Friday, July 26th, 2024

Beth Phoenix’s contract with WWE has expired.

Drew McIntyre posted on social media a photo of himself and AEW’s Jack Perry to rile up CM Punk as per the storyline. The posts have been since deleted. Word is Punk approved of the postings.

Tonight’s episode of Smackdown was taped last week. You can read the spoilers here:

Smackdown spoilers

Want to know what’s new to stream this weekend? Slam’s John Powell has your schedule here:

What’s New to Stream This Weekend July 26th to 28th

HHH was asked about the possible departure of Bobby Lashley from the WWE. He said:

Ex-WWE and UFC Champion Ronda Rousey and her husband are expecting their second child.

Hulk Hogan cut another big promo the other day:

There has been some movement in England hosting WrestleMania:

AEW shot an angle at San Diego Comic Con:

The Olympics begin today. Here are some videos to celebrate:

Thursday, July 25th, 2024

AEW Dynamite ratings:

This week: 786,000 overnight viewers and 0.26 in the key demos.

Last week: 795,000 overnight viewers and 0.27 in the key demos.

Evander Holyfield’s son Elijah is scheduled to be part of the WWE try-outs over SummerSlam weekend.

In a recent interview Scorpio Sky confirmed that he isn’t injured. AEW is just not using him.

Word is that Bryan Danielson’s contract with AEW ends next week.

Leo Burke from Stampede Wrestling fame has passed away at 76.

Here are your AEW Royal Rampage spoilers:

It came down to Darby Allin and Claudio Castagnoli. Darby won.

Kris Statlander beat Leila Grey.

Lance Archer defeated some guy.

Rush and Kyle Fletcher beat Private Party, The Righteous and The Outrunners.

NXT ratings

This week: 633,000 overnight viewers and 0.19 in the key demos.

Last week: 610,000 overnight viewers and 0.20 in the key demos.

Imagine if you started a federation or promotion with all the talent AEW hasn’t been using. You would have Action Andretti, AR Fox, Blake Christian, Danhausen, E. J. Nduka, Evil Uno, Jay Lethal, John Silver, Keith Lee, Kip Sabian, Miro, Ortiz, Ricky Starks, Sammy Guevara, Scorpio Sky, Tony Nese, Wardlow and Mercedes Martinez. Not a bad start to what could be a decent roster.

Wednesday, July 24th, 2024

Chris Jericho spoke to JoBlow about this new horror film: Dark Match which is still looking for a distributor.

In an interview with PENTA, Darius Rucker (the lead singer and guitarist for the pop rock band Hootie & the Blowfish) was asked this question and gave this answer:

Post-performance, I like to… watch iconic wrestling matches on the bus.

During his podcast, Jeff Jarrett said this about potentially buying TNA: “Like anything, anything in the wrestling business, I’m interested in that, and what are they valued at. People get into these valuations and I don’t care what it is. You can come up with all the valuations you want in the world. You have got to find a buyer, period. Then, that buyer has to agree with that evaluation.”

Damian Priest spoke to the New York Post and talked about the Money in the Bank botch in which he was supposed to kick out but didn’t. “Priest didn’t want to get into anything medical around the situation, saying it was personal, but did want to set one thing straight. “The idea that I forgot to kick out, that’s not a thing,” he said. “That’s not a thing. We don’t forget to kick out. Twenty years in, I’m pretty sure there is some kind of muscle memory there. So me forgetting was not the case. There was nothing outside that was supposed to happen. It was a matter of there was a situation, but I’m OK. Everybody’s fine, the story continues.”

Frankie Kazarian had this to say to a fan on X about SoCal Uncensored being disbanded by Tony Khan in AEW: “Thank you. SCU was special. Should have NEVER been broken up. But, we were and it was a very stupid idea from bad creative.”

Pat McAfee will be returning to ESPN’s College Gameday so he will be disappearing from WWE programming yet again for an extended period of time.

NXT’s Karmen Petrivic had this to say about the new WWE DLC pack:

Word is that Buddy Matthews has resigned with AEW.

It seems as though Malakai Black and Keith Lee’s AEW contracts are expiring soon.

Raw Ratings:

This week: 1,793,000 overnight viewers and 0.59 in the key demos.

Last week: 1,669,000 overnight viewers and 0.56 in the key demos.

