Viewership was down for both TNA Impact Wrestling and Ring Of Honor on Destination America this week.
TNA Impact Wrestling had a total of 280,000 viewers, down from 374,000 last week. The first airing at 9pm EST drew 202,000 viewers while the 11pm EST replay/West Coast feed after ROH TV did 78,000 viewers, up from 81,000 last week.
After seeing an increase in viewership last week, Ring Of Honor was back down this week. ROH on Destination America this past Wednesday drew 114,000 viewers, up from last week’s final total of 172,000 viewers.
WWE has been more aggressive as of late when it comes to contacting contracted stars in both Ring Of Honor and Lucha Underground about coming into the company through NXT.
All the top names you’d expect that WWE might be interested in are being contacted, without the previously held “looks” and “size” limitations that the promotion has been known to be biased about in the past because the plan is to load up on the NXT roster.
WWE wants to add a lot of top workers to the NXT roster in 2016 for more extensive touring with what would basically be a WWE branded and WWE-level production type of show, but with ROH level main event matches.
A key, as was explained to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, is that Vince McMahon didn’t want ROH or TNA talents on the main WWE roster if they had been exposed on national cable television already, and if they had been merchandised.
The issue with ROH talent, which is said to be changing, was the fact that the promotion blindsided WWE when they got on Destination America. This is reportedly not an issue when it comes to those same talents working in NXT, where there is more of an emphasis on it being a work-rate promotion.
Ring Of Honor COO Jeff Koff recently appeared as a guest on Busted Open Radio to discuss ROH’s new national cable television deal with Comet. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On ROH TV moving to Comet:
“Comet was launched on October 31st so we’re on – what? – November 16th? So this is a 17-day-old, basically, network….One of the things that I’m most proud of, and it’s by being part of Sinclair, is that unlike any other promotion, and I don’t have to name them, we will always be available to the consumer for free because our platforms are over-the-air free, the Sinclair platforms. On October 31st when we, and I say we, launch Comet, we did this in conjunction with a partnership with MGM and MGM has a tremendous, tremendous library of science-fiction programming and movies. We thought that Ring of Honor would be the perfect companion for some of that programming which is why we made the move to Comet….Comet is one of our owned platforms, like I said, in partnership with MGM so we saw it as a natural place to go for our Ring of Honor weekly television show.”
On the availability of Comet:
“Actually, Comet reaches more homes than Destination America in its initial launch footprint. We’re in New York, Chicago, LA, those markets, automatically. We’re getting those markets – Philadelphia, Seattle, Denver. We’re getting those markets so you’re really not losing Ring of Honor in those markets. You’re just going to have to locate them at a different place, which is not uncommon. It’s not uncommon in our industry. Those markets are available and, by the way, not allowed to talk about the group, but after January 1st, there’s going to be a huge group, a broadcasting group, that’s also going to join the Comet network. We’re really excited about that….We’ve really done a good job in ‘expanding our brand’, as we say, but the fan can watch the weekly television on our website for no charge as well. There’s not a person in the world, really, if you want to know the truth, that can’t access Ring of Honor weekly programming at no charge.”
It’s official: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 10 at the Tokyo Dome on January 4th will be available in English, but they’re making a different play from what they did for this year’s show. Kevin Kelly announced on his latest podcast that he and Matt Striker, the voices of ROH and Lucha Underground, respectively, will return as NJPW’s English announcing team. They debuted last month at the King of Pro Wrestling event. The show will air live on NJPW World in both languages, unlike this year’s event, which aired in Japanese on that service and in English on traditional pay-per-view via a deal with GFW. It remains to be seen if NJPW will ad a proper English version of the website, as right now it’s still in Japanese with an English Google Translate button.
Kelly made the announcement at the 1:39:39 mark of the podcast, saying that “On January 4th, I, once again, am going back to New Japan Pro Wrestling…I’m going to be part of the broadcast team for Wrestle Kingdom 10 (NJPWorld broadcast). I’m very excited…” Acknowledging the criticism that he sounded too new to the NJPW product last time, he added that “I’ll be more comfortable next time, and I think it will be much improved.”
Last year’s GFW production, with Jeff Jarrett producing, was called by Jim Ross and Striker to rave reviews. For King of Pro Wrestling, NJPW made the hiring on their own. Mauro Ranallo and Josh Barnett, who call NJPW’s American TV show on AXS TV, were not contacted. The AXS deal is with TV Asahi, NJPW’s broadcast partner in Japan, and not the promotion itself. ROH, on the other hand, which Kelly works for, is effectively NJPW’s American affiliate promotion.
