After the controversial finish to the AEW World Championship match between Kenny Omega and Jon Moxley during last week’s episode of Dynamite, Don Callis had announced that the new AEW champion will make an appearance on this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling to explain things.
The new champion then made an appearance on the show alongside Callis where he set down with Josh Mathews and the two opened up about the events of this past Wednesday night.
The interview began with Mathews asking how long the AEW and Impact alliance has been in work, to which Callis replied that it all began when he met Kenny at the age of 10. From there Callis made it his mission to be in Omega’s corner and so the idea has been in works for nearly 27 years.
Omega Explains His Actions
Josh Mathews then moved the conversation towards the AEW title match. Josh asked the former NJPW star why he decided to use a microphone as a cheap shot to gain victory over Moxley, despite saying that he wouldn’t do so during their gentlemen’s agreement.
Replying to it, the new champion explained that Moxley shouldn’t have hit Don Callis saying “When you involve family, when you lay your hands on the invisible hand – what do you expect me to do?”
Later in the interview, Kenny Omega declared that collecting world championships is his new hobby and he wants to face other world champions from different promotions, including Impact.
The duo concluded the interview by claiming that they have a big announcement to make at this week’s episode of Dynamite on Wednesday. You can check out Kenny Omega’s Impact Wrestling appearance in the video below:
Kenny Omega’s declaration that he wants to face other world champions is very interesting. we will have to see what other crossovers it leads to in the coming times and if it means that AEW world title will be defended at other promotions.
Alexa Bliss apparently missed this week’s episode of Raw because she is in Los Angeles where Bliss and several other WWE superstars are working on the upcoming reboot of Punky Brewster.
WWE Hall Of Famer and backstage producer D-Von Dudley recently posted a video on Cameo where he confirmed that he has been in LA to help produce the reboot of the sitcom.
Interestingly, the WWE legend noted that both Bliss and Charlotte Flair, who has been out of action since June this year, are with him. You can check out the video he posted below:
Punky Brewster is a popular sitcom of American TV from the 80s. The show’s story centers around a young girl named Penelope “Punky” Brewster who is raised by a foster parent.
A ten episode revival of the show was announced back in the summer of 2019 and the reboot is scheduled to air on NBC Universal’s Peacock network.
Alexa Bliss appeared on last week’s episode of Raw where she was part of a weird segment between Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt which was a product of Vince McMahon’s vision.
It’s unknown if Bliss will be taking an extended break from the company for the show or if she will be back on WWE programming soon. Stay tuned for updates.
There has been discussion about a potential match between Roman Reigns and The Rock and legendary commentator Jim Ross also talked about it recently.
The current AEW star talked about a number of things during the latest episode of his Grilling JR Podcast including the career of Umaga and more.
Discussing a potential match between the two cousins, Ross said that people are coveting a Rock vs. Roman Reigns match but he is not sure it will happen:
“People are coveting a Rock vs. Roman Reigns match somewhere down the road. I don’t know if it will ever happen, there’s a chance, but it’s all up to The Rock. It isn’t up to anybody else, it’s up to him.” said Jim Ross, “His schedule is so crazy, he can’t afford to get hurt because he’s going to lose millions of dollars if he can’t work. Not that he’ll go broke, but nonetheless, he’s special.”
The veteran announcer also discussed how the Samoan dynasty thing isn’t a gimmick but a real thing and how he has been connected to the family of The Great One since the early 80s.
He recalled his first introduction to the team of Afa and Sika collectively known as The Wild Samoans during his time with Mid South Wrestling and discussed recruiting The Rock for WWE.
Shaq is All Elite. All Elite Wrestling has announced that basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal will be appearing on this week’s episode of Dynamite on TNT.
The NBA Hall of Famer will be interviewed by Tony Schiavone. AEW newcomer Jade Cargill dropped Shaq’s name on Dynamite last month when confronting Cody Rhodes. She has since attacked Brandi Rhodes, leading to speculation that we will see a mixed tag match pitting Shaq & Cargill vs. Cody & Brandi Rhoes.
