WWE Backstage is returning for one night.
The WWE Backstage Royal Rumble Special will air premiere Saturday, January 30th at 8pm (Eastern) on FS1. It will be hosted by Renee Paquette, Paige and Booker T.
The Backstage Rumble special will replay at midnight and then at 5pm the following day.
Naturally, this will be a Royal Rumble preview show. You can bet there will special guest appearances.
Renee Paquette and Paige both posted videos on Twitter reacting to the news.
Triple H appeared on ESPN’s The Michael Kay Show this week. The Game spoke with Michael Kay, Don La Greca and Peter Rosenberg about his status for competing at WrestleMania, if he plans to take over WWE one day and much more.
WWE recently announced the dates and locations for the next three WrestleMania events. Triple H said that WWE usually has these events planned years in advance. Cities submit bids to host WrestleMania like they do with the Super Bowl. They initially had different plans for the next three WrestleManias. WWE worked closely with city officials in Tampa Bay, Dallas and Los Angeles and everyone is happy with how things ended up.
WWE is hopeful that they can have fans in attendance at WrestleMania this coming April. The NFL is bringing the Super Bowl to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay just a couple months before WrestleMania 37. Triple H says they will monitor how things go with the Super Bowl and evaluate from there.
“I think the hopes are high, there will be some people there,” said Triple H. “Anything can happen, if this year has shown us anything. Anything can happen in this timeframe. Things move relatively quickly. The Super Bowl will be there in a few weeks, we think there will be a lot of learnings from Raymond James Stadium hosting the Super Bowl, to see what capacity they’re allowed to do, to see how they handle that capacity and see what comes out of that and how safely they can do it.”
He continued, “It all comes down to the safety of our fans and our performers and our staff. So, whatever we feel we can do working with state and local officials, working with health organizations to do it safely, then we’re all for it. WWE is different from any sport. The fans are our lifeblood. Everything we do is for their reaction. The more we can have [fans], the better, but it still has to be safety first.
Triple H repeatedly said, “It’s not the same” running shows without fans in attendance. He believes WWE has done a great job helping people take their minds off what’s going on in the world. Last year’s WrestleMania was not the spectacle fans have become accustomed to. Hopefully this year’s will be a little different and we can return to a stadium.
Triple H recently returned to action on WWE Raw. This prompted a question about that match being a precursor to getting in the ring at WrestleMania.
“[Laughs] I said it a few weeks earlier, ironically, not thinking it was going to happen so quickly.. but I said I’m like that little box on the wall that says ‘in case of emergency, break glass.’ To be honest, I got the call the night before, and was like, hey we’re gonna write you into the show tomorrow, and that was it.”
He continued, “Its not the same, as a performer. My hat is off to all the men and women right now that are doing this week in week out, that did it all this time during Covid and the pandemic, and did it in front of no one, did it front of a few, did it front of video walls with fans cheering and booing.. it’s not the same. It’s difficult when you gear your whole life and your whole career towards getting that reaction and working towards it, and now you have to work towards the reaction that you believe that you will get, but it’s not the same.”
Finally, Triple H was asked if he intends to take over WWE one day when Vince McMahon steps aside.
“Look, for me, all of this comes down to the success of WWE. I never started doing this from any standpoint. When I first got into this, I just wanted to do it because I thought it was the greatest form of entertainment in the world and you just want to be great at it and whatever comes along with it. As my career wound down, I realized that I was just as fascinated with the behind-the-scenes of it.”
“It’s irrelevant to me who is steering the ship, who is doing what, there is plenty of work for everybody here. For me, it’s just about ensuring that like the tagline says, ‘Then, Now and Forever,’ that this brand of entertainment that I personally consider the greatest blended form of entertainment in the world, that it continues. So to me, it’s irrelevant, any of it, just as long as it continues.”
You can listen to the full Triple H appearance on the The Michael Kay Show at ESPN.
The Undertaker was recently on Joe Rogan’s podcast. During the conversation, he made some comments about today’s roster being soft. Today, Xavier Woods put out a Tweet that many are taking as a reaction to these comments.
Taker had the following to say regarding today’s WWE roster being soft.
“It’s tough right now for me [to enjoy the product]. Cause the product has changed so much and it’s kind of soft. I’ll probably piss a lot of people off but they need to hear it. It is what it is.”
Taker also specifically mentioned guys playing video games backstage in WWE.
“You go into a dressing room nowadays and it’s a lot different. I remember walking into my first real dressing room and all I saw were some crusty f***ing men. Half of them had guns and knives in their bags. S**t got handled back then. Now you walk in, there’s guys playing video games and making sure they look pretty. It’s evolution, I guess. I don’t know what it is, but I just like those eras, man. I liked when men were men.”
Xavier Woods posted the following Tweet today:
Woods also recently posted the below video of his match from RAW this week with a “Grand Theft Auto” themed edit.
The matches and the storylines booked for the female wrestlers of AEW have attracted their fair share of praises as well as criticisms. However, the role of Kenny Omega in the changing scenario of AEW’s women’s division cannot be denied.
In a recent interview with Scott Fishman of TVInsider, the AEW World Champion discussed working the creative side of the business behind the scenes, including charting the course for the AEW women’s division.
