Sammy Guevara has done a lot during his tenure with AEW thus far and has much more to accomplish in his pro wrestling career. With great success also comes with challenges.
He has faced this in the way of criticism among fans, which has led to the label attached to his name as being a dangerous performer. Most notably, last August, he tossed a chair towards the head of Matt Hardy that resulted in the future Hall of Famer needing to get stitches as he used the wrong chair that wasn’t gimmicked.
“The Matt stuff, a bunch of unfortunate stuff happened there,” Guevara said during an appearance on Wrestling Inc. Daily “It was almost like we were cursed for a minute.”
He recalled how they had a great match at Double or Nothing last year and that’s what people forget. One minute, nothing bad happened then all of a sudden other things started happening including the Broken Rules Match at All Out where Hardy was knocked out after a botched table spot.
“It is what it is man. People can have their opinions. That’s their right. I know who I am. It’s wrestling. This isn’t the easiest of things to do, and I know everybody wants to be safe and stuff, but this stuff is dangerous to do. As much as everyone wants to be like, ‘He’s dangerous.’ There’s a reason I’m in the ring. These people are not. What we do is very dangerous, and there’s a reason I’m doing this dangerous thing and they’re watching this dangerous thing.”
Guevara will be part of the Inner Circle vs. Pinnacle Blood and Guts match this Wednesday night on Dynamite.
Roman Reigns defended his Universal Championship against Daniel Bryan on Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown. The stipulation to go along with this match was if Bryan lost then he would be banished from SmackDown.
The match saw Bryan work over the right arm of Reigns. It was a battle between the supreme bigger champion against the hungry underdog. The back and forth match saw Reigns lock in the guillotine choke for the win to retain the title. Bryan’s SmackDown career is over, but he never tapped. Instead, he passed out.
WWE did a show-long storyline last week that was about Reigns responding to Cesaro\’s challenge for a Universal Championship match, which Bryan advocated for Cesaro to get the title shot. It turned out that Bryan teamed with Cesaro to defeat Seth Rollins & Jey Uso.
Paul Heyman later promised that at the end of the show Reigns would give an answer to Cesaro\’s challenge. Fast forward to the main event segment, Reigns told Cesaro that his answer is no and will always be no because he doesn’t think Cesaro deserves it and isn\’t on his level.
Reigns said the Universal Champion issues the challenges around here before turning his attention to Bryan. Reigns gave Bryan one more shot at the title, which Cesaro sided with Bryan. Reigns said he doesn\’t want to see Bryan on his show again after Bryan loses and thus the match was made official.
Andrade is headed to Federacion Wrestling. The Mexico-based upstart promotion will hold its first pay-per-view on June 19th.
During a virtual press conference held on Friday, the former WWE star was officially announced as appearing at the event. He will wrestle as part of La Facción Ingobernable.
Andrade, RUSH, Bestia Del Ring, and a surprise partner against Matt Taven, PJ Black, and two surprise partners has been booked for the June 19th pay-per-view event.
Penta El Zero M & Rey Fenix against Bandido & Dragon Lee is the other match booked for the show. Red Velvet and Tay Conti will compete in six-woman trios action.
Andrade – Federacion Wrestling
This marks his second post-WWE booking as his other match will take place on July 31st.
Andrade requested his release from WWE last month, but at first, it was denied. Six days later, WWE announced in a statement posted on their website Sunday evening that he had been released.
When he departed from WWE, he didn\’t have the traditional 90-day non-compete clause like other wrestlers have been under, which is the reason that he was able to sign with this promotion.
Back in February, there was a situation between Sammy Guevara and Impact Wrestling. The AEW star was pulled from TV tapings with the idea of him working for the promotion after he quit Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle faction, but he didn’t like the creative direction and was later informed by Jericho to go home after he expressed criticism.
He was supposed to win three matches at the Impact tapings. It was reported at the time that Impact was mad about AEW sending talent over, putting plans in place, and then the talent wouldn’t do what was planned. In an interview with Fightful, Guevara commented on the matter.
“It’s business at the end of the day. What was presented, I didn’t see it working for me. I still wish nothing but the best for Impact and everybody there. I didn’t put any information out online and I know there’s only a certain amount of people that knew certain information, so the information that was put out online is only coming from one side.
I wish we could have kept it more close-knit instead of having to make it everybody’s business, because I feel like it wasn’t necessary for everybody to know any of this stuff. So that’s why I started trolling on the vlog, and certain things are coming out where I’m like, ‘Yo, this is not true at all’. So, don’t believe everything you read online. But hey man, it is what it is. We all could have handled things better, but that’s life in general man. You live, you learn, you grow and you go.”
