We are just hours away from Crown Jewel, the second Saudi premium live event of 2024 where five titles will be on the line.
These odds are accurate as of press time but please remember that these can and probably will change as the show gets closer to bell time. Always bet responsibly if you’re using real money and try your luck with bitcoin casinos.
The Undisputed WWE Universal title will be defended by Roman Reigns against challenger LA Knight. Reigns is the overwhelming favorite to walk out as champion, with odds of 1/12 while that of Knight are 6/1 for the big upset.
Seth Rollins’ WWE World Heavyweight title is also up for grabs as Rollins defends against Drew McIntyre. Rollins is 4/11 favorite to retain as well while the Scottish Warrior is 2/1 underdog.
Rhea Ripley will take on four different challengers in Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Raquel Rodriguez, and Zoey Stark in a bid to retain her WWE Women’s World title. Despite the challengers, Ripley remains favorite with 1/10 odds while Jax is 7/2, Shayna is 11/2, Raquel is 7/1, and Zoey is 10/1.
The Genius of the Sky battles the EST of WWE with the WWE Women’s title on the line. IYO SKY, the champion, is 4/7 favorite to retain it while Belair is 5/4 to regain the title she only held for a few minutes at SummerSlam.
The United States title is the only one which bookmakers think will change hands today as Logan Paul is 1/5 favorite over the champ Rey Mysterio who is 10/3 to keep it.
The other two non-title matches are John Cena vs Solo Sikoa and Cody Rhodes vs Damian Priest. Cena is 1/3 favorite against Sikoa who is 9/4 while The American Nightmare is 1/7 big favorite against Señor Money In The Bank who is at 4/1.
Hello everybody! It’s @TheMagnumDA with yet another installment of the Pick’em report. Tonight, Colin and I will go toe-to-toe in an eternal struggle here at WWE CROWN JEWEL to find out who is the WOPC Champion. Last month at FastLane, it only took 30 minutes for me to retain the title (a new record!) but today won’t be so easy. Most nights, Colin and I are on the same page when it comes to our picks…with one or two exceptions. Tonight? Anything can happen, because our picks are all over the place! To quote DDP…that’s not a bad thing…that’s a good thing!
With that in mind, ON WITH THE PICKS!!
Pre-Show Featured Match
Sami Zayn vs. JD McDonagh
Colin: They’re probably going all the way to WarGames at Survivor Series with this feud but if they are, after that, this Judgment Day vs SZ/KO/Cody etc needs to stop. We’ve seen every kind of matches between all of them and it’s time to move on to new stuff. McDonagh needs a good win here and I am picking him for the W.
Magnum: I couldn’t agree more with Colin – we’ve seen every combination between these two groups, and the time has come to give this thing a blowoff so we can prepare for the upcoming Winter programs/storylines. As I watch Sami against the Judgment Day, I can’t help but feel like we’re watching a guy slowly descend into madness. It makes me wonder…if Sami loses this match, is he going to jump off the deep end? I think that side of him is coming…just not tonight. I’ll pick Sami with a big win to get the show off to a flying start.
WWE United States Championship
Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Logan Paul
Colin: This is a title I can see Logan Paul carrying around. Rey Mysterio doesn’t need a title at this point in his career and not even Paul to be quite honest, but giving Paul the title will get some additional exposure. Logan for the win. #ANDNEW
Magnum: I’m with Colin 100% on this – with all of his other shenanigans behind him, Paul’s now got his sights set on championship gold. Rey’s going to make this kid look like a million bucks, and Logan’s going have some tricks up his sleeve too. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw Dom make an appearance during this match, leading to Logan Paul becoming the NEW United States Champion. I can’t believe I’m typing that!
Cody Rhodes vs. Damian Priest
Colin: I wish this was for Priest’s MITB briefcase and Cody gets it away from him. I still can’t picture Priest as a champion, if he’s successful in cashing in that is. In any case, Rhodes has to win here for a variety of reasons, especially if Priest will try to cash in later.