This isn’t the first time Shaq is crossing over to the world of professional wrestling and he has made several WWE appearances in the past.
At one point he was even scheduled for a match against WWE’s resident giant Big Show at the WrestleMania 33 event but those plans were nixed later on.
Dynamite Preview (12/9)
This isn’t the only big segment announced for this week’s episode of Dynamite and the company has announced a number of interesting matches and segments for the show as well.
The segments announced for the show include things like Sting, who made his surprise debut for the promotion last week, breaking his silence for the first time since his arrival.
The matches announced for the show includes bouts such as The Young Bucks defending their AEW tag team titles against TH2, MJF putting his Diamond Ring on the line in a bout against Orange Cassidy and more.
Shaq’s addition to this line up makes this show even bigger and it would be interesting to see if the legendary basketball player ends up getting involved in any angle to keep him around for longer.
However, we haven’t heard much about the female star since then and a couple of months have passed without either WWE or the star herself providing any confirmation of her return.
In an update, PWinsider is reporting that Eva Marie is listed as part of the WWE roster internally but the former NXT star has not been assigned to a brand.
The Total Divas star had undergone the required medical testing for her WWE return and the report reveals that she has been seen at the WWE Performance Center a number of times since September.
Eva Marie signed a development contract with WWE back in 2013 and she was promoted to the main roster after just 2 weeks of formal training.
She stayed with the promotion till 2017 and had a run in NXT in 2015-2016 as well but the female star never won any titles during her tenure with the company.
While the signs still point towards a WWE return for Marie, there doesn’t seem to be a locked timetable for it. So it wouldn’t be a surprise if the company holds off her comeback for some big occasion such as the upcoming Royal Rumble PPV.
Candice LeRae wrestled in a brutal WarGames match at the latest NXT Takeover event and it appears that she might have suffered a broken arm during the show.
Triple H talked about the female star on the post TakeOver media call and he mentioned how as of now they are only aware of the bumps and bruises suffered by the competitors which you would expect from a match like this.
However, he noted that LeRae is getting checked out. There is a possibility that she suffered a broken arm and the former PWG star is getting an X-Ray done to get a better idea about her condition.
Candice LeRae teamed up with Toni Storm, Raquel Gonzalez, and Dakota Kai to face the team of Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon, Rhea Ripley, and Io Shirai in a WarGames match at the show this Sunday.
The brutal match had many impressive spots and the ending saw the heels picking up the victory after Gonzalez power bombed Shirai through a ladder to win the bout for her team.
Fans were worried about Candice’s health after she was seen favoring her arm towards the ending of the bout. Now we will have to wait for the x ray results to know more about her condition. Stay tuned for updates.
The Undisputed Era has been one of the top factions of the wrestling world for the past few years and during a recent interview, Triple H compared the group to one of the most iconic factions in the history of the business, DX.
The Game recently had an interview with Ryan Satin of FOX Sports where he discussed things such as the legacy of the late legend Pat Patterson and more.
Talking about the Undisputed Era, Triple H explained that the reason for their success is the real-life connection among the members of the group. He went on to compare it to the connection he shared with his teammates in DX:
“That [authenticity] to me is the magic of it, when that magic is there, it’s next level. They have that magic. It’s real to them. There’s no show. I think that’s what worked with DX. It wasn’t a show. We were just us. We all got along in that manner. When it’s magic like that, it really works.”
Triple H continued by saying that the group is a unit which gets along and then explained what kind of content he thinks resonates with people the most:
“In a way, I always feel like that stuff resonates the most when you can see a bunch of people that are on some level legitimately have that connection to where as a viewer watching, you think to yourself, ‘Man. I’d just like want to hang out with those dudes. I’d like to be at that dinner and just have dinner with them and hang out with them because it looks like it’s so much fun.'”
The Undisputed Era entered the WarGames match as babyfaces for the first time this year. You can check out the results of the event at this link.
Keith Lee has gotten the spotlight in the last couple of years and after grinding for more than one and half decade, the heavyweight star has finally started to get the recognition he deserves.
