Next week is the special Winter is Coming edition of AEW Dynamite.
AEW is advertising the show as the biggest Dynamite in history. We know the main event will see AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defending against Kenny Omega. A second match has now been confirmed: the second annual AEW Dynamite Diamond Battle Royale. The participants include:
MJF
Wardlow
Miro
Kip Sabian
Orange Cassidy
Matt Hardy
“Hangman” Adam Page
Sammy Guevara
Private Party
Matt Sydal
Alex Reynolds
John Silver
Scorpio Sky
Shawn Spears
Dynamite Diamond Battle Royale
Last year, the final two participants of the inaugural Dynamite Diamond Battle Royale were MJF and “Hangman” Adam Page. They met the following week on Dynamite, with MJF capturing the win and procuring the coveted 45-karat Dynamite Diamond Ring.
MJF will defend his prize in this year’s Diamond Battle Royale, so he will be forced to surrender the ring to this year’s winner if it’s not him.
During the appearance, the WWE Chief Brand Officer talked about how the company’s ratings fell because of the COVID-19 pandemic. McMahon also confirmed that WWE had hoped to have fans back in attendance at their shows this fall, but that didn’t happen.
“And without them [the fans], it’s just not the same. Our ratings fell off. We tried bringing in our developmental talent to see if that would help in terms of some type of audience.
It just wasn’t enough, and ultimately we had hoped to be back in arenas in the Fall but when we realized that wasn’t gonna happen, we doubled-down and invested with a new partner called The Famous Group and we now have nearly one thousand virtual fans.”
It had been reported several months ago that WWE had hoped to have fans back at shows way back in July. That hope had been pushed back for a few months until WWE decided to hold off on the idea.
There have been various reports about WWE moving WrestleMania 37 from California to Florida due to the states being different regarding COVID-19 protocols.
Pete Dunne has made his return to WWE NXT after being associated with the NXT UK brand for the majority of his time with WWE.
The former NXT UK Champion had been sidelined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down not only the NXT UK brand but also prevented him from working in the United States for the NXT brand.
He spoke with SI.com about his return to the NXT brand.
“I couldn’t leave the U.K. because of the travel ban, so it became a chance to reset my goals. I’ve done this since I was 12 years old and this was the most time off I’ve ever had. When it’s your job and it’s day–in and day–out, you’re so close to it that you can lose focus of the bigger picture. I was able to get in the best shape of my life and completely focus on what I wanted. The NXT title is atop that list.”
He noted that he never had the time to just focus on training as his previous focus was about the performance in order to put on better matches in the ring and stay injury-free.
Dunne continued that mindset was something he could control and now feels better for it as he kept his muscle mass.
“I can carry a brand. I did it in the UK with an entire brand basically built around me, and my in-ring work speaks for itself. Now I’m with Pat McAfee, who is incredibly charismatic. It’s a winning combination.”
Dunne is aligned with the faction led by Pat McAfee.
The Godfather responded to some fans who were critical of what WWE did with The Undertaker’s Final Farewell at Sunday’s pay-per-view event.
Before Taker came out for his promo, WWE brought out Godfather and several past and present wrestlers with full entrances only to have them leave the ring.
A fan commented on a photo of Taker and Godfather on Instagram where the person wrote, The whole ‘Farewell’ was pretty boring. You guys all came to the ring…for what?” Godfather responded, “right.”
One fan questioned why WWE brought everyone in only to have them say nothing. Godfather wrote back, “could’ve been written better.”
Another fan took shots at WWE creative and The ThunderDome. Godfather wrote back, “Well said. And you right the night before was epic.”
The fan responded by noting that the night before Survivor Series where they all reunited was what really matters. Godfather agreed, “Thats the most important.”
Along with Godfather, Shane McMahon, Big Show, JBL, Jeff Hardy (who had Taker’s symbol painted on his face), Mick Foley, The Godwinns, Savio Vega, Rikishi, Kevin Nash, Booker T, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, Triple H, and Kane were part of the segment.
