkick. Matt then eliminated Santana and Ortiz to win the match.
The Young Bucks will get a shot at the AEW Tag Team Championships at Revolution.
Kris Statlander defeated Shanna tonight on Dynamite. After the match, AEW Women’s Champion Nyla Rose was interviewed by Tony Schiavone tonight on Dynamite. Rose scolded the crowd for booing her and said it wasn’t a proper greeting for a champion.
Nyla stated that she should be the highest paid woman in the locker room and that this championship is justice. Rose added that she got hungry waiting to become champion and when she is hungry she breaks b*tches.
Rose claimed that nobody can beat her and that nobody is a beast like her. Statlander interrupted and pointed at the AEW Women’s Championship. Big Swole joined the party and flexed in Nyla’s face. Security broke things up to end the segment.
Opinion: Statlander and Shanna had a great match tonight and I really enjoyed Nyla’s promo as well. Statlander vs. Big Swole vs. Nyla Rose sounds like a great match.
Jeff Cobb squared off against Jon Moxley as AEW Champion Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Jake Hager were in the front row.
Match Recap: Jeff Cobb dominated the match early and beat Moxley down. Jon battled back and wrapped Cobb’s leg around the ropes. Moxley hit his knee with a Dropkick and followed it up by slamming Jeff’s knee on the ring post. Moxley went for a Splash off the top rope but Cobb caught him and connected with a Suplex outside the ring. Back in the ring, Cobb hit a German Suplex but Mox hopped right up and connected with a Clothesline. Jeff hit a Superplex but Moxley rolled through and pinned Cobb for the win.
After the match, Inner Circle attacked Moxley from behind. Dustin Rhodes made the save for a moment but the numbers caught up to him. The lights went out and Darby Allin showed up to an awesome reaction from the crowd. Allin skateboarded down the ramp and cleaned house as Dustin Clotheslined Hager to the outside. Moxley hit Cobb with the Paradigm Shift and traded some punches with Jericho. Le Champion retreated out of the ring as Moxley and Allin stood tall.
Opinion: Darby Allin got an awesome reaction from the crowd and has become a star in AEW. This whole segment was a lot of fun and the match between Moxley and Cobb was solid as well.
Hangman Adam Page & Kenny Omega defended their AEW Tag Team Championships against Lucha Bros tonight on Dynamite.
Match Recap: The crowd chanted “cowboy sh*t!” before the match started. Hangman leveled Fenix with a boot to the face and tagged in Omega. Lucha Brothers took control and beat the hell out of Omega in the corner as Dynamite went to a break. When Dynamite returned, Page hit Pentagon with a Fallaway Slam and then delivered a Suicide Dive to Fenix. Pentagon planted Omega with an amazing Destroyer as the crowd went crazy. Fenix hit Omega with a Hurricanrana off the apron and then Pentagon got leveled by Moonsault from Hangman. Hangman Page accidentally hit Omega with the Buckshot Lariat.
Pentagon capitalized with the Pentadriver for a near fall as the crowd loudly chanted “AEW!”. Omage hit the V-Trigger and followed it up with a Tiger Driver 98 but Fenix kicked out at two. Page then tagged back in and hit the Buckshot Lariat & V-Trigger combo for the pinfall victory. Hangman Page & Kenny Omega will defend their AEW Tag Team Championships against the Young Bucks at Revolution. Matt and Nick Jackson came down to the ring after the match and checked on Omega as Hangman drank some beers outside the ring.
Opinion: Hangman Page & Kenny Omega versus Young Bucks should be epic at AEW Revolution. Page, Omega, Pentagon, and Fenix put on an excellent tag team match tonight.
Match Recap: Wardlow dominated early and leveled Cody with a shoulder block as MJF cheered him on. Cody was busted open as Dynamite went to a commercial break. When Dynamite returned, Cody planted Wardlow with a Cutter and followed it up with punches to the face in the corner. Wardlow hit Cody with a low blow and Cody collapsed to the canvas. MJF dared Arn to slam the cage door on Cody’s face but Anderson opted to bash MJF in the face instead.
