All Elite Wrestling has reportedly added another tag team to their roster. John Silver and Alex Reynolds, who are known collectively as The Beaver Boys, have been signed to the promotion. This comes from a report by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
The Beaver Boys have worked two matches as enhancement talent, where they lost to Proud N’ Powerful, and Best Friends on AEW Dynamite.
Alex Reynolds was featured in a vignette on AEW Dynamite, where he was approached by The Dark Order. He was offered to join if he wanted to stop losing, with Evil Uno making an appearance in the vignette.
This was after Reynolds lost in a squash match to Jon Moxley in under 14 seconds.
The Beaver Boys have been a mainstay in the indies and worked for promotions like Beyond Wrestling, Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW), New York Wrestling Connection (NYCW), Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where they have captured the tag team championships.
They have even made an appearance in the WWE where they wrestled a match with Heavy Machinery, albeit with a different ring name. John Silver used the name Johhny Silver, and Alex Reynolds wrestled under Alex Keaton.
It will be interesting to see what The Beaver Boys do in AEW and what plans the company has for them going forward.
The Big Guy wants to be fed more. Ryback sat down recently for an interview with Chris Van Vliet and said he plans to return to wrestling in 2020. He talked about how recent stem cell treatments have left his back feeling great and when he’s healthy enough, he plans on making the call to return.
“I’ve been told I have a meeting (with WWE) whenever I want,” Ryback said. “Now, how true that is, I don’t know, don’t really care. Getting my health back is my main priority.”
He did say he does not want to return to a hectic wrestling schedule, however.
“I never want to return to it 4-5 days a week,” he said. “People always ask, when I’m healthy and when I know when I’m going to be available, I will pick up the phone and make a phone call and we’ll go from there.”
Ryback also mentioned that he and Vince McMahon’s brother Rod McMahon are friends.
“Me and Rod are friends and he goes ‘Well, Vince always speaks very highly about you,'” Ryback said during the interview.
Ryback Legally Changes His Name To Ryback
Ryback has legally changed his name to Ryback to combat any trademark issues with WWE. His birth name is Ryan, which he says made the decision easier for him.
“I didn’t necessarily want to do that,” Ryback said. “If my wrestling name was Grizzly Bear, I wasn’t going to change my name to that more likely than not. I looked at it like Ryback/Ryan, that’s not too bad.”
He then mentioned that he’s spoken to Mark Carrano from WWE recently, asking them to drop their trademark filing for Ryback.
“I actually sent Mark Carrano a message last week, nothing mean, just ‘I would really appreciate it if you guys dropped this on your own. I’m going to be really upset if you don’t.'”
Ryback also discusses AEW, the state of wrestling, and much more. The full interview can be viewed in the player below:
Posted December 13th, 2019 in News, WWE. Tagged: Ryback.
The legendary Jim Ross has had a public battle with the condition, which can cause facial paralysis. Niven seems to be having a great attitude, however, and posted this photo of her doing “the People’s Eyebrow.”
Former Universal Champion Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch appeared as guests on Gorilla Position Live in London. They both answered a bunch of questions from fans and Rollins shared an amusing interaction that he had with Vince McMahon regarding Becky Lynch, which almost led him to think that he might have to fight his boss.
Rollins revealed that McMahon was interested in knowing if his girlfriend Lynch had gotten a tan after vacationing in Hawaii together.
“So my story with Vince is a recent one, there are so many to pick from, but actually it involves her. So, we took like our first vacation ever. Actually it’s where I proposed to her. We spent two weeks in Hawaii, which, ah, amazing. We hadn’t taken a Monday off in, ever, right? So we took a Monday off for a vacation, and when we came back, I was sitting with Vince. We were talking about something and we were done, and I was about to leave, and he goes, ‘Can I ask you a personal question? Did Becky get a tan?’ I was like, ‘Yeah she’ll tell you, she identifies as a tan person now.’ She got a great tan in Hawaii, but yeah just the way he phrased it, I was like, ‘Oh no, how is this going to go. Am I gonna fight Vince McMahon right now?'”
While Rollins didn’t state what the boss’ intentions were behind the question, but the fact that no confrontation happened between the two suggests that McMahon didn’t mean any harm by the comment.
You can watch Seth tell the story in the video below:
They got asked about vince stories n Seth said about the proposal n how vince said to him beckys got a tan ? pic.twitter.com/GsNvaWOCp8
Darby Allin came out to help Cody Rhodes this week on Dynamite. Cody and Allin wrestled each other to a time-limit draw at Fyter Fest this summer and according to Allin, he wants to team with Cody to take on the Butcher and the Blade. Should they be victorious, Allin wants Cody to give him a rematch.
“On June 29th 2019 I made my debut for @AEWrestling. Me and Cody had a time limit draw. I never forgot that. You need a partner for butcher and blade? I’ll join you and if we win you give me that REMATCH,” Allin Tweeted.
On June 29th 2019 I made my debut for @AEWrestling
QT Marshall teamed with Cody this week on Dynamite in losing fashion to the Butcher and the Blade. Cody had allowed the newly debuting tag team to pick his partner for him but does he stand a better chance with Darby Allin as his partner?
22-year-old Darby Allin challenged for the AEW World title on the 3rd episode of Dynamite, losing to Chris Jericho. He holds a 4-3-1 single’s record and is 0-1 in trios matches.
Cody also unsuccessfully challenged Jericho for the title at Full Gear. He holds a 4-1-1 record in single’s matches and is 0-2 in tag matches.
