The streaming service Peacock is coming to the United Kingdom in the next few months and if WWE takes the approach of selling the WWE Network the same way they did in the United States, then there will be some unhappy fans across WWE’s second largest market.
During a conference call with reporters to announce Q2 2021 results, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts announced that the United Kingdom will be the first international territory to get the service, with Sky implementing it at no cost to customers. Sky, WWE’s former home, is now owned by Comcast and boasts 20 million households in the United Kingdom and other European countries.
WWE managed to sell rights of the Network to Peacock in the United States for a staggering $1 billion over five years and they have made it clear that they are looking for similar opportunities across the ocean. Roberts said that after the service debuts on Sky, they will roll out Peacock globally via third-party distributors.
But different countries mean different rights and it does not mean that every place where WWE Network is available is moving to Peacock and at this stage it’s very early to even speculate such a scenario.
Peacock has crossed the 50 million subscriber mark in the United States, thanks to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and some other new programming. Roberts admitted that it will be hard to replicate such a performance following the end of the Olympics but they are working hard to manage retention and grow.
The absolute majority of the 50 million subs are however on a free tier and Comcast refused to divulge information on how many are paying subscribers. WWE Network is part of the paid tier on Peacock.
Former WWE and WCW legend King Haku made his AEW debut last night, accompanying his son Hikuleo for his IWGP United States title match against Lance Archer.
The 62-year-old pro wrestling from Tonga is considered to be one of the most legit tough guys in the history of professional wrestling and had successful carers in WWE, WCW, and Japan. As Haku and King Haku, he worked for WWE between 1986 and 1992 and then moved to WCW as Meng in 1994 until 2001. He also had a stint in Japan with NJPW, appearing occasionally between 2016 and 2018.
As for Hikuleo, it was not his night yesterday as Archer successfully defeated him to retain the IWGP U.S. title after hitting his Blackout finishing move. He currently works for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
WWE have plans to hold a Queen of the Ring tournament in October and Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men podcast is reporting that there are rumors that the final of the tournament will be held at the Saudi Arabian pay-per-view later on that month.
Zarian added that the tentative dates for the tournament include starting on October 8 on Smackdown and continuing on October 11 on Raw. The planned Saudi show is October 21 so all tournament matches would have to be done by then if the finals will indeed be held there.
For the past few Saudi trips, WWE has managed to get the women to participate on the show, something which was a big no no when WWE started its business relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. With less makeup and less revealing outfits, Natalya, Lacey Evans, Bayley, and Naomi all managed to entertain the crowds in a country where women’s rights are close to zero. Renee Young was also the first female allowed to appear on the show as she provided commentary at Crown Jewel in 2018.
The next year, WWE took Alexa Bliss and Natalya for Super ShowDown but their match was yanked off the card by the Saudi government at the last minute. The company was eventually successful in negotiating a way to have their women on the show starting with the 2019 Crown Jewel event.
It looks like fans at the SummerSlam pay-per-view in Las Vegas, Nevada, will have to wear a mask inside the Allegiant Stadium as a mask mandate was issued by Nevada for 12 counties in line with the latest CDC guidelines.
One of the counties impacted is Clark County, where the city of Las Vegas is located. Clark County was identified as a high transmission of coronavirus and therefor everyone inside – irrespective if you are fully vaccinated or not – must wear a mask.
The Allegiant Stadium is currently configured to host just over 46,000 fans and WWE has sold over 40,000 tickets for this pay-per-view which will be headlined by John Cena vs Roman Reigns for the Universal title.
With the Delta variant of COVID-19 running rampant, the CDC is tightening some rules again which might be problematic in the future if states decide to ban mass gatherings for events.
The city of Tampa, Florida, is recognizing the work that WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil is doing within the community and kids by renaming a school in his honor.
Revealed yesterday, the Sligh Middle Magnet School is being renamed to Thaddeus M. Bullard Academy at Sligh Middle Magnet School, reflecting O’Neil’s real name. O’Neil, through his Bullard Family Foundation, has transformed the lives of students, families, and faculty districtwide.
“I was once labeled a ‘bad’ kid and told I would be dead or in jail by the time I was 16,” said O’Neil. “This is the highest and most respected honor that I could ever receive considering there was never any expectation of me ever finding much success in my life. Hopefully this will prove to any student who comes from an underserved community that anything is possible when you believe.”
