WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of Busted Open Radio on SiriusXM Bully Ray recently discussed AEW and their ongoing shows during the Coronavirus pandemic.

All Elite Wrestling have taken a different approach to taping without fans to WWE. The company has been airing shows from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, an amphitheater that has a different atmosphere to WWE’s Performance Center. Despite this, AEW has had to maintain a high level of shock and awe to keep the momentum going on Wednesday nights.

This includes debuting new characters over the last few months, something that Bully Ray believes has been hindered by the lack of live crowd reaction. “I think the mentality of not staying in a holding pattern has actually…I don’t want to use the word hurt, but it has not benefited certain talents” Bully began on Busted Open.

Bully Ray on Broken Matt and Brodie Lee

“Brodie Lee, as the leader of The Dark Order, the Exalted one” Bully Ray continued. “I just think that because he had to go full blown and could not hold back on anything? Not being in front of a crowd hurt that a little bit. I think Matt Hardy as Broken Matt? I think Broken Matt was affected, look at the position they’ve had to put Matt in now. Kind of hanging out with Private Party, being a manager.”

Bully would then elaborate on his views of Matt Hardy’s AEW run. “I don’t think AEW’s original plan was to have to go back to regular Matt Hardy this soon. Because broken Matt Hardy was such a big deal. But Broken Matt Hardy is not going to resonate as much in the COVID times. These are our characters and angles that need the crowd, but wrestling companies are not in a position right now to hold back. Because what matters the most right now? The rating.”

Bully Ray would finish by saying “it’s all about the rating. Look, everybody’s talking about this whole AEW versus NXT war. The rating? That is really the only number that anybody has to go on these days.”

Do you agree with Bully Ray? Let us know in the comments

• AEW Rankings Report (7/15): Brian Cage Overtakes MJF For #1 Spot
• Tony Khan Updates AEW Suspensions of Sammy Guevara & Jimmy Havoc
• Sonny Kiss Releases Statement Addressing Fan’s Hateful Words
• Matt Hardy Expresses Concerns Over Jeff Hardy’s Current WWE

There have been numerous reports lately regarding Kairi Sane’s WWE status. According to a recent report from Tokyo Sports, Sane is likely returning to Japan by the end of the summer.

According to the article, Sane recently was married and the couple plans to move back to Japan. The report continues to say that Sane is hopeful to maintain some type of relationship with WWE, however. Earlier reports had suggested Sane could be involved with a potential NXT Japan developmental territory. Plans for a Performance Center and brand in the country have been shelved, however, due to the ongoing global pandemic.

Tokyo Sports’ report continues to say that there should be some type of announcement regarding Sane’s status by SummerSlam. They also noted that WWE Japan representatives stated they had not heard anything on the matter.

“It seems that there will be some announcement by the summer festival ‘Summer Slam’ (August 23). WWE Japan said, ‘We have not received any information here,'” a translation of the report reads.

Sane’ status was also addressed in a recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

“Sane, 31, is returning to Japan to be with her husband. This has been in the works for a while and the company has known about it since May if not earlier,” wrote Dave Meltzer. 

• Update On Kairi Sane’s WWE Status

AEW on-air personality and former WWE agent Arn Anderson recently discussed his first meeting with WWE Superstar Roman Reigns. Anderson was discussing the Money In The Bank 2010 PPV on his ARN podcast alongside Conrad Thompson this week.

“I’ll never forget the first conversation I had with Roman” Anderson began. “It was down at the school [FCW] and he hadn’t been there long. I just said ‘hey, you know, give me five minutes to get to know you.'”

Roman Reigns first signed for WWE back in 2010, joining Florida Championship Wrestling. FCW was the developmental ‘territory’ at the time for the company; with Reigns, then known as Leakee, making his televised debut in August of that year.

Arn Anderson on Roman Reigns

“We had a nice conversation” Arn Anderson continued. “The first thing that popped into my head is ‘this guy’s a star.’ Roman speaks like a star, looks like a star and he carries himself with a lot of poise. He’s respectful.”

Arn Anderson would finish by heaping more praise on arguably WWE’s biggest face. “He’s just one of those guys you look at and go ‘you’ll be hearing about that guy.’ He just jumped off the page to me. He was just really…I mean he looked like a movie star.”

Do you think that Roman Reigns will return to WWE back in the main event scene? Let us know in the comments

This podcast episode as well as a ton of other content is available now on AdFreeShows.com – featuring exclusive content from Grilling Jr. What Happened When (w/ Tony Schiavone), 83 Weeks (w/ Eric Bischoff), ARN and Something To Wrestle with Bruce Prichard.

Also Check Out:

• WWE RAW “Night Of Grudge Matches” Does All-Time Low 1.5 Million Viewers
• Ryback Says That ‘Move Based’ Wrestling “Does Not Draw”
• WWE Extreme Rules PPV Reportedly Being Pre-Taped

WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of Busted Open Radio on SiriusXM Bully Ray recently discussed the NJPW faction Bullet Club. This past weekend saw New Japan hold their Dominion event, which was headlined by Tetsuya Naito putting his IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships on the line against his Los Ingobernables’ partner EVIL.

