Smackdown comes to you from across the pond tonight with Berlin, Germany and The Uber Arena the host of the broadcast. Smackdown will air on tape delay in the United States in its usual 8PM ET time slot on USA Network while it airs live on Netflix for international viewers at 8PM CET.
Headlining the three-hour broadcast is a Three Stages of Hell match for the WWE Championship as Cody Rhodes defends the title once again against Drew McIntyre.
The other two matches currently announced include The Wyatt Sicks battling The MFTs in an eight-man tag team match and Smackdown’s newest acquisition, Trick Williams, takes on Rey Fenix.
During last night’s face-to-face between TNA champion Frankie Kazarian and Mike Santana, Santana dropped a dig at AEW, telling Kazarian that both spent time in the same place, feeling miserable.
“At one point in time, we were both at the same place, miserable as all hell,” Santana told Kazarian as they sat across each other.
“We were at a place that tried to drain the passion out of what we love the most, and what did we do? We held each other up, we left that place, we bet on ourselves and today, we’re sitting across from each other about to go toe-to-toe for the grandest prize in pro wrestling on the biggest show in TNA history,” he continued.
Santana spent nearly five years with AEW between 2019 and 2014, requesting his release after he and his tag team partner Ortiz had a real-life fallout.
Kazarian wrestled in AEW between 2019 and 2022, requesting his release as well. He last wrestled for them in December 2022 on an episode of Dark: Elevation.
The two will meet for the TNA title on January 15, which is the Impact debut on AMC. The match was originally set for the Genesis pay-per-view two days later.
Rocking a U.S. Navy Seal team beanie hat and a jacket sporting the name Governor Jesse Ventura, the WWE Hall of Famer and former Minnesota Governor was interviewed by reporters to get his take on the Minneapolis ICE shooting which has rocked the country over the past few days.
Never the one who minces words, Ventura launched a near eight-minute monologue on what he thinks is wrong with America and made it sound perfectly like a wrestling promo.
“Somebody needs to clean up what the Democrats and Republicans constantly wreck,” Ventura said. “I gave up on this country. I haven’t even watched the news since last November.”
Ventura, who now appears on Saturday Night’s Main Event added, “I stumbled onto this and now look what you’ve done to me! Here I was leading a nice quiet life, now you’ve injected me back in here and probably you’re gonna make me the governor of Minnesota again!”
The 74-year-old was the Governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2003 and said he only did one term and could very well run for a second.
Prime Video published the trailer of Dave Bautista’s newest movie, The Wrecking Crew, where he shares the spotlight with wrestling fan and Hollywood blockbuster star Jason Momoa.
The movie revolves around Jonny, a loose cannon cop who is played by Momoa, and his half-brother James, a disciplined Navy SEAL played by Bautista, who must work together to unravel a conspiracy behind their father’s murder in Hawaii.
The Wrecking Crew, directed by Ángel Manuel Soto, is set to be released on Amazon Prime Video on January 28.
NXT this week drew 627,000 viewers for the New Year’s Evil themed episode, up 23,000 viewers from the prior week. This was their best number in a month. In 18-49, NXT had a 0.10, up 0.03 from the last show and their best since November 25. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
Mustafa Ali revealed that he re-signed with TNA Wrestling ahead of their move to AMC next week.
Ali announced the news in an interview conducted with Denise Salcedo, published yesterday.
“Just a few days ago, I officially re-signed with TNA Wrestling. So, yeah, TNA, Mustafa Ali, AMC,” he said. “And I’m very, very happy with that. TNA management, Carlos, Tommy, everybody top to bottom has just been very supportive.”
The 39-year-old originally made his TNA debut in early 2024 and won the X Division title once since then.
Smackdown tonight will air live on Netflix for those who are not in the United States and will have a start time of 8PM Central European Time.
TV for the next two weeks will be filmed from Europe and will start early for those in the United States. Raw, which airs everywhere on Netflix, will start at 2PM ET this coming Monday as well.
Tonight’s Smackdown is from Berlin, Germany at the Uber Arena, the host of last year’s Bash in Berlin premium live event.
In the United States, Smackdown will still air in its usual time slot of 8PM ET on USA Network.
