Collision this past Saturday drew 423,000 viewers, up 14,000 viewers from the prior week. It was one of the most-watched episodes of 2025 and a good number considering it went up against NFL pre-season and UFC Fight Night. It pulled a 0.08 rating in 18-49, down 0.02 from the previous week. Collision was #11 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
Vince McMahon “angry” at how WWE presented Hulk Hogan in last appearance
Former WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon revealed in an interview for the TMZ Presents: The Real Hulk Hogan documentary which aired yesterday that he was angry when Hulk was put in that position on the Raw Netflix premiere which allowed fans to boo him out of the building.
Vince said that it was not the way he would have done it if he were in charge and Hogan deserved much more than that.
“I was angry because we’ve known each other for a lifetime, professionally and personally,” McMahon said. “And setting up, so to speak, this larger than life superhero, you don’t just let him walk out there. He deserved something very, very special. More than anyone, they owe him.”
McMahon continued, “It’s just like, okay, here comes Hulk Hogan. I got angry because that’s not the way I would have done it and he deserved much more.”
Jimmy Hart said in an interview after Hogan died that the Hlckster was devastated by the reaction from the fans even though he played it cool on TV and in subsequent interviews.
TMZ Presents: The Real Hulk Hogan documentary is now available on Hulu.
WWE ref Charles Robinson ends up in ER after bat bite
WWE referee Charles Robinson found himself in the ER after he revealed in a post on Instagram that he was bitten by a bat.
“Lil Naitch” did not explain how he ended up in the presence of a bat but said that at 2AM he got bit by one.
“That’s right a bat! 4 hours later in the ER and six shots,” Robinson wrote.
Robinson posted a photo in a hospital bed and getting a shot in his finger, which looked rather painful and another photo of the small bat which bit him.
Raw views for 08/04/2025
The August 4 episode of Raw, which was the fallout from SummerSlam, drew 3,000,000 global viewers on Netflix, up 300,000 viewers from the prior week and their best showing since April 28.
Netflix calculated a total of 6,100,000 viewing hours on an edited running time of 1 hour and 59 minutes, placing the show in #5 on the global top 10 chart.
This episode placed in the top 10 in 19 different countries including Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Trinidad & Tobago, United Kingdom, and United States.
TNA Knockouts title on the line at NXT Heatwave
The TNA Knockouts title will be on the line at the NXT Heatwave premium live event in a triple threat match.
It was announced last night on NXT that Jacy Jayne, who is also the NXT Women’s champion, will defend her gold against former champion Masha Slamovich and Ash by Elegance.
Meanwhile, another triple threat match will take place to see who will challenge Jayne next for the NXT Women’s title, with Jaida Parker, Kelani Jordan, and Lola Vice involved.
Heatwave takes place on Sunday, August 24 live from the Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, Massachusetts.
John Cena featured in the ESPN streaming service ad
John Cena is featured in the new ad for ESPN promoting their DTC service which will make its debut on August 21.
In the ad, Cena is seen in front of two big whiteboards where the names of “The all new ESPN app team” are listed.
With some of ESPN’s biggest moments playing in between, Cena then turns around and fist bumps the ESPN app mascot, aptly named App-E, as they walk away.
“The next era begins” is then flashed on the screen and the August 21 date and ESPN logo are shown.
WWE signed a five-year deal with ESPN last week for a total of $1.6 billion which will see them air all the premium live events exclusively on the new ESPN app, some of which will also be on the ESPN linear TV channels.
The deal kicks in with WrestleMania 42 from Las Vegas.
ESPN has released a teaser for its upcoming ESPN direct-to-consumer & enhanced ESPN App launch
The campaign features @JohnCena & ESPN’s first-ever mascot, App-E
ESPN will be available for fans beginning Aug. 21
More: https://t.co/bSjR5n7ZKy pic.twitter.com/WktBafyOAK
— ESPN Front Row (@ESPNFrontRow) August 11, 2025
Smackdown rating for 08/08/2025
Smackdown on Friday night drew 1,557,000 viewers on USA Network, up 13,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had competition from the NFL preseason match between the Browns and the Panthers on NFL Network which drew 2,237,000 viewers. Smackdown was #2 on cable in 18-49 with a 0.48 rating, up 0.02 from last week and was also #2 in overall TV. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
Trailer for TMZ Presents: The Real Hulk Hogan documentary published
The trailer for tonight’s Hulk Hogan documentary was published by TMZ.COM.
TMZ also published the opening two minutes of the documentary where you will see the chaos in the TMZ newsroom when one of the staffers got the call saying that Hogan has passed away and how fast it took them to confirm and publish the news within minutes.
Snippets of Vince McMahon, Sylvester Stallone, Goldberg, Mark Henry, and Charlotte Flair sit-down interviews are then played.