EVIL would win the bout following interference from Bullet Club, after which he joined the infamous group. Bully Ray would talk about EVIL joining the group on Busted Open, where co-host Dave LaGreca claimed that EVIL joining ‘breathed new life’ into Bullet Club.

Bully Ray on EVIL

“So I just want to talk about what you said about EVIL joining Bullet Club; breathing life into the Bullet Club” Bully Ray began on the show. “I kind of see where you’re coming from, but I don’t think the Bullet Club has been anywhere near what it was in the past.”

Bully Ray elaborated further, saying “I’m not even talking about when Cody and the Bucks where there [in New Japan]. Just that original inception of the Bullet Club, the heydays of the Bullet Club. EVIL being there is cool. Jay White as the head of the Bullet Club? I’m still on the fence [about that].”

Jay White

Ray would then state that he is a fan of White’s in-ring work, but that as a personality he is lacking in terms of ‘leadership.’ “I don’t think Jay White has the personality to be the leader of a group like the Bullet Club. I’m not talking about Jay White in the ring. Jay White is frickin phenomenal in the ring yada yada. But the Bullet Club is/was something special. It had that nWo-esque feel.”

Bully Ray would then reveal who he thinks should be leading the group. “To me, Tama Tonga has to take control of the Bullet Club, because he has that edginess. He has that killer instinct, that vibe. I want to see Tama be the head of the Bullet Club. Just think of him as the spokesperson for that Club? I think restores it to its original badassery. That’s just my take on the Bullet Club.”

Do you agree with Bully Ray? Let us know in the comments

Also Check Out:

• EVIL Comments On His Huge Championship Victory At NJPW Dominion
• NJPW Announces Cards for New Japan Road and Sengoku Lord 2020
• Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows Reportedly To Work For Both NJPW…
• Results: NJPW Dominion 2020

NXT returns with a new episode tonight on the USA Network from the Performance Center in Orlando, FL. This week’s show will an appearance by the new Champ-Champ, NXT Women’s Championship match and more.

WWE is promoting the following items for this week’s NXT:

• New NXT Champion Keith Lee will address the NXT Universe after his big victory over Adam Cole last week. What will happen to the secondary NXT North American Championship, now that Keith Lee holds both belts?

• Karrion Kross and Scarlett were seen looking on during Lee’s victory celebration last week. Kross looks to be Keith Lee’s first challenger, confirming reports from several months ago that Kross would be fast-tracked to the NXT Championship picture soon into his run.

• NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai will defend against Tegan Nox, who looks to complete her remarkable comeback story.

• Damian Priest looks for payback in a rematch with Cameron Grimes.

Check back later tonight for our weekly NXT Results and Takeaways feature.

• Triple H Comments On “Healthy Competition” Between NXT & AEW

Below, you can see how WWE is strongly advertising Karrion Kross as the first big obstacle facing Keith Lee.

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite will be a special Fight for the Fallen edition benefitting COVID-19 relief efforts in North Florida. Donations are encouraged at AEWFightfortheFallen.com.

AEWShop.com is also selling a Fight for the Fallen t-shirt, with 100% percent of the proceeds from sales of this shirt being donated to Florida’s First Coast Relief Fund and Feeding Northeast Florida.

AEW Fight for the Fallen Preview

All Elite Wrestling is promoting the following items for AEW Fight for the Fallen:

• AEW World Champion Jon Moxley will defend against FTW Champion Brian Cage (with Taz). Cage earned the title shot at Double or Nothing when he won a Casino Ladder Match as a mystery entrant. Moxley vs. Cage match was originally scheduled for last week’s Fyter Fest event, but was delayed due to COVID-19 concerns.

• AEW TNT Champion Cody (with Arn Anderson) defends against Sonny Kiss.

• The Lucha Brothers vs. FTR in a match that has show-stealing potential written all over it.

• The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks) vs. Jurassic Express (Luchasaurus, Jungle Boy & Marko Stunt)

• The Nightmare Sisters (Brandi Rhodes & Allie) will be in action.

Plus, Chris Jericho of the Inner Circle will be on hand to ‘get something off his chest.’

Check back later tonight for our AEW Fight for the Fallen Results & Takeaways. Below, you can see AEW’s “Road To” special previewing the top matches on the card.

• Tony Khan Updates AEW Suspensions of Sammy Guevara & Jimmy Havoc

WWE Hall of Famer and AEW Commentator Jim ‘JR’ Ross recently discussed WWE Superstar Bobby Lashley on the Grilling JR podcast. One of the topics of discussion regarding the RAW Superstar was the early comparisons made to former WWE Champion Brock Lesnar.

