Yet another WWE title was introduced yesterday on Smackdown, a mid-card title for the women’s division which will be the WWE Women’s United States championship.
The title was announced by Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis and it will be exclusively to Smackdown. Aldis said that this title will not be handed out to anyone, but someone will earn it, although he did not give out details on how the inaugural champion will be decided.
The Women’s United States title is the exact replica of the man’s U.S. title but with a white leather strap.
AEW International champion Konosuke Takeshita will be wrestling at the upcoming NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 pay-per-view in January.
NEVER champion Shingo Takagi issued a title challenge for Takeshita after the AEW champ retained his championship against TJP at the NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed event.
This will be a winner-take-all match and both titles are on the line. The winner of this match is rumored to be taking on Tomohoro Ishii the following day at the NJPW/AEW show Wrestle Dynasty.
Takeshita won the title at WrestleDream last month, defeating champion Will Ospreay and Ricochet in a three-way match.
The new Bloodline and the OG Bloodline are heading to war later this month at Survivor Series: WarGames in a four on four match inside the two-ring steel structure.
The show-long angle on Smackdown was Roman Reigns refusing to let Sami Zayn back in the OG Bloodline by apologizing but by the end of the night, the OG Bloodline reunited in full, well, minus their Wiseman Paul Heyman.
Closing the night, Reigns wanted a one-on-one match with Solo Sikoa for the title of the Tribal Chief, but Solo refuted that and said WarGames is the way to go. He said the fifth person on his team would be Sami Zayn, and Zayn came out to the top of the stage to see the new Bloodline beat up on Reigns.
The Usos came out to help their cousin but they got outnumbered as well and then, Solo invited Sami to the ring to kick Roman in the face again.
With Solo holding Roman, Zayn went for the Helluva Kick but decked Solo instead. Jacob Fatu tried to help Solo but was met with a Superman punch from Reigns and another Helluva Kick by Zayn as the two stood tall together in the ring.
The Usos joined them in and Jey threw his index finger in the air, followed by Jimmy. Zayn then went face-to-face with Reigns and also threw his one up to a big pop from the crowd. Reigns acknowledged that and completed the group by throwing his index finger up to an ever bigger pop.
Smackdown ended with the OG Bloodline and their ones up while Solo and his Bloodline retreated to the back.
There was not much to celebrate for AEW on Wednesday night after the quarter-hour ratings were revealed, showing a bleak picture when it came to viewership trends against NXT.
Out of eight quarters, Dynamite won the first quarter in both viewers and 18-49 thanks to their lead-in, winning in viewers by just 1,000 and in 18-49 by 22,000 viewers. In the seventh quarter, Dynamite lost by 92,000 in viewership but won the 18-49 demo by 15,000.
Apart from that, everything else was an NXT win in both viewers and demo numbers, something which was not expected since NXT was running on a day which is considered to be AEW’s.
Everything went downhill for AEW as soon as the second quarter kicked in, losing 91,000 viewers and never recovering. Dynamite ended the last quarter with just 455,000 viewers, and their nine-minute overrun after NXT went off the air increased only by 5,000 viewers, despite NXT’s closing with 625,000 viewers.
The full quarter-hour numbers, courtesy of Wrestlenomics, are as follows:
Q1 Dynamite: 666,000 viewers and 244,000 in 18-49 NXT: 665,000 viewers and 222,000 in 18-49
Q2 Dynamite: 575,000 viewers and 226,000 in 18-49 NXT: 674,000 viewers and 261,000 in 18-49
Q3 Dynamite: 516,000 viewers and 209,000 in 18-49 NXT: 653,000 viewers and 269,000 in 18-49
Q4 Dynamite: 535,000 viewers and 215,000 in 18-49 NXT: 596,000 viewers and 248,000 in 18-49
Q5 Dynamite: 511,000 viewers and 208,000 in 18-49 NXT: 588,000 viewers and 233,000 in 18-49
Q6 Dynamite: 469,000 viewers and 206,000 in 18-49 NXT: 563,000 viewers and 209,000 in 18-49
Q7 Dynamite: 498,000 viewers and 225,000 in 18-49 NXT: 590,000 viewers and 210,000 in 18-49
Q8 Dynamite: 455,000 viewers and 203,000 in 18-49 NXT: 625,000 viewers and 224,000 in 18-49
OVERRUN Dynamite: 460,000 viewers and 198,000 in 18-49
The first four WWE ID talent were announced this week, and more are expected to be revealed this weekend.
