We may have seen the last of Matt Hardy on WWE television after the former multi-time Tag Team champion was written off television last night on Raw, just weeks before his WWE contract expires.
Hardy interrupted Randy Orton’s in-ring promo to defend Edge, his former nemesis both when they were in tag team feuds as well as when they were one-on-one with the Lita real-life-turned-storyline angle. Hardy noted that when Edge retired, they became friends again and wondered what is going on in Orton’s head to attack Edge like that. But Orton ended up hitting Matt Hardy with the RKO and then a con-chair-to as fans showered Orton with boos.
Hardy, who has been rarely used since his brother Jeff suffered an injury last year that required surgery, is on his way out of the company as he will not be signing a new deal. Matt tweeted “Goodbye” and an image from Raw as well as a link to his latest Free the Delete YouTube series.
Simone Johnson, the daughter of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, has officially reported to the WWE Performance Center to begin training to be a WWE Superstar.
The 18-year-old is on her way to become a fourth generation WWE Superstar, following the footsteps of her grandfather High Chief Peter Maivia, her grandfather Rocky Johnson, and her father The Rock. She had short stints at the WWE PC over the last year while she was still in school but now she’s training full time at the state-of-the-art facility.
“It means the world to me,” Simone said. “To know that my family has such a personal connection to wrestling is really special to me and I feel grateful to have the opportunity, not only to wrestle, but to carry on that legacy.”
“Simone Johnson’s unbridled passion and incredible drive has earned her a coveted spot training with the elite athletes from around the world at the WWE Performance Center,” said Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Executive Vice President, Talent, Live Events & Creative. “Not only does Simone now have an opportunity to cultivate and display her passion for WWE within the Performance Center, but she’ll carry on the tradition of her incredible family lineage while creating her own impact as WWE’s first fourth generation Superstar.”
Assistant Head Coach Sara Amato said that she has seen a lot of heart and passion so far but she wouldn’t have expected anything less from her. “She knows she has a lot to learn, she’s hungry to learn, she picks the coaches’ minds, I see her talking to the veteran Superstars as well, she’s not gonna rest on her laurels I tell you that. It’s been a short time but she’s been crushing it,” added Head Coach Matt Bloom.
Her mother, Dany Garcia, tweeted, “It’s been the blessing of my life to watch you grow & while the legacy of the family may be your platform, your future will be uniquely yours to earn. Congrats my Love on living your dream & welcome to @WWENXT.”
Cathy Kelley has conducted a one-on-one interview with Johnson, an interview which will air this Wednesday at 3PM ET on YouTube.
Ken Shamrock will be the next inductee into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame. The announcement came yesterday during the Impact television tapings held in Las Vegas at Sam’s Town.
Shamrock, who recently returned to the promotion, was the first TNA champion when the company was still using the NWA championship, winning the vacant title in a Gauntlet for the Gold match on the inaugural TNA pay-per-view on June 19, 2002. After his one year deal came up, he left TNA and then returned for a very short time in 2004 before returning again in August of last year.
The 55-year-old joins Sting, Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett, Team 3D, Earl Hebner, Gail Kim, and Abyss in the Impact Hall of Fame. The company did not induct anyone during the 2019 Bound For Glory weekend.
The Los Angeles area will get its fourth WrestleMania in 37 years in 2021 as WWE opted to “go to Hollywood” once again for next year’s showcase of the immortals.
“There is nothing quite like WrestleMania Week,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “It is a one-of-a-kind event that provides an economic boost to the region — and fans from around the world will find a city that is ready to host them and welcomes the spectacle.”
Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. added, “The city of Inglewood is thrilled to say that WrestleMania will add to the growing number of national and internationally followed events that will be hosted in our city over the next eight years. WrestleMania brings excitement and is followed by almost every age demographic. With the scheduling of this marquee event, we can say without contradiction, the only thing that has changed in Inglewood is…everything.”