The documentary, titled TMZ Presents: The Real Hulk Hogan, airs on FOX at 8PM ET and will be available on Hulu tomorrow.
Harvey Levin, Ryan Regan, Don Nash, Charles Latibeaudiere and Jess Fusco serve as executive producers with co-executive producer Susan Favre.
WWE rumored for September 20 PLE in Indianapolis, head-to-head with AEW All Out
Multiple industry insiders are reporting that WWE has another premium live event which they have not announced, one which is set for September 20 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The date might sound familiar to wrestling fans as that is the date when AEW will have its All Out pay-per-view from Toronto, Canada. This would be the first time that WWE puts a main roster PLE against an AEW show head-to-head.
In the past, WWE has done counter programming for AEW shows using either NXT head-to-head or airing main roster shows later in the day when AEW had an earlier start time.
The event has not been officially announced by WWE and the location is scheduled to be the Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the 18,000-seater arena home of the NBA’s Indiana Pacers.
The date would be just three weeks from the Clash In Paris premium live event and three weeks prior to Crown Jewel in Perth, Australia.
TMZ presents: The Real Hulk Hogan documentary to premiere on FOX tonight
FOX will be airing a new Hulk Hogan documentary tonight titled TMZ Presents: The Real Hulk Hogan. The show premieres at 8PM ET tonight and will be available on the next day on Hulu for subscribers.
“A look back at how Hulk Hogan changed professional wrestling and became one of the biggest icons in America; Hulk’s closest friends, competitors and fellow champions discuss how one man, Terry Bollea, changed pop culture forever,” reads the synopsis for the show.
The special will contain interviews from Sylvester Stallone, Vince McMahon, Mick Foley, Bill Goldberg, Jimmy Hart and Mark Henry with additional interviews from WWE Superstars including Alexa Bliss, Jacob Fatu and Charlotte Flair. It’s unclear which ones are new interviews but Vince McMahon did record new interviews specifically for this documentary.
Harvey Levin, Ryan Regan, Don Nash, Charles Latibeaudiere and Jess Fusco serve as executive producers with co-executive producer Susan Favre.
ESPN Chairman says they would be interested in bidding for WWE video library
ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro hinted that the company would be interested in bidding for the WWE video library if WWE decides to put those rights up for sale in the future.
Speaking on The Ringer’s Press Box podcast, Pitaro said they’re always interested in content of that quality and while he confirmed they will have archival rights for the events which will air on ESPN during the duration of the deal, they would be up to bid for the library.
WWE and ESPN announced a five-year deal worth $1.6 billion which will see all WWE premium live events from WrestleMania 42 onward to air on ESPN’s new streaming service. Some of those PLEs will also air on ESPN linear television.
Pitaro also added that WWE is willing to work with ESPN to fill certain programming gaps if required.
“So no commitments and they’re producing these events, but I would expect that if I were to call Nick Khan and say, ‘Hey, can you work with me? We have a particular gap here in our schedule.’ I expect he will,” the Chairman said.
Just like every service, there is churn and Pitaro said that he hopes the monthly WWE PLEs will minimize that churn.
“When we first started to look at these premium events, we immediately thought of the calendar and the fact that these events could help us plug in some holes, some gaps that we might have in our schedule and thereby minimize churn,” Pitaro said.
JBL to do color commentary for AAA Triplemania XXXIII with Corey Graves
Corey Graves’ commentary partner for the AAA Triplemania XXXIII show this Saturday will be none other than Hall of Famer John “Bradshaw” Layfield.
Layfield, a former Smackdown commentator himself, has appeared multiple times on AAA television but never behind the commentary table on their show.
Speaking on the Something To Wrestle podcast, JBL said, “I just got the deal from WWE…not a deal. They asked me to come out and do commentary. Some of you call that a deal or not. It’s an engagement, it’s an appearance, whatever you want to call it but…I’m very excited to go be a part of Triplemania.”
He noted that he’s been going down to Mexico since the early 90s and met Konnan after he main evented the first Triplemania. Bradshaw said it took a “nanosecond” to accept WWE’s invitation to do color commentary for the show.
Graves led the commentary team in June for the Worlds Collide event along with Konnan.
AAA Triplemania XXXIII will stream live on WWE’s YouTube channel in both English and Spanish. The show, from Arena Mexico, is sold out.
Fatal four-way for WWE World Heavyweight title set for Clash In Paris
The WWE World Heavyweight title will be on the line at Clash In Paris in a fatal four-way match.
After the main event, which saw CM Punk and LA Knight vs Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed end in a fourth consecutive DQ finish, Seth Rollins joined in on beating up the faces until former champion Jey Uso came out to make the save and even the odds.
