Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 2.028 million viewers with a 0.66 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. This was up from last week, which did 1.643 million viewers and a 0.48 demo rating.
This was the best Raw viewership since the day after WrestleMania (April 6th) and the best demo rating since March 23rd. Just one year ago, RAW averaged 2.528 million viewers.
This was the post-show for Sunday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view event and the first episode of RAW that was held from the ThunderDome. The first ThunderDome SmackDown also saw a ratings boost, as seen below.
Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Raw, courtesy of Showbuzzdaily.com:
Hour 1: 2.140 million, 0.72 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 2: 2.045 million, 0.66 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 3: 1.900 million, 0.62 in the 18-49 Demo
The 3 hours of Raw were the 3rd, 7th and 9th most watched ‘shows’ on cable for the evening.
The post-SummerSlam edition of Raw the debut of Keith Lee and the return of Aleister Black on Kevin Owens’ show. The top matches included Randy Orton vs. Keith Lee, Asuka vs. Sasha Banks for the RAW Women’s Championship, and RETRIBUTION interfered in the main event, which was Seth Rollins & Buddy Murphy vs. Dominik & Rey Mysterio
SmackDown Viewership
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.198 million viewers on FOX. This is up from the 2.002 million viewers that the show did for the previous week.
SmackDown averaged 2.168 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was up from the 1.979 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets.
The first hour drew 2.189 million viewers while the second hour did million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did 2.146 million viewers while the second hour did 1.880 million viewers.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.60 rating in the 18-49 demos, up from the 0.50 rating as last week’s show.
Tully Blanchard was recently revealed as the new manager for FTR in AEW. Arn Anderson has also been involved with the team, having served as their tag-team advisor during negotiations with the company. Recently, on an episode of the Arn Show, someone asked how Arn feels a match between FTR and him and Tully Blanchard would go.
“Well we could start off as the heels but I’m sure pretty quickly they would be,” Anderson said about who would be heels and who would be the faces in the match.
“I wouldn’t even consider it now because what would have to happen if we had the match now is I literally would have to stand in the middle of the ring and they would have to bounce off me. I’m totally immobile.”
During the discussion, Anderson also revealed how he began working with AEW.
“Cody got a hold of me,” Anderson said. “I was just going to wander off into person appearances and comic-cons and have Tony Hunter book me around the world for however long I felt like doing anything.”
“(Cody) says we have some exciting things going on here, I’d love for you to be apart of it,” Anderson continued about his conversation with Cody. Anderson then talked about how Cody pitched the idea of him coming on as Cody’s head coach.
“I decided I’d love to do this for awhile yet, as long as I’m able to contribute and earn my way then I’d love to give it a try,” Anderson continued. “I’m proud to say I’ll be with them for a while yet to come.”
Bret Hart vs Hollywood Hogan was once rumored to main event Halloween Havoc 98. Hogan would face the Ultimate Warrior on the show instead, however. Meanwhile, Bret tended to get lost in the shuffle quite a bit during this period in WCW.
On a recent episode of the 83 Weeks podcast, Conrad Thompson suggested to Bischoff that some feel it was Hogan not wanting to work with Bret Hart that led to the change. According to Bischoff, that narrative is only pushed by those who don’t like Hogan.
“I think the narrative about Hulk reaching out and convincing me to bring in Warrior so Hogan didn’t have to work with Bret… Look, the people that live in that world who believe that… who want to be on the ‘I hate Hogan team’ so much that they will believe any kind of nonsense that fits that narrative.”
Bischoff says that all Hogan would have had to do if he didn’t want to work with Bret was say so.
“All Hogan would have said with regard to Bret is ‘No, I don’t want to work with him’ that’s it. It wouldn’t require that Hulk do a duck-and-weave or bob-and-weave move to bring in (Warrior) to avoid me pressuring him to work with Bret.”
Ahead of the upcoming WWE TLC pay-per-view, SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio co-host Bully Ray recently commented on the 20th anniversary of the first-ever TLC match.
Whilst the ‘triangle’ ladder match from WrestleMania 2000 was essentially a TLC bout? SummerSlam 2000 saw the first official Tables, Ladders and Chairs match between The Dudley Boys, Edge & Christian and The Hardy Boyz.