WWE, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and Fanatics today officially announced details for WWE World at WrestleMania 42, a five-day interactive fan experience taking place from Thursday, April 16, through Monday, April 20, at the Las Vegas Convention Center South Hall in Las Vegas.
Tickets will go on sale starting Friday, January 16 at 3PM ET. Previous WWE World ticket purchasers and WrestleMania 42 ticket holders can access an exclusive presale by visiting https://www.wweworld.com/wrestlemania-42 starting Wednesday, January 14 at 3PM ET.
WWE World at WrestleMania 42 will feature a variety of immersive experiences for fans, including a central main stage that will host roundtable discussions with top WWE Superstars, live podcast recordings, memorabilia honoring WrestleMania’s 42-year history, photo and autograph opportunities with WWE Superstars and Legends, and the largest WWE Superstore in WrestleMania history featuring exclusive merchandise.
New for 2026, fans can experience Hulkamania Forever, step into photo-ready WWE Superstar walkthroughs, go behind the curtain at Gorilla Position and more.
WWE today announced nine new dates for Raw and Smackdown as part of its Road to WrestleMania tour in 2026. Tickets for each live event will go on sale Tuesday, January 13 at 10AM local.
TV events announced are Smackdown on March 6 in Portland at the Moda Center, Raw on March 9 in Seattle at the Climate Pledge Arena, Smackdown on March 13 in Phoenix at the PHX Arena, Raw on March 16 in San Antonio a the Frost Bank Center, Smackdown on March 26 in Pittsburgh at the PPG Paints Arena, Raw on March 30 from New York at Madison Square Garden, Raw on April 6 in Houston at the Toyota Center, Smackdown on April 10 in San Jose from SAP Center, and Raw on April 13 from Sacramento at the Golden 1 Center.
Fans can purchase tickets during an exclusive pre-sale starting Monday, January 12 at 10AM local. To register for pre-sale opportunities, please visit: https://www.wwe.com/new-events-presale-registration.
Raven sat down with Chris Van Vliet at the DDPY Performance Center in Atlanta, Georgia to discuss his new documentary “Nevermore: The Raven Effect” and why he wanted it to be warts and all, what was the hardest topic to cover in the documentary, an update on his current health and his early onset Parkinson’s Disease, the inspiration behind his iconic look, the chair shot heard around the world, almost knocking out the power at WrestleMania 17, and more!
How would you say your overall health is right now?
“It’s good. I mean, I got the early onset Parkinson’s, which I’m of the mind to say that I don’t have it. But it’s why I have the tremor, and that’s what they think it is. There’s no 100% proof tests, so I didn’t [get tested]. The test they give to prove it only proves it like 90% and there’s a lot of false positives and negatives in it. So there’s no reason, because he said he would treat me the same way, which is nothing as of now, because nothing’s bad enough, although my tremor is really bad right now.”
You’re not on any sort of medication?
“No, no. So there’s no reason. So I’m just going to declare that I’m not, that I don’t have early onset Parkinson’s and convince myself that I don’t, because I’ve had it for like 8 to 10 years, and all this is a tremor so far.”
What causes this?
“They don’t know. I haven’t put enough study into the diagnosis. Usually I figure out, read the doctor’s notes and all that. But I’d rather just play along. I say I have it, but I’m convinced I don’t. That it’s just a tremor, and I figure mind over matter. Hopefully it’ll stay just a tremor, as it has all these years.”
And you think it’s tied to the way you wrestled?
“Yeah, as I’m saying, I think it’s chair shots to the head. It’s like Ali swore that he didn’t have Parkinson’s, and it was just all the shots he took to the head. That’s what I like to think it is, that and all the drugs. I’m not proud. I used to be proud of my drug abuse, my ability to handle drugs. Now, I’m just embarrassed by it.”
Are you sober now?
“I’ve been sober for years.”
So what was the story behind the chair shot heard around the world?
