It looks like we have seen the last of Pat McAfee on WWE television for the next several months as McAfee discussed his departure during his Pat McAfee Show yesterday.
McAfee said that mental exhaustion was the reason why he put the brakes on commentating for WWE, detailing how he went non-stop since August 2024, juggling his show, WWE, family, and other commitments.
“I knew this moment was coming. I knew it was going to happen at some point and it happens to people,” McAfee said. “So I talked to people about it happening and what they went through and as Money in the Bank was happening, I was like…’Oh my god, this is it, I’ve finally hit it.'”
McAfee said that WWE has been great in understanding his position and doesn’t feel terrible about taking a step back because Corey Graves and Wade Barrett are fantastic at doing their job.
“I will always love the WWE and I miss it, but I didn’t think I would have made it,” he continued, adding that with football season around the corner, he would not have survived.
Things got physical last night on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! show on ABC as Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul crashed the set when Randy Orton was being interviewed by guest host Jelly Roll.
As Orton was discussing business with Roll, McIntyre stormed onto the set, verbally abusing Jelly Roll. Orton came to his defense and the two started brawling, eventually going through a door that led to backstage.
With Jelly Roll saying that they will now go to commercial, Logan Paul interrupted the program and also started talking crap. Paul slapped Jelly Roll, who had enough at that point, and chokeslammed Paul through the desk.
Orton and Roll will take on McIntyre and Paul in a tag team match at SummerSlam.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful is reporting that Will Ospreay will be off television for a while as he takes a much-deserved break from AEW.
Ospreay has been working non-stop for the promotion since his arrival and things are double worse for him since he still lives in the United Kingdom and has to take a round-trip from the UK to the US every single week.
Sapp said that the exact number of weeks he will be out for is not known but the Brit will not be on TV for the next month or so.
Ospreay teamed up with Swerve Strickland at All In and had one banger of a match against The Young Bucks, were Ospreay and Strickland won, forcing Matt and Nick Jackson to leave their AEW EVP roles as part of the stipulation.
With Forbidden Door taking place in London, England later next month, it’s pretty much a given that he will be back in time for the show.
Facing the MLB All-Star Game on FOX, NXT drew its lowest number of 2025 so far with just 586,000 viewers tuning in, down 109,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. This was the least-watched episode of NXT since August 6, 2023. The show had a 0.12 rating in 18-49, down 0.04 from the prior week and the lowest since March 21, 2023. The MLB game drew 7.1 million viewers and a 1.43 rating. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
During his latest episode of the Grilling JR podcast, the AEW commentator revealed that he took a bad fall in his hotel room in Arlington during All In weekend.
Ross explained that while he doesn’t think he broke anything, he had “one hell of a fall” and couldn’t ask for help as he forgot his cell phone in an Uber earlier.
“I didn’t have any way of communicating with anybody,” Ross said. “I just went to bed and it was challenging. I’m still sore.”
The WWE Hall of Famer noted that it was “quite the ordeal” but otherwise the only negative thing about the weekend.
Ross, 73, did call a couple of matches at All In, which was always his target after he underwent colon cancer surgery a few weeks before.
Today, WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings, and Fanatics Betting and Gaming, a subsidiary of Fanatics, a global digital sports platform, announced an exclusive multi-year licensing agreement for Fanatics Betting and Gaming to produce and distribute WWE-themed online casino games in the United States.
Under the terms of this agreement, Fanatics Betting and Gaming will have a license to produce WWE-themed online casino games exclusively for Fanatics Casino, which is available on iOS, Android and web in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The officially licensed WWE online casino games will launch at the end of July in time for SummerSlam, which takes place across two nights on Saturday, August 2 and Sunday, August 3 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey
“We are excited to expand our relationship with WWE to now include an exclusive portfolio of WWE-themed online casino games,” said Ari Borod, Chief Business Officer at Fanatics Betting and Gaming. “This is a natural extension of the WWE-Fanatics partnership which already includes global e-commerce, licensed merchandise, memorabilia, as well as producing and distributing a growing lineup of digital shows.”
Fanatics Game Studios has produced several of the most popular games on Fanatics Casino and will produce the WWE-themed online casino games in partnership with Boom Entertainment and Games Global. The WWE-themed online casino games will be available at the end of July and will include:
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In August to celebrate SummerSlam in New Jersey, the WWE-branded takeover of Fanatics Casino will include exclusive sign up offers from Fanatics and the popular Spin to Win game will get a very special WWE makeover.
Players are invited to dive into a world of thrills as Fanatics Casino brings the casino floor directly to a customer’s fingertips, whether on-the-go or in front of a computer. Players can explore a wide array of classic and modern casino games, including slots, blackjack, roulette, progressive jackpots and video poker. Fanatics Casino offers a comprehensive and engaging gaming experience with the following features:
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Roman Reigns is set to appear on the July 21 and 28 episodes of Monday Night Raw as his quick SummerSlam program comes to life.
