The final betting odds for most of the matches that will take place at the WWE TLC pay-per-view event have been released.
The card for the show that takes place this Sunday (December 20, 2020) from St. Petersburg, Florida at the Tropicana Field has likely been finalized as only six matches have been announced with WWE expected to announce a pre-show contest.
Asuka was supposed to team up with Lana to challenge WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler for the straps. However, Asuka will need to find a new partner after WWE did an injury angle with Lana from this past Monday’s RAW.
TLC Betting Odds
The favorites to win are listed as – while the underdogs are listed with +. Odds call for all three titles to change. Here are the final betting odds courtesy of BetOnline:
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns (-2000) vs. Kevin Owens (+650) – TLC Match
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre (-600) vs. AJ Styles (+350) – TLC Match
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (N/A) vs. Asuka & TBA (N/A)
Randy Orton (+200) vs. The Fiend (-300)
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks (-500) vs. Carmella (+300)
WWE Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (-200) vs. Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin (+150)
Make sure to join us this weekend for match recaps and our takeaways from this latest pay-per-view event held by WWE.
Impact Wrestling star Karl Anderson is teasing an appearance at tonight’s AEW Dynamite.
Anderson is one half of the Good Brothers, the Impact Wrestling world tag team champions. Gallows & Anderson reunited with former Bullet Club partner Kenny Omega last night on Impact’s TV show
Omega, Gallows & Anderson will main event next month’s Impact Hard to Kill pay-per-view against Impact World Champion Rich Swann & the Motor City Machine guns.
Ahead of Wednesday’s live AEW Dynamite from Jacksonville, Anderson sent out the following teaser on social media.
The December 15th edition of Impact averaged 177,00 viewers and a 0.04 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. The show finished 143rd on cable for the night. This data comes courtesy of Showbuzzdaily.com.
This was the second week of Impact to feature an appearance by AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and Don Callis. The show-closing angle saw Omega align himself with former Bullet Club partners, the Good Brothers. Omega will team with Gallows and Anderson at the upcoming Hard to Kill pay-per-view.
By comparison, last week’s Impact had 221,000 viewers and did a 0.08 rating. Two weeks ago, prior to the start of the AEW-Impact angle, Impact had 166,000 viewers.
The next two weeks of Impact during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday weeks will be “best of” shows.
Former WCW, NWA, WWF and Smoky Mountain Wrestling personality Jim Cornette recently discussed Brandon Cutler’s remarks aimed at AEW commentator Jim Ross.
JR recently talked about the ‘overused’ spot where multiple performers wait outside the ring for a tope suicida. Cutler would respond on Twitter by writing the following:
“THIS WEDNESDAY on #AEWDynamite 7 vs 7 We’re gonna go outside, cluster up like coils, stand there in a huddle, friends and foes together, side-by-side to catch some leaping idiot going over the top.”
Jim Cornette on Brandon Cutler
Jim Cornette would completely rip into Cutler for making these remarks. “He’s gonna find out that he just the first time he gets a chance to show his little f*cking white ass on television? He’s just pissed off the announcer that might have actually managed to get him over.”
“JR’s the greatest announcer in wrestling, but he’s not Merlin/Magician” Jim Cornette would continue. “You couldn’t get this guy over with a f*cking 10,000 pound tank of helium. But these little f*cking jack offs and their little tree house school boy clique that they’ve got going? When people that obviously know more about the business that they’re in than they do? Whether they want to admit it or not? Whether they can grasp it in their little brains?”
Jim Cornette would finish by lambasting the team at AEW in general. “These people tell them: A) you dumb sh*t, this is what most people think. Yet they’re doing cartwheels and blowing kisses in the air whenever they get a million viewers!”
Do you agree with Jim Cornette? Do you think that AEW talent are not listening enough to the critique of more ‘old school’ types? Let us know in the comments
WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio Bully Ray recently discussed Keith Lee and the reports that he has been sent back to the WWE Performance Center; appaerntly for more ‘seasoning’ by Vince McMahon himself.
“As the owner of the company and as the boss?” Bully Ray would begin on Busted Open. “If he’s not happy with somebody’s performance? He’s well within his rights to try to get them some help and get them up to working specs.”