NXT has now been established as a separate third brand of its own, rather than a training ground for new wrestlers. The black and gold brand was present at Survivor Series when it beat both the two main brands – Raw and SmackDown. While the three brands are now back to their own business, it looks like NXT will have another opportunity to be involved with the main roster – that is on WrestleMania 36.
According to the Twitter account WrestleVotes, which has broken multiple stories in the past, NXT is set to be involved in WrestleMania 36 on the main card in April next year.
Heard from a well placed source, as of now, NXT will have a role at WrestleMania. Not talking about TakeOver, but on the actual Mania card. No details as to who or what, but an NXT presence will be felt at Raymond James Stadium.
The TakeOver event before WrestleMania 36 will still take place, as Triple H unveiled the logo and teased the coming of NXT TakeOver: Tampa. You can check out his tweet below:
WWE is also reportedly making plans for the 2020 Royal Rumble matches, and NXT wrestlers will be participating in the battle royale matches for both the men’s and women’s division, according to a report by Wrestling Observer Live.
While there will be no Takeover event accompanying Royal Rumble this year, WWE has announced a Worlds Collide event which will see stars from NXT and NXT UK competing against each other the night before the PPV. As for the Royal Rumble, WWE is considering adding 10 NXT stars into the battle royale matches.
It would be interesting to see how WWE handles the brand from here on, and if we’ll get to see the third brand incorporated more in the major PPV events.
Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, who was inducted this year into the WWE Hall of Fame as a member of the stable D-Generation X, is set to go again in 2020 as member of New World Order. While Sean thinks that it’s ridiculous that he was inducted back to back twice as part of the stables that he was in, he doesn’t want to be inducted as a solo act.
Speaking to Afterbuzz TV (via WrestlingInc), Sean Waltman revealed that he heard the news about his induction when he got a phone call from Mark Carrano. Waltman almost didn’t want to answer the call, as a call from Carrano usually means one’s in trouble. But the multi-time champion is glad he picked up the phone.
When asked if he would like to get inducted as a solo performer, Sean Waltman said that he has no aspirations whatsoever to stand up on the stage and be inducted for his singles career. He feels happy with how things are going for him right now.
“To be a part of something bigger and greater than yourself is just an amazing feeling to me, and I don’t need that. I don’t need ‘me, me, me’, what about me? I got plenty of me,” said X-Pac. “I’m just happy to be a part of something greater than me.”
The 2020 WWE Hall of Fame would be headlined with the induction of nWO, comprised of Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and of course, X-Pac. They would join Batista in getting the honor with their inclusion next year. The 2020 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony takes place on Thursday, April 2nd at Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay, Florida as a part of WrestleMania 36 week.
The most recent WWE event that took place in Saudi Arabia, Crown Jewel, and it garnered a lot of unwanted headlines as part of a travel delays controversy.
After the event ended on 31 October, it was reported that the flight which was expected to carry almost 200 WWE personnel, experienced a major delay which WWE attributed to mechanical issues.
WrestlingInc did an interview with a Saudi Arabian journalist Mr. King, who talked about the topic on the WINCLY podcast.
A lot of rumors and speculation filled the internet around the issue. According to initial reports from Dave Meltzer and former WWE commentator Hugo Savinovich, the Prince of Saudi Arabia was allegedly furious that Vince McMahon cancelled the live feed of Crown Jewel as the company was owed up to millions of dollars for previous shows. This lead to the Saudi Crown Prince stopping WWE’s chartered plane from leaving the country in retaliation. The company, however, has denied this in a statement.
Mr. King was asked about the delay in broadcast, and he revealed that the delay did happen and the broadcast was around thirty to forty minutes late.
“I heard about it because when I came home my family told me I was taking photos of something that they weren’t watching on TV. I was taking pictures of something earlier,” said King. There was a delay of maybe 30-40 minutes.”
Mr. King was then asked about the travel issue and he said that while there is no official statement on it, he believes it to be a paperwork problem. “When you take a piece of work for a couple of days and your flight didn’t take you out of the country, it’s a little bit of a problem. There’s a hotel inside the airport and they slept there and took another flight,” he said.
King also said that he thinks that there really was a problem with the plane. “I think the problem was the plane itself. The team stopped it and said this plane is not safe for you to leave. Thank God they noticed this before they left because it would have been a huge problem if something happened.”
Earlier this week, WWE suspended Robert Roode and Primo Colon for violating the company’s Substance Abuse and Drug Testing Policy. This was their first violation of the policy, so they will be serving thirty day suspensions.
WWE did not reveal substances they got caught using. However, new information has been revealed in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Roode has been off WWE TV for the past two weeks. The Observer states that Roode’s violation might be the reason he was written out of storylines.
He was last seen on the November 29 episode of SmackDown in a match against Roman Reigns. He was stretchered out of the arena, as seen below:
Original Plans for Robert Roode
WWE actually had plans for Robert Roode at the TLC PPV. He was slated to team with Dolph Ziggler against New Day in a match for the SmackDown Tag titles.
The plan was changed and The Revival was put in place of Ziggler and Roode for the match at TLC. Meltzer added that the change might have been made because of Roode’s violation.
WWE TLC will be taking place this Sunday at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tune into SEScoops.com for full coverage of the event.
WWE has posted the latest NXT injury report on their official YouTube, and it gives an update on Dakota Kai’s status, as well as announces two names who have suffered injuries.