Bully Ray on TLC Matches
“You don’t have time to think” Bully Ray began on the podcast. “Like when you’re taking a bump like I took off of the ladder that night? Or the bump that Matt [Hardy] took backwards off the ladder? The more you think, the worse it’s going to be.”
“You’ll get in your own head” Bully Ray continued, “you just want to grip it and rip it and go out there.”
Bully Ray would then discuss the extreme difficulty in putting together a TLC match, especially with 5 other performers in the bout. “A TLC match is probably the most difficult match to pull off in all of pro wrestling. And the reason is all six guys have to know the match backwards and forwards. Every step, every way. Because if one guy goes down? If something happens, if something goes wrong? Even the smallest of things? It’s going to be a dramatic chain reaction.”
Ray elaborated further, saying “everybody has to be able to fill in, everybody has to be able to improvise. You need to know where everybody is. When you come up with a match sometimes? You maybe only know the finish, and then sometimes you only know a couple spots. Some guys know the entire match. This particular match? Everybody has to know backwards and forwards, and everybody has to recite the match backwards and forwards. [Just so] all the other guys know that you got it.”
Have you seen the original TLC match? Have any others ever topped it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments
Major League Wrestling is gearing up to restart. The promotion announced today that they have hired a COVID-19 compliance officer. The person will work to ensure the health and safety of staff and talent throughout and beyond the pandemic.
The league has been steadfast in saying they would not restart until it was safe to do so. Recent advancements in COVID-19 testing appear to have the promotion feeling confident in running events again.
“MLW has introduced a COVID-19 compliance officer (C19CO) as a member of its team moving forward,” reads an MLW press release. “This newly designated position is responsible for establishing and enforcing COVID-19 safety protocols, training staff, and monitoring compliance on all sets and venues.”
“Just like all broadcast productions have a producer or a football team has an offensive coordinator, the COVID-19 Compliance is another necessary member of our organization moving forward,” said MLW CEO Court Bauer.
MLW is saying they plan to reveal details of its restart in the near future. In storyline, the league has been shut down due to attacks by Contra Unit.
While Adam Cole won their bout at the NXT Takeover: XXX event, Pat McAfee managed to impress everyone with his performance and many believed that he stole the show during his in-ring debut for WWE.
Since then people have been wondering if the former NFL player will return to WWE ring in the future and it appears that the young star is not sure about his future either.
McAfee was asked about his plans during his ESPN interview and answering the question, the former Football Punter said that he is not 100% sure. He then revealed that he is not under contract with the company for another match:
“I’m not 100% sure what’s going to happen. I’m not under contract to do anything else with Mr. H. I assume he and I will talk about this at some point because I heard his comments in the press conference afterward, which were very nice.”
Pat continued by explaining that before the PPV he was in the mindset of worrying about the show and letting everything else sort itself out. McAfee claimed that he will feel good if he never gets in the ring again:
“But for me, all I was worried about was that match at NXT TakeOver: XXX and then I’ll let everything else kind of sort itself out. And I think that’s where I’m at right now. I feel good. If I never get in the ring again, I’ll be very thankful for the opportunity and I’ll be proud of it.”
Though he also said that if something pops up which is right, he wouldn’t mind returning to the ring. Pat McAfee said that he has only started thinking about it in the last few days and he still has no idea what the future holds for him.
While the Football analyst is saying that he is not sure about his future, WWE offering him a contract looks inevitable and it would be interesting to see if McAfee will accept the offer.
Vince Russo left WWE for WCW in 1999. He became the head of creative for the company but his time with WCW is not well-reviewed by many. Jim Ross was recently asked about Russo on an episode of his Grillin JR podcast.
According to JR, there was interest from WWE’s end in bringing Russo back when things fell apart for the first time between him and WCW in 2000.
“I want to say that there was some interest in bringing Russo back, I also want to say that I thought that maybe he came back to Stamford for a meeting with the old man. I can’t remember all the details, I’m a little foggy.”