Jim Ross on Vince McMahon Meeting Lashley

“Vince [McMahon] did not meet Bobby like in the grandiose way that he met Brock Lesnar” Jim Ross began on the podcast. JR has previously told the story of how McMahon saw Lesnar backstage and was instantly fascinated by the charisma and physical prowess of The Next Big Thing.

“It was a different deal, apples and oranges here” JR continued. “The comparison [between Lesnar and Lashley] was physical, you know? Lashley with this great strength, and of course the amateur background. He looked great, all the same things said about Brock. So I think that was why the comparison was made.”

Amateur Star

Jim Ross elaborated further, saying “It was simply the fact that we’ve got another heavyweight amateur star that we have great expectations for. I could describe when we first signed Brock the same exact way: Amateur Wrestling Champion who we think can be a star. Let’s see how hard you’re [Lashley] willing to work.”

JR would finish by saying how hard working Lashley was when he first joined WWE and the developmental system. “The great thing about Bobby in those day? We never had any issues with Bobby working hard. Bobby was a warrior. And again, you get that when your dad’s a drill sergeant in the army. And when you’re a three time national champion? You’re used to structure and you’re used to hard work.”

Do you think that Bobby Lashey could still be a major star in WWE? Let us know in the comments

This podcast episode as well as a ton of other content is available now on AdFreeShows.com – featuring exclusive content from Grilling Jr, What Happened When (w/ Tony Schiavone), 83 Weeks (w/ Eric Bischoff), ARN and Something To Wrestle with Bruce Prichard.

Also Check Out:

• WWE RAW “Night Of Grudge Matches” Does All-Time Low 1.5 Million Viewers
• Ryback Says That ‘Move Based’ Wrestling “Does Not Draw”
• WWE Extreme Rules PPV Reportedly Being Pre-Taped

AEW presents Fight or the Fallen tonight. Ahead of tonight’s card, the promotion has released new top-5 rankings for its men’s, women’s, and tag-team divisions.

AEW Men’s Division

AEW World Champion: Jon Moxley (13-0)
TNT Champion: Cody (14-1)

1. Brian Cage (6-0) (+1)
2. Maxwell Jacob Friedman (7-0) (-1)
3. Lance Archer (9-1)
4. Chris Jericho (3-1) (+1)
5. Brodie Lee (5-1) (-1)

Champion Jon Moxley will defend against #1 Brian Cage tonight at Fight for the Fallen. Cage moved up one spot this week after picking up a victory over Brian Pillman Jr. (with the FTW title on the line) on AEW Dark.

TNT Champion Cody will look to defend his title tonight against the unranked Sonny Kiss.

#2 MJF falls down one spot. He didn’t wrestle last week.

#3 Lance Archer picked up a victory over Joey Janela on Dynamite last week.

#4 Chris Jericho moved up one spot after defeating the unranked Orange Cassidy last week.

#5 Brodie Lee tamed with Colt Cabana and Stu Grayson in a win over SCU but dropped one spot regardless due to Jericho’s win.

AEW Women’s Division

AEW Women’s Champion: Hikaru Shida (13-1)

1. Nyla Rose (7-2)
2. Big Swole (5-3)
3. Penelope Ford (4-4)
4. Kris Statlander (4-4) (injured)
5. Britt Baker (4-4) (injured) (role model)

There was no movement in the rankings of the women’s division this week.

#1 Nyla Rose picked up a win in a 2-on-1 handicap match against Kenzie Paige and KiLynn King last week. She later teased that she could be bringing in a manager soon.

#2 Big Swole is currently suspended for kidnapping Britt Baker. Wrestlers are not allowed to kidnap each other.

AEW Tag Team Division

AEW Tag Team Division: Kenny Omega & Hangman Page (10-0)

1. The Dark Order (7-0)
2. The Best Friends (10-4)
3. Jurassic Express (5-1) (+2)
4. The Young Bucks (4-2)
5. Private Party (5-3) (-2)

#5 Private Party falls down 2 spots this week after dropping a tag title match to the champions.

#4 The Young Bucks were on the losing side of an 8-man tag along with FTR against the Lucha Bros and Butcher and the Blade.

#3 Jurassic Express picked up a victory over Peter Avalon and Brandon Cutler on AEW Dark. They moved up 2 spots with the win and Private Party loss.

Stu Grayson of the #1 ranked Dark Order was on the winning side of a trios match this week. He teamed with Brodie Lee and Colt Cabana in a win over SCU.

The Best Friends had the week off after dropping their title match to Omega and Page at Fyter Fest.

AEW President Tony Khan is doing the media rounds to promote Wednesday’s Fight for the Fallen edition of AEW Dynamite on TNT. The benefit show is raising money for Florida-based COVID-19 relief efforts.

During a discussion with the New York Post, Khan spoke about AEW suspending Sammy Guevara and Jimmy Havoc. He revealed that it was his decision to suspend both men, whose respective situations were different but both needed to be addressed.