It was then that Raw General Manager Adam Pearce came out and announced that at Clash, it would be Rollins vs Punk vs Knight vs Uso for the title, a decision which did not go down well with Rollins.
Punk and Knight, who were at each other’s throats for the whole show, then brawled against each other with Jey trying to place peacemaker. But the heels quickly took advantage, with Breakker spearing Punk and Knight, and Reed delivering the Tsunami on Uso. Rollins also stomped Punk for good measure.
The show ended with The Vision standing tall while Punk, Uso, and Knight were left motionless.
TKO shares go up 10% on Wall Street
TKO shares increased by 10.32% during trading today on Wall Street coming off the historic UFC media rights deal with Paramount Skydance.
Shares opened at $164.21 each but quickly climbed at the start of the day after the announcement was made early in the morning before the market opened.
TKO closed the day trading at $180.14, giving the company a market cap value of $14.8 billion.
UFC’s deal with Paramount amounts to $7.7 billion over seven years with all of UFC’s numbered events plus 30 Fight Nights shows moving to Paramount+.
Kross and Scarlett merch on sale at ProWrestlingTees
Non-WWE merchandise for Karrion Kross, who reverted to his Killer Kross name, and Scarlett are already available for sale on ProWrestlingTees.com.
The two shirts are selling for $24.99 and $29.99 respectively and are available to order today.
ProWrestlingTees.com is where most wrestling stars put their merch up for sale and the outlet is also the official shop of AEW.
WWE Shop still has Kross and Scarlett apparel for sale, with a few items only for a discounted price.
Kross and Scarlett announced their WWE departure yesterday although there are some who still believe this is, and could be, a work.
Nikki Bella says no more “prom photos” at meet & greets after viral photo from SummerSlam
On today’s episode of SiriusXM’s The Nikki and Brie Show, Nikki & Brie Garcia recap their whirlwind stretch of travel for SummerSlam and more.
Nikki Garcia addressed an awkward photo with a fan that recently went viral and shares that she is enjoying her underdog era. She also reveals that she will be getting an MRI for her breast implant injury.
Nikki Garcia addresses viral awkward fan photo (12:49-15:18)
Brie Garcia: So, you know that photo that went viral with you and the fan from Fanatics?
Nikki Garcia: Where it looks like I’m getting pounded from behind? Is that even appropriate to say?
Brie Garcia: The gentleman you took the photo with is Brian Lemma, but I didn’t even get to talk to you yet about it, but I remember I was like scrolling. I don’t know. I was taking my time, drinking my strawberry matcha latte and I’m like, “What the?” I’m like, “Did Nikki let someone just hold her that tight from behind?”
Nikki Garcia: Okay. Well, I do feel like from now on, there’s going to have to be a no prom pose rule.
Brie Garcia: I agree. I agree.
Nikki Garcia: After this photo, but I will say he had an incredible story. He asked very politely about doing a prom photo. I’ve done it a bunch. You guys, I didn’t feel anything. It wasn’t like, it never felt inappropriate. It didn’t feel like what the photo looks like.
Brie Garcia: Yeah. He just a pelvic thrust, right? When they said, “Three, two, one.”
Nikki Garcia: I think that was his posture, but maybe I think I feel like it was his posture and those pants of mine were kind of baggy. They kind of stuck out, so you know how sometimes photos get distorted? I honestly feel like that’s what, because I would be honest and I would literally go straight to my rep like, “Hey, that was really inappropriate. I felt stuff.” I didn’t have that at all and he was actually, I mean, unless I’m getting played, but he had a very, very sweet story. He’s watched us, Brie, from day one. He was very sweet, so I won’t even comment on it. I know because I saw the page where it had like, I think, what? Like a thousand comments and I’m like, “Oh my gosh, I’m not even going to get involved in this.”
Brie Garcia: I like read so many of them.
Nikki Garcia: But I will admit when I saw the photo, I had to like go back and be like, “Did I ever feel like I was treated inappropriately?”
Brie Garcia: No, you would have spoken up.
Nikki Garcia: “Did I feel anything?” But I would have spoken up, and so that photo is more kind of distorted than it actually was and that can kind of happen, you know.
Brie Garcia: Well, now you know why some people make rules because things go viral for no reasons.
Nikki Garcia: Right, and I feel like now after that, lesson learned because I do prom photos a lot with people. I’m just, now that’s going to be a no. It’s going to be a no.
Nikki Garcia says she is enjoying her underdog era (48:51-49:31)
Nikki Garcia: I truly feel like right now I’m in this like rockier, like an underdog era and I haven’t been in that underdog era for a really, really long time and it’s kind of cool to be there because all I have to do is climb up, is to keep fighting my way up, and it’s kind of cool to be back in this underdog era because of the expectation or where I’m at and it’s kind of cool that all I have to do is show up and give my best and impress and have the crowd behind me and fight for this and I want to fight hard for it.