“I think we are taking baby steps,” Kenny Omega said. “We have hungry performers who are passionate about getting a chance to do their best. Passion speaks to me more than the performance of a maneuver, and right now, our women are really chomping at the bit to get these TV spots.”
Kenny Omega did not miss out on heaping praise on the women of AEW, and he is confident that the company will soon reach the place where the female roster gets as much screen time and opportunities as their male counterpart.
“They’re all training hard. Our roster keeps getting better. [No one has] lost their passion. They are still striving for that big goal, which is for the women’s division to get more time. I’ll have the biggest smile on my face the day we get it. I know we will.”
For a long time the AEW women’s division has been subject to criticism due to poor booking and minuscule screen time. However, wrestlers like Britt Baker, Serena Deeb, Thunder Rosa, Hikaru Shida, and others have proven time and again that they are more than capable of putting on entertaining matches and storylines if given the opportunity.
Kenny Omega also talked about his experience of working with IMPACT Wrestling and how exciting it is to have ‘blown open the doors’ between pro wrestling competitors.
You can read the full Kenny Omega interview at TVInsider.
Will Hobbs debuted for AEW this summer. He turned heel and aligned with Team Taz this November. He was the guest this week on the AEW Unrestricted podcast. Hobbs spoke about trying out for WWE earlier in his career as well as earning a full-time contract with AEW.
“The tryout was good. That’s a long story but I’ll give you the short story,” Hobbs said about trying out for WWE. “They said we didn’t have anything for you right now.”
Hobbs continued to say that WWE contacted him again after he had appeared on AEW television.
“Years later, (I was) getting the carrot dangled in front of me, then I pretty much told them F-you.”
“The way I was raised, I don’t have time for that s**t. I’m not ‘Boo Boo the Fool’ as my grandmother used to say,” he continued.
Aubrey Edwards then noted others in Team Taz have similar stories.
“Yeah I think Ricky (Starks) had the same thing happen. Both the Team Taz guys. It was like (they) appear on AEW, ‘hey, remember us, we would like to talk you.'”
“I’d rather you tell me ‘100% no’ than try and BS me,” Hobbs continued.
Hobbs also spoke about signing a full-time deal with AEW in September.
“I started off as a Tier 0,” Hobbs said about his first deal with AEW. “And then I believe I got that offer, I want to say right after my Darby match on the Saturday Night Dynamite.”
“Then I believe the PPV was maybe 3 weeks after that. Right after I did my whole thing with Mox, saving him, I got to the back and had another contract waiting for me. I got on the phone, I called a few people back home. When I got back to the hotel, I’m not a real emotional person, but I had to shed a few tears.”
Private Party defeated Chris Sabin and James Storm this week on Impact to claim the #1 Contenders spot for the promotion’s tag-team championships.
Impact has announced that the match between current champions, The Good Brothers, and Private Party will take place on February 13th at No Surrender. The event will stream on Impact Plus.
Matt Hardy brought Private Party to Impact this week. Tony Khan would later say that he sent Hardy to the promotion as revenge for Impact stars showing up on his show. Jerry Lynn and Tony Khan were ringside for Private Party’s match on Impact this week. Lynn even got involved in the match, holding onto Sabin’s foot so he was unable to escape from the Gin and Juice.
The Good Brothers have two other big matches upcoming. On next week’s AEW Dynamite, they will team with the Young Bucks against the Dark Order. The following week at Beach Blast, Gallows and Anderson will team with Kenny Omega to take on PAC, Fenix, and Jon Moxley.
Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen seem to be warming up to Matt Hardy’s coaching, even if they aren’t happy with the financial side of their agreement. Last night on Dynamite, Kassidy used a steel chair to give his team the advantage, perhaps suggesting they have turned heel along with their mentor.
Joseph Meenan, better known to wrestling fans as Joey Ryan, has been awarded a default judgement against one of his accusers. Ryan was the subject of numerous allegations from multiple parties as part of the Speaking Out movement this summer. In the aftermath, he has launched multiple lawsuits against some of his accusers as well as Impact Wrestling.
As first reported by the SoCal Uncensored website, Ryan was awarded a default judgement after one of his accusers failed to respond in time.
According to a report from HeelByNature, the defendant was served with legal papers on October 26th, 2020 but never responded. The report states that the documents were left at the person’s residence but not served to them directly. It is still possible for the judgment here to be set aside, however.
Ryan’s legal team also asked for a default judgment to be awarded against Impact Wrestling after the company failed to respond in time. Impact did eventually respond to Ryan’s lawsuit and the case is still ongoing.
Recently, Joey Ryan posted to Twitter that he is not a criminal and has not committed any crimes.
“I have not committed any crimes. I have never been investigated for a crime. There has never been any evidence connecting me to a crime. I have never even been a person of interest in a crime. It is bizarre that some would expect me to live my life like a criminal,” Ryan posted.
MLW Fusion on 1/20 featured a World Championship match between Jacob Fatu and ACH. Two other members of Contra Unit were also in action last night as Simon Gotch took on Jordan Oliver and Daivari faced Zenshi.
The full show can be viewed in the player below:
MLW Fusion 1/20 Quick Results:
Here are 6 key takeaways from MLW Fusion 1/20:
While Josef Samael isn’t able to physically be in the venue for recent MLW events, he’s added new troops since the restart. In addition to “The Black Hand of Contra” Mads Krugger, the faction has added Daivari to its ranks as well.