These two episodes will be held in Houston and Detroit respectively and are the final two episodes before SummerSlam.
Reigns returned on Raw this week, making his first appearance since the Raw after WrestleMania 41. He came to the aid of Jey Uso and CM Punk who were both being attacked by Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed.
Breakker and Seth Rollins were the ones who decimated Reigns and Punk following WrestleMania 41. Rollins was not at Raw due to his knee injury.
For SummerSlam, Reigns will team up with Jey Uso to take on Breakker and Reed in a tag team match, a match which is expected to be made official soon.
Seth Rollins replaced Rich Eisen as the host of today’s Rich Eisen Show and discussed the injury which took place on Saturday night during his match against LA Knight.
Explaining the move that he did, Rollins said that when he landed, he felt his knee pop and buckle.
On Monday, he was in Birmingham, Alabama for an MRI but his knee was too swollen and no clear results came out. He said that he will wait a week or two and have another MRI in Los Angeles to get a firm diagnosis.
“I am not a doctor. I only know my body, and what I feel is this is going be me out for an extend period of time,” Rollins said.
“It is a bummer, it is what it is, our business moves on. This isn’t the first time I’ve been injured and it won’t be the last time,” he continued, adding that he has WrestleMania season in his mind now and he feels good about making it back in time, but as far as a proper timeline, he has no answers.
The visionary and revolutionary @WWERollins is sitting in for @richeisen today and addressed his injury that went down over the weekend at Saturday Night’s Main Event against LA Knight:#WWEpic.twitter.com/eKGnDFEb4D
AEW will be calling Chicago home for the next two weeks as tonight they start a six-show residency at the Byline Bank Aragon Ballroom.
The company will tape tonight’s Dynamite, tomorrow’s Collision, the July 23 Dynamite, July 26 Collision, July 30 Dynamite, and July 31 Collision all from the same location.
The ballroom is configured for just over 1,000 seats so it will be an intimate setting, with tonight’s broadcast being pretty much sold out.
AEW will also have a residency in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena in September with seven shows in total to be taped there.
TNA Wrestling announced a partnership with Markovic Estates, kicking off with a special Slammiversary Sangria on Sunday, July 20 at Slammiversary.
With Slammiversary rolling into New York, teaming with Markovic Estates is a perfect, natural fit, with Markovic Estates roots in Queens, New York. The founders of Markovic Estates raised their family in New York – and the business remains family-owned and operated.
“Markovic Estates is authentic, family-run and fearless—just like the TNA roster,” said TNA SVP of Sales Nicole Racine. “All of their products use natural, old-school technique. I can’t wait for the Slammiversary crowd to thrill to the in-ring wrestling action, with a glass of Slammiversary Sangria from Markovic Estates by their side. Sangria is fun, fresh and real. Over ice, it’s the kind of drink you can sip throughout Slammiversary. And it punches way above its weight.”
“We’re a proud New York family business, rooted here and committed to our craft,” said Lazar Markovic, Brand Director, Markovic Estates. “At Markovic Estates, we bring together the elegance of French winemaking and the spirit of our Eastern European heritage – and we’re excited to share that with the TNA fans at Slammiversary. It’s an honor to bring our sangrias to Slammiversary and share what we do with their fans.”
The Slammiversary Sangria will deliver a world champion kick, a distinctive mix of red wine, chopped fruit and other ingredients.
WWE dominated the weekend television charts this past weekend, with both Friday Night Smackdown on USA Network and Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC placing #1 in all of television.
Smackdown drew a 0.37 on cable and it was by far the most popular as the second-placed show, Celebrity Jeopardy! on ABC, drew a 0.22. Smackdown was also #1 in the 25-54 demo with a 0.50, clearing the second-placed show by a 0.20 difference.
In the other demos, Smackdown was #3 in Females 18-49, #1 in Males 18-49, #3 in Females 18-34, #1 in Males 18-34, #3 in Females 25-54, and #1 in Males 25-54.
Saturday Night’s Main Event had a 0.33 rating on NBC, barely beating Baseball Night in America on FOX which drew a 0.31. But the baseball did beat SNME in the 25-54 demo with a 0.44 vs a 0.43.
In the sub-demos, SNME was #1 in Females 18-49, #2 in Males 18-49, #1 in Females 18-34, #2 in Males 18-34, #2 in Females 25-54, and #2 in Males 25-54. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
El Grande Americano will be appearing at the next AAA television tapings, with the character making his promotion debut.
Now played by Ludwig Kaiser, El Grande Americano will take on Octagon Jr on the show which is being held at the Gimnasio Olimpico Juan de la Barrera in Mexico City on Friday, July 25.
