WrestleMania 37 is expected to undergo some changes.
WWE is still listing WrestleMania 37 to take place from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, but it was reported earlier this month that WWE has plans in place to move the show to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
The NFL will be holding Super Bowl LV at Raymond James Stadium next year. NFL insider Adam Schefter reported today that the NFL is now planning for 20% capacity for the championship game. The stadium has a standard seating capacity of 65,618, and maybe a few more with temporary seating at a Super Bowl game.
So how does this impact WWE? The company usually does around the same number of fans as NFL games for stadium shows. Thus, this could be an indication as to how many fans can attend WrestleMania 37 as it could between 13,000 and 15,000 fans.
Because the world deals with the COVID-19 pandemic, things can change between the time of these two events, but they’re only a few months apart.
March 28, 2021 is the date for WrestleMania 37. WWE has yet to announce the venue change for this show but is expected to do so.
Florida has been more relaxed with its COVID-19 guidance compared to California. That’s the reason why AEW and WWE have held shows in the state since the start of the pandemic.
Shotzi Blackheart will serve as the host of tonight’s NXT Halloween Havoc event. The green-haired wrestler was interviewed recently by SI.com and talked about the return of the famed event, her role tonight, and more.
“I didn’t even know Halloween Havoc was coming back, but when I found out I was hosting, I was so happy I almost fainted,” Blackheart said. “It was the greatest news ever.”
She also talked about how before getting into wrestling she wanted to be a horror host like Elvira.
“My favorite match of all-time is from ’97, Guerrero–Mysterio. And before wrestling, I wanted to be a horror host, just like Elvira and Vampira, watching horror movies and making cheesy comments about them. It’s going to be reason enough to tune in just to see the Halloween outfits I’ll be wearing.”
Blackheart also spoke about what first caused her to get into wrestling during the interview. She had bee attending college as a musical-theater major when she realized wrestling was her calling.
“Theater is the vehicle that led me to pro wrestling,” Blackheart continued. “I was watching Raw, this blend of theater, violence and rock, and I asked myself, ‘Why have I not been a wrestler the entire time?’ I signed up the next day at a wrestling school.”
Wrestling great Tracy Smothers has passed away at the age of 58. The veteran of WCW, Smoky Mountain, WWE, and ECW had been battling numerous health issues over the last year. He was diagnosed with Lymphoma last November and had been dealing with heart issues as well.
A GoFundMe account had recently been created to help Smothers deal with mounting medical bills.
“In November 2019, Tracy was diagnosed with Stage III Lymphoma. This meant that Cancer was found in lymph nodes on both sides of his diaphragm. Also, due to blockage in his arteries, Tracy lost 45% of his heart’s use,” reads a description from the GoFundMe account.
“Fast forward a year later and Tracy unfortunately has been hospitalized due to the rapidly growing Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma tumor on the left side of his stomach… which also has now spread into his lungs.”
Remembering Tracy Smothers
Below you can see some reactions to the passing of Tracy Smothers.
RIP Tracy Smothers….a legit man’s man who just passed and with courage and dignity. ??
Tracy Smothers meant a great deal to me from when I started in this #Industry till today. ?? Tracy bravely fought the inevitable and will remain in my thoughts and my heart.?? ?? My deepest condolences to Tracy's family.?? ??#HisNameIsTracySmothers??#EverybodyDiespic.twitter.com/knsVr1hXWr
Tracy was always a sweetheart to me and was one of those guys that when he was on a show or at a convention, all the boys smiled when they saw him. A real character. My deepest condolences to his family & friends. pic.twitter.com/4jRqvDSK4G
My great friend Tracy Smothers has passed, it is with a heavy heart that I share the news. Lots of great times with Tracy, I had just spoke with him last week RIP my friend. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of Tracy's family and loved ones at this time. Ricky Morton pic.twitter.com/FMFYSTv1sw
I met Tracy Smothers one time at an Indy show in TN. It was my first real Indy show and he came over and helped make me feel comfortable telling me if I needed anything to let him know. RIP Tracy ?
I’m saddened to hear the passing of dear friend Tracy Smothers. Thanks for the years of friendship. Tracy & I had been checking in w each other every couple days regarding the health situation both of us are going through. This is another hard loss in the sport of pro wrestling. pic.twitter.com/APy9F7ifSY
“Sorry to hear about the passing of Tracy Smothers. I saw him last about a year ago. He was so happy in the ring. He was a good man. RIP Tracy,” wrote Eric Bischoff on Twitter.
Impact Wrestling 10/27 featured the first show since the Bound For Glory PPV. It was headlined by the wedding between John E Bravo and Rosemary. The wedding didn’t go as planned.
