WWE and the mayors of Dallas and Arlington today announced that WrestleMania 38 generated a total of $206.5 million in economic impact for the Dallas/Arlington region this past April, according to a study conducted by the Enigma Research Corporation. The show also generated approximately $24.8 million in federal, state and local taxes.
This marks a new company record and the first time in history that WrestleMania has generated more than $200 million in economic impact.
“On behalf of the Jones family and the entire Dallas Cowboys organization, we congratulate WWE on their milestone success of WrestleMania at AT&T Stadium,” said Dallas Cowboys Chief Brand Officer Charlotte Jones. “We were honored to partner with WWE and their Superstars to give back to the community in a multitude of ways during WrestleMania Week.”
“On behalf of the city of Arlington, we congratulate WWE and their fans for surpassing $200 million in economic impact for the first time in WrestleMania history,” said Arlington Mayor Jim Ross. “We are glad to have shared this success and look forward to the opportunity for AT&T Stadium to host a future WrestleMania.”
“We are thrilled that WrestleMania’s return to full capacity generated stupendous record results for our partners in Dallas and Arlington, showcasing the continued growth for WWE’s largest annual celebration,” said WWE Executive Vice President of Special Events John P. Saboor. “This success would not have been possible without the tireless support of Mayor Johnson, Mayor Ross, Charlotte Jones and the entire Jones family, the Dallas Cowboys organization, Dallas Sports Commission, American Airlines Center and the rest of our public and private sector partners throughout the region. We now turn our focus to next year’s WrestleMania in Hollywood.”
Key highlights from the study include:
$206.5 million in direct, indirect and induced impact derived from spending by visitors to the Dallas/Arlington region for WrestleMania.
67% of fans that attended WrestleMania were from outside the Dallas/Arlington region and stayed an average of 3.5 nights.
$25.4 million was spent on hotels and accommodations within the Dallas/Arlington region.
The economic impact derived from WrestleMania Week was equal to the creation of 1,777 full-time jobs for the area.
The Rhodes family announced the launch of The Dusty Rhodes Foundation which will help carry out Dusty’s legacy and dreams by helping children play sports who couldn’t otherwise.
“Together we can inspire and support youth athletics in disadvantaged and underserved communities and make a big difference in the lives of these amazing children,” read a press release issued.
It noted that Dusty’s dreams began on the playing fields of his youth and as an athlete in many sports, his baseball and football abilities earned him a full athletic scholarship which made him the first in his family to attend college.
“Dusty was an inspiration to all those who knew him. For his dreams to live on, we must inspire and support the next generation of athletes. Many children today do not have the opportunity to play sports because of the yearly rising costs associated with organized leagues & travel ball. Additionally, many underserved communities simply don’t have the ability to offer sports programs for children,” the press release continued.
It was signed by Dusty’s widow Michelle and the Rhodes family.
With her original attorney, Steven deLaroche, renouncing his brief to stop representing Tammy Sytch, the former WWE Diva has now been appointed a public defender.
deLaroche, a former Chief County Judge and Assistant State’s Attorney, filed a motion with the court to be dismissed from the case in mid-June, saying it is “impossible for the client and attorney to continue to work cooperatively on the case” after an impasse was reached. Apart from that, Sytch has also not complied with the terms of the employment agreement, meaning that she did not pay for his services despite agreeing to previous terms.
It looks like her former attorney is not the only one who didn’t get paid as Sytch is 1,100+ days overdue in payments towards court costs in Pennsylvania, owing the state around $4,500.
A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for August 11.
Sytch had her bail revoked in May and stands accused of one count of DUI causing death, one count of causing death while operating a vehicle with a suspended or revoked driver’s license, four counts of DUI causing injury to a person, and three counts of DUI causing damage to property.
The Best WWE Moment for this year’s ESPYS Awards has reached its quarter final stage with only eight remaining.
Fans are now able to vote to determine who will win this year’s Best WWE Moment, with the awards show to air live on July 20 on ABC.
The quarter finals include Bianca Belair wins RAW Women’s Championship at WrestleMania vs The Undertaker inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame; John Cena returns at Money In The Bank vs Cody Rhodes returns to WWE at WrestleMania; Stone Cold stuns Vince McMahon, Austin Theory and Pat McAfee at WrestleMania vs. Stone Cold returns to the ring to defeat Kevin Owens at WrestleMania; and Big E cashes in Money In The Bank briefcase and wins WWE Championship vs. Edge defeats Seth Rollins in a Hell In A Cell match at Crown Jewel.
