On his latest episode of Impaulsive show, Logan Paul said that he cannot wait to return to WWE and after getting cable in Puerto Rico where he lives, watching WWE TV weekly is adding more fuel to that fire.
“I am so hungry to get back in there, dude. I’m so hungry to get back in there,” he said. “And I just got cable. I just got cable down here in Puerto Rico. So I’ve been watching Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown, and the big events like Night of Champions just happened, as a fan.”
Paul said that he didn’t always watch WWE from the “consumer angle” and watching the shows on TV, he can now see how the performance translates from what it feels like from his perspective in the ring to on TV.
Paul last wrestled at WrestleMania in a losing effort against Seth Rollins in one of the matches of the night. It was his second consecutive WrestleMania. He also wrestled SummerSlam and Royal Rumble, and once in Saudi Arabia against Roman Reigns.
The YouTuber signed a new WWE deal during WrestleMania weekend.
In its first regular time slot in many, many weeks, Rampage drew 436,000 viewers last Friday, up 143,000 viewers from the prior week. This was the most-watched Rampage since April 14. The show did a 0.11 rating in the 18-49 demo, up 0.02 from the previous week and was #13 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
The mystery of who kept attacking the NXT women in the dangerous parking lot at the WWE Performance Center has finally been resolved as Blair Davenport revealed herself to be the one causing mayhem.
The identity of the mystery attacker was hyped to be revealed on last night’s show and Davenport showed up after Dani Palmer cut a promo in the ring demanding the attacker to come forward.
Davenport, a former member of the NXT UK roster, appeared briefly on NXT last year when she was in a triple threat feud with NXT UK Women’s champion Meiko Satomura and NXT Women’s champion Mandy Rose. The three eventually had a triple threat match at Worlds Collide in September, a match which Rose won.
The British star disappeared from WWE television following Worlds Collide and only resurfaced on last night’s show.
In previous months, stars such as Roxanne Perez, Sol Luca, Nikkita Lyons, Wendy Choo, and Dani Palmer were all attacked by the mystery individual.
The taped episode of Smackdown on the eve of Night of Champions drew 2,158,000 viewers, up 25,000 viewers from the prior week’s show. Smackdown did a 0.52 rating in the 18-49 demo, down 0.01 from the previous week and was #1 on all of television by a good wide margin. In the overnight ratings, Smackdown did 1,991,000 viewers in the first hour and 2,063,000 viewers in the second hour. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Two WWE Superstars who did not get drafted to either Raw or Smackdown, Mustafa Ali and Baron Corbin, both made surprise appearances on NXT last night and it looks like they will be spending a couple of weeks there.
Mustafa Ali was the first one to make his presence felt, entering through the crowd during the Wes Lee and Tyler Bate vs The Dyad tag team match. He joined the commentary team and then later got some action himself by beating on Joe Gacy who had entered to attack Lee and Bate.
Meanwhile, Baron Corbin set his sights on the NXT championship as after Carmelo Hayes defeated Noam Dar in the main event, Corbin came in and attacked Hayes. Corbin hit the End of Days finishing move on Hayes and then held up the NXT title.
Both Superstars were “free” to show up since technically they were not drafted to either Raw or Smackdown.
The Undisputed WWE Universal champion Roman Reigns will work just 10 days between now and SummerSlam on August 5.
WWE has posted the calendar of Reigns’ upcoming appearances, which includes six Smackdown live shows, two non-televised live events, and two premium live events.
Reigns will be on Smackdown on June 2 from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Smackdown on June 16 from Lexington, Kentucky, on June 17 for a non-televised event in Cincinnati, Ohio, on Smackdown on June 30 from London, at Money In The Bank on July 1 from London, on Smackdown on July 7 from New York, New York, on Smackdown on July 21 from Orlando, Florida, on July 22 for a non-televised event in Mexico City, Mexico, on Smackdown on July 28 from New Orleans, Louisiana, and at SummerSlam on August 5 from Detroit, Michigan.
Reigns will miss two Smackdown shows heading into Money In The Bank on June 9 and June 23 and will miss two other Smackdown shows heading into SummerSlam, with the July 14 and August 4 – the eve of the show – missing from the calendar.
A John Cena 2022 Panini Black Prizm WWE trading card sold for $17,100 on Thursday night at PWCC Marketplace to become Cena’s highest selling trading card of all time.
This record-setter hails from Panini’s debut WWE trading card set and is considered a crown jewel from the landmark collection.
Cena’s Black Prizm parallel features a horizontal holographic image of the wrestling legend carrying Shinsuke Nakamura during a 2017 match. BGS graded this card a Gem Mint 9.5.
“John Cena’s Black Prizm parallel is one of the more coveted WWE cards in existence,” said Jesse Craig, Vice President of Sales at PWCC. “This card, along with The Rock’s issue, heralded the arrival of WWE into mainstream card collecting.”
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Black Prizm parallel from this Panini collection set an all-time WWE record last month when it sold for $126,000 through PWCC.
Night of Champions was a hit for WWE this past weekend with the show breaking two records for WWE in Saudi Arabia.
