While NXT came close to Dynamite twice in a row, this week the lead was a little bit more as NXT drew 746,000 viewers, up 73,000 viewers from last week. This was the most-watched NXT since February 19. NXT drew 0.20 in the 18-49 demographic and was #25 on the top 50 cable chart. The difference between the two shows this week was of 26,000 viewers, up from the 3,000 of last week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Dynamite rating for 06/17/2020
Dynamite extended its winning streak against NXT this week with a healthy increase to 772,000 viewers, up 95,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. Apart from the post-Double or Nothing show, this was the most-watched Dynamite since March 25. The show did a 0.28 in the 18-49 demographic, landing in the #8 spot on the chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
WWE offers mandatory free COVID-19 tests for fans attending TV tapings
News 13 sports reporter Jon Alba reported yesterday that WWE offered free on-site testing to the fans who attended the television tapings.
The fans, most of who are friends and family of WWE Superstars and crew, were told that if they decided not to get tested, they would not be able to enter the Performance Center and attend the tapings.
The testing was done following the mass testing that all WWE personnel had to undertake after one developmental talent tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week, shutting down the planned Tuesday tapings. WWE resumed tapings yesterday, albeit late, and moved the Smackdown tapings for Friday. NXT was also live for the first time in several weeks last night.
There are rumors that another talent tested positive although that is not confirmed yet and Kevin Owens also decided not to go to work on Wednesday due to the positive result so he will not be part of next week’s Raw.
R-Truth to host own game show on the WWE Network
If you’re a fan of R-Truth or his antics, then there’s some good news for you! The R-Truth Game Show will be coming to the WWE Network starting on July 14. The news was announced yesterday on The Bump.
A preview of the game show showed Truth hosting it on his computer from home while doing video chats with the likes of The Miz, Natalya, Sheamus, Alexa Bliss, Drew McIntyre, and others as he challenges them with trivia questions and other tasks.
A couple of years ago, WWE filmed a pilot for a game show which was scheduled to start airing on the WWE Network but that project never made it past the pilot episode.
WWE Backstage rating for 06/16/2020
The WWE Backstage episode on FS1 this week drew 175,000 viewers, with Bret “Hit Man” Hart making an appearance and CM Punk on the panel. That is up 63,000 viewers from last week’s episode and the most-watched Backstage since the November 19, 2019 episode. The 1996 Survivor Series which aired prior to Backstage did not chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
All Elite Wrestling signs Ricky Starks and Abadon
All Elite Wrestling announced the signing of Ricky Starks and Abadon to their ever-growing roster.
The New Orleans native Starks worked for the National Wrestling Alliance and won the NWA TV title at the company’s Hard Times pay-per-view earlier this year. He eventually lost it to Zicky Dice during an episode of NWA Power which aired in March. Starks answered Cody’s challenge for the TNT title yesterday but came up short in his quest to take Cody’s title.
Prior to signing with AEW, Starks worked the indie circuit and wrestled for Anarchy Championship Wrestling, Inspire Pro Wrestling, WrestleCircus, Xtreme Championship Wrestling, and many others. He also appeared on WWE television multiple times as an enhancement talent.
The women’s division also got a small boost as Abadon, the woman known as The Living Dead Girl, also signed with the promotion.
Abadon appeared on Dynamite last night and took on Anna Jay, winning her first match for the promotion. Abadon had already appeared on an episode of AEW Dark back in March, losing to the now AEW Women’s champion Hikaru Shida.
Abadon is a two-time Rocky Mountain Pro Lockettes champion.
Winner-take-all, title vs title match set up for July 8 NXT on USA
The first-ever winner-take-all title match will take place on NXT on July 8 as WWE made a blockbuster announcement yesterday.
First, the NXT North American champion Keith Lee will be defending his title against Johnny Gargano and Finn Balor in a triple threat match on next week’s episode of NXT. The winner – and champion – from that match will then take on Adam Cole in a title vs title match on the July 8 episode of NXT which goes head-to-head against night two of AEW’s Fyter Fest.
The two title matches were set up in a segment on last night’s NXT on USA Network with Cole first addressing Karrion Cross. Cole was interrupted by Keith Lee, who was interrupted by Johnny Gargano, who was interrupted by Finn Balor. With all four men in the ring, NXT General Manager William Regal appeared on video to settle the score between everyone.
Two matches added to Fyter Fest 2020 card
Two more matches were announced for Fyter Fest which will air over two episodes of Dynamite on TNT on July 1 and 8.