Jason Gannon, Managing Director at SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park, said that WrestleMania remains one of the world’s most-watched events, and they are proud to welcome WWE to the Inglewood community. “WWE’s commitment to community is consistent with our mission to provide a lasting positive impact in the community. We look forward to making a difference with WWE.”
“On behalf of everyone at WWE, we are excited to bring WrestleMania back to Los Angeles,” said Vince McMahon, WWE Chairman & CEO. “WrestleMania will set the bar for future sports and entertainment events held at SoFi Stadium as we add this facility to the list of iconic venues that have hosted our pop-culture extravaganza.”
A portion of WrestleMania 2 was held in Los Angeles back in 1987 at the Memorial Sports Arena, an arena which is no longer there and was eventually replaced by the Banc of California Stadium a few years ago. Split in three locations across three time zones, the LA part of WrestleMania saw Hulk Hogan battle King Kong Bundy in a steel cage in the main event. WrestleMania 7 was supposed to be held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum but slow ticket sales forced it to be moved inside to the Memorial Sports Arena. That show was headlined by Hulk Hogan vs Sgt. Slaughter for the WWE title. Los Angeles last held WrestleMania in 2005 for WrestleMania 21 at the STAPLES Center, an event headlined by Batista winning the World Heavyweight title from Triple H.
WrestleMania 21 was also billed as WrestleMania going to Hollywood, an identical theme chosen for next year’s big event.
The last WrestleMania to be held on the West Coast was WrestleMania 31 in Santa Clara, with the states of Texas, Florida twice, Louisiana, and New Jersey hosting the following WrestleManias.
WrestleMania 37 will be held at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. The news was revealed by the LA Times today.
“Many people are more excited about us hosting WrestleMania than the Olympics,” Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr., said. “I was surprised at how popular the WWE is.”
WWE looks like it will be marketing it as WrestleMania Hollywood, with the WrestleMania logo slightly modified to look like a film strip. The color theme of the logo is white and gold
The official announcement will come tomorrow with a news conference at the SoFi Stadium. WWE officials, Superstars, and city officials will be in attendance.
WrestleMania week will start on Thursday, March 25 with the Hall of Fame, then it’s Friday Night Smackdown on March 26, NXT Takeover on Saturday, March 27, WrestleMania on Sunday, March 28, and Monday Night Raw on March 29.
The Hall of Fame, Smackdown, NXT, and Raw will all take place at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. Axxess will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Following the conclusion of the NXT live event at The Pearl Theater at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Matt Riddle took the mic to address the fans in attendance.
Riddle, who was fired from the UFC after testing positive for marijuana in February 2013 in what would be his second positive drug test in a year, said how his journey started there 12 years ago and now he’s here with NXT and 12 years from now he would still be going. “I guarantee you this Las Vegas, The Bro retires Brock Lesnar,” he said to a big pop from the Vegas crowd.
Lesnar confronted Riddle backstage at the Royal Rumble and told him to stop mentioning his name because the two would never work together.
For the main event of the Vegas live event, Riddle teamed with Pete Dunne, Johnny Gargano, and Tommaso Ciampa to take on Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly and Roderick Strong.
AEW commentator Jim Ross along with podcast host Conrad Thompson were in the United Kingdom for a three-tour show titled Grilling JR. The shows were held in London, Manchester, and Glasgow. Our good friend Liam Johnson (Twitter: @Lcjcheshire) attended the show in Manchester at the Comedy Store and sent in the following recap.
Inside The Rope’s Kenny McIntosh hosted the event. Jim Ross and Conrad Thompson were sat beside Kenny at a table. Kenny brought up the recent falling out of Jim Cornette and Dave Meltzer and asked JR and Conrad for their opinions on the situation. JR did a Cornette impression. Conrad said that Cornette is playing a character on a podcast to be entertaining and mentioned the fact that Meltzer also wants to entertain his fans and with that brings polarizing opinions. JR mentioned how both should think about today more than what was done in the past. JR said they’re both smart wrestling people but this is “childish BS”. JR said he has “no dog in the hunt” (isn’t taking sides). Conrad made the point over modern wrestling in that context is king. Conrad brought up the example of how his daughter liked Naomi’s glow belt which didn’t really impress him but then he thought that he liked the Million Dollar Belt back in the day when he was a kid (point being, different demographics like different things).