ROH just sent out a press release indicating that they’ll be airing Wednesday nights at midnight ET/11 p.m. CT on COMET, a new digital subchannel from MGM and ROH parent company Sinclair Broadcasting. COMET launched on Halloween and is primarily an outlet for sci-fi and fantasy reruns like Stargate SG-1. Digital subchannels are the additional stations that were introduced via the American transition to digital television, opening up bandwidth for additional programming. Networks like Antenna TV, MeTV, Retro TV, ThisTV, and Buzzr are some of the more well-known subchannels.
Availability depends on the market, the signal strength, and the cable provider (they may not carry it). For example, in New York, COMET is technically available via WZME in Bridgeport, Connecticut, which may not be on all area cable providers and would be difficult to receive via antenna in much of the area.
As for Destination America, the press release also confirms that they’re done with that network after November 25th. That’s the end of the original contract, and there was (largely baseless) speculation online that they’d stick around until TNA finishes up in January or February as companion programming.
Here’s ROH’s press release:
Ring of Honor to air nationally on COMET starting December 2nd
#WatchROH every Wednesday at MIDNIGHT EST/11pm CST on COMET
(BALTIMORE, MD) – Ring of Honor (“ROH”) is proud to announce that beginning December 2nd, ROH will air its weekly television program nationally on the COMET television channel. Fans will be able to #WatchROH every Wednesday night at midnight for the latest Ring of Honor action.
“Ring of Honor has been enjoying tremendous growth and expansion across the broadcast space, including new local TV deals in strategic markets, and even internationally with L’Equipe 21 in France,” said Ring of Honor COO, Joe Koff. “As we continue to push for greater domestic and international distribution, Ring of Honor truly showcases itself as world-class wrestling. Having Ring of Honor on COMET, in addition to the availability in Sinclair markets and independent agreements, means fans across the United States can continue to enjoy ROH television weekly.”
Ring of Honor’s weekly episodes recently enjoyed great success on Destination America, peaking at 227,000 viewers on a single television airing. ROH’s 26-week deal signed in May 2015 with Destination America is set to expire, which will see ROH’s final episode air on the channel on November 25th, 2015.
Sinclair Television Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) (“Sinclair”), and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (“MGM”), recently announced that COMET, the first-ever 24 hour/7 day per week science fiction multi-channel network, which will feature more than 1,500 hours of premium MGM content, would premiere in over 60% of the country and over 65 million homes on October 31st of this year. The network will debut in all top markets including New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Chicago, IL; Philadelphia, PA; Seattle, WA; Denver, CO; St. Louis, MO; San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA; Washington D.C.; Boston, MA; Pittsburgh, PA and Houston, TX. In addition to the Sinclair owned television stations, COMET will also launch on a number of Tribune and Titan stations.
As we get closer to the end of 2015, the futures of TNA and Ring of Honor on Destination America are becoming more clear. Unfortunately, there are no pleasant surprises here and it’s mostly confirmations of bad news we’ve all seen coming.
According to PWInsider, Ring of Honor is definitely finishing up with Destination America over the next few weeks and their ‘trial period’ deal will not be renewed. There had been some viewership benchmarks set that ROH needed to hit in order to get renewed, which were not met. The buzz in ROH is that they have a new TV outlet lined up, but that’s not confirmed. ROH management has indicated that some announcements are coming soon.
No shocker here, but TNA will also be finishing up with Destination America as well. There is concern in TNA regarding the ROH situation and the fact that ROH might have TV lined up already.
Then there’s Jeff Jarrett waiting in the wings with 16 episodes of Global Force Wrestling TV being shopped around to cable networks.
Viewership was up for both TNA Impact Wrestling and Ring Of Honor on Destination America this week.
TNA Impact Wrestling had a total of 374,000 viewers, up from 343,000 last week. The first airing at 9pm EST drew 277,000 viewers while the 11pm EST replay/West Coast feed after ROH TV did 97,000 viewers, up from 81,000 last week.
Ring Of Honor bounced back this Wednesday after dropping in viewership last week. ROH on Destination America this week drew 172,000 viewers, up from last week’s final total of 141,000 viewers.
Matt Myers Jr., the marketing manager for Ring Of Honor, has given his notice to the promotion. He will finish up with ROH this Friday.
Myers Jr. was hired this past summer to oversee ROH’s marketing, branding, publicity and business endeavors. He was reportedly well-liked by those in ROH, and simply seemed ready to move on to something else.
ROH’s current Events Operator Gary Juster and Office Manager Greg Gilleland will be taking over the majority of Myers Jr.’s workload until a permanent replacement is found.