Jimmy Havoc approached AEW management and informed them he needed help. Khan says Jimmy ‘really needed’ the treatment he is getting. “If and when he were to wrestle again, the most important thing for himself and everybody here is that he sought treatment and counseling.”

Regarding Sammy Guevara, Khan felt it was necessary to suspend him when an inappropriate joke he made about WWE wrestler Sasha Banks resurfaced. Khan says the recent controversy was the first time he heard the “horrible” comments.

“The comments he made were horrible,” said Khan. “I can’t defend them. I can’t even comment on them because they’re unspeakably bad. He has also done a different kind of counseling and he’s in a different kind of counseling and it’s a different kind of coaching. Everybody here, male and female pretty much up and down the roster we talked to felt like Sammy had no history of this kind of behavior. Really people were shocked Sammy had said that.”

Guevara is undergoing sensitivity training during his suspension. His AEW pay is being donated to a Jacksonville-based women’s non-profit.

Head over to the NY Post to read the full interview with Tony Khan.

More on the Sammy Guevara – Sasha Banks Situation:

• Sammy Guevara Releases A Video Apology
• Sasha Banks Releases Statement On Sammy Guevara’s Comments
• Cody Rhodes Comments On Sammy Guevara’s Suspension
• Sasha Banks Opens Up Regarding Response To Sammy Guevara

AEW President Tony Khan recently addressed concerns surrounding the recent spike of COVID-19 cases in Florida. Not only does Khan’s AEW promotion run in the state but his family’s Jacksonville Jaguars do as well. During an interview with the NY Post, Khan addressed the situation.

“I think we are dealing with the same issues as a lot of the other pro sports that are building bubbles in Florida,” Khan said. He continued to say that the rising rates are concerning to him as someone who lives in the state.

“I think logistically you don’t like to see it, so as a person that lives in Florida it’s concerning. I have not really left my own little bubble here and that is the key thing,” Khan continued.

Khan also spent some time discussing the different ways his various companies have handled live events during the pandemic. The Jaguars are potentially planning to have the stadium at 25% capacity meanwhile Fulham F.C is playing games in front of no fans.

“The Jaguars are making a choice for their stadium, whereas, they are planning in a few months and we’re kind of going week to week here (at AEW) and I think that’s a general kind of plan for the Jags. We haven’t for the Jags released a seating plan, what that 25 percent would look like and I think there are still a lot of questions to be answered before we get into playing football games. Fulham, on the other hand, we’re playing with no fans in England and piping in crowd noise, which the broadcast people have enjoyed.”

Khan’s AEW has an important card tonight from Florida. The Fight For the Fallen event will help raise money for COVID-19 relief. The Khan family has already donated $1 million to the cause. Jon Moxley will defend the AEW World Championship on the show against Brian Cage.

• Cody Comments On AEW’s Negotiations With CM Punk

Impact Wrestling presented its go-home show for Saturday’s Slammiversary PPV. The upcoming PPV has mainly been built on teases of what free agents might be coming in. This week featured several segments building up the scheduled matches on the show, however.

Impact Results 7/14:

1. Havok, Nevaeh, Su Yung, Kylie Rae, Alisha Edwards defeated Taya Valkyrie, Rosemary, Tasha Steelz, Kiera Hogan & Kimber Lee
2. The Deaners defeated Team XXXL
3. Crazzy Steve & Tommy Dreamer defeated Moose & Rohit Raju

Here are 7 takeaways from Impact Wrestling 7/14:

A New Wrestler Has Officially Signed With Impact Wrestling

The most important segment from recent episodes of Impact Wrestling takes place just after the closing credits. This week, an unseen wrestler signed a contract and FedEx’ed it off to Scott D’Amore. The Impact Co-Vice President then remarked that Slammiversary “just got even more exciting.”

Backstage Brawl Between Trey & Ace Austin Previews Slammiversary

Ace Austin and his new ally, Madman Fulton, traveled to Dayton, Ohio this week to train. Trey and Wentz from the Rascalz figured out where they were and went to the gym to confront them. Wentz locked Fulton in a room which allowed Trey to get Austin all to himself.

This week’s episode concluded with Austin and Trey battling it out in a preview of the Impact World Championship match at Slammiversary. Eddie Edwards and a mystery competitor will also be in the title match.

Fulton escaped and was about to join in the attack on Trey when Wentz arrived and held him off.

Tommy Dreamer & Moose Prepare For Slammiversary

Tommy Dreamer and Moose will clash at Slammiversary with the TNA World Heavyweight Championship on the line. This week, Moose needed to find a tag-team partner to face Tommy Dreamer and Crazzy Steve. Moose ended up going with his “last resort” Rohit Raju, who accepted the match anyway.

Dreamer and Moose ended up brawling to the outside which allowed Steve to hit Raju with a top-rope DDT for the win.

Slammiversary Comes Early Between Jordynne Grace & Deonna Purrazzo

A contract-signing took place this week for the Knockouts title match at Slammiversary. Deonna Purrazzo told champion Jordynne Grace that after Slammiversary, there will be a new champion. Grace slammed Purrazzo’s head into the table and sent the Virtuoso scattering to end the segment.