We agree with Karmen Petrivic. Why in the world is the WWE releasing goofs from The Pat McAfee Show as part of the next DLC for WWE 2K24 when there are WWE superstars past and present who are not in the game? Who knows of, who wants to play as those dolts? WWE would be better including hosts of The Bump as DLC. Who should WWE be including instead of these clowns? How about:

Lyra Valkyria

Jacob Fatu

Tama Tonga

Tonga Loa

Eddy Thorpe

Ethan Page

Je’Von Evans

Lexis King

Oba Femi

Shawn Spears

Adriana Rizzo

Arianna Grace

Kelani Jordan

Lola Vice

Sol Ruca

Tatum Paxley

Wren Sinclair

and…Karmen Petrovic

Here is what you will see on AEW Dynamite tonight:

Blood and Guts Match: Team AEW – AEW Champion Swerve Strickland, ROH Champion Mark Briscoe, Darby Allin and The Acclaimed vs. The Elite – Kazuchika Okada, Jack Perry, Hangman Page and The Young Bucks.

Chris Jericho vs. Minoru Suzuki.

Hikaru Shida vs. Britt Baker.

Ruthie Jay and Taylor Rising have signed with NWA.

Tuesday, July 23rd, 2024l

Updated ticket sales from Wrestle Tix:

WWE Friday Night SmackDown
Fri • Sep 13 • 4:45 PM
Climate Pledge Arena, Seattle, WA

Available Tickets: 1,333
Current Setup: 11,827
Tickets Distributed: 10,494

AEW All Out
Sat • Sep 07 • 6:00 PM
NOW Arena, Hoffman Estates, IL

Available Tickets: 1,257
Available Combo Tickets: 707
Current Setup: 7,211
Tickets Distributed: 5,247

OVW Wrestling: Fight Night
Sat • Aug 31 • 7:00 PM
Appalachian Wireless Arena, Pikeville, KY

Available Tickets: 6,091
Current Setup: 6,508
Tickets Distributed: 417

WWE Friday Night SmackDown
Fri • Aug 23 • 7:45 PM
Capital One Arena, Washington, DC

Available Tickets: 1,604
Current Setup: 10,738
Tickets Distributed: 9,134

AEW All In 2024
Sun Aug 25 2024 17:00:00
Wembley Stadium, London

Available Tickets: 9,159
Current Setup: 51,314
Tickets Distributed: 42,155

WWE SuperShow Summer Tour
Sun • Aug 18 • 7:00 PM
Hertz Arena, Estero, FL

Available Tickets: 2,472
Current Setup: 5,658
Tickets Distributed: 3,186

AEW Dynamite & Rampage
Wed, Aug 14, 2024 ⦁ 7:30pm
Chartway Arena, Norfolk, VA

Available Tickets: 683
Current Setup: 2,293
Tickets Distributed: 1,610

WWE Monday Night RAW
Mon • Aug 05 • 7:30 PM
CFG Bank Arena, Baltimore, MD

Available Tickets: 1,352
Current Setup: 9,844
Tickets Distributed: 8,492

AEW Dynamite: Blood & Guts
Wed • Jul 24 • 6:30 PM
Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN

Available Tickets: 941
Current Setup: 4,737
Tickets Distributed: 3,796

Collision ratings:

This week: 472,000 overnight viewers and 0.15 key demos.

Last week: 362,000 overnight viewers and 0.14 key demos.

Just a reminder to our American readers that Raw is moving to Syfy for the next two weeks due to the Olympics.

Liv Morgan has blacked out her X account.

Word is that Killswitch has joined the growing list of AEW superstars who are injured. Apparently, he injured his arm during Collision.

Yesterday, Warner Brothers Discovery matched the deal Amazon Prime is offering for NBA programming at $1.8B. Some believe this might affect any renewal deal AEW is seeking with the broadcaster.

The Gunns and The Acclaimed will be appearing on next week’s episode of The Great Food Truck Race on the Food Network.

AEW Rampage ratings:

This week:  284,000 overnight viewers and 0.10 in the key demos.

Last week: 339,000 overnight viewers and 0.12 in the key demos.

Smackdown ratings:

This week: 2,313,000 overnight viewers and 0.65 in the key demos.

Last week: 2,355,000 overnight viewers and 0.70 in the key demos.