Impact 10/27 Results:
Impact World Championship Rich Swann (c) defeated Eric Young
Hardcore Halloween Match Tommy Dreamer defeated Brian Myers
Team XXXL (Larry D & Acey Romero) defeated The Rascalz (Wentz & Dez)
The wedding between Rosemary and John E Bravo headlined the show this week. As the ceremony got underway, it appeared to be somewhat of a Halloween theme. Several wrestlers were in costume on the outside and Taya Valkyrie’s +1 appeared to be the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man of Ghostbusters fame. Father James Mitchell then made his arrival to officiate the wedding after having previously been killed in the undead realm.
Everyone involved in the wedding seemed to expect some type of disturbance. They looked surprised as several opportunities for such interference came and went without anything happening. They were declared man and wife but right when they went to kiss the lights went out. With the lights out a gunshot could be heard and when they came back on, Bravo was lying dead with a bullet wound in his chest.
The show opened up this week with Eric Young once again assaulting Rich Swann. The brawl spilled to the ring area before it was broken up by several officials. Scott D’Amore was in the ring as Young yelled that he wanted his rematch tonight. Swann agreed and the match was made official. Despite wrestling in dress shoes and not being prepared for the match, Swann managed to finish off the former champion with a Phoenix Splash, just as he had done at Bound For Glory.
Barrister RD Evans Ensures Deonna Purrazzo Receives Knockouts Title Rematch
Barrister RD Evans, who some may remember from ROH or others will remember from quitting his role as a WWE writer in dramatic fashion, had his legal services retained by Deonna Purrazzo this week. The Virtuosa claimed she should still be the rightful Knockouts Champion after Su Yung answered her challenge at Bound For Glory. She had originally been scheduled to face Kylie Rae on the card.
Scott D’Amore said Purrazzo could go through the legal system, but the courts are punting most cases down field during the pandemic, so things could take a long time. Or the former champion could face Su Yung next week. Purrazzo, Kimber Lee, and Evans consulted and agreed to the terms.
This brought out Su Yung who attacked everyone and blew mist in D’Amore’s face. She closed the segment by putting the mandible claw on Purrazzo.
Moose Claims TNA World Championship Is The #1 Title, Confronts Rich Swann
Rich Swann’s first night as Impact World Champion was not without multiple obstacles. After retaining the title in an impromptu rematch against Eric Young, Swann was celebrating in the back with the Rascalz and Willie Mack. He was then confronted by Moose who is now once again in possession of the TNA World Championship. He said that the TNA title was the #1 belt and that Swann seems to be celebrating just being #2. This infuriated Swann and he had to be held back by the Rascalz. Then Willie Mack got in Moose’s face and challenged him to a match. Moose said he’ll decide when that happens. Later in the show, Moose attacked Mack in the parking lot.
Rich Swann Confronted By Sami Callihan and Ken Shamrock
After his confrontation with Moose, Swann wandered into a room where Sami Callihan and Ken Shamrock were sitting. Callihan told Swann that while he hasn’t seen a lot of him lately, the new champion should get used to seeing both him and Ken Shamrock around.
There are no shortages of challengers awaiting to face the new champion, it seems.
Swoggle Helps Tommy Dreamer Defeated Brian Myers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn57plQKEXQ
The rivalry between Brian Myers and Tommy Dreamer continued this week on Impact. A Halloweed street fight was scheduled between the two. Dreamer came out with the same Road Warrior Animal tribute facepaint for the match.
After a match filled with plunder, Tommy Dreamer was able to gain the advantage when Swoggle emerged from a trash can and took a pair of tongs to the groin of Myers. Dreamer then delivered a death valley driver through a table for the win.
Team XXXL Moves Up The Tag Team Rankings
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWkk9ohHsx8
Team XXXL pulled off what some would consider an upset this week when they defeated the Rascalz. Larry D pinned Dez after a massive splash from the top rope.
Later in the show, the former tag champions, the Motor City Machine Guns, were being interviewed when Team XXXL interrupted. The MCMG were stating that since they were never pinned at Bound for Glory, they were owed a rematch. Alex Shelley was seen sporting a neck brace, however, and a rematch will have to wait until he is cleared. Team XXXL said they aren’t willing to wait for their potential title shot and eventually attacked the former champions, leaving the injured Shelley on the floor.
It looks like Team XXXL is gunning for a title shot and they don’t want to have to wait for MCMG to get their rematch first.
Tasha Steelz & Kiera Hogan Pick Up Victory As Knockouts Tag Division Returns
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgf1BPXOxro
Impact has announced an 8-team single-elimination tournament will determine the new Knockouts tag team champions. In the backstage area, Jordynne Grace and Alisha Edwards formed a loose alliance. They would take on the established team of Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz.
In the end, it would be a miscommunication between the less experienced team that would make the difference. Alisha charged at Steelz in the corner but missed and hit her partner, this allowed Steelz to roll her up for the 3-count and pick up the win for her team. After the match, Grace and Alisha didn’t seem too pleased with each other.
Former WCW President Eric Bischoff has labeled Bret Hart as a “negative, miserable guy” on a recent episode of his podcast, 83 Weeks.