Last year, Sasha Banks vs Bianca Belair becoming the first black females to main event WrestleMania won the award. Both Superstars were present to accept the award in person.
SummerSlam is closing in on 30,000 tickets sold as the show got a solid bump from the announcement of Reigns vs Lesnar in the main event.
According to ticket tracking service @WrestleTix, SummerSlam inside the Nissan Stadium in Nashville is currently at just over 29,400 tickets out and the stadium is so far configured to hold just over 36,000 seats.
The Nissan Stadium holds almost 70,000 seats but in this configuration, WWE will be using around half of it only unless there’s a bigger surge in sales. In a strange use of the stadium, WWE will be using half along the long side rather than the shorter side which would be easier to cover. The current config also leaves no room for a big stadium stage so it looks like they’ll be using the entrance similar to that of the Royal Rumble this year and last year’s SummerSlam.
WWE held a few sales for SummerSlam which also helped, especially the buy-three-get-four offer, which is still available on Ticketmaster.com.
The new WWE block on A&E Network starts tonight with three-and-a-half hour of programming beginning at 8PM EST.
Biography: The Undertaker kicks things off at 8, a show that will run for 90 minutes. A preview has already been released showing Taker’s mom discussing about him when he was still a kid.
At 9:30PM ET, a new show called WWE Rivals starts with the first rivalry to be featured involving Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. The show is hosted by former WWE creative writer and Hollywood star Freddie Prinze Jr.
Then at 11PM ET, a new talk show titled WWE Smack Talk debuts where Booker T, Jackie Redmond, and Peter Rosenberg discuss the night’s programming and some behind-the-scenes stuff that did not make it on air.
Ava Raine made her NXT debut this week during the non-televised live events around the Florida Loop, cutting promos and calling herself the “final girl.”
Raine, who is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s daughter Simone, ripped on the current crop of NXT women. Her first appearance in Citrus Springs involved Raine doing some scouting around the ring but then on yesterday’s show in Orlando, she got on the mic for the very first time in front of fans.
The 20-year-old certainly has some very big shoes to fill, especially when it comes to work on the mic, but she’s ready to be on her own, and one way to start doing that was to get a new name not associated with her famous father.
“I probably sound like a broken record & hopefully this is the last I’ll mention this but I don’t understand why people being portrayed as separate individuals from their family name is such a heated topic,” Simone wrote several weeks ago when she was assigned the new name. “A name doesn’t discredit any prior accomplishments from any family.”
She has been training at the WWE Performance Center since February 2020.
Rhea Ripley, who has been out of action since her last match on Raw on June 4, uploaded a photo wearing a heart monitor, writing “I’m Iron Man.”
Ripley is believed to have suffered a concussion during the fatal four-way match on Raw that night and also had teeth issues after inadvertently hitting her face with her knee when her leg bounced off the rope.
The Australian Superstar was set to take on Bianca Belair for the Raw Women’s title at Money In The Bank but was then replaced by Carmella.
Concussion injuries take a while to get cleared again by WWE medical team so it’s unknown when Ripley will be stepping back into the ring.
This week’s Impact Wrestling on AXS TV drew 119,000 viewers, up 19,000 viewers from the previous week. The show did just a 0.02 in the 18-49 demo, down 0.01 from the previous show and the lowest since April 28. Impact did not chart in the top 150 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Nikki and Brie Bella will be participating in a new show on E! titled Celebrity Beef, hosted and executive produced by Joel McHale.
Premiering on Tuesday, August 2, the Celebrity Beef cooking show turns pop culture feuds into a battle of foods. This comedic competition series will follow two celebrity contestants each week as they go head-to-head in a cook-off and squash their beef with knives in hand, spices on the rack and ready to prepare the best dish this side of the Hollywood Hills.
Other celebrities who will feature in the new season apart from the Bella Twins Cheryl Hines and Rachael Harris, Ben Higgins and Nick Viall, Cynthia Bailey and Todd Bridges, Andy Grammer and Justin Baldoni, Justin Sylvester and Loni Love, Dolores Catania and Caroline Manzo, and Missi Pyle and Jeff Lewis and Nikki & Brie Bella.
Brock Lesnar has been added to appear at this Monday’s Raw live from the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.
This will be Brock’s first time on TV since he returned a few weeks ago on Smackdown to target Roman Reigns. Lesnar and Reigns will take on each other in a last man standing match at SummerSlam for the titles in what WWE is billing as their last match against each other.