Bully Ray on Keith Lee
There were a number of performers supposedly sent back to the PC to work on their skills. These included Otis, Dabba-Kato, Omos and RETRIBUTION member Mace. “Keith Lee is the one that everybody’s been talking about” Bully Ray would continue. “Keith Lee is the one that has everybody scratching their head as to why. I guess there was no specifics given? As to why he wanted him to get some extra help? Some extra work? Some extra polish?”
Bully Ray would finish by comparing Lee’s current situation to that of Drew McIntyre. Early on in his WWE career Drew McIntyre was dubbed ‘The Chosen One;’ but it wasn’t until he left WWE that he was able to become a main event player and then return. Keith Lee defeated Randy Orton in only his second ever main roster match, leading Bully Ray to make the comparison. “I thought about this, remember when Drew McIntyre wasn’t getting the job done in Vince’s eyes? What did Vince do with Drew McIntyre? He let him go and said ‘come back when you get more polished and you think you’re ready.’ That’s exactly what Drew did.”
“Vince is not enamoured with Keith Lee, with his work or his promo, whatever. Vince has every option contractually, or right contractually, to sit out Keith Lee and not do anything with Keith Lee.”
Do you think that Vince McMahon is ‘investing’ in Keith Lee by getting him to work more on aspects of his WWE work? Do you think that Bully Ray is right in his Drew McIntyre comparison? Let us know in the comments
Former WWE Superstar EC3 recently appeared on Chris Van Vliet’s podcast. The one percenter would discuss a number of topics during his time on the show. These would include his ‘fight club’ character he pitched to WWE and how the pandemic stopped him from handing in his release request.
“I think leaving IMPACT? I like change” EC3 would begin, discussing his move from IMPACT to WWE’s NXT brand. “So I don’t like to rest on my laurels and coming from IMPACT and going to NXT? Although I already had a brand and identity, it was a little different to what I wanted.”
EC3 on The Reboot
EC3 would then discuss how he saw the chance to join WWE as a way to ‘reboot’ the EC3 character for a new audience. “I would call the character [in NXT] a reboot, a little bit. Because obviously some of the intangibles with the character would have to change, being in the WWE Universe.”
“But also at the same time? It’s [the EC3 brand] known” the former Derrick Bateman would continue. “It’s a popular brand/identity that I could expand out within the WWE realm, so it would be cool.”
EC3 would finish by revealing that he pitched a Tyler Durden in Fight Club type character when he was in NXT. Before the character could be fleshed out EC3 was brought up to the main roster, which EC3 would describe as ‘rebooting a reboot.’
“But then again? I’m just rehashing the best of it. It never felt right and comfortable. I had this idea that I wanted to do as kind of a psycho boy. A sort of ‘Durden-esque,’ culty kind of leader? Talking about evidence of truth and your purpose and finding yourself within the realms of combat and fighting. So I pitched that, but instead of that? I got called up, and then now we’re rebooting a reboot, that nobody has a vested interest in. The rest is mediocre history.”
There was no movement in the mens singles rankings this week.
Last week on Dynamite, we didn’t see former champion #1 Jon Moxley but we did get an interview from the current champ, Kenny Omega, along with Don Callis.
#2 MJF defeated Orange Cassidy last week. #3 Cody Rhodes was in a segment with Sting. #4 Brian Cage and #5 Ricky Starks both picked up wins on Dark this week.
Tonight on Dynamite, AEW World Champion, Kenny Omega will face unranked Joey Janela in a non-title match. #2 MJF will be in a 7-on-7 match with the Inner Circle. #3 Cody will take on Angelico while #4 Cage and #5 Ricky Starks of Team Taz have nothing scheduled.
Women’s Singles Rankings
AEW Women’s Champion: Hikaru Shida (22-1)
Big Swole (14-4)
Nyla Rose (13-3)
Abadon (6-1) (+2)
Serena Deeb (4-2) (-1)
Penelope Ford (11-5) (-1)
AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida picked up a win on Dark this week and was promptly confronted by the terrifying, #3 Abadon. On Dynamite this week, Abadon picked up a win over Tesha Price. Abadon moves up 2 spots in the rankings this week as a result.