– There has been talk within WWE recently about the company being interested in signing Ring Of Honor star Michael Bennett and his partner Matt Tavern as a tag-team when their deals are up with the promotion. Bennett’s wife, former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis, noted her ROH deal is up after the end of this year. Whether or not WWE has interest in Kanellis returning remains to be seen.
– As noted, Rachel Ellering, daughter of WWE Hall Of Famer Paul Ellering, has been training with Lance Storm at his Storm Wrestling Academy out of Canada. The second generation competitor is scheduled to make her professional debut in a tag-team match with Storm at the Prairie Wrestling Alliance event on November 21st.
Viewership was down for both TNA Impact Wrestling and Ring of Honor on Destination America this week.
TNA Impact Wrestling had total viewership of 343,000 viewers, down from 364,000 last week. The first airing at 9pm EST drew 262,000 viewers (slightly down) while the 11pm EST replay/West Coast feed after ROH TV did 81,000 viewers, down from 98,000 last week.
Ring of Honor settled back down to reality after doing its best audience yet last week. ROH averaged 141,000 viewers this week, down from last week’s 227,000 viewership spike.
The Young Bucks’ new deal with Ring of Honor has a few unique clauses that are sure to catch the attention of other contracted ROH talent.
The 1-year agreement involves exclusivity in North America, with the only exception being Pro Wrestling Guerrilla. The duo will still be able to work for New Japan Pro Wrestling. In fact, NJPW actually encouraged the two to sign the ROH deal because they don’t want them getting hurt by working so many independent dates because of how hard they go in the ring. NJPW’s relationship with ROH will also allow them the ability to coordinate dates for the team.
They also retain their own merchandising rights and will be allowed to keep their official t-shirt store at Pro Wrestling Tees, something that no other ROH-contracted talent is allowed to do. Additionally, they are the only ROH talent allowed to work for PWG or any other promotion in the US.
The feeling on the independent scene that the Young Bucks’ deal with ROH shows that Sinclair Broadcasting is willing to spend more money for talent than in the past.
Both Ring of Honor and TNA Impact Wrestling saw nice increases in viewership for this week’s shows on Destination America.
Ring of Honor at 11pm EST drew 227,000 viewers, a major increase from last week’s 132,000. This was by far the most-watched episode of ROH TV in the late night timeslot.
Impact Wrestling featuring the World Title Series drew a total of 364,000 viewers for both airings, up from last week’s total of 327,000. The first airing drew 266,000 (up slightly from 264,000) while the midnight replay / West Coast feed did 98,000 this week (up from 63,000).
Nick and Matt Jackson of The Young Bucks have revealed that they have signed with Ring of Honor in what they’re calling the most lucrative deal in company history.
Earlier this week,the duo teased they had signed with a ‘major promotion’ and named WWE, NXT, TNA, ROH, Lucha Underground and NJPW as possible homes for them.
Here’s the official press release, sent in from ROH:
Matt & Nick Jackson “The Young Bucks” sign with Ring of Honor
SUPERKICKPARTY!!!!(BALTIMORE, MD) – After years of touring the globe as one of the most popular free-agent tag-team, Matt and Nick Jackson, a.k.a. The Young Bucks, have signed exclusive contracts with Ring of Honor. “We evaluate the landscape right now, we look around at professional wrestling, and everything is evolving. Tag team wrestling is what we do, and this place [Ring of Honor] has the best tag team division in the world, and we want the best competition,” said Matt Jackson. “We want the best matches. It’s all about quality for us. We call Ring of Honor home; you’ll be seeing a lot of us.”
Since 2009, The Young Bucks have regularly fought in Ring of Honor’s tag division and have proved to be one of the most entertaining tag teams in history, continuing to push their popularity with signature taunts and world-famous SUPERKICK parties. Ring of Honor is excited to officially be the home of the Young Bucks.
The Young Bucks will also continue to compete for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where they are part of the Bullet Club through ROH’s continued working partnership. They are also 3-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions and have won the Ring of Honor World Tag Team Championship once before, but are hungry to get the gold back again.
More information about The Young Bucks, including upcoming appearances and featured products, can be found on ROHWrestling.com.
The Wednesday, October 21st edition of TNA Impact Wrestling drew 264,000 viewers on Destination America for the first airing and 63,000 viewers for the second airing, making a combined total of 327,000 viewers. That number ties last week for the third lowest viewership total since moving to Destination America.
Ring Of Honor on Destination America fell 24 percent this week going head-to-head with the New York Mets vs. Chicago Cubs MLB game, which drew 7.94 million viewers, as ROH drew 132,000 viewers on Wednesday night.