NXT is back tonight with a new live episode from the Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, FL. With a week and a half until the next NXT Takeover event, the following items are confirmed for this week’s broadcast on the USA Network:
Ladder Match: A member of Undisputed Era vs. Pete Dunne (with NXT Tag Team Champions Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch). The winner earns a WarGames Advantage
Former NXT Champion Kevin Owens returns for a special edition of The KO show. His guest will be NXT North American Champion, Leon Ruff.
Check back later tonight for our NXT Results & Takeaways and visit our NXT News page for details on Rhea Ripley leaving NXT, WWE looking to expand NXT programming and Killer Kross returning soon from injury.
Chris Jericho has launched the Painmaker Apparel Collection.
The inaugural AEW World Champion partnered with Champion USA and Represent to create a line of shirts, hoodies, pants and jackets inspired by his experiences and tours in Japan.
Le Champion commented on his new project in a statement available at Newswire.com.
“As I continue to expand the Jericho brand, a clothing line was the natural next step,” said Jericho. “But Painmaker Apparel is more than just a collection of great quality clothing with a rubber stamp design. Each item in this collection has been individually patterned and influenced by the 60 tours of Japan I’ve experienced over the last 30 years. As a result, when you wear Painmaker Apparel, you’ll feel stylish, sassy and quite simply ….cool AF!”
Check out the merchandise over at Painmaker.store.
After having been let go by the company in the spring, Hurricane Helms is back with WWE. According to a report from PW Insider, Helms was backstage at the Survivor Series and worked RAW on Monday as a producer.
Helms had been with WWE as a producer from January 2019 to April 2020. He announced his departure from the company on April 15th, 2020.
Helms also made a cameo on the AEW Full Gear PPV on November 7th, 2020. He was featured in the Elite Deletion match between Sammy Guevara and Matt Hardy. During the match, Helms noted that Hardy had waited 2 years to rescue him and was later dunked into the Lake of Reincarnation.
In WWE, Helms is a former European Champion (1x), Hardcore Champion (1x), Cruiserweight Champion (2x), and twice held the World Tag Team Championships, once with Kane and another time with Rosey. He is a former WCW Hardcore and Cruiserweight Champion as well, having held each title once.
Helms also holds the distinction of having defeated the Rock in singles competition. They met on the March 10th, 2003 edition of Monday Night RAW in a no disqualification match. Highlights of that match are available in the player below:
AEW has released new rankings for each of its divisions ahead of tonight’s episode of Dynamite.
Men’s Singles Rankings
AEW World Champion: Jon Moxley (21-0) TNT Champion: Darby Allin (14-5)
Kenny Omega (7-0)
Maxwell Jacob Friedman (10-1)
Cody Rhodes (20-3-1)
Brian Cage (11-1)
Ricky Starks (13-2)
There was no movement in the mens singles rankings this week.
Next week, possibly the biggest match to take place in this division will air on Dynamite. #1 Kenny Omega will challenge champion Jon Moxley for the belt.
#2 Maxwell Jacob Friedman is currently involved in an angle with his stablemates in the Inner Circle. #3 Cody Rhodes looks to be headed into a feud with Shaquille O’Neal. #4 Brian Cage and #5 Ricky Starks might both be gunning for Darby Allin’s TNT Championship.
Women’s Singles Rankings
AEW Women’s Champion: Hikaru Shida (20-1)
Big Swole (13-4)
Nyla Rose (12-3)
Serena Deeb (4-2) (+1)
Penelope Ford (11-5) (-1)
Anna Jay (4-3)
An AEW Women’s Championship is booked for tonight. #5 Anna Jay will challenge Hikaru Shida for the belt.
#1 Big Swole picked up a win on Dark this week. #2 Nyla Rose hasn’t wrestled since Full Gear.
#3 Serena Deeb moves up one spot in the rankings this week after defeating Thunder Rosa to defend the NWA women’s title last week. #4 Penelope Ford drops one spot as a result.
Tag Team Division Rankings
Tag Team Champions: The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) (11-3)
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (12-1)
The Best Friends (Trent & Chuck Taylor) (18-7)
The Natural Nightmares (Dustin Rhodes & QT Marshall) (9-2)
Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) (13-5)
The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) (13-2)
There was no movement in the tag-team division this week but there are 3 big tag matches taking place on Dynamite tonight.
