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Mercedes Mone wins the RevPro Undisputed British Women’s title at Wrestle Dynasty

By
Colin Vassallo
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Mercedes Mone has added more gold to her collection after she defeated Mina Shirakawa at the Wrestle Dynasty pay-per-view earlier today and is now the RevPro Undisputed British Women champion as well.

Mone’s NJPW Strong Women’s title was on the line in this match but the CEO ended up victorious after delivering the Mone Maker.

The TBS champion has been delivering some strong matches lately on AEW pay-per-views and can now call herself a triple champion, something which is rarely done in wrestling especially holding three different titles from three different promotions of three different countries.

The RevPro Undisputed British Women’s title also consists of the Southside Women’s Championship, which Mone also carried and is now technically in possession of four titles.

It was her life-long dream to wrestle inside the Tokyo Dome and she made her debut there during Wrestle Kingdom 17, coming out to confront the then IWGP Women’s champion Kairi. It was her first post-WWE appearance but unfortunately, a broken leg derailed any plans of wrestling inside the historic building for a couple of years.

Wrestle Dynasty 2025 pay-per-view results

By
Colin Vassallo
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Here are the results from Wrestle Dynasty which took place earlier today from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. The show was co-promoted by NJPW, AEW, ROH, CMLL, and Stardom.

PRE-SHOW: Momo Watanabe defeated Willow Nightingale, Persephone, and Athena in a four-way match to win the International Women’s Cup; The Sons of Texas defeated House of Torture to retain the ROH Tag Team titles.

PPV: Taiji Ishimori defeated Hechicero, Kosei Fujita, Soberano Jr., Master Wato, Máscara Dorada, Titán, and El Desperado in an eight-man Lucha Gauntlet match; Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Katsuyori Shibata ended in a grappling rules exhibition match ended in a time-limit draw; Mercedes Mone defeated Mina Shirakawa in a winner-takes-all match to become the new RevPro Undisputed British Women’s champion; David Finlay defeated Brody King; Shota Umino defeated Claudio Castagnoli; Konosuke Takeshita defeated Tomohiro Ishii to retain the NEVER Openweight title and the AEW International title; The Young Bucks defeated United Empire and Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi) in a three-way tag team match to become the new IWGP Tag Team champions; Yota Tsuji defeated Jack Perry to retain the IWGP Global Heavyweight title; Kenny Omega defeated Gabe Kidd; Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Ricochet to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight title.

Kenny Omega returning to the ring tonight after 396 days

By
Colin Vassallo
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It has been a long journey but Kenny Omega is finally returning to the ring 396 days after his last one live tonight during Wrestle Dynasty in Tokyo.

The former AEW champion had his last match against Ethan Page on the December 5, 2023 episode of Collision and then went on the injured list following a severe bout with diverticulitis.

Omega underwent diverticulitis surgery in late May of last year in New York and was lucky that complications prior to surgery were not fatal.

The Cleaner made his presence felt on Dynamite last week, his first AEW televised appearance since he was taken out by The Elite in early May on Dynamite.

Tonight, he faces NJPW’s Gabe Kidd and Omega has already announced that there will be a new presentation for him at the Tokyo Dome.

“I’m debuting a new entrance at the Tokyo Dome,” Omega said on X. “A new song created by the amazing Final Fantasy 14 & 16 composer Masayoshi Soken, with vocals by Jason Miller and a special voice by the legendary Nobuo Uematsu.”

 

AEW donates $100,000 to organizations in Asheville, North Carolina

By
Colin Vassallo
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AEW logo

All Elite Wrestling donated $100,000 this week to organizations on the frontlines of the Hurricane Helene recovery efforts in Asheville, North Carolina.

The company held Fight For The Fallen in the city to raise money to help those in need after the disastrous hurricane swept to city a few months ago.

In addition to the donation, AEW hosted many of the staff, families, and first responders who are providing resources locally.

The area is home to Dax Harwood and Cash Wheeler of FTR and their friend and fellow AEW star Cope.

