SEScoops

Author: Andrew Ravens

  • WWE NXT Results (12/30): Gargano vs. Ruff, Dunne vs. Strong

    The December 30, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center. 

    WWE NXT Results 

    • Bronson Reed def. Isaiah \”Swerve\” Scott.
    • The Grizzled Young Veterans def. Breezango
    • Mercedes Martinez def. Jobber
    • Pete Dunne def. Roderick Strong.
    • Lince Dorado & Gran Metalik def. Legado del Fantasma (Joaquin Wilde & Raul Mendoza).
    • NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano def. Leon Ruff 

    Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:

    NXT North American Championship Match

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    Leon Ruff vs. NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano with the title on the line was one of the biggest match to be announced in advance. 

    The USA Network gave them an overrun as they had a 15+ minute match with various near falls and Ruff being taken more seriously. Gargano sent Ruff into the top turnbuckle then hit a spring board DDT for the win. 

    This marked the first title defense in the current championship reign of Gargano as he won back the title by defeating Ruff and Damian Priest in a triple threat match at TakeOver: WarGames earlier this month.

    Gargano had lost the title to Ruff in November as in the storyline, Gargano was trying to break his title defense curse by facing Ruff. Ruff got the win after a distraction by Priest.

    Despite the comedic approach with the character, WWE is pushing Ruff as last week he got a surprise win over Timothy Thatcher with a cradle. However, two weeks ago, Gargano & Theory defeated Ruff & Kushida in a tag team match. 

    Roderick Strong vs. Pete Dunne

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    Roderick Strong vs. Pete Dunne in a singles match took place. 

    This came after last week’s show that saw Dunne suffer a defeat in a match to Kyle O\’Reilly to decide NXT Champion Finn Balor\’s challenger for New Year\’s Evil. Later in the show, Dunne attacked Strong at ringside during the Adam Cole vs. Velveteen Dream main event. It featured Dunne laying out Strong by connecting with the Bitter End on the apron.

    It was a hard-hitting affair that had some decent time with both guys getting their spots in and a few near-falls. Dunne went over with his finisher. 

    https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1344464642567974912
    https://twitter.com/WWENXT/status/1344463742835318785

    Tag Team Match

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    The Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Breezango took place in a tag team match. 

    The match was fine. There was a spot where Fandango jumped off the barricade and sold his knee. It saw Grizzled Young Veterans hit their finisher for the win. 

    Post-match, Ever-Rise came out and started yelling at the winning team before backing down. 

    Last week on NXT TV, NXT Tag Team Champions Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch retained their titles in a street fight against Breezango. Three weeks ago, The Grizzled Young Veterans defeated Ever-Rise (Chase Parker & Matt Martel) and Imperium (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner) in a triple threat tag match.

    Mercedes Martinez Back In Action

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    Mercedes Martinez returned to in-ring action on this against a jobber, who had wasn’t even advertised in advance due to this being a complete squash match to show off the dominance of Martinez.

    The weird thing was that it wasn’t just a quick match, but dragged to further showcase Martinez. 

    Martinez made her return last week by attacking WWE NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai, who had been calling out Toni Storm. 

    Bronson Reed vs. Isaiah \”Swerve\” Scott

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    Bronson Reed vs. Isaiah \”Swerve\” Scott kicked off the show in a singles match. 

    The match was solid with Reed getting the win. It was basically Scott getting a few spots, but mostly Reed, who won with a splash off the top rope. 

    This came after Reed returned to the ring on NXT last week where he quickly defeated Ashante \”Thee\” Adonis. 

    On this same episode of NXT, Scott was also victorious by defeating Jake Atlas in what was a rematch after Atlas had defeated him earlier this month. It appears that there is still a match between Scott, and Atlas as Scott used a headbutt during the match, which led to him getting the win. Scott had declined a handshake from Atlas after their previous match and Atlas did the same thing last week. 

    Meanwhile, WWE is still high on Reed and will likely be in the hunt for the North American Title again in the near future. 

    Two Staredowns

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    WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor and Kyle O’Reilly had a segment in the second hour to further promote their title match on next week’s show. 

