Next week’s Crown Jewel is officially sold out and no more tickets are available for purchase through the WeBook.com website.
Tickets were as cheap as 50 SAR, the equivalent of $14 and went all the way up to 1,000 SAR, or $265 for ringside. Regardless of attendance and gate revenue, WWE gets paid $50 million per show in Saudi Arabia, which is way more than any show, including WrestleMania, generates for the company.
There are still tickets for the Raw taping the following day. The show is also close to a complete sell out, with the only tickets remaining costing 70 SAR, or $19.
Both events are at the Mohammed Abdo Arena in Riyadh.
Live from the Wayne State Fieldhouse in Detroit, Michigan, TNA Wrestling presents Bound For Glory 2024 on pay-per-view. The full card is as follows:
PPV: Nic Nemeth vs Joe Hendry for the TNA World title with Frankie Kazarian as the special guest referee; Jordynne Grace vs Masha Slamovich for the TNA Knockouts title; The System vs The Hardys vs ABC in a three-way Full Metal Mayhem match for the TNA Tag Team titles; Mike Bailey vs El Hijo del Vikingo for the TNA X Division title; PCO vs Matt Cardona in a Monster’s Ball match for the TNA Digital Media title; Mike Santana vs Moose; Spitfire vs Rosemary and Wendy Choo for the TNA Knockouts Tag Team titles; Josh Alexander vs Steve Maclin.
PRE-SHOW: Ash by Elegance and Heather by Elegance vs Xia Brookside and Brinley Reece; and a Call Your Shot Gauntlet 20-person intergender match with the winner receiving a title contract they can cash-in anytime within one year for a championship match of their choosing.
The TNA Hall of Fame will also take place during the pre-show with the induction of Rhino and the late Bob Ryder.
The pay-per-view will start at 8PM ET and the pre-show will start an hour earlier. It’s also available for $39.99 from TNA+.
Three new matches were added to the Crown Jewel card last night on Smackdown, with the show now having a total of six and maybe one more match left to be added.
In the opening segment of the show, Randy Orton persuaded WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque to book his match against Kevin Owens even though HHH was against the idea because of an unhinged Owens.
The United States title will be defended in a triple threat match as LA Knight will defend against Andrade and Carmelo Hayes. Knight served as the referee for match seven between Andrade and Hayes last night and it ended in a no contest with a flat ending.
Also, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill will defend their WWE Women’s Tag Team titles against Iyo Sky and Kairi Sane, Chelsea Green and Piper Niven, and NXT’s Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson in a fatal four-way match.
Crown Jewel takes place next Saturday, November 2, live from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia at 1PM ET.
The Usos have reunited on Smackdown, playing a part in causing The Bloodline to lose their WWE Tag Team titles to newcomers Motor City Machine Guns.
After the MCMG celebrated in the ring with their gold, Jey Uso stayed in the ring and his brother Jimmy walked back out. After a brief staredown, the two hugged in the middle of the ring and the Brooklyn crowd acknowledged.
Roman Reigns also walked briefly out to the top of the stage and looked on as the brothers hugged, with pensive expression as he has been adamant of “no yeet” in weeks prior.
The brothers had been feuding for months prior to WrestleMania XL ever since the original Bloodline split.
The Motor City Machine Guns won the WWE Tag Team titles just in their second week of their WWE journey, defeating The Bloodline in the main event segment of Smackdown with some help from Jimmy Uso, Roman Reigns, and Jey Uso.
MCMG defeated DIY to become the number one contenders for the tag team titles and were then confronted by The Bloodline, with Solo Sikoa saying that if they really wanted to make an “impact,” they should wrestle now. MCMG accepted the invitation and Smackdown General Manger made the impromptu match.
With Jacob Fatu and Solo Sikoa interfering, they were met by Jimmy Uso and Roman Reigns, who evened the odds and took the brawl to the back. There was a ref bump in the match, which led to Jey Uso coming out and taking out Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga as revenge for their involvement on Monday in his IC title match.
Jey then revived the referee and Sabin and Shelley hit their Skull and Bones finisher and the ref counted to three as the Brooklyn crowd exploded.
This win makes Motor City Machine Guns one of the most decorated tag teams in the history of pro wrestling, with the in-ring veterans winning TNA, ROH, NJPW, and WWE gold.
While in Las Vegas to promote the WrestleMania 41 tickets which came out earlier today, WWE champion Cody Rhodes said that what happens at WrestleMania 41 will top WrestleMania 40.
“At WrestleMania 40, we finished the story. Now going to WrestleMania 41, we have to top it,” Cody said. “Here’s what I say, without giving anything away. What happens at WrestleMania 41 won’t match up with all the rumors you see out there, I think it will be unexpected and 100% unequivocally will top WrestleMania 40.”
There have been several rumors for WrestleMania 41, including The Rock also not being there. That was a rumor that The Rock himself quickly shot down and said not to believe the “BS” that people put out online.
The cheapest WrestleMania ticket available is $940 plus taxes and fees at the moment and the most expensive is $15,000 plus taxes and fees.
