Dynamite pulled in 683,000 viewers this week, down 9,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. The show did 0.25 in the 18-49 demo and placed #29 in the top 50 cable chart.
This was the first time that Dynamite lost back-to-back to NXT with the difference between the two shows being 9,000 viewers, up from the 1,000 of last week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
NXT made it two weeks in a row winning the Wednesday night war back-to-back for the first time when it comes to total viewership. The show did 692,000 viewers, down 1,000 viewers from last week’s episode. In the 18-49 demographic, NXT did 0.17 and placed #58. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Killer Kross attacked Tommaso Ciampa last night in the closing moments of NXT on USA Network, announcing his arrival by whispering “Tick Tock” to a fallen Ciampa.
This was Kross’ second quick appearance on NXT after last week he was shown in a vehicle as Johnny Gargano and Candice LaRae went back to their car following the main event match.
His girlfriend, Scarlett Bordeaux, was with him on both occasions, but while last week we could quickly see her, this time we only saw her boots as she stood over Ciampa.
Kross is also undergoing a slight name change as the word Killer is being dropped and replaced by Karrion.
Kross was signed to a WWE deal in February.
For the second day in a row, the wrestling world was rocked this time with the announcement of the death of legendary ring announcer Howard Finkel.
Many wrestling personalities, past and present, used Twitter to pay homage to the greatest ring announcer of all time.
“Saddened to learn of the passing of my friend and WWE’s first employee, WWE Hall of Famer Howard Finkel,” Vince McMahon said. “The grandest moments in sports-entertainment history were made all the grander thanks to Howard’s iconic voice.”
“You weren’t someone until you heard Howard announce you. A championship win didn’t feel real until you heard him say “and the new!” His voice, his personality, and his positivity will be sorely missed. Thank you for everything…especially your friendship,” Triple H wrote.
Stephanie McMahon said it’s already been a tough week for the WWE family and now they also lost their first ever employee. “Howard’s voice is iconic & recognized by generations of fans. He will be missed. Thank you for everything.”
One man who’s had his name announced a lot by The Fink is Hulk Hogan. Hogan said that Fink was Team Hogan through the good times and bad times. “Even when I was on the outs Howard would call on a consistent basis to tell me to always keep my head up, it was ‘never say never’ and ‘you and Vince will work it out.’ My good friend RIP, I love you.”
The Iron Sheik also spent his fair share of his wrestling career with The Fink. In a typical all caps tweet, Sheik said that Fink always put him over and made him look like a legend. “He make me smile. Forever I love you Howard Finkel,” Sheik wrote.
Fellow Hall of Famer Jim Ross described Fink as the greatest ring announcer in the business and was sad to hear of the passing of his friend. “The Hall of Famer is now ring announcing in Heaven. No one was more loyal or loved pro wrestling more than The Fink,” JR said.
Former WWE and AEW champion Chris Jericho wrote, “Thanks Howard….for being the best wrestling ring announcer in history, a great employee for the WWE, a good guy and a loyal lackey! Hopefully you’ll announce my entrance into the great unknown when I join you someday.”
“First met Howard Finkel in 1993 when I started working with WWE,” Jerry Lawler wrote. “Always the most helpful and genuine friend to everyone he came in contact with. My favorite day with Howard was when he and I attended a Cleveland Browns, New York Jets game together. Miss you, Fink!”
Matt Hardy said that Fink was his main contact when he first started getting booked with Jeff as extras in the mid 90s. “Howard always took great care of us & had a soft spot in his heart for The Hardy Boyz,” Matt said.
Eric Bischoff said that Fink will always be the number one while Taz said that he was just a great guy always joking, laughing, and staying positive. “The greatest ring announcer ever, his iconic voice will live in pro wrestling history forever,” Taz added.
Tommy Dreamer kept in touch with Fink most than others and saw him once a month. Dreamer wrote that he loves him and he’s crushed that he lost his friend, calling him the voice of professional wrestling.
“I saw a voicemail after a day of training at OVW, it was my call up to Raw! Howard Finkel spoke as if announcing a new world champion at Madison Square Garden,” Dolph Ziggler wrote. “I will never forget that and his ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ entrance is unmatched and sparked us all to have a great show!”
Younger Superstars such as Big E and Johnny Gargano also spoke how Fink was a major part of their childhood. “He couldn’t have been sweeter to me any time I saw him backstage. I’m grateful to have known him,” Big E wrote, while Gargano detailed the time he met Howard backstage for the first time at WrestleMania 33. “I walked up and as I said ‘Hello, sir’ and went to introduce myself, he burst out ‘HELLO, JOHNNY!’ I couldn’t believe he knew MY name!”