    Balor cut a promo about how their first match was the match of the year. Kyle came to the ring. Balor said that he doesn’t need a trophy to remember their first match, but rather just the three plates in his jaw as he broke it in that contest to remind him of it. Balor said that he thinks about it every day and the trophy only is good for collecting dust. Kyle said the trophy says to him that he belongs at the top of NXT. He called it a participation award and that he’s done doing so because he wants the real prize. Kyle said that he came up short before, but that will change next week. Kyle said that winning the title will prove why he’s been wrestling for 15 years. Balor promised to make him suffer. 

    Scarlett and Karrion Kross walked out to the stage. She said that the title belongs to them. She said that Balor’s fate is already sealed. Kross said that doomsday is already here. Damian Priest appeared and had a staredown with Kross. They broke out in a brawl. They crashed through the barricade. 

  • WWE Announces The Return Of Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic

    The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is back as the tournament will take place in 2021.

    WWE announced that the tournament will return in two weeks (January 13th). This will be the sixth installment of WWE NXT’s tag team tournament honoring the late American Dream.

    The winners will be awarded the Dusty Rhodes Classic Cup trophy, which is ionic as it is modeled after Dusty’s signature cowboy wrestling boots. The company is expected to announce the teams that will be competing in the tournament in the near future as the tournament will be playing out on NXT TV for a month or so. 

    WWE decided to create the tournament in 2015 as a tribute to the legendary pro wrestler. Aside from his legendary pro wrestling career as an active wrestler, he was also a key figure behind the scenes with WWE NXT where he helped out at the Performance Center to develop athletes into wrestlers. 

    Finn Balor and Samoa Joe won the inaugural tournament in 2015 at NXT TakeOver: Respect by beating Baron Corbin & Rhyno.

    The 2020 version saw The BroserWeights (Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne) beat Grizzled Young Veterans to win it while the year before had Aleister Black and Ricochet beat The Forgotten Sons.

  • The Undertaker Set For Private Autograph Signing

    The Undertaker is slated to do a private signing event with RF Video and SignedBySuperstars.com. 

    Although there is no exact date for it confirmed just yet, it will take place sometime in late January.

    Fans can pre-order the signature from the former WWE Champion now for $204.00 each, plus shipping and handling. They will be selling items to be signed by Taker that day such as Pop figures, Rob Schamberger prints, and more, which range from $210 – $250. Items can be bought here. 

    Here are some of the details about the signing: 

    “Signed by Superstars will be doing another Fiterman sports exclusive private autograph signing with The Undertaker! It takes place in late January, and you can now pre-order your own Undertaker autograph directly from SBS. We will be offering Undertaker pop figures, and official WWE Photofile 8×10 high quality/glossy photos. The prices of each product will include: the item, the autograph, JSA certification and photo/pop protector. Personalizations and requested marker color will NOT be available. All items will be shipped back to our office after the signing and will be shipped to our customers late January 2021, or early February 2021. If you order an Undertaker item with other items from our site you will be charged additional shipping to have them sent separately.”

    The Undertaker had his retirement ceremony, which was billed as his Final Farewell, last month at the WWE Survivor Series pay-per-view event.

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  • WWE Raw Ratings Increase For Second Straight Week (12/28)

    Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.769 million viewers with a 0.52 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. Last week’s show did 1.691 million viewers with a 0.53 rating.

    Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Monday night:

    • The first hour did 1.886 million viewers and a 0.56 rating (A18-49).
    • The second hour did 1.783 million viewers and a 0.52 rating.
    • The final hour of the show had just 1.638 million viewers and a 0.47 rating.

    This episode was expected to dip a little bit from last week because WWE usually gets a bump in viewership after pay-per-view events. Of course, last week’s show had the fallout from the final PPV event of the year, TLC. However, that didn\’t happen. 

    It did go up against an NFL game on ESPN, which did 7.337 million viewers and another 7 million on ABC. 

    WWE won’t have to go up against the NFL next week and they will likely pop a big rating for its Raw Legends Night next week. 

    SmackDown Viewership

    Friday’s SmackDown averaged 3.303 million viewers. This is up from the 1.030 million viewers on FS1 that the show did for the previous week.