SCU will take on Jake Hager and Chris Jericho. PAC and Rey Fenix will take on the Butcher and the Blade. Also, Top Flight returns to take on the Hybrid 2.
WWE recently filed several new trademark applications with the United States Patent & Trademark Office.
A search of the USPTO database shows that WWE applied for two trademarks on October 9th. One is for NXT UK star Flash Morgan Webster. The other is for Skull King, a name previously used for Triple H or his WrestleMania 31 entrance and later, WWE video games and merchandise.
Both trademarks are ‘live’ and the usage descriptions include (but are not limited to):
“Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibitions and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer rendered live and through broadcast media including television and radio, and via the internet or commercial online service; providing wrestling news and information via a global computer network; providing information in the fields of sports and entertainment via an online community portal;”
In related trademark news, Retribution member Reckoning (Stephanie Bell) also filed an application last month for her previous ring name, Mia Yim.
It’s also worth noting that Tyler Senerchia, son of AEW star Taz, has filed to trademark the name “Hook” for the same pro wrestling purposes.
Will Hobbs, the newest member of Team Taz, will be in action.
Last week, a mystery attacker laid out AEW World Champion Jon Moxley and prevented him from signing the contract to wrestle Kenny Omega at Winter is Coming. AEW has announced a contract signing will take place again tonight on Dynamite.
.@JonMoxley never backs down from a fight and wants to sign on the dotted line. It's the contract signing between Omega & Moxley for Dec 2nd TONIGHT on Dynamite.
Head over to our AEW News page for all the latest news articles from the past week, including The Young Bucks talking about their first meeting with Tony Khan and Kenny Omega revealing that he is currently working through an injury.
For more on tonight’s AEW Dynamite, visit the AEW website’s official preview.
Impact Wrestling 11/24 featured both a world title match between Rich Swann and Ken Shamrock and an episode of Wrestler’s Court. Johnny Swinger was put on trial for the attempted murder of John E Bravo.
Impact 11/24 Quick Results:
Knockouts Tag Team Tournament (1st Round) Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz defeated The Sea Stars (Delmi Elo & Ashley Vox)
Suicide (Later revealed to be Crazzy Steve) defeated Rohit Raju
Kimber Lee defeated Killer Kelly
Swoggle defeated Ethan Page
Fallah Bah vs Daivari – No Contest
Impact World Championship Rich Swann (c) defeated Ken Shamrock
Impact Wrestling presented another one of their epic backstage skits this week. They went back to Wrestler’s Court, this time with Johnny Swinger on trial for having shot John E Bravo.
There is a lot to go over here but these are the main bullet points:
John E Bravo is not dead, was in a coma, has come out of it. Doctors have warned he may be different.
Johnny Swinger wore a neck brace to garner sympathy.
Tommy Dreamer, who was originally the judge but then made the prosecutor, eventually started to feel as though Swinger didn’t do it.
Swinger’s finger prints were found on the gun but so were a lot of other people’s.
Then Rosemary got on the stand and admitted she never really loved Bravo. She’s a demon, you see.
Bravo interrupted the proceedings to say he smelled the person who shot him and it was not Rosemary or Swinger.
Team XXXL’s Larry D gets on the stand and is sprayed with a cologne that makes him tell the truth.
He admits to having shot John E Bravo because he was going to marry the woman of his dreams, Rosemary.
Johnny Swinger is declared Not Guilty!
Rich Swann Retains Over Ken Shamrock/Sami Callihan and Eddie Edwards Feud Continues
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f2Ac2fbGo0
The feud between Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan likely won’t be over until one of them is dead. It continued again this week after the world championship match between Rich Swann and Ken Shamrock concluded.
Swann pinned Shamrock in the main event to retain his title by reversing a choke attempt into a pinning combination. After the match, Shamrock and Callihan were continuing the assault on Swann when Eddie Edwards came out to make the save. Callihan delivered a baseball bat shot to the eye of Edwards, reminiscent of what he did years ago in an incident that almost ended Edwards’ career.
D’Lo Brown attempted to break everything up but took a shot from Shamrock for his efforts. The show closed with security trying to break up the chaos.
The We-nomenal One AJ Swoggle Defeats Ethan Page
The Good Brothers teased that they had a “phenomenal” opponent lined up for Ethan Page this week. Karl Anderson came out solo to introduce the wrestler since Doc Gallows is out with an injury.
