NXT General Manager William Regal has promised to make an announcement that “will change the landscape of NXT” next week on USA Network.
The announcement comes after Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez were screwed out of the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles, with Adam Pearce and Raw referee being involved.
The finish of the match saw NXT referee Aja Smith getting knocked out and replaced by Raw referee Shawn Bennett, who Adam Pearce assigned. Bennett called for the bell to end the match as Kai was in the Kirifuda Clutch but Kai was not the legal person in the match at the moment and the match should not have ended.
In a tweet after the show, Bennett said that he called the action as it was in front of him and Pearce thanked him for his work. Pearce also said that “accusatory finger-pointing is misguided” following a backstage segment with Regal and said that none of them were at fault for Smith getting knocked out during the match.
Impact Wrestling drew 134,000 viewers this week on AXS TV, down 36,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. This was the least-watched Impact of 2021 so far. Impact had 0.03 in the 18-49 demographic and finished #130 on the cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Former WWE champion Paul “Big Show” Wight made his AEW debut last night on Dynamite and dropped some bombshell news.
Interviewed by his new commentary partner Tony Schiavone, Wight wondered if anyone saw this turn coming, making fun of how many times WWE turned him heel and face during his two-decade career there.
Wight then said that at Revolution this Sunday, AEW will announce a new signing to the roster, one which is “Hall of Fame worthy.”
During the quick segment, Wight mistakenly referred to the Revolution pay-per-view as Evolution and later over at NXT, William Regal held a backstage interview…in front of the Evolution pay-per-view poster!
This was Wight’s first non-WWE appearance on a wrestling show since 1999.
Jim Crockett Jr., the former promoter of Jim Crockett Promotions, passed away yesterday at the age of 76. Crockett had liver and kidney failure and was in rough shape over the past few days.
Crockett took over the family business in 1977 and three years later, he was elected as the NWA President, a run which ended in 1982.
In 1985, Crockett was once again elected as president of the NWA and that year he bought McMahon’s Saturday night time slot on Superstation TBS. In his third term as NWA President, Crockett bought Championship Wrestling from Florida and Universal Wrestling Federation and owned six NWA territories at the time.
But in 1988, Crockett was almost bankrupt and sold all his assets to Ted Turner, renaming Crockett’s promotion to World Championship Wrestling.
Crockett had not been involved in the business since 1995 and then transitioned to being a realtor in Texas.
NXT is in for a tough night with massive competition from AEW Dynamite going head-to-head and WWE seems in no hurry to announce much for the show with only two matches advertised.
The show is headlined by a WWE Women’s Tag Team title match featuring champions Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax taking on the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament winners Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez. The other match is a non-title bout between Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan versus Tommaso Ciampa and Timothy Thatcher.
The only other thing mentioned for the show is that The Way – Gargano, Theory, LaRae, and Hartwell – will be attending “therapy” over their run-ins with Dexter Lumis.
An NXT Takeover set for Thursday, April 8 is being advertised for WrestleMania weekend.
WWE passed on having a Takeover last year when the pandemic edition of WrestleMania took place from the WWE Performance Center but it looks like the tradition of having an NXT Takeover added to the Mania weekend will return this year.
A Thursday Takeover would mean that the NXT go-home episode would air the night before on USA Network and if the rumors prove to be correct, they would be back on the air on Tuesday night, April 13, for their new slot on USA.
With WrestleMania being once again held over two nights, it means that Takeover cannot be held on Saturday night and it can’t air on Friday night either as there is Smackdown and the potential Hall of Fame ceremony as well.
WWE has not announced where the TV shows as part of that weekend will be happening. While WrestleMania will have limited number of fans, it could be that Raw and Smackdown will still be held at the ThunderDome in front of virtual fans only.
An independent show, titled Wrestling 4 Women’s Charity, was canceled yesterday after it was revealed that Joey Ryan’s Bar Wrestling promotion is behind it and AEW President Tony Khan threatened to pull all his talent from it after it was pointed out that Bar Wrestling was the contact for the tickets.
The show was scheduled to take place on March 20 in Knoxville, Tennessee, featuring several indie wrestlers as well as those from AEW and Impact Wrestling including Sonny Kiss, Brian Cage, Trey Miguel, and others.
After being alerted about it, Tony Khan said that if Joey Ryan was going to be there, there would be no AEW involvement but would still donate money to the charity. Several fans then pointed out to Khan that the charity had a shady background as well and everything fell from there.