    SmackDown pulled in a 0.96 rating in the 18-49 demos, up from 0.30 rating as previous week\’s show. The episode drew an average of 3.336 million viewers in the overnight ratings. The reason for such a spike in viewership is due to it having a lead-in from an NFL game. 

    The first hour saw it pull in 4.097 million viewers while hour two did 2.574 million viewers. The show did 2.053 million viewers in hour one while hour two did 2.004  million viewers two weeks ago.

  • Big Names Confirmed For WWE Raw Legends Night Episode Next Month

    WWE is starting off 2021 with a big episode featuring some notable names. 

    WWE announced during Monday’s broadcast on the USA Network that a special edition of Raw will be called Raw Legends Night. It takes place on January 4th. 

    In the commercial that aired, it was hyped that Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, Beth Phoenix, Torrie Wilson, Sgt. Slaughter, Kurt Angle, and many more would be appearing on the show. 

    WWE will likely load up the show with some notable matches.

    Last week’s episode set the new record low for the all-time low viewership numbers and the USA Network is reportedly not happy about it. 

    The show averaged 1.526 million viewers with a 0.41 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. Just one year ago, the show did 2.150 million. Quite the fall off granted the world is dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and hasn’t had fans in attendance for months. 

    WWE thought they could turn things around with its ThunderDome setup back in August as they have virtual fans. That worked for a few weeks, but viewership has continued to decline. 

    The last time WWE brought back legends was for the Raw Reunion special in July 2019. That show averaged 3.093 million viewers, which was the best rating Raw did all year. The show featured an appearance by Steve Austin, Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, Hulk Hogan, John Cena and several more. 

    The preview reunion show was Raw 25 back on January 22nd, 2018 that drew 4.530 million viewers.

  • Jeff Hardy Thinks Match Between Willow & Bray Wyatt’s Fiend Would Be Magical

    Jeff Hardy has previously talked about a possible match between his Willow character and Bray Wyatt’s The Fiend gimmick. Clearly, this is something that he’s interested in doing. 

    The former WWE Champion did so again, but in further detail, while speaking with the Digital Spy. 

    “I think there’s something magical that can happen between Jeff Hardy and Bray Wyatt and The Fiend and Willow, my alter Nero that will come back to life.”

    Hardy noted that he has this huge vision of a black wedding dress and Willow almost being a god that is a weird figure who doesn’t make any sense to anybody. 

    \"Jeff
    Jeff Hardy

    Hardy stated that perhaps the two characters can team up together then fight each other. 

    “It’s crazy, it’s very cinematic and I think there’s something very special that can happen between The Firefly Fun House and the Fly Light Zone and the imagination here at my property. I can’t wait. I can’t wait because it’s possible, man. it’s totally possible.”

    The match is possible as Wyatt and Hardy are currently on Monday Night Raw. Of course, Hardy may have to wait a bit longer considering Randy Orton burned The Fiend at TLC.

  • The Young Bucks Share How Many WWE Contract Offers They’ve Turned Down

    The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) have reflected on how many times they were offered deals by WWE. 

    The AEW executives did so in a recent interview with Fightful. This is where they revealed that they were offered contracts from WWE “at least four or five times.”

    In 2018, WWE attempted to sign the tag team due to their work from Ring of Honor and NJPW. In January 2019, they announced the launch of AEW. 

    Before the launch of AEW, they had their latest conversation with Triple H about joining the company. Matt Jackson started out by noting that Triple H is a great and charming dude who said all of the right things. 

    “We must have declined the offer, in the end, I don’t want to exaggerate, it had to have been at least four or five times, and by the end of every conversation he would have another call scheduled with me in two weeks and I would go, \’How did he do that?\’ What, I just told him no. We’d be laughing by the end of the conversation. The conversation would start with me saying we’re so sorry, we’re going to pass on this, thank you so much, and an hour later I’m talking about our next phone call in two weeks.” 

    \"Cody
    Cody Rhodes & The Young Bucks

    The Young Bucks noted that they were happy with how negotiations went with Triple H. Matt stated that Triple H is a magician and isn’t surprised why Triple H has the job. 

    “I have nothing but positive things to say about him. He’s very intelligent too. The things he said, the ideas he had. At times I told Nick, “man, maybe this is something we should at least consider.” There was a time when me, Nick, and Kenny, the three of us were all like “holy sh*t, I think we’re going to end up in WWE.” 