AJ Styles’ music hit and it appeared as though the Good Brothers’ former Bullet Club stablemate had returned! Then when Page’s opponent came out it still looked a little like he’d be facing AJ Styles. Instead, it was Swoggle, who tends to look a little like AJ, albeit a bit shorter.
The stipulation was that if Page could beat Swoggle he would earn a tag team title match for the North. Page was a little too cocky in the match, however. When Karl Anderson then took out Josh Alexander at ringside, Page took his eyes off his opponent and Swoggle rolled him up for the pin.
In a backstage segment last week, Jordynne Grace was seen talking to her future tag partner on the phone. Grace only revealed that the person is a legend who had said they are retiring soon. We found out this week that her partner is Jazz.
Jazz said she’s been a WWE champion, an NWA champion, and now will finish out her career as a Knockouts tag team champion.
Eric Young and Joe Doering Continue Their Path Of Destruction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgV-5gqIdYI
Eric Young and Joe Doering continued their path of destruction this week. They quickly interrupted a match between Fallah Bah and Daivari. Rhino attempted to make the save but got beaten up for his trouble. Young then cut a promo that this is their world.
Crazzy Steve (As Suicide) Defeats Rohit Raju
TJP is not permitted to challenge for the X-division championship again while Rohit Raju is the champion. Scott D’Amore implied to TJP last week that perhaps he could wear a mask and face the champion, much like wrestlers such as Dusty Rhodes and Junk Yard Dog have done in the past. So when Suicide came out to challenge Raju during this week’s Defeat Rohit challenge, the champion was naturally suspicious and said it would only be a non-title match. He ripped off Suicide’s mask but as he did so, TJP appeared on the ramp proving it was not him in the ring. The unmasked Crazzy Steve then rolled up Raju and got a three count.
Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz Advance In KO Tag Tournament
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_Z-3zuEyiw
There was a lot of talk between Josh Mathews and Matt Striker on commentary during this match about this side of the brackets being pretty tough. The winner of this match will face the winner of Taya and Rosemary vs Purrazzo and Kimber Lee, which is no easy test.
While the debuting Sea Stars certainly were able to show what they can do, it would be Kiera Hogan who would ultimately pick up the win for her team. She pinned Delmi after a swinging fisherman suplex.
Susie and Su Yung Appear In The Same Segment
Killer Kelly made her Impact Wrestling debut this week. She took on Kimber Lee in singles competition.
Kimber Lee would pick up an impressive-looking victory after delivering a Swanton onto her opponent but after the match, Susie and Su Yung both made an appearance. The mild-mannered Susie appeared on the entrance ramp and introduced Su Yung, her undead bride alter ego. What devious magic allowed for both to be in the same place at the same time is unknown. Su Yung then hit the ring and attacked both Purrazzo and Kimber Lee.
Major League Wrestling returns tonight with an all-new edition of MLW Fusion.
The following items are confirmed for this week’s over-sized Thanksgiving episode, which drops at 7PM EST on the MLW YouTube Channel:
The 2020 MLW Opera Cup begins with two opening round matches:
Former MLW World Champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor takes on Rocky Romero, representing New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Caribbean Champion and Dynasty member Richard Holiday vs. TJP.
At the conclusion of last week’s Fusion, National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone came to ringside and confronted MLW World Champion Jacob Fatu. He was then laid out by The Black Hand of Contra Unit. MLW will provide an update on Hammerstone’s condition.
Plus, we’ll see the MLW debut of heavyweight star Calvin Tankman, who recently signed a multi-year deal with the fight league. Learn more about Calvin Tanman.
WWE Superstar Xavier Woods has been announced as a new host for the revived G4 video game brand. G4 was a popular gaming network from 2002 to 2014. They are set to relaunch next year in 2021. Woods’ involvement was announced during a holiday reunion special on the G4 YouTube channel.
#Creed4G4
Woods and his fanbase had been lobbying for him to be included in the brand’s relaunch. Supporters used the #Creed4G4 hashtag on social media.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I expect #Creed4G4 to gain so much momentum among WWE fans and gamers alike,” said Woods. “As a lifelong video game fanatic, I have always held a genuine affinity for the G4 brand, and I’m honored and humbled to be joining the G4 team at a time when interest in gaming and the gaming community has never been stronger.”