“I had beaten up Dreamer so many times that they needed to get some revenge on me, and to give the people something. You had to give them something to hope in their babyface and give them something to look like it was over the feud. I forget exactly what led up to the chair shot, but when we got there, Paul is like, ‘I’m gonna have Tommy hit you 10 times with the chair.’ I’m like, ‘No, you gotta hit me once. It’ll mean so much more.’ He goes, ‘No, 10 times. You got to take it 10 times.’ I’m like, ‘No, I’m not going to do it, Paul.’ He goes, ‘What are you scared?’ And I’m like, ‘No, I’ll take nine chair shots back here, but I’m only taking one out there, because it’ll mean more if you hit me with a bunch of them.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, but Axl Rotten is hitting three chair shots in his match, and New Jack’s hitting five in his.’ I’m like, it doesn’t matter. This is something Roddy Piper taught me, doesn’t matter what happens in anybody else’s match, as long as they believe in your stuff. So I said, ‘I’m just taking one.’ He finally goes, ‘All right, I trust you.’ So if Dreamer gave me the one shot and it’s remembered. Imagine if there was five more coming after it, it wouldn’t have meant anything.”
Did you think the crucifixion angle was too controversial?
“I didn’t think it was pushing the envelope. I didn’t think so. I understand why Paul E made me cut an apology afterwards, but partly it’s because my family’s Jewish. I don’t follow the religion, but my family’s Jewish, and my last name is Levy, so people just assume I’m Jewish, and Paul E is Jewish, and Todd’s Jewish. Todd Gordon, the owner. So they thought it was a mockery of Christianity, but had nothing to do with that. I mean, Madonna masturbated with a crucifix on MTV. I’m thinking this is tame compared to that. To me, it was just a metaphor. It was a metaphor. The Crucifix with Sandman was just for him to feel my pain. Because Raven was always, I considered him a martyr for society’s dysfunction.”
Is it true you guys nearly knocked out the power at WrestleMania 17?
“That’s true. I’m driving the golf cart, and Show’s choking me. I didn’t expect Show to be choking me, so I wanted to swerve a little bunch because I didn’t want to just drive straight, because we’re supposed to drive all the way around the Astrodome, make a full 360-degree drive. That was my favorite spot of the match, and I totally ruined it because there was a fence, a chain link fence from ceiling to ground, and the sidewalk dropped off on the other side of the chain. So I went to bounce off the chain with the car, figuring I bounce off and swerve back on, and the wheel just went off the edge and just died right there. The car wouldn’t move, you know, the golf car wouldn’t move because the wheel was off the road, and so I tried to get it back on, and Show is going ‘No, no, leave it. Leave it.’ I’m like, I want to go. Kane’s going to chase us in the other golf cart. It’s going to be so cool. So then I just ran out in the traffic and got run over by Kane.”
That could have been so bad:
“Yeah, but I had to do something in my mind to make up for the spot that I screwed up. But when I found out after the show, one of the production guys grabbed a hold of me, and he said, ‘You know you came within millimeters of cutting off the power to the entire show. You landed right on the wire that runs the power to the show, if you would have cut through, you would have killed power to the entire event.’ That would have got me so much heat, I would have definitely been fired for that.”
Logan Paul is no longer a part-time WWE Superstar…he is now officially a full-time WWE Superstar!
The former United States champion revealed in his latest vlog that he has signed a new long-term, full-time WWE deal.
“I actually just signed my official long-term contract with WWE. Seconds ago. We took espresso shots. I’m officially a full-timer now,” Paul said. “All you people saying I’m a part-timer can shut your mouths. Feels good. Feels good to have a job.”
Paul said he’s absolutely excited to take over the WWE with The Vision and couldn’t be more pumped, adding that the future looks bright.
“2026, I was to hit it hard. I want to become the best wrestler I can be. The best husband, father, and business partner I can be. I’m feeling so good about this year. I’m excited,” he added.
The 30-year-old started working on and off with WWE in 2021 and made his in-ring debut a year later at WrestleMania 38, signing a yearly contract with limited dates.
TNA will run its final Impact on AXS TV tonight as next week they finally move on to a cable channel with twice its reach, AMC.
Impact started on AXS TV in October 2019 after TNA’s parent company, Anthem Sports & Entertainment, acquired the network. Prior to that, the show aired on the Pursuit Channel.