    Nick added that it was a very tough decision when they received offers from WWE and turned them down.

  • Randy Orton Wins Firefly Inferno Match, Burns The Fiend At WWE TLC

    Randy Orton and Bray Wyatt’s alter ego, The Fiend, answered questions that were about what a Firefly Inferno Match would look like. 

    The first-ever match took place at Sunday’s WWE TLC pay-per-view event. There was a video package recalling their history. The contest was not shot in a cinematic way, but rather in the arena.

    The fire was outside of the barricade. The only way to win was to light any part of your opponent\’s body on fire. Orton had a hoodie and pants on while Fiend was wearing his jacket. Throughout the match, the flames increased. The Fiend put gas on the old rocking chair and it went on fire.

    \"Image\"/

    The finish saw Orton push The Fiend into the fire back first while he was in a chokehold. Orton got into the ring and Fiend rushed him so Orton hit him with an RKO. The show closed with Orton pouring gasoline on Wyatt then set it on fire.

    Monday’s Raw featured Orton putting Wyatt in a box and burning it until The Fiend attacked the former WWE Champion. The two stars have somewhat of a history as in 2017, Orton joined The Wyatt Family before turning on Wyatt. Orton later faced Wyatt for the WWE Title at WrestleMania 33 in a match that was heavily criticized by fans. 

    The two stars have been feuding since November when Wyatt was sent to RAW from SmackDown during this year’s Draft even while Orton was in a feud with WWE Champion Drew McIntyre. 

  • Roman Reigns Retains Universal Title At WWE TLC

    The highly-anticipated showdown between Roman Reigns and Kevin Owens took place in one of the top matches featured on the card of Sunday’s WWE TLC pay-per-view event. 

    Reigns put the WWE Universal Title on the line against Owens in a TLC Match. The contest had a brawling style with various yet expected weapons being used such as tables, ladders, chairs, and steel steps. Jey Uso was taken out after attacking Owens as “KO” hit him with a steel chair a few times. Uso later returned to stop Owens from climbing a ladder. 

    Once again, Owens appeared to take out Jey with a powerbomb through the announce table. Owens buried him with objects at ringside. Reigns hit a powerbomb to Owens on a ladder in the corner then through a table on the floor.

    At one point, Reigns went for a spear on the floor, but Owens moved and Reigns went crashing through the barricade. The finish saw Reigns connect with a low blow then applied the guillotine choke to Owens until he passed out. Reigns grabbed the title for the win. 

    Reigns had been in a feud with Jey Uso for a few months before beating WWE Champion Drew McIntyre at last month’s Survivor Series pay-per-view event. 

    This program started on an episode of SmackDown following Survivor Series in which Jey worked a match against Owens that led to the cousin of “The Big Dog” getting himself DQ by hitting Owens with a steel chair.

    This led to Owens getting back at Uso by hitting several Stunners the calling out Reigns. The following week, Owens doubled down by challenging Reigns to this bout for the Universal Title, which Reigns accepted the challenge. 

    Backstage News On Who Is Writing Roman Reigns’ Promos

  • Hurt Business Wins RAW Tag Team Titles At WWE TLC

    The Hurt Business have fulfilled their goal of becoming the WWE RAW Tag Team Champions.

    At Sunday’s (December 20, 2020) WWE TLC pay-per-view event in St. Petersburg, Florida at the Tropicana Field on the WWE Network, Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin did so when they dethroned The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) to win the titles. 

    The Finish saw Alexander hit the lumbar check to Kingston for the win. Time will tell whether WWE continues this feud or goes into a different direction heading into the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event next month. It\’s possible a rematch could come as soon as Monday\’s episode of RAW. 

    The New Day was drafted to RAW while The Street Profits were drafted to SmackDown during this year’s Draft. At the time, WWE official Adam Pearce had the two teams trade championships.

    Thus, there was never an official title change, but rather the titles were renamed and the champions followed suit. 