Launched last week, WWE ID, short for Independent Development, is a program designed to provide up-and-coming independent wrestlers a pathway to a potential career in WWE.
Zayda Steel was the first indie talent announced. Hailing from Washington, D.C., she was scouted from Combat Zone Wrestling. She’s been wrestling for two years. Bryce Donovan was scouted from Wrestling Open and is from Long Beach, New York. He has been wrestling for eight years. “Coldbrew” Cappuccino Jones was the third one announced. From Coffeyville, Kansas, Jones was scouted from This Is Wrestling and has been doing this for two years. Jack Cartwheel from Sacramento, California was the latest to be revealed. He was scouted from Game Changer Wrestling and has been wrestling since 2019.
Booker T’s Reality of Wrestling (Houston), Cody Rhodes’ Nightmare Factory (Atlanta), Seth Rollins’ Black and Brave Academy (Davenport, Iowa), Elite Pro Wrestling Training Center (Concord, N.H.) and KnokX Pro Academy (Los Angeles) are the first WWE ID independent wrestling schools to earn the official designation.
Dynamite on Wednesday drew 523,000 viewers, down a whopping 106,000 viewers as it went head-to-head with NXT. This was the third least-watched Dynamite of 2024. The show had a 0.16 rating, down 0.03 from the prior week and ties the lowest number the show has done. Dynamite ranked #6 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Programming Insider)
NXT this week drew 619,000 viewers on a special Wednesday episode, up 31,000 viewers from the prior week. This was the ECW-themed episode from the ECW Arena but also the second least-watched episode of NXT on CW, with the move to Wednesday night not helping. In 18-49, NXT drew 0.17, up 0.03 from the prior week. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
Dynamite and NXT had a rare head-to-head on Wednesday night due to the U.S. presidential election, and while NXT won the previous head-to-heads when Dynamite moved to Tuesday, it was expected that Dynamite would get the win due to them being in their regular time slot.
But AEW got a cold reality check as the ECW-themed episode of NXT from the 2300 Arena actually beat it in both overall viewership and 18-49 demo.
NXT drew 619,000 viewers overall while Dynamite averaged 523,000 viewers, a difference of 96,000 viewers. In 18-49, NXT had a 0.17 rating while Dynamite drew a 0.16, although NXT airs on network television while Dynamite is on cable.
While NXT had some ECW originals on the show, with the likes of Dawn Marie, Francine, Rob Van Dam, Bubba Ray Dudley, D-Von Dudley, Rhino, Nunzio, and Tony Mamaluke all showing up, AEW loaded Dynamite with their usual big stars, including Mercedes Mone, The Hurt Syndicate, Orange Cassidy, Darby Allin, Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, and others.
At one point during the broadcast, Christian Cage made fun of the competition, telling Hook that his father was the face of an outlaw promotion and was a big fish in a little pond who choked when he got to the bright lights.
Bully Ray, who wrestled on NXT, posted a photo of himself, D-Von Dudley, and Trick Williams with their arms raised, writing, “Demo Gods,” a shot at Chris Jericho when he used to call himself the demo god for having high 18-49 demo segments back in the day.
WWE today announced that the 2025 Elimination Chamber premium live event will be taking place from the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Canada on Saturday, March 1.
“Canada is an amazing place to host our biggest Premium Live Events, with its passionate fans and rich history that spans decades,” said WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque. “On the heels of a record-breaking Money In The Bank this past July, we are excited to return to Toronto for an even larger event in 2025.”
The Rogers Centre is the building formerly known as the Sky Dome, where WrestleMania VI and 18 took place. WWE has not held an event at that location since 2002.
This marks the second consecutive year that Elimination Chamber will be held in an international stadium, following this year’s record-setting event at Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia.
Elimination Chamber 2025 Priority Passes will soon be available from On Location giving fans the chance to be ringside for every exhilarating moment including premium seating, pre-show hospitality with WWE Superstar appearances, ringside photo opportunities and much more. To learn more and sign up for exclusive presale access, please visit https://onlocationexp.com/elimination.
To learn more about registering for pre-sale opportunities please visit: https://www.wwe.com/ec-2025-presale-registration.