He continued by noting that he has a lot of friends in Impact and there’s plenty of wrestlers he’d like to work with.
However, he knows that he will wrestle those wrestlers at some point whether that’s in AEW, Impact or on the independent scene.
Mick Foley has been a big supporter of women’s wrestling for years and is now making the call to WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon to make something special for the women’s division.
The WWE Hall of Famer took to Twitter to send a message to his former boss, which is to create an all-women’s brand in WWE. He also added some possible bragging rights to it as he mentioned that if McMahon doesn’t then AEW could beat him to it.
The Hardcore Legend wrote, “Dear Vince, An all women’s brand NEEDS to happen in @WWE Unless you want @AEW to beat you to the punch. Sincerely, Mick @VinceMcMahon.”
It should be noted that there’s been no talk of WWE creating an all-women’s brand, but perhaps, this suggestion made by the former WWE Champion could lead to it becoming a reality.
The closest thing to what Foley is pitching was the WWE Evolution pay-per-view, which was the first-ever women’s event under the WWE banner back on October 28, 2018, at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, in Uniondale, New York.
The April 27, 2021 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
Mercedes Martinez def. Dakota Kai via DQ
Zayda Ramier def. Toni Storm.
Bronson Reed def. Austin Theory.
Imperium def. Drake Maverick & Killian Dain.
Legado del Fantasma def. MSK and Kushida
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Ted DiBiase Appears
Cameron Grimes did segments at a jewelry shop where he was trying to find a watch. Throughout the various segments, Grimes was trying to find a watch for himself and there was a man in the shop while reading a newspaper.
Finally, “The Million Dollar Man” appeared with the same watch that Grimes wanted and he laughed at the NXT star.
The Hall of Famer shared that he was going to do some work with Grimes a few weeks ago and there it was.
WWE NXT Women’s Tag Team Champions Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart will be in action against Aliyah and Jessi Kamea in a non-title match.
WWE announced this match this afternoon when they released a video of Robert Stone, Aliyah, and Kamea arriving where Stone vowed that his clients would win the match to become the official number one contenders to the NXT Women\’s Tag Team titles.
Aliyah said she and Kamea couldn’t wait to show the world that they can defeat Blackheart & Moon twice. This comes after last week’s show where Indie Heartwell stated NXT General Manager William Regal had agreed to give her and Candice LeRae a shot at titles, but there wasn’t a date given.
Before the match could even start, the heels took out the champions at ringside and celebrated in the ring with the titles.
Mercedes Martinez faced Dakota Kai in singles action.
Last week on NXT, Martinez did a promo just one week after she called NXT Women\’s Champion Raquel Gonzalez. She noted that she hadn’t heard back from the champion, but only had Kai talk for her. Kai said Martinez wouldn\’t be getting a shot at Gonzalez\’s title.
As a result, Martinez called Gonzalez a lapdog and said that she\’s still in Kai\’s shadow. Thus, Martinez vowed to take out Kai to make sure nothing was left in her way to getting a title shot.
There was a botched spot early on in the match where Kai landed badly on her right shoulder and was favoring it. Gonzalez hit a big boot to Martinez to cause the DQ. Post-match, she attacked her.
Bronson Reed vs. Austin Theory took place with the stipulation that if Reed wins, he earns another future title shot from NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano.
The feud between Reed and Gargano started this month when Reed won the Gauntlet Eliminator match at NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night one. He earned the right to challenge for Gargano\’s North American Title on night two, but Gargano defeated him to retain.
Last week, Reed confronted Gargano on NXT to tell him that he still has his eyes on Gargano\’s title. Gargano told Reed to get to the back of the line, which led to Theory saying he already talked to NXT general manager William Regal, who told him the only way Reed will get another title shot is if he defeats Theory. Thus, this match was booked.
The match saw them have a back and forth match. Lumis came down to the ring and stalked Heartwell. Reed won with his top rope splash.
Six-man action as Legado del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Raul Mendoza, Joaquin Wilde) did battle with NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida and NXT Tag Team Champions MSK.
This came after Kushida answered Escobar\’s open challenge on NXT two weeks ago and beat him to win the NXT Cruiserweight Championship. Last week’s show saw Kushida retain against Oney Lorcan. Post-match, Legado Del Fantasma attacked Kushida until NXT Tag Team Champions made the save.
This match was the main event of the show and a really fun back and forth affair. The tag team champions won it with their finisher.