Magnum: Hmm…cash in later…tonight? Colin might be onto something there. Then again, I wouldn’t be surprised if Damian made his move at the Survivor Series. As for tonight? It’s Cody’s night to deliver a little punishment to the former Punisher Martinez. Give me Cody to win after some Judgment Day shenanigans go awry.
John Cena vs. Solo Sikoa
Colin: I’m torn on this one. If Cena is leaving again now, then Sikoa should go out on top. Does Cena need the win? Probably not, but he lost to Austin Theory already this year and needs something to get him back up for the potential retirement match soon. Cena wins.
Magnum: Probably the toughest match to call on the card, to be quite honest. John has built this up to be his first singles win in many years, but it almost feels like that would be a set-up for him to lose again. That would build on the retirement narrative (as mentioned above). Man…you know, Colin and I pick a lot of the same matches on these reports, so let’s mix it up. I’ll take Solo for the monumental upset.
WWE Women’s Championship
Iyo Sky (c) (with Bayley and Dakota Kai) vs. Bianca Belair
Colin: I like Bianca, but I can’t see her win this so soon. With the impending return of The Pirate Princess, it would be cool if she could feud with SKY for the title. I’m thinking Belair loses here with some kind of interference and SKY retains.
Magnum: Another tough one, because under any other circumstance Bianca should steamroll over The Genius of The Sky. That said, having Damage CTRL at ringside changes things up a little bit. You know what would be awesome? If this was the catalyst for the Women’s War Games Match. I’ll take Iyo to retain on this occasion, but don’t be surprised if Bianca gets some help from a few unlikely allies…namely Asuka and the returning Kairi Sane!
WWE World Heavyweight Championship
Seth “Freakin” Rollins (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
Colin: Drew still has not signed a new WWE contract and still hasn’t had a title reign in front of fans. If I were the booker man, I would take the title off Rollins and allow Drew to have a heel run as champion. Drew wins. #ANDNEW
Magnum: Now THAT takes some big balls. Say what you will about Colin, but he’s no Miz when it comes to the Pick’em report. A dude whose contract is not renewed…walking out with the World Heavyweight Championship? In my opinion, it’s probably more likely that Damian Priest walks out with the title (and not Drew). But hey, that’s why we play the game, right? While it’s possible that Priest cashes in, I’m going to say that he would take the title from Seth before Drew. So with that in mind, we’ll take Rollins to retain the title.
Women’s World Championship – Fatal 5 Way
Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Nia Jax vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Zoey Stark vs. Raquel Rodriguez
Colin: Mami mami mami. There’s no way Ripley is losing this one. Can’t see any of the rest as champions at the moment. But if they had to do a title change, this would be a good match to do it as they could protect Rhea by having someone else pin a different person who is not the champion. Anyway, Rhea retains.
Magnum: This feels like the hossfight of the year in the Women’s division. I expect complete chaos. I also expect people to get hurt, because Nia Jax is in the match (sorry, not sorry). In the end, Rhea is going to do something amazing (please be an Electric Chair Drop to Jax onto a chair) and retain the title. You know why? Because Mami is always on top!!!
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship
Roman Reigns (c) (with Paul Heyman) vs. LA Knight
Colin: I think it was a mistake to do this match because you know Roman Reigns is not losing and this could halt the momentum that Knight has. The only way he can save face is if he loses thanks to a bunch of outside interference where the odds are stacked against him. Reigns wins.
Magnum: In keeping with the tradition of Colin and I making different picks, I’m going to tell you exactly how this match plays out: LA Knight pins Roman Reigns and wins.
Simple as that…or is it?
Remember a week ago, when LA Knight brushed aside Roman and signed the contract without looking at it? I think Knight will mow down the Tribal Chief and hit the BFT for the 1…2…3! Afterwards, we’ll discover that the contract LA Knight signed…was not for the WWE Universal Championship. It was for a non-title match! That should get the crowd riled up. Still, it will be a huge deal for Knight to secure the first 1-on-1 win vs. Roman Reigns on PPV in years. In the end, however, Roman still leaves with the WWE Universal Championship.