Back in 1993, Hart made negative comments about WCW regarding drugs. Taking issue with this, Bischoff addressed Hart’s statements, claiming that it’s “typical” of Bret Hart both then and now.
Bischoff argued how if Bret doesn’t have somebody to “bury, criticize or blame,” then he can’t have much of a conversation at all. He punctuated this point by stating that Bret simply “doesn’t have much to say.”
“It didn’t resonate with me, I think partially because WWE, Vince McMahon, federal court, indicted, drug distribution, goes back a long time. That is not the WWE of today, but we are going back to 1993.”
He speculated how Bret brought up drug discussion relating to WCW in order to “clear the smoke in his own room by creating it in somebody else’s.” According to Bischoff, an approach and attitude like that defines Bret Hart as a person.
“[…] that is Bret. I’ll actually use his words in this context. I don’t mean to say anything bad about anybody, but Bret has a tendency to be a winy b****. I told you a few months ago, I said I was going to take the high road. But he continues to rehash this negative nonsense and bury people.”
Bischoff continued, “It doesn’t make me angry. That’s Bret. Whether he is burying Ric Flair or whether he is burying Mick Foley or Vince McMahon or Eric Bischoff or Bill Goldberg, he is just a negative, miserable guy. That’s how he goes through his daily life. He was doing that in 1993 and he is still doing it today.”
Matt Riddle has responded to Booker T’s comments stating how “The Original Bro” shouldn’t be wrestling in his bare feet. During a recent episode of Booker T’s podcast, The Hall of Fame, he suggested how Riddle is doing himself a disservice by not wearing wrestling boots.
According to Booker T, the lack of footwear was one of the first things he noticed about Riddle. It didn’t leave a positive impression, as he stressed how “that’s not the look of a world heavyweight champion.”
The Hall of Famer argued how “There is a protocol there” in what makes a Superstar World Heavyweight Champion material. “How many World Heavyweight Champions were bare feet [while wrestling]? How many of them were greater than Superfly Jimmy Snuka?”
Booker T continued, “I’m just saying if you’re trying to get to the World Heavyweight Championship or Universal championship, there has always been a certain look that you must have. When I’m talking Matt Riddle, I’m thinking from a promoter’s perspective. That’s all I’m thinking about.”
Word of Booker T’s comments clearly made its way to Riddle. The Raw Superstar took to Twitter to share a photo of himself alongside a caption reading, “My face whenever Booker T speaks, also my face when I’m not on the raw survivor series team, congratulations to Sheamus #stallion #wwe #raw #bro.”
Matt Riddle recently lost to Sheamus on Monday Night Raw. Sheamus’ victory means he gets to represent Team Raw at WWE’s upcoming Survivor Series pay-per-view.
AEW has released new top-5 rankings ahead of tonight’s episode of Dynamite.
AEW Men’s Singles Division
AEW World Champion: Jon Moxley (20-0) TNT Champion: Cody (19-2-1)
Brian Cage (10-1)
MJF (9-1)
Lance Archer (13-2)
Brodie Lee (8-2)
Darby Allin (12-5) (previously unranked)
The #5 ranking in this division is in a state of flux. In recent weeks, Shawn Spears, Scorpio Sky and now Darby Allin has occupied the spot. Allin is scheduled to challenge either Cody or Orange Cassidy for the TNT title at Full Gear. Cody and Cassidy will clash tonight in a lumberjack match with the belt on the line.
4 unranked wrestlers will compete in the semi-finals of the contender tournament tonight. Kenny Omega will face Penta El Zero M and Hangman Page will face Wardlow.
AEW Women’s Division
AEW Women’s Champion: Hikaru Shida (19-1)
Nyla Rose (11-2)
Penelope Ford (9-5)
Abadon (5-1)
Big Swole (10-4)
Dr. Britt Baker (6-6)
There was no movement in the women’s division rankings this week. #5 Britt Baker brought her 2020 singles record back to .500 with a win over KiLynn King on Dynamite last week.
The NWA Women’s Championship will be on the line tonight. New champion Serena Deeb defeated Thunder Rosa last night on the UWN show. She’ll defend against Leyla Hirsch tonight.
AEW Tag Team Division
AEW Tag Team Champions: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (12-0)
Young Bucks (8-3)
Best Friends (18-7)
The Natural Nightmares (8-2)
Butcher and the Blade (10-5)
Santana & Ortiz (8-5)
#1 The Young Bucks retain their top-ranking in the division this week. They earned a tag title shot against FTR at Full Gear with their win the 4-way tag match on Dynamite last week.
There was no movement in the tag-team rankings this week. There are also no tag matches scheduled for Dynamite tonight, so the rankings for this division will likely stand still going into next week as well.
Undisputed Era member Bobby Fish has shared high praise for Triple H, noting how “The Game” has an undeniably incredible “aptitude” for the pro wrestling business.