The latest WWE 24 documentary looks at the struggles the former NXT champion has had to endure to get to his current spot in the professional wrestling world.
A clip WWE posted of the documentary recently sees Lee talking about his time in NXT and he reveals how the late great Dusty Rhodes helped in the creation of his famous catchphrase:
“When it was time to do our thing on the mic, I felt like I was a completely different individual, Dusty Rhodes came to me, and said, ‘Son, you got a presence I can literally bask in.’
And when he said that I have a presence that he can literally bask in, ‘Bask in my glory’ was born.” said Keith Lee, “Dusty let me know that, and I was proud.”
"Son, you got a presence I can literally bask in." – Dusty Rhodes
Keith Lee made his wrestling debut in 2005 and spent the next decade or so competing for various indie promotions such as Ring of Honor, Evolve and more.
His first WWE tryout was in 2008 and he had multiple tryouts with the company after that but the former NXT star was not signed by the promotion until 2018.
Two members of the Forgotten Sons stable returned to WWE TV last week on SmackDown which made many wonder about the status of the third member of the group, Jaxson Ryker.
Dave Meltzer talked about the former TNA star on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio. He noted that “there’s a reason he wasn’t there” at SmackDown and it’s the same reason why the faction had been kept off TV for so long.
Jaxson Ryker had made a tweet supporting the US President Donald Trump earlier this year. He also made some controversial remarks on the Black Lives Matter campaign which got him a lot of heat from the fans and the group was pulled from WWE programming afterwards.
Meltzer noted how it will be very difficult to resurrect his career after the turn of events this year and he presumed that the former NXT star will most likely be part of next round of WWE cuts. He added that the company is not in a hurry to let Ryker go because they “aren’t losing much money” by keeping him around.
The group was taken off TV as a result of Jaxson Ryker’s comments back in May. The officials were planning a SmackDown tag title run for the Forgotten Sons but they had to change directions because of the turn of events.
The change in plans led to the team of Shinsuke Nakamura and Cesaro taking their spot and winning the SmackDown tag team titles from the New Day.
Two members of the Forgotten Sons stable in Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler then returned to WWE programming last week. They accompanied Baron Corbin and helped King Corbin in his feud against the Mysterio family.
Latest reports have revealed that there have been renewed talks of Rhea Ripley being moved to the main roster within WWE.
During her recent interview with Lillian Garcia on her Chasing Glory podcast, the NXT star talked about things like the development of her on-screen persona, her relationship with boyfriend Demetri ‘Action’ Jackson and more.
Discussing the reports about her future and a potential move to the main roster, Ripley said that she would like to go to Raw or SmackDown but at the same time there are still a lot of things she wants to do in NXT:
“I would like to go to Raw or SmackDown, but at the same time, there are so many people in NXT I haven’t faced yet, and I feel like there is so much more that I can do, like, I would love to wrestle Candice [LeRae], especially since her persona has changed.
I’d also love to wrestle Indi Hartwell; I would love to wrestle Shotzi [Blackheart]. I haven’t had a match with Shotzi. I’ve tagged with her but haven’t wrestled her.” said Rhea Ripley “I wanna wrestle Raquel [Gonzalez] again. Hell, I would love to have a stipulations match with her. I want to be in WarGames again.”
The Australian star, who also recently opened up about her struggles with mental health this year, talked about the upcoming year as well.
Ripley said that if she had full control, she would like to get back to being the confident star she knows she is and skyrocket her career in 2021 like it did in 2019.
Eric Bischoff signed with WWE in 2002 to serve as the on-screen Raw General Manager authority figure. He held this post for three years before being relieved in December 2005.
During the latest episode of his 83 weeks podcast, the former WCW president opened up about his kayfabe firing from the position and the real-life situation behind it.
Bischoff recalled how it was Stephanie McMahon who called him to discuss the situation and explain that they wanted to go in a different direction with the storyline:
“This wasn’t me necessarily getting fired; I got notified by Stephanie McMahon that they just decided they were going to go in a different creative direction.