Alright everyone, that’s going to do it for the Pick’em report! Enjoy the show, and we’ll see you at the Survivor Series!! @TheMagnumDA signing off.
AEW’s Bryan Danielson has challenged NJPW’s Kazuchika Okada for a rematch at the Wrestle Kingdom 18 pay-per-view.
Danielson and Okada wrestled at the Forbidden Door PPV this past June and Danielson won the match despite suffering a broken arm along the way.
With an eye patch covering his broken orbital bone, Danielson told Okada in the video that at Wrestle Kingdom, he will break his arm and he would never be able to hit his finishing move – the Rainmaker – ever again.
Okada has already accepted the challenge and the match was officially announced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
Tickets for Wrestle Kingdom 18, taking place on January 4, 2024 live from the Tokyo Dome, are out on sale already.
An eye for an eye, an arm for an arm on the mind of the American Dragon!@bryandanielson has challenged Kazuchika Okada for Wrestle Kingdom 18!
Despite not being on the card, Grayson Waller has traveled to Saudi Arabia and could be part of the Crown Jewel show with his Grayson Waller Effect segment.
This week Waller took a shot at soccer, or football as it’s called over this side of the world, saying that it’s a mediocre “sport.” He also added a GIF of football global superstar Cristiano Ronaldo saying that he has no idea why people “praise this flop so much” with a yawning emoji.
There were rumors that WWE were trying to get Ronaldo to appear at Crown Jewel but his team, Al-Nassr, plays today at 7PM local time at the AL-AWWAL PARK Stadium, which is around 9 kilometers away from where Crown Jewel takes place. Crown Jewel kicks off an hour later at 8PM local time.
Impact Wrestling on AXS TV this week drew 86,000 viewers. There’s no rating to compare with the prior week as that number is not publicly available. The show did a 0.01 rating in the 18-49 demo. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)
Live from the Mohammed Abdu Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, WWE presents Crown Jewel on Peacock and WWE Network. The full card is as follows:
Roman Reigns vs LA Knight for the Undisputed WWE Universal title; Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre for the World Heavyweight title; Iyo Sky vs Bianca Belair for the WWE Women’s title; Rhea Ripley vs Nia Jax vs Shayna Baszler vs Zoey Stark vs Raquel Rodriguez in a fatal five-way match for the WWE Women’s World title; Rey Mysterio vs Logan Paul for the WWE United States title; John Cena vs Solo Sikoa; Cody Rhodes vs Damian Priest; and Sami Zayn vs JD McDonagh in the Kickoff show.
The Kickoff show will start at Noon ET / 9AM PT on WWE.COM, Peacock, WWE Network, and all of WWE social media platforms while the actual Crown Jewel event will start an hour later at 1PM ET / 10AM PT.
Tonight’s Smackdown was taped 10/29/2023 due to the PLE tomorrow in Saudi Arabia.
LA Knight with an in-ring promo talking about his match tomorrow with Roman Reigns. Roman comes out and tells Knight he will beat him and leave him in the desert and Knight says he is the one that will be announced as the new champion.
Kevin Owens VS. Austin Theory
Owens with the Stunner.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Bianca Belair says it is personal with Bayley, and Damage Control attack her and Nick Aldis and officials quickly get them separated.
Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits were talking and B-Fab came in and wanted to talk.
Piper Niven & Chelsea Green VS. Shotzi & Charlotte Flair
Chelsea tags Piper and receives a boot to the face from Charlotte.
Winners: Charlotte Flair & Shotzi
Paul Heyman and Solo Sikoa come to the ring to talk about Solo’s match with John Cena tomorrow. Solo stops Paul and says why are you talking to them we are here to talk to John Cena face to face. Cena then comes out. Solo says he knows he has to wait till tomorrow to punch Cena and he has to hand Cena the microphone to say goodbye while he still can.