Cody connected with a Powerslam but Wardlow kicked out at two. Wardlow launched Cody into the steel cage and then made his way to the top rope. Wardlow connected with a Senton and went for the cover but Cody kicked out at two. MJF threw the Dynamite Diamond to Wardlow but Cody hit him with a low blow. Brandi hit MJF with a chair and Arn threw him over the barricade. Cody took the Dynamite Diamond ring and put it on. Cody hit a couple punches with the ring and followed it up with the Cross Rhodes for a two count. Cody then climbed to the top of the cage and hit him with an insane Moonsault for the pinfall victory. Cody will now face MJF at Revolution.
Opinion: I thought last week’s episode of Dynamite was great but this week’s show was even better. The build towards Revolution has been excellent and there are several matches I cannot wait to see. Cody’s Moonsault was insane and him standing on top of the cage shouting at MJF was an epic way to close the show. This week’s episode of Dynamite absolutely flew by because it was so entertaining.
BROserweights (Pete Dunne & Matt Riddle) def. Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan.
Keith Lee def. Kona Reeves
Chelsea Green def. Kayden Carter
The Velveteen Dream def. Roderick Strong
Here are the 4 takeaways from this week’s show:
The Velveteen Dream vs. Roderick Strong
Two weeks after The Velveteen Dream made his return to NXT TV, the company booked them in a singles match against Roderick Strong on this show.
It was a fun back and forth affair with Dream going over in the contest. It was nice to have Dream back in action after being sidelined with a back injury for months. After the match, The Undisputed Era beatdown Dream.
Clearly, Dream is one of NXT’s top stars and one that many people think can be a big star. Putting him in the ring with such a great talent as Strong gave him a good platform to remind fans of the type of performer that he is.
It will be interesting to see where this feud goes from here. It appears that it will continue but perhaps WWE officials have different plans.
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin made his latest title defense on this show against Lio Rush.
As expected, WWE gave these two guys plenty of time to go out there and tell the story that they wanted to share with the fans both in attendance and watching at home on the USA Network.
These types of matches are exactly what originally made the cruiserweight talent special back in WCW as well as when they were around in WWE. Obviously, the times have changed and this type of style can be used by a small or big wrestler.
Devlin just got the title and most people probably and rightfully so thought that he would retain over Rush, who is headed back to the end of the line.
Kayden Carter vs. Chelsea Green was booked again and to some, it was an interesting rematch to be done.
A few weeks ago, Green, a former TNA Wrestling star, made her in-ring debut on NXT television while being managed by Robert Stone.
In an upset, Carter went over despite WWE hyping up Green and giving her a manager. Typically, WWE likes to have the talent who is being pushed win their matches but NXT officials went in a different direction in that case.
Fast forward to this contest, it was fine and pretty much the same as their original match. Green got the win this time. It will be interesting to see where Green goes from here.
Tommaso Ciampa walked out to the ring before Austin Theory was about to wrestle. He did so to cut a promo about how he had some feelings weeks before NXT TakeOver: Portland.
He talked about how he stopped listening to the voice in his head which was a mistake while trying to get goldie back. Ciampa isn’t asking himself why Johnny Gargano turned on him and it’s clear.
This is when Theory tried to attack him but Ciampa knocked him down. Ciampa noted that in order to get his life back, meaning the NXT Title, then there can no longer be Gargano in NXT. Ciampa ended the promo then went on an assault of Theory.
This was a nice follow up from Sunday’s heel turn by Gargano, who cost Ciampa the NXT Title in the headliner against Adam Cole.
It appears that Ciampa vs. Gargano will be saved for NXT TakeOver: Tampa during WrestleMania 36 weekend.
Cody Rhodes vs. MJF is official as AEW (All Elite Wrestling) has confirmed the match booking.
The promotion did so on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT in Atlanta, GA at the State Farm Arena. This comes after Rhodes completed all of the stipulations that MJF demanded including lashing Cody and Rhodes beating Wardlow in a Steel Cage match.