Rhino and Hernandez Arm Wrestling Match Finally Reaches Its Conclusion

Rhino and Moose began having an arm wrestling match last week. It finally ended this week. Moose showed up as the two continued their 7-day long competition. He slapped Hernandez on the back which allowed Rhino to win. Hernandez wasn’t so keen on giving up the money they had bet on it, though. The two ended up brawling all around the arena until they eventually opted to split the money.

Team XXXL Turns Heel, Attacks The Deaners

The Deaners defeated Larry D and Acey Romero of Team XXXL this week. As numerous tag-teams try and earn another shot at the North, tensions are running high. Team XXXL turned heel after the match, taking their frustrations out on Cousin Jake and Cody Deaner in a post-match assault.

Slammiversary Lineup

Here is the lineup for this Saturday’s Slammiversary PPV:

• Impact World Championship
  Ace Austin vs Eddie Edwards vs Trey Miguel vs TBD
• Knockouts Championship
  Jordynne Grace (c) vs Deonna Purrazzo
• X-Division Championship
  Willie Mack (c) vs Chris Bey
• Impact Tag Team Championships
  The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) (c) vs Sami Callihan & Ken Shamrock
• TNA Championship (Unofficial)
  Moose (c) vs Tommy Dreamer
• #1 Contender Knockouts Gauntlet Match
  Taya Valkyrie vs Kylie Rae vs Kiera Hogan vs Tasha Steelz vs Kimber Lee vs Havok vs Nevaeh vs Alisha Edwards vs Rosemary vs Su Yung vs Madison Rayne

Kenny Omega has provided new information about the upcoming AEW video game. The AEW Executive VP is involved in the game’s development, as is AEW referee Aubrey Edwards.

During a recent interview with CBR.com, Omega provided some insight about what he is hoping to achieve with the project. His main priority is capturing the ‘fun factor’ that longtime fans remember from games like WWF WrestleFest, WWF No Mercy, WrestleMania 2000 and the Virtual Pro Wrestling series.

“For me, I believe there needs to be a sense of being in the ring, that you’re controlling your favorite wrestler or controlling your create-a-character,” he said. WWE’s 2K series has utilized a slower-paced ‘simulation’ style of presentation. Omega is looking to achieve an arcade wrestling feel that is easy to pick up and play whether you’re a first-time player or a veteran.

Head over to CBR.com to read the full interview.

Monday’s edition of WWE RAW drew the lowest viewership in the history of WWE’s flagship show.

Below is a breakdown of the numbers for Raw and Friday’s SmackDown, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:

RAW Viewership

Monday’s ‘Night of Grudge Matches’ episode averaged 1.561 million viewers (0.48 in the 18-49 demo), down from 1.687 million last week.

Here is the hourly viewership breakdown:

• Hour 1: 1.580 million, 0.49 in the 18-49 Demo
• Hour 2: 1.599 million, 0.48 in the 18-49 Demo
• Hour 3: 1.504 million, 0.48 in the 18-49 Demo

WWE RAW Results (7/13): Women’s Tag Title Match, Shayna Baszler & Bianca Belair Return

SmackDown Viewership

Friday’s SmackDown averaged 1.9 million viewers on FOX. This is up from the 1.777 million viewers that the show did for the previous week.

SmackDown averaged 1.905 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was up from the 1.777 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets. 

The first hour drew 1.930 million viewers while the second hour did 1.879 million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did 1.797 million viewers while the second hour did 1.756 million viewers. 

SmackDown pulled in a 0.50 rating in the 18-49 demos, the same from the 0.50 rating as last week’s show.

• WWE SmackDown Results (7/10): New Day Defend Tag Titles, Karaoke Showdown

Former WWE Superstar Ryback recently discussed the state of professional wrestling in 2020. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic causing television ratings to decline? The ‘Big Guy’ believes that a major reason for the slowdown is that the likes of WWE are more based on in-ring than creating larger than life characters.

Ryback on The Business Shifting

“The business shifted to where the moves have become…I’ve said it all along, move based wrestling does not draw” Ryback began on The Ryback Show podcast.

“We’ve seen it in the independent promotions” Ryback continued. “Like Ring of Honor, they’ve not existed to the world. I’m not talking about the wrestling community, the wrestling community is well aware of them. But the majority of the world isn’t [aware of them].”

Ryback would then discuss his own experience on the big stage of WWE. “I love and respect wrestling, I love it. But anyone that actually knows and has been on the big stage? Knows that’s [move based wrestling] not what sells tickets at the end of the day. The [current] formula is not working overall.”

Despite his own opinion, Ryback would refer to the fact that WWE are making a substantial amount of money. “WWE is making more money than ever. So that’s all they care about. That’s directly from Vince [McMahon]. It’s a business, that’s all they’re looking at.”