Wrestle Dynasty 2025 live on pay-per-view tonight

By
Colin Vassallo
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Live from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, New Japan Pro-Wrestling presents Wrestle Dynasty 2024 on pay-per-view. The event is co-promoted by NJPW, All Elite Wrestling, Stardom, Ring of Honor, and CMLL. The full card is as follows:

PPV: Zack Sabre Jr vs Ricochet for the IWGP World Heavyweight title; Konosuke Takeshita vs Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER Openweight title and the AEW International title; Yota Tsuji vs Jack Perry for the IWGP Global Heavyweight title; United Empire vs The Young Bucks vs Los Ingobernables de Japon for the vacant IWGP Tag Team titles; Mercedes Mone vs Mina Shirakawa in a winner-Takes-all match for the NJPW Strong Women’s title and the RevPro Undisputed British Women’s title; David Finlay vs Brody King; Kenny Omega vs Gabe Kidd; Shota Umino vs Claudio Castagnoli; Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Katsuyori Shibata; and an eight-man Lucha Gauntlet match featuring four from NJPW and four from CMLL.

PRE-SHOW: Willow Nightingale vs Persephone vs Athena vs Momo Watanabe for the International Women’s Cup in a four-way match; The Sons of Texas vs House of Torture for the ROH Tag Team titles.

The show will air at 10PM ET in the United States and will stream live on NJPW World or else via pay-per-view on Triller TV for $19.99 or $14.99 with an AEW Plus subscription.

The Final Boss gets an additional 96,557 TKO shares

By
Colin Vassallo
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In new documentation filed yesterday with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission it was revealed that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson received 96,557 TKO shares which were part of his agreement to return to WWE/TKO.

The 96,557 shares have a value of $14,058,699 after yesterday’s closing of $145.60. Johnson is now in possession of a total of 289,673 TKO shares with an overall value of $42,176,388.

As part of returning to the company, Johnson was also awarded full ownership of The Rock intellectual property which up until last year WWE was an owner of.

Paul Heyman to present Ula Fala to Tribal Combat match winner on Monday

By
Colin Vassallo
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Paul Heyman will have an important role this Monday at the Tribal Combat match and will present the winner, and the ultimate Tribal Chief, with the Ula Fala necklace.

The demand was made yesterday by Solo Sikoa last night on Smackdown, who said Heyman must present the Ula Fala necklace to the winner and whoever loses the match must acknowledge the winner as their Tribal Chief.

Heyman, on behalf of Roman Reigns, accepted the stipulation and then Solo said that once he defeats Reigns, Heyman will be his Wiseman forever.

Sikoa took ownership of the necklace after Reigns lost the WWE title at WrestleMania 40 and disappeared from television until he made his eventual return at SummerSlam.

Sikoa vs Reigns in the Tribal Combat match will be one of the headline matches which will be part of the Raw on Netflix debut.

Kairi Sane out with arm injury

By
Colin Vassallo
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Damage CTRL member Kairi Sane revealed in a post on social media that she’s currently suffering from an arm injury.

Sane posted a photo from a hospital seemingly out of surgery with her right arm wrapped in a cast and in a sling.

“I’ll get an arm of iron…” She wrote as the caption.

The Pirate Princess last wrestled in early December and was taken out of the Women’s Intercontinental title tournament after an attack by Pure Fusion Collective. She was eventually replaced by her tag team partner Iyo Sky.

Dynamite rating for 01/01/2025

By
Colin Vassallo
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Dynamite logo

The Fight for the Fallen episode of Dynamite on New Year’s Day drew 588,000 viewers, up 14,000 viewers from the previous week. The number does not represent the viewers who also watched on Max. The show had tough competition in the form of the last part of the Rose Bowl and its post-game show, with the post-game show drawing over 6.5 million viewers on its own. In 18-49, Dynamite had a 0.16 rating, down 0.02 from last week and was #6 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

Report: 2026 Royal Rumble to take place from Saudi Arabia

By
Colin Vassallo
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PWInsider.com is reporting in an exclusive story that the 2026 Royal Rumble will be taking place from Saudi Arabia and an official announcement could come as early as Monday.

Last year, Saudi Arabia’s Chairman of the General Entertainment Authority, Turki Alsheikh, told Ariel Helwani in an interview that the Kingdom is trying to sweeten their deal with WWE by bringing either the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania in 2026 or 2027. Saudi already pays WWE around $50 million per show and the company has a 10-year deal with two shows per year.