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.
ROH Final Battle 2025 to be held at Galaxycon
The Ring of Honor Final Battle special event will be held on Friday, December 5 live from the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio.
This will be part of the popular Galaxycon which will be there from December 5-7. AEW will also tape Collision from the same location the following night on Saturday.
Final Battle will stream on the ROH HonorClub service and a subscription is required to watch.
Last year AEW also did shows at Galaxycon so this is the second year in a row with the collaboration.
Tickets for both shows go on sale Monday, August 18 at 10AM ET at AEWTix.com. Premium seating pre-sale starts tomorrow, August 12.
Former WWE star Kacy Catanzaro returning to American Ninja Warrior
Former WWE Superstar Kacy Catanzaro, who wrestled as Katana Chance, is returning to America Ninja Warrior in an episode airing tonight on NBC and Peacock starting at 8PM ET.
The 35-year-old was the first-ever female to complete the American Ninja Warrior qualifying course back in 2014. She was also the first female to complete the warped wall and the first female to complete a city finals course, keeping that record for five long years.
She spent three years doing America Ninja Warrior courses and joined WWE immediately after she retired from it in 2017.
Catanzaro had a seven-year career with the company, starting in NXT and then eventually moving up to the main roster. She is a former one-time NXT Women’s Tag Team champion and one-time WWE Women’s Tag Team champion, both reigns with Kayden Carter. She was released in May of this year.
See you on Monday @ninjawarrior August 11th | NBC and Peacock #AmericanNinjaWarrior pic.twitter.com/xJhjPNQGqQ
— Kacy Catanzaro (@KacyCatanzaro) August 9, 2025
Dynamite Title Tuesday set for October 7 in Jacksonville
AEW Title Tuesday is returning later this year with a live Dynamite set for Tuesday, October 7. The event will be held at AEW’s home at Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida.
The show puts it in a direct head-to-head competition with NXT because on the Wednesday of that particular week, TBS airs the MLB playoffs.
Collision will be taped the following night also from Daily’s Place.
Tickets go on sale Monday, August 18 at AEWTix.com. Premium seating pre-sale starts tomorrow, August 12.
Last year’s head-to-head wasn’t a good outing for AEW with that Dynamite drawing just 329,000 viewers against NXT’s 874,000.
TKO strikes gold with blockbuster UFC media rights deal with Paramount
It’s been a crazy week for TKO Group Holdings as the company and its UFC subsidiary today announced a new blockbuster media rights deal with Paramount Skydance worth $7.7 billion.
Set over a span of seven years with an average value of $1.1 billion per year, the new deal will see 13 numbered UFC events and 30 UFC Fight Nights airing exclusively on Paramount+, with some events being simulcast on CBS.
The deal effectively kills the pay-per-view model for the UFC as all the events will be part of the Paramount+ subscription, similar to what WWE has with Peacock and with ESPN next year.
“I couldn’t be more excited to join forces with Dana, Ari, and Mark. Rarely do opportunities arise to partner on an exclusive basis with a global sports powerhouse like UFC – an organization with extraordinary global recognition, scale, and cultural impact,” said David Ellison, Chairman and CEO of Paramount. “Paramount’s advantage lies in the expansive reach of our linear and streaming platforms. Live sports continue to be a cornerstone of our broader strategy — driving engagement, subscriber growth, and long-term loyalty, and the addition of UFC’s year-round must-watch events to our platforms is a major win. We look forward to delivering this premium content to millions of fans in the U.S., and potentially beyond.”
“This is a milestone moment and landmark deal for UFC, solidifying its position as a preeminent global sports asset,” said Ariel Emanuel, Executive Chair and CEO, TKO. “Our decade-long journey with UFC has been defined by continuous growth and expansion, and this agreement is an important realization of our strategy. We believe wholeheartedly in David’s vision and look forward to being in business with a company that will prioritize technology as a means to enhance storytelling and the overall viewing experience.”
“Paramount is a platinum partner with significant reach,” said Mark Shapiro, President and COO, TKO. “Our new agreement unlocks powerful opportunities at TKO for years to come – meaningful economics for investors; expanded premium inventory for global brand partners; and deeper engagement for UFC’s passionate fanbase. Just as importantly, our athletes will love this new stage.”
The deal will kick off in January 2026 when UFC exits ESPN and is replaced by WWE on a new $1.6 billion five-year deal which will see 10 premium live events streaming on their new DTC service and some of them simulcasting on ESPN linear.
This historic deal does not include any of The Ultimate Fighter, Dana White’s Contender Series, or any of the UFC video library, which could be sold to another partner.
TKO also has the NXT premium live events domestic rights and the vast WWE video library also potentially going to other broadcast partners in a different deal.