“He had not destroyed a bridge, he could have come back and I think he wanted to come back,” JR said about Russo and WWE in 2000.
“There was an interest in bringing him back and seeing if he could recreate his magic and all that stuff. But for whatever reason, whether it be money or job description or whatever, I don’t know that the job to be the head writer was available to him. When a guy’s driven the wagon, you don’t want to sit in the other seat.”
Russo did have some negotiations with WWE and was actually employed for a 2-week period by the company in 2002 before leaving for TNA.
WWE’s Thunderdome has been the home to 3 shows since last Friday’s Smackdown. During last night’s edition of WWE RAW, images of a man in a KKK uniform waving a Confederate flag were shown in the front row. The images were visible during the Dominik and Rey Mysterio vs Seth Rollins and Murphy match. Additionally, it was visible as well as during the Retribution angle.
WWE sent the following statement to Pro Wrestling Sheet regarding this issue:
“This abhorrent behavior does not reflect WWE‘s values and we have zero tolerance for these unacceptable acts. We are working to ban those involved from future events and per our policies, any inappropriate actions result in the removal from the live stream.”
A “Fire Velveteen Dream” sign was also visible in the Thunderdome. A fan claiming to be behind the sign took to social media to detail what happened to them:
WWE is using a fan coordinator to give instructions to virtual fans inside the Thunderdome. The coordinator will tell fans when to make it look like they are cheering, booing, etc. WWE’s deal with the Amway Center will see the company take up residence in the venue for at least the next two months.
AEW Dynamite drew strong viewership on TNT this past Saturday night. It was the first of several episodes preempted and airing on a different night due to the NBA playoffs.
The August 22nd edition of AEW Dynamite averaged 755,000 viewers and a 0.31 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. Dynamite was the #5 most-watched show on cable for the evening in the key demo. The numbers come courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily.
Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics has also provided the quarter hour breakdown for the show. Dynamite opened at over 1 million viewers (thanks to the strong lead-in from the NBA playoffs), settled in throughout the show then spiked for the TNT Championship match int he final quarter hour.
P2+ (total audience)
Q1: 1002k
Q2: 724k
Q3: 791k
Q4: 767k
Q5: 712k
Q6: 666k
Q7: 640k
Q8: 738k
P18-49 (key demo)
Q1: 575k
Q2: 416k
Q3: 444k
Q4: 423k
Q5: 386k
Q6: 361k
Q7: 288k
Q8: 356k
AEW had stiff competition from NXT Takeover on the WWE Network, as well as UFC Fight Night and the NBA Playoffs. Overall, this is a strong showing for AEW to retain most of their audience with Dynamite airing on a different night than usual.
Notable AEW still went head-to-head against competition from NXT with NXT's peak event Takeover airing simultaneously on the WWE Network.
Dynamite featured Brodie Lee squashing Cody to capture the TNT Championship, the finals of the Women’s tag team cup tournament, MJF continuing his campaign against AEW World Champion Jon Moxley and in-ring action from FTR, Darby Allin and The Elite.
This week’s AEW Dynamite airs Thursday night on TNT at 8pm (Eastern).
Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho had announced his association with AEW long before the promotion took off but Jon Moxley was the first real big star to jump ships from WWE to the upstart promotion.
The former Shield member recently had an interview with Wrestling Observer Radio where he talked about things like his time in WWE and more.
During the interview, he revealed how his deal with AEW came to be. Mox recalled that Tony Khan and Cody Rhodes came to his house for a meeting and explained their plans in details:
“Tony and Cody came to my house and we talked about wrestling, and what we thought it should be, and what we wanted it to be, and then they’re telling me about TNT and all this stuff, and it’s real and this is actually going to happen.
This isn’t just a bunch of false promises. I’m like, ‘Okay, well if that stuff is true, then alright, I’m in.'” recalled Moxley, “I gave my word on that day, like, ‘I’m in’ and there we go.”
During the interview, he also revealed that despite being the current IWGP US Champion, he does not have an active contract with NJPW at the moment.
Jon Moxley had signed a contract with the company for his initial run up until Wrestle Kingdom 14 but after that, they have been working with only a verbal agreement.