The finish of this match came when Zenshi missed a 450 splash and Daivari hit a hammerlock short-arm clothesline for the win.
Savio Vega is finally going to get his hands on Richard Holliday. He might even get his Caribbean Championship belt back. Holliday has been proclaiming himself as the title-holder for months, despite not officially defeating Vega for it. This week, Savio Vega sent in a promo and promised to use the very same strap that he and Steve Austin beat each other with on Holliday. Later in the show, Holliday said he would accept the terms in the contract he was sent for the match.
This long-running feud will reach a boiling point next week when Richard Holliday faces Savio Vega in a Caribbean Strap Match.
We were supposed to get this match at Kings of the Colosseum but Gotch went MIA for the event, only returning to aid in a Contra Unit assault on Injustice. While Jordan Oliver provided significant competition for Gotch, it would be the Contra member’s submission skills that would earn him the victory here. The finish of the match came when Oliver springboarded off the ropes but was caught in a sleeper by Gotch. The ref called for the bell but Gotch wasn’t done. He held onto the submission after the bell and then gave Oliver a Gotch-driver.
ACH went into his title match against Jacob Fatu with taped up ribs. This was due to an attack that took place outside his gym. It’s not clear who attacked ACH, but he would say he thought he heard the voice of Dominic Garrini from Team Filthy. Is Tom Lawlor upset that ACH is getting a title shot before him? Lawlor denied these allegations when confronted with them by Alicia Atout earlier.
ACH took a beating in the early parts of the match. He mounted a comeback despite his injuries, however. He hit a springboard cutter, a hurricanrana, and an enziguri but Fatu countered with a hard kick and followed that up with a pop-up Samoan Drop and then his springboard moonsault finish for the win.
It seemed as though nothing could go wrong for Contra Unit on this night. They’d won all 3 matches on the card including Jacob Fatu defending the World Championship. As Daivari and Fatu were cutting a promo on the stage at the end of the night, they were suddenly attacked by two flag-bearing members of the Sentai Death Squad. As the two members unmasked, they were revealed to be Jordan Oliver and Myron Reed of Injustice. Contra Unit may have won all 3 matches this night, but it would be Injustice who would close the show getting the last laugh.
The AEW Women’s World Championship Eliminator Tournament is coming soon to All Elite Wrestling. The announcement was made on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite. A 16-woman single-elimination competition will determine the #1 contender to Hikaru Shida’s AEW Women’s World Championship.
Notably, the tournament brackets feature an American flag on one side and a Japanese flag on the other. This implies half of the tournament will take place in the United States and the other half will be held in Japan. This could be due to some notable names in AEW’s women’s division being impacted by travel restrictions due to the global pandemic.
AEW advertises the tournament as “Coming Soon” with no start date announced as of this writing.
In terms of what wrestlers could be competing in the Japanese side of the bracket, there are a few options. Former AEW Women’s Champion, Riho, could likely take part, as is Yuka Sakazaki.
Emi Sakura seems likely to be in the tournament. She sent out the below Tweet in response:
There is also a possibility we will see women from the Impact Wrestling Knockouts Division in the tournmanet.
The current Top 5 rankings in AEW’s Women’s Division are as follows:
Britt Baker and Abadon are outside the top-5 now but they’ve been ranked previously.
WWE Superstar and Intercontinental Champion Big E recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The New Day member discussed a number of topics during the show, including how the wrestling world has been affected by the passing of Jon Huber/Brodie Lee/Luke Harper.
Brodie Lee of course passed away late last year. AEW and WWE have been paying tribute to Lee over the past few weeks, with his son Brodie Lee Jr being well looked after by All Elite, especially during this extremely difficult time in his family’s life.
“It’s a very, very strange time for me” Big E began on Busted Open. “For all of us actually. I think the hardest thing is…I’ve really been touched by the outpouring of love for Brodie, for John Huber. He was a very, very good, dear friend of mine. I’m still kind of, you know, dealing with him not being here and his passing.”
“He was a regular part of my life” Big E continued. “He lived like 15 to 20 minutes from me, and I got to see him all the time. And you know he’s, he’s someone…I’ve never, it’s my first time losing someone who meant so much to me, and was really close to. So, the one thing that’s been really rewarding is man, you know, a lot of times I think we talked about wrestling being a family, that can be cliche, but there is a real brotherhood.”
Big E then finished by saying how the ‘brotherhood’ of wrestling came together to mourn the loss of their dear friend. “I feel a real Brotherhood. In that I have so many guys that I’ve worked with, who hit me up, who cried with me, who reached out to me, and that’s beautiful. It really made me think ‘man, we have something special in our industry.'”
Our thoughts go out to Jon Huber’s family and all that have been affected by his passing
While Nikki Cross is a former two times women’s tag team champion, the female star hasn’t been featured much on WWE programming since her partnership with Alexa Bliss ended.
The former NXT star recently vented about her current position in WWE and she cut a promo about her struggles in a video posted on her Twitter account.
Cross told the interviewer who tried to talk to her that he will not get the fake smile from her because she is angry and annoyed at not having any momentum heading into the Royal Rumble PPV:
“I’m angry and I’m annoyed and I don’t want to talk about new year’s resolutions or feign happiness. The Royal Rumble is right around the corner and I have zero momentum going into it! I have no momentum to even want to!”
