This week’s episode of Dynamite received a massive addition in viewers, with the show doing a total of 711,000, up 99,000 viewers from last week. Perhaps this was out of frustration from other fans from the events that followed in the weekend or perhaps it was just a good night for AEW, which had its second-best number of 2025 behind Grand Slam: Mexico. The show did a 0.18 rating in 18-49, up 0.02 from last week and was #2 in the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
King of the Hill advertising on next week’s episode of Smackdown
Variety is reporting that for marketing to promote the return of the King of the Hill animated show on Hulu, Disney Entertainment Television has cooked up some creative ideas, one including WWE and specifically next week’s Smackdown.
For the August 15 episode from Boston, the wrestling ring mat will feature King of the Hill signage and digital creative will be shown throughout the arena.
In addition, WWE Superstars Sheamus and Johnny Gargano will create videos inspired by moments from the show.
Other ads bought by Disney for the show include San Diego Comic-Con, Fortnite, ATX TV Festival, NASCAR, Whataburger, Alamo Beer, and This Past Weekend with Theo Von podcast.
Roman Reigns added to Raw in Birmingham, England and Clash in Paris PLE
Roman Reigns will be working the Raw in Birmingham, England on the road to Clash in Paris and is scheduled to be also at the premium live event in a match yet to be announced.
Reigns’ involvement in the Birmingham Raw was announced by the arena itself today, saying that this will be WWE’s first live show from Birmingham in 12 years and Reigns is coming to town. That show is set for Monday, August 25.
WWE has a big ticket problem for Clash in Paris as the 30,000-seater indoor stadium is pretty much empty on the floor. Floor tickets are being sold at ridiculously high prices ranging from $481 to $3,800 and European fans have decided to put an end to it.
While the rest of the stadium is pretty much packed, 18 floor sections remain largely unsold. With three weeks to go for the show, the company has to drastically reduce the pricing to make the floor look somewhat full.
Natalya added to Triplemania XXXIII, gets Reina de Reinas title shot
WWE Superstar Natalya has been announced for next week’s AAA Triplemania XXXIII event in Mexico City.
The former champ will be taking on Lady Flammer and Faby Apache in a three-way match for the AAA Reina de Reinas championship.
She is the tenth WWE star to be participating on the show, which will also have Dominik Mysterio, Dragon Lee, El Grande Americano, Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, Raquel Rodriguez, Lola Vice, Berto, and Angel.
Triplemania XXXIII takes place on Saturday, August 16 live from Arena CDMX and will stream on WWE’s YouTube channel free worldwide.
Over 25,000 tickets moved for Survivor Series 2025: WarGames
WWE has moved over 25,000 tickets for the Survivor Series so far according to ticket tracking service @WrestleTix.
A first count of the map shows a total of 25,590 tickets out based on a setup of nearly 29,000 seats. This will of course increase over the next few months as the Petco Park in San Diego can hold 47,000 seats.
This will be the first-ever Survivor Series in a stadium and now leaves Money In The Bank as the last one of the “big five” without ever having a stadium show.
The cheapest tickets available for Survivor Series are going for $119.70 and they are in the 300 level, which is the top of the stadium. The majority of unsold tickets are on the floor where they start from $6,000 for ringside.
This year’s event will also be revolving around WarGames, with two WarGames matches – one for men and one for women – scheduled to take place.
Paul Heyman says WWE deal with Travis Scott “fell apart”
Paul Heyman told Ariel Helwani during an appearance on his show yesterday that the whole deal with Travis Scott fell apart and WWE decided to move ahead without him.
There were rumors that Scott was not dedicating enough time in his wrestling training and wasn’t the most liked person there as he prepared for his debut match.
At the time, Scott was said to team up with John Cena at Money In The Bank to take on Cody Rhodes and another partner.
Asked by Helwani if there was supposed to be a payoff for the whole Rock/Scott angle from Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania, Heyman said there was.
“It fell apart and we moved forward without it,” Heyman responded.
Scott’s song is used as a theme song for Raw so his association with the company is not completely gone, yet, but it’s unlikely we’re ever going to be subjected to FE!N FE!N FE!N on repeat again during Mania season.
Paul Heyman addresses Travis Scott’s reported fallout with WWE after WrestleMania 41:
“It fell apart and we moved forward without it.” pic.twitter.com/S69JW8qvxJ
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) August 6, 2025
NXT premium live events and WWE video library rights to be sold separately
Speaking during the earnings conference call with investors, TKO Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro said they still have two packages they can sell: the NXT premium live events and their video library.