Survivor Series next month is now scheduled to start at 6PM ET rather than the usual 7PM start time. A notice to ticket holders was sent via e-mail notifying them of the time change.
Bad Blood also started at 6PM earlier this month due to the UFC pay-per-view which was also held on the same night. It’s unclear why the decision was made to also move Survivor Series to an hour earlier because there are no other scheduled TKO shows that night.
Survivor Series: WarGames will be taking place live from the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada on Saturday, November 30.
There are over 15,000 tickets sold so far and the arena is being used in full and can accommodate over 17,000 fans.
Fans attending tonight’s Smackdown at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York will be sitting down for two shows as next week’s Smackdown is also being taped tonight.
WWE Superstars will be heading to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia next week and unlike last year when Smackdown was held the night before live in Riyadh, this time it will be taped and instead, Raw will be taped on Sunday night in the same location as Crown Jewel.
Over 10,000 tickets have already been distributed for tonight’s broadcast, with both Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes in the house. WWE had a slow start for ticket sales at this particular location but sales picked up over the last two weeks mainly due to a discount offer.
Not much is advertised for Smackdown tonight apart from a face-to-face between champions Cody Rhodes and Gunther and match seven between Carmelo Hayes and Andrade.
WrestleMania 41 tickets officially go on general sale today at 1PM ET / 10AM PT on Ticketmaster.com after two days of pre-sale which saw thousands of tickets sold at eye-popping prices.
Tickets were originally priced $450, $650, $850, $1,000, $1,400, $2,000, $3,000, $5,000, and $10,000, but Ticketmaster is using dynamic pricing for the show due to the huge demand, inflating the prices by over 100% in most sections. There’s also the addition of a service fee, facility fee, order processing fee, and the Las Vegas Live Entertainment Tax, which is another 9% of the total price.
Already the most expensive event in WWE history, this WrestleMania is on track to have the largest gave ever for a WWE show.
WWE has not announced any number of tickets sold yet but you can rest assured that number will come out soon.
WrestleMania 41 takes place on April 19 and 20 live from the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Dynamite this week drew 637,000 viewers, up 4,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had a 0.19 rating in 18-49, down 0.01 from the last show and was #7 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. Dynamite faced NBA and NHL Playoffs as sports competition. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
Maria Kanellis underwent successful surgery to remove a mass on her adrenal gland and is in hospital recovering.
Her husband, Mike Bennett said that the surgery went well and she was spending the night at the hospital for observation but was supposed to be released today.
“My wife is a badass. Thank you to everyone who’s reached out. We love y’all so very much,” Bennett wrote.
Four months ago, Kanellis announced that she had a mass in her adrenal gland and diagnosis if it was cancerous or not would not be available until she undergoes surgery to remove it.
Kanellis is on her way out of AEW/ROH as her contract expires at the end of this month and the company did not respond to her questions if she was getting re-signed. She also said that she would be accepting interviews to discuss her time and treatment in AEW next month.
“The Man” Becky Lynch is coming around at Vulture Festival next month on Sunday, November 17.
The former champion, using her WWE name, will be part of a conversation titled “Becky Lynch Disarms Us,” a takeoff of her finishing move.
The preview reads, “WWE Superstar, trailblazer, and New York Times best-selling author Rebecca Quin will join us for a conversation about her recent memoir Becky Lynch: The Man: Not Your Average Average Girl. We’ll look back on her legendary career — from her early days grinding on the road to being in the first ever women’s match to main event WrestleMania — and just maybe get a glimpse at what The Man has in store for us next.”
Lynch exited WWE on June 1 of this year after her contract expired and opted not to re-sign. It’s the first time since 2013 that she is not part of WWE.
Vince McMahon’s attorney Jessica Rosenberg reacted to the lawsuit filed yesterday against Vince and Linda McMahon along with WWE concerning the former WWE “Ring Boys.”
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of five former ring boys, alleges negligence for allowing “systemic and pervasive abuse” of underage children.
“More than 30 years ago, the columnist Phil Mushnick tried to make headlines with these same false claims,” Rosenberg said in a statement issued later in the evening. “Those allegations were never proven and ultimately became the subject of a defamation lawsuit against Mr. Mushnick.”
She continued, “The negligence claims against Mr. McMahon that were asserted today rely on these same absurd, defamatory and utterly meritless statements by Mr. Mushnick. We will vigorously defend Mr. McMahon and are confident the court will find that these claims are untrue and unfounded.”
The lawsuit, which was filed by DiCello Levitt and Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, says that the McMahons knew about and did not stop decades of sexual assault, spearheaded by former WWE ring announcer and ring crew boss Melvin Phillips Jr. Phillips, who died in 2012, is said to have hired underage boys, sometimes as young as 12, to assist in setting up the ring, then groomed and abused them.
Terry Garvin and Pat Patterson were also involved in the allegations at the time and were both fired, along with Phillips. The story became public in 1992.
The “base” WrestleMania ticket prices did not last long on Ticketmaster as dynamic pricing quickly kicked in, inflating ticket prices sometimes by 100%.
