The Intercontinental title, which was the only title in WWE still using the old design, received a makeover and WWE debuted the new look last night on Friday Night Smackdown.
WWE used a different design for the IC title between 1998 and 2011 but then reverted to the design that was made famous by the likes of the Honky Tonk Man, Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, and many others.
The new version of the title has a black strap and gold plates with a WWE logo on top of a globe, both of which are inside a ring. The words Intercontinental Champion surround the design in a circle. It’s a completely different design from the title we’re used to seeing on television.
The belt was presented by Sami Zayn to current champion Shinsuke Nakamura on Smackdown. The title will not be on the line tomorrow at the Survivor Series but Nakamura will square off in a three way against Styles and Strong.
All Elite Wrestling recently announced that their January 15 episode of Dynamite will carry the title of Bash at the Beach after Cody managed to get the trademark registered earlier this year.
One person who knows all about the Bash at the Beach name is Eric Bischoff, the former WCW President and who recently was the Smackdown Creative Director. Bischoff talked about the name during his latest 83 Weeks podcast and was not that impressed that AEW will be using the old WCW pay-per-view name.
“I have mixed emotions about it. I kind of understand it, but I also think it’s a bad choice,” Bischoff explained. AEW needs to find their own vision. They need to become their own brand. They need to become their own entity. They need to find the way that they’re really going to become the alternative,” he continued.
A lot of fans compare AEW to the old WCW and using names made famous in the mid 90s will not stop the parallels between the two.
“The more often they go back and kind of try to recreate the success of WCW, and align themselves with WCW’s success, I think they’re missing the mark,” Bischoff said.
Meanwhile, tickets for Bash at the Beach went on sale today on Ticketmaster.com. The show takes place from the Watsco Center at the University of Miami.
The fourth person on Team Ciampa for tomorrow’s WarGames match remains a mystery and during the conference call with reporters on Wednesday, the man behind the brand, Triple H, said we won’t know who it is until it’s time for the match.
So far, Tommaso Ciampa will be flanked by Keith Lee and Dominik Dijakovic. Dijakovic took the place of Matt Riddle who was originally on the team but then moved to take on Finn Balor after Johnny Gargano was ruled out of the show with an injury.
Triple H said that the mysterious fourth member will be “epic” and one that the NXT crowd will certainly like. “It’s going to be epic and people are going to be very excited,” Triple H said during the call. Rumors among fans have already started on who it will be, with some saying it will actually be Gargano and some suggesting it will be John Morrison.
Someone with a good sense of humor even edited the WarGames Wikipedia page and listed President Donald Trump as the fourth member! That would be…yuuuge! The edit was then removed and the page returned to its original TBA listing.
WWE kicks off four nights of action at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois tonight with the Survivor Series weekend starting with the live Smackdown on FOX.
So far, only one match is advertised for the broadcast with Roman Reigns, Shorty G, and Mustafa Ali taking on King Corbin, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. The only other item advertised for Smackdown is a segment where Daniel Bryan will “summon” Bray Wyatt to the ring for the final Survivor Series push.
This is the first time that Smackdown starts a four-day PPV weekend as before it was on Tuesday night, thus closing the party. Moving forward, the big four WWE pay-per-views will have Smackdown on Friday, NXT or another event on Saturday, the PPV on Sunday, and Raw on Monday to close out the weekend.
AEW suffered its first defeat in the weekly Wednesday night war with NXT going against an NXT show which leaned heavily on Raw and Smackdown Superstars appearing throughout the broadcast.
Dynamite did a total of 893,000 viewers this week, down 64,000 viewers from last week’s show. The show was #8 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic, getting a 0.52. The difference between the two shows was of 23,000 viewers, a decrease of 184,000 viewers from last week’s 207,000 number.
Taking everything into consideration, this was a great number for AEW and the margin could have been bigger. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
It took nearly two dozen of main roster Superstars, but NXT finally got the upper hand in the viewership this week, beating AEW for the first time in eight weeks…but not by a big margin.
NXT drew an average of 963,000 viewers, up 213,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. It was the most-watched broadcast of NXT on USA Network since September 25, the last time the show ran unopposed. The show was #14 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic, getting a 0.39. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Last night on Dynamite, a battle royal titled the Dynamite Dozen was held where the final two would then go head-to-head with the winner receiving a diamond ring as the prize.
The 12 participants were Billy Gunn, Chuck Taylor, Hangman Page, Jimmy Havoc, Joey Janela, Jungle Boy, Kip Sabian, Marko Stunt, MJF, Orange Cassidy, Pentagon, and Sonny Kiss.
Surviving till the end were MJF and Hangman Page and the two will face off next week live from the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois with the winner getting the diamond ring.
Several Raw and Smackdown Superstars crashed NXT last night on USA Network following Triple H’s open door invitation.