The Sports Business Journal is reporting that Night of Champions had the most viewership of any premium live event in Saudi Arabia to date, surpassing last November’s Crown Jewel by a total of 18%. This is of course thanks to the jump in subscribers that Peacock has registered over the past couple of months.
Also, Night of Champions set a new record for merchandise in Saudi Arabia, although no figures were released.
This was the ninth WWE live event in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, part of an often-criticized 10-year strategic partnership with the Ministry of Sport. The deal calls for two premium live events per year where WWE gets an estimated $50 million per show.
Dark Side of the Ring returns for a delayed season four tonight on Vice TV. The show will air every Tuesday at 10PM ET.
Season four will have 10 episodes in total and it premieres with the subjects of Chris Candido and Tammy “Sunny” Sytch. The other episodes will feature Magnum TA, Adrian Adonis, Doink The Clown, Junkyard Dog, Marty Jannetty, Bam Bam Bigelow, Abdullah The Butcher, WCW Bash at the Beach 2000, and The Graham family.
Dark Side of the Ring did not air last year and instead, the producers partnered with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to produce Tales from the Territories. The show was not as much of a hit as Dark Side of the Ring and it’s unlikely to return.
The Money In The Bank qualifying matches started on Raw last night, with two Superstars already moving forward to the actual ladder match.
In the first qualifying match of the night, Ricochet defeated The Miz and later in the show, Shinsuke Nakamura defeated Bronson Reed.
This coming Friday on Smackdown, there will be two more qualifying matches, with LA Knight versus Montez Ford and Zelina Vega versus Lacey Evans in the first qualifying match for the women.
On Raw next week, Becky Lynch will take on Sonya Deville and Zoey Stark battles Natalya in two more women qualifying matches.
Money In The Bank takes place on July 1 from the sold out O2 Arena in London, England.
It will be a long time before we see Alexa Bliss back in the ring as the former women’s champion announced that she is pregnant!
“The best moments in life are the completely unexpected. Baby Cabrera arriving December 2023,” Bliss wrote in a post on Instagram, adding a photo of the scan and a baby bodysuit with the words “Best oops ever!”
Talking to E! News, Bliss said, “It was a total surprise, as we weren’t trying at all.” Her husband Ryan added that the couple were “one million percent surprised” but they couldn’t be more excited about it.
Bliss last wrestled at the Royal Rumble premium live event at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, this past January, losing a title match against Bianca Belair. She was then taken off the air again and Bliss later revealed she was taking care of skin cancer while also participating in FOX’s The Masked Singer.
There were rumors that Bliss was supposed to return to her “dark side” with Bray Wyatt again but Wyatt went also missing from WWE television due to an undisclosed injury/illness.
Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler became the 20th WWE Women Tag Team champions last night on Monday Night Raw after they won a fatal four-way tag team match to win the vacant titles.
The match also included Bayley and Iyo Sky, Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green, and Raquel Rodriguez and Shotzi.
It was the former Raw and Smackdown Women’s champion Ronda Rousey who managed to get the win for the team, locking in the armbar on Shotzi.
This is Rousey’s first time with the Tag Team titles and now has won all the women’s major titles on the main roster. Baszler had already won the Tag Team titles twice with Nia Jax before.
The New World Heavyweight champion Seth “Freakin” Rollins is announced first and comes out through the crowd. Seth says he is a champion that wants to be here and wants a fight. He will be here with the crowd singing his song.
A.J. Styles comes to the ring, and says he came to Monday Night Raw to congratulate Seth and he gave him everything he had. He heard the WWE Universe say you deserve it, and he doesn’t deserve anything, he earned the right to be World Heavyweight champion.
Seth says I am not very good at these things but after the beating I gave you at the Night of Champions, you earned this, and he held his hand out and they shook hands.
The Judgment Day came out and Finn says this is making me want to puke. They challenge Rollins and Styles, and they agree.
In the back Adam Pearce makes the match official.
Ricochet VS. The Miz in a Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
Ricochet hit 450 splash for the win.
Winner: Ricochet
Trish Stratus is out to the ring next and says Becky can climb back in her hole to go through her stuff, so the real superstars have a chance, real superstars like Zoey Stark. Zoey says thank you Trish. This led to Becky Lynch coming to the ring and Becky challenged Trish to restart the match from Saturday. But Zoey is back in after attacking Becky on the floor and Trish and Zoey beat down Becky.
Indus Sher VS. Javier Bernal & Kevin Ventura-Cortes
Indus Sher squashed the two opponents.
Winners: Indus Sher
The Undisputed Tag Team Champions Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are out next. Imperium came out and both Owens and Zayn said they should not be out there because they didn’t call their name and they already have a match with Alpha Academy later.
As Kaiser goes on a rant, Alpha Academy come out to Gable’s Shhusshhh, which stops Kaiser, and their match is next.
Alpha Academy VS. Ludwig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci
Imperium gets the victory with the Imperium Bomb
Winners: Imperium
Raquel Rodriguez & Shotzi VS. Bayley & Iyo Sky VS. Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler VS. Sonya Deville & Chelsea Green for the Vacant WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship
As Shotzi goes to the top rope to jump on Rousey, Shayna stopped her, but Shayna was knocked off the apron and Shotzi dives onto Rousey, but Rousey was waiting, and Rousey grabs her as soon as she fell and locked in the armbar and Shotzi immediately tapped out.