PWInsider adds that the decision is locked in and the Saudi show will be the first one on the road to WrestleMania 42 next year.

This would be the first Royal Rumble outside the United States since it started as a pay-per-view back in 1988.

Riyadh is also the first location where WWE has a permanent physical attraction titled WWE Experience, a location where meet and greets as well as other events could be held during Rumble weekend.

Saudi Arabia recently was announced as the host of the lucrative 2034 FIFA World Cup, with all matches taking place in the country.

Tiffany Stratton successfully cashes in her Money In The Bank briefcase

By
Colin Vassallo
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Tiffany Stratton finally cashed in her Money In The Bank briefcase last night on Smackdown and became the new WWE Women’s champion.

Stratton helped Nia Jax defeat Naomi to retain her title after clocking the Tag Team champion with her briefcase, allowing Jax to hit her Annihilator finisher. After the match, Jax went to attack Bianca Belair who entered the ring to check on Naomi and that’s when all hell broke loose.

Jax went for a second Annihilator on Belair but Stratton decked her from behind with the briefcase as the crowd went crazy. She then got rid of Candice LeRea and stood at ringside as Belair hit an impressive KOD on Jax.

Stratton dragged Belair out of the ring and threw her over the announce table and then handed in her briefcase. Stratton went in the ring and waited for Lilian Garcia to officially make the announcement and then hit the Prettiest Moonsault Ever on Jax and the referee counted to three.

The crowd went absolutely ballistic as Stratton celebrated in the ring, on the announcers table, and then fireworks capped off the beautiful moment with Stratton holding up her title on the stage.

Raw average viewership holds up well in 2024 compared to prior year

By
Colin Vassallo
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Raw

WWE Raw only dropped slightly in its 2024 viewership average compared to 2023, a big win for the company considering the loss of cable homes from year to year.

In 2024, the average Raw viewership was of 1,656,075, which is down only just over 38,000 viewers from the average of 1,694,173 from 2023.

The slight less in viewership is also helped by the fact that Raw moved to two hours on October 7, limiting the heavy losses against NFL’s Monday Night Football, which was the usual heavy competition for the broadcast.

Raw had one show which surpassed the 2 million viewers on average and that was the night after WrestleMania 40 which drew 2,360,000 viewers. Apart from that, the first hour of the January 29 episode and the first hour of the August 12 episode were the only ones which did over 2 million viewers.

In the 18-49 demo, Raw averaged a 0.53 rating, slightly up from the 0.52 it did in 2023, so the audience was a bit younger with the over 50 viewership dropping. Their biggest 18-49 demo was the Raw After Mania with a 0.83 rating.

Raw had a few very bad nights in 2024, with the September 23 episode doing the second-lowest Raw ever with 1,338,000 viewers, saved only by the September 18, 2023 episode which did 7,000 viewers less.

The show was doing great until the NFL season on ESPN and ABC started, averaging 1,727,389 from January to September and a 0.56 rating. That average dropped to 1,505,000 viewers and a 0.47 rating when it went against the NFL.

Raw’s run on cable television ended on December 30, with the show now moving to Netflix from January 6.

WWE and Topps back in trading card business together

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE logo

WWE and trading card company Topps have reunited with a new deal that officially starts on January 31.

This will mark the first collaboration between the two companies since the end of 2021, when Panini took over the license for WWE trading cards.

“As WWE reaches unprecedented heights, Topps celebrates the legacy with the return of WWE trading cards in 2025. These aren’t just cards—they’re your gateway to relive iconic moments, collect autographs from Superstars like Jey Uso, and own unique pieces of WWE history, such as ring mat relics,” the Topps website reads. “Whether you’re a lifelong fan or a newcomer, Topps WWE trading cards connect you to the excitement of the squared circle, putting the ‘Together’ in WWE’s motto: Then, Now, and Forever. Together.”

In September 2023, Panini filed a lawsuit against WWE after the company terminated its contract as WWE tried to get back with Topps, which was bought out by Fanatics, a big WWE partner in merchandise.