Dakota Kai was sent through a pair of tables with an elevated suplex by Mia Yim following their match on NXT. Kai had to receive eight staples to close the laceration she received, and the doctors recommended her to rest. Dakota declined the doctor’s advice to rest and posted an update on Twitter to reveal that she would be working all the upcoming NXT live events:
Breezango took on The Singh Brothers in tag team competition, and during the match Fandango performed an assisted elbow drop outside of the ring. The report noted that he suffered what may be a dislocated elbow, and he was sent to the emergency room for imaging. There is no update on Fandango’s condition as of this writing.
NXT UK star Travis Banks went against Jaxson Ryker in a singles match. Even though Banks came out of the match victorious, he suffered an eyebrow laceration. He is listed as “day-to-day”, depending on his symptoms.
You can read the results of this weeks NXT episode by clicking this link.
Melina departed from WWE in 2011 after joining the company back in 2004. She didn’t make an appearance until the Raw Reunion episode that took place on 22 July this year.
This was her first appearance in nearly eight years, and she was in a backstage segment with Candice Michelle, Naomi, and Kelly Kelly. During the segment as Michelle attacked Kelly for the 24/7 Championship, she was revealed as a special guest referee.
The former WWE Women’s Champion spoke about her appearance on the episode and said that she gained closure from her return and described it as “therapeutic”, in an interview with Post Wrestling.
Melina said that she needed to say her goodbyes and open up to people she worked with. She felt they were previously too scared to say what they felt.
“Oh my, it was therapeutic. I needed that, because I needed closure, I needed closure, I needed to say goodbye to the people I needed to say goodbye to. I needed to talk to the people who we never said goodbye but we never said our feelings. So it’s like some of the girls I worked with, I told them how I felt and the funny thing is they started telling me how they felt. You know, I always thought I was an oddball but we all thought we were oddballs and we kind of were never too scared to open up to each other so it was very therapeutic and now I have my sisters, and now I’m there for them that much more after being out of there, so it was beautiful.”
You can watch Melina’s appearance on the Raw Reunion episode in the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQLHKjbn7tc
Reflecting Back On Her Wrestling Career
Melina also reflected back on her journey through wrestling in a post on Instagram. Melina revealed that she started wrestling at Empire Wrestling Federation around 20 years ago and she didn’t plan to wrestle on TV. Her love of wrestling is the only reason she got into the business.
Here is the caption from her post:
“Let me start with: WATCH @nwa’s PPV #IntoTheFire this Saturday @ 6:05pm!!! The order link is in my bio!!! I have so much to say but I have to run errands and get ready for this weekend. But 1st, feel free to swipe left and if you continue to read this… just in case you’re one of the few that assumed I came out of a magazine and into the ring back in the day (which there’s nothing wrong with! We have legends that found their wrestling calling like that so don’t try to take away anyone’s accomplishments because of it), on a Wednesday, around 1999-2000, I started wrestling at @ewfempire. I loved wrestling and I didn’t know they had classes! It never occurred to me that it could be a career! For me it was like taking a cardio class at the gym and I was doing it because I had love for it. It wasn’t to be on tv. I mean, who am I? I’m just an average girl from SoCal. There’s prettier people than me, taller, stronger, faster… there’s no way a dream like that could come true for someone like me. That’s what I thought. So you have to understand, I wasn’t out to make history, to gain approval, to be rich or famous. I loved it and wanted to see how far I could go so I could make my parents proud. Even they thought it was crazy. ? When I got a contract, I wanted to entertain people the way I was entertained when I watched. My intentions were that simple. But the journey in fulfilling those intentions weren’t. LOL. Oh well. It was worth it because we made history. We inspired creativity & strength. It was worth it for the hearts I did touch. Even if it was only a few. I may not be everyone’s cup of tea and I may not be a favorite but I know I did my part in telling the stories that needed to be told and when it came to entertaining. I can end my career today knowing that and being secure with it.”
The card for Friday’s (December 13, 2019) ROH Final Battle pay-per-view event has been finalized.
Ring of Honor is slated to hold its latest pay-per-view event of the year at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland. The show will be headlined by ROH World Champion Rush vs. PCO.
Other top matches featured on this card include ROH World Tag-Team Champions The Briscoes vs. Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham and ROH World Television Champion Shane Taylor vs. Dragon Lee.
The event can be purchased via traditional pay-per-view and the FITE app. The show will be four hours long with the first hour airing for free at 7 pm ET on ROH Facebook Live, FITE TV, and traditional PPV while the main card will begin at 8 pm ET.
Final ROH Final Battle Card
ROH World Champion Rush vs. PCO
ROH World Tag-Team Champions The Briscoes vs. Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham
Mark Haskins vs. Bully Ray – Street Fight
Matt Taven vs. Vincent
ROH World Television Champion Shane Taylor vs. Dragon Lee
Flamita and Bandido vs. Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll and Flip Gordon)
Joe Hendry and Dalton Castle vs. Silas Young and Josh Woods
Rhett Titus vs. Kenny King
Dan Maff vs. Jeff Cobb
Angelina Love vs. Maria Manic
What are your thoughts on this match card? Do you plan on buying the pay-per-view and watching? Sound off in the comment section.
WWE Backstage’s new analyst and special contributor CM Punk posted a message on Twitter, where he listed down 5 WWE stars that he wants to see on the show.
The list consisted of only female stars which included Bayley, Sasha Banks, Kairi Sane, Asuka, and Rhea Ripley:
While the list certainly looks interesting and we would like those female stars to make an appearance on the FS1 show, a fan wanted to know if Punk’s own wife AJ Lee would be able make an appearance as well. He added that Lee is friends with all the other females that were listed.