Austin Theory hasn’t been seen on the WWE programming for a while and not a lot of details have been revealed about the former Evolve Champion’s sudden disappearance from the company.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer opened up on the story a bit more recently and he suggested that Theory has some serious accusations against him:
“There’s an allegation against him and then he disappeared. It’s not an injury or anything like that. Is that why? [WWE] may go and say he had a car accident.
I think that Seth Rollins said that – he used some term like ‘personal reason’ and he’ll be back so I presume that it’s a Patrick Clark [Velveteen Dream] type of story.”
WWE seems to be taking things seriously in the case of the former NXT star so if the allegation against Austin Theory are proved then it could even mean the end of his career in the company.
However, Meltzer did not reveal a lot of details on his case so it’s hard to say how serious things are and if there is any chance of the high flying star returning to WWE TV anytime soon. We’ll keep you updated on his status.
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before – chaos behind the scenes at a WWE TV taping and another script completely overhauled just before showtime.
Sunday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view was very well-received. Fans on social media and wrestling pundits alike gave the show high marks. The next WWE PPV, Payback takes place this Sunday. WWE had a lot of pieces to put in place with less than one week before two special events. Whatever WWE had written for Monday’s Raw, those plans were discarded with very little time before the show went on the air.
According to veteran wrestling journalist Mike Johnson, WWE boss Vince McMahon arrived at the ThunderDome around an hour before Raw as was set to go live. Vince reviewed the script and ‘ripped it up’ around 7:20 PM.
“WWE pretty much ripped up the entire show around 7:20 PM, PWInsider.com has been told. Vince McMahon arrived at the taping around that time and at that point, began changing “just about everything” that was planned.”
The company is said to have changed most of the things that were planned for the episode and plans for the second and third hour were still not locked until very late.
This is not the first time we are hearing such news. Reports of things being changed late on the day of the shows have become somewhat common for WWE.
While many times these last-minute changes end up working in the favor of the company, more often than not they result in inconsistencies in the storylines and create confusion among fans.
This week’s episode of the Red Branded Show featured the build-up for the upcoming Payback PPV with the company booking almost half the card for the event in one night.
What did you think about this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw after the late changes? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
With only a week of gap between SummerSlam and Payback, it was inevitable that WWE would book several matches for the short-notice PPV on this week’s episode of Raw.
That expectation was realized as WWE announced three title matches (and Keith Lee’s main roster debut) Monday night at the ThunderDome.
The first match which was announced earlier was the return bout for Roman Reigns who will be involved in a triple threat match against Braun Strowman and ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt for the Universal Championship.
The company has also announced a United States title match between Apollo Crews and Bobby Lashley and a rematch between Randy Orton and Keith Lee for the Payback PPV after their bout on Raw ended in a disqualification.
Though probably the most surprising match which was announced is for the Women’s Tag Team Championships.
It will see the current champions Bayley and Sasha Banks defending their titles against the unlikely team of Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler.
This match was put together after Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler had several interactions during the show and Jax managed to convince the former NXT Women’s Champion that they can win the tag titles together.
The Payback PPV will be taking place this Sunday, August 30 from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. You can check out the current standing match card for the event below:
Universal Championship Triple Threat No Holds Barred Match: Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler vs. Sasha Banks and SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley
United States Championship Match: Bobby Lashley vs. Apollo Crews
Black then made his first appearance in almost a month during the Red Branded Show and he came out covering one eye, still selling the attack from Murphy and Seth Rollins which originally put him out of action.
Kevin then tried to interview the former NXT star but Aleister stumbled out of the seat. The former Universal Champion stopped to check on him and called for help from the back.
However, the returning star decked Owens and then dropped him with a Black Mass, turning heel in the process for the first time in his WWE career.
The former NXT Champion took on his Twitter after the show to comment on his actions and he wrote “Let us begin.” You can check out his tweet and some photos and video of the segment below:
There is no word on what the company is planning for Aleister Black after this heel turn but a feud with Kevin Owens seems to be the immediate plans for the former indie star.