Nikki Cross then explained that the only thing that is stopping her from getting angry is focusing on the ring before saying that one day people will realise her potential and the reason behind the success she has achieved so far:
“I swore that I wasn’t going to be like my mom and dad; struggling and working so hard and working 60-hour shifts, night shifts, just tryin’ to keep our bellies full. I swore that wouldn’t to be me. It’s not going to be me. It’s not. Because there is a reason why I was the first-ever Scottish woman to be signed by WWE!
It may not be now, it may not even be in the near future, but one day, you’re all going to realize what exactly it is about me that got me to this point. So let me finish with this. I’m gonna be around in this industry for a very long time and I’m gonna go down as one of the best. And I am so done and I am so finished with not realizing that myself!”
Nikki Cross made her main roster debut back in 2018 and she started teaming with Alexa Bliss in May 2019. Though this team disbanded last year and the female star was drafted to Raw from SmackDown.
AEW star Kenny Omega surprised everyone when he associated himself with Impact Wrestling’s Don Callis few weeks back and since then, this relationship has extended into a full blown partnership between the two promotions.
During a recent interview with TVInsider, the current AEW Champion talked about things like their struggles with the COVID-19 pandemic and more.
When asked how it has been working with Impact Wrestling, Omega claimed that it’s exciting that they have blown the doors opens for many new potential opponents:
“I went to Impact, AAA and back to AEW, so I have been able to see three different rosters—all incredibly talented, regardless of what fans say is the best. As a performer, I’d love to work with each and every one of them.
It’s exciting that we’ve blown the doors wide open and there are all these potential opponents.” said Kenny Omega, “I just hope as we present these new matches, the fans enjoy watching them as [much as] we enjoy performing them.”
The former IWGP World Champion also talked about his partnership with Callis and said that for a long time he thought Don was one of the most psychologically gifted professional wrestlers.
According to Omega, for him joining forces with the Impact official meant that they weren’t going to take failure as an answer.
You can check out his full interview at TV Insider.
WWE has been heavily criticised in the recent times for putting part timers in the main event spot for big shows including WrestleMania while ignoring the full time stars people want to see getting a push such as Big E.
The former New Day member recently appeared on Busted Open Radio where he discussed a number of things and also talked about WWE’s booking decisions for their marquee shows.
Big E was speaking about his recent transition to singles competition and people’s high expectations for him. He opened up about how the management prioritizes ‘big money guys’ while booking shows such as WrestleMania.
“You also know how it is man, they’re going to go through a list of part-timers, the big names the big money guys who work once a year, and they’re gonna go through that list and if they if they can’t get all those guys booked for that Roman spot for WrestleMania.
Then it’s kind of like now, who do we look to that works here on a weekly basis,” said Big E, “Who’s actually been grinding. And now maybe we give them an opportunity.” Apart from this, the IC Champion also discussed how it does not make sense for NXT call-ups to be given title shot right after their main roster debut.
Big E went on to explain how losing to Sheamus was the best thing that happened to Daniel Bryan as it made people realise his potential.
Many other WWE Superstars have spoken about part-time legends taking top spots:
One of the main complains people have about the current WWE product is that the programming has lost its edge compared to the Attitude Era and it appears that the Undertaker who has lived through this change believes the same.
The Dead Man recently appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience where he talked about a wide variety of topics such as his retirement from competition and more.
During the interview, Taker was asked if still follows the WWE product and whether he enjoys the current programming. Replying to it, The Phenom said that it’s tough for him to enjoy it because the product has changed:
“I try. It’s tough right now for me [to enjoy the product]. Cause the product has changed so much and it’s kind of soft. I’ll probably piss a lot of people off but they need to hear it. It is what it is.
To the young guys [who think] ‘he’s a bitter old guy.’ I am not bitter. I did my time. I am good. I walked away when I wanted to walk away.”
The Undertaker admitted that while there are some guys who have an edge to them, the product is ultimately a little too soft for his taste:
“I just think the product is a little soft. There is obviously guys here and there that have an edge to them but there’s too much pretty and not enough substance I think right now.”
The Undertaker was also asked if he has something left in the tank and the former World Champion said that while he still has the passion for wrestling, the reality is that he is physically not able to perform at the level he wants to.
What do you think about the wrestling veteran’s assessment of the current WWE product? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
One-half of the current SmackDown tag team champions Dolph Ziggler recently appeared on WWE’s The Bump where he talked about things like winning the tag titles with Robert Roode and more.
With the Royal Rumble event being less than two weeks away, everybody is talking about the event and sharing their predictions and memories of the show.
During the interview, Ziggler also revealed his own favorite Royal Rumble moment and he recalled the time he challenged Edge for the world title at the event in 2011:
“There was a Royal Rumble where I fought against Edge for the World Heavyweight title once; we went one-on-one to open up the Royal Rumble. I went in knowing and the entire audience knowing that I had no chance of winning.
Because Edge is so awesome at what he does because that rivalry became so great because I learned so much in the past from traveling with him,” said Dolph Ziggler, “[I knew] I was a formable opponent to him at the time.”
The former world champion continued by saying that the entire crowd started realising that there was a star in the making in that match, 10 minutes into the bout.
According to Dolph Ziggler, they stole the show with the opening match and he doesn’t even remember who won the Royal Rumble afterwards. You can check out his full interview in the video below:
Former SmackDown women’s champion Bayley recently posted a picture on Twitter revealing that she was backstage for this week’s episode of NXT.