Both TNA Impact wrestling and Ring of Honor saw significant increases in viewership for this week’s 10/7 shows.
– The post-Bound For Glory edition of TNA Impact Wrestling totaled 447,000 viewers, up over 100,000 from the previous week. This was the most-watched episode of Impact in 3 months, dating back to July 8th.
The first airing of Impact averaged 335,000 viewers, up from 275,000 viewers last week.
The West Coast airing / late-night replay did 112,000, nearly doubling last week’s 69,000.
Overall, a strong showing for TNA and a refreshing sign of momentum for the show.
– Ring of Honor did 175,000 viewers, up from 127,000 viewers last week.
The episode featured matches from MCU Field in Brookly, including Kazuchika Okada vs. Roderick Strong in the main event.
It was the most-watched episode of ROH since July 29th, the week they were bumped from prime time.
– Ring Of Honor performer Cheeseburger was backstage at the WWE live event in Trenton, New Jersey on Friday evening. According to PWInsider.com, Cheeseburger was at the show to hang out, particularly with Chris Jericho, who has been praising him on social media as of late.
– WWE has signed a new licensing agreement with Chalk Link to produce new WWE Legends “Fanimation” jackets for “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, Ultimate Warrior, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Andre the Giant, Ric Flair and “The Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase.
– The following RAW Fallout video features Becky Lynch talking to Eden backstage at the show. Lynch comments on Paige losing to Natalya on RAW and Charlotte defending her WWE Divas Championship against Nikki Bella at WWE Hell In A Cell.
This week’s Ring of Honor and TNA Impact Wrestling shows on Destination America both saw drops in viewership from the previous week.
– Wednesday night’s Ring of Honor show averaged 127,000 viewers, down significantly from 168,000 the previous week.
– Impact Wrestling drew a total of 344,000 viewers, down from 394,000 the previous week.
The first airing of Impact drew 275,000 viewers, basically even with 272,000 last week. The midnight replay drew 69,000 viewers, down from last week’s 122,000.
THe Pretty Boy Killers defeated The Washington Bullets in the dark match.
Episode #1
Matt Sydal defeated ACH via Shooting Star press to tie their best of five series at two wins apiece. After the match, The Addiction attacked both men, but The All Night Express made the save to set up a new program between the two teams.
Silas Young lead the Real man training with the Beer City Bruiser with the Boys
Silas Young & Beer City Bruiser def Boys with Misery
Jay Lethal defeated Watanabe to retain the ROH Television Championship with the Lethal Injection after hitting a low blow while Truth Martini ran interference.
Episode #2
All Night Express defeated The Addiction.
Michael Elgin and reDRagon issued a challenge to the Kingdom who then cut a promo on them.
Jay Briscoe def eated Adam Page in a no disqualification match with a Jay Driller through a table.
Episode #3
Moose defeated Donovan Dijak
Dalton Castle and Cedric Alexander got into some kind of of skirmish,.
Cedric Alexander defeated Dalton Castle. After the match, Veda Scott complained about unsafe working conditions and announced that she and Cedric were suing ROH
Jay Lethal and Truth Martini cut a promo that led to Nigel McGuinness naming Roderick strong the number one contender to the television title.
reDRagon and Michael Elgin defeated The Kingdom (Adam Cole, Mike Bennett, and Matt Taven) after reDRagon hit Chasing the Dragon on Bennett. Cole laid out his opponents after the match. Kingdom laid out Kyle O’Reilly. O’Reilly challenged Cole for a match that night. This all led to McGuinness booking the next week’s main event.
Episode #4
The Young Bucks defeated The Boys.
Mark Briscoe and B.J. Whitmer got into it.
Roderick Strong defeated Will Ferrara by submission with the Stronghold.
Adam Cole defeated Kyle O’Reilly and A.J. Styles in a triple threat match.There was a big brawl with all of the stablemates with the Bullet Club coming out on top.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated his official blog with his latest thoughts and opinions on a number of subjects. Below are some of the highlights.
On tonight’s ROH PPV: “Good luck to ROH on their PPV tonight in San Antonio that is a traditional PPV also available on iPPV. This group has a stout lineup booked and will not be out performed anyone bell to bell. They often times work a little fast for my tastes but there is never a lack of effort by their talented roster.”
On the WWE Divas work this week: “The WWE women had a solid week of in ring action too and I expect Charlotte vs Nikki Bella to have a really good bout Sunday at WWE NOC. The women who party less and spend more time on perfecting their game will find much more money and success than those that feel compelled to enjoy the night life too often.”