Roman Reigns revealed in an interview with Muscle & Fitness that he and his wife Galina Becker are expecting twins…the second set of twins believe it or not!
When asked about kids during the interview, Roman replied, “Three, with two in the oven. I’m looking to be Papa Bear Five. Breaking news, we haven’t shared that!”
Roman, 34, and Galina, 33, have been married since 2014 and the two have three children already – a girl born in 2008 and twin boys born in 2016.
The former WWE and Universal champion got some flack from fans for backing out of WrestleMania due to the coronavirus pandemic and for being a high risk due to his bouts with leukemia and with his wife being pregnant it was also the absolute correct decision to take.
WWE reported today that Howard Finkel, better known as The Fink, has passed away at age 69.
While no cause of death has been revealed, Fink was stuck in a wheel chair lately as his health deteriorated big time over the years.
Fink was first hired by Vince McMahon Sr back in 1975 and made his ring announcing debut in 1977. He is regarded as the first registered WWE employee under Vince McMahon in April 1980. He quickly became the lead ring announcer for the company and his iconic voice is forever immortalized in many iconic wrestling moments as he proclaimed new champions.
The Fink appeared at every WrestleMania from 1985 to 2016, first doing ring announcing and then moving to the Hall of Fame segments. Problems with his health however prevented him from doing more WWE appearances throughout the past few years.
Howard is also the one who came up with probably the single biggest name in professional wrestling history: WrestleMania.
Fink was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2009.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis defended his the decision to label wrestling as an essential service to the state, allowing WWE to resume live television broadcasts behind closed doors, saying that people are starved for content.
“People are chomping at the bit,” DeSantis told reporters according to The Tampa Bay Times. “If you think about it, we have never had a period like this in modern American history where you’ve had so little new content, particularly in the sporting realm. I mean, we are watching reruns from like the early 2000s.”
DeSantis was accused of political interference because he signed the order after it was revealed that a Trump Super PAC headed by Linda McMahon would be spending nearly $20 million in marketing in Tampa and Orlando.
Confronted by these accusations at a COVID-19 press conference, DeSantis didn’t hold back. “Who suggested that? What does that have to do with me? Like, are they supporting me? Did you look up that? They didn’t, right? Okay.”
The Governor also suggested that a NASCAR race without crowd could be doable and supported the idea of a one-on-one golf match between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.
“So my view would be, let’s do what we can do to stop the spread, to make sure we’re flattening the curve. But at the same time, you can give people some outlets. Maybe that’s with programming on TV, maybe that’s with essential activities,” DeSantis said. “And so that’s kind of the deal. But obviously, people can look up anyone that’s supported me. If there’s no support, it’d be really hard to draw that connection at that point. Not that it would be legitimate anyway, but in this case the factual predicate isn’t even there.”
Jake Hager suffered his first loss in All Elite Wrestling yesterday in a no holds barred match against AEW champion Jon Moxley.
The 30-minute main event match was recorded a few weeks ago in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place and Jim Ross did the voice over for the long match.
Hager, thanks mainly to still being undefeated in his MMA career, had been kept strong in AEW but that run ended yesterday after a chair shot and a Paradigm Shift on the same chair, enough to keep the former World Heavyweight champion down for the three count.
He made his AEW debut on the inaugural episode of Dynamite on October 2 and aligned himself with The Inner Circle.
The globe is in current lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic and that includes the sporting world. But, whilst most of the major sports put their calendars on hold, WWE is maintaining its desire to continue with the season, as evidenced by the hosting of a two-night WrestleMania showpiece event behind closed doors in early April.
Of course, the lockdown meant that fans couldn’t travel to the arena at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium so the event was streamed online around the world.
The best casino sites and bookmakers were offering odds on an array of markets ahead of the event as punters finally had some live sport to bet on after weeks without any live soccer, football and basketball.
With the online world expanding exponentially, live streaming such as this is becoming increasingly mainstream and, with the WWE governing body appearing unwilling to end its commitment to the schedule, wrestling could certainly become the next best thing to watch.
From the very beginning, Vince McMahon and co. were determined to go ahead with WrestleMania. By the time March came around, other US sporting organizations were already planning to play games behind closed doors. The same could not be said of McMahon and WWE as plans for WrestleMania still continued.
And, even as late as March 13 when the NBA, NHL and MLB had all suspended their seasons, March Madness was no longer going ahead, the Masters were postponed and numerous WWE events had been relocated, McMahon and WWE released a statement which declared their willingness to host WrestleMania on Sunday, April 5.
