Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill to wrestle on next week’s NXT

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10/02/2024

Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill will be wrestling on next week’s NXT following their appearance on last night’s show in Rosemont.

The WWE Women’s Tag Team champions came out to help NXT Women’s North American champion Kelani Jordan in her ongoing battle against the Fatal Influence trio.

After their segment, it was announced that Belair and Jade would team up with Jordan to take on Fallon Henley, Jack Jane, and Jazmyn Nye in a six-woman tag team match on next week’s show.

The October 8 episode of NXT from St. Louis will go head-to-head with AEW’s Title Tuesday episode. Randy Orton is also scheduled to appear and wrestle against Je’Von Evans while Sexyy Red will have a musical performance.

Raw rating for 09/30/2024

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/02/2024

WWE Raw drew 1,516,000 viewers this week, up 178,000 viewers from the previous week and going against two NFL games again which had a combined audience of almost 20 million viewers.

Raw started with 1,580,000 viewers and then dropped to 1,540,000 viewers in the second hour and finished the night with 1,430,000 viewers.

In 18-49, Raw was #4, #6, and #7 with 0.50, 0.49, and 0.45 respectively for an average of 0.48, up 0.05 from the previous week. Overall, Raw was #2 on cable and #5 overall in all of television. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

Bad Blood merchandise store opening tomorrow at The Center in Atlanta

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/02/2024

There will be a Bad Blood Store popping up at The Center in Atlanta which will open starting from tomorrow.

The store will house the largest collection of Bad Blood merchandise under one roof with exclusive merchandise, including replica championship titles, Superstar apparel, signed memorabilia, collectibles, mini-titles and so much more.

Store hours will be tomorrow from Noon to 9PM, Friday from 10AM to 9PM, Saturday from 10AM to 11PM, and Sunday from 10AM to 2PM. The Center is located at 103 Centennial Olympic Park Dr. NW.

There will also be two meet and greets, with Xavier Woods appearing tomorrow at 4PM and Carlito on Friday at 1PM. Talent is subject to change and wristbands are required for the meet and greet, which are distributed on first come, first served basis.

The CN Center in Atlanta is also hosting a Bad Blood photo experience on Friday and Saturday with Bayley, Drew McIntyre, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, Steiner Brothers, Damian Priest, Diamond Dallas Page, and Dominik Mysterio available for photo ops. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://store.epic.leapevent.tech/wwe-bad-blood/2024.

Cora Jade returns on NXT and aligns herself with Roxanne Perez

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/02/2024

Cora Jade made her return to NXT last night and caused Gulia her NXT Women’s title, helping her frenemy Roxanne Perez defeat the Japanese star.

Jade interfered in the match wearing a hoodie, attacking Giulia just as Perez was distracting the referee while holding the NXT Women’s title. Jade pulled Giulia outside the ring and hit a DDT on the floor, then threw Giulia back in the ring and Perez delivered the Pop Rocks for the win.

With Perez celebrating in the ring, Jade removed her hoodie to reveal herself as Perez looked amused. The two were best friends in the past before Jade turned on Perez.

This was Jade’s first appearance since January. She had been out injured with a torn ACL she suffered at an NXT non-televised live event. She blew her knee just a month after returning from a five-month break.

CM Punk buys pizza for all fans at Allstate Arena following NXT

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/02/2024

Following the conclusion of NXT from the Allstate Arena last night, CM Punk informed the fans that everyone can get free pizza.

“I don’t want to cut the champ’s celebration short, but I gotta tell you a little secret, on your way out, ladies and gentlemen, get yourself some Lou Malnati’s pizza on us,” Punk said. “Share with your friends, share with your neighbors, remember I love you…we are NXT!”

A Lou Malnati truck was stationed outside in the parking lot with staff handing out pizza to everyone who walked up. Founded in 1971, Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria has become one of the Chicago’s area’s best-known deep dish pizza restaurant.

When Punk returned to pro wrestling with AEW in 2021, he also bought ice cream for all fans at the United Center.

Trick Williams wins NXT title on premiere episode on CW

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/02/2024

Trick Williams walked out of the Allstate Arena with extra weight in his luggage as he was crowned the new NXT champion on the premiere episode on The CW.

Williams defeated Ethan Page in the main event of the show which also had CM Punk as the guest referee. The finish of the match saw Page delivering the GTS on Trick, but he kicked out. Page then tried to hit his Ego’s Edge finisher but Williams found a way out by sliding and then hit the Trick Shot as Punk counted to three.

Confetti fell as Williams celebrated and then Page got in CM Punk’s face, who he pushed and Punk hit a GTS on Page as payback as the crowd exploded.

This is Williams’ second run with the NXT title, with his 75-day run coming to an end courtesy of Ethan Page, who held the title for 86 days himself.