WWE RAW aired from the Amway Center in Orlando. It was the first episode of RAW following WWE SummerSlam 2020. Former NXT Champion Keith Lee made his main roster debut tonight. It was announced that The Fiend will defend the Universal Championship against Roman Reigns and Braun Strowman this Sunday at WWE Payback.
Asuka def. Sasha Banks to retain the RAW Women’s Championship
RETRIBUTION interfered in the main event (Rollins & Murphy vs. Dominik & Rey)
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Randy Orton Attacked Drew McIntyre
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre kicked off this week’s episode of RAW. McIntyre defeated Randy Orton last night at SummerSlam via a backslide cover to retain the WWE Championship.
McIntyre asked for a thumbs up from everyone in the ThunderDome before speaking about his match against Orton last night. Drew said it was one of the biggest challenges of his career but he stands here today still your WWE Champion.
Drew claimed that he was hungrier than Orton and worked harder than him last night. He added that he knows what it is like to feel desperate and wonder where his next paycheck is coming from. McIntyre said that Orton has always been coddled and his inner circle always made sure that he made it to the top.
McIntyre brought up Orton’s victory against Edge in the “Greatest Wrestling Match Ever” and joked that he is now the greatest wrestler because he beat Orton last night. McIntyre made his way up the entrance ramp and posed with the title but Randy Orton attacked him from behind. Orton beat McIntyre down and hit him with the Punt backstage. Randy hit another Punt before leaving. McIntyre refused medical attention and walked away under his own power.
Banks & Bayley Will Defend The Women’s Tag Titles Against Nia Jax & Baszler At WWE Payback
Bayley faced Shayna Baszler tonight on RAW and Sasha Banks was ringside. Before the match, Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax argued backstage. Just before the bell rang, Nia Jax came down to the entrance ramp.
Match Recap: Shayna and Bayley locked up to start off the match as Nia crept to the middle of the entrance ramp. Baszler took Bayley to the canvas and shoved her boot into the SmackDown Women’s Champion’s shoulder.
Bayley escaped and rolled out of the ring in an effort to regroup. Bayley got back into the ring and connected with a kick to Shayna’s midsection and took her down with an Arm Drag. Bayley then spun around on top of Shayna while laughing before applying a Headlock.
Baszler quickly escaped and sent Bayley to the corner of the ring. Shayna caught Bayley with a knee to the face and started taunting Sasha Banks. Bayley capitalized a strike to the back of Shayna’s head and unloaded some strikes in the corner.
Bayley connected with an elbow to the back of Shayna’s head for a near fall. Bayley sent Shayna outside the ring and towards the entrance ramp where Nia Jax was standing. Shayna made her way to the apron and Nia Jax attacked Baszler from behind. Banks and Bayley had a smile on their face as they left the ring. Jax then stared at Bayley and Baszler got up and did the same. They then walked towards Bayley and Banks and the Women’s Tag Team Champions retreated.
Later on RAW, Nia Jax said that she wants to team up with Shayna Baszler and win the Women’s Tag Team Championships. Baszler said that she will help her with that if Nia gets off her back. Jax told Baszler that she has to follow her lead and Shayna slapped her in the face.
Aleister Black made his return following Murphy shoving his eye into the steel steps a last month on an episode of RAW. Black joined the Kevin Owens Show and requested that the footage be shown from last month.
Owens said that he has done a lot of terrible things to people in his career but has tried to take a different path. Owens added that Rollins hasn’t done that at all.
Aleister Black fell out of his chair and onto the canvas. Kevin Owens requested help but Aleister got up and elbowed him in the face. Aleister leveled Owens with Black Mass and left the ring to end the segment.
Opinion: I just want WWE to do something significant with him. He is an awesome talent in my opinion and I’ve hated his main roster run so far. I hope a feud with Kevin Owens can bring out the best in Aleister.
Just as advertised, Keith Lee has moved on from WWE NXT and is now a member of the WWE RAW roster.
The former NXT Champion made his debut on Monday’s episode of Raw on the USA Network. He did so when he interrupted Randy Orton at the top of the second hour from Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center.