AJ Lee responded to the fan’s query and made it clear that she has no intentions of appearing on the show whatsoever. She noted that she is “very retired” but added that she is game for coffee and snacks next time she’s in town.
No thank you, I am very retired. I will however tag along for coffee and snacks next time I’m in town. Always down for snacks.
Since Punk made his shocking return to WWE, AJ Lee’s fans might have had hopes that she would return or make an appearance for the company in some capacity. However, it looks like AJ has no plans at all to work with the company, according to her statement. WWE announced her retirement in March of 2015, a few days after WrestleMania 31. Lee stated permanent damage to her cervical spine as the reason behind her in-ring retirement, as well as her husband’s controversial retirement from wrestling a year before.
Posted December 13th, 2019 in News, WWE. Tagged: AJ Lee.
NXT was given a prominent spot in the recent Survivor Series PPV and latest reports reveal that the show’s evolution into its own brand will continue at the upcoming Royal Rumble PPV as well.
Bryan Alvarez talked about the upcoming PPV on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Live and revealed that this year, the Black and Yellow brand is also being factored into the plans for the event.
While NXT stars have previously been included into Royal
Rumble matches, they are usually given one or two spots in the match with no
real possibility of winning the bout.
However, this year the company is planning to distribute the
star power more equally and per the reports, all three brands will have 10
spots each in both the male and female Royal Rumble matches this year.
While there will be no Takeover event accompanying Royal Rumble this year, WWE has announced a Worlds Collide event which will see stars from NXT and NXT UK competing against each other the night before the PPV.
So the officials will have stars from both the rosters available in the area and it’s expected that the company will choose the list of NXT stars for the Battle Royal considering both the rosters as one, similar to Survivor Series.
The next Royal Rumble event will take place on January 26, 2020 at the Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
The relationship between the former Shield brothers Seth Rollins and Jon Moxley has been a bit tense since the former Dean Ambrose decided to leave WWE and pursue a career outside.
However, Rollins tried to squash the beef between him and
the former WWE star when he recently took part in a Q&A session with Raw
Women’s Champion Becky Lynch.
The Architect was asked about his current relationship with
the AEW star and replying to the question, Seth revealed that he texted him on
his birthday last Saturday:
“I texted him on his birthday, which was a few days
ago, and wished him well, I hope that he’s good, and he seems to be doing great
at AEW and New Japan. I wish nothing but the best for him and his lovely wife,
and their great dog.”
Seth Rollins later also revealed that he got a response from Mox as well and Jon texted him back saying ‘Thanks brother!’.
The Relationship Of Jon Moxley And Seth Rollins
The relationship between the two former stablemates seem to have taken a turn for the worse since Ambrose parted ways with WWE and comments from both the stars since then have reflected this tension.
Seth Rollins was asked about Mox during an interview back in June right after he left the company and he had claimed that Dean “took his ball and went home”.
Jon Moxley, on the other hand, has not addressed the former Universal Champion directly but when asked about staying in touch with his Shield Brothers recently, Mox revealed that he exchanges text with Roman Reigns but avoided saying anything about Rollins:
“You get in the bubble. You’re busy. I mean, not really. Not so much, a little bit. You know, text Roman a little bit here and there. But he’s super busy. I mean, they’re so busy in the bubble and stuff, you know, and I’m busy, too.”
Both Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose are currently busy in prominent storylines in their own respective brands. Rollins completed his heel turn this week on Raw while Ambrose is busy building up his rivalry with Chris Jericho on Dynamite.
Viewership data is in for this week’s battle in the WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite Wednesday Night War.
This week, both shows tied in total viewers, which is a first for the battle. It was close in every demographic group except Adults 50+, where NXT had a significant edge as they usually do.
Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
WWE NXT Viewership
NXT on the USA Network averaged 778,000 viewers, which is down from 845,000 last week. In the 18-49 demo, they drew a 0.24, down from 0.29 the previous week.
The episode featured Angel Garza vs. Lio Rush for the NXT Cruiserweight Title, Dakota Kai vs. Mia Yim, Bianca Belair vs. Kayden Carter, and Finn Balor vs. Keith Lee vs. Tommaso Ciampa in an NXT Title #1 Contendership Triple Threat Match.
AEW Dynamite on TNT was watched by 778,000 viewers, down from 851,000 the previous week. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite pulled in a 0.28, down from 0.32.
Dynamite saw The Butcher And The Blade (Andy Williams & Pepper Parks) vs. Cody & QT Marshall, Adam Page & Kenny Omega vs. Kip Sabian & Shawn Spears, Luchasaurus vs. Sammy Guevara, and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) vs. Proud-N-Powerful (Ortiz & Santana)
There were also two promo segments featuring AEW World Champion Chris Jericho as well as MJF.
Last week, Graves made some interesting comments regarding Charlotte Flair. The SmackDown commentator said he “wanted the queen back” and noted that she wasn’t a prominent figure in current WWE storylines.
Expounding on that point, Corey Graves says both WWE’s Women’s divisions need to be reevaluated, not just Charlotte Flair’s role.
Graves: “Bigger Than Just Charlotte Flair”
“I think it’s bigger than just Charlotte Flair, what my opinion was last week,” Graves began. “I got a lot of feedback on Twitter regarding that [Charlotte] statement, some positive, some negative but there were a lot of valid points. People would say well what about Asuka, what about this person, what about that person and I don’t disagree with you.”
Biggest Year in WWE Women’s Wrestling?