And as you expect, there was mayhem following several brawls throughout the night which involved the men and women of Raw and Smackdown going against NXT…and each other.
Becky Lynch, The Revival, Ricochet, Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, Sarah Logan, Kairi Sane, Natalya, Nikki Cross, The Viking Raiders, Zack Ryder, Street Profits, Drew McIntyre, and Seth Rollins all showed up during the show, with Lynch kicking off the broadcast and Rollins closing it with an attack on Adam Cole and then a brawl with Tommaso Ciampa.
WWE pushed last night’s NXT in hopes of overtaking AEW in the viewership numbers, at least for this week, while promoting both NXT Takeover: WarGames and the Survivor Series.
Episode eight of the ninth season of Total Divas did a total of 295,000 viewers, up 37,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. This was the most-watched episode of the season so far. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Hey, guys it’s Dorsey your friendly Total Divas correspondent here, and welcome to the first ever two-for-one article as I will be reviewing two episodes in one article. This should be fun, here we go.
First of all, in episode seven, newcomer Sonya Deville, pitched the first ever homosexual storyline in WWE. She and her tag team partner Mandy Rose were supposed to portray lovers, but Sonya’s real-life girlfriend, Arianna, had a problem with the storyline. This was not a surprise because the two women have just recently reunited. Also, Arianna made a good point that if Arianna had needed to kiss someone for her job Sonya would “lose her shit”, but yet Arianna was simply supposed to be okay with Sonya doing the same thing.
While the new storyline would have been groundbreaking for the WWE, maybe it was a good thing that the storyline was pulled because now their fledgling relationship doesn’t have to recover from the damage the storyline might have caused.
Meanwhile, Natalya had some worries of her own. She wanted to be a part of this year’s WrestleMania especially since it would be the first since the death of her dad, Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart. However, she didn’t need to be worried as the powers that be at WWE had special plans for her.
They decided that Nattie should have a match with her best friend, WWE Hall of Famer, Beth Phonix. The tag match would put them in the running for the brand new Women’s Tag Team Championship. This seemed like a more than fitting way to pay tribute to “The Anvil.” After their qualifying match was won, it was also announced that Nattie’s dad was getting inducted into the Hall of Fame. After this amazing announcement, Nattie and her mom decided to scatter her dad’s ashes at Madison Square Garden.
This wasn’t the only big news at this WrestleMania. For the first time ever, the women were in the main event of WrestleMania!
However, the woman who wasn’t happy was Nia Jax. While she was happy about the women’s victory, she wasn’t thrilled about the double knee surgery that she should have had months ago. At first, Nia wasn’t even sure that she would even be able to wrestle at Mania. However, she did end up being able to wrestle in the history making event.
The ladies did get all the coverage they deserved! Great job ladies! We love you.
Impact Wrestling today announced a new multi-year television deal with e.tv to broadcast the weekly television show Impact Wrestling across more than 50 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The exclusive broadcast deal will also include Xplosion plus four annual pay-per-view shows, its new Impact Plus Presents monthly event series and library content.
Beginning in January 2020, IMPACT! will air weekly on e.tv and rebroadcast specific program content on e.tv’s free-to-air satellite platform Openview.
“Africa has always been a strong market for IMPACT Wrestling, where our passionate fans continue to engage with our content on multiple platforms,” said Ed Nordholm, Chief Corporate Officer of Anthem Sports & Entertainment and president of IMPACT Wrestling. “We are thrilled to bring professional wrestling back to e.tv, where the sport has a long history and track record of success.”
“e.tv is proud to be the home of Impact Wrestling across Sub-Saharan Africa. We received enormous traction from having aired wrestling on our channels a few years ago, and it is only befitting that we bring back content that highly resonates with our audience. We hope to build the IMPACT Wrestling brand on our multi-channel platforms for many years to come,” said Marlon Davids, MD, echannels.
ACH, the man formerly known as Jordan Myles, wrote on Twitter that he will be participating in two matches for two independent promotions over the next few days, first for Heavy Metal Wrestling tomorrow night and then going to Atlanta Wrestling Entertainment on Sunday, December 1.
ACH, who severed his ties with WWE over a t-shirt created for him that depicts blackface, also uploaded a photo of him signing a WWE document followed by a tweet addressed to Vince McMahon saying, “Can’t hold me down no more. This is FOR THE WRESTLING CULTURE.”
WWE has not said if ACH, real name Albert Hardie Jr., has been released from his WWE deal but judging by the fact that he’s taking bookings, it looks like that’s the case.
ACH wrote last week that he quit WWE in a video uploaded on social media.
Former WWE Divas champion Alicia Fox revealed in a post on Instagram that she has been battling alcohol addiction and has been sober for the past few months.
Fox has been absent from WWE television for a long time but recently appeared at the WrestleMania tickets on-sale party in Tampa.