Kenny asked JR about All Elite Wrestling. JR said he didn’t expect to leave WWE in the first place. JR said he didn’t know who Excalibur was until he joined and that he didn’t know what to expect but said they have a unique owner in Tony Khan. JR mentioned how WWE lost over a billion dollars and how Vince lost over 300 million in over 20 minutes (the point most likely being that the state of the business can change very quickly).
JR mentioned who AEW are hiring including the likes of Keith Mitchell, Jericho, Moxley, Darby Allin, Jungle Boy etc… Jim said he didn’t know everyone initially but said that AEW is less political and more casual. There are no writers in AEW. The main stars do their own creative. JR likes the fact that AEW don’t have any writers and said that players are the main stars. Jim made the analogy of if Manchester United had no star players, less people would watch them. Jim said the younger guys are constantly learning. Jim compared Darby Allin to a young Jeff Hardy through being so fearless. JR also said Darby was entrepreneurial through his videos that he makes and puts online. JR described how he met Tony Khan through Alex Marvez. JR said that AEW plans on coming to the United Kingdom in 2020. Jim doesn’t know exactly when and whether it’ll be to tape television.
JR said that a few wrestlers were basically their own worst enemies in not saving money, not completing their taxes or getting married several times (but didn’t mention names).
Kenny said how Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson’s comedy timing was great when they were on screen characters during the Attitude Era.
JR said that Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens may have been the best tag team of all time. Jim said they had “great fundamentals”. JR also mentioned that Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdoch were a phenomenal tag team. Patterson and Stevens were “the yard marker”. It was mentioned that Ric Flair has said that Ray Stevens was the main reason he became a wrestler.
JR and Conrad started to take questions from the audience. Someone asked about Vince McMahon. Jim said the Mr. McMahon character was Vince amplified. Jim said he still communicated with Vince even now. JR said he has no room for negative feelings. Jim said he only worked in WWE for two days in 2018 and made lots of money but felt like a charity case which he didn’t like. Jim mentioned what’s to come in the new book such as Austin’s retirement match and why it didn’t go on last at WrestleMania 19 as well as the loss of Jim’s best friend, when his wife Jan passed away.
Jim mentioned that his dad died the day the Road Warriors debuted at Raw in the Manhattan Center and how his mom died the day of the UK pay per view Capital Carnage. Jim said he has a fear of dying alone in a Marriott Hotel and asked questions like “How would my kids find out?” and “what would happen to my private pics on my cell phone?”, which got some laughs.
Jim mentioned how some things are booked as a surprise and brought up the example of Shawn Michaels beating Davey Boy Smith for the European Title at the UK PPV One Night Only in 1997. Davey’s terminally ill sister was in attendance and Davey dedicated the match to her yet still ended up losing to Shawn which shocked a lot of people at the time.
Someone in the crowd asked whether professional wrestling should become a more sports-orientated product. Jim said how Britt Baker’s recent segment with Tony Schiavone was the highest rated quarter hour of the show. Point being, pro wrestling is more entertainment than sports. JR said the Steve Austin and Rock interview pre-Wrestlemania 17 wasn’t rehearsed at all. Jim said a good announcer “gets his ass out of the way” to let the talent do the talking.
The upcoming book covers why the decision was made to turn Austin heel. Jim said shortly after Austin’s heel turn, there was an angle on TV where Austin attached JR and made him bleed. Austin cut him with a scalpel rather than just a blade after which, Jim needed stitches and still has a scar. JR asked Austin why he did that later to which Austin replied, “we have to make it look good as it’s live TV”. Jim made the point that it was Smackdown which wasn’t live at the time (it all sounded like it was in good humor and there was no heat between the two). WWE knew the Rock was going to make movies so Jim thought the decision didn’t make sense. Jim also said how Austin became a comedic character some weeks after the heel turn. Conrad wondered whether Austin’s heel run in the early 2000s was why Vince never turned John Cena or Roman Reigns heel. JR said you make turns when merchandise and ticket sales change. Conrad said that’s probably why WCW turned Hulk Hogan heel.