Graves elaborated further, saying “I think after twenty eighteen to twenty nineteen obviously the women headlined at WrestleMania. I think it can be argued this was the biggest year in WWE history as far as women’s wrestling. The women’s evolution, whatever you want to refer to it as, it was a big year. The women were getting the opportunity to showcase what they could do and each and every time an opportunity was provided without fail they knocked out of the park. I don’t know what the reasoning is, but Raw, SmackDown, everywhere except NXT. NXT’s women’s division to me is still on fire but not on Raw and SmackDown.”
He was also quick to point out that this was not a dig at the Women in the company, just how they are being positioned currently. He mentioned Asuka as somebody that WWE simply can’t book in a consistent manner.
“This has nothing to do with the ability of the women,” Graves said. “We have the most talented group of women on the planet earth, this is not a negative against their abilities or their desire. I don’t know what the fix is but looking up and down the roster as I mentioned before Asuka. Remember when she dominated NXT? When she arrived in WWE and won the Royal Rumble match? Went to WrestleMania against Charlotte Flair (one of my favorite matches that entire year)? Yes she’s the Women’s tag team champion right now with Kairi Sane saying but before Asuka just kicked everybody’s ***, now she can’t win a match without the dreaded poison mist.”
Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott Carmella and Bayley
Corey Graves also mentioned both Liv Morgan and his partner, Carmella. “I don’t know in looking elsewhere on the roster, I mean you’ve got Liv Morgan. Who as of this past Monday apparently, is finally coming back. I think that Liv is a star waiting to be born. Ruby Riott hopefully comes back from injury soon.”
He continued, “I’m sure I’m missing a whole ton of names. Of course I’m partial, but when’s the last time Carmella did anything of substance on television? The former SmackDown women’s champion Bayley in this new iteration of herself, again nothing against the talent but it doesn’t feel important.”
WWE TLC (Tables, Ladders & Chairs) takes place this Sunday from Minneapolis, MN at the Target Center. It’s the 11th installment of TLC and WWE’s final pay-per-view of the year/decade.
WWE was slow to fill out the card for TLC, but we now have six confirmed matches. With around 3 days until showtime, Bet on Pro Wrestling has released betting odds for the event. Betting odds are historically a pretty accurate indication of how the match results will end up.
Roman Reigns, Bray Wyatt and Aleister Black are currently heavy favorites to win their matches, while Rusev and Lashely are to an even split.
TLC Betting Odds
The following are the current betting odds for TLC 2019:
TLC: Roman Reigns (-910) vs Baron Corbin (+450)
Tables: Rusev (-150) vs Bobby Lashley (+108)
TLC: Kabuki Warriors (-230) vs Becky/Charlotte (+160)
Non-title: Bray Wyatt (-1250) vs The Miz (+550)
The New Day (-265) vs The Revival (+180)
Aleister Black (-625) vs Buddy Murphy (+350)
Join us here this Sunday for our WWE TLC Results Live Coverage and our post-show Takeaways feature.
CM Punk made his awaited return to WWE Backstage this week. However, it appears that Punk is not the ratings draw that WWE or FS1 might have hoped.
WWE Backstage this past Tuesday night averaged 127,000 viewers, according to ShowbuzzDaily. This an 8% decline from last week’s episode, which did 138,000 viewers with Seth Rollins as the special guest.
CM Punk had a prominent role on this week’s show. He discussed Rollins’ recent heel turn, saying that . He also commented on the “dog food” segment from Friday’s SmackDown with Baron Corbin and Roman Reigns. Surprisingly, Punk did not hate the angle.
For comparison, the episode’s viewership is down 29% from
the 180,000 viewers of the November 19th episode of the show which was Punk’s
last appearance on the program.
This week’s episode was ranked at #128 on the Cable Top 150 and it pulled a 0.06 rating in the 18-49 demographic, compared to the #103 rank and a 0.08 rating last week.
It’s worth mentioning here that WWE Backstage is not the only show to have lost audience this week and the episode of Raw which aired on Monday also saw a decline in numbers.
The episode, which was the red brand’s go-home show for Sunday’s TLC PPV drew 2.150 million viewers, which was a 2.6% decline compared to the 2.208 million viewers of the previous week.
Posted December 11th, 2019 in News, WWE. Tagged: CM Punk.
Ric Flair recently had an interview with WrestlingInc, where he talked about Batista and the nWo headlining the WWE Hall Of Fame’s Class of 2020.
Flair has a relationship with all five of the announced names for the Hall Of Fame class of 2020, but one guy he knows up and close is Batista who he worked with during their time as part of the Evolution.
When asked about the Animal’s induction into the Hall Of Fame, the first two time WWE Hall Of Famer revealed that he texted him after learning about the news and he then went on to joke about a third induction for himself:
“I texted him and I think it’s great. Now we just have to get Hunter going and get Randy [Orton] who’s making too much money to get out of it so I can get my third [induction as a part of Evolution].
Certainly Dave made an impact, not only with us but as a singles and is a huge star in Hollywood. I’m happy for all of these guys that were during my career that I had the pleasure to work with.”
The former World Champion also mentioned the announced induction of nWo. He said Kevin Nash and Scott Hall revolutionized the business when they jumped to WCW.
Ric Flair On AEW Allowing Non-Scripted Promos
AEW has tried to build themselves as an alternative to WWE,
and one thing they have been doing differently than the E is allowing talents
to cut long, unscripted promos.
