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NXT rating for 11/02/2021

NXT this week drew 631,000 viewers, down 114,000 viewers from the Halloween Havoc special, but up 25,000 viewers from the last regular episode. The show had a very heavy competition with the MLB World Series drawing 14 million viewers, election night, and the NBA all head-to-head. NXT drew 0.15 in the 18-49 demo and placed #30 for the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

Cody vs Andrade and Kenny Omega in action tonight live on Dynamite

The road to Full Gear continues tonight live on Dynamite from the Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Missouri.

Tonight’s broadcast will be headlined by Cody Rhodes taking on Andrade El Idolo as the feud which also involves Malakai Black continues. AEW World champion Kenny Omega will be facing Alan Angels from the Dark Order and the TBS Women’s title tournament continues with Anna Jay facing Jamie Hayter in the first round. Plus, the new AAA Tag Team champions FTR will be defending their titles against Samurai del Sol, formerly known as Kalisto, and Aero Star.

With Jon Moxley out of action, his match against Orange Cassidy in the semi final of the AEW World Title Eliminator tournament will obviously not happen. AEW has not announced who will take Moxley’s place in the tournament or if Cassidy will get a bye in this round and move on to the finals.

Renee Paquette, co-workers, and fans show support for Jon Moxley

Co-workers and fans have shown their full support to Jon Moxley, who checked himself into an alcohol treatment program. The news was revealed by AEW President Tony Khan, who said that Moxley gave him his blessing to share the news with the whole world on social media.

AEW stars have publicly supported Mox on their respective social media accounts, all sure that their friend will overcome this speed bump and recover quickly.

His wife, Renee Paquette, also spoke publicly for the first time today since the news came out yesterday. Thanking everyone for their outpouring of support, Renee wrote, “Jon is every bit of the badass we all know him to be. I couldn’t be more proud of him for getting to proper help he needs, and being given the space to put his health first. Couldn’t possibly love this man more.”

Mox and Paquette are currently in the process of moving from Las Vegas to Cincinnati and his book, simply titled Mox, was released in bookstores and online yesterday.

Raw rating for 11/01/2021

Monday Night Raw this week pulled in 1,689,000 viewers, up just 11,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast.

The show started with 1,724,000 viewers, but then dropped to 1,689,000 viewers in the second hour, and 1,655,000 viewers in the third hour. The night was dominated by the NFL on ESPN which did nearly 12 million viewers head-to-head with Raw.

In the 18-49 demo, Raw placed #6, #7, and #9 in top 50 cable chart for the night with 0.47, 0.46, and 0.45 ratings respectively for an average of 0.46. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

NXT’s Zoey Stark out injured

Zoey Stark, the former NXT Women’s Tag Team champion, is out injured and that’s why Toxic Attraction took her out in a backstage segment, explaining her absence from television in the next few weeks.

John Pollock from POST Wrestling said that internal WWE documents show that Stark is labeled as injured but it’s not known how long she will be out for or what she’s suffering from.

With Stark out, her former team partner Io Shirai made friends with Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro, who helped the former NXT Women’s champion in her battle against Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne. All six women will go head-to-head next week in a six-woman tag team match on NXT.

STARZ renews Heels for season two

Deadline.com is reporting that STARZ has renewed the wrestling drama Heels for a second season, with production set to begin next year.

Mike O’Malley will return as showrunner and executive producer. Peter Segal, Julie Yorn, Christopher Donnelly and Patrick Walmsley will also return as executive producers.

“It’s clear from the critical and fan acclaim that the stories and characters from the Duffy Wrestling League have made a connection with audiences bringing a community that is not often found to premium TV,” said Jeffrey Hirsch, President and CEO of Starz. “I’m excited for our amazing cast and executive producers to get back into the ring together for a second season.”

Apart from Stephen Amell and Alexander Ludvig, Alison Luff, Mary McCormack, Kelli Berglund, Allen Maldonado, James Harrison, Roxton Garcia and Chris Bauer are expected back for round two while Trey Tucker and Robby Ramos have been upped to series regulars.

Season one of Heels averaged 91,000 viewers over eight episodes. It started with 128,000 viewers but only the first and second episode, which did 103,000, surpassed the 100,000-viewership mark.