He noted that the Peacock deal, which he clarified was $900 million, was for everything at the time, and now, they got $1.6 billion just for 10 WWE premium live events.
“Our goal here is to increase profitability, increase margins, get to industry grade – investment grade. And we’re marching to that beat,” he said when asked why they left NXT out of the PLE package.
Chief Financial Officer Andrew Schleimer said that they received a slightly higher rights fee from another partner but they felt the ESPN brand, their reach, new platform, and makeup of their audience was just as important as the fee. They also mentioned of not putting all their eggs in one basket, splitting the rights to different broadcast outlets.
“We’ve retained for further monetization are all of the NXT PLEs roughly 6 per year, 250 hours of original programming that historically had been in WWE’s cost and expense that we no longer have an obligation to produce contractually, 5 documentaries over the term, 1 per year at WWE’s cost and expense, which we no longer have the obligation to produce contractually as well as the content archive,” Schleimer said. “So meaningful opportunity for additional monetization on top of the $325 million.”
Judgment Day to appear at Triplemania XXXIII in a six-person tag match
The WWE World Tag Team champions Finn Balor and JD McDonagh will be joined by Raquel Rodriguez at the upcoming AAA Triplemania event next week in Mexico City.
The Judgment Day trio will be taking on the team of Mr. Iguana, Nino Hamburguesa, and NXT’s Lola Vice in a six-person tag match.
Dominik Mysterio, also of Judgment Day, will be in the main event of the show in a four-way match against El Hijo del Vikingo, El Grande Americano, and Dragon Lee for the the AAA Mega Championship currently held by Vikingo.
The Triplemania XXXIII event will air live on YouTube for the first time on the WWE channel and also on the Spanish one.
WWE is expected to complete the takeover of AAA by next month.
Heyman on Lesnar’s return: “If there are critics of it, get over it!”
Appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, WWE Hall of Famer Paul Heyman said that nobody is going to be able to “cancel” Brock Lesnar.
Heyman was reacting to the news of his former client’s return at SummerSlam after a two-year absence, mainly thanks due to him being named in the Janel Grant lawsuit.
“If you were in MetLife Stadium on Sunday, you would understand that return meant a lot to that audience,” Heyman said when faced with the reaction from a part of the internet wrestling community online.
“That audience was shocked to see Brock Lesnar come out and to see him F-5 John Cena. Nobody left MetLife Stadium going…’Oh God, they brought back Brock.’ People were just going nuts. That’s our paying audience. They’re happy to see him, I’m happy to be part of a team that presents him,” Heyman continued.
Now referred to as The Oracle, Heyman said that people are going to criticize everything they do and very few people make it to the top in life without either making mistakes or having skeletons in their closet.
“Obviously, the decision was made, it’s time to bring back Brock Lesnar,” Heyman told Helwani. “Whatever that decision is based on, I respect it. If there are critics of it, get over it!”
Heyman added that he’s happy to have Brock back because the audience is happy to have him back.
“If we brought him back and the audience rebelled against it, I wouldn’t be happy to have him back,” he said.
Bandido and Brody King to take on FTR in AEW Tag Team title eliminator final
Bandido and Brody King defeated The Young Bucks on Dynamite last night and earned a spot in the final of the AEW Tag Team title eliminator tournament.
The duo will now face FTR in the finals in the coming weeks and the winners then take on The Hurt Syndicate for the AEW Tag Team titles at Forbidden Door.
FTR reached the final after eliminating JetSpeed and then Bang Bang Gang while Brodido advanced after beating Gates of Agony and The Young Bucks.
NXT rating for 08/05/2025
This week’s episode of NXT drew 740,000 viewers, up nicely by 65,000 viewers compared to the previous week. The show had a 0.16 rating in 18-49, which is the same number that NXT pulled in the previous two weeks as well. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
Alex Windsor advances to TBS title match at Forbidden Door
Alex Windsor has advanced in the TBS title four-way match at Forbidden Door for later this month after she won a four-way qualifying match last night on Dynamite.
The British star defeated Queen Aminata, Skye Blue, and Billie Starkz to punch her ticket for the pay-per-view and a shot at Mercedes Mone’s title.
Two more challengers – one from CMLL and one from Stardom – will make up the rest of the match. It was not announced when or how these will be decided yet.
Forbidden Door takes place on August 24 live from The O2 Arena in London, England. Tickets are available through AXS.COM. AEW has opened up pretty much the full arena and a near capacity crowd is expected.
TKO Group announces Q2 2025 financial results
TKO Group Holdings, Inc. announced financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2025.