#4 Serena Deeb and #1 Big Swole will be in action on tonight’s Dynamite. They will team up to take on the winners of the Women’s Tag Team Cup earlier this year, Ivelisse & Diamante. #5 Penelope Ford and #2 Nyla Rose have nothing scheduled.
Tag Team Division Rankings
Tag Team Champions: The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) (12-3)
FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (13-1)
The Best Friends (Trent & Chuck Taylor) (20-7)
Jurassic Express (Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus) (15-5)
The Dark Order (Evil Uno & Stu Grayson) (15-2) (+1)
The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) (7-1) (previously unranked)
Champions the Young Bucks defeated The Hybrid 2 in non-title action last week. #1 FTR also picked up a win over the Varsity Blondes.
The Acclaimed make their first appearance in the top-10 this week. The Natural Nightmares are booted out of the rankings as a result. The Acclaimed will face former AEW tag champs, SCU, tonight, and will likely be defending their top-5 ranking in the match.
#4 the Dark Order is also in action tonight. They will team with Hangman Page and go up against unranked Private Party and Matt Hardy.
Tonight on Dynamite, #2 The Best Friends will team with unranked teams the Varsity Blondes, and Top Flight along with Brandon Cutler against the Inner Circle.
Major League Wrestling returns tonight with a new episode of MLW Fusion.
This week’s show will feature the return of National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone, two debuts, the continuation of MLW’s Opera Cup tournament and more. The following items are announced:
Callis appeared on Figure Four Daily and spoke to Bryan Alvarez about his recent actions. During the discussion, Alvarez asked Callis if he’s received any blowback from Impact for letting another promotion’s champion run rough shot on their show.
“Blowback? Bryan, Kenny Omega, and I are the most talked about thing in professional wrestling and have been for the last 2.5 weeks,” Callis responded. “When you are that big, no one can touch you. Cause you know what they think? They think ‘gee, I kind of wish Don had clued us in but we have Kenny Omega on our show and over a million people saw the Kenny Omega Don Callis interview.”
He added, “Over a million people saw the Tony Khan infomercial.’ Those numbers don’t lie, Bryan Alvarez. So, the words that Impact might be looking for is ‘hey, this is great!'”
Callis continued to talk about how this is an opportunity for someone like Impact World Champion Rich Swann to show the world what he’s capable of.
“Rich Swann is one of the most competitive athletes I’ve ever been around,” Callis continued. “So, all I’ve done is given someone opportunity, Bryan. Here’s your opportunity to get in the ring with the best wrestler in the world, Kenny Omega, with the Good Brothers, and show everyone who you are, and do it in front of more people than you ever dreamed possible. If you call that running rough shot, I call that making dreams come true, Bryan.”
Don Callis Hints At What Might Come Next
Callis was then asked if he can let fans know what might be coming next in the angle.
“This may go on, as my record suggests, for many, many years,” Callis responded. “When you want to imagine what that next move could be, imagine something so big that you didn’t think it was possible and then magnify that by a thousandfold and you might be getting in the ballpark of what’s next.”
The full interview from Figure Four Daily is available here.
Thank you to everyone supporting #AEWDynamite in 2020! We did our biggest rating of the year last week & we’re back Live tomorrow night with a huge show, #AEW World Champion Kenny Omega vs. Joey Janela in a No DQ title eliminator, @Sting will be here & a card full of big matches! pic.twitter.com/CyTknCU8bc
Impact Wrestling 12/15 saw Kenny Omega, Karl Anderson, and Doc Gallows reunite in the show’s closing segment. We also saw the first semi-final match in the Knockouts tag-team title tournament and more.
Impact 12/15 Results:
Tenille Dashwood defeated Alisha Edwards
Chris Bey defeated Manik via DQ
Knockouts Tag Team Tournament (Semi-Final #1) Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz defeated Taya Valkyrie & Rosemary
Brian Myers defeated Josh Alexander via DQ
Karl Anderson defeated Chris Sabin
Below are 8 takeaways from Impact 12/15:
Kenny Omega, Karl Anderson, and Doc Gallows Reunite
Last Tuesday night, Kenny Omega made his first appearance on Impact Wrestling. Saturday night at Final Resolution, he reunited with Karl Anderson. This week, Doc Gallows returned to the promotion, and the 3 former Bullet Club members were involved in a fight backstage with Rich Swann and The Motor City Machine Guns.