FITE TV’s Chief Marketing Officer Kim Hurwitz also came out on Twitter saying that the company would not be airing the event after it was alleged that the charity show was airing on their platform.
After all the commotion, the Wrestling 4 Women’s Charity Twitter account issued the following statement, saying, “We apologize for riling everyone up. It is clear that we’re in over our heads. We’ll say that everybody booked was fully aware of all details including going through AEW’s 3rd party booking system for talent. Rather than put talent in a tough situation, we’ve canceled the show.”
The Twitter account was also swiftly deleted.
Joey Ryan remains an outcast in the world of professional wrestling after several women accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior during the #SpeakingOut movement last June. No charges have been filed against him and Ryan continues to deny the allegations.
In a post on Instagram, new WWE champion Bobby Lashley described Monday as easily one of the greatest nights of his life.
Lashley wrote that when he made his return to WWE a few years ago, he told himself that he will be a WWE champion one day and was willing to fight all the way for it.
“Nothing in life is certain and sometimes you can’t control the outcome of things but there were a couple things I could control. I could control the work I put in and the attitude I had while doing it. My attitude has always been positive and my drive has always been second to none,” Lashley wrote.
He said that he cannot put into words what the WWE title means to him and he was still numb, yet full of emotion. “I have so many people I want to thank personally and for all of you who believed in me, thank you from the bottom of my heart,” he continued.
Reminding everyone that hard work and persistence does pay off, he said he’s not done yet and wants to fight anyone who goes after his title.
“Now ladies and gentlemen it’s time to get back on the grind so I can make this title run legendary! I’m in …..#TheHurtBusiness I am your new WWE Champion,” he concluded.
Monday Night Raw, headlined by a WWE championship match between The Miz and Bobby Lashley, drew an average of 1,883,000 viewers, down 6,000 viewers from last week’s post-PPV Raw.
Hour one started with 1,918,000 viewers, then it was followed by 1,916,000 viewers in the second hour, before closing the night with 1,817,000 viewers.
Raw was #1, #2, and #3 on the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic with 0.60, 0.58, and 0.57 ratings respectively. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
One of the biggest Dynamites of the year will air tonight live on TNT headlined by Shaquille O’Neal stepping foot in the ring for the first time since WrestleMania 32.
The main event is a tag team match with Cody Rhodes teaming up with Red Velvet to take on Shaq and Jade Cargill. This match is expected to bring in lots of media attention for the company and it was originally scheduled for Revolution. But with the NBA All Star game set for the same day as Revolution, Shaq had other TNT duties that day so the match was moved earlier by a few days.
Also on the show, former Four Horseman member Tully Blanchard will come out of retirement after 14 years to team up with FTR to take on Jurassic Express in a six-man tag team match. The winner of the AEW Women’s Title Eliminator tournament will also be decided tonight as Nyla Rose, winner of the U.S. bracket, takes on Ryo Mizunami, the winner of the Japan bracket, with the last woman standing earning a shot at the AEW Women’s title this Sunday at Revolution.
Two other matches announced are 10 of The Dark Order vs Max Caster in a Face of the Revolution qualifying match and a Matt Hardy and Mark Quen vs Hangman Page and John Silver.
A Revolution press conference will also take place with Chris Jericho and MJF answering questions from the wrestling media.
And that is not all…former WWE champion The Big Show, Paul Wight, will also be making his AEW debut on the show!
It is being reported that NXT will be moving to Tuesdays nights permanently after WrestleMania 37 in April, effectively ending the Wednesday night war with All Elite Wrestling.
The Mat Men Podcast originally broke the story citing reliable sources who said that an announcement should be made soon. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer later confirmed the report, saying it’s very close to being a done deal with April 13 being the first date of the move.
NXT made its debut on USA Network in September 2019 two weeks before AEW made its television debut with Dynamite. Since then, NXT has lost almost all the head-to-head shows with Dynamite but gained many more viewers when aired on a Tuesday night when it was pre-empted by the NHL on USA Network. Ever since NXT started its weekly shows in 2014 on WWE Network, it always aired on a Wednesday night.
With NBC Sports shutting down and all programming moving to other NBCUniversal properties, NXT would have probably still had to make way for sports such as NHL which has more viewers and has better advertising rates.