I still had time left on my contract when I got the call from Stephanie, and she said ‘Look, we’re going to take a different direction, pay you through your contract.” recalled Eric Bischoff, “You didn’t do anything wrong, there’s no heat. We just need to go in a different direction.”
The former WWE star continued by saying that he was tired of playing the same on-screen character as well and he feels like he fulfilled his goal of ending his career in WWE as a performer on a positive note.
Bischoff made a few more sporadic appearances for the promotion after his on-screen firing from the General Manager post. He was finally released by the company in August 2007 after the expiry of his contract.
WWE announced the signing of two members of The Rascalz stable in Dezmond Xavier and Zachary Wentz earlier this week, alongside some other signings.
This led many to wonder about the future of Trey Miguel, the third member of the Impact Wrestling stable and the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter has provided some update on his status.
According to the Observer, the former Impact Wrestling star is “considering both WWE and AEW” but he hasn’t made a decision on which promotion he wants to join yet.
The Rascalz joined Impact Wrestling back in 2018 and their fan following has grown in the last couple of years. The trio also competed in various indie promotions in this time.
During a recent interview with Fox Sports, Triple H had commented on the trio saying that he is impressed with what the three stars have done so far.
With two of The Rascalz members already being part of the WWE roster, the probability of Miguel joining the promotion in near future as well is very high.
Though since he has not made a decision yet, there is still a possibility that he can sign with AEW and it would be interesting to see what choice the young star makes.
News broke out earlier this week that WWE Hall Of Famer and wrestling veteran Pat Patterson has passed away but at the time not many details about his conditions had been revealed.
The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter provides some details on the issues the legend was dealing with and reveals his cause of death as well. According to the Observer, Patterson had been dealing with dementia for a while. People who interacted with him at Rocky Johnson’s funeral earlier this year were said to be concerned by his condition.
The WWE Hall Of Famer first contracted bladder cancer several years ago and there is a good chance that he had cancer before his passing. The 79-year-old star had moved to an assisted living arrangement recently due to his declining health.
Pat generally liked to spend the summers in his native Montreal and the winters in Hallandale, Florida but he was “pretty much confined” to his place in South Florida this year due to his memory loss and the coronavirus pandemic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TOw2wAVJio
The wrestling veteran was rushed to a hospital in South Beach, Miami on Friday, November 27 after suffering a blood clot in his liver. A tumour on his lung which was discovered earlier this year had also begun to spread.
Pat Patterson passed away in the South Beach hospital due to liver failure at around 1:15 am on Wednesday, December 2, according to the reports.
The WWE Hall Of Famer is remembered for his contributions as a wrestler and a backstage personality as well. He is best known for being the Inaugural Intercontinental Champion as well as the creator of the Royal Rumble match.
MJF is just one of many talented wrestlers who were under the radar before because WWE officials did not see value in them but have become big stars after getting a platform in form of AEW.
During his recent interview with MMA Fighting, the young star talked about things like how AEW has provided a platform to many young wrestlers and more.
Talking about how AEW does not restrict its stars, MJF said that you are the only person to blame if you don’t make it in the promotion. He then went on to reveal the length of his current contract:
“We’re all going out there and doing our thing, we’re doing our version of what we feel the sport of professional wrestling is supposed to be and what I feel the sport is supposed to be — which is just me, my face, 24/7 and if we can be honest here, it’s working out for AEW which is why they signed me to a five-year deal.”
MJF signed his current deal with the company back in 2019 which means that the 24-year-old wrestler will be staying with the promotion at least until 2024.
Apart from this, the former MLW star talked about things such as why he stands out from the rest of the AEW roster and more. You can check out his full interview at this link.
Posted December 5th, 2020 in AEW, News. Tagged: MJF.
Triple H had said after WrestleMania 36 that Rhea Ripley’s loss to Charlotte Flair is part of a larger story they are trying to tell but as everything else this year, the coronavirus pandemic has forced these plans to be changed as well.