The MCMG made some pre-match comments about Karl Anderson earlier on in the evening. This caused Anderson to leave the luxury bus and look to confront them. He ran into Rich Swann in the back, however, and the Impact champ and the Motor City Machine Guns sent Anderson back to the luxury bus with Callis and Omega. This did not sit well with Omega, who had some harsh words to say about Swann.
Later in the night, Anderson pulled out the victory over Chris Sabin. He required a handful of trunks to get the pin, however. After the match, Rich Swann came out and confronted Anderson for his cheating. Omega saw this in the back and left the bus.
A fight broke out backstage after Anderson clocked Swann. The MCMGs then came out to attack Anderson but Doc Gallows returned and attacked Shelley and Sabin. Omega then arrived backstage and took out Swann.
Omega, Anderson, Gallows, and Callis then closed the show standing tall over Swann and the MCGM. Callis then officially made the match between Omega and the Good Brothers vs Rich Swann and the MCMG for Hard to Kill.
Tony Khan Purchases More Advertising Time On Impact Wrestling
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4f4yE15IA8
Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone were not holding back on their TNA jokes this week. There were cracks about not being able to find AXS TV, and that it was public access TV. Khan said he’ll continue to allow Omega to show up on Impact Wrestling because he feels Omega is giving AEW free advertising. They then ran down the card for AEW Dynamite this week.
Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz Advance In Tag Title Tourney, Taya & Rosemary Eliminated
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxQBTfLz6lI
The first semi-final match of the Knockouts tag-team title tournament took place this week. The match saw Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo and her ally, Kimber Lee, interfere. Purrazzo and Kimber Lee pulled Rosemary off the ring apron and gave her a flatliner on the stage, leaving Taya alone in the ring. Hogan then hit her twisting fisherman suplex for the win.
Hogan and Steelz will face the winners between Havok & Nevaeh vs Jordynne Grace & Jazz in the finals.
The Karate Man Debuts In Impact Wrestling
Some strange things seem to be going on with Ethan Page. At Final Resolution, Page lost to Karl Anderson and then there appeared to be some dissension between him and his partner, Josh Alexander. This week on Impact, Alexander took on Brian Myers in singles competition.
Page came down to ringside during the match but Myers threw him into a steel post. Later on in the match, Page’s alter-ego of “The Karate Man” would appear at ringside and attack Myers. This resulted in Alexander being disqualified and more dissension between Page and Alexander.
Moose and Willie Mack To Face Off In An “I Quit” Match
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B33iNQDOtdc
Moose cut a promo this week and mentioned that after the main event last week, Willie Mack will be out of action for a few weeks. He expressed frustration that people still don’t see him as the more important champion between him and Rich Swann. This brought out Willie Mack but a team of security wouldn’t let the injured wrestler get too close to Moose. Mack then challenged Moose to an “I Quit” match at Genesis on account of Moose having beaten him via referee’s decision previously.
Mack got past security and the two men had to be pulled apart. Moose managed to get in a shot on Mack, however. He then turned his attention to security (who had ripped his suit) and beat them up to close the segment.
Chris Bey Picks Up Win Over X-Division Champion, Manik
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g31YNkpy-ts
At Final Resolution, Manik (who seems to have the exact same tattoos as TJP) defeated Rohit Raju to win the X-Division Championship. The issue is that TJP was not allowed to challenge for the title due to a previous match stipulation. So, Raju is out to prove that Manik is actually TJP in what is a bit of a Junkyard Dog/Stagger Lee throwback angle.
Bey encouraged Raju to be in his corner for his non-title match against Manik this week. The Ultimate Finesser had ulterior motives, however. Raju got in the ring, perhaps looking to unmask Manik, but he and Bey ended up in an argument. Raju then hit Bey, causing the disqualification. Now, Bey holds a win over the X-Division champion and Josh Matthews noted on commentary that this puts him in the title picture.
Tenille Dashwood Picks Up Win Over Alisha Edwards
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgmLZJSqSdE
After a couple of weeks of backstage altercations, former tag partners Alisha Edwards and Tenille Dashwood faced off in singles action this week. Alisha hit Tenille with a running bulldog and almost got the pin but it seemed Kaleb pulled Tenille out of the ring.