The MSK vs Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan match for the NXT Tag Team titles will not be taking place tonight on NXT as Wes Lee, one half of the MSK tag team, is suffering from a broken hand and is not cleared to compete.
Lee uploaded a video on his Instagram showing x-rays of his hand to confirm reports that he has an injury. It is not known how long Lee, who wrestled for Impact Wrestling under the name Dezmond Xavier, will be out for.
MSK were scheduled to get their NXT Tag Team title match after they won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic on the Vengeance Day Takeover. The female winners, Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez, will be wrestling Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler on tonight’s broadcast for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles.
The NWA is coming back to life with a new deal on FITE TV staring with a March 21 pay-per-view titled Back For The Attack. The PPV will also be available via FITE TV’s cable and satellite partners.
The weekly NWA Power show will also return after a year, airing each Tuesday at 6:05PM starting on March 23. When the pandemic hit, the NWA was forced to go into hiatus and no new programming has been recorded since. Previous Power shows on YouTube have been pulled but are available on FITE for free.
Speaking to the Associated Press, NWA owner Billy Corgan said that he never anticipated how much people would love the studio format. “In our downtime, we did a fan survey and the No. 1 thing was, don’t get rid of Power,” Corgan said.
“We were never in any financial peril. We were totally on a growth pattern. The plan for last year before things kind of hit the skids was to start pivoting. We were in discussions with Live Nation about running live events to help bring in revenue and expand who was watching the product. It was more about growing pains stuff, but we didn’t have any problems internally with the product,” Corgan explained to the AP.
The Back For The Attack pay-per-view will be headlined by NWA World’s champion Nick Aldis and Corgan said that all the tapings will be held without fans and without artificial crowd noise. The PPV will be dedicated to the memory of NWA wrestler Joseph “Jocephus” Hudson who passed away last week.
All Elite Wrestling’s Revolution pay-per-view this Sunday will be airing in theaters as well after AEW teamed up with Cinemark to show the event on the big screen.
“A major event, the scope of Revolution requires the best theater partner in the business, one that is capable of delivering an immersive viewing experience for fans in a controlled, socially-distanced environment,” said Tony Khan, CEO, GM and Head of Creative of AEW. “The obvious choice for AEW was Cinemark Theaters. We know that fans miss the energy and camaraderie of watching our pay-per-views together. With Cinemark’s enhanced safety measures, we look forward to our fans enjoying the adrenaline-fueled action together on Sunday night.”
Fans can purchase tickets for $20 at Cinemark.com or on the Cinemark app to experience at a theater near them. Fans can also enjoy the unbeatable deals on concessions, including a large soda and medium popcorn combo for $5, $2 off draft beer, and $1 off a chicken sandwich or hot dog, in each case, where available.
The pre-show will start at 7PM ET and then the actual pay-per-view, headlined by Kenny Omega vs Jon Moxley in an exploding barbed wire death match, starts at 8PM ET.
The AEW Revolution in-theatre experience is made possible by Joe Hand Promotions, the leading provider of live content to bars, restaurants, theaters, and other public viewing venues. Fans can locate Cinemark theaters showing Revolution by checking the Joe Hand Promotions Watch Party app at Joehandpromotions.com/venue-search.
“At Cinemark, we create the ultimate viewing environment, and there is no better place to watch AEW Revolution than our auditoriums with the heightened sight and sound technology that will make the action larger-than-life,” added Wanda Gierhart Fearing, Cinemark CMO. “We are thrilled to partner with Joe Hand Promotions and AEW to create a knock-out night for professional wrestling fans. It is through partnerships like this that Cinemark is continuing to innovate and expand the entertainment experience we offer.”
Deadline.com is reporting that Vice will premiere a spinoff of Dark Side Of The Ring titled Confidential on Tuesday, March 9.
The eight, 90-minute episodes will see show creators Evan Husney and Jason Eisner dive into the episodes of the first two seasons to try and answer some remaining questions and secrets from never-seen-before moments.
Dark Side Of The Ring: Confidential will be hosted by Conrad Thompson, the man behind several podcasts. The roundtable discussions will have guests such as Tommy Dreamer, The Blue Meanie, Savio Vega, and former WWE referee Mike Chioda.
“In our first two seasons, there were so many amazing Dark Side of the Ring moments left on the cutting room floor,” said Husney and Eisner. “We’re extremely excited to now be able to share bonus footage and behind-the-scenes stories on Dark Side of the Ring: Confidential with Conrad Thompson.”