Adam Cole sat down with Arash Markazi, who has formerly worked for the LA Times, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated, for a new interview.
Cole dropped a loss to Kyle O\’Reilly in the main event of TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night two earlier this month. Two weeks ago on NXT, WWE aired footage of O\’Reilly and Cole being taken to the hospital by an ambulance. Cole yelled at O\’Reilly and threatened him as they entered the hospital.
Last week, O\’Reilly did a promo where he said he was done with Cole and talked about potentially going after Karrion Kross\’ NXT Championship or Johnny Gargano\’s NXT North American Championship.
In this segment, Cole was seen poolside on the phone. He said he has been carrying NXT on his back for four years and the Undisputed Era turned their back on him. He said that Kyle isn’t ready to be a main eventer and is insecure. He said as long as he’s in NXT, Kyle won’t take his spot. Cole said that Karron Kross’ time is ticking, but he’ll decide when that happens. He vowed that he’ll show people the best version of himself. We see Kyle watching the interview on TV.
Sadie Gibbs announced on her official Instagram account that she has retired from wrestling.
Gibbs participated on a tour with Stardom in Japan before she joined AEW in 2019. She made her in-ring promotional debut at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view event where she worked the Women\’s Casino Battle Royale and ended being one of three women to eliminate Awesome Kong. Gibbs was released from AEW last August.
Gibbs posted a lengthy statement on Instagram, which you can read an excerpt here:
“It’s been a really confusing year and half for me, but I’ve always been good at following my instinct and letting go AND HAVING NOTHING BUT GRACE IN THE PATH AHEAD OF ME.
I’ve decided in order for me to excel in my new endeavours, coaching speaking teaching BEING THE LEADER which I’ve always been.
I have to let go! And set my intentions on what it is I want from my life and where I see long term sustainable fulfilment.
And those doors are opening and it’s about time I conserved all my energy and focus on this new chapter.I will forever be THE AMAZING GRACE! I will forever be the GIRL WHO DID A CORKSCREW SASUKE SPECIAL ! I WILL FOREVER BE #UNDEFINABLE.”
Gibbs had a tryout with WWE in 2017 but wasn’t signed at the time. In addition to her wrestling career, she has a CrossFit, gymnastics, and MMA background.
Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.774 million viewers with a 0.49 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. This is down from last week’s 1.907 million viewers and the 0.61 rating.
Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Monday night:
The first hour did 1.775 million viewers and a 0.49 rating (A18-49).
The second hour did 1.830 million viewers and a 0.50 rating.
The final hour of the show had just 1.718 million viewers and a 0.47 rating.
This episode featured Elias, Jaxson Ryker, and The Miz vs. The New Day & Damian Priest, Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax & Rhea Ripley vs. Lana, Naomi, & Asuka, and T-BAR & MACE vs. Drew McIntyre & Braun Strowman, and a late addition in the main event where McIntyre battled Strowman.
SmackDown Viewership
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.121 million viewers. This is up from the 2.119 million viewers on FOX that the show did for the previous week.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.54 rating in the 18-49 demos, down from the 0.56 rating the previous week’s show. The episode drew an average of 2.042 million viewers in the overnight ratings, down from the previous week that did 1.996 million viewers.
The first hour saw it pull in 2.046 million viewers while hour two did 2.032 million viewers. The show did 2.001 million viewers in hour one while hour two did 1.992 million viewers a week ago.
WWE has made a change to the scheduled WWE Title Match at WrestleMania Backlash.
Originally, Bobby Lashley was supposed to WWE Title against Drew McIntyre in a one-on-one match. However, on Monday’s Raw, Strowman beat McIntyre in the main event to earn the right to be added to the match and make it a triple threat match.
On this show, Strowman and McIntyre argued at the start. First, Strowman beat Mace and T-Bar in a handicap match only for it to be turned back into the originally advertised tag team match that saw Mace and T-Bar go over via count out.
Strowman went to WWE official Adam Pearce later on and demanded a match with McIntyre in the headliner and if he won then he would be added to the WrestleMania Backlash title match. That happened after McIntyre was distracted by Lashley, MVP, T-Bar and Mace, so now it’s a three-way.
WWE holds the WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event on Sunday, May 16, 2021 from Tampa, Florida at Yuengling Center, which will air on Peacock.
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair vs. Bayley is the only other title match confirmed for this show.
Randy Orton wrestled Matt Riddle in a singles match on last week’s episode of Raw after WWE changed its plans as Orton had been advertised to wrestle Braun Strowman on this show.