Collision rating for 09/28/2024

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/01/2024

Collision on Saturday night had a nice boost in viewership, drawing 435,000 viewers, up 88,000 viewers from the previous week. This is the most-watched episode in over a month. The show had a 0.13 rating in 18-49, up 0.01 from the prior week and was #3 for the night on cable. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

NXT starts on The CW tonight with two big title matches live at 8PM ET

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/01/2024

A new era of NXT kicks in tonight as the show moves to the CW Network beginning at 8PM ET with a show live from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.

It’s a huge night for NXT, with two big title matches on the card. Starting the show will be Roxanne Perez defending the NXT Women’s champion against Giulia while the main event will be Ethan Page defending the NXT title against Trick Williams with Chicago’s own CM Punk as the special guest referee.

Other matches announced are Wes Lee vs Zachary Wentz in a street fight and Lola Vice teams up with Jaida Parker to take on two members of Fatal Influence.

Plus, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill appear and The Miz hosts MizTV with guests Oba Femi and Tony D’Angelo.

Rampage rating for 09/27/2024

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/01/2024

Rampage drew 276,000 viewers on Friday night on TNT, down 51,000 viewers from the previous episode which was the highest in eight weeks. The show had a 0.08 rating in 18-49, down 0.04 from the last show, and was #15 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

Bleacher Report officially announces the end of AEW PPVs on its system

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/01/2024

Bleacher Report has started e-mailing users notifying them that they will no longer be offering AEW pay-per-views.

“Hello, it’s been a high-flying time, but Bleacher Report is taking a step back from the AEW pay-per-view ring,” the e-mail states. “Don’t worry though, we’re not throwing in the towel on wrestling – you can continue to use the B/R app to keep up with your favorite moments and storylines.”

Users who previously purchased AEW pay-per-views through the B/R system have the option to keep the replays of the events purchased through TrillerTV as long as they opt-in through a link which is only valid for 14 days.

AEW pay-per-views will be available through TrillerTV, YouTube, and PPV.COM moving forward.

WWE Hall of Famer Pete Rose passes away at age 83

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/01/2024

WWE Hall of Famer and baseball great Pete Rose passed away yesterday at the age of 83. His cause of death remains unknown.

Rose, best known for ending his baseball career with a record-breaking 4,256 hits, has made several WWE appearances throughout the years, and for three years in a row made it to WrestleMania only to get attacked by Kane.

At WrestleMania XIV, Rose was the guest ring announcer for the Kane vs Undertaker match but he ran down the Boston crowd and Kane took him out with a Tombstone.

At WrestleMania XV, Rose tried to get his revenge on Kane and dressed as the San Diego Chicken in a bid to attack the Big Red Machine. Obviously, that did not work and Kane hit another Tombstone on him.

He also appeared at WrestleMania 2000 and this time he tried to attack Kane with a baseball bat. But he got a chokeslam for his trouble and a stink face from Rikishi.

Two years later, Rose was part of the No Mercy commercial where he also got another chokeslam from Kane.

In 2004, Pete Rose became the first celebrity to enter the celerity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame and was inducted by his arch rival Kane.

As a baseball player, Rose played for the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, and Montreal Expos. He also managed the Reds before he was banned for life by the Major League Baseball after he admitted that he had bet on several sports.

Killswitch hospitalized with double pneumonia

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/01/2024

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Wrestling is reporting that AEW star Killswitch is currently in hospital suffering from pneumonia in both lungs.

The former TNT champion was found passed out by his fiancee and was rushed to a hospital where doctors found that his oxygen level was dangerously below 80%.

He is expected to be out of action for at least a month, although it’s likely that he will be sidelined for more.

The 39-year-old last wrestled at All In.

Smackdown rating for 09/27/2024

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/01/2024

Smackdown last Friday on USA drew 1,568,000 viewers, up 73,000 viewers from the previous week. The show had the same 0.45 rating in the 18-49 demo that it did last week and was #2 on cable television and #2 overall, even beating FOX’s coverage of college football which aired in Smackdown’s place on the network. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

Sami Zayn getting World Heavyweight title shot on next week’s Raw

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/01/2024

Sami Zayn is finally getting what he wants: a World Heavyweight title match against Gunther, and that match will take place next week as the main event of the two-hour Raw.

Zayn has been trying to get Gunther to agree to a match for several weeks now, but only managed to get a yes last night after he poked Gunther with the wrong line!

During their in-ring segment, Gunther said that losing to Zayn at WrestleMania was the biggest embarrassment of his career because he lost in front of his wife, his parents, and his family. Gunther told Zayn that his father told him that he had to travel all the way from Vienna to Philadelphia to see his son lose to Zayn.

Gunther continued telling Zayn that while Zayn kept losing in front of his wife and kid, his family is not used to seeing him fail as he was the golden boy of the family.

Zayn admitted that he lost several matches in front of his family, but always got back up and went on to the next challenge. Gunther, he said, was such a failure that he disappeared and never even asked for a rematch because his dad told him he’s a loser and now, after several weeks, he’s also showing his father that he’s a coward too.