When asked about this change, Ric Flair, who is considered to be one of the best promo guys in the history of wrestling business, spoke positively about the company, mentioning Cody Rhodes’ recent promo on Dynamite:
“That’s a very positive part of their promotion. I
think Jericho’s done a hell of a job. The piece they did for Cody getting ready
for the championship match I thought was great. It was very true and
heartfelt,”
The Dirtiest Player In The Game went on to compare Cody’s promo to the one where Roman Reigns announced his leukemia diagnosis and revealed that Reigns had learned about the same on Tuesday only 6 days prior.
The December 11, 2019 episode of WWE NXT aired live from the Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University. Here are 4 takeaways from this week’s show:
Angel Garza Wins NXT Cruiserweight Championship
WWE booked yet another NXT Cruiserweight Championship Match between champion Lio rush and Angel Garza.
As seen in the match, Garza ended up going over to win the title. It was a fun match just like their contest before.
Last month, Garza lost to Rush while challenging for the title after beating Tony Nese to become the number one contender the week before.
WWE is clearly behind Garza as a star as he seems to be on television every week. This was a nice title win for Garza. It was also a smart move by WWE to air Garza’s propose to his girlfriend in the ring during a commercial break. She said yes and they celebrated in the ring.
With Rush winning their first match while Garza won the second bout, it only makes sense for there to be a third match soon.
The first match for the feud took place as Dakota Kai vs. Mia Yim served as the contest that went down during the second hour of the show.
It was a back and forth contest with WWE giving them plenty of time to work. In the end, it was Kai who went over. However, it seems like there is more to come with this feud, which is just fine. Kai used an exposed turnbuckle to win the match.
After the match, Yim attacked her and sent her through a table off of a barricade.
The two stars can put on a good match and the feud has been invested in by both WWE and fans, which wouldn’t mind seeing another contest between the two stars.
The feud started at NXT TakeOver: WarGames III event from the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois when Kai turned heel by being the mystery attacker of Kai, who was forced out of the Women’s WarGames Match. This allowed Kai in the contest only for Kai to attack one of her partners.
WWE had Cameron Grimes lost to Raul Mendoza in a match in just over one minute. It was a nice squash match for Mendoza, but bad news for Grimes, who needs to get back on track after a brief detour.
With that said, WWE is telling a bigger story here for Grimes as after the match, Kushida put on Grimes’s top head and stole it.
This brief segment comes after WWE shot an angle where Grimes attacked Kushida at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida on Tuesday.
A match between these two will likely be booked soon but it seems more of a placeholder for Kushida than anything.
The big Triple Threat Match for a shot at the NXT Championship took place as the top match on the show that saw Finn Balor vs. Keith Lee vs. Tommaso Ciampa.
Balor ended up winning the match, which means that he has earned the opportunity to challenge Adam Cole for the NXT Title on next week’s show, which marks the final live episode of NXT for this year.
WWE officials did a good job of building up all three guys to the point that fans wanted to see all three stars challenge for the title, which is a nice move and what you would want to see the booking play out.
This match had high expectations and made up for it as these guys put on a great match.
With WWE pushing Balor so hard on NXT television since his return, I wouldn’t be shocked to see Balor win the title but time will tell. The good news is that fans will only have to wait a week to see it happen.
AEW Dynamite aired live from Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. In addition to the takeaways below, AEW Revolution PPV was announced for Chicago on February 29th.
Our next PPV is around the corner! AEW Revolution! Saturday, Feb 29th Chicago, IL Wintrust Arena
Here are 7 takeaways from this week’s episode of Dynamite:
Chris Jericho Tried To Recruit Moxley To Inner Circle
Jon Moxley dominated and picked up a win via the Paradigm Shift. After the match, AEW Champion Crhis Jericho came down to the entrance ramp with Inner Circle.
Inner Circle paced around the ring until finally Chris Jericho hopped on the apron. The crowd chanted “f*ck him up, Moxley!” but Jericho shouted at them to watch their language.
Jericho stated that they would have jumped Moxley already if they were going to attack him. Chris claimed that Inner Circle was impressed with Moxley. Jericho claimed that Moxley asked for his advice a decade ago and then they became enemies and beat the living shit out of each other.
Chris added that he taught Jon how to become a main event superstar and a champion. Jericho said that he navigated Moxley to AEW and that Jon has only just begun to realize his importance in AEW.
Jericho suggested that Jon Moxley join Inner Circle and said that he will give him some time to think it over. Chris placed an Inner Circle shirt on Moxley’s shoulder and Jon smirked into the camera as the crowd chanted “no!”.
Cody & QT Marshall battled The Butcher & The Blade tonight on Dynamite. The Bunny was ringside for the match. Cody started off the match in control and planted Blade with a Powerslam.
Butcher tagged in and QT pleaded for a tag. Marshall tagged in and locked up with Butcher in the middle of the ring. The Butcher leveled QT with a shoulder tackle and The Bunny then distracted Marshall. Blade tagged in and flipped onto QT as Dynamite went to a break.
When Dynamite returned, Butcher and Blade were still in control as QT Marshall was trapped in the ring. QT hit Blade with an Enziguri and tried to tag in Cody but Butcher dragged him off the apron.
Butcher tagged in and connected with a Back Body Drop for a two count. Blade tagged in and went for a Splash but QT got out of the way. Cody finally tagged in and the crowd erupted. Cody hit Blade with an uppercut and knocked Butcher off the apron with a Disaster Kick.
Cody connected with a Crossbody off the top rope and went for the cover but Blade kicked out at two. Cody followed that up with a Cutter for another near fall. The Bunny raked Cody’s eyes and QT tagged himself in. Marshall hit a Cannonball onto Butcher and Blade outside the ring.