After the match, there had been a lot of speculation about Orton’s status as he suffered some sort of right shoulder injury during it. The injury appeared to happen when he hit a standard powerslam on Riddle.
On the broadcast, Corey Graves and the rest of the announcers picked up on an apparent injury. Orton continued to work the match and did use his right arm.
Fightful Select reports that Orton suffered a deep bruise around his shoulder area and was noted that at least initially there did not seem to be any major damage.
Thus, it appears he won’t be on the shelf for a long period of time. As it stands right now, there’s no word yet on whether that has changed. WWE has yet to announce him for Monday Night Raw, but it will be interesting to see whether he appears.
It’s believed that the feud with Riddle will continue. Fans may know that Orton has had a history of shoulder problems from when he was younger as it started in 2002 after making his Raw debut. At the time, it put him out of action for several months. At various times throughout his career, he has dealt with other shoulder issues.
Orton does a pre-match workout to help increase strength in his shoulders before he goes out and performs.
Impact Wrestling is back with another show, so let’s take a look at the card for the Rebellion pay-per-view event.
The event takes place on tonight (Sunday, April 25, 2021) from Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee. Impact Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion Rich Swann vs. AEw World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega in a title vs. title match is the main event. Mauro Ranallo is being brought in as the special announcer for the match.
The show kicks off at 8:00 p.m. ET and will be distributed on cable, satellite and digital pay-per-view, including DISH, DirecTV, iN Demand, Vubiquity, Rogers, Bell, Shaw and Sasktel across North America, and streaming live globally exclusively on the FITE.tv app
This will be the second PPV event of the year for Impact. The card that features several big matches appears to be finalized.
Rebellion Final Card
AEW World Champion Kenny Omega vs. Impact Wrestling World Champion Rich Swann – Title vs. Title Match
Impact Wrestling X-Division Champion Ace Austin vs. Josh Alexander vs. TJP.
Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo vs. Tenille Dashwood.
Impact Wrestling Knockouts Tag Team Champions Fire N\’ Flayva vs. Jordynne Grace & Rachael Ellering.
Impact Wrestling Tag Team Champions FinJuice vs. The Good Brothers.
Violent by Design vs. James Storm & Chris Sabin & Willie Mack & Eddie Edwards.
Matt Cardona vs. Brian Myers.
Sami Callihan vs. Trey Miguel – Last Man Standing Match
WWE has confirmed another big title match for the upcoming WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view. Hot off a historic championship victory at WrestleMania 37, Bianca Belair will defend the SmackDown women\’s title against Bayley.
WWE first announced the news in an email blast promoting Friday\’s SmackDown. It was later confirmed in a video posted on the company\’s official social media channels.
Check out their interaction on Friday\’s WWE SmackDown:
WrestleMania Backlash Card
In addition to Bianca Belair vs. Bayley, the only other match confirmed for WrestleMania Backlash is WWE Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre in a WrestleMania rematch. Additional matches will be announced in the weeks ahead.
WWE presents the WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event on Sunday, May 16, 2021 from Tampa, Florida at Yuengling Center that will air on Peacock.
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
CM Punk stepped back into the squared circle, but for a television series. He will be appearing in at least one episode in the first season of Starz\’ series “Heels” that has Stephen Amell, who is best known from the “Arrow” series, as the leading man.
The television series completed filming its first season earlier this month. Starz has released a \’first look\’ photo of the former WWE Champion as he makes his way to the ring in this fictional universe. Meet CM Punk\’s character in Heels, Ricky Rabies!
The series about two brothers, one a babyface and the other a heel inside the ring, and the struggles they have both on camera and behind the scenes after the death of their father, the promoter of the Georgia-based wrestling promotion they both work for and have now inherited. Amell will be playing Jack Spade, the heel brother.
Punk impressed casting directors for the role of Jack Spade back in 2017, but never got the role because the project was put on hold. Amell later filled that role so now Punk will be portraying his adversary.
Punk is featured in the new horror movie Jakob\’s Wife, which was just released. He plays Deputy Colton in the film that stars Barbara Crampton.
WWE has officially announced the new class of international Performance Center recruits.
The company confirmed on Friday evening that several new talents are now training at the facility located in Orlando, Florida.
Most notably, Sari Fujimura, who debuted on NXT television as Sarray this past week, is part of the class. She went by the name Sareee before joining WWE where she worked for various promotions such as Sendai Girls, JWP Joshi Puroresu and World Woman Pro-Wrestling Diana.
WWE made the announcement by issuing the following:
Sanjana George is a 24-year-old from Bangalore, India. In addition to her passion for running grueling obstacle courses, George also holds a 5-1 record in mixed martial arts.