While on the outside, Alisha attempted to come off the top rope onto Dashwood but Dashwood pushed Kaleb in the way. As both competitors got back in the ring, Dashwood hit the Spotlight Kick and got the win.
After the match between Dashwood and Alisha, Sami Callihan’s music hit and we got a scrambled video from the Draw. He challenged Edwards to a match on the next Impact show on January 5th. The next two weeks, Impact will air “Best of” shows to close out 2020. Edwards told Callihan to enjoy his family for the holidays because it might be his last.
The next two weeks of Impact Wrestling will be “Best of” shows. They are back in 2021 with all new programming as well as the Impact Plus event, Genesis, on January 9th and then the Hard to Kill PPV on January 16th. Below are the matches announced thus far:
Impact – January 5th, 2021
Eddie Edwards vs Sami Callihan
Genesis – January 9th, 2021
I Quit Willie Mack vs Moose
Hard To Kill – January 16th
Kenny Omega & The Good Brothers vs Rich Swann & The Motor City Machine Guns
Knockouts Tag Team Title Tournament (Finals) Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz vs Jordynne Grace & Jazz or Havok & Nevaeh
Following Shaquille O’Neal’s recent appearance on All Elite Wrestling, TNT Champion Darby Allin has shared his thoughts on celebrities doing crossovers with the promotion.
Speaking with SK Wrestling, Allin admitted it “kicked ass” to see O’Neal involved with AEW. He added he is interested to see where how this crossover will develop.
Allin shared how he’d like to see “more crossovers with other forms of media.” He shared how he’s a fan of “all that stuff” before pointing out his videos with Tony Hawk, Steve-O and Travis Pastrana.
He explained how, “[…] as much as these guys get me hyped, I want to bring them into the world so that all the other wrestling fans can see what they do.”
Darby Allin believes that the presence of celebrities and outsides coming into AEW may help the locker room take performing more seriously.
He claimed that “Half the wrestlers are complete jokes that don’t take it seriously. So I would love to have someone else step into our world and take it seriously and kicking ass.”
Shaquille O’Neal In AEW
Shaquille O’Neal featured in a segment during last week’s episode of AEW Dynamite. He participated in an interview with Tony Schiavone and Brandi Rhodes to discuss the actions of Jade Cargill.
O’Neal explained how, although he appreciates Cargill, he can’t condone her injuring Brandi’s arm. The former NBA star has previously expressed his interest in competing against Cody Rhodes.
Darby Allin, meanwhile, recently found himself face-to-face with “The Icon” Sting during Sting’s debut a few weeks ago. He was singled out by Sting during a promo on last week’s show in a segment that also featured Cody Rhodes.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling has revealed there will be a special episode of NJPW Strong released on Christmas Day. This episode, entitled “Best of Strong 2020,” will feature the best matches and moments from throughout the past year.
The matches included with this special episode have been curated by NJPW wrestlers and broadcasters. It is described as being “a perfect introduction” for curious fans interested in watching NJPW Strong on Friday nights. Additionally, “Best of Strong 2020” will be free to watch on NJPW World, FITE, and YouTube.
Fans can tune in live and participate in the live chat with Rocky Romero. He will be reportedly be joined by several special guests, though no additional names are known at the time of writing.
Looking to entice fans to NJPW Strong, the promotion will be asking for fan opinions across next week to determine the Strong Match of the Year. Fans can submit their picks via Twitter. Doing so will put them in line to win one of five limited edition “I Love NJPW ver.2” t-shirts.
NJPW Strong airs Friday nights on NJPW World. It debuted earlier this year on August 7th, following a press conference reveal in July. The show has so far hosted the New Japan Cup USA tournament, Fighting Spirit Unleashed, and Lion’s Break Crown to name a few.
Stephanie McMahon has explained how WWE tries to “amplify” its individual stars by allowing them to have “individual voices.”
“One of the things that we understood early on is star power. It’s about the attraction, it’s about the draw,” Stephanie said on The Playbook podcast. “Whether it’s a live event or you’re trying to drive television ratings or social media engagement, you have to have star power.”