Chris Jericho remained as AEW World Heavyweight Champion when he successfully retained the title over Rhodes in the headliner of the AEW Full Gear pay-per-view event.
The stipulation coming into this match was the fact that if Cody didn’t beat Jericho then he would never allow himself to challenge for the AEW World Title again. This was when the rivalry started between MJF and Cody.
MJF threw in the towel while Jericho had Cody in the Walls of Jericho. Post-match, MJF kicked him in the nuts and stood over Cody.
AEW presents the Resolution pay-per-view event on Saturday, February 29, 2020 in Chicago, IL from the Sears Center.
The show will air at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, and is available for purchase via iN DEMAND cable operators, DirecTV, DISH Network and B/R Live. International fans can purchase the event at FITE.TV.
The event will mark the fourth AEW PPV event. AEW will be announcing more matches for the show in the coming days.
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
Kenny Omega and Adam Page have received their opponents for the next AEW pay-per-view event, Revolution.
AEW booked a Tag Team Battle Royal on Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite in Atlanta, GA at the State Farm Arena on TNT with the winners becoming the new #1 contenders for the straps.
The match featured The Young Bucks vs. SCU vs. Private Party vs. Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus vs. Best Friends vs. Santana & Ortiz vs. The Butcher & The Blade vs. Jack Evans & Angelico vs. Alex Reynolds & John Silver vs. Cima & Michael Nakazawa.
As seen on the show, The Young Bucks ended up winning the contest. Now, they’ll challenge Page and Omega for the AEW Tag Team Titles at AEW Revolution.
AEW presents the Revolution pay-per-view event on Saturday, February 29, 2020 in Chicago, IL from the Sears Center.
The event is being promoted in conjunction with the popular C2E2 (Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo) convention and will mark the fourth AEW PPV event. AEW will be announcing more matches for the show in the coming weeks.
AEW Revolution Card
AEW World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho vs. Jon Moxley
AEW Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega and Adam Page vs. The Young Bucks
Jake Hager vs. Dustin Rhodes
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley took to social media where he made his belief about one match at WrestleMania 36 known.
WWE has already confirmed Rhea Ripley will make her next title defense as WWE NXT Women’s Champion against Charlotte Flair at this show.
Foley expressed his belief that this match could steal the show in a recent post on his official Twitter account. He wrote the following:
“The war of words between @RheaRipley_WWE & @MsCharlotteWWE has escalated QUICKLY! Depending on the TV build and where it’s placed on the card, #RheaVsCharlotte COULD steal the show at #WrestleMania. Just one legend’s opinion,” Foley wrote.
As of this writing, Ripley and Flair have not responded to Foley’s comments.
Flair earned this title opportunity for a championship match when she won the 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble Match last month.
Since that time, the two stars have traded words on both television – RAW and NXT – as well as social media to further hype this program.
The latest build in this program came at the WWE NXT TakeOver: Portland event from the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon this past Sunday night. This is where Ripley retained the NXT Women’s Title over Bianca Belair. Post-match, Flair attacked the champ.
AEW Co-Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes made some very interesting comments while doing an interview with 11Alive to promote Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite in Atlanta.
Cody was asked where he sees AEW in five years. This is where he talked about having an interest in moving the show to a different night. In fact, he would like to compete against a different WWE brand.
Cody Rhodes Has Confidence In AEW
“I would like the company, in five years, to be on a different night and competing in the same fashion they are.”
Rhodes continued by stating that it’s not that he doesn’t love Wednesday nights, but he understands by looking at the data that they have, AEW has real players. He noted they’re not lying about the revolution anymore because it’s very supported.
“I would love to see how it does on another night of the week. In five years, who knows. If we had a random storm situation or something popped up and we had to put Dynamite on a Monday night, if that was to happen in this current threshold, I’d still be very confident in what we can do. And I’d be confident that our guys would be up for the challenge.”
This comes after it was announced AEW and TNT reached an extension for the weekly program, Dynamite, to continue to air on the network through 2023. It’s also been confirmed that a second AEW program will be added to the Turner Media family in the near future.