Jennifer Michell Cantu Iglesias is a 23-year-old champion powerlifter from Monterrey, Mexico.
Hideki Suzuki joins the WWE PC’s coaching staff. The Hokkaido, Japan, native trained in catch-as-catch can wrestling at Japan’s Snake Pit under the legendary Billy Robinson before stepping into the ring for Big Japan Pro Wrestling, Wrestle-1 and Zero1, among others. In 2017, Suzuki was named the MVP of Japanese independent wrestling by Samurai TV.
Matt Farrelly of Sydney, Australia, is a former history teacher with experience in the ring and on reality television. He competed on “Australian Survivor: Champions vs. Contenders” in 2019.
Stephanie De Landre of Sydney, Australia, has a background in dance and soccer, and has been a standout on the independent wrestling scene down under.
The April 20, 2021 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
GYV def. Breezango.
Sarray def. Zoey Stark.
KUSHIDA def. Oney Lorcan to retain Cruiserweight Title
Imperium def. Ever-Rise.
Kyle O\’Reilly def. Cameron Grimes.
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Io Shirai Speaks
Io Shirai\’s first appearance since losing the NXT Women\’s Championship took place on this show as she did a sit-down interview. She dropped the strap to Raquel Gonzalez in the main event of TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night one earlier this month.
Io said that she was going to take some time off and when the time is right, she would get her rematch.
Franky Monet appeared and introduced herself as well as said that Io had a great title reign. She said that she is willing to fill Io’s spot as the top star in the women’s division. Io said something to her in Japanese and said she likes cats before walking away.
A championship celebration was booked for NXT Cruiserweight Champion Kushida on this show. However, WWE changed it and booked a title match instead as Kushida did an open challenge.
The challenge was answered by Oney Lorcan. This was a really fun back and forth match. They had a stiff technical style. Kushida won with a kamura. Post-match, Legado Del Fantasma attacked him, but MSK came out to make the save and they stood tall in the ring.
This came after Kushida answered Santos Escobar\’s open challenge on last week\’s NXT and defeated him to win the strap. As a result, this marked the first title that Kushida has held since signing with WWE in 2019.
Kyle O\’Reilly made his first appearance since TakeOver: Stand & Deliver where he battled Adam Cole in an unsanctioned match on the second night two weeks ago.
Kyle opened the show with a promo about how he’s in a good mood because he no longer has to deal with Cole. He said that he found his killer instinct and is willing to pay the sacrifices to get where he wants to go. He made a time reference and said Karrion Kross has something he wants.
Cameron Grimes came out and talked about how Kyle showed he could stand and deliver. Kyle eventually decked Grimes to end the segment. They later worked the main event.
Neither O\’Reilly nor Cole appeared on NXT last week, but WWE did show footage of what happened in the aftermath of their match including Cole being stretchered out and being transported to the hospital by ambulance.
In that same footage, O\’Reilly was seen collapsing backstage and being taken out by ambulance. Funny enough, when they saw each other at the hospital at the same time, Cole started yelling at him.
Last week’s show also saw Cole and O\’Reilly\’s former Undisputed Era stablemate Roderick Strong give NXT general manager William Regal papers and told him he was done in NXT.
Sarray (formerly known as Sareee) made her NXT debut against Zoey Starks.
WWE gave Starks some offense in this match, which was surprising considering this is Sarray’s promotional debut. Sarray went over with her powerslam finisher.
Post-match, Toni Storm came out and laid out Starks.
The 24-year-old is from Tokyo, Japan. Prior to joining WWE, she worked for the likes of World Woman Pro Wrestling Diana, SEAdLINNNG, and Sendai Girls\’ Pro Wrestling.
Her signing with WWE was made official last month as she was originally supposed to move to the United States and start with WWE last year. That was delayed thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sarray is using the nickname \”The Warrior of the Sun.”
Dexter Lumis vs. LA Knight took place in a singles match.
This comes after Knight had eliminated Lumis from NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver\’s Gauntlet Eliminator match when night pinned Lumis as Lumis had his Silence choke locked on Cameron Grimes
Later on, after Knight was eliminated, Lumis put him in the Silence choke outside of the ring. Last week’s episode of NXT saw Lumis, Reed, Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon defeat The Way (Gargano, Austin Theory, Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell) in an eight-person tag team main event.
The match was pretty good. In the end, Heartwell appeared at ringside and distracted Knight to allow Lumis to hit him with an outside dive. Back in the ring, Knight caught Lumis with a face planter for the win.