She explained how WWE tries to “[…] amplify the individual stars so we can create the biggest moats around them.” According to her, they need to have “individual voices.” Stephanie believes they can achieve this by being “their own personas.”
Stephanie then acknowledged the importance of cultivating engagement between fans and Superstars in the digital age. She explained how this stems from people’s need to relate.
“At the end of the day, the audience might not relate to a brand, to the WWE or another league, but they might relate to a team or an individual star,” Stephanie McMahon explained. “More and more, you’re seeing that in the media space. Whether it’s content creators on TikTok or Twitch, you see these consumers and people getting behind the content creators and influencers individually because they relate to them.”
Stephanie noted how people relate in different ways. However, she argued that “if you can create the opportunities for engagement, then the rising tide will raise all boats.”
WWE recently implemented a third-part edict that saw it Superstars forced to shut down their Cameo and Twitch accounts. This decision has reportedly rankled several Superstars who were making money from their live streams.
NXT returns to the USA Network tonight from the Capitol Wrestling Center in Orlando, Florida. NXT will feature a #1 contender’s match, a ‘dream match’ between two of WWE’s best female wrestlers and the in-ring return of a former NXT Champion.
#1 Contender’s Match: Pete Dunne vs. Kyle O’Reilly. The winner faces NXT Champion Finn Balor at NXT’s New Year’s Evil special on Wednesday, January 6th.
Grude Match: Rhea Ripley vs. Toni Storm
Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) returns to action for the first time since surrendering the NXT Championship due to injury.
NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano teams with Austin Theory against Leon Ruff and Kushida.
Below, you can check out WWE’s promo video hyping the show.
Join us here tonight for our NXT Results & Takeaways.
NXT’s Pat McAfee has received high praise from WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. Speaking with ESPN.com, Austin revealed how he believes McAfee is currently “slaying everybody” on the black-and-gold brand.
“Hey man, he puts it all on the line, he’s going for it. I think his verbal skills, he’s slaying everybody, but he’s not afraid to go out there and put it all on the line,” Austin said. “You wouldn’t expect it from a guy who goes out there and kicks a football, but Pat McAfee is bada**. I think he’s doing a really good job. I’d give him a solid A.”
Pat McAfee recently participated at NXT TakeOver: WarGames. McAfee and his teammates Pete Dunne, Danny Burch, and Oney Lorcan faced off against the Undisputed Era. The two teams clashed in a WarGames matchup, with the Undisputed Era eventually emerging victorious.
McAfee has yet to reappear on NXT programming since NXT TakeOver: WarGames. He has, however, suggested that his issues with Adam Cole and the Undisputed Era are far from over.
Former WWE Superstar CM Punk has compared his former boss Vince McMahon to UFC President Dana White. Punk joined his former WWE Backstage co-host Renee Paquette on her new podcast, Oral Sessions, where he shared his opinion on the two. During the discussion, he deliberated on who he believes to be more generous.
Punk confessed there are “levels” to a discussion comparing Dana White and Vince McMahon. “Obviously you can draw that they’re both right-wing, the word I’ll use is weirdo because obviously they vote based on what’s good for their pocketbook.”
“If I really had to compare and contrast, I would say Dana is more generous,” Punk said. “Dana does a lot of stuff for the fighters behind the scenes. I think there’s a lot of locker room money that people don’t know about and he gets a lot of flak for [not paying fighters enough]. That being said, I do also think fighters need to get paid a whole hell of a lot more.”
Punk and Paquette previously worked together on the FS1 show WWE Backstage alongside WWE Hall of Famer Booker T. Filming of the show was halted earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. FS1 later suspended all production on the show. Paquette left WWE following August’s SummerSlam event.
Since leaving WWE, CM Punk has fought twice in the UFC. He lost both bouts, one by submission and the other by decision.
Allin admitted he doesn’t know what the future looks like. However, he did issue a warning to “The Icon,” who recently made his AEW debut, claiming that he’s “ready.”
“I don’t know what his health’s like, I don’t know what he wants to do,” Allin said. “If he wants to get in the ring with me, good luck, that’s what I would say, I’m ready. If he’s ready, I’m ready. I have no clue if he’s actually going to be ready. Everything’s up in the air.