The AEW Women’s title will be on the line – as will all other titles – with Hikaru Shida taking on Penelope Ford. The AEW women’s division suffered a bit of a setback over the past couple of weeks with both Britt Baker and Kris Statlander out for several months.
The second match announced last night was former AEW World champion Chris Jericho taking on Orange Cassidy.
These two matches join the three which were already announced: Moxley vs Cage for the AEW World title, Omega and Page vs Best Friends for the AEW World Tag Team titles, and Cody vs Hager for the TNT title.
Bayley and Sasha Banks return to NXT on USA Network tonight
The highlight of tonight’s NXT on USA Network will be the return of Bayley and Sasha Banks to Full Sail University who come back as the WWE Women’s Tag Team champions. The duo will be in the house to defend their titles against the team of Shotzi Blackheart and Tegan Nox. This is the second time that the Women’s Tag Team titles will be defended on NXT as Asuka and Kairi Sane successfully defended them against Nox and Dakota Kai last year.
And remaining on the topic of tag teams, the only other match announced is for the NXT Tag Team titles with Imperium putting the titles on the line against the new number one contenders and the recently-returned Breezango. Fandango and Tyler Breeze got their opportunity when they won a triple threat tag team match two weeks ago.
WWE makes changes to today’s TV tapings schedule
PWInsider.com is reporting that WWE has moved the Smackdown tapings from today to Friday and will go live with NXT from Full Sail University tonight.
The change was done because the company started the television tapings late as there’s still a group of wrestlers and staff who are still waiting for the COVID-19 test results which were administered yesterday. Those who did not get the all-clear yet have not been allowed in the Performance Center and will not be allowed in until they get their lab result back.
WWE will tape next week’s episode of Monday Night Raw today along with Raw Talk, an episode of Main Event, and two episodes of 205 Live today. PWInsider adds that the plan is to also tape two episodes of NXT tonight, one which will be live and then start filming next week’s episode immediately following the conclusion of the live broadcast.
A limited number of fans will be allowed in the Performance Center for these tapings and quite possibly at Full Sail University tonight for NXT.
Tag team action dominates Dynamite tonight on TNT
Tonight’s Dynamite on TNT will be tag team heavy, with three tag team matches already announced for the broadcast and two title defenses.
The AEW Tag Team titles will be on the line as Kenny Omega and Hangman Page defend against Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall while Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara take on Best Friends in a number one contender match for the AEW Tag Team titles. The other tag match features The Young Bucks vs Superbad Squad.
Cody puts up the TNT title up for grabs for the third straight week although his challenger has not been announced and MJF will now take on Billy…who dropped his Gunn name probably due to a WWE complaint.
Charlotte Flair labels Nia Jax and Sasha Banks as “entitled” during rant on Raw Talk
During an appearance on Raw Talk on Monday on the WWE Network following Raw, Charlotte Flair did not hold back any punches and criticized two of her colleagues for feeling entitled.
Flair, who many consider the female Roman Reigns, talked about how fans and even her peers think that she’s always in the title picture but said that she’s the “only person” who shows up to work every single day of the year and she’s never sick or hurt. “I’m the hardest working person in this company. I’m on Raw, I’m on SmackDown, hell…I do media for Fox and I’m not even on Fox,” Flair said.
She then explained how her problem is people who sit home for a year and come back and are straight in the title picture and those people are the same ones who call her entitled.
“And you call me entitled because I’m busting my ass 365 days a year to be the best? No…it’s the people like Nia Jax that come back and are in the title picture,” Flair said. “It’s people like Sasha Banks who take time off and come back in the title picture. But I’m entitled? No, it’s the entitled people who get under my skin,” she continued.
The multi-time champ added that she will continue to work her ass off every single day because she loves the business and wants to be the greatest of all time. “But I’m entitled because I want to be the best? No, entitled is sitting your ass at home,” she concluded.
WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt labels Saudi confidential testimony as “false”
WWE attorney Jerry McDevitt shot down the testimony given by the former WWE Superstar in the lawsuit against WWE stemming from the Saudi Arabia fiasco last year, claiming they are false and called the confidential witness as “disgruntled former wrestler with no knowledge of the facts.”
In a statement to Forbes, McDevitt wrote, “These false allegations were originally made in two suits filed by two different law firms. After the Court appointed a third law firm to be lead counsel, WWE provided Bourassa Law Group with specific detailed facts from the persons with actual knowledge of the situation, including the phony allegation about the plane.”