This week’s episode of the show saw the first-ever women’s edition of Dusty Rhodes tag team classic tournament kicking off with a match between Team Ninja and the team of Mercedes Martinez & Toni Storm.
Bayley interestingly took a selfie with the trophy for the tournament before the show went on air and she later posted the photo on Twitter as seen below.
WWE announced the first-ever women’s Dusty Rhodes tag team classic earlier this year and they revealed the brackets for the same recently.
Bayley had interestingly asked Triple H to let her compete in the NXT tournament but as the brackets revealed, she is not a part of the competition.
There is no word yet on if the former women’s champion had any special reason to be in the Capitol Wrestling Center but it’s most likely that she was just visiting the arena to interact with the tag team classic competitors.
Bayley was engaged in a feud with Sasha Banks for the most part of 2020 and it would be interesting to see what the company is planning for her in 2021.
AEW Dynamite aired from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville. Santana & Ortiz, Hager & Guevara, and Jericho & MJF competed to determine which team from Inner Circle will go for the AEW Tag Team Championships in the main event. In addition to the takeaways below, AEW announced a Women’s World Championship Eliminator Tournament. The winner will become the #1 contender for the AEW Women’s Championship.
Dynamite Results (1/20)
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Dark Order came to the entrance ramp with Brodie Jr. to celebrate his birthday. The Huber family was in the crowd as John Silver grabbed a microphone. Silver said that the Dark Order was about to get a new recruit (Hangman Adam Page) and shouted that it was somebody’s birthday. John asked the crowd to sing “Happy Birthday” to Brodie Jr.
Luther and Serpentico interrupted and said that AEW has become a day care center. A “you look stupid!” chant broke out in Daily’s Place as Luther boasted about his face being perfectly symmetrical. Luther called -1 stupid and a doofus and added that the Chaos Project does not like children. Luther shouted that they were going to ruin -1’s birthday and a brawl broke out. Hangman Page joined the party and leaped off the stage for a Crossbody onto Chaos Project and TH2.
Silver hit Angelico with an uppercut and went for the cover but Jack Evans broke it up at two. Hangman tagged in and connected with a Spinebuster. Hangman planted Serpentico with a Fallaway Slam for a near fall. Silver hit Evans with a Cannonball off the apron and then Reynolds flipped onto them. Hangman followed it up with a Moonsault off the top rope as Dark Order completely took control of the match.
Back in the ring, Colt Cabana tagged in and planted Serpentico with a Body Slam. Luther shoved Colt Cabana out of the ring as Serpentico rolled up Reynolds for a two count. Jack Evans hit a 450 Splash and went for the cover but Page broke it up at two. Hangman Powerbombed Jack Evans onto the crowd as Luther and Cabana battled on the entrance ramp. -1 hit Luther with a kendo stick and Colt slammed Luther’s face into the cake. Back in the ring, Hangman hit the Buckshot Lariat and Reynolds hit Serpentico with a German Suplex for the pinfall victory.
After the match, -1 said that you cannot ruin my birthday and hit Serpentico with the kendo stick. -1 then threw the papers at Serpentico and said his birthday was three days ago and called Chaos Project idiots. John Silver told Hangman that he is really handsome and asked him to join the Dark Order. Hangman Page said he can’t join and a band came out as “he said yes!” flashed on the screen. Dark Order shuffled the band and shirtless cowboys away as Hangman Page stated the last time he did a group thing it did not end well for him. Page left the ring and made his way backstage after grabbing a bottle of whiskey out of Stu Grayson’s hand.
Sting and TNT Champion Darby Allin joined Tony Schiavone in the ring tonight on Dynamite. Sting noted that Darby reminds him of himself and he kind of likes it. Allin said Darby is a phenomenal wrestler and congratulated him on being TNT Champion. Sting said he wasn’t here to interrupt the match last week but Team Taz quickly interrupted. Taz shouted that it wasn’t fair and that they fight street style. Taz suggested that they take it to the streets to settle this. Allin said “be careful what you wish for because it just might happen”.
Young Bucks showed up to meet with Kenny Omega at his house. Matt and Nick stumbled upon a ridiculous oil painting of Omega and Don Callis shirtless. Don said that Omega was unable to attend this meeting at his own house and that the Young Bucks must not have gotten Kenny’s new phone number. Callis told Marvez to leave and handed Young Bucks a check “for their investment in Kenny’s friendship”. Don claimed that Young Bucks were holding AEW Champion Kenny Omega back and it is time to cut the chord. Matt ripped up the check because he knows Impact Wrestling checks usually are not good anyway.
Callis later spoke to Kenny Omega and Don revealed a black eye. Kenny wanted to know who was responsible for it and Callis revealed it was the Young Bucks. Omega and the Good Brothers later attacked Pentagon Jr. backstage.
Cody faced Peter Avalon tonight on Dynamite. Cody hit the Cross Rhodes right away but didn’t go for the cover. Jade Cargill’s music hit and she came to the entrance ramp. Peter Avalon hit Cody with a low blow but Cody quickly battled back. Cody climbed to the top rope but Avalon caught him with a couple punches to the face. Avalon connected with a Superplex as Dynamite went to a commercial break.