As of today, Lesnar is not advertised on any other shows leading up to SummerSlam but that will change. Interestingly enough, Lesnar is not even booked for the Raw in Madison Square Garden yet. Reigns, Rousey, and Logan Paul are all featured to be appearing on that show on July 25. WWE sold just over 9,000 tickets at The Garden so far.
Tickets for ROH’s Death Before Dishonor went on sale yesterday. This is the second ROH pay-per-view under Tony Khan and it will take place on Saturday, July 23 at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Massachusetts.
Roughly half the 6,500-seater arena is being used for this show, with around 3,000 seats available so far. According to ticket tracking service @WrestleTix, around 2,000 tickets were sold in the first days.
This will be the 23rd Death Before Dishonor show and the last one was held in September 2021 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Samoa Joe vs Jay Lethal for the ROH TV title, Wheeler Yuta vs Daniel Garcia for the ROH Pure title, and FTR vs The Briscoes for the ROH Tag Team titles are the matches announced for the card so far.
WWE will be having a presence at the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con with a panel in conjunction with toy giant Mattel.
The WWE Elite Squad Fan Panel will be on July 21 at 11:15AM and will be hosted by Sam Roberts and Ciampa with guests Cody Rhodes, Queen Zelina, and Mattel Design team members Bill Miekina and Steve Ozer. The Hollywood Reporter says that there will be other WWE Superstars who will be making surprise appearances during the panel.
A meet and greet will also happen following the end of the panel from 1:15PM to 2:15PM at Mattel Booth #3029. SDCC WWE collector posters will be available at the booth during the event but only in limited quantities.
It’s Saturday morning, and you know what that means… it’s time for our Rampage Review!
Eddie Kingston vs Konosuke Takeshita
Backstory: None
J.R., Schiavone, Excal. on comms
Very excited for this one, which began with a lock-up and a stalemate, then takedowns and reversals with the same result. Crowd solidly behind Eddie as usual.
Continuing slowly, both guys grappling, Kingston getting the better but not decisively enough to be on top. A clean rope-break saw Takeshita take advantage with a shot to the gut, awaking Eddie who responded with a knee to the gut and gut-wrench suplex.
After exchanging chops and strikes in the middle, Kingston thought better of it: a thumb to the eye leading to machine-gun chops in the corner (never like the look of those). Firing back with forearms to the face, Takeshita was this time cut-off by a headbutt, collapsing to the mat as Kingston sold his taped back/ribs after B&G.
More hard chops and mat work from Eddie until Takeshita exploded with a leaping forearm after being sent into the ropes, then a running elbow strike in the corner, culminating with a lariat out of the corner. The youngster in control as the pace quickened, a blue thunder bomb brought the first two count of the match.
Returning from break, the two were battling on the apron, Takeshita landing a German, holding on down to the ringside mats where Eddie used the apron to avoid a second, countering with a nasty exploder as the import crashed to the mat.
Back inside, double lariats resulted in another draw until the youngster was drilled rebounding off the ropes. Kicking out at 1, Eddie then planted him with a Liger bomb for 2. Looking for 3, he readied the Back Fist but was blocked, Takeshita striking twice then drilling Kingston with a perfect sheer-drop brainbuster which drew ‘oooohs’ from the crowd.
Clambering to their knees, they fought to their feet with strikes and chops, Eddie fading until landing a half-and-half which Takeshita shook off, coming straight up with a lariat, avoiding the Back Fist, missing with a jumping knee, Eddie hit the Back Fist, Takeshita replied with a jumping knee but was finally finished with a second Back Fist, Kingston collapsing into the cover.
‘That was an ass-kicking match’, noted Schiavone on comms. Have to agree: slow-building, hard-hitting, fantastic finishing sequence. More needs to be done with Takeshita, and this’d be a good jumping-off point.
WINNER: Eddie Kingston
Statlander/Athena package challenging Jade.
Gates of Agony vs Jonathan Gresham & Lee Moriarty
Backstory: GA interrupted Moriarty challenging Gresham a few weeks ago
Caprice Coleman joined on comms.
Gresham was knocked to the floor while still on the apron; Moriarty doubled via quick-tags from the GoA. Reaching for a tag, Moriarty was ignored by an apparently distracted Gresham.
Back from break, Moriarty finally shook loose, diving for the hot tag, only for Gresham to pull his hand away. ‘WHAT!??’ exclaimed Caprice, louder than capital letters can convey, ‘this is very uncharacteristic about our champion’. Gresham then left, hugging Blanchard on the way.