Here is what you will see on NXT tonight:

  • No Disqualification Match: Brooks Jensen vs. Josh Briggs
  • Oro Mensah vs. Ashante Adonis
  • Eddy Thorpe vs. Lexis King
  • Interview with Thea Hail
  • Carlee Bright vs. Wren Sinclair’

What was with Rhea Ripley licking Dom last night on Raw? Hey, we know it is just a storyline but these relationship angles always come off as so phony these days as most fans know the true relationship status of the talent. People know Ripley is married to Buddy Matthews. People know Dom is married to Marie Juliette. Yes, we understand that wrestling stories are like TV and movies with people playing various roles but to us stuff like this still comes off as…Ick!

Monday, July 22nd, 2024l

If you didn’t watch AEW Collision on Saturday (and we suspect that’s most of you), the show is no longer using Elton John’s Saturday Night’s All Right For Fighting as its theme song. Rather, the new theme was composed by AEW’s in-house music master Mikey Rukus (who we profiled a couple of years ago here).
You can hear the new theme song in its entirety at this link:

He’s just a sexy boy… er, try middle-aged man. Happy birthday to Shawn Michaels, who turns 59 today.  Did he age gracefully? Check out our more than 20 years worth of stories in our HBK Story Archive, and you be the judge. Also celebrating is WWE’s Tozawa, who turns 39.

Born on this date in history:

This past week, the Jumble scramble word game, which is featured in many newspapers in North America, had a wrestling themed pun.

The answers to the word clues and the puzzle are hidden below (click and drag your mouse to reveal them).

BLUNT     SWOON     JOVIAL      HIDDEN

HOLD DOWN A JOB

 

WWE made this statement today:

WWE today announced it will host Damian Priest Live at The Agora Cleveland on Friday, August 2 at 12 p.m. ET as part of SummerSlam weekend. The event will feature the world premiere screening of WWE 24: Damian Priest in addition to a panel discussion with World Heavyweight Champion Damian Priest, Rhea Ripley and Dominik Mysterio.

WWE 24: Damian Priest is an intimate, behind-the-scenes look at the long, obstacle-filled journey that Priest endured on his path to becoming World Heavyweight Champion. The documentary features exclusive interviews with El Campeón and his family, WWE Hall of Famers Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Undertaker and Paul Heyman, members of The Judgment Day and other WWE Superstars.

Two additional WWE events will take place at The Agora Theater in Cleveland during SummerSlam weekend: Sami Zayn & Friends Do Cleveland, which will return for its second show following a successful sold-out event in Toronto ahead of Money in the Bank, and Undertaker 1 deadMAN Show featuring WWE Hall of Famer Undertaker.

Want to know what’s new to stream this week? Slam’s John Powell has your schedule here:

What’s New to Stream This Week July 22nd to 26th

Tamina is no longer on the WWE’s active roster. Tamina hasn’t wrestled for WWE since February of 2023. Although she has been with WWE for 13 years she has been barely used by the company for any extended period recently.

El Desperado has announced that he will be on an extended leave from NJPW to have surgery done.

Here are your spoilers from the TNA tapings over the weekend:

IMPACT SHOW 1:

Mustafa Ali challenged TNA World Champion Nic Nemeth to a title match. They brawled.

Steve Maclin defeated Cody Deaner.

AJ Francis defeated Sami Callihan. Rich Swann and Joshua Bishop gave Francis the assist.

Hammerstone and Ash by Elegance beat Eric Young and Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace.

Josh Alexander looked like he was going to explain his heel turn then didn’t.

TNA World Tag Team Champions ABC and Matt Hardy defeated The System.

PCO and Steph De Lander had their wedding. Matt Cardona tried to stop it.

IMPACT SHOW 2:

The Rascalz beat KUSHIDA and Speedball Mountain

Rosemary defeated Kristara.

Josh Alexander explained in a backstage interview that he was looking out for Number One from now on.

Frankie Kazarian defeated Ryan Nemeth. Josh Alexander attacked Nemeth.

Jody Threat defeated Masha Slamovich.

Mike Santana defeated Campaign Singh.

Nic Nemeth defeated Mustafa Ali in a TNA World Championship match. Alexander came out to challenge Nemeth.

With news that the WWE has FINALLY put Tamina on the inactive roster, perhaps taking the step of finally sending her on her way we have suggestions. How about giving Odyssey Jones and Omos the boot if the WWE is never going to use them? The last time Jones was on WWE TV was when Dijak defeated him in April, 2023 on NXT. Omos’ last appearance on WWE TV was during the Andre the Giant Battle Royal in April before WrestleMania. Before that, he was in 2024 Royal Rumble. Before that, 2023’s SummerSlam. Before that, BackLash in 2023. We are beginning to see a pattern here.