Someone in the crowd asked Conrad what it’s like to be part of the Flair family. Conrad said certain people who don’t like Ric have put Conrad in the “no fly zone” to which Conrad said, “fuck ‘em!”.
Conrad said there are no “gotcha moments” with JR as he’s so honest with the audience.
The subject of the mid to late 90s WWF television show Livewire was brought up (Livewire being a live phone-in show where fans could call in and ask questions to the hosts). Conrad mentioned the Livewire YouTube videos with JR trying to hurry up callers who were wasting time on live TV. JR said he didn’t want to do the show as he already had enough on at the time. JR said he didn’t get on with Vince Russo back then but he does now. JR mentioned Brock Lesnar and how Brock was the captain of the Ohio Valley Wrestling roster (he even drove the ring truck) and how Russo wanted him on the WWF roster to work a match on Raw. JR said Brock didn’t know his own strength (he wasn’t ready at the time) and said how he was happy to tell Vince McMahon that this was the case.
An audience member asked about Mick Foley being thrown off and choke slammed through the cell. JR said he wouldn’t have done that (if he’d have had influence on the match). From what Jim was saying, it sounded like the cell was never meant to have broken after Foley was chokeslammed through it. Jim mentioned how when he was at an airport, someone whispered in his ear, “Bah God he might be broken in half” (all these years later).
JR also said that Brock Lesnar was lucky that his neck could have taken the impact that it did when he landed wrong after that shooting star press at WrestleMania 19.
The location for WrestleMania 37 is set to be announced today according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer.
Los Angeles is the front runner to welcome the show, with Inglewood Mayor James T. Butts Jr. confirming that the city is a finalist to host WrestleMania 37 in 2021.
If it indeed goes to California, WrestleMania will be held at the brand new SoFi Stadium, the new home of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers of the NFL. The massive stadium will seat 70,240 fans and will be expandable to 100,240 for special events like WrestleMania.
Los Angeles hosted part of WrestleMania 2, WrestleMania 7, and WrestleMania 21 in the past and it will be the first WrestleMania on the West Coast since WrestleMania 31 in Santa Clara.
AEW World champion Chris Jericho teased a possible AEW acquisition down the road, posting a photo on his social media with EC3 and writing, “Great chat with @therealec3 tonight in Orlando! Big things coming in the future for this talented brother….@allelitewrestling.”
EC3 remains under a WWE deal but the company missed the boat big time with him after he came from a very successful spell at Impact Wrestling. The 36-year-old Ohio native spent a year in NXT before moving to the main roster but has failed to get any traction and apart from some super quick 24/7 title wins – and losses – he remains underutilized for his talent.
The former Impact champion has not been seen since November of last year after he was diagnosed with a concussion.
The second episode of Miz & Mrs on USA Network this past Wednesday did a total of 475,000 viewers, up from the 437,000 it did the previous week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
While Vince McMahon has said several times that the XFL is its own entity and has nothing to do with WWE, two WWE employees hosted the pre-game show yesterday in what seems to be the same green screen studio where WWE panels are held when they are not inside the arena.
Jonathan Coachman, who anchors the pay-per-view Kickoff shows and Alyse Ashton, the Smackdown backstage correspondent, were tasked with doing the in-studio pre-game show yesterday prior to the first match. The XFL started yesterday with two games, one which aired on ABC and one which aired on FOX. All games will air on either ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, FOX, FS1, or FS2.
Apart from an off-camera appearance by Shane McMahon and Executive Vice President of Television Production Kevin Dunn at the Audi Field in Washington, DC, both broadcasts were pretty much WWE-free.