During his recent media call ahead of the Takeover: WarGames 2020 event, the WWE VP was asked about the plans for the former NXT women’s champion.
Replying to the question, Triple H confirmed that the plans have changed. However, in the wake of Ripley’s recent revelations about her struggles with mental health this year, the Game claimed that he still believes it’s a valuable lesson for the former NXT women’s champion:
“Is it where it was going? No, and it won’t, the whole world changed, but I do still believe that that is a valuable — there’s a lot of valuable lessons for her to be able to go through to find herself to pick herself up.
The Rhea Ripley that I’m watching right now is a way better Rhea Ripley than it was in January-February of last year when she was on the high or even December of this time last year.” said Triple H “She’s a way better performer, way more mature, her understanding, all of it, and all of that came through that process. It is what it is.”
The WWE EVP also talked about the spotlight the women’s division has received in recent times and he said that female competitors of NXT have delivered every time they have been put in the spotlight position.
The NXT TakeOver: WarGames event will be taking place from the Performance Center on December 16 live on the WWE Network.
Former WWE champion CM Punk took on his Twitter yesterday to offer some high praise to two members of the current NXT roster, while also revealing if he watches the show.
The Leader Of The Straight Edge Society made a tweet and said that everyone else on the show should feel embarrassment at the fact that Pat McAfee is a better promo than everyone else on the NXT roster.
A fan replied to these comments from Punk and asked what he thinks is the ceiling for the former NFL player if he fully commits himself to wrestling.
Interestingly Punk responded by claiming that there is zero reason for Pat to commit to the sport full time because he is already the best thing on the show apart from Rhea Ripley.
This exchange led many to wonder if the former WWE star watches the Black And Yellow brand responding to which, the former UFC star said ‘Not always.’ You can check out the full exchange below:
A lot of it has to do with circumstance, but everyone else on the show(s) should feel embarrassment, and subsequently USE said feeling to better themselves, at the fact that @PatMcAfeeShow is a better promo than everyone on the show(s).
Neither of the NXT stars have responded to this praise from the wrestling veteran so far and it would be interesting to know what they think about Punk’s comments.
Eric Bischoff has stayed active in the wrestling business even after the folding of WCW and the former WCW President has worked backstage roles for different promotions, including a couple of runs with WWE.
His first run with the company came in the early 2000s, a time which many consider to be the peak of Triple H’s in-ring career. On the latest episode of his 83 Weeks podcast, the former WCW official talked about Triple H’s reign in detail.
During the interview, Eric Bischoff also revealed the one thing he hated about Triple H’s character, calling him out for never changing his entrance:
“So here is the infamous Triple H entrance that never changed, whether he was a heel or a babyface, I f–king hate it. I hate it. I mean, if you’re going to be a heel, damn it, be a heel! Don’t be a hero. Don’t come out there like someone doing a Marvel audition for the next Thor movie. If you’re a heel, you’re a heel. Jesus Christ.”
Bischoff continued the explanation saying that the reason Triple H never got heat from fans as a heel was because he never really wanted to be one:
“And you wonder why he never really got any heat, because he wasn’t really a heel, he didn’t want to be a heel. He’d wrestle like a heel. He would do the chicken s–t things that were requisite to be a heel within the body of a match, but the character would never change. He’s out there spitting his water, and oh my God.”
Though later in the interview, Eric Bischoff confirmed that he has no personal heat with the WWE Vice President and he is just having fun with the comments.
WWE star Xavier Woods was recently named the host for the revived G4 video game brand which will be relaunching sometime in the next year.
The New Day member had an interview with IGN after the announcement where he discussed things like what it means for him to be part of the G4 family and more.
During the interview, Woods also revealed his reaction to the big announcement and he claimed that his reaction was similar to the time he got a WWE contract:
“I was losing my mind… It was incredible, I’m just a random dude from Georgia who loves video games and loves wrestling.
So getting my WWE contract while sitting in the middle of a Walgreens in Orlando, Florida at the time doing like backflips, calling my parents… I had the exact same reaction when I found out I was going to be a host on G4.”