    WWE posted this photo of the Hurt Business backstage at TLC with their gold:

    \"Image\"/

    Backstage News On Who Is Writing Roman Reigns’ Promos

    What are your thoughts on The Hurt Business winning the RAW Tag Team Titles? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

  • Drew McIntyre Retains At WWE TLC After The Miz Cashes In MITB

    In a match that Drew McIntyre had stated he has been wanting since he was 16-years old, AJ Styles challenged him for the WWE Title. 

    It happened at the final pay-per-view event of 2020 for WWE, TLC, on Sunday night. This is where McIntyre put the WWE Title on the line, but there was a twist. 

    The contest opened the show and featured a slow build throughout. McIntyre sold his left leg throughout the match as he was hit with a chair by Styles. There was a spot where McIntyre sent Styles head first into a chair in the corner. McIntyre press slammed him over the top rope through a table on the floor.

    The Miz powerbombed McIntyre off the ladder through a table. He cashed in the Money in the Bank briefcase. This turned it into a three-way match. However, McIntyre ended up winning the match after sending Miz and Styles flying off a ladder. 

    \"\"/

    Drew McIntyre Victorious at WWE TLC

    This originally wasn’t supposed to be the challenge for McIntyre and his WWE Title. Instead, Braun Strowman was slated for this spot. However, he suffered a knee injury that caused him to be put on the sidelines to rehab it. WWE decided to write him off television as a result. 

    WWE had to come up with another opponent for McIntyre. WWE started a tournament to determine the new #1 contender to the WWE Championship. The finals took place on an episode of RAW in a Sudden Death Triple Threat Match that featured AJ Styles, Riddle and Keith Lee with “The Phoenmal One” going over. 

    What are your thoughts on Drew McIntyre retaining the WWE Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

  • WWE TLC 2020: Matches Confirmed For Tonight\’s PPV

    The card for Sunday’s (December 20, 2020) WWE TLC pay-per-view event has been finalized.

    The company hasn’t officially announced the main event of this event that takes place in St. Petersburg, Florida at the Tropicana Field that will air on the WWE Network but it will most likely be WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens in a TLC Match. 

    This show marks the final PPV event in 2020, which features a loaded lineup. There are a total of six matches booked for this show with five of them being championship matches. WWE has still not announced Asuka\’s new tag team partner after Lana was pulled from the WWE Women\’s Tag Team Title Match. 

    As a reminder, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of this special on Sunday evening starting at 6 PM EST. Here is the final card for the show:

    Final WWE TLC Card

    • WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens – TLC Match
    • WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. AJ Styles – TLC Match
    • WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler vs. Asuka & TBA
    • Randy Orton vs. The Fiend
    • WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks vs. Carmella
    • WWE Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin

  • AEW Elevation Trademark Could Be For Second TV Show

    All Elite Wrestling recently filed a new trademark for the name, AEW Elevation.

    The United States Patent and Trademark Office database shows the application was submitted on December 16th. The filing includes the following usage description:

    “International Class 041: Entertainment services in the nature of live wrestling performances; Entertainment services in the nature of production of wrestling programs and events; Services, namely, an ongoing multimedia program featuring wrestling distributed via various platforms across multiple forms of transmission media; Entertainment services, namely, an ongoing series featuring wrestling provided through a global computer network; Entertainment services, namely, production and distribution of ongoing television programs in the field of wrestling;\”

    \"\"/

    Elevation could be the name for second weekly television show the company is launching next year. The \”wrestling programs and events\” and \”production of wrestling programs\” aspect of the filed trademarks implies the name is for AEW\’s second TV show.

    AEW Elevation

    AEW has a strong relationship with Turner Sports and Warner Media. Dynamite was a hit out of the gate. The early success with viewers landed Dynamite a multi-year contract extension, as well as additional programming.

    \"AEW
    AEW on TNT

    The AEW Dark Youtube series has also been a big success. It has allowed AEW fans to view new and upcoming talent. Dark used to feature a handful of matches, but the cards have ballooned to feature over a dozen matches each week. Dynamite and Dark do not allow for the entire roster to get sufficient ring time.

    AEW executives have confirmed plans for additional live pro wrestling content on television in the months ahead. The extra programming will not be AEW Dark moving to television. Luckily for wrestling fans, it does not sound like we will have to wait long to get more information.