Whenever CM Punk does an interview, he is asked about a possible return to pro wrestling as the fans still want to see the former WWE Champion perform inside of the squared circle.
Punk started out by stating that he has said no before in interviews because he’s not fishing for a deal and he gets offered to do a lot of stuff, but he says no to it 90% of the time because he wants to work with quality human beings. He wonders whether pro wrestling has a lack of quality human beings.
Punk said that if there is a fun and quality wrestling project that gets sent way then he will listen to it.
“I don’t need the money. And the way the wrestling business is now, it’s wacky. You’ve got WWE, who has multiple billion-dollar television deals, and the television’s awful. I go back there, I’m just another guy.
“And it’s not even that—I’d be just another guy that’s doing not-good television. I want to do stuff that’s good. I want my name attached to quality projects, where it’s fun and it makes people laugh, smile, think and people don’t hate watching it. I want to do fun stuff.”
Punk hasn’t wrestled since 2014 and instead, shifted his focus towards acting as well as fighting twice in the UFC.
Back in January, WWE expected to have 25,000 fans in attendance each night, which would give them 50,000 total, for WrestleMania 37.
It was later bumped up to 45,000 fans each night only for that number to drop back down to the original expectation of 50,000.
Tampa Sports Authority released the actual numbers to Wrestlenomics\’ Brandon Thurston. The event sold 40,806 tickets over two nights, which generated a combined $6.2 million in revenue.
The first night had 18,328 with 20,172 total tickets sold while the second night had 18,924 in the house with 20,634 total tickets sold. Comped tickets for Saturday were 1682 and 1470 for Sunday.
WWE announced 25,675 attendance on both nights from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. WWE sold 7,952 two-day packages in non-suite seating and a total of 435 suite tickets were sold for both nights.
The first night opened with WWE Champion Bobby Lashley retaining the strap against Drew McIntyre while Bianca Belair won the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship from Sasha Banks in the headliner.
On the second night, Rhea Ripley won the Raw Women’s Title from Asuka and in the headliner, Universal Champion Roman Reigns retained the title over Edge and Daniel Bryan.
WWE will hold WrestleMania 38 from Dallas, Texas next year and WrestleMania 39 in 2023 in California.
Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.907 million viewers with a 0.61 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. This is down from last week’s 2.026 million viewers and the 0.68 rating, which was the post-WrestleMania 37 edition of Raw.
Ratings were expected to be down from last week. Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Monday night:
The first hour did 2.017 million viewers and a 0.63 rating (A18-49).
The second hour did 1.981 million viewers and a 0.63 rating.
The final hour of the show had just 1.724 million viewers and a 0.57 rating.
This episode featured Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka, Randy Orton vs. Matt Riddle, Mace & T-BAR vs. Braun Strowman & Drew McIntyre, and Damian Priest vs. The Miz.
SmackDown Viewership
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.119 million viewers. This is down from the 2.250 million viewers on FOX that the show did for the previous week.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.56 rating in the 18-49 demos, down from the 0.61 rating the previous week’s show. The episode drew an average of 1.996 million viewers in the overnight ratings, down from the previous week that did 2.080 million viewers.
The first hour saw it pull in 2.001 million viewers while hour two did 1.992 million viewers. The show did 2.060 million viewers in hour one while hour two did 2.099 million viewers a week ago.
It’s been a few years since Batista worked his last match and announced his retirement. However, there are some fans who want to see “The Animal” wrestle one more match.
During an appearance for Justice Con, the former WWE star made it clear that he has no intentions of coming out of retirement.
“Don’t put that out there, people will jump all over that [laughs]. ‘He’s coming out of retirement!’ No, I’m not. It’s so hard to convince people that I’m actually retired. You have no idea how tough that discussion is.
When a professional wrestler retires, they don’t really retire, they kind of retire. If the paycheck or event is big enough, they’ll come out of retirement. It’s just not that way with me. I exited the business in such a storybook way, I could never go back. I’m just done. I got to finish on my own terms and nothing is going to bring me back and take away from that.”
Batista’s last full-time run with WWE came in 2014 at the Royal Rumble event where he won the rumble match, but eventually lost to Daniel Bryan for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in a triple threat match that also featured Randy Orton at WrestleMania 30. He stayed around for a few more months before deciding to leave again to further pursue his acting career.
His retirement match came against Triple H at WrestleMania 35 where he lost and then announced his retirement.
Billie Kay was among 10 wrestlers to be released by WWE on Thursday.