Apart from this, Xavier Woods talked about how the world of gaming has changed and he mentioned how back in the day there was a time when you got made fun of for liking wrestling.
He then explained that the same thing happened with video games in the past and he has been trying to show people that we are all the same kind of nerds.
Keith Lee impressed everyone with his performance at last year’s Survivor Series PPV and then at Royal Rumble earlier this year, which resulted in him being called up to Raw in August after the SummerSlam PPV.
However, his transition from NXT to the main roster wasn’t as smooth as fans were hoping. The officials changed his theme song and ring gear for his debut which made many concerned about his future in the company.
During a recent interview with ComicBook.com, the former NXT star talked about his main roster call-up and discussed how he acclimated to the changes in his first month on the Red Brand:
“That first month was all over the place, I think that making it through that was enough for me to get an understanding of where I was and how I needed to approach things going forward.
I think that the first three weeks really kind of forced that acclimation, and if I had failed within those first three weeks, I was going to struggle going forward.” said Keith Lee, “But I think I’ve done quite fine.”
The former NXT Champion then discussed the change in his theme song and ring gear for his main roster debut. He said that it’s understandable why fans did not like the change and voiced their opinion against it.
Though he mentioned how the officials noticed the backlash from fans and asked Lee to come up with a new theme which he has since debuted on Raw.
The ‘Winter Is Coming’ themed episode of AEW Dynamite featured many surprises including the involvement of Impact wrestling VP Don Callis in the AEW World title match between Jon Moxley and Kenny Omega.
Callis was in the commentary for this bout and he eventually made his way to the ring. He checked on Omega after a tough suplex on the floor and Callis then tried to pursue the referee to stop the fight, saying that Kenny was hurt.
This resulted in Mox blasting the Impact Executive with a punch. However, the mic Callis was holding ended up in the ring due to Jon’s punch and Kenny Omega used it to his advantage by hitting the AEW Champion with the microphone.
He went on to hit Moxley with a one winged angel and Kenny Omega became the new AEW World Champion after pinning the former WWE star.
Callis then grabbed the AEW title and helped Omega to get backstage and into a waiting vehicle. Alex Marvez tried asking Callis what just happened and he responded by saying that we will find out about it on Tuesday at Impact.
Impact Wrestling’s official Twitter account later retweeted a video of the segment and when a fan accused Don Callis of screwing AEW, he simply responded by saying ‘AEW screwed AEW’:
All these signs point towards a new partnership between the two promotions. We still don’t know the details of this partnership but it does open a plethora of new possibilities.
One such interesting possibility is the potential of exchanging talents which could lead to a Bullet Club reunion between Omega and the team of Gallows and Anderson. Stay tuned for more updates.
The NXT roster paid tribute the late Pat Patterson during the opening segment of tonight’s show, after the legends’ unfortunate passing earlier yesterday.
The Takeover: WarGames 2020 go home edition of the show opened with Triple H, Shawn Michaels, William Regal and the whole NXT roster standing on the stage to pay tribute to the former WWE star.
They then cut to a video package on Patterson’s legendary career. The show came back to a “thank you Pat!” chant from the attendees in the Capitol Wrestling Center
Images of the wrestling legend were then displayed on led boards around the arena. You can check out some photos of the segment below:
Remembered for things such as being the Inaugural Intercontinental Champion and the creator of the Royal Rumble match, Pat Patterson passed away at the age of 79 earlier yesterday after a long battle with cancer at the Miami hospital.
The former champion had been involved with the wrestling business for over six decades and during his active years; he wrestled for companies such as AWA, NJPW and WWE.
After his retirement, Patterson transitioned to a backstage role in WWE and he had been working in various backstage positions for the company since 2005.
Booker T was one of the legends who were brought in for Undertaker’s Final Farewell segment at this year’s edition of the Survivor Series PPV.
The former WCW Champion talked about his experience on the show and the legacy of the Dead Man in detail on the latest episode of his Hall Of Fame podcast.