“TKO generated strong financial results in the quarter, led by record performance at both UFC and WWE,” said Ariel Emanuel, Executive Chair and CEO of TKO. “Our live content and experiences are proving a key differentiator for organizations and brands looking to capture audience, and our strategy is tailor made for today’s experience economy and the white-hot sports event marketplace. Given the continued momentum across our portfolio and our overall business outlook, we are raising our guidance for the full year.”
Revenue increased 10%, or $115.2 million, to $1.308 billion. The increase primarily reflected an increase of $21.5 million at UFC, to $415.9 million, and an increase of $99.4 million at WWE, to $556.2 million, partially offset by a decrease of $13.0 million at IMG, to $306.6 million.
Net Income was $273.1 million, an increase of $226.9 million from $46.2 million in the prior year period. The increase primarily reflected the increase in revenue and a decrease in operating expenses. The decrease in operating expenses reflected a decrease in direct operating costs of $114.8 million, a decrease in selling, general and administrative expenses of $3.9 million, and a decrease in depreciation and amortization of $19.5 million. The decrease in direct operating costs was primarily due to the write down of unsold tickets that was recorded in the prior year period in the IMG segment for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
WWE revenue increased 22%, or $99.4 million, to $556.2 million primarily related to a $41.6 million increase in live events and hospitality revenue, a $33.6 million increase in partnerships and marketing revenue, an $18.2 million increase in media rights, production and content revenue, and a $6.0 million increase in consumer products licensing and other revenue.
The increase in live events and hospitality revenue was due to higher ticket sales revenue as well as an increase in site fees, primarily due to revenue recorded related to both domestic and international premium live events.
The increase in partnerships and marketing revenue was primarily due to new partners and an increase in fees from renewals compared to the prior year period, most notably related to WrestleMania 41.
The increase in media rights, production and content revenue was primarily related to the timing of the previously disclosed format expansion of SmackDown as well as the contractual escalation of media rights fees, notably the impact of WWE’s global content distribution agreement with Netflix, compared to the prior year period. The increase in consumer products licensing and other revenue was primarily related to higher video gaming revenue and merchandise sales compared to the prior year period.
You can read the full press release here.
Dynamite back on the road in Cleveland tonight on TBS and HBO Max
AEW is back on the road with Dynamite and after a couple of weeks in Chicago, it’s off to Cleveland, Ohio tonight at the Wolstein Center.
Only three matches have been announced so far including MJF vs Mark Briscoe in a grudge match, The Young Bucks vs Bandido and Brody King in the AEW Tag Team title eliminator tournament semi final match, and Queen Aminata vs Skye Blue vs Alex Windsor vs Billie Starkz in a four-way match with the winner qualifying to Forbidden Door in the TBS title match.
The only other thing announced is that Mercedes Mone, along with her eight title belts, will be returning tonight.
Dynamite airs live at 8PM ET on TBS and streaming live on HBO Max.
WWE President Nick Khan talks new PLE deal, says it’s for 10 a year
WWE President Nick Khan said that WWE’s deal with ESPN calls for 10 premium live events per year over 12 nights, saying that WrestleMania and SummerSlam will remain a two-night affair moving forward.
Speaking with John Ourand of Puck News, Khan said that Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, Money In The Bank, SummerSlam, and Survivor Series are a lock, with other five premium live events up for grabs.
He did mention that the amount of shows could eventually grow. WWE will have 11 premium live events this year, without taking into account the NXT shows.
Khan noted that there were interest from other companies on this particular WWE media rights package but the timing with ESPN made sense this time around. He never revealed if Peacock tried to retain the package.
Khan also said that they made the deal quicker than the NFL, which just a few days ago announced they are acquiring a 10% stake in the company in return of handing over several NFL-related media rights to the Disney-owned ESPN.
Meanwhile, both Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns did appearances on ESPN today to talk about the new deal and WWE in general.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRHDa-JRwps
Triple H on ESPN deal: “We’re going to light the world on fire”
Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up program this morning, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque said that there’s no other bigger opportunity for WWE right now than to partner with ESPN.
He said that he and WWE President Nick Khan had been thinking about it “for a long time” and ESPN feels the right home for the WWE premium live events in the United States.
“It’s something that we’ve been trying to work through for a long time,” Triple H said. “Jimmy Pitaro [ESPN Chairman] making it happen, it’s thrilling for us….can’t be more excited.”
While ESPN is renowned for its high-quality production, WWE will retain total production control over their events and this deal will allow WWE to have a bigger spectacle every month.
