Thursday, October 24th, 2024

Shawn Michaels appeared on Busted Open Radio. He spoke about working with Giulia and Stephanie Vaquer. “The most challenging thing right now is the communication aspect and making sure they are understanding what you’re conveying especially when you’re talking about those subtleties. That’s something that, myself personally, I’m trying to really do my best. Sometimes words mean different things in other languages. Making sure that I choose my words carefully with the two of them has been the biggest challenge from my standpoint. From a coaching standpoint, the response has been fantastic. They’re both very talented ladies. When it comes to helping them accentuate that presence that they already have and help them with that presentation that’s where for me it’s most challenging. We’re also taking it very slow because of that language barrier. We’re being patient. They’re being unbelievably understanding and they’re doing their best to try and find better ways to communicate with us and ways to allow us to help them with things they feel they need to work with. A lot of that is asking them and getting their feedback and finding areas we can help them the most.“

WWE is hiring. They are looking for a WWE a Director of Music Strategy & Operations.

TKO has announced this today: “It has reached a definitive agreement with Endeavor Group Holdings, Inc. (“Endeavor”) (NYSE: EDR) to acquire Professional Bull Riders (“PBR”), On Location, and IMG in an all-equity transaction valued at $3.25 billion…PBR is the world’s premier bull riding league…On Location is a leading provider of premium experiences for fans attending more than 1,200 sporting events…IMG is one of the world’s largest global distributors and producers of sports content, packages and sells media rights and brand partnerships, and provides industry-leading strategic consultancy, digital services, and event management for more than 200 rightsholders. Clients include the National Football League, English Premier League, International Olympic Committee, National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, ATP and WTA Tours, the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (Wimbledon), EuroLeague Basketball, DP World Tour, and The R&A, as well as UFC, WWE, and PBR.”

Many fans are not happy with the ticket prices for WrestleMania and they used STRONG LANGUAGE to express themselves.

Naomi posted this message of thanks:

 

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Here are your Rampage spoilers:

Undisputed Kingdom beat Gates Of Agony and Shane Taylor Promotions.

Anna Jay beat Leila Gray

Beast Mortos beat Beef

Ricochet defeated Nick Wayne. Konosuke Takeshita came out and challenged Ricochet.

Big E’s new show is debuting in December:

NXT Ratings:

This week: 702,000 overnight viewers and 0.16 in the key demos.

Last week: 639,000 overnight viewers and 0.18 in the key demos.

The WWE has this marathon airing today.

Wednesday, October 23rd, 2024

Raw ratings:

This week: 1,578,000 overnight viewers and 0.51 in the key demos.

Last week: 1,538,000 overnight viewers and 0.44 in the key demos.

Zaria has debuted in NXT:

Rumour has it that Drew McIntyre is recovering from epic Hell in a Cell match with CM Punk and is also dealing with family matters. That is why he hasn’t been on WWE TV.

During a virtual signing Bobby Lashley had this to say about HHH’s booking of him: “It was kind of a spit in the face. We were never in front of a live crowd. During the pandemic, a lot of guys sat at home, ‘I’m not going to do this or that’ and it was us saying, ‘It’s work. We’re going.’ We did everything. We were on half the show most of the time. We came out of the pandemic and people started resurfacing, ‘Oh, I’m ready to work.’ What about the guys who were putting the time in during this dangerous time? We got overlooked. That was a little bit of a spit in the face. I think we could have come back and done some big things together. They just didn’t want us. Different strokes for different folks. Different people like different things. When the regime changed, the regime wasn’t too high on me at all.”

Here is what you will see on Dynamite tonight:

Jon Moxley will appear

Kyle Fletcher will appear

The House of Black against whomever.

Kamille versus Queen Aminata

HOOK continues to seek out who attacked his dad.

Sammy Guevara versus Shelton Benjamin

Mark Briscoe (c) versus Chris Jericho – Ladder War Match for the RoH Championship

Jack Perry and The Young Bucks versus Daniel Garcia and Private Party

I agree. It is incredibly ignorant when someone confuses Chinese people with Japanese people or Korean people with Filipino people. To me, there is a clear difference between the nationalities. As a journalist I learned in Journalism School (college) that it is always best just to ask someone directly or look things up before assuming anything of anyone. Some people’s names are ‘John’. Some people’s names are ‘Jon’. Some people’s names are ‘Kelly’ and some are ‘Kelli’. In our business, you should never presume anything about anyone or anything.

Having said that what is my take on the whole Carlito controversy? Speaking for myself and myself only, I think context and intent always matters. I don’t think Carlito meant to be disrespectful or insulting. The joke itself didn’t ridicule Damage Control. It instead made Carlito, the character, look like a complete moron. That was the intent with the line. Word is that Damage Control, the people Carlito was playing off of, had no issue with it either for all the reasons mentioned. Yes, WWE’s history is filled with ugly racist portrayals and references. The “choppy choppy your pee pee” angle immediately comes to mind. At the time I was appalled and didn’t find it funny. I thought it was juvenile and yes, racist. With this situation though you have to take into consideration the target of the joke. It wasn’t Damage Control. It was Carlito himself. As far Carlito going off script. That’s a tough call. As in movies and television there are people who are brilliant ad-libbing and there are people who are not. Sometimes it is best to stick to the script to avoid any professional backlash.