Karl Anderson revealed on his podcast that he recently underwent surgery for a torn rotator cuff and partially torn labrum.
Due to the injury, he is expected to be out of action for the next six to nine months depending on recovery.
Anderson, along with his tag team partner Luke Gallows have been part of NXT for the past several months as The O.C. and AJ Styles went separate ways on the main roster.
Appearing on CNBC’s Sport videocast with Alex Sherman, TKO Chief Operating Officer Mark Shapiro revealed that he recently had breakfast with former TKO and WWE Chairman Vince McMahon to “check in” as they didn’t hear from him at all and wanted to see where McMahon currently stood.
Shapiro, along with Ari Emanuel, were the two who forced McMahon completely out of TKO and WWE, even though McMahon remains a large shareholder with no power.
“He’s got some litigation that he’s working through, and frankly he wants the privacy and the time to work through it which is great, because in the meantime we’re going to keep building TKO and WWE,” Shapiro old Sherman.
Shapiro added that McMahon “couldn’t have been nicer” and was a “total pro” during their breakfast despite everything that happened which led to his ousting from the company he built.
Shapiro also said that while McMahon is not involved at all with TKO and does not make any decisions or is consulted for any decision, the former Chairman reacted positively to the direction that WWE is going in.
Tickets for the AEW All In: Texas will go on sale to the general public on December 9.
A pre-sale will kick off on December 2 while VIP packages will start earlier, on November 20. VIP packages include premier seating in either ringside or lower bowl seats, meet and greets with AEW stars, pre-show photo opportunities, crowd-free shopping, a dedicated VIP Concierge representative and more.
Next year’s All In will take place from the Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas on Saturday, July 12, marking the first time that the show will be held in the United States since AEW brought it back a couple of years ago.
The previous two All Ins under the AEW umbrella have taken place from Wembley Stadium in London, England, and the stadium will return to host the show in 2026.
Globe Life Field holds up to 40,000 fans and AEW is hoping to fill that up to the brim for the first stadium All In in the United States.
Fans interested in exclusive pre-sale opportunities can register to become an AEW Insider by visiting allelitewrestling.com/aew-insider.
The NXT Deadline premium live event will once again have the Iron Survivor Challenge matches.
Qualifying bouts to see who will advance to the show will start on next week’s episode of NXT.
The Iron Survivor Challenge is a 25-minute match which involves five NXT stars. Two wrestlers start the match, and every five minutes, another wrestler enters with the fifth and final participant entering at the 15-minute mark. The one with the most points from pinfall or submissions before the time expires wins the match.
The concept was introduced in 2022 with the winners so far being Roxanne Perez, Blair Davenport, Grayson Waller, and Trick Williams. The winner of each match will get an NXT title shot.
Two more matches were announced for the Full Gear pay-per-view, set to take place on Saturday, November 23.
AEW newcomer Bobby Lashley will get straight to business and face former AEW World champion Swerve Strickland in his first AEW match. It was Strickland who issued a challenge on last night’s Dynamite after The Hurt Syndicate beat down Swerve and Price Nana last week.
Also, TBS champion Mercedes Mone will defend her title against Kris Statlander. The two were involved in a backstage angle yesterday with Statlander brawling with Mone after she dragged her out of a car that she was hit with moments earlier, a car driven by Kamille.
The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey will host Full Gear. Tickets are still available on Ticketmaster.com.
Raw this week drew an average of 1,465,000 viewers, up 65,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had a simulcast of an NFL game which drew a total of 20.6 million viewers across three different stations.
The first hour drew 1,480,000 viewers and that was followed by 1,450,000 viewers in the second hour.
In 18-49, Raw drew a 0.48 rating, up 0.06 from last week and was #4 in the top 50 cable chart for the night, beating everything on cable and network TV apart from NFL programming. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
TKO Group Holdings, Inc. yesterday announced financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2024.
Ariel Emanuel, Executive Chair and CEO of TKO, said: “TKO’s solid third quarter results reflect continued strength across UFC and WWE, particularly in live events and brand partnerships. In light of this continued momentum, we now expect to deliver at the upper end of our full-year 2024 guidance range for both revenue and Adjusted EBITDA.
