WWE on A&E this week had the season premieres of WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures season two and Stone Cold Takes on America.
Episode 1 of Most Wanted Treasures featuring memorabilia of the Rattlesnake did 426,000 viewers and a 0.16 rating in the 18-49 demo, placing #17 on the chart. That was down from the 491,000 viewers the season one finale did.
Meanwhile, Stone Cold Takes on America opened up with 339,000 viewers and a 0.10 rating in 18-49. The show was #36 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Leva Bates, who has been with AEW since the company was formed in 2019, has announced on Twitter that her AEW deal has expired and is no longer with the promotion.
“As of today, my contract with AEW has expired. The last four years have been quite a ride; I’ve learned so much and grown exponentially,” Bates wrote on Twitter. “I’ve seen wrestling history take place as someone who was on the team since before the first show. I appreciate & love all the crew, staff, and talent; I will cherish all our memories together.”
Bates added that she gave her time, focus, and effort to the company, but now she has got to focus on herself, her future, and her career.
“I hope you all, my friends, fans, and loved ones, stay with me through this next chapter of my journey. I hope to make you all proud no matter where I go,” she continued.
Prior to joining AEW, Bates had stints in TNA/Impact and later in NXT as Blue Pants.
AEW Rampage on Friday, airing during a different time slot of 6:30PM, drew just 298,000 viewers, down 73,000 viewers from the prior week. This was the least-watched episode of Rampage since February 17. The show did a 0.09 rating in 18-49, down 0.03 from last week and placed #32 on the top 50 cable chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
The 2023 WWE Draft is now over with – almost – everyone finding a home except for just under a dozen WWE Superstars who are still free agents and can appear on both shows until they find a permanent one.
Obviously, Monday Night Raw has the bulk of the roster since it is a three hour show versus the two hours of Smackdown.
Representing Raw from next Monday will be Akira Tozawa, Alpha Academy (Otis & Chad Gable), Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo, Apollo Crews, Becky Lynch, Braun Strowman and Ricochet, Bronson Reed, Candice LeRae, Cody Rhodes, Dana Brooke, Dexter Lumis, Drew McIntyre, Emma, Imperium (Gunther, Ludvig Kaiser and Giovanni Vinci), Indi Hartwell, Indus Sher, JD McDonagh, Jinder Mahal, Johnny Gargano, Katana Chance and Kayden Carter, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, Matt Riddle, Maximum Male Models (Mace, Mansoor and Maxxine Dupri), Natalya, Nikki Cross, Odyssey Jones, Piper Niven, Rhea Ripley, Riddick Moss, Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler, Seth Rollins, Shinsuke Nakamura, Sonya Deville and Chelsea Green, Tegan Nox, The Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, and Damian Priest), The Miz, The New Day (Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston), The Viking Raiders and Valhalla, Trish Stratus, Xia Li, and Zoey Stark.
Representing Smackdown will be Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn, Asuka, Austin Theory, Bianca Belair, Bobby Lashley, Cameron Grimes, Charlotte Flair, Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai and IYO SKY), Edge, Grayson Waller, Hit Row (Top Dolla, Ashante “Thee” Adonis and B-Fab), Karrion Kross and Scarlett, LA Knight, Lacey Evans, Pretty Deadly (Elton Prince and Kit Wilson), Rick Boogs, Shotzi, Tamina, The Bloodline (Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa, and Paul Heyman), The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Butch, and Ridge Holland), The LWO (Rey Mysterio, Zelina Vega, Santos Escobar, Cruz Del Toro, and Joaquin Wilde), The OC (AJ Styles, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows and Michin), The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford), and The Usos.
Those who are listed as free agents are Baron Corbin, Brock Lesnar, Dolph Ziggler, Elias, Mustafa Ali, Omos with MVP, Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander, Von Wagner, and Xyon Quinn.
There will be different ring announcers on Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown as WWE decided to swap Mike Rome and Samantha Irvin as part of the draft.
Irvin, the highly-regarded Smackdown ring announcer has now moved to the red brand and will be doing Raw duties from next Monday. She is currently engaged to Ricochet and WWE has kept all couples together in this draft, avoiding pissing off anyone by splitting them up on purpose.
Meanwhile, Mike Rome will now move to Smackdown. This is not the first time that Rome did ring announcing for Smackdown as he pulled double duty when Greg Hamilton was released until Irvin was brought in to fill the void. Rome had been on Raw since 2017.
This time around, NXT was a big part of the 2023 WWE Draft with a total of 18 stars called up to the main roster. The brand has reverted to being a developmental one for WWE with call ups being part of the excitement again.