“[…] he saw something that I would think Adam, Kyle and I would like to write for ourselves, and he saw it and was like, ‘Yep. Those three,'” Fish explained to Wrestling Inc. Daily.
Fish noted how he’s been able to witness how Triple H works behind-the-scenes at NXT for three years now. These lessons have allowed him to know how Triple H “operates.”
Regarding the Undisputed Era, Fish believes that Triple H’s “aptitude” always meant a plan was in place to add Roderick Strong to the group:
“I feel like he had an idea long before that and maybe that was the plan regardless. Four peas in a pod,” Fish said. “Triple H was smart enough to see that and recognize that. It’s a little bit of a humble brag I guess, but WWE now gets to benefit. We as the four individuals get to benefit being this brand that nobody has given a name to. Triple H did. Now, along with Shawn Michaels, between the two of them. They have their influence on helping us become who we are. You can’t put a price on that.”
Undisputed Era members Bobby Fish and Roderick Strong were unable to participate in a scheduled NXT Tag Team Championship matchup last week. They were replaced by Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan, who would go on to win the titles from Breezango.
It was recently revealed that Pat McAfee had been orchestrating recent attacks against Undisputed Era, including last week’s attack on Fish and Ridge Holland’s attack on Adam Cole.
Booker T has extrapolated on comments he made during the Hell in a Cell Kickoff show. He had revealed how he wanted Bayley to successfully defend her SmackDown Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks, stating how he didn’t like Banks.
Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T explained how he doesn’t care what people think or say about him following his words. He stressed that he shared his opinion, nothing more.
“What if I say I don’t like Sami Zayn? Are they going to blow up the internet? What if I say I don’t like Bayley? Are they going to blow up the internet? What if I say I don’t like you? Are they going to blow up the internet? I mean guys, relax more than anything. Sasha Banks and I is something that her and I have to hash out. This is between us. It’s not between anybody else except Sasha Banks and myself.”
Booker T proceeded to list Banks’ championship accolades within WWE. He noted how she is a 5-time champion and a Grand Slam Champion, noting how he gives her “props” for her accomplishments. Regardless, he added how, ultimately, “[…] she rubs me the wrong way a little bit, It could be her attitude.”
Booker T On Issues With Sasha Banks
The Hall of Famer stressed how he didn’t say he hated her before reiterating that he stated how he “did not like Sasha.” He repeated how any issues that might exist are solely between them and recommended how people don’t “want to cross in my lane.”
He added how he appreciates what Sasha Banks does in the ring. Booker T explained how she is “better than the majority of the women that play that role and are put in that position” before praising her storytelling skills.
Sasha Banks successfully defeated Bayley for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. The two clashed at WWE’s recent Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.
Thunder Rosa and Serena Deeb met last night on UWN Primetime Live with the NWA Women’s Championship on the line. It was a rematch from an earlier show that saw Thunder Rosa successfully retain her belt. This week, however, it was Serena Deeb who would score the pinfall and win the title for the first time in her career.
Deeb is signed to AEW and shortly after she won the title, Tony Khan announced she will defend it on tonight’s episode of Dynamite. Leyla Hirsch will be Deeb’s first challenger.
Congratulations to the new @nwa Women’s World Champion @SerenaDeeb! She’ll make her 1st title defense v. @LegitLeyla on #AEWDynamite tomorrow night, Wednesday on TNT at 8pm ET/7pm CT on a huge show with several big matches on the card! Thank you great fans who make AEW possible! pic.twitter.com/4a4DT6uQsO
The title dates back to Mildred Burke’s reign beginning in the 1930s. The Fabulous Moolah would win the title in the 1950s and become synonymous with it up until the WWWF withdrew from the NWA. Debbie Combs would be crowned the first champion in the new era for the title in 1986.
Jazz won the title in 2016 but vacated it in 2019. Allysin Kay then defeated Santana Garrett at the Crockett Cup in 2019 to become the new champion. She then dropped it to Thunder Rosa at the Hard Times PPV in January. In total, 30 wrestlers have held the title.
All Elite Wrestling’s Miro has shared his feelings on how his former employer has been booking his real-life wife, Lana.
The former Rusev joined Inside The Ropes for an interview where he revealed his thoughts on the subject. When asked if his signing with AEW was the reason behind Lana being put through announce tables, Miro replied, “I don’t book their shows, I have no idea.”
Miro explained how Lana is “[…] most likely tougher than anybody else on their roster because clearly, that’s the first time in history that’s been done. And every single time, she gets the f**k up and keeps going, you know. She doesn’t say, ‘No.’ She doesn’t say, ‘I don’t want to do that.’ She doesn’t sell.”
Miro stressed how Lana will always go out to the ring, be a professional, and do her job to perfection. According to him, “[…] you can see, in that ring, when she gets that time, you can see who’s who and who’s been working, and who’s been sitting on their a***s the whole time.”