In mid-November, WWE and Panini settled their lawsuit without prejudice out of court but no settlement terms were ever released. In February of 2024, Panini announced that it would continue its relationship with WWE through digital trading cards.

Smackdown moves to three hours starting tonight

By
Colin Vassallo
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A new era of Smackdown kicks off tonight on USA Network as the show expands from two to three hours for the first time ever. Smackdown will be a three-hour broadcast moving forward.

Ever since Smackdown started its weekly episodes in 1999, the running time has always been that of 120 minutes including commercials. That also gave Raw the edge during the Draft episodes, with more Superstars drafted to Raw due to the one hour extra of programming on the red brand.

But now, Raw and Smackdown will be equal in running time and WWE will have to produce eight hours of original programming every week when you take two hours of NXT into equation as well.

Tonight’s Smackdown will also air on YouTube for one week only for those countries who have a WWE Netflix deal. Many WWE TV contracts expired on December 31, 2024 and the Netflix deal officially kicks off on January 6 with Raw. Internationally, Smackdown will be on Netflix starting from next week’s broadcast, as will NXT.

NXT rating for 12/31/2024

By
Colin Vassallo
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The New Year’s Eve episode of NXT on CW drew 626,000 viewers, down 97,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast which was the third-highest on CW so far. The show had a 0.15 rating in 18-49 demo, up 0.01 from the previous week. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

Seven locations for Raw, Smackdown, and NXT on road to WrestleMania announced

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE logo

WWE today announced the location of seven upcoming Raw, Smackdown, and NXT shows on the road to WrestleMania.

NXT on January 28 will be live from Center Stage in Atlanta, Georgia. Raw on February 24 will be from the Heritage Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio, and that is followed by a live Smackdown from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada later that week on February 28.

On March 3, Raw will be live from the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York and a week later it’s back to Madison Square Garden in New York City for the March 10 Raw.

The April 4 Smackdown will take place from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, and the final Raw before WrestleMania on April 14 will be at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.

Report: WWE swapping Raw and Smackdown ring announcers

By
Colin Vassallo
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PWInsider.com is reporting that WWE is switching up their ring announcers for Raw and Smackdown ahead of Raw’s move to Netflix next week.

The site says that Lilian Garcia will be doing Smackdown’s announcing tomorrow night and will remain on the blue brand moving forward. Smackdown moves to three hours tomorrow on USA Network.

Meanwhile, former NXT announcer and current Smackdown announcer Alicia Taylor will be doing the work for the Raw brand on Netflix starting this coming Monday.

Taylor moved to Smackdown from NXT in May while Garcia retuned to take over from Samantha Irvin in October.

Baron Corbin officially a free agent

By
Colin Vassallo
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Baron Corbin, who is now using his real name of Tom Pestock, announced on social media that he’s now a free agent.

“I’m officially no longer under contract since i was not fired. I was told they were not extending,” he wrote on X. “So if you’re making a horror movie, let me know ha ha ha ha New year, no contract, let’s see what we can create!”

The 40-year-old was informed in the beginning of November that he would not get a new deal after it expires at the end of the year, ending his 12-year association with WWE.

He was backstage at the AEW Worlds End pay-per-view this past weekend visiting friends.

Dynamite replays to air on TruTV every Friday night

By
Colin Vassallo
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TruTV will be airing replays of Dynamite starting next week every Friday night at 10PM ET.

TruTV, part of Warner Bros. Discovery, recently underwent programming changes where it turns into a sports network in prime time.

The network, which launched in 1991 originally as Court TV, is in around 68 million homes in the United States.

All episodes of Dynamite, and even Collision, will be available to stream on Max as well.

Raw rating 12/30/2024

By
Colin Vassallo
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Raw

The last Raw on USA Network drew 1,595,000 viewers this week, up 142,000 viewers from the prior week and the second-best number since the NFL started.

Hour one started with 1,665,000 viewers and that followed with 1,526,000 viewers in the second hour. The NFL game between the Lions and 49ers, which aired on both ESPN and ABC, drew a combined audience of 22.2 million viewers.

Raw had a 0.53 rating in 18-49, up 0.11 from last week and was #3 on the top 50 cable chart for the night and #5 in all of television behind NFL-related programming. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

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