Hillsborough County Schools Superintendent Addison Davis called O’Neil a community hero for the countless hours of work he does with kids in the area. “He continues to go over and beyond to help children to address significant gaps in our communities,” Davis said. “And he just doesn’t stop at Sligh. It has grown legs throughout a number of feeder middle schools within our transformation network. I’ve never met a more incredible person.”
Chris Jericho defeated the second opponent in his 5 Labours of Jericho before he gets his hands on MJF, presumably at the upcoming pay-per-view All Out in September.
Jericho went through Shawn Spears first and yesterday defeated hardcore wrestling favorite Nick Gage in a bloody no rules match. In his third match, MJF announced that Jericho will have to face a former WCW Superstar and Cruiserweight champion Juventud Guerrera.
In order for Jericho to win this match, Jericho has to execute a move from the top rope and cover for the pinfall. Any other method of win does not apply for Jericho, but Guerrera can win in any way he deems fit.
This week’s NXT, which aired on Syfy instead of USA Network due to the coverage of the Olympics, did a total of 520,000 viewers, down 189,000 viewers from last week’s number. This was the least-watched episode of NXT ever and the show drew just a 0.12 in the 18-49 demo. NXT is also on Syfy next week. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)
The big live event announcement on last night’s Dynamite was indeed the Chicago announcement with AEW Rampage taking place at the United Center on August 20.
Taking place on the eve of WWE’s SummerSlam, Rampage will be live for “The First Dance” inside the massive arena home of the Chicago Bulls. The Charlotte crowd last night at Fight for the Fallen did not take long to start a big CM Punk chant and cameras made sure to show them on screen.
Tickets for this episode of Rampage go on sale this coming Monday at 10AM CT on Ticketmaster.com. Tickets will start at $25.
Recently, CM Punk uploaded a portion of the song Sirius from The Alan Parsons Project on his Instagram, a song used by the Chicago Bulls for intros.
AEW will present Fight for the Fallen live tonight on TNT, a two-hour Dynamite that will wrap up a month of themed weekly broadcasts.
Six matches have been announced plus a major announcement. The matches are The Elite vs The Dark Order and Hangman Page in a 10-man elimination tag match; Santana and Ortiz vs FTR; Christian Cage, Jungle Boy, and Luchasaurus vs H.F.O in a six-man tag team match; Julia Hart vs Thunder Rosa; Lance Archer vs Hikuleo for the IWGP United States title; and “Painmaker” Chris Jericho vs Nick Gage in the second chapter of The 5 Labours of Jericho.
Plus, AEW President Tony Khan will drop a major announcement for a new live event. Rumors are that AEW will hit the United Center in Chicago but it’s unknown if tonight’s announcement is related to that one.
The whole Dexter Lumis and Indi Hartwell saga will be finally settled – hopefully – next week on NXT in a Love Her or Lose Her match.
Lumis will be wrestling Gargano in a bid to “love her” while Gargano will be doing his utmost so Lumis will “lose her.” Basically, the stipulation is that if Lumis wins, he will be allowed to date the Australian star while if Gargano wins, then the relationship between Lumis and Hartwell will end there.
This whole storyline has been going on for several months with both Lumis and Hartwell coming close to kissing each other on numerous occasions but something always gets in the way.
If your child wants to wrestle in high school and college at a competitive level, you may want to look into having them attend a wrestling camp. A camp like this can help your child refine their skills, learn new techniques, and become an overall better athlete. However, not all wrestling camps are the same, so you need to make sure you know what to look for in one that will achieve your child’s goals.
Coaches Who Know the Sport
This may sound obvious, but choosing a camp that has coaches who have actually participated in wrestling is critical to your child’s success. Anyone can open a camp and say that they’ll make your child a better wrestler, but only the camps that are taught by proven winners in the sport should be considered. Not only should a coach know the sport inside out, but they should have also wrestled at a high level with success. Additionally, anyone who works with your child at the camp should be well-versed in wrestling and able to teach techniques and skills to your child.
Coaches Have a Proven Track Record
Just because someone is successful in a sport doesn’t mean they’re coaching material. Not everyone has the ability to teach others how to succeed in a sport, even if they themselves have been extremely successful. As such, you should look at the track record of the coaches at the camps you’re considering to see the results former students have had. Look for someone who has produced champions from their camps and have done so repeatedly. This will tell you that their ability to teach is effective, which is necessary for your child to be able to apply what they’ve learned.
A Variety of Camp Choices
Your child may need work on specific skills, but not on others, which means a general wrestling camp that teaches the basics would not be very helpful. The best wrestling camps offer a variety of camp choices to focus on the skills each athlete needs. Additionally, if your child is a girl, it might benefit her to have a camp that’s dedicated just to female wrestlers. A one-size-fits-all approach is not favorable to any child beyond one who is just learning the sport.