He stressed how he’s “so freaking proud” of what she’s accomplished. In Miro’s eyes, Lana has proven herself to be the most talented and underrated person in the wrestling community.
Another COVID-19 outbreak is reportedly taking place at the WWE Performance Center currently. The outbreak could impact performers that are scheduled for tonight’s Halloween Havoc NXT event.
According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, tonight’s NXT show will likely have to be changed from what was originally planned.
“There have been reports that (the outbreak) includes people scheduled for NXT’s Halloween Havoc show Wednesday and that aspects of the show are going to have to be changed,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
While a source in WWE indicated that no NXT television regulars have reportedly tested positive for COVID-19, it is not clear if some may have to quarantine after being in contact with someone who has.
If I've learnt anything from this pandemic it's that a lot of people are real selfish PIECES OF TRASH.
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 1.732 million viewers with a 0.51 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. This was down from last week, which did 1.777 million viewers and 0.52 demo rating.
To compare, just one year ago, RAW averaged 2.133 million viewers. This marked the post show for Sunday’s Hell in a Cell event.
WWE went up against an NFL game that aired on ESPN, which was between the Bears and Rams that had 10.501 million viewers.
Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Raw, courtesy of Showbuzzdaily.com:
Hour 1: 1.859 million, 0.54 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 2: 1.752 million, 0.51 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 3: 1.585 million, 0.47 in the 18-49 Demo
SmackDown Viewership
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 881,000 viewers on FS1. This is down from the 2.124 million viewers that the show did for the previous week on FOX. This show aired on the television network because of the World Series game that aired on FOX instead and did over 8 million viewers.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.25 rating in the 18-49 demos, down from 0.60 rating as last week’s show.
SmackDown was expected to drop in viewership because FS1 is in far fewer homes than big FOX. Thus, for Friday’s show this coming week, ratings are expected to be back to normal as it will be back on FOX.
Meiko Satomura will be joining the NXT UK brand according to a new article released by Tokyo Sports. The veteran wrestler will be taking on a player/coach type role. She will be winding her time down with the Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling promotion in Japan as a result.
She will be traveling to England next month to begin work with the UK brand. The promotion currently tapes their television episodes from the BT Sport Studios in London.
— ???????????????-SENDAI GIRLS PROWRESTLING- (@senjo2006) October 27, 2020
Meiko Satomura competed in the 1st Mae Young Classic tournament. The 40-year-old made it to the semi-finals before being eliminated in the semi-finals by Toni Storm.
Kairi Sane Working For WWE In Japan
Kairi Sane is also said to be working with WWE in some capacity despite having been written off of television earlier this year. At one point, the plan was for her to work in an ambassador role for a potential NXT Japan brand. Once the pandemic hit, talks of opening up a performance centre in the country halted, however.
Last week, Kairi Sane posted the following Tweet which implied she was working in a WWE Japan office:
Major League Wrestling (MLW) has entered into another strategic partnership with an international promotion. This latest alliance is with IWA Puerto Rico.
According to a press release sent out on Tuesday, the deal will see IWA Puerto Rico wrestlers competing in MLW, as well as MLW fighters being showcased on IWA shows.
MLW CEO Court Bauer touted the benefits of the two companies working together. “We will share resources with the aim of helping each other on the fight and business sides of our two leagues,” said Bauer. “Our goal is to promote the sport and help athletes and fans live their dreams with big fights in both organizations and collectively grow the global awareness of MLW and AAA.”
MLW is currently gearing up for their return to live events, which they’ve dubbed #TheRestart. Details surrounding the official return date are still unknown, but it’s been reported that MLW recently held the first round of TV tapings for the new ‘season’ of MLW Fusion.
WWE Superstar Big E recently appeared on the WWE After The Bell w/Corey Graves podcast. The (former?) New Day member discussed a number of topics from his time with the company. One of the discussion points involved Big E’s comical demeanor whilst being a ‘powerhouse’ wrestler.
“I think what I realized pretty quickly was ‘okay, I’m a bigger guy. I’m going to be billed as a powerhouse'” Big E began on the podcast. “But I always thought where do I be different? You have Brock, we had Mark Henry…I’m not even six feet tall. And I’m thinking about all these guys that that I’m kind of going to be compared against. All the guys that occupy a similar lane.”
Trying to Figure it Out
“So I kept thinking ‘man if I’m just another serious big guy? I don’t know how much traction I’m ever going to get in this company” Big E would continue. “So for me it was a matter of trying to figure out like…I can’t work like Apollo Crews, I can’t do what Apollo does. I can’t do that stuff, and I’m not as big as a lot of the other guys. So I tried to figure out what makes me different. What allows me to stand apart.”
Big E would also discuss his time in the FCW developmental territory, saying how he worked on his persona whilst in the Florida based promotion. This involved coming up with comical ways to work promo class.