He called this “the perfect marriage” and when WWE and ESPN get together for WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Royal Rumble, and other events, things are going to be bigger than ever.
“It’s what we like to think we do better than anybody else on the planet,” he continued. They’re going to be more of a spectacle than ever before. And we’re going to light the world on fire.”
Meanwhile, former WWE champion John Cena expressed his excitement for things to come.
“Proud would be an understatement,” Cena wrote. “This landmark partnership represents an exciting future for #WWE as a flagship member of the ESPN family. Cannot wait to see what the world of sports entertainment looks like on @ESPN. Excited for 2026!!”
SummerSlam 2025 Saturday charts in Netflix top 10 in 24 countries
The two-night SummerSlam did not make it in the top 10 chart globally for Netflix but SummerSlam Saturday is listed as having been in the top 10 in 24 different countries so far.
There are no stats for SummerSlam Sunday as they would be figured in with next week’s rankings.
For the Saturday broadcast, SummerSlam was top 10 in Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Ireland, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, and United Kingdom.
The show did not air on Netflix in the United States.
WWE premium live events on ESPN: everything you need to know
WWE is exiting the Peacock business early next year and packing their bags to go to one of the most recognizable brands on television: ESPN.
The two companies this morning announced a five-year agreement worth over $1.6 billion, or $325 million a year, which will see ESPN’s newest direct-to-consumer streaming service airing WWE’s monthly premium live events in the United States.
Simply titled ESPN, the new service will launch later this month on August 21 and will cost $29.99 a month (keep reading, don’t freak out yet) as a standalone or $35.99 a month when bundled with Disney+ and Hulu after the first year. The first year will get you ESPN, Disney+ and Hulu for the original $29.99 price.
The all-in-one new ESPN service will consist of all the ESPN content, including for the first time ever the ability to stream the ESPN main channels without a cable subscription.
There will be two tiers, the select tier with $11.99 a month and the unlimited tier with $29.99 a month or $300 a year.
The select tier will have everything that ESPN+ currently has while the unlimited tier will have the flagship ESPN channel, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, ESPN Deportes, ACC Network, SEC Network, and ESPN on ABC shows. An introductory offer is expected to include Disney+ and Hulu for year for free for the unlimited tier.
What does that mean for WWE fans?
Currently, all WWE premium live events air on Peacock for a much cheaper price. That will go away before WrestleMania when the deal expires and WWE jumps ship to ESPN.
Unlike the UFC where you have to pay the pay-per-view price plus the subscription to ESPN+, WWE premium live events will be part of the service and will not cost anything extra, basically the same as Peacock. Select premium live events will also air on ESPN’s linear TV channels, although it was not indicated which ones will be screened.
Anyone who already has ESPN through their traditional TV cable package will not pay extra for the service, which means in that case, you will drop the Peacock subscription and get the ESPN streaming service free as part of your cable package. You would need to authenticate to the new ESPN using your cable credentials to unlock the free service. Services such as DirecTV, YouTube TV, Hulu+ Live, Comcast, etc all qualify to get the free ESPN and WWE premium live events.
Just a few days ago, ESPN and NFL announced that ESPN will acquire the NFL Network and other media assets in exchange for the league taking a 10% stake in the network. Other properties ESPN is taking over from NFL are the linear RedZone Channel and NFL Fantasy. NFL will also license to ESPN certain NFL content and other intellectual property to be used by NFL Network and other assets.
Keep in mind, this deal is only for viewers in the United States. All international fans will continue to enjoy their WWE shows on Netflix.
First two matches for NXT Heatwave 2025 announced
NXT Heatwave, the next premium live event for the NXT brand, started to take shape last night during NXT on CW.
The first two matches were officially announced for the show, with NXT Tag Team champions Hank and Tank defending their titles against Darkstate, and Jordynne Grace taking on Blake Monroe in a singles match.
A match on the August 19 episode of NXT between TNA champion Trick Williams and Je’Von Evans will also determine who will be taking on NXT champion Oba Femi on the show.
Heatwave takes place on Sunday, August 24 from the Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Tickets are available via etix.com starting from $49.75.
WWE Unreal makes it to Netflix Top 10 chart globally on week one
The WWE Unreal docuseries landed in the Netflix top 10 global chart in its first week, with 2,300,000 views worldwide and 10,700,000 hours watched.
The first season, which includes five episodes, is based on a running time of 4 hours and 41 minutes.
It was top 10 in eight different countries with Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and United States making the list.
Unreal has been renewed for a second season with Netflix and WWE making the announcement soon.