Moreover, you may not have the time or funds to dedicate to a week-long camp, so you may need a day-long camp option, or even one that’s two or three days long instead. The top organizations that run wrestling camps offer these choices to make sure everyone who wants to participate in a camp, can.
Age Appropriate Skills
Finally, you need a camp that takes your child’s age into consideration and offers camps based not only on skill level, but also on age. A camp that has offerings for youth, teens, and college-age athletes is ideal because you’ll know that your child is learning skills that are appropriate for their age. It’s important to keep in mind that young bodies are still growing and may not have the strength to complete certain moves, or some techniques can damage young ligaments and muscles. Choosing a camp that understands this and takes the proper steps to protect your child is of utmost importance.
Conclusion
There are dozens of wrestling camps available to train your child in this fast-growing sport, but before you choose one, make sure you know exactly what you can expect from the camp and how it’s going to help your child succeed. After all, that’s the whole purpose of attending a camp in the first place.
Comedian, actress and She Ready Foundation Founder, Tiffany Haddish, will host the official WWE SummerSlam After Party on Saturday, August 21 in Las Vegas. The exclusive, invite-only event is presented by Pure Life Purified Water and will feature WWE Superstars, celebrity guests and influential business partners.
In support of Tiffany Haddish and her monumental efforts, WWE will be making a financial contribution to the She Ready Foundation to help build a better life for children living under the foster care system.
“I’m really glad that me hanging out at the SummerSlam After Party with WWE Superstars is helping out foster kids. I’ve never hung out with WWE Superstars before, but I’ve definitely helped a lot of foster kids,” said Tiffany Haddish.
“WWE’s mission is to put smiles on people’s faces and one person who does just that is the official host of the SummerSlam After Party, Tiffany Haddish. We are proud to support Tiffany and the She Ready Foundation during our biggest event of this year, SummerSlam, live from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas,” said Stephanie McMahon, WWE Chief Brand Officer.
Founded in 2019, The She Ready Foundation is a 501c3 verified non-profit whose mission is to protect, provide resources, and ensure normalcy for foster children through sponsorship, suitcases, mentoring, and counseling.
In an interview carried by the New York Post, AEW President Tony Khan refused to be drawn in questions about both Daniel Bryan and CM Punk, adopting a different line than before.
Asked if AEW did sign or is in negotiations with both Bryan and Punk, Khan did not want to comment although he did acknowledge that “those are good questions.”
Asked again, hypothetically, what would it mean for a company to add names such as Bryan and Punk at the same time to their roster, Khan once again refused to entertain the question.
“I can’t comment on those two guys, but I think there are certainly a lot of exciting rumors right now.”
In the past, such rumors were always shot down by Khan and even CM Punk but this time around, the no comments from Khan and absolute silence from Punk suggest that something is brewing. Bryan, on his part, never discussed such issues.
Rumors are that Daniel Bryan will be making his debut on the September 22 Dynamite in New York while AEW are in Chicago for three shows and another big Dynamite in Cleveland in the beginning of September which would be ideal shows for a Punk debut.
Former WWE champion Batista was trending on Twitter after he was revealed as The Streamer, promoting the Disney bundle of Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+.
Sporting a white long hair and beard, The Streamer explains how he “streamed every stream you can stream” as he camps out. “There’s only one stream that has every kind of stream you ever want to stream,” he continues.
Standing in a…stream with a tablet, The Streamer then shows the Disney bundle for just $13.99 and the variety of shows available on all three streaming services.
The commercial has already over 8 million views in just 14 hours since its release.
This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw drew 1,814,000 viewers on average, down 109,000 from last week. The show faced stiff competition from the coverage of the Olympics across NBC channels which pulled in over 13,000,000 viewers.
Raw started with 1,871,000 viewers, then dropped to 1,839,000 viewers for the second hour, and closed the night with 1,733,000 viewers. This was still the second most-watched since the May 17 broadcast which did 1,823,000 viewers. Raw did 0.49 in the 18-49 demo, down from last week’s 0.57. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)
NXT will be airing on Syfy tonight at 8PM ET as USA Network pre-empted the show due to the ongoing coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
The show is not live and was actually taped last week at the CWC inside the Performance Center along with next week’s episode, which will also air on Syfy.