16 of the 18 called up found a new home in Raw and Smackdown. These are Alba Fyre, Apollo Crews, Cameron Grimes, Elton Prince, Grayson Waller, Indi Hartwell, Isla Dawn, JD McDonagh, Jinder Mahal, Kayden Carter, Katana Chance, Kit Wilson, Odyssey Jones, Sanga, Veer Mahaan, and Zoey Stark.
An additional two, Von Wagner and Xyon Quinn, are still listed as free agents.
The call up means that both the NXT Women’s and Women’s Tag Team champions are now part of the main roster.
The pre-sale for AEW’s All In show at London’s Wembley Stadium kicked off this morning on Ticketmaster.co.uk and according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, over 35,000 tickets were sold on the first day.
This already becomes the most-attended AEW show in history, eclipsing the first AEW: Grand Slam in New York which did just over 20,000. A big day one sale was expected since this is AEW’s first event in the United Kingdom and Europe.
The pre-sale today required a unique code which was sent to fans who registered prior on the website. Over 60,000 codes were sent for pre-registrations. Several more pre-sales will kick off tomorrow, including O2 Priority and Live Nation. Tickets will go on general sale this Friday morning.
The original seating chart was changed with Wembley’s 90,000+ seats now available for sale. The big stage is gone to make way for more seats.
Tickets are priced £30, £45, £70, £100, £125, £175, £400, and £1,500.
Smackdown pulled a big number for night one of the WWE Draft, drawing 2,473,000 viewers against big competition including the NBA Playoffs, NHL Playoffs, and the NFL Draft. That was up 298,000 viewers from the prior week and the best number since January 27.
In the 18-49 demo, Smackdown did a 0.67 rating, up 0.13 from the week before and was #1 on network television and #5 in all of TV. In the overnight ratings, the show did 2,249,000 viewers in the first hour and 2,347,000 viewers in the second hour. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
The supplemental draft took place on Raw Talk immediately after Monday Night Raw ended and moved those who were eligible to be drafted in night two but didn’t make it on the show.
15 moved to Raw and just two moved to Smackdown, leaving five other free agents.
Those moved to Raw in the supplemental draft are Nikki Cross, Dana Brooke, Johnny Gargano, Angel Garza, Humberto Carrillo, Akira Tozawa, Piper Niven, Xia Li, Tegan Nox, Emma, Riddick Moss, Saurav Gurjar and Rinku Singh, Jinder Mahal, and Odyssey Jones.
The two who moved to Smackdown are Tamina and Grayson Waller while Baron Corbin, Elias, Shelton Benjamin, Cedric Alexander, and Xyon Quinn named as free agents.
The supplemental draft saw the team of Indus Sher, Odyssey Jones, Grayson Waller, and Xyon Quinn move up from NXT.
The second night of the WWE Draft saw 22 Superstars moving to Raw and 21 Superstars moving to Smackdown.
As expected, Smackdown Women’s champion Rhea Ripley moved to the red brand and so did the Undisputed Tag Team champions of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. The WWE Women’s Tag Team champions Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez also switched to Raw. The United States champion Austin Theory moved to Smackdown since on Friday the Intercontinental title moved to Raw with Gunther.
Those who moved or are staying on Raw are Rhea Ripley, Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, and Damian Priest, Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez, Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston, Trish Stratus, Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler, Braun Strowman and Ricochet, Bronson Reed, Otis and Chad Gable, and NXT’s Katana Chance and Kayden Carter.
Representing Smackdown from next week will be Austin Theory, Charlotte Flair, Jimmy and Jey Uso, Rey Mysterio, Zelina Vega, Santos Escobar, Cruz Del Toro, and Joaquin Wilde, Asuka, Sheamus, Butch, and Ridge Holland, Karrion Kross and Scarlett, LA Knight, Shotzi, Rick Boogs, and NXT’s Elton Prince, Kit Wilson and Cameron Grimes.
Brock Lesnar, who was listed as being eligible to be drafted, was announced as a free agent as he had that “negotiated” in his contract so he can appear on both shows.
This round of the draft on Raw saw five NXT talents moving up.
Triple H comes out to continue the draft. All undrafted superstars are still eligible to change brands after tonight’s draft. Brock Lesnar is exempt from the draft as per his contract.
Raw selects the Smackdown Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley
Smackdown selects the United States Champion Austin Theory
Raw selects Seth “Freakin” Rollins
Smackdown selects Charlotte Flair
After the draft announcements were completed, Triple H announced the Wiseman Paul Heyman who makes his way to the ring.
Paul says the Usos still await their draft status and he will address them privately for not winning the tag team titles back later tonight.