The launch of the XFL had a lot of mainstream publicity and did well in trending on socials and Google. The bigger job is now keeping momentum until the final game in late April.
Vince McMahon is solely funding this venture under his Alpha Entertainment LLC company using money he cashed out by selling thousands of WWE stocks worth over $100 million.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson shared the emotional video of the eulogy he delivered at his father’s funeral service on his social media. Running nearly 11 minutes long, the video also includes clips of what happened during and before the service as well as wrestling videos of his father.
Johnson had to stop a couple of times as he was overcome with emotions as his father laid to rest in an open casket just in front of him. He recalled how he got the news when his father passed away, going over his dad’s wrestling accolades, how he was a trailblazer, and more.
In one of the footage shown, The Rock is seen backstage with Triple H, Vince and Shane McMahon where he shared a long, big hug with the WWE Chairman and CEO. He’s also shown hugging Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair is filmed spending a considerable amount of time looking at Rocky Johnson inside the open casket.
Apart from Vince, Shane, Triple H, Hulk Hogan, and Ric Flair, other wrestling personalities shown on camera were Roman Reigns, Bushwhacker Luke, Jimmy Hart, Brian Knobbs, Afa, Sika, and Elizabeth Hart, the mother of Nattie Neidhart.
The video already has over 8.3 million views and over 2 million likes. You can see it below.
PWInsider.com is reporting that the announcement by Vince McMahon on Thursday that WWE is looking to sell the pay-per-view rights to another major streaming provider caught everyone by surprise as only a handful of people were aware of the negotiations and not even those working in the WWE Network department knew about the possible change.
The report also stated that there are no plans to completely shut down the WWE Network as a service and there are long-term plans for the service which remain in effect. The multi-tiered version, which is rumored to start soon, is one of those plans and there’s also a free version of the service being worked on.
The original plan for the multi-tiered version included three options: free, regular, and premium.
The free tier was supposed to offer the same free-to-watch videos you’d normally find on WWE.com and YouTube plus timed previews of paid WWE Network content.
The regular tier was rumored to have the current WWE Network experience, combining free content with subscription benefits like live pay-per-views, on-demand streaming, and original programming.
The premium tier was to cater to the “most passionate Network subscribers” with more content, more features, and also integrating some of other non-video services like commerce.
If WWE sells their PPV rights to another streaming provider, then all this would certainly change, including the original proposed pricing.
Friday Night Smackdown on FOX did a total of 2,547,000 viewers yesterday off hours 2,555,000 and 2,539,000. That is up 124,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. Smackdown topped the 18-34 and 18-49 demos on the night but as always only beat The CW in terms of viewership. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
SummerSlam 2020 travel packages will be available starting February 18 at Noon ET while individual tickets for the show will go on sale on March 6 at 10AM ET. This year’s SummerSlam weekend will take place from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Championship, Platinum, Gold, and Silver packages will be available. Included in each package are Smackdown, NXT Takeover: Boston, SummerSlam, and Raw tickets, meet and greet session on SummerSlam Sunday, travel package concierge, round-trip bus or subway transportation from hotel to all WWE events, and a three or four-night hotel in the Boston area.
Apart from different seating depending which package you choose, the Championship package also includes an exclusive lunch at Cheers on Beacon Hill with WWE Superstars on Saturday and a Boston Duck Tour with WWE Superstars on Monday.
The cheapest travel package for one person runs at $1,845 while the most expensive one also for one person is $3,965. Prices go down depending on how many people you can fit in your room (up to four).
All packages will be on sale at SummerSlamTravel.com.
After shedding more than 25% of its value, WWE stocks took a further beating following Thursday’s earnings report and yesterday closed nearly 5% lower, ending the day and week trading at $42.93 per share.
To say it’s been one hell of a horrible week for shareholders is an understatement as the news of the firing of both WWE Co-Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson rocked the corporation and Wall Street didn’t react too kindly. Besides that, the Q4 2019 and year-end results looked pretty awful and even WWE admitted that it’s unclear about their 2020 outlook.