Fans may have noticed that WWE’s Executive Producer & Chief of Global Television Distribution Kevin Dunn was trending on social media and it’s due to a recent report about Kay’s WWE release.
Fightful Select reported that Dunn \”didn’t get” Kay and had verbalized that he saw a ceiling for her in the company. It’s unclear as to how that contributed to the release.
Her release was said to be a surprise to many people in WWE as she was recently used on TV in addition to her being loved in the locker room among talents as was Peyton Royce, who also got cut.
Kay’s most recent match came when she wrestled for WWE in the Tag Team Turmoil match as she teamed up with Carmella on Night One of WrestleMania 37. She signed with the company back in April 2015.
Kay, Royce, Samoa Joe, Mickie James, Mojo Rawley, Chelsea Green, Tucker, Wesley Blake, Kalisto, and Bo Dallas were let go by the company. They’re currently under a standard 90-day non-compete clause with WWE, which prevents them from having the freedom to sign with other promotions until Wednesday, July 14.
The April 13, 2021 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
The April 13, 2021 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
NXT Tag Team Champions MSK def. Killian Dain & Drake Maverick to retain.
Mercedes Martinez def. Jessi Kamea.
KUSHIDA def. Santos Escobar to become the new WWE NXT Cruiserweight Champion
Isaiah \”Swerve\” Scott def. Leon Ruff.
Bronson Reed, Dexter Lumis, and Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon def. The Way
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Karrion Kross Opens
New NXT Champion Karrion Kross kicked off the show with an in-ring promo as he is fresh off beating Finn Balor for the NXT Title at last week’s TakeOver: Stand & Deliver.
He put over Balor for being one of the greatest to ever do it but proved that Balor’s beliefs were wrong. He said that he controls everything and is in command of NXT until he says so. He said no one will outwork him and if anyone wants the title then step up because he’s ready to roll heads.
He said he doesn’t care who it is or what they’ve done because he will fold everyone until no one is left. He said it doesn’t matter where the time is, everyone pays the toll.
Raquel Gonzalez made her first appearance on WWE television after winning the NXT Women’s Title from Io Shirai on the first night of NXT TakeOver: Stand and Deliver event last week.
Gonzalez walked out to the ring for a promo about her road to being champion. She said that the one person to realize her dedication and that’s Dakota Kai.
Franky Monet, formerly known as former Impact Wrestling star Taya Valkyrie, made her debut on this show by interrupting the champion. Monet congratulated her on the title and said that she is La Wera Loca and the best division on the planet is a whole lot better now that she’s here.
Monet left and out walks Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley then SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair. They held up their titles in the ring and congratulated each other. That was it.
WWE started airing videos a few weeks ago where a Pomeranian dog was shown entering the WWE Performance Center and running around the building. The latest video showed the dog coming up to a woman in high heels.
The dog in the videos was Valkyrie and John Morrison\’s Pomeranian Prince Presley. WWE also filed for the ring name in February.
WWE did this interesting angle backstage where Roderick Strong was with his wife, Marina Shafair, and gave NXT General manager Wlliam Regal an envelope.
Regal asked if he was sure about this decision and Strong said yes. So Strong is gone from NXT. It looks like he’s headed to the main roster whether that be on Raw or SmackDown.
Undisputed NXT Cruiserweight Champion Santos Escobar issued an open challenge on this show after Escobar became the undisputed NXT Cruiserweight Champion by defeating Jordan Devlin in a ladder match at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night two last Thursday.
When the COVID-19 pandemic last year, WWE announced a tournament to crown an interim champion, which was won by Escobar. So who answered the open challenge?
Well, first, Santos cut a promo about being the undisputed champion and how his family is full of warriors as they always fight. Thus, that’s why he wanted this open challenge. KUSHIDA answered the call.
It was a fun back and forth match that came down to KUSHIDA getting a quick roll-up win. After a quick commercial break, Jordan Devlin walked up and told KUSHIDA that after he goes home for a break, he’s coming for KUSHIDA and the title.
New NXT Tag Team Champions MSK defended against Drake Maverick & Killian Dain.
The champions went over with their finishers in a solid match. Post-match, Imperium laid out MSK.
MSK became the NXT Tag Team Champions by defeating The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake) and Legado Del Fantasma (Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde) in a triple threat match at last week’s NXT TakeOver special. Maverick & Dain became the number one contenders to MSK\’s titles by defeating Breezango (Tyler Breeze & Fandango) on the pre-show.
Leon Ruff vs. Isaiah \”Swerve\” Scott in a singles match took place.