Considering he campaigned for the role using the name ” Austin Creed” it seems notable that G4 is using his Xavier Woods name and WWE is actively promoting his involvement. He posted the following in June:
My campaign begins…. please cast your twitter ballot for me to be a host for @g4tv by using the hashtag #Creed4G4
Kevin Sabbe, Head of Content for G4, was quoted in a press release promoting Woods’ signing.
“We could not be happier to welcome Xavier to the family and introduce the first member of G4’s new cast,” said Sabbe. “The list of on-air talent with advanced degrees in psychology, unbridled passion for video games and multiple WWE Tag Team Championships is not long.”
“We loved Xavier’s creative #Creed4G4 campaign and cannot wait to showcase his many talents throughout G4’s developing slate of programming. Xavier stands as a fantastic first representative of an exciting and diverse team that we are assembling for G4 and will be introducing in the coming weeks and months.”
WWE Commentator Corey Graves recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The former Sterling James Keenan discussed a number of topics during his time on the show. These would include Roman Reigns’ run at the top of SmackDown, working commentary during the pandemic and his After The Bell podcast.
Corey Graves on Fans
“There have been some hiccups along the way” Corey Graves began, discussing how the After The Bell podcast has evolved over the past few months. “I was the first WWE podcast before anyone kind of realized that the podcast network was going to take off. [That was] before we knew we were going to have a litany of podcasts and all the content available on WWE network.”
“So it’s been a growing process and I was sort of the guinea pig” Graves continued. “But for me personally? It was something else to kind of learn and test myself and my ability to do. It’s difficult to interview somebody if you don’t know what you’re doing! And I really had no experience as far as doing an actual interview. Doing commentary at ringside isn’t exactly the same, but [I wanted] to be able to keep the conversation moving and try not to get lulled into the doldrums of the minutiae of the people’s business.”
Corey Graves would then describe how he doesn’t want After The Bell to be about people’s personal lives and gossip. “From time to time? I’ll bring up the gossip, or a hot rumor and let people either confirm or deny it. But that’s not…that’s not my prerogative. I know there’s a place [for that] and a lot of fans like dirt sheets and behind the scenes stuff. That’s their prerogative and that’s cool and I have a lot of respect for that. But, that’s not what I wanted on the podcast.”
Corey Graves himself has of course had his own fair share of personal gossip spread online. So it is understandable if he wants to keep this out of his own podcast.
Do you listen to Corey Grave’s After The Bell podcast? Let us know in the comments
The All In show was the start of a new era in wrestling and then Young Bucks’ association with Tony Khan has led to some massive changes in the industry.
During a recent interview with TalkSport, the brothers discussed a number of things and also revealed details of their first meeting with the person who will eventually become the president of All Elite Wrestling.
The Bucks first revealed that they had actually no sold Khan’s first attempt of contacting them and according to Nick Jackson they almost didn’t pick his phone:
“What’s funny is he tried contacting us both at first and I no sold it because I had heard this story before. I was like ‘ah, I don’t believe it’”
However, Matt Jackson decided to take the call and they had a conversation about starting AEW. According to the duo, they were still skeptical about it at the time but things started snowballing after their first face to face meeting:
“I remember meeting him for the first time in London at York Hall for a Ring of Honor show. He was in the balcony and little did Ring of Honor know that we were going to meet him [laughs].
He picked us up in a limousine right after that and took us to the stadium his team plays at [Fulham’s Craven Cottage] and we pretty much talked from there, things started snowballing and we pretty much knew it was serious when we were at his stadium and he’s telling us ‘maybe we can fill this thing up one day!”
During the interview, the Young Bucks revealed that they had plans to do a UK tour right before the coronavirus hit but the pandemic halted those plans.
The duo also confirmed that they are working towards getting a live show in the UK but they claimed that there is no news on that right now. You can check out their full interview at this link.
Despite her troubles, Chyna remains to be one of the most iconic female wrestlers in the history of WWE and part of the credit for it goes to the company’s unique portrayal of her character.