Three financial companies also cut the WWE stock price target, driving stocks even more to the ground. MKM Partners slashed the price from $92 to $58, Benchmark slashed it from $79 to $57, and CFRA cut it from $60 to $48.
It was announced last night on Smackdown that WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg will be taking on The Fiend Bray Wyatt at the upcoming Super ShowDown pay-per-view from Saudi Arabia and the match will be for the Universal title.
Goldberg appeared on the show yesterday via satellite and said that watching the Royal Rumble with his son got him the itch to get back in the ring and noted that while Brock has a match already, there is also the Universal title.
A Firefly Fun House segment interrupted the broadcast where Wyatt accepted the challenge on behalf of The Fiend.
Goldberg had a stint with the Universal title leading up to WrestleMania 33 in Orlando where he lost the title to Brock Lesnar. He had previously won it at Fastlane from Kevin Owens in typical quick fashion. Goldberg said during his Smackdown appearance that he never got the rematch after losing at Mania and he would like a longer run.
Goldberg last wrested at SummerSlam, defeating Dolph Ziggler in a very quick match. His last outing in Saudi wasn’t a pleasant one because he knocked himself out against The Undertaker and the main event match ended up being a big flop.
Toy News International is reporting that the first line of All Elite Wrestling toys will be showcased at the upcoming 2020 Toy Fair.
The toys will be created by Jazwares and Wicked Cool Toys and so far details are very scarce with no previews released. These will be the first-ever toys bearing the AEW brand as the company branches out to expand their consumer products.
Jazwares is well known with toys for Fortnite, Peppa Pig, Nerf, Roblox, Angry Birds and others while Wicked Cool Toys has toys for Pokemon, Wild Kratts, Blinger, and other brands.
The 2020 Toy Fair will be held between February 22 and 25 at the Javits Center in New York.
The Arizona Central is reporting that former WWE and WCW Superstar Bryan Clark, who was better known as Adam Bomb, is facing multiple charges in the state including conspiracy, illegal control of enterprise, transporting or selling narcotics, drug possession and possessing a weapon during a drug offense. The alleged offenses occurred in January and April 2019.
Clark wrestled for the then-WWF between 1993 and 1995 as Adam Bomb before he went to WCW in 1997 where he stayed until 2001. In WCW, he wrestled using the name Wrath and was part of the Blood Runs Cold faction and then in 2000 he switched to his real name, joining the late Brian Adams as the KroniK tag team. He returned to the WWE in late 2001 for a very short period along with Adams but they were gone after two months.
His attorney, Robert Jarvis, said in a news release that the charges against their client are unreliable and false information. “The police report contains alleged facts that have been grossly misconstrued and are incorrect. This includes incorrect allegations relating to medication and its use.”
The weapons charge was labeled as “ludicrous” by the attorney, saying that it is based on a family heirloom, a Korean War pistol, that was unused and stored at Clark’s home. “The report also contains speculative opinions which are simply false,” Jarvis stated. “Mr. Clark has been targeted because of his notoriety and acquaintances.”
Investment banking and asset management firm Needham believes that Amazon is the leading candidate to land WWE’s pay-per-view streaming rights, with one of its analysts Laura Martin going as far as saying that the tech company could even bid to completely purchase WWE if the deal goes through.
“We believe that such a licensing deal would put Amazon in the best spot to purchase all of WWE, whenever the family is ready to exit,” Martin said. “WWE’s live programming is highly differentiated and its Raw, Smackdown and NXT brands are worth more than being any one of 500 series that have no builtin audience or brand.”
Amazon is not new to streaming rights and has already streamed certain games from the NFL and the English Premier League.
Vince McMahon hinted yesterday that one of the options that the company is exploring is selling off its PPV rights, moving them from the Network to a major streaming partner. He said that discussions are so far advanced that they could potentially announce a deal by the end of the quarter.