When Dynamite returned, Avalon went for a Moonsault but Cody was able to get out of the way. Peter went for a Headlock but Cody escaped. Cody went to leap frog Peter but it was botched and they awkwardly collided. Cody hit the Cutter and followed it up with a Powerslam. Cody applied the Figure Four but Avalon reversed it. Cody reversed it again for the submission victory.
Jon Moxley faced Nick Comoroto tonight on Dynamite. Moxley headbutted Nick and hit him with a couple chops in the corner of the ring. Moxley hit Nick with a Clothesline and went for a Crossbody but Comoroto caught him. Nick connected with a Powerslam and beat Jon down in the corner of the ring. Comoroto hit a Backbreaker and then stretched Jon out across his knee. Nick connected with a Neckbreaker and went for the cover but Moxley kicked out at two. Moxley booted Nick in the chest several times and went for a Suplex but Comoroto escaped. Moxley hit a German Suplex and went for a Clothesline but Nick didn’t go down. Moxley applied a Sleeper Hold and brought Comoroto to the canvas. Moxley then choked Comoroto out for the victory.
After the match, Jon Moxley said that anything can happen on Dynamite. Moxley stated that things are getting crazy around here and he cannot keep track of everything. Jon said that his frat brothers from Nashville were brought here to watch Omega’s back but all it will do will cause more violence and he loves it. Jon added that the bigger the mountain is to climb the sweeter it is at the top. Moxley said that all roads in professional wrestling lead through him and did some pushups to end the promo.
Private Party & Matt Hardy squared off against Top Flight & Matt Sydal tonight on Dynamite. They action was back and forth for several minutes before Isiah Kassidy used a steel chair as Matt Hardy was distracting the referee. Marq Quen then capitalized for the pinfall victory. After the match, Matt Hardy hit Top Flight and Matt Sydal with the Twist of Fate.
Leyla Hirsch squared off against Penelope Ford tonight on Dynamite. Chuck Taylor was dressed as a butler and Kip Sabian asked him to trip up Leyla. Chuck obliged and Penelope capitalized with a kick to the face. Penelope launched Leyla into the barricade as Dynamite went to a commercial break.
When Dynamite returned, Penelope and Leyla traded punches in the middle of the ring. Leyla delivered a running knee to the face and followed it up with a German Suplex. Leyla connected with Double Knees and went for the cover but Ford kicked out at two. Hirsch dove onto Kip and Chuck outside the ring but Penelope caught her with a kick to the face. Sabian held Leyla’s leg down as Ford covered her for the win.
After the match, Miro got into the ring and told Charles the Butler (Chuck Taylor) to say that he is his best friend now and not Orange Cassidy. Charles reluctantly told Orange Cassidy that Miro is his best friend now.
Jericho & MJF, Sammy Guevara & Hager, Santana & Ortiz battled in the Inner Circle challenge to determine which tag team will represent the stable and go for the AEW Tag Team Championships. Sammy Clotheslined Jericho out of the ring and posed with a smile on his face. Jericho got back in the ring and booted Sammy in the midsection.
Guevara sent Jericho to the corner and Hager caught him with a right hand to the face. Hager and Santana then tagged into the match. Jake hit a shoulder tackle but Santana responded with a Dropkick. Ortiz tagged in and hit Hager with a Belly to Back Suplex.
Jericho tagged in and leveled Ortiz with a chop to the chest. Santana hit Jericho with a Crossbody and followed it up with a Moonsault for a two count. When Dynamite returned from a break, Jericho hit Sammy with a Suplex. Jericho went for the cover but Sammy was able to kick out at two.
Sammy hit Jericho with a few chops before Guevara sent him into the turnbuckle. Jake Hager knocked Jericho out of the ring and planted MJF with a Spinebuster. Sammy tagged in and hit a springboard Cutter. Ortiz tagged in and walked into a Clothesline from Sammy. Guevara Clotheslined Jerihcho out of the ring and hit him with a Superkick.
Back in the ring, Santana booted Sammy in the face as Ortiz hit Jericho with a Suicide Dive. Sammy flipped onto MJF outside the ring and then rolled back into the ring. Sammy hit Ortiz with a Suplex but Santana caught him with a boot to the midsection. MJF lifted Sammy up in the Electric Chair but Guevara countered into a reverse Hurricanrana. Sammy followed it up with a Spanish Fly onto Ortiz for a two count.
Jericho brought Floyd the bat into the ring but Hager booted him in the face. MJF put on the Dynamite Diamond ring but Hager hit him with a punch to the face. Santana and Ortiz took out Hager with a Clothesline. Jericho tagged in and hit the Lionsault on Sammy for a two count. Jericho hit Ortiz with the Codebreaker and went for the cover but Ortiz was able to kick out at two. Ortiz hit a double DDT but Hager tagged himself in. Sammy hit MJF with a Senton but Ortiz broke it up. Sammy hit the GTH on Jericho but MJF rolled him up and grabbed the tights for the pinfall victory.
Opinion: This was one of the worst episodes of Dynamite I can remember. There were several matches that I don’t know how anyone could have cared about. Peter Avalon beat up Cody for several minutes tonight for whatever reason. I don’t think AEW is going to start pushing Peter Avalon any time soon. The women’s match was thrown in at it’s usually 9:30 PM time slot and Miro’s terrible storyline with Best Friends was the focal point of that segment anyway. I was hoping that Santana and Ortiz would win the main event because they the real tag team in Inner Circle.