A discus lariat led to Moriarty being dropped gut-first across the knees. 1,2,3.
Another in a list of recent ‘Swerve Bro!’s. Particularly between teammates who haven’t even been established. Why do I care if one turned on the other? I don’t know them or their relationship. Judging by the reaction to all of this, neither did the crowd.
WINNER: Gates of Agony
Eddie Kingston promo. Called Takeshita ‘the future’. Challenged Jericho to a barbed-wire match: ‘every drop of blood, is a sin that you have committed Chris’. Wow.
Serena Deeb & Mercedes Martinez vs Kayla Sparks & Christina Marie
Backstory: None
Serena’s look of disdain is fantastic. She beat-up both opponents by herself. Mercedes then tagged herself in, Deeb returned the favour, locking in the Serenity Lock for the win.
Your typical Rampage squash. With a twist. Serena walloped Martinez with a lariat and the Serenity Lock. Back-to-back turns.
Lastly, AEW barely has enough quality females for one division, and it seems they’re preparing for three given the tag-talk on comms?
WINNER: Serena Deeb & Mercedes Martinez
Gresham promo along with Tully. Said he’d done this because he’d been sitting at home since March. He’ll face Moriarty next week on Rampage. Shrug.
On Dynamite (13/7):
Hager vs Claudio
Bucks vs Swerve in our Glory vs Starks/Hobbs, tag titles
Christian Cage & Luchasaurus’ weekly cheap heat seg.
Anna Jay vs Serena Deeb
On Rampage:
Gresham vs Moriarty, ROH World Title
The Gunns explain their turn on the Acclaimed
Private Party w Andrade vs Lucha Bros
On Dynamite (20/7):
Eddie vs Jericho, barbed wire death match, JAS in shark cage
Orange Cassidy vs Tony Nese
Backstory: If Orange loses he has to sign a petition to fire Swerve Strickland
Smart Mark is tons of fun, but this dumb stipulation isn’t main event worthy. For that matter, nor is Tony Nese.
So this one started the way most OC matches do: Cassidy going for the pockets, Nese attempting to ground him, on top while he stayed cool but making mistakes when he allowed Orange to get in his head.
Following the usual routine of duck, dive, kip-up, Orange was blasted with a clothesline by Nese, the former responding by out-grappling Nese, grabbing a 2 with a backslide. As Orange went topside, Nese rolled through into an impressive leaping uppercut, then dropped Cassidy across the knees from a press for a 2 of his own.
After the ads, Cassidy fought his way out of a body scissors but was whipped hard to the buckle. Then planted with a beautiful northern-lights into a bridge as Nese countered a tornado DDT. Continuing the beating, Tony laid-in shots in the corner, but Cassidy fought back, getting the better of an exchange of punches, sending Nese crashing from the top to the ring-mat.
Which is when Danhausen attempted to Curse Sterling, Nese making the save but paying for it as a waiting Cassidy landed a diving cross-body, a stuntdog millionaire and a Michinoku driver for a close 2. The crowd were into Cassidy but not the match.
Continuing to look impressive, Nese Matrix’d to avoid an Orange Punch, kipped-up to deliver a superkick, then planted Orange with a bridging German for 2. Not done, he blasted Orange with a spinning heel-kick for another close count.
Countering out of another suplex, Cassidy finally landed the tornado DDT, then another, then a diving one from the top. Which is when Mark Sterling hit the apron, quickly on the receiving end of those devastating shin kicks, which saw him drop to the apron, screaming in pain. This guy’s a hoot.
Taking advantage, Nese landed his cool-looking sit-out pump handle slam, but the crowd still didn’t buy it as Cassidy kicked out close to 3. With the ref distracted, Danhausen hit a low blow on Sterling, then Cursed Nese, leading to Cassidy polishing off the Premier Athlete with a less-than-refreshing Orange Punch.
It seems that Orange’s performance vs Ospreay made a fan of Ol’ J.R., who put Cassidy over all match long. Very good match to close the show.
WINNER: Orange Cassidy
This was an episode which saw some very good wrestling dominated by the need to push the ROH PPV. Leading back to what was written here last week and previously: AEW has too many mouths to feed and only one father to feed them.
The new Smackdown Women’s champion will have her first title defense at SummerSlam on July 30 as she takes on the women who she defeated for the title, Ronda Rousey, in a one-on-one match.