Back in the ring, QT hit Blade with Cross Rhodes as Cody hit Butcher with a Suicide Dive. QT climbed to the top rope and hit a Senton for a near fall. Butcher hit Cody with a cheap shot as Blade hit QT with a Stunner. Butcher and Blade then hit a Suplex/Backbreaker combo for the pinfall victory. After the match, Darby Allin came down to the ring and extended his hand to Cody.
MJF and Wardlow marched down to the ring following Cody’s loss. MJF demanded that a member of the production team get in the ring as the crowd chanted “asshole!”.
MJF claimed that he saw him laughing last week when Cody poked fun at his Cross Rhodes last week. Maxwell demanded that he kiss the ring and the camera grip obliged. MJF hit him with the Cross Rhodes anyway and called the crowd a bunch of hicks.
MJF boasted about all the money he has and he doesn’t need any from Cody. He said he needs Cody to suffer and brought up Cody referring to him as a knockoff Chris Jericho.
The crowd chanted “fake” as MJF bragged about his scarf. MJF called Cody fake and said it looks a cat pissed on his head and that he has Gary Busey’s teeth. MJF then laughed at Cody’s lisp and even dropped a “suffering succotash”.
MJF dared Cody to fire him and then asked the crowd if they wanted to see a match between him and Cody. MJF stated that he has a couple of stipulations but he is not going to tell them here in “honkeyville” Texas. MJF added that he will reveal the stipulations on January 1st in Jacksonville.
AEW is doing a great job on giving viewers something to look forward to on upcoming shows. Dynamite has been awesome so far this week and there hasn’t been a single audio issue all night. MJF’s segment tonight was pretty much a flawless heel promo.
Big Swole faced Emi Sakura tonight on Dynamite. Sakura grabbed Big Swole’s hair and pissed her off. Swole slapped Emi in the face but Sakura tripped her up. Emi knocked Big Swole to the canvas as Dynamite went to a commercial break.
Back from the break, Big Swole hit a headbutt and then an uppercut in the corner of the ring. Swole followed it up with a Dropkick and another uppercut for a two count. Sakura battled back with a Crossbody and then a Backbreaker.
Sakura brought her mic stand in the ring but the referee ripped it away. Big Swole grabbed the mic stand and danced around before hitting a massive Clothesline. Sakura connected with a knee to the head and then a Vader Bomb for a two count.
Emi climbed to the top rope and went for a Moonsault but Big Swole got out of the way. Big Swole exploded with a big boot to the face and went for the cover but somehow Sakura was able to kick out at two. Big Swole leveled Emi Sakura with Dirty Dancing for the pinfall victory.
Kip Sabian & Shawn Spears faced Kenny Omega & Hangman Page tonight. Sabian and Page started off the match. Penelope Ford distracted Hangman and Sabian capitalized with a series of punches in the corner of the ring.
Hangman batted back with a boot to the face and then knocked Spears to the floor outside the ring. Kenny Omega tagged in and lit up Kip with some chops. Omega connected with a Backbreaker for a near fall before tagging Page back in.
Page went for a Splash but Sabian got out of the way. Hangman battled with a Dropkick as Dynamite went to a break. When Dynamite returned, Omega and Sabian tagged in. Omega knocked Spears and Sabian to the outside and fired up the crowd.
Penelope hopped on the apron and Spears capitalized on the distraction with a Backstabber. Sabian hit Omega with a Dropkick and went for the cover but Kenny kicked out at two. Penelope Ford took out Hangman with a Hurricanrana as Sabian planted Kenny with a DDT for a near fall.
Spears distracted the referee as Ford hit Omega with a Splash. Sabian planted Omega with a Fisherman’s Suplex for a two count. Omega hit Kip with the V-Trigger and both men fell to the canvas. The lights in the arena went out and Tully Blanchard was shown tied up on the top of the ramp. Joey Janela then laughed behind him and Spears rushed up the ramp. Janela and Spears then battled backstage as Sabian was left alone in the ring.
Omega connected with the Snap Dragon Suplex and followed it up with another V-Trigger. Hangman Page tagged himself in and hit the Buckshot Lariat for the pinfall victory.
Jungle Boy Sent Jericho A Message Heading Into Their Match Next Week
Chris Jericho and Jake Hager demanded that Tony Schiavone and Excalibur leave the announce desk. Hager and Jericho joined commentary for the Guevara and Luchasaurus. Jungle Boy and Marko Stunt accompanied Luchasaurus to the ring.
The crowd loudly chanted “Luchasaurus!” at Sammy responded by slapping the big man in the face. Guevara sent Luchasaurus to the corner and went for a Hurricanrana but Luchasaurus blocked it.
Sammy climbed to the top rope but Luchasaurus booted him to the outside. Guevara planted Luchasaurus with a DDT and both wrestlers fell to the mat. Sammy went for a Shooting Star Press but Luchasaurus blocked it. Luchasaurus slammed Sammy to the mat for the pinfall victory.
Hager and Jericho rushed the ring and a brawl broke out. Jungle Boy and Jericho traded punches and Jungle Boy hit a Hurricanrana. Jungle Boy then pinned Jericho and Marko Stunt made the count. Jericho threw another tantrum as Jurassic Express posed on the entrance ramp. Jungle Boy and Jericho will battle next week in a non-title match.
The Young Bucks battled Santana & Ortiz in a Texas Street Fight to close this week’s show. Inner Circle attacked the Young Bucks during their entrance. Santana and Ortiz Powerbombed Brandon Cutler through a table and continued to beat the hell out of Matt and Nick Jackson.