During a recent interview with WrestlingInc, the former WWE star’s mother Janet LaQue talked about the impact her daughter has had on the business.
Talking about WWE’s portrayal of her character, Janet said that at first, it was a little weird seeing her daughter as Triple H’s bodyguard and according to her, Chyna looked better later on when she adopted a more feminine appearance:
“Well, at first, it was a little weird because she was portrayed as Triple H’s bodyguard, she had changed so much her body structure from the way that she was that I think she was portrayed okay. I mean, I know that a lot of it is fake.
So I mean you got to do what you got to do, but then later, when she became much more feminine in her appearance, even though she could pick up and slam just about anybody, she looked good while she was doing it. I thought it was pretty cool to tell you the truth.”
Janet LaQue also talked about Chyna’s pairing with late great Eddie Guerrero admitting that she thought it was kind of cool and said that the pairing definitely had some humor to it.
Chyna left WWE in November 2001 after her contract expired and the negotiations for her re-signing fell apart. She died from an accidental drug overdose in April 2016 at the age of 46.
WrestleMania 22 featured a number of interesting matches such as John Cena vs. Triple H and JBL vs. Chris Benoit and one of these bouts could have been Bret Hart vs. none other than Vince McMahon.
Former WWE writer and MLW founder Court Bauer was the recent guest on Talk Is Jericho where he talked about the boss in detail with Y2J.
During the interview, he revealed the nixed idea for a match between the chairman Vince McMahon and The Hitman Bret Hart at the grand event:
“There was a time where we had just closed a deal with Bret to do the DVD Anthology series. And it was big deal, and Bret was, at that moment in time, very small window of time, very much into the idea of doing a match with Vince at WrestleMania in Chicago, WrestleMania 22.”
Bauer continued to reveal more details about the planned angle and he explained that since Bret Hart couldn’t wrestle regularly, the idea was to include wrestlers like Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Harry Smith into the storyline.
This would have allowed the company to continue the angle at house shows and weekly television while also protecting Bret Hart as a special attraction.
The idea was unfortunately nixed later on and now one can only wonder what it would have been like if Bret Hart had made his in ring return for the company at the time.
Former WWE women’s champion Jazz will apparently be coming out of her announced retirement to compete in Impact Wrestling’s Knockouts Tag Team Title Tournament where she will be teaming with Jordynne Grace.
The storyline for her return started last week when Grace made a phone call to an unknown wrestler to see if they would like to tag with her in the competition.
This week’s episode of Impact Wrestling then saw the female star informing backstage interviewer Gia Miller that veteran wrestler Jazz will be her partner for the tournament.
Jazz has been a part of the industry for over two decades. She made her wrestling debut in 1998 and wrestled for companies such as WWE, Chikara and NWA during her time.
Her WWE stint included a couple of runs with the women’s championship and she also competed for AEW when she participated in the Casino Battle Royal during the All Out event in 2019.
Though Jazz announced her retirement from active competition during an interview back in October and it’d be interesting to see if she goes back into retirement after this tournament or if the former women’s champion stays around for a longer run.
In a video released Tuesday afternoon, Joe Galli announced the launch of NWA Shockwave, a new digital series that will air Tuesdays on the company’s YouTube channel.
NWA Shockwave will feature exclusive content and brand new matches every Tuesday night at 6pm (Eastern). It will be presented in collaboration with United Wrestling Network, Prime Time Live and Thunder Studios.
Fans interested in viewing the show one day early each week can get access by supporting the NWA on Patreon.
Talent advertised includes Nick Aldis, Thunder Rosa, Eli Drake, Aron Stevens, Kamille, and more.
For more on NWA Shockwave, check out the official announcement below:
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 1.808 million viewers with a 0.57 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. This was up from last week in total viewers, which did 1.778 million viewers and the 0.51 demo rating.
WWE went up against an NFL game that aired on ESPN, which was between the Buccaneers and Rams that had 12.612 million viewers.
To compare, just one year ago, RAW averaged 2.109 million viewers. This show served as the post-Survivor Series edition of the red brand and started a qualifying tournament for the #1 contender to the WWE Title.
Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Raw, courtesy of Showbuzzdaily.com:
Hour 1: 1.904 million, 0.61 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 2: 1.826 million, 0.58 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 3: 1.694 million, 0.51 in the 18-49 Demo
SmackDown Viewership
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.326 million viewers on FOX. This is up from the 2.234 that the show did for the previous week on FOX.
The overnight rating was 2.215 million viewers, which was up from 2.142 a week ago. The first hour did 2.202 million viewers while hour two did 2.228 million viewers. This was up from a week ago with hour one doing 2.111 and hour two doing 2.172.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.70 rating in the 18-49 demos, down from 0.60 rating as last week’s show.
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley joined his wife Renee Paquette for the premiere episode of her Oral Sessions podcast.
It was an entertaining discussion that showcased Paquette’s penchant for interviewing. They spoke about Moxley’s childhood (“First of all, I was adorable”) before talking at length about their complimentary personalities, with Renee being outgoing and Moxley being more of an introvert. She joked, “I can’t believe how comfortable you are with making other people uncomfortable” and said she has always been impressed how comfortable he is with silence.
Jon Moxley: Introvert Hero
Moxley said he spends a lot of time in his own head, even when conversing with people. Someone will be talking to him, and he’s carrying on with a separate conversation in his head. Some have found that odd, but it’s how his mind works.
Moxley said people have been trying to ‘fix’ that aspect of him since he was young. since he was a kid. As a 35 year old man, he has identified quirks in his personality that are off-putting to other people an has smoothed out the rough edges. Overall, he’s gotten this far being himself.
Renee said that sometimes she burns herself out feeling like she has to be outgoing and ask people questions. It can be exhausting to give so much of herself to people in social situations, while Moxley is passive. He dropped a great quote when he said, “You need to learn the art of ignoring people.”
He does not like social media, because it’s a 1-way conversation, like a bulletin board. Sometime’s he’ll be asked to post things and will do it for Renee or AEW’s social media manager. However, it’s generally not his thing.
Moxley spoke about his childhood, where he was a mischievous kid from Piccadilly, Cincinnati. He described the area as being run-down with trailer parks and lots of fights. He’d steal things just to get by. He knew the difference between right and wrong, but everybody stole. “We had no money.”
“You’re Not A Good Famous Person”
At age 12, he couldn’t imagine being famous when he was older. It was ridiculous to entertain that concept. “You’re not a great famous person,” said Renee.
Money said the fame brought him financial security and the ability to provide for his family and friends. He lived much of his life without any money, so he saves as much as he can and doesn’t care about the finer things. He doesn’t buy fancy toys, he’s not into fancy restaurants. During the interview, he said the shirt and hat he was wearing were gifted to him. In fact, he didn’t even have a bank account when he received his first paycheck from WWE.
As for the attention that fame brings, he could do without it. He’d be content making good money wrestling at the local community rec center in front of 500 people every weekend. He just wants to wrestle, tell stories, get physical and experience that feeling he gets after a big match.
There’s a lot more to the interview, including his take on WWE Superstars being independent contractors and a fun story about a special night they shared in Times Square after a WWE MSG live event.
Listen to Jon Moxley on Renee Paquette’s Oral Sessions podcast at AudioBoom.com or in the player embedded below:
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley was known as Dean Ambrose from 2011 to 2019 while in WWE. According to information publicly available on the US Patent and Trademark Office website, WWE has filed to trademark the name “Dean Ambrose” once again.
WWE held the trademark from November 5th, 2013 until August 28th, 2020. Real-name Jonathan Good, the 34-year-old had used the name “Jon Moxley” before signing with WWE in 2011.
WWE could have renewed the trademark this summer but instead, it was officially canceled at the end of August. About 5 weeks later, WWE then filed again to trademark the term on October 8th, 2020. It is not clear what led the company to abandon the trademark and then file again for it over the course of such a short span of time.
WWE and Cody Rhodes Trademark Issues
WWE seeking to trademark the former ring name of AEW’s world champion comes on the heels of Cody Rhodes regaining use of his previous ring name.
Shortly after it was revealed Cody had regained use of the “Rhodes” name, WWE filed to trademark the names of several older WCW PPVs. More information about this is available in the link below:
Ricky Starks made his AEW debut in June by answering Cody Rhodes’ TNT Championship Open Challenge. During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Starks reveals that he got a phone call from WWE almost immediately after the match.