    Tony Khan recently told TSN, \”It’s going to launch in 2021. We’ve worked it out with TNT. It’s 100 percent going to launch in 2021. I don’t have the exact date yet, but I would look out for it soon and it’s right around the corner.”

    \"Cody
    AEW Executive VP Cody Rhodes

  • Mike Bennett Comments On The Possibility Of Maria Joining Him In ROH

    Mike Bennett made a name for himself in ROH as part of The Kingdom that also featured his wife, Maria Kanellis. 

    They went to WWE in 2017 and had a run that they weren’t hoping for. Now, Mike is back in Ring of Honor and has reunited with Matt Taven. While doing an interview with Wrestling Inc, he talked about the possibility of Maria joining him in the promotion. 

    “Maria, I’ll never say no because she’s my wife, so if she ever wants to come back, she’s always more than willing to. The Kingdom’s just as much her as it was me, and Matt and [Adam] Cole. The door’s always open for her. I will say this about Maria though, she’s very, as most people know, she’s very methodical. She’s very methodical in her decisions. When Maria comes back, she’ll come back when she wants to come back on her terms, doing what she wants to do because that’s how she’s always done it, and I’m sure as hell not going to tell her any other way.”

    He noted that if Maria does return to pro wrestling it will be her decision as she’s been doing it for a long time and done a lot in the business. He noted that she’s deserved to rest and come back when she wants to do so. 

    The married couple was released by WWE back in April due to budget cuts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. They had signed new WWE contracts last June that would’ve seen them be with the company for the next five years. 

    Mike Bennett Says He Considered Retirement After WWE Release

  • ROH Final Battle 2020 Results: Rush vs. Brody King

    ROH presented their final pay-per-view event, Final Battle, of the year on Friday night (December 18, 2020) from the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland. 

    The main event saw ROH World Champion Rush vs. Brody King. After a back and forth encounter, Rush emerged victoriously.  

    ROH TV Champion Dragon Lee vs. Tony Deppen took place on the show with Lee retaining the title. Deppen beat LSG,  Josh Woods, and Dak Draper earlier in the night to earn a shot at the ROH TV Title.

    ROH Tag Team Champions Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham vs. Mark Briscoe & PCO, which featured the champions going over while ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham vs. Flip Gordon ended by count-out, but Gresham retained the title. 

    Rush’s current deal with ROH is set to expire at the end of this year while Dragon Lee has interest from other promotions. Ring of Honor Chief Operating Officer Joe Koff told PWinsider.com earlier this week that \”conversations are ongoing\” with both Rush and Lee about their future in ROH in 2021 and beyond.  

    ROH Final Battle Quick Results

    • Tony Deppen defeated LSG, Josh Woods, and Dax Draper in a four-way
    • Tracy Williams and Rhett Titus defeated Wheeler Yuta and Fred Yehi
    • ROH Tag Team Champions Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham defeated Mark Briscoe and PCO
    • Rey Horus defeated Dalton Castle
    • Mike Bennett and Matt Taven defeated Vincent and Bateman
    • Danhausen defeated Brian Johnson
    • ROH TV Champion Dragon Lee defeated Tony Deppen
    • Shane Taylor defeated Jay Briscoe
    • Flip Gordon defeated ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham via count-out – Gresham retains title
    • ROH World Champion Rush defeated Brody King

  • Update On Vice’s Dark Side Of The Ring Season 3

    Vice has announced that there will be a third season of “Dark Side of the Ring” and interviews are currently being conducted for topics that will be featured on future episodes.

    Pwinsider.com reports that the crew was in Philadelphia on Friday to do interviews at the 2300 Arena. It was also noted that Game Changer Wrestling\’s Nick Gage will be the focus of an episode in season three.

    Cage made a name for himself as a pro wrestler who was convicted of robbing a bank and served time for it but came back to pro wrestling after getting out of prison to become a deathmatch brawler on the independent scene. 

    Per the report, the production team did do research for an episode that was done for a possible episode on Atsushi Onita\’s FMW promotion in Japan although that topic for the third season has yet to be confirmed. 

    The media outlet has previously reported that the producers have filmed material for the following topics: 

    • Brian Pillman
    • The WCW-New Japan event in North Korea.  
    • The Smith family – Grizzly Smith and his children, Jake Roberts, Sam Houston and Rockin\’ Robin.