Cena tells Solo he isn’t saying bye to them he is saying bye for him, and he is a bargain basement Taz rip off and the only reason he has a job is because of his cousin. Cena says with a raspy voice yeah that’s about 90 seconds and drops the microphone and walks out.
Damage Control was talking about Bayley’s match with Bianca and Aldis comes in and says Damage Control is barred from ringside.
The Brawling Brutes VS. Pretty Deadly in a Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook Match
With a powerbomb/neck breaker through a table on Butch, Pretty Deadly wins the Donnybrook Match.
Winners: Pretty Deadly
Nick Aldis runs into Paul Heyman and Heyman offered him some words of wisdom. Heyman tells Aldis to have a lot of medical personnel on hand tomorrow because this Roman Reigns is the most savage that anyone has ever seen.
Nick Aldis is now at the weigh-in for tomorrow’s United States Championship match between Logan Paul and Rey Mysterio.
Logan goes first and his official weight is 213 and Rey is 175. Aldis then asks for a face to face and says no contact. Rey said let’s get this clear and smacked Paul in the face.
They run down the card for tomorrow’s Crown Jewel.
Bianca Belair VS. Bayley
Good match with pin attempts by both women but it was Bianca who hit the KOD for the win.
Winner: Bianca Belair
After the match Bianca gives Bayley another KOD this time through the announce table.
WWE returns to Peacock and the Network tomorrow for another premium live event from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Seven matches will take place on the show and we’ll take a look at the early betting odds for these matches and tomorrow we will update with the latest numbers.
Remember, if you’re betting with real money, be careful as these odds are likely to change. You can also check out the $300 free chip no deposit casino to get started!
Roman Reigns wrestles his first match since SummerSlam against LA Knight with the Undisputed WWE Universal title on the line but there’s no way Reigns is losing here, with his odds stacked at 1/20 and overwhelming favorite against Knight’s 13/2.
Seth Rollins’ WWE World Heavyweight title is also up for grabs as he defends against former WWE champion himself Drew McIntyre. Rollins is 3/10 favorite to retain while McIntyre is 11/5 for the upset.
IYO SKY defends her WWE Women’s title against Bianca Belair and the Japanese star is favorite at 4/9 while Belair is 31/20 to regain the title.
Rhea Ripley has four other opponents to go through if she wants to retain the WWE Women’s World title tomorrow night. Mama’s odds are in her favor though as she leads the pack with 1/10 numbers. Jax is second favorite with 13/2, while Raquel Rodriguez, Shayna Baszler, and Zoey Stark are 7/1, 10/1, and 12/1 respectively.
In what could be John Cena’s last match for a while, the leader of the Cenation is 3/5 favorite in his singles match against Solo Sikoa who is 59/50 to score a big victory.
Cody Rhodes takes on Señor Money In The Bank Damian Priest and the American Nightmare is currently heavy favorite with 1/7 odds against Priest who has 15/4 odds.
A new United States champion is expected according to Bc.hash game casino as Logan Paul is tipped to win his match against Rey Mysterio, with Paul having 7/25 odds and the champion is at 47/20.
The Nature Boy Ric Flair has been doing the media rounds after he signed a deal with AEW that will see him be a on-screen character plus getting his Wooooo! Energy Drink as the official drink for AEW.
Flair has confirmed that his deal is two years so we will be seeing the WWE Hall of Famer on television even after this angle with Sting wraps up with his retirement match at Revolution early next year.
But is he going to be lacing up his boots again? Asked by multiple outlets, Flair said he made it clear that he can take bumps and has the doctor’s blessing to do it but he doubts he will be allowed to wrestle again. Flair said that he would love to, so he’s not going to shut the door on it, but thinks he won’t.