“So for a while you know I was doing stuff and it wasn’t…I’m sure you (Corey Graves) remember. I was doing a lot of stuff that I don’t think I could ever really do inside a WWE ring! As far as we were (the wrestlers) concerned? I was just doing goofy stuff. I forget a lot of the stuff I did!”
Are you excited for Big E to now get a singles run in WWE after such a long time with New Day? Let us know in the comments
Pat McAfee closed out last week’s episode of NXT by revealing his new alliance with Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch. McAfee recently released a video explaining that he paid Ridge Holland to attack Adam Cole but has since reached a deal with Lorcan and Burch.
McAfee starts his video explaining that he didn’t appreciate Cole flashing him the UE hand-sign after defeating him at Takeover 30.
Pat McAfee Comments On Hiring Ridge Holland
“After the match, instead of reaching out his hand,” McAfee says about Cole in the video. “Instead of doing that, he flexes on me!”
“That didn’t sit lightly with me,” McAfee continued. “And although I couldn’t be hands-on with the dismantling of the Undisputed Era and Adam Cole, I knew there was a way that they could feel my impact.”
“I can’t be down there every single day so I hired somebody to take care of my light work. I hired somebody that is a younger, more handsome, and more built version of me, Ridge Holland. You all saw it, when he dumped Adam Cole’s lifeless body over the barricade and walked it off. Who do you think bought him that Mercedes? That was me, you’re welcome, Ridge.”
McAfee then continued to say that after Holland was injured, he reached out to Burch and Lorcan.
“Now Ridge got hurt, Ts and Ps for him, I will not ask for a refund, you did your job. And now I had to look for a Plan B, my guy that I was going to run alongside and takeover NXT with is now out with a gruesome injury. Who should I call? Well, why not the guy that took out my guy? The psycho from Boston, Oney Lorcan, I reach out to him, I say ‘hey pal, you want to make a little money, huh? Want to go on a little bit of a run? They say ‘no’, they lose to Undisputed Era, they call back, we make a deal.”
Whatever’s left of the Undisputed Era and whoever else from #WWENXT that wants some can come get some at #HalloweenHavoc on Wednesday if they got a problem with it.
Former WWE/WCW/TNA writer and outspoken pro wrestling personality Vince Russo recently commented on an episode of Jim Ross’ Grilling JR podcast.
JR and co-host Conrad Thompson were discussing an episode of RAW from 2005 where JR was fired on-air by Vince McMahon. The next week Steve Austin, a noted real life friend of JR’s, would attack members of the McMahon family, including Linda McMahon, Vince’s wife.
During the podcast JR would state that Linda didn’t actually want to take a Stunner from Austin. As is apparently ‘usually’ the case, Vince McMahon wanted it to happen, so it happened. Russo would jump on that comment and lambast McMahon and the culture that he creates seemingly in WWE.
Wrestling ‘Lifers’
“The [wrestling] lifers? This is normal to them” Vince Russo began on the 8 Days a Week podcast. “I was reading clips of a JR interview today, and JR was basically saying about the last time he got fired by Vince McMahon in the ring. It was like a shoot, he really got fired.”
“And he’s [then] talking about like the next night” Russo would continue. “Austin Stunners the entire McMahon family. And he [JR] was saying how Linda was ‘very very hesitant to do that.’ But that’s what Vince wanted, bro!?”
Vince Russo would then describe the situation as ‘warped,’ with Vince McMahon seemingly ‘forcing’ his own wife to do something physically on his program. “Do you know how freaking warped it is? That you…your wife is uncomfortable with it, bro!”
“Okay!? She’s uncomfortable” Russo would continue. “You’re forcing your wife to take a Stunner, and your wife is taking the Stunner because ‘that’s what Vince’ wants. Do you know how freaking warped that is!?”
Do you agree with Vince Russo? Let us know in the comments
WWE RAW aired live from the ThunderDome in the Amway Center. It was the first episode of RAW following WWE Hell in a Cell. The build towards Survivor Series began tonight with several Qualifying Matches.
RAW Results (10/26)
AJ Styles def. Jeff Hardy to qualify for RAW’s Survivor Series team
Lucha House Party def. Drew Gulak & Akira Tozawa
Keith Lee def. Elias to qualify for RAW’s Survivor Series team
Hurt Business def. RETRIBUTION via DQ
Drew McIntyre def. The Miz
Lana def. Nikki Cross, Peyton Royce, Lacey Evans to qualify for RAW’s Survivor Series team
Sheamus def. Matt Riddle to qualify for RAW’s Survivor Series team
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
The Miz & Morrison Interrupted Drew McIntyre
John Morrison and The Miz. Image Credit: WWE.com
Drew McIntyre kicked off this week’s show after losing the WWE Championship to Randy Orton last night at Hell in a Cell. McIntyre said he has no excuses for the loss last night but promised to become WWE Champion once again.
McIntyre stated that every time he gets knocked down he gets up twice as strong. The Miz and John Morrison interrupted and made their way to the entrance ramp. Miz showed off the MITB briefcase that he won off of Otis last night at the PPV.