Following his debut, Sting appeared on last week’s episode of AEW Dynamite. During a segment that featured Cody Rhodes, “The Icon” indicated that he wasn’t in AEW for Cody, instead hinting that he was interested in Allin.
“I don’t know what his intentions are, I don’t know if you want to manage me, I don’t know if I’m manageable,” Allin said. “Everything is week-by-week, anything can change. I’ve never had a full-blown conversation with him. Who knows, he might be the complete opposite.”
When asked if he would be interested in a cinematic matchup with Sting, Darby Allin shared he’s “up for the challenge.” Although he has never done a cinematic matchup before, Allin is confident he would deliver “the most craziest cinematic match of all-time.”
The third-party edicts from WWE have been a topic of discussion among wrestling fans in the past few months and Lana is one of the stars affected by these new rules from the company.
The female star recently had an interview with New York Post where she talked about things like cyberbullying, incorporating her real-life struggles in her ongoing storyline with Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax and more.
During the interview, Lana was asked if she thinks that WWE can come to an agreement with stars to allow them to continue using the digital platforms and she revealed that they have actually been in discussion with the management:
“Absolutely. I know we are all in that discussion with the company of trying to work that out. Once again, the world has changed quickly. Everything has moved into digital space now.”
Lana continued by mentioning how there is a lot of untapped potential for WWE stars to make money through the social channels and said that she wants to help the company officials in coming to an agreement with the stars:
“I’m actually really excited because I expressed to WWE how much I would love to help them build something out for the talent because I feel like we haven’t even slightly started to tap into how big of stars we can be on the digital front and how much money we could make for WWE.
So, I’m excited. I know sometimes when things happen it’s a slow and steady … you have to be patient with change. But I really believe I’m gonna be one of the ones that’s gonna help build this out and this new WWE where we are going to be bigger than ever, the talent.”
This week’s episode of Raw saw Lana being attacked by Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler after which WWE announced that she has been pulled from the upcoming TLC PPV.
PWinsider has provided some updates on her status and the reports from the site suggest that the former NXT star is not expected to stay out for very long.
According to the reports, Lana is expected to stay off WWE TV for the next several weeks and she could stay out of action for the next 3-4 weeks before returning.
The exact reason to take her off TV has not been revealed. There was backstage buzz at this week’s Raw that the whole angle was a set up for the return of Charlotte Flair, though these speculations have not been confirmed.
Lana was announced to be teaming up with the Raw women’s champion Asuka to challenge Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax for their women’s tag team titles at Sunday’s TLC PPV.
With the female star being out of the picture, Asuka will have to find a new partner for the match at the PPV. It would be interesting to see which star steps up and teams with the Empress.
The TLC go-home episode of Monday Night Raw this week saw a big decline in viewership and the show set a new record for the all-time low audience of the series. PWInsider has provided some backstage updates from the episode and it notes that Raw, as it aired on Monday night, was “very much the show as it was originally written.”
Though the fitting of the segments were still being worked on few hours before the show and the placement of various matches and segments changed over the course of the day. A lot of dialogues were re-written as the day went on according to Vince McMahon’s vision and the rewrites were described as “the writers giving him what he wants.”
One significant change that was still made to Raw was the change in plans for Keith Lee. He was originally going to face The Miz in a singles match but plans changed. Keith Lee ended up-facing The Miz and John Morrison in a handicap match which wasn’t the original plan.
There were also timing issues with numerous segments running longer than planned. This resulted in the final segment featuring AJ Styles and Drew McIntyre ending abruptly as the show went off air and the officials were reportedly not happy about these issues.
EC3 was pulled from this Friday’s Final Battle PPV of Ring Of Honor after the former TNA world champion was tested positive for coronavirus.
The former WWE star recently had an interview with Chris Van Vliet where he talked about a number of things and he also revealed how he has been since his positive test.
EC3 first revealed that he has been quarantined for over a week at this point and the former NXT star claimed that he is at the tail end of COVID:
“I’ve been quarantined for a week to ten days, yeah, at this point, I have COVID, I’m at the tail end of it. It sucked a little bit, some of it wasn’t bad. I’m healthy, so I was fortune.