Season three of Dark Side Of The Ring is being filmed currently and will premiere later this year but fans demanded more, said Morgan Hertzan, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Vice TV.
“We wanted Dark Side fans to know we’re listening and we’ve made Dark Side of the Ring: Confidential just for them – as a way to thank them for their incredible loyalty to this hit franchise with new, bonus content to tide them over,” Hertzan continued.
Dark Side of the Ring: Confidential is produced by Vice Studios with Andrew Goldstein as showrunner. Evan Husney and Jason Eisener exec produce alongside Guillermo Garcia, Lee Hoffman and Catherine Whyte.
Nyla Rose defeated Thunder Rosa last night and advanced to the final of the AEW Women’s Title Eliminator tournament which will take place tomorrow on the already-loaded Dynamite on TNT.
Rose, a former champion herself, will be taking on Ryo Mizunami for a title shot this Sunday at Revolution against champion Hikaru Shida.
Mizunami advanced to the finals by beating Mei Seruga, Emi Sakura, and Yuka Sakazaki, while Rose beat Tay Conti, Britt Baker, and Thunder Rosa.
Brock Lesnar started trending on Twitter after Bobby Lashley became the new WWE champion on Raw following a one-sided ass whooping match against The Miz.
The former WWE champion has not been seen on television ever since he lost the title to Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 36 last year and Lesnar is no longer under a WWE contract.
Bobby Lashley has said multiple times that his dream match is to take on Lesnar and the two former MMA stars have never met each other in the ring.
With Lashley now the champion and WrestleMania 37 on the horizon, the same fans who complained about Lesnar rarely showing up on WWE television are now calling for his return to make the dream match a reality.
If it does happen, the match will certainly be a guaranteed box office success but WrestleMania might be too soon to hash it out.
Hip hop artist Soulja Boy got the wrath of a couple of WWE Superstars after he tweeted “Rap game faker than WWE” on Twitter today.
That did not sit down well with T-Bar of Retribution and especially Randy Orton, who tore him a new one.
“Does the rap game take years off your life and leave you with countless injuries and debilitating pain?” T-Bar replied. “Oh well maybe just stick to super soaking hoes or whatever it is you did 15 years ago.” Soulja replied to T-Bar and told him to “get his wrestling ass on” and added laughing emojis.
But Orton had a much harsher reply, daring “the prick” to step-up and calling him “nuthin but a bitch ass.”
Oh and he also told the 30-year-old Soulja Boy that Bad Bunny would beat the hell out of him.
“Why? How? Because he’s seen our world. Respects it and knows what it takes and finds himself lucky to be a part of it. You wanna talk fake? Pawn that cheap ass chain and come work for it you one hit wonder ass mutha fucka,” Orton continued.
There’s a new sheriff in town and his name is Bobby Lashley. The 44-year-old defeated The Miz last night on Raw to claim his first WWE title of his career.
The start of the match was stretched over the three-hour broadcast and was supposed to start at the top of the second hour at 9PM. But The Miz complained that he had stomach cramps and the match was pushed to the top of the third hour at 10PM.
Being the typical heel, The Miz got himself counted out when the match started and thought he escaped with the title, but Shane McMahon showed up and told him that if he doesn’t defend the title, he would be stripped off it and the belt would be given to Lashley.
The match turned into a lumberjack one and Lashley applied The Hurt Lock to take out The Miz and win the title in a dominating performance.
After the show, Lashley tweeted that The Almighty Era has now begun.
This is Lashley’s first major title in the WWE. He previously won the WWE version of the ECW Heavyweight title, the Intercontinental title, and the United States title.
He also becomes the third African American WWE champion following The Rock and Kofi Kingston.
WWE announced a new documentary titled Goldberg At 54, an original doc which will premiere on Sunday, March 7.
Goldberg at 54 follows the WWE Hall of Famer as he prepared for his WWE Championship Match against Drew McIntyre at Royal Rumble in January. This intimate look at the former Universal and World Heavyweight Champion reveals the mental and physical challenges that Goldberg was forced to confront during his most recent comeback as he readied to challenge an opponent 20 years his junior.
The documentary will be available on-demand starting at 10AM ET. Also premiering at the same time will be Heaven, the first non-wrestling documentary produced by the WWE Network Documentaries division, which tells the story of high school athlete Heaven Fitch.