The Miz and Morrison congratulated McIntyre on his great title reign and then Miz boasted about being a two time Mr. Money in the Bank. Miz stated that McIntyre doesn’t have to worry about facing Randy Orton for the WWE Championship anymore because he is Mr. Money in the Bank.
Miz noted that he cashed in on Randy Orton before right here in Orlando. The Miz pointed out that history might repeat itself tonight because Randy Orton is a guest tonight on A Moment of Bliss.
McIntyre leveled The Miz with a headbutt and then launched Morrison across the ring. The Miz hit McIntyre with a chop block and retreated up the ramp with Morrison. McIntyre stomped on The Miz’s sunglasses and said that he has an idea that he is going to run by management and it is going to be a bad night for Miz and Morrison.
AJ Styles battled Jeff Hardy in a Survivor Series Qualifying match. Before the match, AJ Styles bragged about 2-0 on RAW and claimed that he was dominating everyone he steps in the ring with. Styles complained about having to win a match to qualify for RAW’s Survivor Series team. AJ stated that he should be the captain of Team RAW because he is the face that runs the place. Styles added that his associate (Jordan Omogbehin) doesn’t like to be looked at or talked to. AJ started complaining about Jeff Hardy using an illegal knee brace to take the IC Title from him before Hardy made his way to the ring.
Match Recap: Styles controlled the match early but Jeff rolled out of the ring. Styles went after him and Hardy caught him with a Dropkick to the midsection. Jeff went for a Crossbody but Jordan caught him as RAW went to a commercial break.
When RAW returned, Styles connected with a Brainbuster for a near fall. Jeff battled back and connected with a Russian Leg Sweep for a near fall. Hardy climbed to the top rope and hesitated as Jordan slowly walked towards him. AJ capitalized with a Pele Kick and then shoved Jeff into the ring post. Styles followed it up with the Phenomenal Forearm for the pinfall victory. AJ Styles qualified for Team RAW at Survivor Series.
After the match, Elias hit Jeff Hardy with his guitar. Hardy and Elias battled last night at Hell in a Cell. The match ended in a DQ after Jeff bashed Elias with the guitar.
Drew Gulak and Akira Tozawa faced Lucha House Party tonight.
Match Recap: Tozawa and Gulak controlled the match early before 24/7 Champion R-Truth interrupted. R-Truth walked around the ring and Lince Dorado capitalized on the distraction and rolled up Gulak for the victory. Everyone then chased R-Truth backstage.
Bray Wyatt welcomed everyone to a tea party at the Firefly Fun House. Alexa Bliss showed up with tea and Bray & the puppets clapped. Abby the Witch said “off with her head” as Bliss poured Ramblin Rabbit a cup. Bliss said there was a touch of strawberry, a touch of sugar, and a secret ingredient. Alexa then laughed and said it was arsenic and Ramblin Rabbit died.
Wyatt said that this is a very magical place and The Fiend protects them and there is only one thing they need to do. . Alexa’s eyes turned red after Bray put his “Heal” hand on her forehead and she said “let him in”. Bliss went back to normal and stated she gets to have a fun chat with new WWE Champion Randy Orton. Bray remembered Orton burning down his compound as Ramblin Rabbit came back to life. Bray then beat him to death as Alexa laughed.
The card for next month’s WWE Survivor Series is taking shape.
Coming out of Monday’s Raw, we have six matches confirmed for the event. As we’ve been reporting for a few weeks, Survivor Series will have a ‘brand warfare’ theme, with the top champions from Raw and SmackDown squaring off.
The current card includes four inter-brand ‘Champion vs. Champion’ matches and two traditional 5-on-5 elimination matches:
WWE Champion Randy Orton vs. Universal Champion Roman Reigns (with Paul Heyman)
Raw Women’s Champion Asuka vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks
Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits
United States Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn
5-on-5 Men’s Survivor Series Elimination Match: Team RAW (Keith Lee, AJ Styles, 3 TBD) vs. Team SmackDown (5 TBD)
5-on-5 Women’s Survivor Series Elimination Match (Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke & 1 TBD) vs. Team SmackDown (5 TBD).
WWE Survivor Series takes place Saturday, November 22nd at the Thunderdome in Orlando, FL.
Cody Rhodes has tried to make the AEW TNT Title as special as any title that the promotion has to offer. On Monday, it took things up a notch and no doubt got fans talking with a post on his Twitter account. According to the All Elite Wrestling executive, this is the most important belt in all of wrestling over the past year.
Rhodes will make his next title defense against Orange Cassidy this Wednesday night on Dynamite.
If he can get past the fan-favorite star, then he will defend it against Darby Allin at the AEW Full Gear pay-per-view event on November 7th from Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place. Rhodes was the inaugural champion before dropping it to Brodie Lee only to win it back after a brief absence from television.