The backstory behind this match is due to them being rivals as Ruff and Scott were participants in the Gauntlet Eliminator. Scott eliminated Ruff during the match, which was won by Bronson Reed to become the #1 contender to Johnny Gargano’s North American Title.
Scott went over with his finisher in a solid match.
The Way (NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano, Austin Theory, Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell) vs. Bronson Reed, Dexter Lumis, and NXT Women\’s Tag Team Champions Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon in an eight-person tag match took place.
The reason this match was booked was due to Reed winning the Gauntlet Eliminator match at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night one and advancing to challenge for Gargano\’s North American Championship at night two, but fell short to retain his title. On the flip side, Blackheart & Moon retained their titles against LeRae & Hartwell at night two.
During the match, Heartwell had Lumis walk her backstage and she winked behind his back. The finish saw Reed hit a splash off the top rope to Theory.
Santos Escobar issued an open challenge on Wednesday’s episode of WWE NXT where he cut a promo before the match about how he comes from a family that is full of warriors. Thus, that’s why he was being a fighting champion and opening the door for anyone to take him up on his offer to step up and challenge him for the Cruiserweight Title.
KUSHIDA was that star, who brought the fight to him. The back and forth match ended when they were trading roll-ups and KUSHIDA was the one to come out on top.
Post-match, KUSHIDA was seen in the backstage area with William Regal when Jordan Devlin walked up and congratulated him on the big win. He said that he’s going home and when he comes back, he’s coming after KUSHIDA and the title.
Last year, WWE had to come up with a tournament to crown an interim champion due to the COVID-19 pandemic and because Devlin, who was the champion at the time, couldn’t make it to the United States. Escobar won his version of the NXT Cruiserweight Championship by winning the tournament as he beat Drake Maverick in the tournament finals.
Just last week at the TakeOver: Stand and Deliver special, Escobar beat Devlin in a ladder match to become the undisputed champion.
The match was highly praised among fans. Fightful Select reports Reigns’ advocate, Paul Heyman, was instrumental in orchestrating the match layout, which is like he has done in the past while working with Brock Lesnar.
The report stated unlike the other matches featured on the card, the finish had been decided relatively early. As noted, there were several matches on the card that had their finishes changed over the weekend such as The Fiend vs. Randy Orton.
Also, Edge and Bryan had creative input and came up with several ideas for the match. It was stated the entire finished product is considered a collaborative effort. The clever spot where Bryan had the yes lock while Edge had the crossface on Reigns at the same time was something that Bryan had pitched.
Regarding the decision to put Bryan in the match, the idea was only solidified the week of Fastlane.
Finally, it was stated that the match was received well backstage as Reigns received a great deal of praise for his performance.
The Undertaker made his latest WWE appearance at the Survivor Series pay-per-view event in which was promoted by WWE as his “Final Farewell.”
Taker started out by saying for 30 years he has walked to the ring to lay people to rest. He said that now his time has come to let The Undertaker rest in peace.
Many fans were somewhat disappointed by the fact that The Deadman didn’t say much considering it was his retirement speech. While speaking on the Victory Over Injury Podcast, The Undertaker talked about this.
“I’d already come to peace with my decision, but it was really real once I put the hat and coat on. Knowing I was putting the hat and coat on for the last time and walking to the ring in that capacity, it was tough.
It was probably best that I didn’t say much more than I did or I would have killed 30 years of work and turning into a blubbering idiot. It was a tough moment. I had already come to grips with the fact that I had gotten everything out of this sponge that you’re going to get, but when I put the hat and the coat on, things feel different. ‘I might have one more in me.’ No, that was it.”
At the ceremony, Vince McMahon did a short introduction speech then various legends that are close friends with Taker came out only to disappear before Taker came out to the ring.
Last month MLW President Court Bauer indicated that the promotion has signed a new broadcast deal, but no news following that had come out until now. Pwinsider.com reported the promotion is talking with a potential partner in Discovery.
Of course, Discovery had a short relationship with Impact Wrestling a few years ago as the promotion aired on Destination America, which is under the Discovery banner.
Discovery\’s launch of their new streaming service Discovery+ has seen the company be aggressive towards acquiring new content. Fans can watch Dark Side of the Ring on the streaming service, which airs on VICE TV.
It will be interesting to see whether MLW can make such a deal, which opens up some possibilities such as airing on Discovery or Investigation Discovery as they are in the area of 96 million homes.
Another possibility is DSports, which could help them internationally the platform has a strong mark share in a number of countries as a sports network. It should be noted that Discovery has been interested in the past with having wrestling on their networks as they had talks with WWE last year regarding the WWE Network.
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