As Paul goes on a tirade about Roman Reigns being the greatest champion and should be considered for the new championship. Seth “Freakin” Rollins comes out to interrupt.
Seth tells Paul at the Night of Champions he is going to win the new World championship and the world can finally see what a real champion looks like. Paul takes a phone call and then says Seth Rollins you’re pissing off your Tribal Chief. Seth then asked the crowd how long it would take to drop Heyman and stomp him into the mat. Solo Sikoa comes out.
Paul says the Tribal Chief is pulling all the strings and as soon as we get back from commercial break the match should be confirmed, Seth Rollins VS. Solo Sikoa, and Seth says why wait you’re on.
Raquel Rodriguez & Liv Morgan VS. Bayley & Dakota Kai
This is a non-title match. Bayley hits the blind tag and Liv did not see it and hits oblivion on Dakota, but Bayley runs in and rolls her up for the three count.
Winners: Bayley & Dakota Kai
Booker T and Queen Sharmell are shown getting ready to announce the next set of draft picks.
Raw selects the Undisputed Tag Team champions Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
Smackdown selects The Usos
Raw selects the Judgement Day with Finn Balor, Damian Priest and Dominik Mysterio.
Smackdown selects L.W.O. with Santos Escobar, Joaquin Wilde, Cruz Del Toro, Zelina Vega and Rey Mysterio
Ricochet & Braun Strowman VS. Alpha Academy
After a cross body by Strowman he slams Otis and with Ricochet on his shoulders hits the Swanton for the win.
Winners: Ricochet & Braun Strowman
Shawn Michaels and Adam Pearce are shown ready to announce the next draft round. As Shawn began, Brock Lesnar’s music interrupts and Brock comes out to the ring.
Brock starts out by asking how it feels to look at the only real cowboy in the state and Adam Pearce comes out with security and asks Brock to leave respectfully. Brock says its going to take a lot more than them. Adam pleads with Brock and Cody Rhodes’ music hits.
Cody comes from behind Brock and knocks him down and out of the ring and security then tackles Cody as Brock is up the entrance way being walked back by security.
After the commercial break we resume the draft announcement
Raw selects the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez
Smackdown selects Asuka
Raw selects Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston
Smackdown selects Ridge Holland, Butch & Sheamus
Matt Riddle VS. Jimmy Uso
Jey is out with Jimmy and Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn are out with Riddle. Before the match starts, Jey gets into an argument with Kevin Owens and Owens falls down holding his head and Sami throws him a chair and yells for the ref and the ref sends Jey to the back.
Jimmy takes the top turnbuckle off Sami gets the referee’s attention while Kevin slams Jimmy’s head into the steel and Riddle hits floating bro and gets the win.
Winner: Matt Riddle
Eric Bischoff and Rob Van Dam are out next to announce the next picks in the draft.
Raw selects Trish Stratus
Smackdown selects Karrion Kross
Raw selects Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey
Smackdown selects L.A. Knight
The Miz is out next for MizTV. Tonight’s guest is Shinsuke Nakamura who was drafted to Monday Night Raw for the first time in his career. Miz welcomed him to Raw then asked what he thought about the possibility of becoming the first World Champion. The Miz started putting himself over then Shinsuke told Miz a phrase and he starts chanting it and had the crowd started chanting it. The Miz says that sounded awesome and what it means and Shinsuke said the man with tiny balls. Miz tried to attack Shinsuke, but Shinsuke was ready and laid the Miz out with a Kinshasa kick.
Omos VS. Anthony Alanis
Alanis who is a big man himself started off quick. But Omos squashed him after a few lucky shots.
Winner: Omos
The announcers announce Omos has a free agent clause similar to Brock Lesnar’s.
Molly Holly and Road Dogg are going to announce the next round of the draft.
Raw selects Ricochet & Braun Strowman
Smackdown selects Shotzi
Raw selects Bronson Reed
Smackdown selects Pretty Deadly
The Judgement Day are in the ring next. Rhea says she is going to twist up Zelina and keep her title. Damian tells Bad Bunny he is in trouble. Dominik takes the microphone and cannot even get three words out without being booed out of the building.
Dominik says since the L.W.O. was drafted to Smackdown, this will be the last time he can embarrass his dad. L.W.O. come out and Rey tells Dominik he is glad they won’t be on the same brand, and he can’t wait to see Zelina leave Puerto Rico with Rhea’s title around her waist.
Rhea Ripley, Damian Priest & Dominik Mysterio VS. Zelina Vega, Rey Mysterio & Santos Escobar
Damian hits the South of Heaven slam on Rey for the win.