The statement continued, “The first two law firms then dropped their lawsuits to avoid sanction motions, but the third firm chose to ignore the specific facts they had been provided, and instead cited an unnamed disgruntled former wrestler with no knowledge of the facts. WWE is preparing its response to the lawsuit and will be moving to have it dismissed.”
At least one former Impact champion returning at Slammiversary 2020
At least one former Impact World champion will be returning to the company as the company continued to tease more returns during last night’s episode on AXS TV.
In another video that continues after the first one released two weeks ago, a news anchor says, a news anchor says, “Reliable sources have just informed us that at least one former World champion will make his return to Impact Wrestling on Saturday, July 18. More as this story develops.”
Quick footage of past champions like Kurt Angle, Eric Young, Ken Anderson, Austin Aries, EC3, and others aired as part of the teaser.
Speaking of EC3, Impact played his old theme on the show and it looks like he will be in some sort of an angle with Moose, who now carries the TNA World title with him and calls himself the promotion’s champion.
Raw rating for 06/15/2020
Monday Night Raw with the post-Backlash episode did a total of 1,935,000 viewers, up 198,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. This was the most-watched Raw since April 6 which was the post-Mania episode.
Hour one started with 1,982,000 viewers, then grew slightly to 1,986,000 viewers, before it ended with 1,838,000 viewers in the third hour.
Raw was #4, #6, and #7 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
WWE starts COVID-19 testing, issues statement on fans attending TV tapings
WWE has commenced the COVID-19 testing, 24 hours after one of its developmental talent who was inside the WWE Performance Center for NXT tapings last week tested positive for the coronavirus.
This is the first time that WWE has tested its Superstars and crew with the proper swab testing kit since the pandemic started as their testing before included only temperature checks, contact tracing forms, and a basic questionnaire. Critics blasted the company for the lack of proper testing over the past couple of months especially after asymptomatic cases were being diagnosed.
WWE Superstar Mojo Rawley uploaded a video on Twitter earlier today getting swabbed through his nostril and everyone involved in the tapings will have to undergo the quick, yet uncomfortable procedure.
It will certainly be a few tense hours as all the Superstars and crew wait to learn if they have coronavirus or not. A spread of the virus within WWE at the Performance Center will not be a good look for the company especially since they always said they have enough precautions in place to stop that from happening.
Meanwhile, following the attendance of some fans yesterday during Raw, WWE issued a statement to local channel News 13 saying, “Fans have not been in attendance at WWE events since March 13. Yesterday, a select number of friends and family were permitted to attend WWE’s TV production. These individuals were required to participate in medical screenings prior to entering the closed set at our training facility, and were kept apart from in-ring performers and production personnel. Attendance was below 20% capacity and social distancing guidelines were adhered to with at least six feet between parties, thus face masks were not required.”
News 13 reporter Jon Alba spoke to some of those fans in attendance and contrary to reports spread by other members of the wrestling media, the fans confirmed that they were never told that they could not wear a mask if they wanted to and no one from WWE made pressure not to wear one. Everyone in attendance not under a WWE contract were made to sign waivers that said WWE would not be liable if they contract the virus while there and said they felt safe at the tapings and would attend again even after news came out that someone tested positive.
“Those I spoke to didn’t find out about the positive COVID-19 test by a #WWE developmental talent until after the tapings. While WWE personnel were tested today, the fans were not informed they had to get tested. Those I spoke to were invited back for more tapings this week,” Alba wrote.
Bret Hart on WWE Backstage on FS1 tonight after Survivor Series 1996 broadcast
Tonight’s five-hour WWE block on FS1 will feature the full airing of the 1996 Survivor Series which features the debut of Rocky Maivia, who later went on to become The Rock, and the awesome Steve Austin vs Bret Hart match. The show will start at 7PM ET.
Then at 11PM, a new episode of WWE Backstage airs with Bret “Hit Man” Hart joining in as the special guest while CM Punk returns as well.
Confidential witness recounts what happened after Crown Jewel and getting stuck in Saudi in legal documents
Documents from one of the lawsuits filed against WWE stemming from the Saudi Arabia deal saw the light of day and it includes first-hand accounts from somebody who was on that flight which was not allowed to leave Saudi following Crown Jewel last year.
WWE Superstars and crew were supposed to leave Riyadh in the early hours of November 1 following the Crown Jewel pay-per-view held the on October 31 but something happened and everyone was stuck on the chartered flight for several hours on the tarmac before all on board were told to leave the plane and return to the hotel.