Orton had been talking about his feud with Drew McIntyre. Lee introduced himself to Orton. He challenged Orton to a match tonight. Orton questioned this decision and told him maybe later before walking out to the ring. WWE later confirmed the match booked for the show.
Lee has been officially ‘called up’ to the Raw brand and will be featured as a top babyface in the months head.
Lee’s last match came in the main event of the WWE NXT TakeOver: XXX event in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University. This is where Lee put the championship on the line against Karrion Kross, who had been a rising contender heading into the match.
Lee dropped the title to Kross, who suffered a shoulder injury in the process. This officially wrapped up his time in NXT.
Just a day after making his return to WWE programming, Roman Reigns has his first match back booked.
On Monday evening, WWE confirmed that Reigns will battle Braun Strowman and newly crowned Universal Champion Bray Wyatt in a Triple Threat Match at the upcoming Payback pay-per-view event. It should be noted that WWE did mention that Wyatt would be portraying his Fiend character and not the FireFly Fun House version.
WWE wrote in a tweet on Twitter, “BREAKING: #TheBigDog @WWERomanReigns is BACK, and he’ll challenge #TheFiend @WWEBrayWyatt AND #TheMonster @BraunStrowman in a #TripleThreat Match for the #UniversalTitle THIS SUNDAY at #WWEPayback!”
This comes after Reigns returned after the main event of Sunday’s SummerSlam pay-per-view event. Wyatt had beaten Strowman in a Falls Count Anywhere Match.
After the match, Reigns made a surprise appearance by not only spearing The Fiend but also Strowman in addition to whacking Strowman several times with a chair.
Reigns was supposed to challenge Goldberg for the WWE Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36 – Night 1. That all changed as Reigns had announced his decision to pull out of the contest.
Before SummerSlam, Reigns has not been mentioned on WWE TV since that March 27 episode.
WWE holds the Payback pay-per-view event on Sunday, August 30, 2020 in Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center.
With his WWE in-ring debut in the books, Pat McAfee has opened up about the experience.
The former NFL punter took on former NXT Champion Adam Cole in a singles match at this past Saturday’s NXT TakeOver: XXX event. Cole went over in the contest, but many fans praised McAfee for his performance.
McAfee spoke about the initial backlash that he received from WWE fans when the match was first booked.
“As soon as Mr. H made this a match at TakeOver, I saw a lot of people on the internet just start burying me. I was getting buried by people that I thought I was a part of their community. I follow all the dirt sheets. I follow all the big time people, because I am a wrestling fan.
And I’m just watching all these people just bury me. I’m like, ‘man, you guys have no idea!’ Honestly. Now, the cliche about punters and kickers is they’re not very athletic, obviously. And all that stuff. But I think if you just watch not even half of a game of my career, I’m a little bit different than I think a lot of people. I hoped that a lot of people got to see that. Although I wanted this thing to end quick, I think we had a hell of a show out there.”
It should be noted that McAfee stated that he’s unsure if he’ll wrestle again due to his schedule. There’s also been no word on whether WWE has plans to work with him again as an in-ring talent.
Following her “last hurrah” with WWE over SummerSlam weekend, Renee Young (aka Renee Paquette) published an article on the Players Tribune to thank WWE. In the column, Renee goes into detail about her time with the company and offers up thanks to several people. The first people Renee thanks in the column were Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, and Triple H.
“A lot of ink has been spilled about the legend of Vince McMahon over the years, and I doubt that I can top any of it, so I won’t even try,” Renee wrote. “But what I’ll add is this — probably one of the best things you can say about a CEO: You always want his approval. I mean…… always, always, always. It’s like a miracle drug, getting Vince’s approval.”
After thanking Vince, Renee then turned her attention to Stephanie McMahon. Renee clearly has a lot of affection for Stephanie. She even referred to her as “warm and friendly.”
“Stephanie….. I mean, she is “women in WWE,” you know? But it goes so far beyond that. She’s just a boss, period. And I hate to use the term “boss lady” with Stephanie, because she’s a boss by any gender, but you really can’t say enough about the job she’s done in this male-dominated business. She’s so warm and friendly and inviting, but at the same time, you always know she’s taking care of her shit.”