Filming took place on Tuesday, March 24, just after Florida’s Orange County announced a stay-at-home order from Thursday night at 11pm. That left WWE with just enough time to get the rest of its filming done, despite being pushed for time and despite the moral obligation.
Even WWE’s event on May 10, Money in the Bank, is still scheduled to go ahead.
Against the backdrop of such a torrid climate, WWE’s attitude does seem rather remarkable. Yet, the company is going through safety procedures with only essential personnel on-site with social distancing being practiced outside of ring performances. And, of course, such performers will be tested once widespread testing becomes available.
But that didn’t stop WrestleMania 36 from going ahead. Critics did lament the lack of studio audience and a poor lead-up with a number of star wrestlers backing out due to the pandemic. Yet it’s a miracle it was on at all and it sure did give many sporting fans a light break from the doom and gloom of current society.
Matt Riddle found a new tag team partner to defend the NXT Tag Team titles with, temporarily replacing Pete Dunne who is stuck in the United Kingdom unable to travel due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Riddle’s new partner comes in the form of Timothy Thatcher, the 37-year-old, 15-year in-ring veteran who has wrestled mostly on the independents since his debut. Thatcher was signed to a deal in February along with Killer Kross and yesterday picked up the win for his team, successfully defending the titles against The Undisputed Era.
Thatcher had stints with wXw, Championship Wrestling from Hollywood, EVOLVE, Major League Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, RevPro, Combat Zone Wrestling, and many others.
Tuesday’s WWE Backstage episode on FS1 drew a total 161,000 viewers, up 21,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. The show was helped with three episodes of the Ruthless Aggression series which aired on FS1 as a lead-in. The three episodes did 226,000, 302,000, and 224,000 viewers respectively. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Written by Chris Siggia.
GRILLING JR 04/15/20: DARK SIDE OF THE PODCAST JIMMY SNUKA AND THE DEATH OF NANCY ARGENTINO
The producers talking about Tony Atlas statement: “We were doing an interview with Tony Atlas in 2017 and this was months after Jimmy passed away, and so it was still a very fresh story for wrestling fans at the time. I can’t remember exactly in the interview what it was but he casually mentioned that his ex-wife…according to Tony, and this has never been verified in anyway at all. He would tell a story that basically she was friends with Nancy Argentino and she did witness some physical abuse on the night that she died. That I remember, I filed that away. When I heard that in 2017 when we interviewed him for Bruiser Brody, I remembered that, and was like, if we ever tell the story someday, I’m going to follow up on this lead and see if this is really true…When season 2 started, this was one of the first things we did as we tried to track her down and Tony is lost. This is his ex; this is his first wife. I think they split up in the late ’80s if memory serves me correctly so he hasn’t been in contact with her for many years. He only had her name. We basically found Tony’s marriage license that he had at one period to try and find any more information. We got her name, but we found out her name was one of the most common, I think she was Puerto Rican. But she was from New York City and she has a very common name. So, it made it real hard to track her down, but we did. We cold called like, I don’t know, a few dozen people and say were you in Allentown in 1983 and try to figure out the story to see if we could find someone who allegedly was a witness to something. Unfortunately, that didn’t wind up going anywhere, but that was basically the first step that we took to try to put this together.”
The producers talking about trying to get people to talk: “While this was also probably the most people we interviewed for one episode and talked to, it’s also the episode that has the most people that declined to be interviewed…We did reach out to the investigative detectives, the guys who originally investigated the case in 1983, most of the hospital staff that was there on the night Nancy passed away, the original investigating detectives that covered this case, all the medical personal that was in the emergency room the night that Nancy passed away, the coroner and other medical examiners declined to be interviewed, and both of the district attorneys, past and present. So, there was a challenge to find people to speak about this who were on that side of the story.”
The producers talking about After Dark: “To be clear, obviously the After Dark program is a program that isn’t produced by us. It has no connection to our staff at all…If Jason and I were in the driver’s seat of that show, I think we would have probably got different guests.”
The producers talking about Jimmy Snuka not showing up for the burial: “Jimmy came for the service, but he actually didn’t show up the following day for the actual burial. That whole couple of days was when the Argentino family started to look at him in a different way because I do believe they believed the story of it being an accident up until that point. Then they started to really question it. That is when they started to look into it. When they weren’t getting anywhere with the authorities and the authorities told them they were not going to prosecute or charge or whatever, that’s when they started to look into other avenues on their own
PRIME TIME WITH SEAN MOONEY 04/15/20: GEORGE SOUTH
South talking about memories of wrestling Ric Flair: “I wish I could have videotaped some of the arguments that Dusty and Ric would get into at TV because Dusty would tell Ric that I need you to go out there and beat George in 3 minutes. Ric would say, no I’m not. Ric’s philosophy was, not just me, with anybody, is he wanted to make it a match. He may have 5, or 10 or 15 minutes, but he is going to give you 14 of those minutes and then catch you in the end.”