Three matches are being promoted for tonight’s broadcast including Adam Cole vs Bronson Reed, Carmello Hayes vs Josh Briggs in the NXT Breakout Tournament, and Pete Dunne and Oney Lorcan vs Timothy Thatcher and Tommaso Ciampa. The build between Karrion Kross, William Regal, and Samoa Joe will also continue heading into NXT Takeover 36.
Another date has been added to John Cena’s wrestling schedule, one that is past the SummerSlam pay-per-view on August 22.
WWE announced that the 16-time world champ will be at the Friday Night Smackdown live from Madison Square Garden on September 10. This event is being marketed as a Supershow with Raw Superstars also appearing for the occasion. WWE did not specifically say that Cena will be on the FOX broadcast, so it could be that he will be part of the dark match or off camera shenanigans.
Tickets for the Madison Square Garden show are still available on Ticketmaster.com.
Speaking of dark matches, while Cena did not appear on the USA broadcast yesterday, he was at Monday Night Raw and did appear in front of the crowd after the show went off the air. Cena tag teamed with Riddle to take on T-Bar and Mace in the dark match and as you might have guessed already, yes, Cena and Riddle did win and Cena did get the pin on Mace.
Riddle worked the majority of the match as Cena was on the apron waiting for the hot tag. That eventually came and Cena came in and cleaned house and got the victory to send the crowd home happy.
Assuming the world is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and not placed into another lockdown, WWE is planning to visit Saudi Arabia in October for another big show.
Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men podcast yesterday broke the news that the tentative date for this event is Thursday, October 21. The date was later confirmed by two other sources. If the event is indeed going ahead, WWE might announce it tomorrow during the conference call with investors.
WWE has not traveled to Saudi since February 2020 where they held Super ShowDown with a main event of Goldberg vs The Fiend for the Universal title. The agreement between WWE and the government of Saudi Arabia calls for two shows per year until 2027 and the Saudis pay tens of millions of dollars to have WWE over, eclipsing any revenue from any live event including WrestleMania.
A trip to Saudi would mean the third large-scale event in a year for WWE following WrestleMania and SummerSlam in NFL stadiums.
It has been a difficult few months for wrestling fans around the world as there seems to be a lot of turmoil within the WWE, big names in talent being released and uncertainty around the future of what’s really happening with the organisation – all signs seem to be pointing to a potential sale of the WWE, and financial experts seem to agree that this is something that may be on the horizon, some services that accept betting like those found here have also opened odds for speculation on the matter – but with all the information floating around, what could really be going on?
The biggest suggestion so far has been with the WWE licensing deal that went to Peacock – the company has typically been very protective of the brand in the past by bringing everything under one roof which included the big push to launch the WWE network and have streaming options for all events both in the past and present was a big step forward – getting out of the business of its own streaming service and letting another company handle this business has been the first big sign of change for stepping away from this more protective hold over the company, and a smart move if they’re looking to sell the business as it cuts a huge portion of operating costs whilst also gaining a huge amount of money for selling rights to the content – something very promising to potential buyers.
(Image from sportskeeda.com)
Releasing talent provides a similar indication here too, by cutting down on overhead costs with talent that may not have been the biggest draw, and keeping the biggest name, it does the same thing – they keep many of the keep assets that make up the success of the company and the names that bring in the big PPV buys whilst also releasing some of the costs keeps things attractive for potential buyers that don’t have to worry about huge outgoings or length contracts that could become a problem further down the line – although that wasn’t the case for all talent as some of the big names that were released were big draws and merch movers, leading to further speculation that some of the names that may have big contract clauses were released in order to cut down on costs also.
It’s all a speculation game right now, there’s no concrete evidence that a sale is on the way, but a lot of evidence to certainly suggest the case is true – given it could have big implications for the company if a sale were to happen though, wrestling fans will need to stay vigilant, and they could see their favourite form of entertainment turned up on its head in the near future.
The first match officially announced for SummerSlam is a triple threat match for the Raw Women’s title between champion Nikki A.S.H., Rhea Ripley, and Charlotte Flair.
The match was announced during the opening segment of Monday Night Raw yesterday when Nikki was addressing the fans but was rudely interrupted by Charlotte and then Rhea.
Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville made the match official for August 22 and also made Nikki face Charlotte in a non-title match later in the evening. Charlotte beat Nikki in the main event of the show and now, as it’s pretty much customary, a rematch was announced for next week as well although it was not specified if this will be for the title.
Nikki won the title from Charlotte after cashing in her MITB briefcase on the Raw after Money In The Bank.