Ryback elaborated further, saying “they’re not looking at all these other things, he [McMahon] doesn’t look at it like ‘well if this goes back to this? I could be making double what I’m making.’ He doesn’t, he just looks at he’s making more money than ever and he has control over pretty much all of it.”

Do you agree with Ryback? Let us know in the comments

Also Check Out:

• WWE Extreme Rules PPV Reportedly Being Pre-Taped
• Keith Lee Predicts He And An NXT Superstar Will Eventually Main…
• Shayna Baszler Returns On WWE RAW
• Karrion Kross Teases Doing Cinematic Match In WWE NXT

Tony Khan recently appeared as a guest on the 83 Weeks podcast with Conrad Thompson and Eric Bischoff. Early in the show, Khan addressed a recent public conflict between him and Bischoff. The conflict stemmed from an interview the AEW President took part in with the Financial Times.

“WCW was badly mismanaged,” Khan said to the Financial Times. “They teased audiences with matches that never materialized and lost tens of millions of dollars on talent, some earning six figures without ever working. It was a real disservice to fans.”

Bischoff would respond to the comments by pointing out Khan has barely been in the wrestling business for long at all.

• Eric Bischoff Continues To Criticize Tony Khan & AEW

Khan addressed his comments early on during his appearance on 83 Weeks.

“Just so you know, and over the course of this conversation I’m sure it will come across, I am such a huge fan of your work and you are such an incredible innovator in the business,” Khan said to Bischoff.

“I wouldn’t be here and there would not be an AEW without you and there would not be wrestling on TNT right now without you,” Khan continued. “You gave me the opening to talk to the President of TNT to talk about the previous success you’d had on his network which he didn’t realize because it’s been 20 years.”

Khan continued to talk about how he had said numerous positive things about WCW during the interview with the Financial Times. The reporter evidently only ran with certain quotes, however.

“I’m such a huge believer in what you built,” Khan said to Bischoff.

The full podcast can be viewed in the player below:

64-year-old Diamond Dallas Page believes he has COVID-19. It does not appear that he has tested positive for the virus but several of his family members have. DDP put out a video on his YouTube channel today detailing his family’s situation.

“One of our family members was having a bridal shower, so Brittany and Paige went to the shower and there were 16 other women there and no one was wearing masks because everybody feels super comfortable with each other,” Page said in the video. As it turns out, at least 7 of the women ended up with COVID-19 from the shower.

“Around the 2nd or 3rd day, I started feeling sick,” DDP continued to say. “And then Paige was feeling sick and then we thought wow is this COVID? Because our minds are going to go right to that and like where could that even come from? Not even thinking about the bridal shower.”

DDP then continued to talk about the trouble he had getting people he knew tested for the virus. He finally did get tested and between taking the test and getting the results, his symptoms worsened.

“I felt like Big Show had a hold of my back, I mean it was so painful,” DDP said about the experience.

They got the test results back and DDP tested negative but Paige tested positive.

• Diamond Dallas Page Comments On Wednesday Night Wars

QT Marshall Has Tested Positive For COVID-19

Page continued to say that AEW’s QT Marshall has tested positive for the virus.

“He tells me, 20 days ago he was tested, he’s got COVID. He had 3 days of symptoms, nothing after that. His wife Caroline, she came back negative, she’s had one symptom after another.”

DDP said that Marshall had another test today and he came back positive still.

“Please try to care about other people. If you don’t wear a mask for you, wear it for other people. Be cautious, do the social distancing and just be good to each other. We’ve only got ourselves so be good to each other.”

The full video can be viewed in the player below:

WWE Hall of Famer and co-host of Busted Open Radio Bully Ray recently discussed the infamous incident involving Jeff Hardy from TNA’s 2011 PPV Victory Road.

Jeff Hardy appeared in the main event of that show. Hardy faced Sting for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship, however he was visibly intoxicated and the call was made for Sting to pin Hardy early in the bout and go home on the broadcast.

There’s been much publicised about the incident and both Hardy and Sting have spoken extensively on the subject. The ‘backstage’ issues surrounding the incident were even brought up on television at the time, with AJ Styles lambasting Hardy in a backstage segment on IMPACT.

Bully Ray on Jeff Hardy

“I remember when Jeff Hardy had the problem, you know in the match against Sting” Bully Ray began. “Remember that debacle in TNA?”

“I remember when Jeff came back to the company” Bully Ray continued. “And they [TNA] made him apologise to the locker room. They put Jeff in front of the whole locker room and he just kind of apologised like I’m really sorry blah blah blah blah blah.”

Bully Ray would elaborate further, saying “then they said at the end of the meeting ‘does anybody have anything to say?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, I do.’ I said, ‘Jeff, I really couldn’t care less about all of these things that went on. All I care about is that you can still hit your finish. Now let’s go out there and make some money.'”

The context of Bully’s comments surrounded the recent public issues that Matt Riddle is facing. The former UFC fighter turned WWE Superstar was recently accused of sexual abuse, however he has denied all allegations.