The move to AMC and its AMC+ streaming service will finally get TNA off a channel which was only in around 32 million homes in the United States, limiting its exposure. Ratings suffered big time in that period, often drawing less than 100,000 viewers weekly. AMC is currently in around 60 million homes in the U.S. and it is carried by more cable, satellite, and streaming providers.
TNA’s debut on AMC will take place on Thursday, January 15 at 9PM ET, with the show moving an hour later than the usual 8PM time slot they had on AXS. It will be a live episode from the Curtis Culwell Center in Dallas, Texas.
Former TNA star Jake Something showed up on Dynamite last night as Jake Doyle and is now part of the organization.
Doyle made his debut alongside Mark Davis in a backstage segment, taking credit for wiping out JetSpeed earlier. Later in the show, he also appeared in the ring when the rest of the Don Callis Family attacked Jack Perry and The Young Bucks.
Doyle, 36, was part of the TNA roster until the end of 2025. He had two stints with TNA, between 2017 and 2022 and then 2023 to 2025. He did appear for AEW in 2022 but only made it on AEW Dark.
“Jake Doyle arrived and made his presence known in AEW tonight, and now it’s official: @JakeSomething_ is All Elite,” posted Tony Khan, welcoming Doyle to the promotion using the usual All Elite graphic.
WWE announced yesterday that following his successful title defense at New Year’s Evil against TNA’s Leon Slater, Oba Femi has surrendered the title.
Femi is moving up to the main roster and the company took the “Asuka route,” having him relinquish the title on the way out rather than put someone over.
How a new NXT champion will be decided has not been announced yet.
Femi is expected on the main roster imminently and could be part of the WWE tour of Europe which kicks off today.
AEW took a page out of WWE’s most common fan complaint and decided to dump their original set with tunnels in return of a bland video screen entrance similar to that of Raw and Smackdown.
Now having just a single entrance for both their heels and babyfaces, the set is simply a curved videoboard at the top and a couple of more videoboards supporting the top structure.
While it’s easier to set up and handle, having a generic stage is a pet peeve of many wrestling fans and certainly isn’t a step forward in this case.
When a finisher is truly protected, the whole arena leans forward. You can feel the air change because everyone knows what usually comes next: lights out. I love those rare nights when someone survives the un-survivable—because a single kickout can flip a feud, shock a stadium, and stamp a moment into history. Below, I revisit a handful of the most protected finishers ever, and the few times the spell actually broke.
Why Protected Finishers Matter in Storytelling
Protected finishers are wrestling’s cheat code for stakes. If a move almost never fails, it becomes a character in the match: the looming threat, the last chapter, the one thing you can’t let your opponent land. That’s why the first kickout is a genuine headline; it signals a turning point for both wrestlers and often for an entire era. If you enjoy tracking that kind of momentum from a fan-and-bettor angle, this WWE betting breakdown is a handy primer (I came across it via Gambling Nerd.
The One-Winged Angel Aura
Kenny Omega’s One-Winged Angel is a modern MMA urban legend. In major promotions, you’re more likely to see counters or rope breaks than a clean escape. The widely cited exception goes back to DDT in 2012, when Kota Ibushi kicked out—an outlier that only deepened the move’s mythology.
Why it mattered: When a move keeps its near-perfect aura for years across promotions and rivals, every tease of it pops the crowd. Omega and his opponents have built entire finishing stretches around the threat of the OWA, not just the move itself.
The Tombstone’s WrestleMania Drama
The Undertaker’s Tombstone Piledriver felt like a curtain drop for decades, especially under the bright lights of WrestleMania. That’s why Shawn Michaels’ kicking out at WrestleMania 25 hit like a thunderclap—a “this can’t be happening” jolt that elevated an already all-time classic. WWE has said only a small group has ever pulled it off, underscoring how rarely the Deadman’s finisher failed.
Why it mattered: A protected finisher can become synonymous with a performer’s legacy. Every rare escape from the Tombstone wasn’t just a near fall; it was a narrative earthquake that made the next attempt even scarier.
End of Days and the Long Streak
For years, Baron Corbin’s End of Days sat in that modern “almost untouchable” tier. Then WrestleMania 38 happened, and Drew McIntyre detonated the streak by becoming the first person to kick out—one of those perfect stadium-rattling moments that you remember frame by frame. WWE’s own recap spotlighted the kickout because it instantly reframed Corbin’s threat level and boosted McIntyre’s aura.
Why it mattered: Modern TV wrestling sees more finisher kickouts than the 1990s, so when a move remains sacrosanct and then finally breaks, it feels special. McIntyre’s kickout did exactly that.
The Jackhammer’s WCW Shock
Goldberg’s Jackhammer helped define his WCW steamroll run—blink, and you’d miss it. Kickouts were practically myth until a chaotic Nitro in 1999, when Hulk Hogan survived amid interference mayhem. Even if you chalk it up to a messy moment, fans remember it because it dented the “no one kicks out” aura that Goldberg had carried through the streak years.
Why it mattered: Protecting a finisher during an undefeated run compounds the mystique. A rare escape—even under weird circumstances—sticks to the movie’s history like a footnote you can’t ignore.
F-5, Rainmaker, and the Era of Escalation
Brock Lesnar’s F-5 and Kazuchika Okada’s Rainmaker illustrate how protection can ebb and flow. Lesnar’s F-5 has finished countless epics, but, in big-match escalation, top rivals have survived one (or more) before the final bell. Okada’s Rainmaker started the 2010s with an instant lights-out. The Omega rivalry ushered in longer finishing stretches where multiple Rainmakers didn’t guarantee the three-count—an evolution that made near falls thunderous.
Why it mattered: As match lengths and athletic ceilings climbed, the “one and done” finisher became a “closing sequence.” The trick is balancing drama without turning every move into just another beat.
What a Kickout Really Says
A rare kickout is wrestling language. It can crown a rising star, freshen a long-running feud, or set up the rematch you can’t wait to see. Used sparingly, it tells the audience: tonight is different. Protect the move, protect the moment—and when you finally break the seal, make sure the building knows why.
Quick FAQ
What makes a finisher “protected”? It’s about booking and scarcity. If hardly anyone kicks out for years, fans internalize that it ends matches—so an escape becomes a storyline event, not just a near fall.
Which modern examples still feel special? Omega’s One-Winged Angel remains the poster child for “no clean kickouts in the big leagues,” with the notable Ibushi exception cited from earlier days in Japan. Corbin’s End of Days had a long, untouched run until McIntyre’s WrestleMania 38 escape.
The former TNT champion appeared on Dynamite yesterday with the Don Callis Family as they attacked Jack Perry and The Young Bucks following their trios match against The Demand.
Andrade was originally donning a mask but then took it off, making his first AEW appearance since the October 1, 2025 episode when he attacked Kenny Omega. That return lasted just one show as it was then revealed that Andrade had a year-long no-compete clause with WWE which got triggered after he got fired.
In December, legal problems with WWE were ironed out and Andrade was freed from his contract, paving the way for him to appear at Wrestle Kingdom and eventually back on AEW TV.
“He’s back, and he’s All Elite,” wrote AEW President Tony Khan afterward. “Welcome back to @AEW.”
Dynamite is back on TBS and HBO Max tonight live from Tulsa, Oklahoma and it will feature the return of Hall of Famer Jim Ross who will be calling the action for the first time since August of last year.
Five matches have been announced so far including a lights out match between Hook and Powerhouse Hobbs vs Swerve Strickland and “Hangman” Adam Page, Toni Storm vs Marina Shafir, Jack Perry and JetSpeed vs The Demand in a trios match, Bandido vs Sammy Guevara, and Jon Moxley vs Shelton Benjamin in an AEW Continental title eliminator match.
Raw failed for the third week in a row to make it to the Netflix top 10 global chart, the longest stretch since moving to the streaming service in January 2025.
The #10 spot went to the Dave Chapelle: The Unstoppable show which did 2,800,000 global viewers, meaning Raw had less than that for the December 29 broadcast.
The episode only made the top 10 in two different countries: Canada and United States, as Stranger Things continued to dominate the global chart.
The viewership for this episode will be released when Netflix does their bi-annual data dump for all their shows this month.