It should be noted that there are no further details on this second show – name, premiere date, and length.
When the news was announced that AEW had reached an agreement with TNT for a prime time TV show, WWE decided to counter-program them with NXT by moving it to the USA Network. Since October, AEW has won the majority of the ratings war up to this point.
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 2.437 million viewers in Everett, WA at the Angel of the Winds Arena on the USA Network, which is up from the 2.337 million viewers the previous week. This was the highest-rated episode thus far this year.
RAW Viewership
Here is the hourly viewership breakdown, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
Hour 1: 2.671 million – Last Week: 2.411
Hour 2: 2.559 million – Last Week: 2.396
Hour 3: 2.082 million – Last Week: 2.204
The episode was expected to increase in its viewership from last week. WWE will attempt to increase its viewership for Monday Night RAW next week due to it serving as the go-home show of Raw for Super ShowDown.
Here is the hourly 18-49 demos breakdown:
Hour 1: 0.87 – Last Week: 0.81
Hour 2: 0.82 – Last Week: 0.81
Hour 3: 0.68 – Last Week: 0.77
Some of the matches that took place include Aleister Black vs. Erick Rowan, Drew McIntyre vs. MVP, Angel Garza and Bobby Lashley (w/Zelina Vega, Lana) vs. Humberto Carrillo and Rusev, Natalya vs. Kairi Sane (w/Asuka), Ricochet vs. Karl Anderson, and Kevin Owens and “The Viking Raiders” Erik and Ivar vs. Murphy and “AOP” Akam and Rezar
There was also a segment with Randy Orton attacking Matt Hardy again as well as Seth Rollins giving a sermon.
In case you missed the show, you can check out the five takeaways here.
IMPACT star Rob Van Dam had some enlightening points regarding concussions and CTE. The former ECW Champion has recently released a documentary (Headstrong) that focuses on his symptoms and difficulties relating to his ongoing brain injuries. “I’ve had hundreds, seriously, hundreds, of concussions” RVD revealed on this week’s episode of the Steve Austin Show podcast.
RVD was one of the main figures of the ECW promotion back in the late nineties/early 2000’s. Van Dam would help to establish the ‘extreme’ brand with his mixture of high-flying, hardcore and hard hitting in-ring action. Concussions and CTE are such a major talking point in sports, now more than ever. WWE’s current stringent policy on head injuries wasn’t something that was implemented back in the 90s, especially in the likes of the indies/ECW.
Rob Van Dam and Chair Shots
RVD would also discuss the immediate effects of hits directly to the head with Austin. “(ECW performer) Balls Mahoney would hit me with a chair. Then ‘crack’ it would be like everything’s in slow motion,” Van Dam began. “Sometimes the sound ‘goes out,’ sometimes you know everything’s spinning.”
Concussions and CTE
Concussions and CTE aren’t something that RVD was aware of early in his career. The idea that you had to take shots to the head unprotected was what was expected of ECW performers. RVD would mention to Austin that he didn’t think that the effects would be long lasting. He thought that the instantaneous ‘woozyness’ was all that he would feel early in his career. “I had double vision, but I just couldn’t shake it off and I kept thinking well. You know, it’ll be gone tomorrow, so I’m not gonna let anybody know. The show must go on.”
IMPACT
Rob Van Dam currently wrestles for IMPACT, he made his return to the company back in April last year and has been a featured part of the show since. RVD would tell Austin that he preferred the lighter schedule of working for the Canadian based promotion, due to his age and the aforementioned issues relating to concussion related injuries. RVD did however reveal that he can still do “90%” of the moves he would previously perform earlier in his career.
Impact Wrestling 2/18/20 was taped from Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas. This week’s episode was the first to air from the recent tapings. The show was also the last before Saturday’s Sacrifice event on Impact Plus from Louisville, Kentucky.