“All of this outside stuff is noise” Bully Ray finished. “We’re performers, when your music hits? You get in there, you perform, you tear the house down. And then you go home.”

Also Check Out:

• Cody Comments On AEW’s Negotiations With CM Punk
• WWE Extreme Rules PPV Reportedly Being Pre-Taped
• Keith Lee Predicts He And An NXT Superstar Will Eventually Main…
• Shayna Baszler Returns On WWE RAW
• Karrion Kross Teases Doing Cinematic Match In WWE NXT

Konnan recently stated on his podcast that the reason CM Punk never joined AEW is that he was simply asking for too much money. Cody was recently interviewed by TalkSport and confirmed that his understanding is that there were negotiations between AEW and CM Punk and he did ask for a great deal of money. According to Cody, however, Punk is worth it.

“As far as the CM Punk negotiations go, everyone heard the famous ‘he got a text from us’. Yeah, of course, there were negotiations and he did ask for a great amount of money and Punk is worth a great deal of money,” Cody said during the interview.

According to Cody, he doesn’t believe talks with Punk about coming in ever got too serious. He also said, however, that he believes he has a good relationship with Punk and so does Tony Khan.

“I don’t think they ever got too serious,” Cody said in regards to negotiations between AEW and Punk. “Doesn’t mean they won’t one day, but they never got entirely too serious. I think there is a good relationship there. I think I have a good relationship with Phil, I believe Tony does too and I’m not sure really when it comes to him, it’s not so much about the money. It’s about are you interested in doing this?”

Punk recently responded to Tweets from Cody and Tony Khan online regarding the TNT title tournament as well.

• Reported Reason CM Punk Didn’t Join AEW

The full interview with Cody can be read here.

Former WWE Superstar Ryback recently commented on the company continuing to tape their shows from the Performance Center in Florida. The ‘Big Guy’ joined Raj Giri to discuss the ongoing tapings on this week’s episode of the Shooting Blanks Wrestling Report.

The ratings for all shows, RAW, SmackDown and NXT have seen a steady decline over the past few months, partly due to the pandemic and seemingly due to the lack of crowds in attendance at shows and lack of ambience. Although the restrictions around live crowds has somewhat been lifted, WWE’s weekly shows continue to see a decline in ratings.

Ryback on NFL Returning

“They are talking about having football without fans” Ryback began on the podcast, saying how the NFL potentially returning will impact WWE’s viewership. “And if they do? People are going to watch football regardless. They’re [WWE] going to lose a chunk of their audience on that.”

“The trend it just keeps going down more and more and more” Ryback continued. “I think really, filming at the Performance Center? I don’t think it’s working. It’s great, it’s a great place, don’t get me wrong. It’s a great training facility, but for shooting regular TV every week? There’s just no energy there and it comes across [on television].”

Ryback was quick to point out that this was not a dig at the performers themselves. “Again, this isn’t because of the performers, wrestlers or anything. It’s just the environment and the lack of energy from a crowd. So, I’m not shocked. I think they [the ratings] go lower, I really do. But I don’t really know what their [WWE] options are, how can they really change anything?”

Do you think that WWE’s ratings will continue to decline during the pandemic? Let us know in the comments

Also Check Out:

• WWE Extreme Rules PPV Reportedly Being Pre-Taped
• Keith Lee Predicts He And An NXT Superstar Will Eventually Main…
• Shayna Baszler Returns On WWE RAW
• Karrion Kross Teases Doing Cinematic Match In WWE NXT

Major League Wrestling is expanding its footprint in South America.

Last month, MLW announced a partnership with DAZN, a premiere streaming platform. The deal got a lot of press for MLW, including a recent feature by the NY Post.

MLW has now coming to DAZN Brazil, a huge market that is sure to bring the fight league additional exposure.

DAZN is available for $19.99 per month or $99.99 a year. Episodes of MLW Fusion are featured on DAZN, as well as the company’s special events.

MLW live events are currently on hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but that has not slowed their output of fresh content. Head over to the MLW YouTube channel to catch up on recent episodes of Pulp FUSION and MLW Anthology.

WWE Network will be presenting ‘The Horror Show at’ Extreme Rules this Sunday July 19th. The event will be headlined by Drew McIntyre vs Dolph Ziggler for the WWE Championship; plus Bray Wyatt vs Braun Strowman in a Wyatt Swamp Fight and Rey Mysterio versus Seth Rollins in an Eye For An Eye match.

WWE had previously planned for the event to air live from the WWE Performance Center in Florida. However due to recent issues surrounding positive COVID-19 cases within WWE, the company have made tentative plans to pre-tape a number of shows this week.

Fightful Select recently confirmed that WWE are planning on taping Wednesday (15th), Friday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Unless the company gets the opportunity to film next week, they would have to get two episodes of NXT, two episodes of Smackdown, one episode of RAW, and Extreme Rules taped in that short time frame.