Flair also said that he’s willing to do anything and will be at shows as much as they want him to be there moving forward. It’s something that he loves to do and said he couldn’t work for a nicer guy than Tony Khan.
The 16-time world champion is also excited to have his energy drink in front of a large audience every week as part of his deal included the Wooooo! Energy Drink being front and center on AEW programming.
The Worlds End pay-per-view tickets were off to a great start for AEW as the company sold over 5,000 tickets for the December 30 event in the first two days.
Pretty much all of the floor and first raised levels seats have been sold and half of the 200 Level have now been opened after encouraging ticket movement. WrestleTix data suggests that just over 4,000 tickets were gone in the pre-sale and nearly another 1,000 were moved today.
The show will take place at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. It’s the newest PPV on the AEW calendar following the introduction of All In and WrestleDream this year.
Tickets are available from Ticketmaster.com starting from $36.
PWInsider.com is reporting that AJ Styles will be returning to WWE television on next week’s Friday Night Smackdown.
Styles has been off TV since he was taken out by the Bloodline on the September 22 episode of Smackdown. He was going to be Cena’s partner in his match against Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa but then LA Knight took his place.
It’s unknown why Styles has been off television for nearly two months but his disappearance also kept the rest of the OC faction off TV as well.
FOX CEO Lachlan Murdoch was asked why the network didn’t purse the Smackdown television rights harder to keep them around past 2024 during the Q1 2024 earnings call yesterday.
Murdoch was straight in the answer and didn’t beat around the bush.
“We were not hitting the advertising numbers due to the audience of the WWE for our return on investment to be above the levels that we would accept,” he said. “But also, we didn’t attribute enough significant retransmission revenue to WWE either.”
WWE shows, while most of the year they are #1 in the 18-49 demo, get lower ad rates than other shows which don’t place that high in the chart and it’s mostly because of the wrestling demographic.
Smackdown was also expected to hit the 1.0 rating in 18-49 weekly, a number which WWE hasn’t been close to achieving in a long, long time.
“So, it made sense for us to move on,” Murdoch added. “They’ve been a great partner for many years but just quite simply, we’re very disciplined and the ROI didn’t meet our pretty disciplined parameters. So, we wish them luck and we’ve moved on from them.”
Dynamite had a good showing on Wednesday night despite heavy competition from the MLB World Series game and drew 832,000 viewers, up 58,000 viewers from the prior week. The show did a 0.28 rating in 18-49, up 0.04 from last week and placed #3 in the top 50 cable chart for the night behind two NBA games. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)
Appearing as a guest on the After The Bell podcast, 16-time world champion John Cena said that his return to WWE had the full blessing of the Screen Actors Guild, allowing him to return to the ring while the actors are on strike.
Cena said that he’s lucky that he has a lot of movie and television productions lined up but he can’t talk about any of them due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
“I wanted to see if it was okay to come back to tour. So we called the proper people at SAG, we got written legal okay that it would be okay to come back to WWE,” Cena told Corey Graves.
Cena noted that once he had that OK in writing, he then asked WWE if they would want him back to “hang out for a little bit” and of course, that was a resounding yes.
Cena returned in September and had two full months with WWE. He is scheduled for Crown Jewel tomorrow in a singles match against Solo Sikoa but is not scheduled for any more appearances past Saturday.
SAG-AFTRA are still on strike with no end in sight yet so it will be interesting to see if Cena and WWE can come to an agreement for more dates in the future.
Speaking in a video interview with PWMania.com, Impact Wrestling President Scott D’Amore left the door open for a CM Punk run in Impact and put him over for being respectful backstage at tapings.
“If you want to come by and visit, as long as you’re respectful to our crew, you will be respected,” D’Amore said. “He was a pleasure to have when he came around. So is there a possibility he is here in the future? You never know.”
Punk was backstage at the Impact TV tapings the night after Bound For Glory last month and also showed up backstage in April when the company was again in Chicago for TV.