The match was set up last night on Friday Night Smackdown and it’s the sixth match on the card. Morgan won the Money In The Bank briefcase last week and then cashed in two hours later on an injured Rousey for her first title in WWE.
But a championship contenders match set for next week’s Smackdown between Liv and Natalya could alter the match as if Natalya wins, she will probably be added to the SummerSlam match and it is turned into a triple threat match instead.
The Usos vs The Street Profits rematch for the Undisputed WWE Tag Team titles will also take place at SummerSlam following their incredible match at MITB.
Smackdown opens with Money in the Bank highlights.
The Bloodline our out first. As they get in the ring and raise their titles and look out to the crowd, Theory is shown standing in the entrance with the Money in the Bank briefcase.
Reigns said he is happy to be here, and Wise Man looks scared. He hands Heyman the microphone and he said they have a problem in Brock Lesnar. Heyman went on saying he is going to have to be in savage mode to beat Brock Lesnar in a last man standing match.
Theory’s music hits he comes out then stops and holds the briefcase up and leaves
The Viking Raiders VS. Shanky & Jinder Mahal
Jinder immediately tags himself in and the Raiders take control immediately, Shanky is on the floor dancing and Jinder cannot get a tag. Shanky gets on the apron and gets knocked off by the Raiders, Raiders powerbomb Jinder and pin him.
Winners: The Viking Raiders
After the match, the Raiders continue to beat on Jinder and Shanky until the New Day’s music hits and they start yelling on the microphone to hold up. They said they were going to give them a whoopin they deserve. But the Raiders quickly counter and powerslams Kofi off the top rope and leave both Kofi and Xavier laying.
They show what happened to Pat McAfee right after Money in the Bank went off the air with Happy Corbin attacking him. Corey Graves is here filling in tonight.
Up next Gunther’s Intercontinental Championship Open Challenge. Gunther said any champion that defends his title against a challenger he’s not prepared for is a fool and he is not going to do it. Just then Shinsuke Nakamura’s music hits. Nakamura says you can keep your title for now, I challenge Kaiser.
Shinsuke Nakamura VS. Ludwig Kaiser
Kaiser missed with a kickoff the ropes, Nakamura knocked him down with a kick, Kinshasa for the win.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
After the match, Gunther yelled at Kaiser and chopped him as punishment for making him look bad.
Liv Morgan highlights from Money in the Bank is shown Liv is now in the ring.
As we come back from break, Michael Cole is interviewing Liv and he says that Ronda suffered a knee injury prior to Liv’s cash in and at some point, she is going to want a rematch and Liv says bring it. Liv says after the road she traveled to get here, she is going to steal a phrase from John Cena and never give up
Natalya’s music hits and Natalya continues to say Liv only beat Ronda Rousey because she hurt her in their match. Rousey comes out. Rousey is walking slow and limping and says Liv congrats and at SummerSlam, challenging for the title is a whole lot easier than defending it. Rousey asks the crowd if they are ready to see her beat Natalya and Natalya attacks Rousey and then turns to Liv who throws her out of the ring.
Ronda Rousey VS. Natalya
Rousey goes after Natalya who was attempting to make her way to the back, Rousey slams Natalya and gets her in an ankle lock. Natalya taps out.
Winner: Ronda Rousey
Megan Morant interviews Drew McIntyre who will face Sheamus and the winner will face the WWE Unified Universal Champion at Clash of the Castle for the championship. He said he could care less who he would have to face at the Clash of the Castle as he is focused on Sheamus tonight.
Max Dupri is out Mace and Mansoor dressed like tennis players.
Theory is interviewed by Kayla Braxton, and he says he got to see how arrogant Reigns is up close. And he said whoever wins the last man standing match at SummerSlam better be ready for a cash in.
Madcap Moss is shown and says that’s a big briefcase and bets he can shove the whole thing in his mouth, and he would love to try.
Lacey Evans & Aliyah VS. Shotzi & Shayna Baszler
Lacey comes out then goes back, trying to get a better fan reaction, she did this three times before she came to the ring.
Before the match, Lacey gets the microphone and says she is disappointed with the fan’s reaction. She continued to insult the audience and says she is disgusted and until she gets the respect she deserves after fighting for this county all of you can go to hell and then she attacks Aliyah.
Shotzi & Shayna were never announced to come to the ring.
Winners: No Match
The Usos VS. Los Lotharios
One D after a superkick
Winners: The Usos
Kayla interviews The Usos after the match and said some say they got away with that one, referring to their match with the Street Profits at Money in the Bank when they were declared the winners when Montez Ford’s shoulder was clearly up. They say that is not on The Usos that is on the ref. And Kayla says there is rumor there is going to be a special referee for their match at SummerSlam.