On Seth Rollins: “If Seth Rollins doesn’t become the next “it” guy in WWE it won’t be for a lack of exposure. I’m a Rollins fan because I see some of the great, HBK in him at times. plus I admire Rollins work ethic. WWE is walking a thin line in overexposing Seth, IMO, but thus far he is holding up well but it won’t always be that way if Rollins continues to be all over the TV every week.
For those that think that Rollins is being booked “weak” I couldn’t disagree more. Heels of average size, like Rollins, are naturally vulnerable which isn’t a sign of weakness but a sign of reality. A champion who is beatable but has to cheat to win is money. Always has been and always will be. Gorgeous George, Buddy Rogers, Ric Flair and HBK are just a few of the examples of what I just outlined and please don’t hit back with the “…but times have changed” line.”
Check out the complete blog at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
Ring of Honor World Heavyweight and TV Champion Jay Lethal recently appeared on Ring Rust Radio and commented on whether WWE is copying ROH storylines by having their top champion Seth Rollins also hold a secondary title.
“I just happen to think it’s total coincidence,” Lethal said. “In wrestling, you’re constantly trying to do what’s never been done or what hasn’t been done in a really long time. I can only remember such an event happening and the one that comes to mind is Warrior and Hogan, intercontinental title and world title. That was our mindset, and I’m sure it’s their mindset too. To say that we inspired their story line, if I could find out that it was 100% true, I would be so honored. Man what an honor to say you did something that inspired the number one wrestling company in the world. Especially since for years they have done things that have inspired other wrestling promotions.”
He also spoke about what it’s like to finally be the face of Ring of Honor. “I hope this doesn’t sound too cocky, but I don’t feel any pressure in that aspect” he said.
“To use your words, I feel like if ROH hitched their wagon to me, it’s because they are enjoying, like, agree, and approve of everything I am doing. If I didn’t remain to just do what I am doing, then I feel that could have some negative impact. I am in the spot I am in because I deserve it and work hard and have been doing something the company likes. Just keep doing what I am doing and the company will keep liking it and happy that they put me in that spot. I don’t feel any pressure in that aspect because I will just keep doing what I have been doing. No need for the extra pressure or to make it more interesting, just keep doing what I have been doing and everything should be good, that’s my logic.”
The Wednesday, August 26th edition of Ring Of Honor on Destination America, which featured an ROH Tag-Team title main event, drew 149,000 total viewers, up slightly from last week’s show, which drew 145,000 viewers.
This week’s “Turning Point” edition of TNA Impact Wrestling, which also aired on Destination America on Wednesday evening, drew 362,000 total viewers for their first and second airing combined. The number was down, however, from last week’s combined total of 396,000 viewers.
Alex Shelley says he shattered two of his front teeth at last night’s ROH Field of Honor event in Brooklyn, after taking a knee from Mark Briscoe. Shelley tweeted that his sister saw him wrestle for the first time last night and now his family wants him to retire.
TNA Impact Wrestling showed increases in viewership for both their first-run and replay shows this week. The Wednesday, August 19th edition of Impact Wrestling that aired at 9pm drew 323,000 viewers, while the midnight replay drew 73,000 viewers. The total of 396,000 viewers is the best number the show has done since July 29th.
The lone airing of Ring Of Honor television at 11pm drew 145,000 viewers, slightly down from last week’s show.
Ring Of Honor issued a press release this week regarding an upcoming announcement to be made about the working relationship between ROH and New Japan Pro Wrestling.
ROH sent out the following press release on Friday:
At the Ring of Honor television taping in Philadelphia on Friday, September 21st , Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling management will be making a special announcement impacting their working relationship at 7:10 p.m. ET on ROHWrestling.com/ROHUSTREAM.
Ring of Honor is hosting New Japan wrestlers at two monumental events this weekend, beginning on August 21st in Philadelphia’s famed 2300 Arena for a spectacular television taping. One night later on August 22nd, ROH and NJPW will compete at Brooklyn’s own MCU Park, which will be available as a DVD and on VOD. Ring of Honor is incredibly honored to continue to host such fantastic matches with the stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Additional information about this announcement will be made available on ROHWrestling.com shortly after the live press conference.
Ring Of Honor booker Delirious announced at the beginning of the final G-1 Climax show that ROH will be heading to Japan in 2016 for a multi-show tour.
While specific dates or other information is available yet, we can confirm that New Japan Pro Wrestling and ROH have been working on putting this deal together for months, and that they may be running a 2-3 show tour in the first quarter of the new year.
There will likely be additional information regarding ROH’s 2016 tour of Japan coming in the near future. Stick with us here at SEScoops.com for all of the updates.