South talking about Vince McMahon: “What impressed me was he knew my name. He knew everybody that was with me by name. Nelson Royal, that was here in the Carolinas had sent us up. He and Pat Patterson were friends, so he sent a group of guys up there to do about three days of TV. I’ve never forgot that Vince McMahon shook our hand and he knew all of our names, first and last name. For me, I wasn’t just a number, he knew who we were.”
The mass layoffs and furloughs by World Wrestling Entertainment shook the whole industry to its core. With around 40 WWE Superstars, coaches, and producers let go and many more from the corporate headquarters as well, it feels like Vince McMahon decided to hit the nuclear button a month after WWE were forced to perform in front of no crowds.
While everyone’s lives somewhat changed ever since the coronavirus pandemic hit, the lives of everyone who will no longer receive a paycheck will be changed even more. While most corporations are on a furlough or firing spree, WWE as a company was in a far better position than others to ride the wave for several months.
With house shows tanking and nearly losing money, not going on live event tours will probably save WWE money rather than the opposite and with guaranteed TV money in the billions and $500 million in cash with minimum debt, the situation could have been handled better to say the very least.
Many of those individuals who either got the call or text about their fate in the company went on social media to discuss their departure.
Rusev: “Thank you All, Rusev out!”
Zack Ryder: “The only thing I wanted to do in life was wrestle. I’m grateful I spent 14 years living my dream in WWE. Thanks to my fans & everyone who believed in me. As I was getting released, I was looking at this photo & smiling. I’m #AlwayzReady & beyond excited for the future. #NotThere”
Curt Hawkins: “Last time I got fired I had a really funny tweet in response to it. Doesn’t really feel appropriate today. I will say this, a lot of very talented ppl lost their jobs today and out of this disaster the PRO WRESTLING community will rise stronger than ever!”
Fit Finlay: “To all my friends, fans. And family. This is a crazy time and I want to say thanks to @WWEUniverse and everyone I’ve ever shared ring time with, working with or teaching. Stay safe. Especially to all the amazing girls (women) I’ve had the honor to work with. Stay safe y’all.”
Heath Slater: “I know everyone is waiting to hear my response to my release from WWE but after 16 years I’m going to need a little more than a few hours to really digest all my thoughts and emotions. For now, thank you all for all of your kind words and support during this time.”
Shane Helms: “Thanks everyone for all the great messages. I truly believe that this is just temporary. There are many people in this world in far worse situations than I am, so please don’t worry about me too much. I’ll always be The Hurricane and I’m always just a tweet away. Love you all!”
Kurt Angle: “I wanted 2 say thank you to the WWE for the time I spent there. I made many new friends and had the opportunity to work with so many talented people. To the Superstars, continue to entertain the WWE Universe as well as you possibly can. They’re the best fans in the world. #itstrue”
Lance Storm: “My best to all who, like me, lost their jobs today. To those still on the job, hold down the fort for us. It was my pleasure to work with you all these past 4 month. I hope we will all get a chance to work together again. Stay strong, stay safe.”
Andrea Listenberger (WWE writer): “Lots of people getting let go at #WWE today and regrettably, I am one of them. But I’m proud of the work I’ve been able to do since starting in Dec., and glad that the storyline I worked on resonated with so many people. That’s what writing is about for me. #OtisandMandyForever”
Others preferred to film a video to share their story such as Mike Kanellis, Maria Kanellis, EC3, No Way Jose, and Drake Maverick.
During his weekly briefing, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti indicated that “large gatherings such as concerts and sporting events may not be approved in the city for at least one year,” in an e-mail reviewed by the Los Angeles Times.
This could spell bad news for WWE as the company has WrestleMania 37 set to take place in LA in March 2021. The other problem is that the huge SoFi Stadium is not ready yet and construction has slowed down due to the pandemic.
Garcetti spokesman Alex Comisar confirmed the mayor’s comments at the meeting. “The mayor was generally referencing studies of current and historical data and best practices for safely reopening our economy,” Comisar told the Times.
The mayor has made it clear that it would be a mistake to reopen Los Angeles for normal business before this pandemic could be fully controlled and the plan is to reopen in phases, starting with essential businesses and small businesses with a timeline of up to 10 months.
NXT and the Performance Center were also hit with layoffs and furloughs although on a much smaller scale than their fellow co-workers.