This wasn’t Starks’ first communication with WWE. He previously worked as an extra on television and had a tryout back in 2017, but doesn’t believe he was close to being signed. “I don’t think I was close at all and I’ll never understand why,” he began. I love wrestling. I’ve never played any sports, I never did anything, I only watched wrestling. And I have immersed myself and become obsessed with it and I love it to death.”
Ricky Starks On WWE Contacting Him After Cody Rhodes Match
Later in the interview, Starks talked about WWE contacting him after his match against Cody this summer.
“The funny thing is, the day that I wrestled Cody I got a phone call from WWE saying ‘Hey, we’ve been watching you and we wanted to bring you in’. I said ‘Oh really? oh ok. Interesting. Of all days’. And so I entertained that conversation because I was curious but I think I knew already which decision I was going to make,” Starks said.
“And I had a very dear, great friend tell me once: you should look at the people who want to invest in you and not know anything about you as opposed to the people who only wanted you when they saw someone else having interest. So that put things in perspective and I don’t hold any ill will towards WWE but I really think they dropped the ball majorly on that. I’ll never know why and I guess I don’t care now.”
Chris Van Vliet’s full interview with Ricky Starks can be viewed in the player below.
At Survivor Series 2020, Seth Rollins was eliminated fairly quickly from the men’s 5-on-5 traditional elimination tag-team match. He tagged in and allowed Sheamus to kick him in the face and pin him after yelling “For the greater good!”
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, that was Rollins’ last appearance in WWE before taking time away. Rollins is taking time off as Becky Lynch is due to give birth to the couple’s first child shortly.
Rollins is expected to be gone until some time in January. He might return before the Royal Rumble on January 24th or he might return at the Royal Rumble but that is roughly the expected time frame.
Becky Lynch’s expected return is a little less clear. There are rumors the company is hoping she will return in time to build-up a big WrestleMania match. Further rumors have Ronda Rousey returning in time for the two to headline WWE’s biggest event of the year this spring.
Rollins and Lynch released a photoshoot recently that can be viewed in the link below.
Lynch opened up about the next chapter in her life recently during an interview with USA Today.
“I don’t know what the next chapter is because I only know what it’s like to think for myself when I’m by myself. So I don’t know what it’ll look like and how my priorities shift and what I’m going to want in the future. So, everything’s open.”
WWE Commentator Corey Graves recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. The former Sterling James Keenan discussed a number of topics during his time on the show. These would include Roman Reigns’ run at the top of SmackDown, working commentary during the pandemic and Drew McIntyre’s rise to the main event of RAW.
Corey Graves would state that Roman Reigns’ recent heel turn has the perfect amount of reality embedded into the storyline. “I think it’s the perfect example of when you bring the right amount of reality into the sports entertainment business. If you just capture it? It can be magic.”
Corey Graves on Roman Reigns
Graves would then confirm that Roman’s recent change in on-screen character is actually far more in tune with the man himself. “This is kind of interesting to a lot of guys that know Roman. Because this isn’t a ‘new’ character. This IS Roman Reigns. This is the guy that we’ve all known and loved…or despised, for years.”
“Roman believes this stuff that he says” Corey would continue. “Roman knows that he is the guy keeping SmackDown ahead of the pack right now. I genuinely enjoy the hell out of it, because I have the utmost respect for the entire Anoa’i family.”
Graves would finish by saying that the Anoa’i/extended Samoan family have been a major part of his career. “They’ve actually helped me out personally in my career. One of my first big break internationally was with Rikishi’s company over in Europe. When I first broke in Pittsburgh? Samu Anoa’i helped me. So I’ve had a lot of fun, a lot of time with the family and got to know everybody.”
Corey Graves would finish by praising the storyline due to the reality based beats of the Roman/Jey Uso ‘feud’ thus far. “To see that kind of play out on screen and for the whole world to get to know that legacy is legitimate? [It’s great] knowing it’s not some storyline that was drawn up in a writers room.”
Do you agree with Corey Graves? Do you think that Jey Uso will get his time to shine once again and main event against Roman Reigns? Let us know in the comments