Cody Rhodes is interviewed in the back by Cathy Kelly and said he has to beat Brock Lesnar Saturday because if he doesn’t, he goes to the back of the line for championship shots and he refuses to ever go to the back of the line again.
JBL and Teddy Long are going to introduce the next round of picks.
Bianca Belair is being interviewed and Damage Control come in and interrupt and then Bianca and Bayley get into words and Iyo Sky says some things about their match this Saturday.
Raw selects Alpha Academy
Smackdown selects Rick Boogs
Raw selects Katana Chance & Kayden Carter
Smackdown selects Cameron Grimes
Solo Sikoa VS. Seth “Freakin” Rollins
The Usos come to the ring and attack Seth, causing a DQ. Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens and Matt Riddle come out to help Seth for a big brawl to end the show.
Winner by Disqualification: Seth “Freakin” Rollins
The WWE Intercontinental champion Gunther and former NXT UK star Jinny had a wedding ceremony this past weekend in London.
The two officially got married last year but this was their wedding ceremony with family and friends.
The ceremony was at the Four Seasons Hotel in London and Gunther uploaded a photo looking sharp in a navy blue suit laughing with his wife in her wedding dress. A video of the two tearing up the dance floor to some traditional Indian music is also doing the rounds online and we gotta say…Gunther has some moves!
The 35-year-old Jinny, who is of Indian descent, retired from pro wrestling last year due to several issues stemming from concussions. The Austrian Gunther, also 35, is currently one of the longest-reigning Intercontinental champions in WWE history.
The two met when they were both wrestling on the indie circuit.
Night two of the WWE Draft continues tonight on Raw with several big names eligible to be drafted including the likes of Brock Lesnar, Charlotte Flair, Judgment Day, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, Seth Rollins, Rhea Ripley, The Usos and many others.
A supplemental draft, which will determine the movement of the others who did not get drafted during Raw, will be held after.
Those eligible to be drafted tonight in alphabetical order are Akira Tozawa; Alpha Academy; Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo; Asuka; Austin Theory; Baron Corbin; Braun Strowman and Ricochet; Brock Lesnar; Bronson Reed; Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin; Charlotte Flair; Dana Brooke; Elias; Emma; Johnny Gargano; Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Damian Priest, and Dominik Mysterio); Karrion Kross (with Scarlett); Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn; LA Knight; Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez; Nikki Cross; Piper Niven; Rhea Ripley; Rick Boogs; Riddick Moss; Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler; Seth Rollins; Shotzi; Tamina; Tegan Nox; The Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland, and Butch); The LWO (Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar, Cruz Del Toro, Joaquin Wilde, and Zelina Vega); The New Day; The Usos; Trish Stratus; and Xia Li.
The Usos, who were not grouped with the rest of the Bloodline, could find themselves swimming on their own if they are drafted to Raw as Roman Reigns, Solo Sikoa, and Paul Heyman remained on Smackdown.
With Bianca Belair moving to Smackdown last Friday, it’s likely that Rhea Ripley goes the opposite way tonight. Both are champions of the other brand. Ripley is also not part of the Judgment Day faction in this draft so she could technically be split from them.
WWE Superstar Carmella announced that she is pregnant with her first child with her husband and Raw announcer Corey Graves.
Carmella made the announcement on Good Morning America today after a couple of miscarriages.
“It’s just all been such a whirlwind,” she said. “I think because of my past, it was hard to get excited off the bat about this one, but I was cautiously optimistic. I try to have a good mindset, a positive mindset this time around, and it’s working. So I’m very happy about that.”
The 35-year-old recently went through some tough times, including an ectopic pregnancy in October of last year. She is expected to give birth in November of this year and obviously that puts her out of in-ring action for the foreseeable future.
Carmella told GMA that she’s been more tired than she’s ever been in her life but she’s never felt so happy to feel so awful.
“I’ve been great, I mean mentally. It’s kind of this weird space where I’m excited, but also just a little apprehensive because of the miscarriages. It’s unfortunate that it robs you of the true excitement that should be there,” she said.
Her husband Corey Graves already has three kids from his previous marriage and Carmella said he was completely shocked and surprised as well as excited with the news. Her step kids were also thrilled to learn that they will have another brother or sister.
“They were so, so excited, and made us even more excited about having the baby. That’s just so amazing,” she said.
WWE Superstar-in-training and Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson returned to amateur wrestling this past weekend and left everyone in the dust.
Wrestling at the U.S. Men’s Freestyle Open in Las Vegas, Nevada, Steveson defeated Malcolm Allen 10-0, Wyatt Hendrickson 12-0, Mason Parris 12-1, and Nick Gwiazdowski 10-0, outscoring his opponents with a whopping 44-1 along the way.