“The value can’t be understated of good senior veteran talent right now with name recognition and drawability as well. The door is open,” D’Amore continued.
Punk is no longer part of AEW after he was fired in early September and there are big expectations, although nothing verified or confirmed, that he will be showing up at Survivor Series which also happens to take place in Chicago later this month.
AEW announced that Ric Flair has signed a multi-year deal with the promotion which comes with the bonus of having Flair’s new Wooooo! drink as the exclusive energy drink of AEW.
“Last Wednesday, the ‘Nature Boy’ made his epic return to TBS, more than 35 years since the Flair vs. Sting rivalry first began on the Superstation,” said Khan. “it’s truly an honor to welcome the legend himself – and Wooooo! Energy – to AEW.”
Khan continued, “Ric cemented his legacy as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all-time long ago, and now his world-renowned persona and his amazing wrestling mind will be major assets to AEW’s programming and our position globally. Most importantly, it’s fitting that the final chapter of Sting’s iconic career will unfold on TBS with Ric Flair by his side.”
Flair added, “I’ve been in the wrestling business for over 50 years. Together with AEW and Wooooo! Energy, I’ve never been more excited, and I’ve never had more energy! When the Nature Boy promises a show, you know how it’s gonna go! Wooooo!”
During AEW show dates, select host venues will carry the clean energy drink at concession stands for fans to enjoy. In addition, the beverage will be stocked in the wrestlers’ locker rooms, and will also be seen on the announcers’ desk during live broadcasts. Fans watching at home can experience Wooooo! Energy by ordering via woooooenergy.com.
“We’ve all been a part of a ‘Wooooo!’ moment. Time stops, crowds erupt, and people unite to celebrate the extraordinary. It’s electric. You hear it, feel it, and never forget it,” said Chad Bronstein, President and Chairman of Carma HoldCo, parent company of Wooooo! Energy. “This is so much more than a partnership. Together, Ric Flair, AEW and everyone at Wooooo! Energy will create more unforgettable moments for generations of wrestling fans.”
Actions must have consequences. One of the oldest and greatest stories of all time is about a cataclysmic decade-long war caused by one man’s wife leaving him for another. If that man shrugged it off, called up his ‘brochacho’ or carried on as if nothing had changed, then there’s no story. No need to go to Troy, no need to fight a war, no need to care.
Bringing us to AEW’s babyface problem. They’re not selling heels’ actions so that we, as fans, get invested in their retribution. And when it comes to top babyfaces there’s a little question I always like to ask internally: What Would Stone Cold Do?
Yes it’s a high bar but that’s the point. He was the hottest babyface in the history of wrestling, the single biggest draw in the history of wrestling (I’m aware others were hotter for longer, none were this hot at their apex, all the numbers back this up). So as not to alienate those of you who weren’t around, here was the formula:
Heel does anything Steve Austin considers even remotely offensive
A pissed off Steve Austin storms the ring by whatever means necessary to ensure he gets there – feet, Zamboni, beer truck, whatever – the point is he’s getting there, he will not be stopped
Steve Austin tells us he’s pissed off and why he’s pissed off, vows to kick the heel’s ass
Steve Austin kicks the heel’s ass
And if he doesn’t the first time, he relentlessly pursues them until he does what he says he will and gets his vengeance
He emotionally (usually anger) sold whatever the heel had done so that we were invested in seeing him gain revenge. We were along on the journey, living vicariously through this generational ass kicker.
On last night’s Dynamite, MJF started the show with a big smile. He laughed, he joked, he called up his ‘brochacho’, screwed around backstage with his list. Did anything but mention the importance of getting back the world title belt stolen from him, what, a month ago? Yes, nominally all of this was somewhat a means to that end but the only emotion here was happiness. He was neither sad nor angry re: his stolen property.
(WWSCD? A month without his belt? Anything ranging from the heel having a broken appendage to the building being burnt down. After being screwed at KOTR ’98 he interrupted the opening segment the very next night to demand a title shot.)