That was enough for Gunther, who flattened Zayn, put him in a sleeper, and delivered a powerbomb. Gunther then accepted Zayn’s challenge but it was Zayn who had the last laugh as he finally broke down the Austrian.

Danielson vs Okada, title vs title, to headline 5th anniversary Dynamite tomorrow

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/01/2024

Dynamite’s fifth anniversary episode tomorrow night will be headlined by a major match featuring AEW World champion Bryan Danielson versus AEW Continental champion Kazuchika Okada.

Both the AEW World and Continental titles will be on the line, however, since the Continental title matches have a 20-minute time limit, that title will only be at stake for the first 20 minutes of the match.

If Danielson manages to beat Okada in the first 20 minutes, he will win the Continental title, but failure to defeat Okada in 20 minutes means that Okada’s title will no longer be on the line, and if Danielson eventually beats Okada, then he does not win the title.

For Danielson, the stakes remain high as if Okada beats him, then Danielson will retire from full-time in-ring action apart from losing the AEW World title.

Ilja Dragunov out for up to nine months with torn ACL

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/01/2024

It’s going to be a while before we see Ilja Dragunov back in the ring as WWE announced last night on Raw that the Russian star tore his ACL during a non-televised live event this past weekend.

Dragunov was wrestling Gunther in Columbus, Georgia, in a match for the World Heavyweight title when the injury took place.

On Raw, commentator Joe Tessitore said that the former NXT champion will be out for up to nine months as he needs to undergo surgery.

Dragunov has been part of the main roster since the April WWE Draft.

Seth Rollins returns on Raw, takes out Bronson Reed

By

Colin Vassallo

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10/01/2024

Seth Rollins returned to Raw last night, interfering in the main event match between Bronson Reed and Braun Strowman.

After Reed hit a superplex on Strowman and both men struggled to get to their feet to beat the 10-count, Rollins ran in and delivered a curb stomp on Reed who was using the ring steps as leverage to get up. With Reed completely out, Strowman barely made it up on his feet before the count and was declared the winner.

Reed attacked Rollins in August, delivering six tsunami splashes off the top rope, an angle done to explain why Rollins would be off television for the next several weeks to recover from an injury.

Rollins has not wrestled since Money In The Bank on July 6.

Raw preview for 09/30/2024

By

Colin Vassallo

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09/30/2024

The Bad Blood go-home episode of Raw takes place tonight from Ford Center Evansville in Evansville, Indiana, and the show is headlined by a last monster standing match.

The biggest match on the card – literally – features Bronson Reed taking on Braun Strowman as weeks of build, carnage, broken walls, and everything in between culminates with this last monster standing machine.

Other matches scheduled for tonight’s show include Judgment Day vs LWO in a six-man tag team match, Xavier Woods vs Rey Mysterio, Kofi Kingston vs Chad Gable, Lyra Valkyria vs Zoey Stark, and CM Punk and Drew McIntyre will go head-to-head just days before their Hell In A Cell match.

Plus, brand new Intercontinental champion Jey Uso makes his first appearance as champ.

Last three-hour Raw on USA Network tonight

By

Colin Vassallo

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09/30/2024

Tonight’s Raw is the last three-hour broadcast on USA Network as the show changes to a two-hour format next week on October 7.

The news of moving back to two hours was announced earlier this month and technically, next week kicks off a new temporary television deal for Raw on USA Network, with a three-month, $25 million deal.

Raw is moving to Netflix in January 2025 and will go back to three hours once it moves. There are also rumors that Smackdown is changing to three hours as well, although those rumors have not been confirmed. Moving Smackdown to three hours will see an increase in its deal with NBCUniversal due to 52 hours of additional programming per year on Friday night.

Scaling back Raw to two hours will also theoretically help its ratings as the third hour usually drags down the overall average.

USA Network’s The Anonymous will be taking the 10PM to 11PM time slot from next week.

The show moved to a three-hour format in July 2012.

Swerve Strickland clarifies WWE’s attempt at “contract tampering” two years ago

By

Colin Vassallo

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09/30/2024

Two years ago, AEW President Tony Khan accused WWE of contract tempering, with Swerve Strickland’s name being one of those WWE allegedly tried to get back after Triple H assumed power following Vince McMahon’s resignation.

But now, Strickland has seemingly cleared the air while appearing on the radio show Breakfast Club on Power 105.1 FM, saying that while WWE showed interest in him again, there was never any direct contact and the word “re-sign” was never used.

“Yeah, it wasn’t like the words ‘re-sign,'” Strickland said. “They ‘asked about my availability.’ They never contacted me. They contacted my representation,” he clarified, saying that he’s now at a stage where he can enjoy the fact he doesn’t have to have that direct contact.

“You can check my phone. It’s never been there. I never had direct contact. I want to keep that little space. Communication has been reached out,” Strickland continued.

When the story came to light last year, Khan said the AEW’s legal department issued a warning e-mail to Stephanie McMahon and Nick Khan, telling them not to do it again.