EC3 also detailed some of the health issues he has had to deal with since being diagnosed but he claimed that it felt like the flu or bad cold most of the time:
“I had none of the respiratory issues, kind of felt like the flu or a moderately bad cold some of the times. I would say one day I overdid it on my carb load, or I was sick with COVID and it attacked my stomach because I was farting way too much.
One day, I had a real bad set of chills where I had a double hoodie. One night, I had a ten-minute respiratory cough and I was like, ‘I get why this sucks now.’ Woah! I feel like I was breathing fire and then I’ve been fine ever since.”
Apart from this, EC3 talked about things like having no crowd for shows, wrestling without fans and how ROH has the best wrestling in the world. You can check out his full interview below:
AEW World Champion Kenny Omega will reunite with Gallows and Anderson at the upcoming Impact Wrestling Hard to Kill pay-per-view.
The reunited Bullet Club partners will face AEW World Champion Rich Swan and the Motor City Machine Guns in a 3-on-3 match.
The match was made at the conclusion of Tuesday’s Impact Wrestling. Rich Swan and the Motor City Machine guns brawled with the Good Brothers backstage when Kenny Omega entered the fray and aligned with his longtime friends.
The match is significant on several fronts. Kenny Omega makes his in-ring debut for Impact. It features a realignment of the Bullet Club. Most significantly, we will see world champions from rival companies competing.
Impact Wrestling’s Hard to Kill takes place Saturday, January 16th, 2021.
AEW President Tony Khan and Tony Schiavone of the What Happened When podcast returned to Impact Wrestling with another paid advertisement this week.
Both Tony’s took shots at Impact and ‘public access’ channel AXS TV. Khan is glad to purchase time during Impact and addressed the Kenny Omega and Don Callis situation. He welcomed both men to Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite on TNT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4f4yE15IA8
Impact Wrestling executives Scott D’Amore and Don Callis reacted to the ad spot. D’Amore and Khan exchanged trash talk. ‘The Invisible Hand’ thanked Khan for generating revenue for Impact.
Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.526 million viewers with a 0.41 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. This was a record low audience for Monday Night Raw.
Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Monday night, which was the final episode before Sunday’s WWE TLC pay-per-view:
The first hour hour did 1.627 million viewers and a 0.44 rating (A18-49).
The second hour did 1.512 million viewers and a 0.41 rating.
The final hour of the show had just 1.441 million viewers and an abysmal 0.38 rating.
Monday Night Raw Ratings Fallout
This week’s raw record low is not a statistical anomaly. WWE Raw viewership has been steadily declining all year. During the first quarter of 2020, viewership was consistently above 2 million viewers. The Covid-19 pandemic caused a negative affect to WWE programming. The lack of crowds makes for a worse atmosphere. However, ratings went off a cliff after WrestleMania.
The last time WWE Raw viewership was above 2 million was around SummerSlam in August. This chart by Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics paints the grim picture:
For the first time ever, AEW Dynamite defeated all three hours of WWE Raw in the Adults 18-49 demo. AEW Dynamite last week did a 0.45 rating. This was higher than all three hours of WWE Raw this week.
Last week, WWE Raw had 1.736 million viewers and a 0.52 rating in the 18-49 demo. Just one year ago, the show 2.150 million.
Raw had some tough competition this week. The NFL on ESPN game between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens topped 12.422 million viewers. However, NFL competition is nothing new. It does not explain the overall trend.
Vince McMahon and company have tried many ‘quick fixes’ to turn the low ratings around. Unfortunately, it will take more than a new gimmick like Raw Underground or a wildcard rule to turn things around for WWE.
Bully Ray’s Take On Raw Viewership
Former WWE Superstar Bully Ray commented on this week’s Raw viewership on the Busted Open show on SiriusXM. He said the time for making excuses is over. “You can talk to me until you’re blue in the face about how people watch TV differently or it’s a different time, blah, blah, blah.”
Bully Ray thinks that WWE needs to get back to basics. “If you build your roster and people are over, [fans are] going to tune in. I don’t care what you have to do to get eyes on your product. If you have something that the people want to see? They’re gonna tune in, no matter what.”
Conclusion
WWE is making more money than ever thanks to lucrative television deals. If WWE does not address the foundational cracks at the root of declining viewership, the company’s biggest cash cow is in jeopardy.