Renee then spoke about working with Triple H in her column. She said that to her, Triple H represents the idea of progress in WWE.
“Hunter, to me — he represents this idea of progress in WWE. He’s always pushing talent in the direction of opportunity, and in the direction of something new. You see it first and foremost in his work with NXT, and just the way he’s built that brand into one of the most exciting things in wrestling right now.”
Renee also wrote paragraphs on people she worked with on the announce team. Additionally, Renee spoke about the women in WWE, Corey Graves, and some of the legends she worked with as well. Finally, she thanked the WWE Universe for their support.
She also noted that her favourite thing from her time in WWE was working with Daniel Bryan on Talking Smack.
“Thank you to Daniel Bryan and everyone involved with Talking Smack. Out of everything I did in WWE, that’s probably the single thing that I enjoyed the most.”
Jim Ross recently discussed the amount of heat CM Punk supposedly had backstage during his time in WWE. JR said that he disagrees with the sentiment that people backstage in WWE didn’t like Punk.
“All I got from anybody negative about CM Punk was that he was a different breed of cat, he can be a strange guy and that’s because he was not overly extroverted. So, in other words, he wasn’t fake,” Ross said.
“Because that was so contrary to the normal behavior of a top guy in any wrestling territory that I’ve ever been in, any of them, that he was just a different breed of cat and folks did not know how to deal with him. Simple as that, bad communication, and he didn’t have the support from the front office that he should have had.”
JR also addressed the rumor that Punk wanted the Shield to be Seth Rollins, Jon Moxley, and Chris Hero.
“Poor Chris Hero, who is a hell of a worker and a hell of a talent and a great guy, he basically got fat-shamed as well,” Ross said on Hero being left out of the group. “His work was amazing, one of my favorite guys to call matches for is Chris Hero. Solid citizen. The body, the DNA, was not good in the eyes of some, much like Punk’s.”
Shaquille O’Neal says he’d love to step inside an AEW ring and rough up Cody Rhodes.
WarnerMedia announced on Monday that it has entered into a multi-year sports and entertainment deal with Shaq that spans far beyond his role as an basketball analyst.
Shaq has been a key part of TurnerSports’ NBA coverage since 2011. As part of the new agreement with WarnerMedia, he will executive-produce projects for Bleacher Report, develop a new show for NBA TV, host a new podcast and be part of CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage. He also wants to wrestle Cody Rhodes for All Elite Wrestling.
Shaq called out Cody on Monday while discussing his new deal with Warner.
“I’d love to fight Cody,” told The Athletic. “Write it. Print it. Text it to him. Call AEW up and tell them.”
The 7-foot-1 star has been a huge pro wrestling fan since childhood. He’s made multiple in-ring appearances throughout the years. He was ringside for Hulk Hogan’s WCW debut against Ric Flair back in 1994. He’s attended multiple WWE shows over the years and even competed at WrestleMania 32 back in 2016.
Shaquille O’Neal played in the NBA for 19 season. He was an All-Star for 15 of those seasons and won 4 championships during his career. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
Cody lost the AEW TNT Championship to Brodie Lee this past Saturday night on AEW Dynamite. It was a stunning defeat that saw Cody wheeled out in a stretcher. We should get an update on Cody’s condition this Thursday on Dynamite.
Arn Anderson was recently asked about Kamala on an episode of the Arn Show. James “Kamala” Harris passed away at the age of 70 recently. According to Double-A, Kamala was easy to work with and safe in the ring.
“My first booking in Louisiana for Bill Watts was against Kamala,” Anderson said on the show. “For about 5-minutes I was shown that it was his job to get over and me to get him over.”
Anderson continued to talk about how easy it was to work with Kamala in the ring.
“It was the safest, easiest money I ever got getting slaughtered,” Anderson continued. “He slaughtered me and you never forget your first house show in the business and that was against Kamala. I’ll never forget it and so sorry that he passed way too soon.”
“All of his stuff still looked good,” Anderson continued. “That big chop looked like it cut you in half. His stuff looked good but he was very safe. (He) never dropped anybody on their head bad. He was just a great character and he had full control of that gimmick and he got that gimmick over everywhere he went, he drew money.”
WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of Busted Open Radio Mark Henry recently discussed WWE Superstar Ricochet on the show.
Henry and host Dave LaGreca were covering Pat McAfee and his recent promo work in NXT. Mark Henry was complimentary of McAfee’s work, saying “he’s glib, he knows who he is.” The World’s Strongest Man would then move on to talk about the RAW Superstar Ricochet; saying that he needs to be more forceful in how he approaches his on-screen character.
Mark Henry on Ricochet
“I don’t find this offensive, but I don’t want my guy [Ricochet] to get angry” Mark Henry began on the podcast. I told Ricochet, last time I saw him, ‘why would you allow somebody to tell you who you are?’
Mark Henry would then discuss the idea of WWE talent being given more leeway with their promo and character work. “YOU go out and dictate what the narrative is about you, how you want to be portrayed. Everybody knows that Ricochet is awesome. There’s probably not 10 people better than him as a pro wrestler.”
“But the difference between Ricochet and Pat McAfee” Mark Henry would continue, “is Pat McAfee knows who he is. And he don’t give a damn if you don’t like it. He don’t give a damn. Ricochet needs to get some [of that]. ‘I don’t give a damn what you think. This is who I am. This is what I am.’
Henry would finish by re-iterating that he is a massive Ricochet fan, but he wants him to move on to the next level with his character work. “Then we’ll have a different Ricochet, because I’m on the Ricochet bandwagon. I want him to get fired up sometimes to where it pisses people off. Sometimes you got to break a few eggs and make an omelette.”
Do you agree with Mark Henry? Let us know in the comments
WWE debuted the Thunderdome last Friday on Smackdown. Orlando’s Amway Center has been transformed into a new set complete with LED boards featuring images of fans watching the show. According to comments made on Wrestling Observer Radio, WWE had a production team giving instructions to virtual fans throughout the show.
“The basic gist is the Thunderdome is WCW, those Orlando tapings, same city even, from Disney World from the mid-90s where they would hold up signs that say ‘cheer’ ‘boo’ and all this,” said Dave Meltzer. “What they do is there is a coordinator, fan coordinator, on a headset and all the people can hear him. And he says like ‘everyone put your thumb down’ and that’s why when I watch on the screen and you see all the fans at the same time put their thumb down, it’s like this is so fake.”
“No one does this in real life as a real crowd, in synchronized,” he continued.
He would continue to say that there would be points throughout the show where the coordinator would tell fans to clap, give a thumbs down, or make similar gestures.
“Most of the time the people just sit there and don’t do anything and it’s all the pumped in crowd noise but every now and then you would have something where everybody would boo or everybody would cheer but it wasn’t the whole match, it would just be in certain spots. What it would be is when the coordinators says ‘everybody cheer,’ ‘everybody boo,’ if there was a chant, that’s what they would tell them to do.”
“In some ways this is better for (WWE) because they can control the fans, which they could never do before,” Meltzer continued.
On Saturday’s edition of Dynamite, NWA Women’s Champion Thunder Rosa appeared in a backstage interview. She challenged AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida and the match has been made official for All Out on September 5th.
Thunder Rosa’s appearance on Dynamite has some fans wondering what the relationship is between her and AEW. According to a report from the Wrestling Observer, the deal for Thunder Rosa to wrestle on the AEW PPV was struck between Tony Khan and NWA owner Billy Corgan.
Unlike with recent AEW signee, Ricky Starks, Rosa is not leaving the NWA and has not signed with AEW. Rosa is still with the NWA and the NWA Women’s title is expected to be apart of the weekly NWA internet PPVs scheduled to begin next month.
“The deal with Thunder Rosa, the NWA women’s champion, challenging Hikaru Shida for the AEW title on the 9/5 PPV was a deal that Tony Khan worked out with Billy Corgan, so it’s not an indication of anything more and the NWA is still targeting a weekly iPPV schedule with FITE TV,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
The NWA has announced a partnership with the United Wrestling Network. They will present weekly PPVs on Tuesday nights beginning September 15th.