Top female UFC fighters as role models to young girls

It’s a terrible phenomenon around the sporting world that women’s sports (which are just as entertaining, just as skilled, and receive the same volume of views per cour) are often belittled. It’s people like Ronda Rousey who are true role models for young girls. She has been demanding more airtime to allow her fans to watch her fight.

Today we want to show you the best UFC Fighters who are developing into amazing role models for your kids. Not only are they beating Fanduel’s MMA odds, but they are also beating the system.

Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey has been the main spokesperson for women in MMA. She has opened up about the problems she has faced both in her personal life and her training. Rousey is not only an amazing MMA fighter, but she is also an outstanding Olympia. But her journey to these titles was difficult. She had to make a lot of sacrifices to get to this level and had very few people supporting her.

Rousey can be a little rude at times, but what can you expect from a fighter? Still, we shouldn’t ignore her message due to the “paper” it was written on. Rousey’s mantra is one that every kid should employ; believe in yourself; if you’re good at something, stick to it; and if you put in the hours, your work ethic will outperform the competition.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Jedrzejczyk is the third UFC champion to come from Europe. It took her years to travel up the rankings. Her determination for the sport is what brought her from underdog to powerhouse. She is the embodiment of why you should never stop reaching for your dreams, even if the rest of the audience is rooting for someone else.

Unfortunately, lots of people sexistly believe that women cannot be good fighters. Statistically, women are shorter and have less body mass, which to some means they are fragile. Of course, this is nonsense, and anyone who thinks that UFC fighting can only take one shape isn’t a real fan of the sport.

Jedrzejczyk uses her small body to her advantage. When it comes to the staredown, she crouches lower than her opponent and looks up with a menacing glare that will make anyone shake. In that moment, her smaller frame tells her rival that she will be in their space, and there is nothing they can do about it.

Cris Cyborg

Athletes come in all shapes and sizes, and everyone’s body will have its own optimal range. Unfortunately for Cyborg, women’s UFC fighters only have 4 weight divisions, whereas men have 8. The 4 divisions are also barely separated, as the highest and lowest divisions are only separated by 20lb, which is ridiculous compared to the men’s divisions. Their smallest weight gap is 10lb, which is half of all 4 women’s divisions!

Cris Cyborg is a powerful fighter who exploded into the scene, knocking down everyone in her path. But because her optimal weight doesn’t fit into the 4 divisions easily, she has been through brutal weight cuts to stay in the MMA and was even forced out of a title fight with Rousey as her lean body wasn’t lean enough.

After openly crying from the physical torture, her righteous anger was seen by all, and none could deny that her treatment was unfair. Due to this incident, the rules were changed, and a new division was temporarily added.

Cyborg is proof that you don’t need to be a barbie doll to enter into the ring. Although her road was rougher than most, she is the force of change in the UFC. Now, women with muscles have a better chance at fighting on the screen.

Summary

There are so many amazing women that we could mention, all of which create amazing space for strong fighters. Cyborg, Jedrzejczyk, and Rousey have shown us that even if a system has been in place for decades, that doesn’t mean it’s the only way to succeed.

Jon Moxley entering inpatient alcohol treatment program

Former AEW champion Jon Moxley will be entering an inpatient alcohol treatment program, with the news shared by AEW President Tony Khan.

In a statement, Khan said that Mox allowed him to share the news with fans and stressed that he is a beloved member of the AEW family who is making a brave choice to seek help.

Moxley was supposed to take on Orange Cassidy tonight on Dynamite in the semi final of the AEW World Title Eliminator tournament and was scheduled to wrestle Bryan Danielson at Full Gear.

The full statement is as follows:

“Jon Moxley has allowed me to share with you that he is entering an inpatient alcohol treatment program. Jon is a beloved member of the AEW family. We all stand with him and Renee, and all of his family and friends, as he shifts his focus to recovery. Jon is making a very brave choice to get help, and we’re embracing his choice and supporting him however we can. I’m proud to call Jon a friend, and like many of you, I’m also a fan of Mox and look forward to a time in the future when he is eventually ready to return to the ring. Until then, thank you for supporting Jon and respecting his privacy at this time. If you or a loved one need help, please reach out to SAMHSA’s National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357).”

Jim Ross to undergo 22 radiation treatments for skin cancer

AEW commentator Jim Ross announced on his Grilling JR podcast that he will soon start 22 radiation treatments to deal with his skin cancer.