The incident hit the mainstream media and WWE was forced to produce the live Smackdown on FOX that same day with just the women and the crew from NXT. Only a handful of individuals made it out in time on a private jet, while others managed to leave on a different commercial flight but still did not land in time for Smackdown that evening.
There were different scenarios played as to why the Superstars and crew got stuck in Saudi with WWE saying that the Boeing 747 plane they chartered from Atlas Air had a malfunction. But unofficial reports at the time suggested that flight was not allowed to leave after a disagreement between WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and the Saudi royal family.
Now, documents which were pulled by Wrestlenomics, show the testimony of an unnamed individual, listed as CW-2, who was on the flight that night and worked for WWE until this year.
CW-2, which stands for Confidential Witness 2, says that he asked a stewardess on the plane to see why there’s a delay in departing Saudi and the stewardess told him that “it seems someone doesn’t want us to leave the country.” CW-2 also said that the pilot of the 747 sounded “distressed” when on the PA system he told everyone that they’re unable to take off. “CW-2 recalled that then they were told that it was because of mechanical issues, but he recalled seeing a ‘ton’ of guards wearing black ‘militia’ attire and wearing guns that were blocking their exit and “staring at the wrestlers,” the document states.
In addition, when CW-2 brought up the situation to the Senior Director of Talent Relations, Mark Carrano, he was told that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and McMahon had gotten into an argument over late payments in connection with the June 7, 2019 Super ShowDown event. Carrano also informed CW-2 that McMahon had cut the live feed for the Crown Jewel event and that this had made the Crown Prince “very mad.”
CW-2, along with around a dozen of other wrestlers, cameramen, and agents were then put on a different flight to Buffalo after a few hours while the rest remained behind and said that he wondered why if other planes were available why did they not get everyone out of Saudi instead of letting them stay in the country locked up in a hotel.
According to the legal documents filed in the lawsuit, CW-2 said that he heard other individuals on the same plane talking to their loved ones at home saying that military police were holding the wrestlers hostage as a retaliation because Vince McMahon didn’t air the first 30 minutes of the pay-per-view in the country as per the original agreement.
CW-2 stated that after he returned, WWE put out a letter that attempted to remove all blame from the company and that, in his opinion, many wrestlers were scared of speaking out due to the limited job opportunities in the industry and the WWE’s comparatively high salaries.
“CW-2 explained that many spoke on the condition of anonymity to journalists and the WWE denounced these stories as ‘conspiracies’ and ‘laughable.’ Nevertheless, after the event, CW-2 said that he and a co-worker went straight to Talent Relations and said they would not go back to Saudi Arabia. CW-2 noted that other wrestlers tried to do the same but the WWE ‘abused’ their ‘power’ and threatened the future trajectory of their careers if they did not go,” the lawsuit states.
Christian returns, Flair turns heel, and Orton strikes again!
Captain Charisma had his first match in a WWE ring in six years yesterday on Raw although the unsanctioned match was pretty quick and didn’t go according to his plans.
Randy Orton challenged Christian for the match at the start of the show and Christian accepted even though The Big Show and Ric Flair tried to talk him out of it during the course of the show. The match had an unexpected twist as before the bell rang, Ric Flair came out to once again convince Christian not to take the bait.
But the former World Heavyweight champion didn’t want to hear any of it and told Flair he had to do this. But as soon as he turned around, Flair hit the low-blow from behind and while Christian was down, Randy Orton hit him with the punt kick and pinned him for the very quick match that seemed over before it even started.
Flair, who recently signed a new WWE deal, has turned heel again but his new association with his former Evolution partner was not explained.
Chris Jericho reveals the #1 guy on his AEW recruitment list
Speaking to WhatCulture’s Adam Wilbourn, former AEW World champion Chris Jericho expressed his desire to one day have Roman Reigns in All Elite Wrestling with him, describing his recruitment as the top of his wishlist.
“Not only is he a great worker but he’s such a cool guy. If they just let him be him he’d be the biggest star in the industry, for real. That’d be a guy I’d love to get my hands on for sure,” Jericho said.
Reigns, who is promoted as the face of WWE, is often harassed by fans for always winning and going over although that abuse calmed down ever since Reigns announced he had leukemia and returned after it went in remission.
The Big Dog has not been seen on television since the week before WrestleMania when he pulled out of his match against Goldberg and decided to stay at home and not work any more tapings due to the coronavirus pandemic.