The January 20, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Toni Storm & Mercedes Martinez vs. Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter in a Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round Match was booked.
This was the first match of the tournament to take place. Unlike the men’s tournament, there are not as many teams in it, which means there won’t be as many matches. There is no second round so the winners of the first-round matches will move onto the semi-finals.
Io Shirai came out and took out Martinez for revenge. Kacey hit a dive off the top rope for the win.
As a result of this win, they will move onto face the winner of Aliyah & Jessi Kamea vs. Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez.
Kushida and Leon Ruff vs. NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano and Austin Theory took place in a Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round Match.
This opened the show. The heels dominated most of the match. There was a spot where Ruff accidentally took out Kushida that led to a double team spot with Gargano and Theory. The baby faces made a comeback with the finish seeing Kushida pinning Gargano with a suplex.
As a result of this win, they will move onto face the winner of Grizzled Young Veterans. It should be noted that WWE has recently teased Kushida coming after Gargano’s North American Title and with him pinning the champ, this sets up a future title match after the tournament. Something to keep an eye on.
Imperium (Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner) vs. Gran Metalik and Lince Dorado took place in a Men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic First Round Match.
The match had some fun moments with the babyfaces hitting some high spots. It felt like old school versus new school with the way that each team works, but they made it good. After a commercial break, the babyfaces made a comeback including Metalik hitting a springboard moonsault off the top rope for 2. Imperium hit a double team move to Dorado for a near fall.
Dorado hit a shooting star press for the win. Many people would consider this was an upset as Imperium were one of the favorites to win the match.
As a result of this win, they will move onto face the winner of Legado Del Fantasma.
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Timothy Thatcher took place in the fight pit, which is a fan favorite after the company booked this gimmick themed match earlier this year. Thatcher was also involved in the first match by defeating Matt Riddle this May. Kurt Angle was the special guest referee for it.
The match featured them beating the heck out of each other. They brawled on top of the structure then into the cage. The finish saw Thatcher pin Ciampa’s leg in between the cage and Thatcher pulled on it until Ciampa tapped out. It was a brutal match. Now, Thatcher moves to a 2-0 record in the fight pit.
Ciampa defeated Thatcher in their match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames earlier this month. On last week’s episode, Leon Ruff got a surprise win by pinning Thatcher with a cradle. Post-match, Thatcher beat down Ruff until Ciampa ran out to make the save. Ciampa laid out Thatcher with the Willow’s Bell DDT. This is when Ciampa laid out the challenge.
It turns out that Jason Jordan isn’t giving up hope regarding a possible in-ring return.
Chad Gable, the former tag team partner of Jordan, made an appearance on today’s episode of WWE’s The Bump. Around the 58-minute mark, Gable reflected on teaming up with Jordan.
This is where he noted that Jordan is working towards to a potential comeback.
“Just speaking from a personal standpoint, he became one of my best friends throughout the process and still is. It’s unfortunate what happened with his injury, but you never say never. He’s working on it. He’s trying to get back, and who knows? A reunion is always something that I would never be against.”
Jordan and Gable won both the NXT and SmackDown Tag Team Championships as a tag team together before they were separated in 2017 during the Superstar Shake-Up. Jordan would later win the Raw Tag Team Titles with Seth Rollins.
Jordan had neck surgery in early 2018 and still hasn’t been cleared to return to in-ring action. It’s been reported that the likelihood of him wrestling again isn’t likely.
On the flip side, Gable would go onto win the Tag Team Titles on the red brand with Robert Roode. He is currently a member of the Friday Night SmackDown where he’s paired with Otis.
The Royal Rumble Match has been around since 1988 thanks to the creation by Pat Patterson.
However, this year, there’s been some confusion among fans regarding the wrestlers being in the match. Of course, WWE has already confirmed a women’s and men’s Royal Rumble Match this year.
Over the years, WWE has typically just announced the competitors, or even in some cases, there will be qualifying bouts with the winners being added to one of the most exciting matches the company puts on all year.
This year has been a bit different as there have been various wrestlers just declaring for it and automatically added without question.
Adam Pearce, who serves as a WWE Producer as well as an on-air authority figure, recently clarified WWE Superstars declaring themselves for the match. He did so in a post on Twitter by writing the following:
“It’s actually pretty simple: Those that have been granted the ability to simply declare entry into the Royal Rumble by management are free to do so. Those that haven’t must qualify. I don’t write the rules, I enforce them.”
So far confirmed for the Women’s Royal Rumble Match include Nia Jax, WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Charlotte Flair, Bayley, Bianca Belair, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, Peyton Royce, Alexa Bliss, and Shayna Baszler.
Jeff Hardy, Jey Uso, Cesaro, Daniel Bryan, WWE United States Champion Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles, Randy Orton, Otis are named thus far set for Men’s Royal Rumble Match.
WWE is moving forward with WrestleMania 37 in what will be the closest to a normal presentation that fans haven’t seen in nearly a year by having a show not held in a closed set environment.
Since March, WWE hasn’t had any fans in attendance for their shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That will change with WWE’s biggest pay-per-view event of the year.