Winners and New WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions: Ronda Rousey & Shayna Baszler
Dolph Ziggler VS. JD McDonaugh
The action spilled out of the ring with McDonaugh getting the upper hand on Ziggler.
No Contest: Double Count out
The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes comes to the ring, Cody challenged Brock Lesnar to one more match because he said they are 1 and 1. Cody said Brock is beast enough to break his arm but not man enough to make him tap out.
Matt Riddle is interviewed in the back and Gunther walked in and said he wishes him luck and hopes he wins and when he does, he wants him to cash in on him because beating him gives him pleasure.
New Women’s Tag Team Champions Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler said they can now be recognized as the baddest team on the planet.
Shinsuke Nakamura VS. Bronson Reed in a Money in the bank Qualifying Match
After four Kinshasa kicks, Nakamura gets the win.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
Bryon Saxton interviewed The Judgment Day. They would not tell Byron which two of them were going to face Seth Rollins and A.J. Styles tonight.
Seth “Freakin” Rollins & A.J. Styles VS. Damian Priest & Finn Balor
Damian hits the Razor’s Edge on A.J. but during the pin, Seth comes in and hits a stomp on Damian and A.J. was able to make the tag out to Seth and Seth hits another stomp on Damian to get the win.
Max Caster of The Acclaimed had a hilarious rap last night at Double or Nothing which contained a zinger at Buddy Matthews of House of Black.
It was The Acclaimed and Daddy Ass who answered House of Black’s challenge and as always, Caster came down the aisle rapping looking to pop the crowd.
And pop the crowd he did.
As part of his rap, Caster mentioned that Buddy is ominous when he’s actually getting “cucked” by a kid name Dominik. The Dominik is obviously a reference to Dominik Mysterio, who is part of Judgment Day with Matthews’ mami, Rhea Ripley.
The crowd responded with a big “Oooooh” as cameras cut to Matthews standing in the ring with Brody King looking at him and Anthony Bowens holding his head as he stood next to Caster.
It was all in fun though and Ripley turned it around.
“Hey @DomMysterio35, we’re over in two companies,” Ripley tweeted later.
AEW President Tony Khan said during the post-PPV press conference that the All In show at London’s Wembley Stadium will for sure air live somewhere but could not give any details of what the plans are.
The show is not listed as being a pay-per-view and rumors are that it could be part of the Max streaming service in the United States. ITV currently airs AEW in the UK but it’s unknown if they would air it on free television there.
Khan also said that All In has surpassed 65,000 tickets sold and the gate is over $8 million and is on track of being the highest-grossing pro wrestling event in the country ever.
All In will be followed by All Out a week later, and that will be on traditional pay-per-view.
Last night’s Double or Nothing ended up with just over 10,000 fans in the stands, with the 4 for $40 promotion certainly helping and a good walk up on the day of the show.
According to @WrestleTix, the arena was set up for 11,640 and final count was 10,229. This was less than the 14,459 attendance the show had in the same arena last year.
But when you consider they were just at 7,000 last week, moving over 3,000 tickets in a few days, be it with a promotion or not, was a good run to the finish line.
AEW is having an attendance issue at the moment and definitely cooled off from last year when it comes to sold out arenas. The United Center in Chicago for the first episode of Collision has around 6,500 tickets sold in an arena that holds 20,000 fans.
WWE announced that the next NXT premium live event will take place on Sunday, July 30 with The Great American Bash. The show will be at Cedar Park, Texas at the H-E-B Center, a location frequently used by AEW for Dynamite.
This will be the first time that The Great American Bash will be a PLE on Peacock and WWE Network instead of a regular television special on USA Network.
NXT started using The Great American Bash name in 2020, eight years after WWE had last used it as a Smackdown special.
Tickets for The Great American Bash go on sale on Friday, June 9 at 11AM.
The 24-year-old from Minnesota defeated Lyra Valkyria yesterday in the tournament final at NXT Battleground to win her first-ever title, hitting her Prettiest Moonsault Ever finisher to capture the gold.
The tournament was announced after Indi Hartwell suffered an injury and was then drafted to Monday Night Raw, requiring her to surrender the title.
Stratton had to go through Gigi Dolin and then former champion Roxanne Perez to reach the final while Valkyria went through Kiana James and Cora Jade.
Jade Cargill’s 508-day reign as TBS champion came to a big screeching halt last night at Double or Nothing as she suffered her first loss in AEW and lost the title to the returning Kris Statlander.
Cargill had just defeated Taya Valkyrie in her scheduled match on the pay-per-view but Mark Sterling then cut a promo saying that the undefeated Cargill would defend her title anywhere at any time against anyone.
Cue in Statlander’s music and in 48 seconds, Statlander ended Cargill’s streak after hitting a tombstone for the pinfall victory.
Cargill had 25 successful defenses of the AEW TBS title and 60 consecutive wins.
Statlander was last seen on AEW TV in August and was out for several months after she suffered a torn ACL.