AEW Dynamite Card
TNT Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Orange Cassidy
Wardlow vs. Hangman Page – AEW Semi-Finals World Title Eliminator Tournament Match
Kenny Omega vs. Penta El Zero M – AEW Semi-Finals World Title Eliminator Tournament Match
Inner Circle Town Hall Meeting to decide if MJF will join the group
The Rock prides himself on being the hardest worker in the room and that includes the gym.
However, sometimes situations can get a little out of hand and things happen. The former WWE Champion found this out the hard way while throwing around some chains in a recent training session.
The chain hit him on the side of the face and got some color. He showed off the wound in a post on Instagram. He wrote the following in the caption:
“We ain’t playin’ tiddlywinks and we ain’t reciting nursery rhymes – it’s called the #ironparadise for a reason and things get extremely intense.Threw around my 50lb chains ? for a drop set – I got lumped up and need stitches ??Taste your blood, keep training and stitch up later – rules of the house. And I can confirm my blood tastes like Teremana, calluses and BlaMoan (black and samoan) Hot Sauce????? Have a productive week, my friends – keep it light and a lil’ fun, but get after it like a MF.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CG0bKZslpFM/
The Rock has been tied with WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns in the rumor mills as of late as “The Great One” has gone on record by noting that if he were to come out of retirement then a match with his cousin at WrestleMania would be something that he’d be interested in.
Over the weekend, The Rock did the induction speech for Ken Shamrock’s Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame induction.
Ring of Honor has returned to producing content for its weekly television program. Marty Scurll has not been involved, however. Scurll was the subject of allegations during the #SpeakingOut movement and it was announced that ROH would be launching an investigation into his past conduct. There have been no updates from ROH regarding the investigation.
Scurll is said to not be involved in creative with the company at the moment. He isn’t be used as a wrestler either.
Dave Meltzer addressed Scurll’s situation on Wrestling Observer Radio.
“Marty Scurll was taken off the Ring of Honor roster page,” Meltzer said. “Obviously, Marty Scurll’s not worked, he’s not the booker anymore, he’s had nothing to do with creative. From the #SpeakingOut allegations, at this point, there’s no plans to use him. As far as is that forever? I don’t know. I just know he was taken off the active roster, has not been used at any of the TVs, he’s not booked at any of the TVs going forward for right now.”
“As far as I know he hasn’t been fired, so I don’t know what the exact situation is other than they’re not using him,” he continued.
Kenny Omega will defend the AAA Mega Championship at TripleMania 28 against Laredo Kid. Omega has held the title for over a year after winning it from Fenix on October 19th, 2019.
Luchablog has been Tweeting news from a AAA press conference held today.
AAA press conference starts with talk about AutoLuchas. They have two more shows on Sunday with a Dia del Muertos theme.
It will be a 7-match event with a hair vs hair match between Chessman and Pagano also confirmed for the show.
Normally, TripleMania is held every August. Due to the pandemic, however, that did not occur this year.
Kenny Omega & The AAA Mega Championship
Only 11 wrestlers in history have won the AAA Mega Championship. El Mesias won an 8-person tournament in 2007 to be crowned the inaugural champion. He defeated Chessman in the finals.
El Texano Jr.’s reign with the title from 2012-14 holds several records. At 735 days, it is the longest single reign in the title’s lineage. He also defended the title 9x during the reign, which is also a record. Omega has defended the title 3x during his year-long reign.
WWE SmackDown announcer Corey Graves recently discussed the WWE Draft. The Draft took place just over a week ago and saw some of WWE’s biggest Superstars make the move to either to Blue or Red brand.
On the WWE After The Bell Podcast, Corey Graves would outline some of the moves that he was and wasn’t happy about from the Draft.
Corey Graves on The WWE Draft
“Off the top my head? I’m bummed to see The Fiend and all the madness that follows him head to Monday Night Raw” Corey Graves began on the podcast. “But of course it makes for some fresh new matchups.”
Graves would then make a prediction about a major angle for The Fiend Bray Wyatt on RAW. Corey made it clear that he wants one of the commentary team on RAW to leave the desk and get back in the ring.
“I’m putting it out in the universe, here first on After The Bell. I want Samoa Joe to get out from behind the commentary table and fight The Fiend. There’s my big bold prediction. Maybe it’ll happen by the end of 2020? I have a bad habit of making it worse.”
Corey Graves would also lament the loss of AJ Styles from Friday nights, but also discuss the move of Seth Rollins to FOX Network. “AJ Styles also headed back to Monday nights…but my man, one of my favourites, one of my closest friends Seth Rollins has arrived on Friday night SmackDown, to bring the greater good, your way. Keep your eyes peeled, I’m sure it’s gonna be gud as Booker T so often says.”
Would you like to see The Fiend vs Samoa Joe? Do you think that AJ Styles will work on RAW and Seth Rollins will be a major asset for SmackDown? Let us know in the comments