Originally, tickets were priced $450, $650, $850, $1,000, $1,400, $2,000, $3,000, $5,000, and $10,000, but now it’s impossible to find a ticket at those prices.
Ticketmaster uses dynamic ticket pricing depending on demand and has tried to justify its practice by comparing it to airlines and hotels which also increase costs based on demand. It’s a tactic used mainly in concerts, where prices go up big time if there’s a huge demand for a show and now this practice has also moved to WWE events.
A row 4 ticket, which was originally $10,000, is now $15,000 plus taxes and fees. After all is said and done, there’s an additional $3,562 in fees plus the Las Vegas Entertainment Tax which amounts to another $1,350, for a total price of just over $19,900.
A level 200 seat which yesterday sold for $850 plus fees is now $1,850, over 100% more than its original price, and that does not include taxes or fees.
The cheapest two-night ticket available on Ticketmaster at the moment is $1,600 and that is in the level 300.
It’s unclear how much tickets WWE moved yesterday after the pre-sale started. Tickets will open to the general public tomorrow.
Today’s TKO news of acquiring PBR, On Location, and IMG didn’t go down well with Wall Street and the stock is down around 9% at time of this writing.
Under the terms of the agreement, TKO will acquire the Endeavor assets for a total consideration of $3.25 billion, based on the 25-trading-day volume-weighted average price of TKO’s Class A common stock for the period ending on October 23, 2024.
Endeavor will receive approximately 26.14 million common units of TKO Operating Company, LLC and will subscribe for an equal number of shares of TKO’s Class B common stock, with Endeavor expected to own approximately 59% of TKO alongside the other existing TKO shareholders, who will own the remaining 41% upon completion of the transaction.
The transaction is also subject to purchase price adjustments to be settled in cash and equity.
In addition to the acquisition news, the company also said that that its board of directors has authorized a share repurchase program of up to $2.0 billion of its Class A common stock and the initiation of a quarterly cash dividend program pursuant to which holders of TKO’s Class A common stock will receive their pro rata share of $75.0 million in quarterly distributions to be made by TKO Operating Company, LLC.
NXT drew 702 viewers this week on The CW, up 63,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had a 0.16 rating in 18-49, down 0.02 from the last show and the lowest number since the August 20 episode on USA Network. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
The first match for AEW’s Full Gear has been announced and it will feature MJF taking on either Adam Cole or Roderick Strong.
The match was made last night on Dynamite as Cole and Strong reunited The Undisputed Kingdom with their first target being MJF.
MJF, appearing via video getting a massage, said that he won’t be appearing on AEW television until the pay-per-view and laid out a challenge to both men: the first one to win three matches on AEW TV until then will get him at Full Gear.
Cole’s first match will be on the Fright Night episode of Dynamite next week, his first match in 13 months.
TKO Group Holdings, Inc announced today it has reached a definitive agreement with Endeavor Group Holdings to acquire Professional Bull Riders, On Location, and IMG in an all-equity transaction valued at $3.25 billion.
In addition to complementing TKO’s existing core UFC and WWE businesses, the strategic acquisition of these sports and hospitality assets from Endeavor expands TKO’s operational footprint in the fast-growing premium sports market and enables direct participation in the upside from partner leagues and events.
Ariel Emanuel, Executive Chair and CEO of TKO, said: “Today’s announcements reflect the continued strength of our underlying business and our commitment to deploying capital through a balanced capital allocation strategy, including through our share repurchase program and quarterly cash dividend program. This underscores our continued focus on delivering sustainable long-term value for our shareholders.”
Mark Shapiro, President and COO of TKO, said: “PBR, On Location, and IMG are industry-leading assets that meaningfully enhance TKO’s portfolio and strengthen our position in premium sports globally. Within TKO, they will help power the growth of our revenue streams and position us to capture even more upside from some of the most attractive parts of our sports ecosystem: media rights, live events, ticket sales, premium experiences, brand partnerships, and site fees. These assets are already built into our business strategy at TKO and will serve to further enhance our strong track record of execution across UFC and WWE.”
Chris Jericho has secured his ninth major world title in his career after he defeated Mark Briscoe last night on Dynamite in a ladder war to become the new ROH World champion.
Jericho had some assistance from Bryan Keith and Big Bill in order to win the match, with Big Bill chokeslamming Briscoe off the ladder through tables and then carrying Jericho on his shoulders as he climbed the ladder so Jericho could snatch the title.
After the match, Jericho’s first opponent quickly emerged in the form of Tomohiro Ishii.
This ends Briscoe’s 202-day run with the title and it’s Jericho’s second time as ROH champion.
AEW Dynamite is back on TBS tonight with a show from Salt Lake City, Utah for a broadcast headlined by a ladder war for the ROH World title between champion Mark Briscoe and challenger Chris Jericho.
Other matches announced for the show are Jack Perry and The Young Bucks vs Daniel Garcia and Private Party in a trios match, Sammy Guevara vs Shelton Benjamin, Queen Aminata vs Camille, and House of Black are in action as well.
Plus, AEW World champion Jon Moxley is in the house and AEW is advertising that nobody is in the house with Moxley around.