Revealing his favourite moment of the segment which had many layers, Booker T picked out the spot where Undertaker paid tribute to the late Paul Bearer:
“That guy was a legendary figure in the business. He really– people need to do their research and go in-depth, and really understand what Paul Bearer really did to the business. He wasn’t just a character.
He was a guy that contributed more in so many ways behind the scenes than one would know… To appreciate it and give Paul those props, it was awesome.” said Booker T, “That was the best part of the whole thing for me, was having Paul Bearer just there with the urn. It just made me feel good.”
The wrestling veteran also gave his thoughts on the highly debated topic of whether it was the real send-off for Taker or we will see the Dead Man in the ring again in future.
Booker T claimed that he thinks the segment was his real send off, mentioning how he’s coming off the Boneyard match at WrestleMania 36 which will be really hard for anyone to top, including Taker himself.
‘The Demogod’ Chris Jericho has reacted to NXT beating last week’s episode of AEW Dynamite in TV ratings and reminded people that they still came out ahead in the important demo.
The former AEW World Champion took on his Twitter to react to the latest TV rating of both the shows and he wrote: “It’s all about the Demo daddy. #wewinagain”
Week 59 of the Wednesday Night Wars between AEW and WWE saw NXT defeat Dynamite in overall viewership during the Thanksgiving eve episodes of the shows.
NXT managed to garner an average of 712,000 viewers on the USA Network while Dynamite was only slightly behind with 710,000 viewers on TNT.
Dynamite came out ahead when it comes to the 18-49 demo which is considered to be the most important demo for advertising. It ranked #7 in the Cable Top 150 for it while NXT ranked at #25.
However, AEW’s weekly show still saw a significant 16% drop in overall viewership from last week’s episode of the show which had garnered 850,000 viewers.
On the other hand, NXT recorded a jump of 12% from last week’s episode of the show which had only gotten 638,000 viewers.
The opening segment for this week’s episode of Raw turned a lot of heads and the segment featuring Randy Orton, Alexa Bliss and ‘The Fiend’ Bray Wyatt got a lot of people talking.
Dave Meltzer talked about the segment on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio and he claimed that WWE intends to book Wyatt and Bliss as the babyfaces in their feud with the former world champion.
He noted that while the duo has not shown any glimpse of being faces on Raw, the officials believe that Randy ‘is the master heel’ and the Viper will help his opponents complete this turn slowly over the next few weeks.
On an interesting note, PWinsider is reporting that Vince McMahon was behind this segment and the whole thing is 100% a product of the Boss’ vision.
The site also claims that several people had even argued against this spot. The feeling was that it was a weak opening segment for the show which needed to be overhauled but their objections were obviously overruled.
The opening segment of Raw saw Alexa Bliss holding her “A Moment of Bliss” show with Randy Orton as a guest. During the segment, Orton suggested that Alexa is The Fiend’s vulnerability.
The lights then went out and Wyatt appeared in the ring but the female star was seen in Randy’s arms. The Fiend begged Orton to hand Bliss back to him which he did. The segment ended with Randy Orton leaving the ring:
Bruce Prichard has become one of the most powerful people backstage in WWE after the removal of Paul Heyman from the creative team, according to latest reports.
According to reports from PWinsider, the current creative direction of the company falls under the Chairman Of The Boards Vince McMahon and Executive Director Bruce Prichard.
This makes the former WWE manager an important figure backstage and some people have even described him as the ‘most powerful person’ in the company right now after the members of the McMahon family.
Everything is said to be flowing through Prichard when it comes to the creative recently and the former Brother Love’s word is said to be “very much the gospel” for Mr McMahon.
Though this power also seems to have its side effects as the report says that Bruce Prichard’s position has led to a lot of frustration and heat towards him among wrestlers, at least privately.
Bruce Prichard returned to WWE in 2018. He took over the duties of the Executive Director of SmackDown in October last year, after the departure of Eric Bischoff.
Following Paul Heyman’s removal as the head of Raw’s creative team in June this year, it was reported that Bruce Prichard will be leading the creative teams for both the brands, making him one of the most powerful persons in the company.