Impact Wrestling 2/18/20 Quick Results:
TJP defeated Josh Alexander
Willie Mack defeated Johnny Swinger
Madison Rayne defeated Mazzerati
Best of 5 Series Eddie Edwards defeated Michael Elgin (Elgin leads 2-1)
Here are 9 takeaways from Impact Wrestling 2/18/20:
Ace Austin Wins Big Heading Into Sacrifice
With Sacrifice and an Impact Wrestling World Championship title shot waiting for him on Saturday, Ace Austin scored a victory in this week’s main event. Ace Austin kicked the ring ropes as Trey was entering the ring from the outside, causing a low-blow and allowing the X-Division champion to hit the Fold for the victory.
Austin celebrated with Reno Scum on the outside as Josh Matthews commented that if Austin can hit the Fold on Saturday against Blanchard at Sacrifice, we could have a new world champion.
Eddie Edwards Avoids Sweep In Best of 5 Series
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_vB1DS37SY
Michael Elgin entered into this match with Eddie Edwards with a chance to win a clean sweep in their best-of-5-series. Elgin was up 2-0 in the series and looked to have this match wrapped up as well. Elgin gave Edwards a power-bomb from the top and looked to go for the Elgin bomb but Edwards countered into a small package for the win. Callis commented after the match that Elgin should have gone for the pin after the powerbomb from the top instead of going for his finisher to put an exclamation point on the match. Match 4 in the series will take place next week.
Do TJP & Fallah Bah Have The North’s Number?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t4cEySNb_c
Fallah Bah defeated Ethan Page when Impact Wrestling was in Mexico last month and TJP kicked off this week’s episode with a win over Josh Alexander. The North has had a lengthy and dominant reign atop Impact Wrestling’s tag division but it appears that TJP & Fallah Bah may have the duo’s number. A 2-on-2 match would likely favor the North, however.
TJP picked up the win after countering a sleeper into a pinning combination.
Impact Wrestling announced this week that they have signed Chris Bey. The 23-year-old is from the Las Vegas area where Impact’s most recent set of tapings took place. He is a 3-year pro and has wrestled with the Future Stars of Wrestling promotion in Vegas where he is a former FSW World Champion, FSW No Limits Champion, and also once held the promotion’s tag titles as well.
Willie Mack Is Not Johnny Swinger’s Tag Team Partner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9XqMvSv2vA
Johnny Swinger believes that he and Willie Mack make up a tag team known as “The Pack and Mack Connection.” Mack, on the other hand, does not believe the two are a tag team. Swinger told Mack in the back this week that they need to get more reps in the ring. Mack agreed, though Mack wanted to face Swinger in a single’s match and Swinger assumed they were wrestling a tag match against another team.
Mack did not seem to respond to Swinger’s request for him to “slow down” during the match. He picked up the win with a Stunner followed by a 6-Star Frog Splash.
Swinger will take on Joey Ryan Saturday night at Sacrifice. Mack is scheduled to take on OVW’s Jay Bradley.
Madison Rayne Victorious In Open Challenge
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8Qzf16ODT4
Madison Rayne is not pleased that Jordynne Grace was given a Knockouts title shot she feels should have gone to her. She announced the beginning of the Madison Rayne “Golden Opportunity Open Challenge” this week. Las Vegas-based wrestler Mazzerati answered the call.
Callis would continue his ongoing embellished commentary for Rayne. This week he noted that she was taught the liver punch by Stu Hart. Josh Matthews noted that he didn’t think Rayne had ever met Stu Hart but Callis didn’t seem swayed by this.
Rayne would pick up the victory with a Cross Rayne. She then walked around the ring raising her own hand to close the segment.
Rhino and Moose Get Ready For Sacrifice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AnPLTtIWQ8
Rhino and Moose will meet once again Saturday night at Sacrifice. The two have been in an ongoing feud that also briefly involved AAA’s Taurus while the promotion was in Mexico last month. Moose was on commentary for this match. Rhino defeated Dave Crist with a Gore while Moose watched. Moose would note on commentary that the same thing won’t happen to him at Sacrifice.