Chad Gable was the one originally under the mask but he has just undergone shoulder surgery which will keep him out of action for months.
WWE announced the acquisition of Lucha Libre AAA in April of this year, with the transaction expected to be finalized by the end of Q3 2025.
The July 7 episode of Raw drew 2,600,000 viewers worldwide on Netflix, up 100,000 from last week’s record low.
Based on an editing time of one hour and 51 minutes and 5,100,000 viewing hours, Raw was good enough for the #6 spot on the Netflix Top 10 global chart.
It was only in the top 10 in eight different countries, with Bahrain, Bolivia, Canada, Kuwait, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, and United States making the list.
Taking out the premiere episode, the show is still doing below the average which is 2.8 million for the year so far.
The Undertaker is coming to NXT next week to confront the current TNA champion Trick Williams.
Next week’s episode of the show will be live from Houston, Texas and after Williams wasn’t very kind to Taker’s LFG team on NXT last night, the WWE Hall of Famer announced on social media that he would be confronting Williams.
WWE is loading up next week’s show with the NXT title also on the line in a triple threat match between Oba Femi, Yoshiki Inamura, and Josh Briggs, and Blake Monroe will wrestle Wren Sinclair in her first singles match on the brand.
The show will come to you from the 713 Music Hall as WWE visits Texas for a few live events and television tapings.
Plenty of tickets remain starting from just $58 on Ticketmaster.com.
Appearing on The Ariel Helwani Show, Bill Goldberg wasn’t all too thrilled about his retirement match on Saturday Night’s Main Event but he was very appreciative that it happened.
Goldberg said that he would have preferred if this was on a premium live event rather than a television show due to time and wasn’t happy that they cut him off 20 seconds after he got a microphone in his hand.
He revealed the idea of a retirement match started in November of last year but was not confirmed after the start of the year, with the time, place, and opponent, always being Gunther on a Saturday Night’s Main Event in Atlanta.
“To be given that opportunity on such a special show with the lineage of the show, to be able to go against the World Heavyweight champion, to be able to go against Gunther, I mean, again, it was an honor and a privilege to be given that opportunity and I had to make the most of it,” Goldberg said.
But Goldberg said that he has two more weeks before he can talk more openly about what happened.
“I have 2 weeks before I can really spill the beans and make my feelings kind of known about the entire rundown, from the inception of the idea to its delivery,” he continued, adding that it was “a little less than to be desired,” but he was not in a position to complain because not many people get that opportunity.
Saturday Night’s Main Event with Goldberg’s retirement match drew 1,425,000 viewers on NBC, down 544,000 viewers from the last SNME episode. The show had a 0.33 rating in 18-49, down a whopping 0.21 from the last event but was #1 in all of television in the demo. The show had competition from a baseball game on FOX which had 2 million viewers head-to-head. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
TNA President Carlos Silva wrote in a post on X that for Slammiversary this weekend, they are moving the stage back to accommodate more seats on the floor.
“This event will be TNA’s greatest achievement and trust me it’s going to be PHENOMENAL,” Silva wrote, hinting maybe an appearance from the phenomenal one!
Slammiversary will take place this Sunday from the UBS Arena in Long Island, New York and according to ticket tracking service @WrestleTix, the company has moved almost 4,000 tickets so far which will be one of TNA’s biggest attendance. The UBS Arena can accommodate almost 16,000 seats.
Tickets are available from Ticketmaster.com starting from $47.65.
WWE referee Charles Robinson suffered a cracked rib during Saturday Night’s Main Event after he was inadvertently speared by Goldberg.
Robinson uploaded an x-ray scan of his chest in a post on Instagram, showing one cracked rib.
“Thanks @goldberg95,” Robinson wrote. “Never fear…I am ALL MAN and I can’t be kept down!”
Little Naitch also said that he will return to Smackdown next week in San Antonio to continue his duties as a referee, although going down for a pinfall count might hurt a little bit more this time around!
Smackdown on Friday night drew 1,399,000 viewers, up 233,000 viewers from the previous week but lower than what the show has been doing as a three-hour broadcast in the previous month. Smackdown had a 0.37 rating in 18-49, up 0.05 and was #1 on cable and #1 in all of television for the night. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
Randy Orton will be a guest on tomorrow’s episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! which will have his SummerSlam tag team partner Jelly Roll as the guest host.
Jelly Roll, who is a huge WWE fan, has been training for his in-ring debut for the last several weeks and appeared on Smackdown and Saturday Night’s Main Event.
Unfortunately for him, Saturday did not turn out to be a good night as he was on the receiving end of a Claymore Kick from Drew McIntyre.
Orton and Jelly Roll will take on McIntyre and Logan Paul at SummerSlam.