Ross said that doctors want to knock them out in consecutive days so he has to figure out how he cannot miss a day of work while under three weeks of straight radiation.

“It’s just a matter of dealing with these issues, gritting your teeth, and moving on,” Ross said. “That’s kind of what I’m doing.”

The WWE Hall of Famer said added that he didn’t get the worst kind of skin cancer but he still has to deal with it and it’s just a “pain in the ass” – as he put it – to get radiation.

“The good thing is there is no chemotherapy. So that helps with all the after effects and things of that nature. I’m handling it, I’m dealing with it, I’ve dealt with more and will continue to persevere,” Ross continued.

JR also thanked all the fans who have reached out to offer him support during these times. “I do appreciate everybody’s support. It means a lot quite frankly that people care enough to send me a message whether it is Twitter, Facebook, or wherever it may be. I appreciate that. Again, I’m feeling good.”

Impact rating for 10/28/2021

Impact Wrestling last week drew 100,000 viewers for the post-Bound For Glory episode on AXS TV. That is up 7,000 viewers from the previous week. The show did 0.03 in the 18-49 demo, up 0.01 from the last episode. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)

Jeff Hardy next guest on Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions

The website WWENetworkNews.com is reporting that the next episode of Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions will feature Jeff Hardy as the special guest.

The date for the premiere of this episode is listed as Thursday, November 25, right on Thanksgiving Day.

Hardy, one of the most popular WWE Superstars, has had quite a roller coaster ride when it comes to his pro wrestling career, from the highs of his time with his brother Matt during the Attitude Era, to winning the WWE championship, his return at WrestleMania and then to the lows of alcohol abuse, multiple arrests, and a disastrous time in Impact Wrestling.

The last Austin interview came with Seth Rollins. An interview with John Cena which was set to air instead of the Rollins one still has not seen the light of day.

Raw brand off to the United Kingdom for first part of tour

The Raw brand is off to the United Kingdom for the next few days to start their tour before the Smackdown brand arrives in the weekend to take over.

Four shows will be performed by the red brand and they will be live in Brighton tomorrow, Sheffield on Thursday, Birmingham on Friday, and London on Saturday. The Saturday show will be a Supershow and will have matches from the Smackdown brand as well.

The matches on the tour for Raw will include Big E vs Bobby Lashley for the WWE title in a street fight, Becky Lynch vs Doudrop vs Bianca Belair in a triple threat match for the Raw Women’s title, RK-Bro vs The Street Profits vs Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode in a triple threat tag team match for the Raw Tag Team titles, Damian Priest vs Finn Balor vs Kevin Owens vs Seth Rollins in fatal four-way match for the United States title, Reggie vs John Morrison for the 24/7 title, and Liv Morgan vs Carmella.

Everyone on this leg of the tour will depart to the United States on Sunday morning to get ready for the live Raw on Monday. No television tapings will be held on this tour and the tour was split in two halves to avoid doing TV tapings.

Kevin Owens on Raw: “It might be for three months or three more years”

WWE Superstar Kevin Owens dropped a small hint at what his future might look like but said no matter how much time he has left, he will always give fans something to remember.

Addressing fans during Raw when he was in a segment with both Big E and Seth Rollins, Owens said, “It might be for three more months or three more years, but every time I’m on WWE Raw, I’ll give the fans something to remember.”

The three months nod is actually how much time Owens has left on his WWE contract and as of now, he has not signed a new one. Owens went on to wrestle Big E in the main event of Raw but lost thanks to interference from Seth Rollins and next week he will be going head-to-head with Rollins.

Owens has been signed to a WWE deal since 2014, spending a year in NXT before he made his main roster debut.

Rampage rating for 10/29/2021

Rampage on Friday night drew 623,000 viewers, up 90,000 viewers from the previous week and the best number since the September 24 episode. The show drew 0.24 in the 18-49 demo and placed #4 on the top 50 cable chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

The Miz eliminated from Dancing With The Stars

It is the end of the line for The Miz as the former WWE champion was eliminated from ABC’s Dancing With The Stars last night.

Miz and his dance partner, Witney Carson, placed #9 in yesterday’s episode and they were the seventh couple eliminated from the show. WWE had been pushing for votes with fans watching on Monday Night Raw but that did not work out great for him yesterday.