He finished his “easy” weekend with his traditional flip and an HBK pose as the crowd cheered.
Steveson, who apart from a couple of cameos at WrestleMania has not featured yet on WWE television, is attempting to get on Team USA for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
With both Biography and Rivals finished, WWE programming on A&E Network take a different turn starting tonight with the new season of Most Wanted Treasures and a new series titled Stone Cold Takes on America.
WWE Hall of Famers Booker T, Lita, and Mick Foley will spearhead the second season of WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures as the trio try to hunt down some of the best and rare WWE memorabilia out there. Tonight’s episode will see the three on the hunt for some Steve Austin memorabilia to take back to the WWE warehouse.
Immediately following the conclusion of Most Wanted Treasures, Steve Austin is back with his new series Stone Cold Takes on America. The series features Austin in his RV driving around the country as he attempts activities such as bartending, weather forecasting, and other jobs you wouldn’t expect Stone Cold to tackle.
The back-to-back shows are being marketed by A&E as WWE Superstar Sunday.
WWE wrapped up its four-day European tour in style with a sold out, on-fire crowd in Paris, France.
It was a night to remember for many, especially for Baron Corbin, who after tons of matches being on the losing end, he finally won one…and fans went absolutely bonkers.
“Wow!!! Tonight was beyond INCREDIBLE,” Corbin tweeted after the match. “I think I have to move here now bc this was a night I will never forget!”
Fans gave Corbin a huge standing ovation after the win and he was certainly appreciative of it all.
“That was the most fun I’ve ever had losing a match,” Bayley added in a later tweet. “Although I blame you idiots for being so loud and distracting me……Thank you, #WWEParis.”
Cody Rhodes, who was also massively over with the crowd, described the night as “magic” while Chad Gable gave the Paris crowd “A-THANK-YEW” for an unforgettable night…and great baguettes.
Bianca Belair and Asuka flew the French flag much to delight of the crowd and Seth Rollins and The Miz had to wait approximately 11 minutes before they started their match as the fans kept signing Rollins’ theme. That singing extended to after the show and into the metro station.
After the main event of Rhodes vs Balor, Cody took the mic and thanked the fans for a magnificent night.
“Another thing, it’s just speculation, but again from the bottom of my heart, I think Paris deserves a good ‘ol fashioned PLE,” he said, as the crowd popped big with “Yes!” chants. Cody said he doesn’t know when or how, but if France continues to show up like that, WWE will always have their back.
In an exclusive interview with NBC5 Chicago minutes after her Impact Wrestling debut on Friday, Trinity Fatu spoke about how it felt good to being back in a wrestling ring and thanked Impact for making her feel so welcome and for the opportunity.
“I was trying to hold back the tears,” Trinity said about her first in-ring promo at her new home. “And I really felt it in my heart, like I really did. I couldn’t even hide the emotion.”
Speaking about her departure from WWE, she said one day everything just changed and her whole world was turned upside down and it was very scary.
“But I feel like everything happens for a reason. I feel like it was a blessing in disguise. I feel that it’s allowed me to grow and become better in every way, in every aspect and show me how strong I really am,” Trinity said.
She admitted that it took time to find herself again.
“It took a little time to just process everything and really sort out what I wanted to do…where I wanted to be,” Trinity said.
She put over the Impact Knockouts division, saying that she watched them from afar for years and always admired the talent there.
“Once I made that decision, that’s what I wanted to do, I went after it. And now I’m here,” she continued.
CM Punk, sporting a new look after he shaved off his hair, visited backstage at Impact Wrestling yesterday in Chicago where the promotion held the second night of television tapings.
Unlike his unannounced and surprise visit at Monday Night Raw earlier this week, the former AEW World champion was warmly greeted by security and was not kicked out of the show according to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Wrestling.
Punk mingled with the talent, some of who even posted a photo with him on social media.
The very controversial figure grabbed the headlines this week for going backstage at Raw. He managed to meet a few individuals, including Triple H, but he was escorted out by security after around 20 minutes.
Punk is weeks away from returning to All Elite Wrestling to be the star of their new Saturday night show.
Six NXT stars were called up to the main roster on night one of the WWE 2023 Draft.
The current NXT Women’s Tag Team champions, Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn, were drafted to Smackdown, the only ones from the developmental brand to go blue.
Meanwhile, current NXT Women’s champion Indi Hartwell, Zoey Stark, JD McDonagh, and Apollo Crews have moved to the Raw brand. This is Apollo Crews’ second call up after he was sent back to NXT in mid-2022.
Von Wagner, the other NXT star who was eligible to be drafted, was not picked in the supplemental draft and remains a free agent.