As per usual, this is all subject to change, with WWE having to monitor the ongoing pandemic situation closely.

Also Check Out:

• Booker T Comments On Keith Lee Winning The NXT Championship
• Tammy “Sunny” Sytch Arrested On Various Charges
• Kairi Sane States She Is “Ready For Asuka” As WWE Teases Future Match
• Big E Shares What May Have Happened To Him If New Day Failed
• AJ Styles “Would Not Hesitate” Giving The Undertaker A Championship Match

Keith Lee is the new NXT Champion. He defeated Adam Cole on the 2nd night of NXT’s Great American Bash. Booker T spoke about his thoughts on Keith Lee recently on his podcast and YouTube channel.

“I must congratulate Keith Lee the new NXT as well as the North American Champion,” Booker T said. “His trainer just passed away a couple of weeks ago, ‘Killer” Tim Brooks, a guy that I got a chance to mix it up with, a guy that taught me so much.”

“I can only imagine how Keith Lee feels right now. Crashing that glass ceiling is something everyone of us hopes to do in this business. It’s being looked at as the elite, as literally the upper classmen in the business. This guy, Keith Lee, he’s one of the guys you look at him and say ‘man, this guy is good.’ Then you look at him and go ‘wow, this guy’s really good.’ He’s special in so many different ways.”

Booker then said he expects Lee to move to the main roster at some point.

“I’m sure he’s going to move on to the main roster. This guy is going to do big things. I’ve been waiting on Keith Lee. I’ve been waiting on a guy like this to come around for me as a black fan to say ‘man, the brother is doing it and he’s doing it big.'”

• Keith Lee Comments On Leaked Spoiler Of Title Win

Booker T’s comments can be heard in the player below:

WWE Hall-of-Famer Tammy “Sunny” Sytch has been arrested again. She was booked into the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Monmouth, New Jersey yesterday. Records indicate she has not been granted bond.

According to the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Department website Sytch has been charged with the following:

• Eluding Police Officer
• 2 counts of Contempt/Violate Domestic Violence Restraining Order
• Operating Motor Vehicle during second license suspension

Sytch had just been released from prison earlier this year. She served 1-year in prison from February 2019 to February of this year. Sytch’s sentence was as a result of numerous DUI convictions. The charges she currently faces, however, do not involve alcohol.

In the few months that Sytch was not in jail, she promoted several business ventures. Sytch had been promoting services for fans on Only Fans, Snapchat, and Cameo.

Sytch was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011. She is often credit from being the first “Diva” in the company. Sytch is also often lauded as helping to have kick-started the Attitude Era in WWE. In addition to her time in WWE, Sytch had stints in both ECW and WCW as well.

• Tammy Lynn Sytch (Sunny) Released From Prison Earlier Than Scheduled

It appears as though WWE is teasing a future matchup between Kabuki Warrior members Kairi Sane and WWE RAW Women’s Champion Asuka.

Both Sane and Asuka appeared on RAW Talk following this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW. The team lost a WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match to defending champions Sasha Banks and WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley.

At one point during the show, Sane turned to her partner. She declared her interest in a matchup if Asuka were to emerge victorious from her upcoming championship match at Extreme Rules.

Sane shared how “If you want that match, I am ready for…Asuka.”

After embracing her partner, Asuka responded: “I want to face you, I want to face you.”

Kairi Sane then revealed how a match with Asuka is her “dream.”

Kairi Sane’s WWE Status

It is rumored Sane is preparing to leave WWE following the end of her contract. However, WWE is reportedly expected to make another, lucrative offer in its attempts to keep her on its roster. Prior to her recent singles matchup on the July 6 episode of RAW, Sane had been away from WWE programming following a match with Nia Jax in June.

Asuka will defend her WWE RAW Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks at WWE’s next pay-per-view. The two clash at The Horror Show at Extreme Rules on Sunday, July 19.

New Day member Big E has revealed what he believes would have happened to him had the stable not succeeded in WWE. 

Speaking on his podcast The New Day: Feel The Power alongside Xavier Woods and Kofi Kingston, Big E shared his predictions. According to Big E, he thinks he may have been released by WWE or “sent back down to NXT.”

When first debuting New Day, there was a lot of pressure to make the stable work: “It just feels like this is it. This is the last big pitch. All my chips have to be in on this.”

Addressing their guest, former WWE writer Michael Notarile, Big E explained how he had to put a lot of faith and trust into him. Furthermore, he acknowledged how he had to listen to Notarile’s advice and guidance. This was because he “knew so much more” than he did at the time, especially when it came to how things worked and the best way to put things together.

“I think instantly it all just felt right when Woods first came to me and then we worked with you and then with Kofi. It felt like, ok, these are the four men that should be working on this together,” Big E said. “It just felt like all the pieces were where they needed to be. I didn’t know what in incarnation or how long the group would last.”

Big E noted how they would have been happy to have been together for six months if it meant TV time. He believes it’s “amazing” that they are still going strong six years since their initial debut.