Drew McIntyre’s music hits and Drew comes out for the main event.
Drew McIntyre VS. Sheamus
Winner gets a Championship match at Clash at the Castle against The WWE Unified Universal Champion.
Prior to the match, Sheamus takes a microphone and starts telling Drew he has his number then starts coughing and saying he feels like he has a bit of the COVID, and the rules state I can’t compete until I get tested. He has a backup plan and Butch has been begging for a chance at getting his hands on Drew.
As Butch had Drew in an armbar with his legs wrapped around him, Drew hits a Glasgow kiss, Knocks Ridge off the apron, Claymore to Butch.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
Ridge attacks Drew but gets DDT for his efforts, Sheamus then gets on the apron like he is going to come in the ring again, but Drew has the sword. Sheamus dared Drew to hit him and as he raised the sword, he swung cutting the top rope and Sheamus jumped off the apron just in time. Drew bent the sword with the force.
There is still no challenger for the WWE Unified Universal Championship for the Clash at the Castle Event.
Amidst rumors that Sasha Banks and Naomi have been removed from the internal WWE roster, both former champions have also removed anything WWE-related on their social media and now list just “professional wrestler” rather than WWE Superstar in their bio.
Sasha and Naomi walked out of Monday Night Raw in mid-May after disagreeing over creative leading up to Hell In A Cell and Money In The Bank and handed over their WWE Women’s Tag Team titles before heading out of the door. Both were suspended a few days later for their actions.
It is believed that their contracts were up and both were negotiating a new one but while officially WWE has not announced that Sasha and Naomi have been released, the belief is that the two are no longer employed by the company.
Their WWE profile remains under the active section of WWE.COM and they have not been moved to the alumni section as of today.
FITE TV will be airing a three-part documentary on Ric Flair’s Last Match ahead of the highly-anticipated event later this month.
The doc starts on Monday, July 11 on RicFlairsLastMatch.com at 6:05PM ET and then it’s uploaded on FITE TV on Wednesday. The other two episodes will be uploaded on July 18 and 25 before being added to FITE on July 20 and 27 respectively.
Grammy Award-winner Darius Rucker will be narrating the documentary which promises to give fans an unprecedented access to Flair’s preparation for his last match.
“I’ve had the bright lights on me my entire career, so it’s only fitting I bring the cameras along as I get ready to do it one last time,” Flair said. “I’m putting everything I have into this last match, and I want the world to see it! WOOOOO!”
David Crockett, President of Jim Crockett Promotions, added, “I’ve had the absolute privilege of being with Ric during some of the most legendary runs of his career. This series is going to give fans a real perspective of what Ric’s career has meant to my family and the entire wrestling business. And it’s going to show the love and drive Ric is bringing to his final match.”
Michael Weber, Chief Operating Officer at FITE, said that this was one of the most unique and in-depth shows that they have had the honor of producing. “Whenever you are working with a legend like Ric Flair, you need to bring your best, and I am extremely proud of the effort our team put in to making this series happen.”
This week’s episode of Dynamite on TBS drew 979,000 viewers, down 44,000 viewers from the Blood & Guts episode. The show did the same 0.36 of last week in the 18-49 demo and placed #1 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Vince McMahon’s problems have gone from bad to very, very, very bad as the Wall Street Journal has uncovered that McMahon paid $12 million in other hush money to four different women over the past 16 years.
The payments went to former employees who all signed non disclosure agreements with McMahon to prevent them from talking in public against him or the company and prevents them from legal action against him.
WSJ says that one of the payments included a $7.5 million pact with a former WWE Superstar who said that McMahon coerced her into giving him oral sex. She said that after she resisted further encounters, she got demoted and her contract was not renewed in 2005. Documents show that the unnamed wrestler and her legal team approached Vince for a settlement in 2018.
Another former employee said that McMahon sent her unsolicited nude photos of him and sexually harassed her on the job. McMahon paid $1 million for her NDA signature back in 2008.
Another $1 million went to a former manager who worked for Vince for 10 years before he allegedly started a sexual relationship with her. This case dates back to 2006.
The WWE Board of Directors is currently investigating a separate $3 million hush money deal to a paralegal who was bounced around to John Laurinaitis as well. Laurinaitis is on a leave of absence from WWE and McMahon temporarily resigned from his role as CEO and Chairman until the investigation is complete.