She said that for a while, she thought she could avoid addressing her recovery but she realized that it was time to be transparent and honest with her fans.
“I’m a few months sober, I’ve creatively navigated my emotions, snagged some new skills AND I WANT TO HELP,” Fox wrote. She added that she learned that being an alcoholic is life threatening and thankfully there’s support for it.
“I figured I can sharing my insight and BE of SERVICE to anyone finding it hard to believe that ‘YOU ARE IMPORTANT’ and deserve an opportunity to learn how to live a clean and sober life… it would be an honor to share my hope, strength, and experience,” she added.
Fox then gave out her Florida address and told fans to send her snail mail if they want help.
This week’s episode of WWE Backstage on FS1 pulled in a total of 180,000 viewers, up from the 100,000 viewers the show did last week. There was a lot of hype surrounding the broadcast with the full-time addition of CM Punk but it probably didn’t translate in as much viewers as it was hoped. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
NXT has its Takeover and Survivor Series go-home episode tonight on USA Network with many Superstars from Raw and Smackdown expected to show up to retaliate to the recent NXT run-ins.
In a conference call with the press earlier today, Triple H said that there will be a lot of big names showing up on NXT tonight, many of which people don’t expect.
Only two matches have been announced for the broadcast so far, including a ladder match for WarGames advantage between Adam Cole and Dominik Dijakovic, and The Undisputed Era vs The Revival.
WWE will add its second official podcast to their network with a new show from The New Day titled Feel The Power.
The new show kicks off December 2 and will be available weekly on major podcast platforms.
“Feel The Power is the perfect platform for us to take our engagement with fans to the next level,” The New Day said in a press release. “Nothing will be off limits as we take listeners on a wild ride inside our lives.”
The new podcast will have personal stories from the three members of The New Day, and debates on their favorite topics such as sports, music, and video games.
The WWE Podcast Network is in partnership with Endeavor Audio, part of Endeavor Streaming which carries the WWE Network infrastructure.
All Elite Wrestling rolls into Indianapolis, Indiana tonight for another episode of Dynamite live from the Indiana Farmers Coliseum.
Four matches have been announced so far for the show including Hikaru Shida taking on Dr. Britt Baker, Santana and Ortiz versus Private Party, Fenix battling Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks, and Darby Allin versus Jon Moxley. A big announcement from Chris Jericho is also being hyped for the broadcast and the The Dynamite Dozen battle royal takes place on the show as well.
AEW extended their lead again last week over NXT coming off their Full Gear pay-per-view and after coming close to losing two weeks ago.
CM Punk started his new role as an analyst on WWE Backstage on FS1 last night and was pretty candid in his comments.
Renee Young led a whole face-to-face interview segment with the former WWE champion and immediately took him to task by asking the most obvious question: is he coming back to the ring?
Punk said he’s 41 years old and he’s learned over the years to never say no. He said that he’s currently a FOX employee and has had no contact with anyone in WWE for the past six years. Punk admitted that for him to step back in the ring for WWE, there’s a bridge that has to be rebuilt and joked that it might take as long as the construction of the Great Wall of China for that to happen. He took the “never say never” approach and also added that there are several hurdles along the way before that actually happens.
Renee mentioned that Survivor Series is in Chicago and Punk told her to stop otherwise they will start chanting his name again, only for Renee to tell him that they never actually stopped.
Punk said that his butterflies were back and that’s a good thing because when he wrestled The Undertaker at WrestleMania several years ago, he said he preferred to be sitting in the back talking to his girlfriend – and now wife – rather than going out to perform. He said that having butterflies and being nervous means that he’s not “dead inside” and thinks that this was the right move for him.
A WWE corporate employee won the 24/7 title yesterday during a town hall meeting held at WWE Headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
The win came after Truth, who was giving a speech, left in a hurry and went face first into the backdrop. With him out cold, an employee, referred to as Michael, got up from the front row and with a WWE referee sitting next to him, covered for the pinfall and victory.
But his title reign only last a few hours. As the new champ was being congratulated by WWE Senior Director of Talent Relations Mark Carrano, he was required to do five push-ups and five sit-ups before he’s offered a “contract.” Truth was already lurking in the background waiting for his opportunity and when Michael was in his fifth sit-up, Truth jumped on him and pinned him. Truth took the title, and the contract, telling Michael that “You don’t need this!”
Truth has now won the 24/7 title for a whopping 23 times!
Monday Night Raw improved slightly in the ratings versus last week, getting an average of 2,127,000 viewers, up just 69,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. It was the second least-watched broadcast of 2019 so far.
Hour one kicked off with 2,211,000 viewers, then it went up to 2,245,000 viewers, before going down to 1,925,000 viewers for the third and final hour which involved the big melee. The night was dominated by the NFL on ESPN which did 12.5 million viewers.
Raw was #4, #5, and #6 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic and #11 in overall viewership for the night on cable. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