The only serious character in all of this was Wardlow. Who is presumably a heel? (He is targeting the babyface champion.) But was the only guy I wanted to get behind. Since he very clearly and emotionally (again, anger) explained his story to us. He was a good guy, he did nothing wrong and had his career derailed by this jackass walking round with a clipboard but without his title, crossing names off a list.
He angrily grabbed Max by the neck, told him what he’d done to him and that he was going to get him when the time is right and when he least expects it. And now fans have a reason to emotionally invest in him and anticipate that promise.
Now let’s consider Hangman Page. Whose infant child a sinister and gravely serious Swerve Strickland threatened last week. The babyface’s response to this? Well, Hangman politely waited for his timeslot forty minutes into the show then posed atop the ramp while said heel’s minions were a mere twenty feet away. Essentially, he went through his usual routine. If he was upset or angry, there were no signs.
(WWSCD? Damn sure not politely wait his turn. Probably gatecrash the opening match, hijack the show, demand the heel come out and if he didn’t, head backstage to look for him after vowing to do unspeakable things. He did after all attack Bret Hart in an ambulance and take Vince McMahon hostage with a pistol.)
Even Adam Copeland took an age to finally aim any emotion at a heel Christian Cage. Okay, he has shown one or two bits along the way, the story hasn’t exactly been consistent, but he’s never truly sold what were overtly despicable actions by the heel, only tried to reason with him.
While Kenny Omega didn’t even mention Don Callis costing him the world title Saturday. He made fun of Callis’ word choices then breezily accepted a challenge from the heels for a street fight. Shouldn’t that have been Omega’s challenge after having not only his title shot but his record reign taken away?
There seems to be a growing mid-teens-WWE influence on the product. After an influx of production and behind-the-scenes people from that era. Which is like shoving medieval doctors into modern day hospitals to dole out leeches and crushed jewels*.
An era saturated by John Cena laughing off having his title stolen, or Roman Reigns responding to similar with the words ‘sufferin’ succotash’. A period personified by fan indifference, declining ratings and ticket sales. Sound familiar?
Because pissed-off babyfaces wanting redemption is what sells tickets and gets fans to watch. In fact the only people who fit that bill on this Dynamite were (pseudo)heels the BCC & Wardlow. They were the only people who actually cared about what had happened to them and actively pursued retribution. For everyone else, nothing really mattered. So why should it to fans? And that’s the bottom line.
*Legitimately prescribed by Lorenzo de’ Medici’s doctor
NXT’s Halloween Havoc night two suffered a big drop from last week, getting 674,000 viewers and a dip of 113,000 viewers. The show went against the MLB World Series and the NBA which topped TV ratings. NXT drew a 0.20 rating in 18-49, down 0.01 from last week, and placed #6 in the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)
Hulu today announced that Love & WWE: Bianca & Montez will premiere on the streaming service on February 2, 2024.
The series will look back at Bianca Belair and Montez Ford’s wild Road to WrestleMania, as Montez continued his ascent and Bianca fought to stay on top. With the support of their tight-knit group of friends, family and fellow WWE Superstars, the dynamic duo somehow always manage to pull off the impossible.
The first eight episodes of the show will be released all at once for binge-watching.
A subscription to Hulu is required to watch the show.
Hulu currently has the next-day streaming rights for WWE shows but this is the first time that a WWE series will air exclusively on Hulu.
Paul Wight will be returning to the the ring for the first time since an episode of Dark: Elevation which aired in March 2022.
Wight will be teaming up with Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, and Kota Ibushi to take on Konosuke Takeshita, Will Ospreay, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Kyle Fletcher in an eight-man tag team match which will air on the November 15 episode of Dynamite.
The man formerly known as The Big Show made his presence felt last night on Dynamite and came to even the odds, with Wight knocking out Kyle Fletcher during the segment.
Wight’s last match on television was against QT Marshall at All Out 2021.