Impact presents Sacrifice this Saturday. The event will stream live for subscribers to Impact Plus. Four matches have been confirmed thus far for the event:
Impact World Championship Tessa Blanchard (c) vs Ace Austin
Impact Women’s Championship Jordynne Grace (c) vs Havok
Impact Tag Team Championships The North (c) vs The Rascalz
Rhino vs Moose
Johnny Swinger vs Joey Ryan
Daga vs Jake Crist
Willie Mack vs Jay Bradley
Madman Fulton & Dave Crist vs Larry D & Acey Romero
AEW updates its rankings for each division every Wednesday. Tonight’s episode of Dynamite will take place in Atlanta and feature the first-ever steel cage match in the promotion when Cody faces Wardlow.
Here are this week’s AEW rankings:
AEW Men’s Rankings
Le Champion: Chris Jericho (0-0)
Jon Moxley (5-0)
Cody Rhodes (2-0)
PAC (1-1)
Kenny Omega (0-0)
Maxwell Jacob Friedman (2-0) (previously unranked)
The only movement in the men’s single’s rankings this week saw MJF re-enter the rankings. MJF defeated Jungle Boy this week to go to 2-0 in 2020. Kip Sabian drops out of the rankings this week. Sabian did not wrestle on Dynamite or Dark this week.
Jon Moxley defeated Santana and Kenny Omega wrestled in a tag title match with Page this week. Cody, Jericho, and PAC all had the week off from in-ring competition.
AEW Women’s Rankings
Women’s Champion: Nyla Rose (3-1)
Riho (3-1) (-1)
Kris Statlander (1-1) (+1)
Hikaru Shida (2-1) (-1)
Yuka Sakazaki (1-0)
Britt Baker (1-2)
The biggest change in the rankings this week takes place at the top of the women’s division. Nyla Rose defeated Riho to become the new AEW Women’s Champion this week. Former champion Riho drops to the #1 position.
Kris Statlander moves up one spot this week after defeating Diamante on Dark. She moves past Hikaru Shida for the #2 spot after Shida had the week off from in-ring competition. Britt Baker didn’t wrestle this week, opting instead to insult Tony Schiavone. Yuka Sakazaki was not on the show this week after having a tooth knocked out by Baker last week.
AEW Men’s Tag Team Rankings
Tag Team Champions: Kenny Omega & Adam “Hangman” Page
The Young Bucks (2-1) (+1)
SCU (2-2) (-1)
The Dark Order (2-0)
Proud and Powerful (0-1)
The Lucha Bros (0-1)
SCU drops one spot this week after losing to the tag champs Kenny Omega and Hangman Page in a title match to kick off Dynamite. The Young Bucks were victorious over Peter Avalon and QT Marshall on Dark.
The Best Friends defeated the Hybrid2 on Dark but it was not enough to put them back in the rankings this week. The Dark Order, Proud and Powerful, and the Lucha Bros all had the week off from in-ring competition.
Matt Hardy has been attacked by Randy Orton two weeks straight on WWE RAW. With Hardy’s contract with WWE expected to expire shortly, one of these attacks is bound to be Hardy’s last segment in WWE, at least for quite some time.
Hardy took to Twitter to comment on the angle from Monday:
Against Every Warning, with serious head/neck injuries, I showed up on #RAW to face & fight RKO.
I was brutally beaten & suffered multiple injuries. But I’m alive. I’m not sure what’s next. If this was my @WWE goodbye, I didn’t get what I deserved-But maybe I got what I needed. pic.twitter.com/Bzh1Ot4fcU
“After tweeting from a medical facility in the wake of a vicious attack he suffered at the hands of Randy Orton on Monday Night Raw, Matt Hardy was discharged and returned home earlier today, WWE.com has learned,” WWE’s report on Hardy reads.
Hardy has also been releasing several “Broken” themed videos on his YouTube channel as of late:
Following Orton’s initial attack on Hardy last week, Hardy tweeted out a message that only read “Goodbye.” This led many to assume the angle was a way to write Hardy off the show since he will be leaving when his contract expires.
Hardy was then scheduled to face Orton in a No Holds Barred match on this week’s show. The match never took place, however, but Orton did attack Hardy again in the show’s opening segment.