MJ Jenkins, Deonna Purrazzo, and Dan Matha were released and so was on-air talent Josiah Williams as part of the mass layoff from yesterday.
The Performance Center trainers Ace Steel, Serena Deeb, and Kendo Kashin were furloughed so they could return once this is all over. All the producers let go yesterday were also furloughed rather than fired.
Several WWE Superstars and producers were released from their contract due to the cost-cutting measures that WWE has implemented due to COVID-19. This was the largest single-day layoff in WWE history.
The wrestlers who were let go are Rusev, Aiden English, Drake Maverick, Zack Ryder, Curt Hawkins, Karl Anderson, Mike Kanellis, Rowan, Luke Gallows, EC3, Primo, Epico, Lio Rush, Eric Young, No Way Jose, Heath Slater, Maria Kanellis, and Sarah Logan. Long-time WWE referee Mike Chioda also got released. It’s not known if they will have a 90-day no-compete clause as part of their termination.
PWInsider.com also adds that several producers were furloughed from their backstage positions including Kurt Angle, Billy Kidman, Scott Armstrong, Shawn Daivari, Shane Helms, Fit Finlay, Pat Buck, Sarah Stock, Mike Rotunda and Lance Storm who just started with the company again. Rotunda was just on The Bump today as IRS.
NXT and the Performance Center were also hit with layoffs and furloughs. MJ Jenkins, Deonna Purrazzo, and Dan Matha were released and so was on-air talent Josiah Williams. The Performance Center trainers Ace Steel, Serena Deeb, and Kendo Kashin were furloughed so they could return once this is all over.
Employees at the WWE headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut also got bad news with furloughs and layoffs going around.
NXT returns live on USA Network tonight from Full Sail University as WWE continues to try to return to some normalcy with their television broadcasts.
The tournament to crown the interim NXT Cruiserweight champion starts tonight but it’s not yet known which match(es) will take place on tonight’s broadcast. Finn Balor will taking on Fabian Aichner of Imperium and the NXT Tag Team titles will also be defended with Matt Riddle and a mystery partner taking on The Undisputed Era. Other segments announced are Adam Cole’s and Velveteen Dream’s “chat” and Charlotte Flair returns to Full Sail as the new NXT Women’s champion.
Five matches including a big main event are set for tonight’s AEW Dynamite which was taped from QT Marshall’s gym in Georgia.
The TNT Championship tournament continues with Lance Archer taking on Colt Cabana. Last week, Cody advanced in the tournament after he defeated Shawn Spears. Speaking of Spears, he will also be in action and so will Dr. Britt Baker although their opponents haven’t been announced. Sammy Guevara of The Inner Circle will take on Sugar D and then in the main event, Jon Moxley will defend his AEW title against Jake Hager in a no holds barred match.
The main event was apparently taped in Jacksonville with Jim Ross on commentary. Chris Jericho and Tony Schiavone will be doing commentary for the other matches on the show.
Dynamite lost the ratings against NXT last week by just 1,000 viewers but all signs point to a rebound this week especially with a strong main event.
WWE today announced that due to COVID-19 and current government mandated impacts on WWE and the media business generally, the company went through an extensive evaluation of its operations which resulted in the implementation of various short-term cost reductions and cash flow improvement actions.
These cost-cutting measures include reducing executive and board member compensation, decreasing operating expenses, cutting talent expenses, third party staffing and consulting, and deferring spend on the build out of the new headquarters for at least six months.
“Given the uncertainty of the situation, the Company also identified headcount reductions and made the decision to furlough a portion of its workforce effective immediately. The decision to furlough versus permanently reduce headcount reflects the fact that the Company currently believes the furlough will be temporary in nature,” the statement said.
The reduction of employee compensation and headcount will result in an estimated monthly savings of $4 million along with cash flow improvement of $140 million primarily from the deferral in spending on the new headquarters. WWE said they have approximately half a billion dollars in financial resources to manage the challenges ahead.
The NXT Tag Team champions find themselves in an odd position as one half of the Broserweights, Pete Dunne, is stuck in the United Kingdom and unable to defend the title with his tag team partner.
William Regal appeared on The Bump today and announced that after a conversation with Riddle and Dunne it was decided that going forward, Matt Riddle will have to find another partner to continue defend the NXT Tag Team titles and if they are still champions by the time the whole travel ban is lifted, Dunne will return to the team and continue where he left off.
The NXT General Manager then dropped a bigger bomb, saying that Riddle has to be quick in finding a new tag team partner as The Undisputed Era will get another rematch for the NXT Tag Team titles…tonight live on NXT on USA Network.
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