Young Bucks battled back and Nick hit Ortiz with a Swanton Bomb through a table from on top of the stage for a two count. AEW Tag Team Champions SCU were shown watching the match ringside and started trash talking with both teams. Santana and Ortiz placed a trash can on top of Nick’s head and beat the hell out of him.
Matt Jackson put on a Dallas Cowboys helmet and connected with a Spear. Santana grabbed the helmet and spit on it as the crowd booed. Matt planted Santana with a few Northern Lights Suplexes and then sent him flying through a table. Ortiz launched Matt through a table and then hit Nick with a Cannonball through a table as AEW went to a break.
When Dynamite returned, Nick hit Ortiz with a 450 Splash and went for the cover but Jake Hager broke it up. Nick tried to kick Hager but Jake ducked and Nick hit the referee. Dustin Rhodes rushed the ring and battled with Hager to the entrance ramp. Matt and Nick hit Ortiz with a Powerbomb/Enziguri combo and then bashed Santana with a trash lid.
Matt connected with a Moonsault but the referee was laid out beside the ring. Referee Aubrey Edwards ran to the ring but Ortiz kicked out at two. Santana Dropkicked Nick off the apron and fell through another table. Santana hit Matt with a kick to the groin and set up a trash can in the corner. Santana and Ortiz hit the Street Sweeper and went for the cover but Nick dragged Aubrey out of the ring.
Santana grabbed a couple chairs and brought them into the ring and set up a table on the outside. Ortiz set up the chairs in the corner and lifted Nick up. Santana climbed to the top rope but Matt pushed him through the table. Nick hit Ortiz with a Bulldog on the chairs and the Young Bucks followed it up with a couple Superkicks.
Matt then held up the chair and Nick hit another Superkick on Ortiz. Young Bucks connected with the Meltzer Driver on the chairs for the pinfall victory. The Young Bucks will battle SCU next week for the AEW Tag Team Championships.
AEW delivered a hell of an episode of Dynamite this week and built up next week’s show in the process. The main event was great tonight and the title match should be even better next week.
The next challenger to NXT Champion Adam Cole will be Finn Balor.
During Wednesday’s episode of NXT on the USA Network, WWE held a match that would determine who is next line for a title shot.
A Triple Threat Match between Finn Balor, Keith Lee, and Tommaso Ciampa took place with the winner becoming the next challenger to Cole’s title. Balor was victorious, earning the right to challenge Adam Cole next week.
WWE holds next week’s episode of NXT in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University and it’s looking like a stacked card. Not only will Cole defend the title but also NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler will defend her championship against Rhea Ripley.
Outside of those two matches, this will be an important episode of NXT as it will serve as the final show of 2019 due to WWE taking the night off on December 25th for Christmas.
AEW Revolution has been announced as the next pay-per-view event from All Elite Wrestling. A promo aired on this week’s episode of Dynamite revealing that AEW Revolution will take place Saturday, February 29, 2020 from Chicago, IL.
Unlike other AEW shows which have taken place from the Sears Center, Revolution will be presented from the Wintrust Arena in downtown Chicago. The event is being promoted in conjunction with the popular C2E2 (Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo) convention.
This will mark the fourth AEW PPV event and the final piece of their their quarterly calendar.
AEW Revolution
AEW President Tony Khan commented on the news of AEW Revolution in a press release sent in to SEScoops.com.
“REVOLUTION will be a huge pay-per-view event for AEW, featuring the biggest wrestling card we’ve ever presented, at the heart of a three-day destination event in partnership with C2E2,” said Khan. “The experience in the South Loop of Chicago will be unlike anything we’ve seen in wrestling, and it will be all day, all night and all weekend.”
AEW World Champion Chris Jericho, AEW World Tag Team Champions SCU, AEW Women’s World Champion Riho, Jon Moxley, Cody, The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega, Nyla Rose and Britt Baker are all scheduled to appear.
AEW Revolution will air at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, and is available for purchase via iN DEMAND cable operators, DirecTV, DISH Network and B/R Live. International fans can purchase the event at FITE.TV.
Fans can purchase tickets for REVOLUTION on Friday, Dec. 20, at noon ET (11am CT/9am PT) at www.AEWTIX.com, www.ticketmaster.com. Tickets start at $20 and range up to $150 face value.
Lana has responded to CM Punk in an interesting way on social media.
Punk made an appearance on WWE Backstage this past Tuesday night where he worked as an analyst. During the show, he talked about the storyline with Bobby Lashley, Rusev and Lana. This is where he noted that he thinks Rusev no longer wants to be involved with his wife on WWE television.
This led to Punk fantasy booking the feud between the three stars where Rusev and Lashley would eventually become best friends and them teaming up together to face Lana’s new tag team in a “Loser Keeps Lana” match.
The contest in Punk’s booking would take place at WrestleMania with Lana hanging above the ring in a cage. Eventually, Punk joked about how the new team that Lana would be managing would get so sick of her by WrestleMania time.
Punk would later take to his official Twitter account where he brought up the idea again and noted that he “Just booked you through mania, chica.”
Well, Lana didn’t appreciate his comments as she accused Punk of making misogynistic comments on Twitter. You can see her tweet here:
I know you’ve been away from @WWE for several years. Perhaps moving forward, you will favor #WWE and @FS1 by refraining from misogynistic comments like “chica.” Thank you. #WWEBackstagehttps://t.co/aiPzcNI83n