Tuesday, October 22nd, 2024

Congratulations go out to AEW’s Anthony Nese, as he and his wife, Liz, just welcomed twins into the world, Bryce and Benjamin Nese. “They came in 35 weeks with both weighing 6 lbs 1oz each. Our hearts will forever be full,” he posted to his socials.

The BBC has an interesting story on Donald Trump and the WWE today.

Nikki Cross has a message for The Final Testament:

The WWE has some news for all of you hoop heads out there:

After Raw went off the air Cody Rhodes The Bloodline’s Jacob Fatu in a dark match. Rhodes won the match after putting Fatu through a table.

The WWE’s/NXT’s return to the 2300 (ECW) Arena in Philadelphia on November 6th sold out in twenty minutes.

AEW Collision Ratings:

This week: 346,000 overnight viewers and 0.10 in the key demos.

Last week: 269,000 overnight viewers and 0.05 in the key demos.

AEW’s Battle of the Belts brought in 304,000 overnight viewers and a 0.08 in the key demos. The last Battle of the Belts scored 704,000 overnight viewers and 0.27 in the key demos.

Smackdown ratings:

This week: 1,378,000 overnight viewers and 0.42 in the key demos.

Last week: 1,652,000 overnight viewers and 0.49 in the key demos.

Slam’s John Powell has another episode of his Alan Wake playthrough here:

AEW Rampage ratings:

This week: 234,000 overnight viewers and 0.06 in the key demos.

Last week: 253,000 overnight viewers and 0.09 in the key demos.

What is going on with the hot potato that is the WWE Intercontinental Championship? King Nakamura held it for 189 days before losing it to Sami Zayn. Zayn held it for 13 days before losing it to Ricochet. Ricochet held it for 98 days before losing it to Gunther. Gunther held it for a scary 666 days before losing it to Sami Zayn. Zayn held it for 118 days before losing it to Bron Breakker. Bron Breakker held it for 51 days before losing it to Jey Uso. Uso held it for 27 days before losing it right back to Bron Breakker. Since April of this year the championship has bounced around and it is weird to see Breakker portrayed as a powerhouse yet he couldn’t hold onto the title for very long during his first reign. The way the WWE is booking him and the title is very, very strange indeed.

Monday, October 21, 2024

Some NXT news: “WWE today announced NXT will take place Wednesday, November 6 at 2300 Arena – formerly the ECW Arena – in Philadelphia. The episode will air live on The CW starting at 8pm ET. Tickets will go on sale tomorrow, October 22 at 12pm ET/9am PT via 2300arena.com. Fans can purchase tickets during an exclusive pre-sale by visiting 2300arena.com and using the code NXTLIVE starting tomorrow at 10am ET /7am PT until 11:59am ET / 8:59am PT.”

On his “Kliq This” podcast Kevin Nash said that he believes if Vince McMahon would have stayed with WWE eventually HHH would have left the company. “I think one of the reasons is because he’s so good at what he does on a daily basis. As soon as he got his hands on the controls s–t changed. The product became…it was just was night and day. Then Vince almost tried to kibosh it and they went through all that s–t again. I think at that point if it wouldn’t have went the way it did I think Paul would have walked. Steph already had. We never had the conversation but I know Paul. I have talked to Paul about some other things. I know some other information that made me feel really good when I heard how Endeavor (TKO) felt about Paul.”

Cody Rhodes had this update on Pharaoh:

 

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Here’s a report on Braun Strowman and Rey Mysterio attending a Nascar event over the weekend. Strowman did so with an injured groin.

Slam’s John Powell has what’s new to stream this week:

What’s New To Stream This Week October 21st to 25th

 

Also from Slam’s John Powell today:

There’s a brief update on the Riot Sisters manga which will be released every six weeks. “Riot Sisters follows four high school girl-gangs, battling ferociously in a spectacular and bizarre underground wrestling league. Here, insecure student Momo is mistakenly thrust into the ring as “Tiger Punk”– forced to fight incognito against her own big sister, the reigning champ. When Momo is propelled to unexpected superstardom, will it tear her family apart – literally?”.  There is also an anime and live action project planned.

Chris Jericho’s latest project, a horror movie, will debut on Shudder on January, 31st.

Sting has signed a multi-year licensing deal with AEW.

Here is what you will see on Raw tonight:
WWE World Tag Team Title No. 1 Contender’s Tournament Match: The New Day vs. Authors of Pain
WWE World Tag Team Title No. 1 Contender’s Tournament Match: Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee vs. American Made
Seth Rollins and Bronson Reed meet face-to-face
Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker for the WWE Intercontinental Championship

Some ticket sales updates courtesy of WrestleTix:

WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event
Sat • Dec 14 • 7:30 PM
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY
Available Tickets: 852
Current Setup: 9,835
Tickets Distributed: 8,983

AEW Collision
Sat • Nov 02 • 7:30 PM
The Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, PA
Available Tickets: 1,182
Current Setup: 2,781
Tickets Distributed: 1,599

WWE Survivor Series: WarGames
Sat • Nov 30 • 3:30 PM
Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC
Available Tickets: 1,898
Current Setup: 17,288
Tickets Distributed: 15,390

AEW Collision
Sat • Oct 26 • 6:30 PM
Alliant Energy PowerHouse, Cedar Rapids, IA
Available Tickets: 714
Current Setup: 1,666
Tickets Distributed: 952