It was Queen Night on DWTS and Miz and Witney danced the Foxtrot to the song Radio Gaga, receiving a score of 32 from the four judges. Placing in the bottom two with JoJo and Jenna, all the judges voted to save dancer and YouTube personality JoJo Siwa and her dance partner, sending The Miz packing.

The Miz is one of several WWE Superstars who participated in the Dancing With The Stars show along the years.

Smackdown rating for 10/29/2021

Friday Night Smackdown on FS1 drew 1,032,000 viewers this past week, and while it was down over a million viewers from last week’s broadcast on FOX, it was up 166,000 viewers from the October 16 episode which also aired on FS1. The show drew a 0.29 rating in the 18-49 demo and placed #3 on the top 50 cable chart for the day.

Smackdown did an additional 278,000 viewers in the 10PM replay and 147,000 more in the Midnight replay. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com and Wrestlenomics)

Big title match to kick off Monday Night Raw tonight

WWE announced a huge match will kick off tonight’s Monday Night Raw with Becky Lynch defending her Raw Women’s title against Bianca Belair.

This is their second proper one-on-one match, or third if you want to count their 26-second match at SummerSlam. At Extreme Rules, the two went toe-to-toe for nearly 18 minutes until Sasha Banks interfered, causing a disqualification win for Belair. The DQ win meant that Lynch kept the Smackdown Women’s title and after the match, Banks also attacked Lynch.

The three of them then wrestled at Crown Jewel where Lynch came out victorious with an inside cradle, pinning Sasha while holding the ropes for leverage.

Since then, Lynch swapped titles with Charlotte Flair in a feisty segment and now Lynch is the Raw Women’s champion. She gave up the title last year after Money In The Bank when she announced she was pregnant.

Raw has struggled a bit in the ratings the past several weeks and dropped over 200,000 viewers on average in September and October compared to the August average when there was no NFL competition.

Impact Wrestling signs indie star “Speedball” Mike Bailey

Impact Wrestling has signed the highly-regarded indie wrestler Mike Bailey.

Impact’s EVP Scott D’Amore showed up at the Destiny Wrestling show in Ontario during the weekend and presented “Speedball” Bailey with a deal. Bailey signed the contract in the ring, assisted by Impact’s Josh Alexander who offered his back as a table!

“Despite setbacks and hardships I’ve had in my wrestling career, I only feel blessed & grateful for the love & support that I have received continuously in return for my hard work,” Bailey wrote on Twitter. “I couldn’t do any of it without you all. Thank you. I’ll keep doing my best!”

The 31-year-old from Quebec was banned from entering the United States for five years in 2016 after he tried to enter the country and work for EVOLVE without a proper working visa.

With his ban now over, Bailey will be able to enter the United States with Impact Wrestling serving as his sponsor.

Bailey has been wrestling since 2006 and has worked for many promotions along the years, including CZW, PROGRESS Wrestling, Rev Pro Wrestling, ROH, and others.

WrestleMania 38 on-sale party on November 10, Undertaker advertised to appear

WWE will be holding a WrestleMania 38 on-sale party at the AT&T Stadium on Wednesday, November 10.

The party is free, family-friendly and open to the public and all fans in attendance will receive an exclusive WrestleMania souvenir ticket.

The graphic being used to promote the party interestingly uses The Undertaker front and center along with Doudrop, The Street Profits, Rhea Ripley, WWE champion Big E, Nikki A.S.H., and Reggie, all of whom are scheduled to appear.

WrestleMania 38 will be held over two days next April with WWE looking to fill up the massive AT&T Stadium on both days. Tickets for WrestleMania will go on sale to the general public on November 12 at 10AM ET on SeatGeek.com.

Dark Side of the Ring S3 E14 rating

The final episode of season three of Dark Side of the Ring, titled The Steroid Trials, drew 154,000 viewers and 0.05 rating in the 18-49 demographic. That led the show in the #90 spot on the cable chart for the day.

The 14-episode season saw an average of 177,000 viewers per episode, down from the 257,000 average from season two.

This season, Dark Side of the Ring covered the subjects of Brian Pillman, Nick Gage, Collision in Korea, The Ultimate Warrior, Grizzly Smith and his family, Dynamite Kid, the Plane Ride from Hell, Chris Kanyon, FMW, Johnny K-9, Luna Vachon, Rob Black and XPW, and United States vs Vince McMahon. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)