“Additionally, two weeks ago we announced the authorization of a robust capital return program and an agreement to acquire industry-leading sports assets that will power our profile, give us greater scale, strengthen our position in the sports marketplace, and accelerate returns for shareholders. Just over a year since UFC and WWE came together to form TKO, our conviction in this business is as strong as ever.”
Revenue increased 52%, or $232.1 million, to $681.2 million. The increase reflected the increase of $274.7 million of revenue at WWE, to $326.3 million, partially offset by a decrease of $42.6 million at UFC, to $354.9 million.
Net Income was $57.7 million, an increase of $35.7 million from $22.0 million in the prior year period.
When it comes to WWE, the company pulled $227.4 million in media rights and content, $51.1 million in live events, $21.7 million in sponsorship, and $26.1 million in consumer products.
WWE revenue was $51.6 million for the period from September 12, 2023 through September 30, 2023. Including WWE activity for the period from July 1, 2023 through September 11, 2023, WWE combined revenue was $287.3 million for the period from July 1, 2023 through September 30, 2023.
The increase of 14%, or $39.0 million, was primarily driven by an increase in media rights and content, live events, and sponsorship revenue. The increase in media rights and content revenue was primarily related to the contractual escalation of media rights fees as well as the timing of WWE’s weekly flagship programming, which resulted in an additional event in the current year period.
The increase in live events revenue was primarily related to an increase in ticket sales revenue. The increase in sponsorship revenue was primarily related to new sponsors and an increase in fees from renewals compared to the prior year period.
The full press release is at https://investor.tkogrp.com/news/news-details/2024/TKO-Reports-Third-Quarter-2024-Results/default.aspx.
Powerhouse Hobbs returned last night on Dynamite and was the surprise mystery tag team partner for Ricochet.
The two faced Konosuke Takeshita and Kyle Fletcher in the main event of Dynamite which also had Mark Davis, Lance Archer, Brian Cage, and Will Ospreay all show up after the match.
Before the match started, Ricochet said that Hobbs’ “contract” with the Don Callis Family ended last month and no one checked on him while he was out.
Hobbs has been out of action since late April where he got injured in a match against Jon Moxley. Hobbs tore his patellar tendon in his knee and required surgery to repair it.
The ECW spirit was alive and well last night on NXT which took place from the old ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Apart from the announced appearances of Rob Van Dam, Dawn Marie, Francine, and Bubba Ray Dudley, there were also a couple of more surprises in store for fans.
D-Von Dudley showed up at the end of the tag team match between Bubba Ray and Trick Williams vs Ridge Holland and Ethan Page. Trick Williams went to get a table, but there was none under the ring. The Dudley Boyz theme song hit and D-Von came out with a table to a big ovation from the fans. He handed the table over to Williams and Bubba Ray, and the two chokeslammed Ethan Page through it. D-Von then got in the ring and celebrated with the two.
TNA Hall of Famer Rhino also was a surprise appearance and gored Robert Stone during an in-ring segment. Stone was running down the Philly crowd when the lights went out and when they came back on, Rhino was on the other end of the ring. With Stone not knowing who was behind him, he turned around and ate a spear from Rhino.
Nunzio and Tony Mamaluke showed up at the ECW Arena and Nunzio actually challenged Tony D’Angelo for the NXT North American title. Although unsuccessful in his bid to get the title, Nunzio and Mamaluke settled their differences with the D’Angelo family and all posed together at the end of the match.
The next NXT premium live event is Deadline and it will be held on Saturday, December 7.
The show will emanate from The Armory, a building which was designated a Minneapolis historic landmark in 2017, and one which can hold up to 8,000 fans.
Due to the U.S. presidential election, NXT will be airing tonight on The CW at 8PM ET and this will be a very special episode of NXT as it’s live from the ECW Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
There will be a very heavy ECW presence with several ECW originals scheduled to appear on the show.
The main event will feature NXT champion Trick Williams and ECW favorite and Hall of Famer Bubba Ray Dudley taking on Ethan Page and Ridge Holland. Je’Von Evans takes on Wes Lee, Jaida Parker battles Lola Vice in a hardcore match with special guest referee Dawn Marie, and a massive 10-woman tag match with NXT champion Roxanne Perez, Cora Jade, and Fatal Influence vs Stephanie Vaquer, Giulia, Zaria, Kelani Jordan, and TNA’s Jordynne Grace.
Plus, NXT General Manager Ava will also have a big announcement.
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