WWE confirmed over the weekend that this event will be held over the course of two nights – April 10th and 11th – from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
PWinsider.com reports that the current plan is for each night to be a three-hour show, airing live on the WWE Network from 7-10pm ET. WWE will likely have a Kickoff pre-show that airs before the main card. There’s no word yet whether the pre-show will be an hour or two hours long as everything is subject to change at this point.
Regarding fans being allowed to attend the show, WrestleVotes reported today that both nights are expected to have 25,000 fans in attendance, which would give WWE 50,000 fans in total. Now, WWE shifts its focus on what they will do after WrestleMania regarding traveling and fans attending shows.
Pwinsider added that no other events have been locked in for this special weekend although there has been talk of holding the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony as a virtual event.
Eric Bischoff commented on the trend of ‘cinematic matches’ during a recent interview with Sportskeeda. The former WCW President thinks it’s possible to present them correctly, but he does not see them as “the future of the business.”
AEW star Matt Hardy is credited with being a pioneer of cinematic matches, stemming from his time with Impact Wrestling. Hardy’s “Broken Universe” produced several memorable short films, including the Final Deletion.
Other companies have utilized cinematic matches. WWE filmed mini-movies from the Wyatt Family Compound. The main event of last year’s WrestleMania saw The Undertaker defeat AJ Styles in the well-received Boneyard Match.
The most recent example of a cinematic match came this past weekend at Impact Wrestling: Hard to Kill when Ethan Page battled his alter ego, Karate Man.
Eric Bischoff explains that cinematic can be a valuable part of a wrestling show. However, it’s important that companies use them sparingly, as special attractions.
“I don’t think it’s the future of the business,” said Bischoff. “I think it’s a valuable component, a special attraction. I think if it’s done too much, it will lose some of its value to the audience when everything becomes a cinematic style match. Then it’s no longer special. I think if the cinematic matches are presented as a special event, once a year, or twice a year, or in unique story-driven situations, I think it could become a very valuable part of the presentation. But I think to rely on that exclusively as a presentation would diminish their value.”
Cinematic matches have been generally well-received and the trend does not appear to be going away. Someone like Sting, for example, is somewhat limited with what he can do in the ring. However, he’d be the perfect candidate to utilize cinematic matches.
In the past, WWE would announce the date and location of the following year’s WrestleMania either before or after that year’s event. However, WWE didn’t do that for WrestleMania events over the next three years.
This past weekend, WWE confirmed that they would hold WrestleMania 37 from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on April 10 and April 11 of this year, WrestleMania 38 on April 3, 2022 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and WrestleMania 39 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on April 2, 2023.
WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon recently spoke with Tony Maglio of The Wrap. During the interview, she explained why WWE bucked the trend of announcements.
“It just helps everybody,” she said. “It helps us for planning purposes, it helps our fans plan their trips, it helps in so many different capacities. And now we can really work with all of our partners across the board in all of these major cities and really blow everything out as big as we possibly can,” McMahon said.
She added that she thinks people need hope and something to look forward to during this difficult time as we all live in the COVID-19 pandemic.
McMahon also confirmed earlier this week that fans will be attendance at WrestleMania 37.
Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.854 million viewers with a 0.60 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. Last week’s show did 1.819 million viewers with a 0.55 rating.
Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Monday night:
For the second time since September, WWE didn’t have to face competition from any football coverage whether that was Monday Night Football with the NFL or in the case of last week with the college football championship game.
The January 4th edition didn’t have any competition from football, but that was the Legends Night Special, which saw a tremendous boost in buzz and intrigue among fans to the point that it drew Raw’s highest rating in months.
WWE will get a boost next week as it will mark the go-home edition of Raw for the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event.
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.262 million viewers. This is up from the 2.120 million viewers on FS1 that the show did for the previous week.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.67 rating in the 18-49 demos, up from the 0.56 rating as previous week’s show. The episode drew an average of 2.153 million viewers in the overnight ratings, up from the previous week that did 2.003 million viewers.
The first hour saw it pull in 2.200 million viewers while hour two did 2.105 million viewers. The show did 2.036 million viewers in hour one while hour two did 1.969 million viewers two weeks ago.
Eric Bischoff and Vince Russo worked together twice in the wrestling business. The first time was at the tail end of WCW and the second was when they were both in TNA Wrestling at the same time. Bischoff is not a fan of Vince Russo’s writing. He recently spent some time on his 83 Weeks podcast commenting on the “immature” nature of some of the angles and gimmicks Russo came up with while in WCW.
Conrad Thompson and Bischoff were talking about the “Misfits in Action” stable from WCW’s dying days when he had the following to say:
“It’s embarrassing. I mean, Hugh G Rection? Major Gunns? Come on! Are you 14 years old, for crying out loud?” Bischoff said about Russo’s creations.
Bischoff then spoke about a conversation he had with Brad Siegel about Russo.
“One of the comments that always has stuck with me that Brad said is ‘Look, Vince is just too dark. His approach to television everything is just nasty and dark.’ And I wasn’t really sure what he meant, because I hadn’t been watching.”
“Everything had a layer of dirt or scum on it,” Bischoff continued. “No story was clean and crisp and easy to follow and triggered emotions as a result of it. Everything had this dark, kind of, I don’t know, sewage scum kind of vibe to it.”
“All of his stuff had that same kind of juvenile just junky feel to it,” Bischoff concluded.
Bischoff’s comments can be heard in the YouTube clip below:
