Two matches for the next Saturday Night’s Main Event which will feature John Cena’s final match were announced on Smackdown last night.
WWE champion Cody Rhodes will be in action and will be facing whomever the NXT champion will be after tonight. The options will be either the reigning champion Ricky Saints or his challenger at Deadline and former champion himself Oba Femi.
The other match announced is Bayley facing former NXT Women’s North American champion Sol Ruca. One more match is expected to be added to the card.
John Cena’s final opponent will be former WWE World Heavyweight champion Gunther.
Gunther overcame LA Knight on Smackdown last night in the final match of The Last Time Is Now tournament and now has the honor of being Cena’s last dance partner.
The Austrian star went through Je’Von Evans in the first round, Carmelo Hayes in the quarter final, and Solo Sikoa in the semi final while Knight defeated Zack Ryder in the opening round, The Miz in the quarter final, and Jey Uso in the semi.
This will be Gunther’s second involvement in a farewell match this year. The popular star was already chosen to be Goldberg’s final opponent a few months ago, a match which he won.
Here are the results from the TNA Final Resolution 2025 event which took place live from the El Paso County Coliseum in El Paso, Texas.
PRE-SHOW: Cedric Alexander defeated Eric Young; Brian Myers, Eddie Edwards and Moose defeated Bear Bronson, Brock Anderson and C. W. Anderson in a six-man tag team match.
PPV: Mike Santana defeated Charlie Dempsey; The IInspiration defeated Tessa Blanchard and Victoria Crawford to retain the TNA Knockouts Tag Team titles; Matt Cardona defeated Mance Warner in a street fight; Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo defeated Steve Maclin to become the new TNA International champion; Lei Ying Lee defeated Xia Brookside to retain the TNA Knockouts title; Trey Miguel, Myron Reed, Zachary Wentz, and Dezmond Xavier defeated Mustafa Ali, John Skyler, Jason Hotch, and Special Agent in an eight-man tag team match; The Hardys defeated High Ryze to retain the TNA Tag Team titles; Leon Slater defeated AJ Francis to retain the TNA X Division title; Frankie Kazarian defeated JDC to retain the TNA World title.
Here are the results from ROH Final Battle 2025 which took place live from the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio.
ZERO HOUR: The Outrunners defeated Premier Athletes; Leila Grey defeated Zayda Steel; Ace Austin defeated Lee Johnson; Death Riders defeated Grizzled Young Veterans.
PPV: Deonna Purrazzo defeated Billie Starkz to become the inaugural ROH Women’s Pure champion; Lee Moriarty defeated Nigel McGuinness in a 30-minute Iron Man match; Red Velvet defeated Mercedes Mone to become the new ROH Women’s TV champion; Sammy Guevara and The Beast Mortos defeated Tommy Billington and Adam Priest to become the new ROH Tag Team champions; Eddie Kingston defeated Josh Woods; Shane Taylor, Carlie Bravo, and Capt. Shawn Dean defeated Scorpio Sky, Dante Martin, and Darius Martin in a six-man tag team match to retain the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles; Ricochet defeated Dalton Castle to retain the AEW National title; Bandido defeated Sammy Guevara, Blake Christian, The Beast Mortos, Komander, and Hechicero in a Survival of the Fittest match to retain the ROH World title; Athena defeated Persephone to retain the ROH Women’s title.
Netflix today announced the acquisition of Warner Bros. in a transaction which will be worth a whopping $82.7 billion.
The deal will come into effect in Q3 2026 after Warner Bros. Discovery splits, creating a separate Discovery Global publicly-traded company.
Netflix, which holds WWE’s media rights worldwide and Raw in the United States, will take over the Warner Bros. film and television studios, HBO Max, HBO, and its intellectual properties.
WBD, which airs AEW in the United States, will spin off its cable networks including TNT, AEW, Discovery, etc into the new Discovery Global.
The move is not expected to affect AEW, at least in the very beginning, as its shows will remain on TNT and TBS. The streaming rights however will then be owned by Netflix, so that part of the deal remain questionable if it will continue past Q3 2026.
AEW airs all of its programming live on HBO Max, including pay-per-views and it houses nearly all of AEW’s video library.
On today’s episode of SiriusXM’s The Nikki and Brie Show, Nikki Garcia discussed her recent Survivor Series match against Stephanie Vaquer as well as her heel turn.
Nikki Garcia on her new gear (9:08-10:50)
Brie Garcia: Well, I have to say it was fun to see your new gear. You debuted your new gear.
Nikki Garcia: That bad bitch gear.
Brie Garcia: Is that what that was? Bad bitch? So, when you talk to your gear guy, what did you say?
Nikki Garcia: I said, “Look, I feel like it’s time for a change. I’ve been in jerseys forever. I want to keep sexy, sporty, but I want it to feel more bad girl,” and so it’s funny because he did the sketch and I was like, “Ooh, I love it.” So, then when I met him in LA, it was Thanksgiving. Matteo went to Artem’s at 2, and then I went straight to the airport, and I then flew to LA and I met him and it was funny because when he met me at my hotel room and he pulls out the bra and I’m like, “Oh, where’s the rest?” and he goes, “What do you mean?” And I’m like, “Well, that’s a bra,” and he’s like, “Yeah, it’s the sketch,” and I was just assuming maybe it was a full back or I don’t know and I go, “Oh my gosh, I don’t know how I’m going to do this,” and he’s like, “You’re going to do it and it’s going to be amazing,” but I made sure before I went out there, not only was I fully taped and all the things, I got sewn and taped in. I mean, I made them not only sew me in, but I go, “Can you duct tape around?” and I got tips from Rhea because she wears bras and well, you know what I mean, bra inspired, that shape, but I won’t lie, there was a few moments I caught myself looking down because when I bumped, I was like, “They’re still in, right?” But I loved it. I loved the look and it’s a good change and I’m going to keep moving forward with it and going in more and more of a different direction.
Nikki Garcia discusses her heel turn (25:20-26:07)
Nikki Garcia: I could look, and I see, and I know that how the things are different, but I also think it’s fun and different. It’s not like I’m going to be here forever and it’s funny because that’s what the producers try to tell others. “You will have so much time to tell these different stories, but take in what can we tell now,” and that’s what I also like to take in for myself, so now how can this heel character, what does she use? You know, if it continues or where it goes, or if she comes back months from now, you know.
Brie Garcia: Her twin sister?
Nikki Garcia: Well, but meaning like, what can she use to dominate this era because she can’t do it alone? Whatever it might be. I think of that stuff. It’s not like I sit here and…
Brie Garcia: Well, you should be thinking about that. What characters evolve and…
Nikki Garcia: Oh, I have very good ideas that I will share with you.
The Nikki & Brie Show hosted by Nikki & Brie Garcia is available anytime on the SiriusXM app. New episodes every Monday and Thursday. Listen to the full episode here.
Appearing on The Bill Simmons Podcast, John Cena discussed the topic of Vince McMahon and admitted he did not want Vince to leave WWE even after the whole Janel Grant scandal rocked the company.
Asked if he thought WWE could ever survive without Vince McMahon at the helm, Cena told Simmons that out of all the things Vince thought him throughout the years, he thought him something very important and that is that no one was irreplaceable.
“Vince has so much knowledge. I think what’s happened is unfortunate because you have this individual with so much depth of field who can do can still offer things and we no longer can pull from that well,” Cena said.
“So yeah, I never wanted Vince to go because I love him and I know how much he loves the business, but he taught me like…we’re all gonna go,” Cena continued.
He added that Vince was not just words, but a man of action as well as he let a lot of box office attractions go throughout the years.
Cena said that Vince once told him that he got to let people know it’s not okay when they do certain things and when it’s time for them to go, then they go.
“Everybody goes man, everybody goes, so…” Cena said.
Former WWE Co-President George Barrios is writing a book which is set for release in mid-2026.
Barrios was one of the most powerful figures in WWE under the leadership of Vince McMahon, with him and Michelle Wilson enjoying the full trust of the former Chairman and CEO, until his firing in 2020. He was brought back to the company when McMahon returned to the helm for a short period.
The book is titled Sometimes Wrong but Never in Doubt: How a Cuban Kid from Queens Transformed WWE.
The preview for the book reads, “George Barrios helped transform WWE from an $800 million wrestling company into a $9.3 billion global sports and entertainment powerhouse. For the son of Cuban immigrants who grew up in a cramped Queens apartment near LaGuardia Airport and nearly flunked out of high school, the climb to the corporate boardroom was anything but obvious.
Barrios’s story blends grit, reinvention, and bold bets. He went from a 2nd grader forging a letter from his parents so the nuns wouldn’t expel him to the highest levels of corporate leadership. As WWE’s longtime strategist, he pioneered streaming years before other sports properties caught up and helped make WWE the #1 sports brand on YouTube with over a billion followers.
When Vince McMahon abruptly fired him in 2020, Barrios cofounded Isos Capital—and three years later, McMahon called him back. The Cuban kid from Queens had become indispensable.”
Barrios joined WWE in March 2008 as Chief Financial Officer before being promoted to Co-President years later.
In his first post-retirement appearance at a fan convention, the prices for photo ops and autographs for John Cena have been more than halved.
Cena will be appearing at the Fan Expo New Orleans 2026 between January 9 and 11 at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center and prices for a photo op are $190.64 and $158.69 for an 8×10 autograph or $211.94 for anything else. If you nee a bulky item autographed such as a title belt, it’s $265.19.
The leader of the Cenation will also address a panel and tickets start from just $41.54 to attend.
These prices are way lower than what WWE has been charging for Cena photo ops, with the last one at Survivor Series selling for over $443.77 per photo.
Cena is advertised for this show in a suit and tie and not in his wrestling gear.
Live from the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ring of Honor presents Final Battle 2025 streaming exclusively on ROH HonorClub. The full card is as follows:
Bandido vs Blake Christian vs The Beast Mortos vs Sammy Guevara vs Komander vs Hechicero in a Survival of the Fittest match for the ROH World title; Athena vs Persephone for the ROH Women’s World title; Ricochet vs Dalton Castle or the AEW National title; Mercedes Mone vs Red Velvet for the ROH Women’s TV title; Sammy Guevara and The Beast Mortos vs Tommy Billington and Adam Priest for the vacant ROH Tag Team titles; Shane Taylor, Carlie Bravo, and Capt. Shawn Dean vs Scorpio Sky, Dante Martin, and Darius Martin in a six-man tag team match for the ROH Six-Man Tag Team titles; Lee Moriarty vs Nigel McGuinness in a 30-minute Iron Man match; Deonna Purrazzo vs Billie Starkz for the inaugural ROH Women’s Pure title; Eddie Kingston vs Josh Woods; and Lee Johnson vs Ace Austin in the Zero Hour show.
How to watch
Final Battle is available only through WatchROH.com and a $9.99 subscription is required. The event will start at 8PM ET with Zero Hour airing on AEW social media properties starting an hour earlier at 7PM ET.
A lawsuit was filed in New York this week accusing WWE, TKO, John Cena, and others of using an unlicensed sample to create parts of John Cena’s iconic theme song The Time Is Now according to Brandon Thurston of POSTWrestling.com.
The lawsuit claims that the horn arrangements which are part of the intro and outro were stolen from the 1974 cover recording by Pete Schofield, a Canadian artist who passed away. The lawsuit was filed by his daughter, Kim, who now has full copyright to her dad’s music, including the sample in question.
The horn arrangement is part of Schofield’s instrumental cover of The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia, which she claims were added to the original song by her father.
Schofield said that in 2017, she reached a settlement with WWE over the song in the range of $50,000 but now wants more after she is claiming that the company withheld key information during negotiations.
John Cena retires from active in-ring competition in just a week, with one final match at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13 live from Washington, DC.
Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live yesterday to promote Saturday Night’s Main Event and his final match, John Cena said that come December 13, the curtain will drop and that will be it for him.
Wrestlers don’t often keep their retirement promise and many have come out of retirement for either another match or multiple matches. But Cena is adamant that December 13 will be the last time ever we’ll see him in the ring as an active competitor.
“23 years of performing in WWE, and we’re down to our last date. It’s been a crazy year where I announced this like 15 months in advance that I’m going to retire,” Cena told Kimmel.
“This has really never been done in WWE history. WWE Superstars don’t necessarily retire, they always kind of hang on for one more match,” he continued. “I am absolutely 100% done. The 13th of December on Peacock is my last in-ring performance, I will never wrestle again!”
Cena also said that the original plan was to have a two-hour tribute show on SNME but he shot it down and wanted to feature exhibition matches with NXT talent as a way to pay it forward.
“You’re going to see some…technically minor leaguers, step up to the plate and see if they can make an impact,” Cena continued. “So I think that’s kind of cool. Like, on the way out, to give most of the programming to the future of the business. I’m really excited about that.”
Modern combat promotions no longer live solely off ticket sales-the backbone of the economy is formed by media rights, sponsorship integrations, and shares of PPV broadcasts. That is precisely why fights on the level of Usyk vs. Joshua are capable of generating tens of millions of dollars: their first bout alone brought in over $65 million from PPV, and the total income of the participants and organizers exceeded $80 million. This revenue distribution structure makes elite boxing one of the most resource-intensive sports, where the earnings of each participant directly depend on their market value and the size of their audience.
In MMA, the model is built around a more centralized form of management. The UFC, for example, controls the media pool, ticket sales, sponsorship deals, and advertising integrations-fighters receive fixed payouts plus bonuses for wins and performance. By comparison, Jon Jones earned around $3 million in guaranteed pay for his fight with Ciryl Gane, while Conor McGregor in his top bouts made $20-30 million, including his share of PPV. This gap clearly shows how critical it is for an athlete to have a strong media image and a stable fan base.
What fighters’ and promoters’ income is based on-and why the numbers keep growing
The earnings of top athletes are built on several core revenue sources: broadcast sales, PPV distribution, contractual obligations, and sponsorship bonuses. In boxing, the PPV percentage can bring in 5-10 times more than the guaranteed purse. For example, Anthony Joshua earned around £33 million in guaranteed pay in his rematch with Usyk, but thanks to strong broadcast sales, the final figure could approach £60 million. In MMA, the structure is stricter, but market leaders still have the opportunity to earn additional millions through PPV shares and exclusive advertising agreements and partnerships such as with 1win yukle especially in title fights. This is exactly where analysts note a steady rise in fighters’ market value, as the audience becomes global and digital platforms increase monetization through new distribution channels.
It is also worth highlighting the sharp growth in the income of fighters from Eastern Europe and South Asia. Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk earned more than $75 million in total from his two fights against Joshua-figures that just ten years ago were considered unattainable for a heavyweight outside the United States. In MMA, a similar trend can be seen with Islam Makhachev, whose title bout with Volkanovski brought him about $2 million in guaranteed pay plus a percentage of PPV sales, taking his total income to $4-5 million. These trends show that financial distribution is no longer tied to a single country: money flows to wherever there is a востребованный product and a global audience.
The growth of purses has been driven by the overall expansion of the media market. Broadcasts are increasingly shifting to digital formats: in India and Pakistan, annual growth in subscribers watching fights reaches 12-18%, while the average cost of PPV is gradually stabilizing. This creates a sustainable financial base and allows promotions to guarantee large payouts to athletes in advance without fear of losses.
Why understanding the economics of fights matters to the viewer and how it shapes the perception of the industry
When a viewer understands how purses are formed, why one fighter earns $25 million while another earns $300,000, it becomes easier to assess the scale of the event, the level of promotion, and the promoters’ stakes in a particular bout. This transparency makes it easier to navigate the media noise: knowing the show’s budget, one can predict how aggressive the marketing will be, how many stars will appear on the undercard, and how seriously the promotion is targeting an international audience.
Numbers play a decisive role. For example, if in India the audience for boxing broadcasts grows by 15% annually, and the average PPV subscription price is the equivalent of 600-900 INR, this directly affects the cross-regional appeal of fighters. Promoters are more willing to organize bouts featuring athletes popular in these markets, as additional viewers translate into millions of extra dollars. The same applies to MMA: a fighter’s entry into the U.S. market can increase the total revenue of an event by 30-40%, reshaping the payout structure and the balance of power within a division.
Awareness of these processes makes watching fights deeper and more meaningful: the viewer understands what economic stakes lie behind each matchup. It is no longer just a sporting spectacle, but a major industry built on a clear business logic, where purses, rights sales, and audience interest drive the sport’s development. That is why even an average fan, by studying financial reports and promoters’ commentary, can forecast which fights will take place, why a particular athlete receives a high contract, and how the media landscape will change in the coming years.
Live tonight from the El Paso County Coliseum in El Paso, Texas, TNA Wrestling presents Final Resolution streaming exclusively on TNA+. The full card is as follows:
Frankie Kazarian vs JDC for the TNA World title; Lei Ying Lee vs Xia Brookside for the TNA Knockouts title; The IInspiration vs Tessa Blanchard and Victoria Crawford for the TNA Knockouts Tag Team titles; Leon Slater vs AJ Francis for the TNA X Division title; The Hardys vs High Ryze for the TNA Tag Team titles; Steve Maclin vs Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo for the TNA International title; The Rascalz vs Order 4 in an eight-man tag team match; Mike Santana vs Charlie Dempsey; and Mance Warner vs Matt Cardona in a street fight; and Eric Young vs Cedric Alexander in the pre-show.
How to watch
A subscription to TNA+ is required to watch Final Resolution, costing $9.99 for a month and you can cancel at anytime. The Countdown to Final Resolution will start at 8:30PM ET and airs for free on TNA+ and TNA’s social media properties while the actual event kicks off at 9PM ET.
TNA President Carlos Silva has labeled the move to AMC as a game changer for the company on different aspects while appearing on the Battleground podcast.
He said with the move, everyone will be able to find TNA because they’re on a popular cable network in America now.
“And that’s going to change the game for our wrestlers. It’s going to change the game for the team. It’s going to change the game for TNA,” Silva said.
AMC is believed to be in around 60 million homes in the United States, almost twice the homes that AXS TV is in at the moment.
He said that there’s a lot of integrations they can do with AMC and the sponsor teams and creative teams will be working together in the future.
Asked what the most difference will be from AXS TV to AMC, Silva said that AMC is a foundational cable network and it’s on the first page of everyone’s guide.
“It’s probably a network that you might have watched over the last couple of days already. You’re going to see promotion throughout the network every day about what’s going to be happening on Thursday Night Impact on AMC,” he continued.
AMC and TNA announced their new media rights deal on Tuesday, with the premiere set for Thursday, January 15, 2026 at 9PM ET. The show will be live from the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas.
CMLL announced a brand new event marketed under the name of CMLL Dream Matches and will feature three stars from AEW.
Set to take place on Friday, December 19 live from Arena Mexico in Mexico City, the show will be headlined by a match for the CMLL Heavyweight title, currently held by AEW’s Claudio Castagnoli.
The Death Riders member will be defending his gold against Ultimo Guerrero. Castagnoli won the title last week.
The other two matches will have CMLL Historic Welterweight champion Mascara Dorado defending against “Speedball” Mike Bailey and Neon vs Kevin Knight.
A couple of NXT stars will be involved in the TNA Final Resolution 2025 event tonight airing exclusively on TNA+.
This show continues the working partnership between TNA and NXT, with talent exchanges both at regular television tapings as well as streaming specials.
Charlie Dempsey, Tyson Dupont, Tyriek Igwe, and Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo are all part of the card, with Dempsey taking on Mike Santana, High Ryze going for the TNA Tag Team titles against The Hardys, and Lorenzo battling Steve Maclin for the TNA International title.
Multiple Hollywood and TV insiders are reporting that Netflix is in pole position to take over Warner Bros. Discovery and has entered into an exclusive negotiation period after offering $30 a share price for the takeover.
The bid is only for the Warner Bros. studio, the HBO Max streaming service, and all the intellectual property including DC Universe and others such as Friends, Harry Potter, etc.
The deal does not involve any of WBD’s cable networks.
WBD is AEW’s media partner in the United States, with AEW programming and pay-per-views airing on HBO Max as well as the majority of the video library. Netflix is WWE’s media partner worldwide and has rights to Raw in the United States.
What would happen to that partnership remains to be seen but the deal is expected to face several regulatory hurdles in the United States and probably European Union too.
Paramount, which was bidding for the company as a whole, has already cried foul and alleged irregularities from Netflix’s side in negotiations.
Paramount is also a TKO partner and will have rights to the UFC from January 2026.
Appearing on The Pat McAfee show, WWE President Nick Khan asked point blank when McAfee was returning to the company.
“I am in shape,” replied McAfee. The former NFL player left WWE in June after requesting some time off and then football season kicked in. He returned for one night only at Wrestlepalooza doing commentary for the WWE debut on ESPN.
“We’re going to bring you back. I know you and I are going to sit together once college football slows,” said Khan, who added that he received six text messages during the interview asking when McAfee would be returning.
McAfee usually works with WWE when there’s no college football as he is part of the College GameDay program on ESPN. He would be free to work with WWE again in late January if both sides agree to resume working together.
Deadline.com is reporting that CM Punk has joined the cast of the Netflix rom-com The Bodyguard.
The current WWE World Heavyweight champion will play the role of the character named Doghouse, described as a “physically intimidating member of the security detail, who is known for his loyalty and humor.”
Netflix has not revealed any plot of the film but it’s based on a 2022 novel where a bodyguard is assigned to protect a charming action star over the holidays, leading sparks to fly and secrets to unravel.
The cast already includes Andie MacDowell, Walker Hayes, Noah LaLonde, and Toby Sandeman. It will be directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum.