    Dark Side of the Ring Season Three: 14 Episodes Coming in 2021

  • Backstage News On Who Is Writing Roman Reigns’ Promos

    Roman Reigns reinvented himself after taking a hiatus for several months and returning this past August at SummerSlam as he has turned into a heel character. 

    In addition to being a bad guy, he’s also aligned himself with Paul Heyman while being billed as the ‘Tribal Chief.\’ Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported that while Reigns has built a relationship on-air with Heyman, he’s also built a relationship with him backstage in WWE. Heyman is behind much of what Reigns is saying in his promos.

    “While Paul Heyman and Roman Reigns have forged a strong on-air relationship in recent months … much of what Roman Reigns is saying in promos has been written by Heyman as well.”

    Michael P.S Hayes has also been very hands-on with Roman Reigns behind the scenes. Hayes has been working as Reigns\’ agent and produces his big pay-per-view matches.

    Reigns is slated to make his next title defense as the WWE Universal Champion against Kevin Owens in a TLC Match at Sunday’s TLC pay-per-view in St. Petersburg, Florida at Tropicana Field.

    Although not confirmed, there have been reports about Reigns possibly facing Goldberg next year after their WrestleMania 36 match was nixed at the last minute. 

  • WWE Moving Forward With Second NXT Show

    A new NXT show could be premiering next year as it’s been heavily discussed by WWE officials. 

    Last month, Dave Meltzer\’s Wrestling Observer wrote that Triple H had been trying to find a way to complement a new NXT in order to give talent more time in the ring and given extra exposure. At the time it was noted that WWE wasn’t looking to do live events with this brand. 

    The show has been discussed for quite some time. Shortly after the initial report was published, former EVOLVE booker Gabe Sapolsky tweeted, \”Things get way overblown.\”

    Moving along to Friday, it was reported that Triple H has put together a team to oversee the show, which will be an NXT minor league system.

    It was said that Gabe Sapolsky is leading the team as Triple H has given him several agents and writers to help him get more comfortable with writing television. 

    The show was described as an \”NXT for NXT.” Triple H is reportedly a big believer in Sapolsky, which is believed to be a case of him being given the ball. Although the original goal was for it to launch early next year, it’s been delayed. 

    NXT is not the only wrestling brand planning additional programming. Earlier this week, All Elite Wrestling filed a trademark for the name AEW Elevation. This is believed to be the name for AEW\’s second cable television show.

  • USA Network Furious With WWE Over Declining RAW Ratings

    Monday’s episode of WWE RAW set the new record low for all-time low viewership numbers and the USA Network is reportedly not happy about it. 

    Monday’s edition of WWE Raw averaged 1.526 million viewers with a 0.41 rating in the Adults 18-49 demographic. Just one year ago, the show did 2.150 million.

    Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT reports that WWE officials aren’t the only ones to be upset about the decline in ratings this week as there was a similar reaction at the USA Network.

    Per the report, management at the television network is said to be furious about the drop in ratings. It was added that WWE officials are hoping to have some sort of a \”big reset\” for the company with next month’s Royal Rumble. 

    \”USA Network are furious. They want more adult content. Not sexy adult, but dark and violent adult,\” the source said.

    This comes after Dave Meltzer noted that there were people in WWE who were stunned at the numbers and that people in WWE \”got the message\” as well. 

    WrestleVotes had also reported that the low numbers for the show were not \”sitting well\” with WWE higher-ups. In fact, some people think there will be reactionary decisions\” made. 

    Bully Ray Reacts to This Week’s WWE Raw Viewership Crash

  • ROH Final Battle PPV: Final Card, Results Tonight

    ROH holds its Final Battle pay-per-view tonight (December 18, 2020), which marks the first special in months. Ring of Honor is slated to hold the show at the UMBC Event Center in Baltimore, Maryland. The main event will see ROH World Champion Rush vs. vs. Brody King.

    There will be changes made to a few matches on this card such as ROH Six Man Tag Team Champions Mexisquad vs. Shane Taylor & The Soldiers of Savagery and EC3 vs. Jay Briscoe. ROH has already confirmed that EC3, Flamita and Bandido were pulled due to COVID-19 protocols. EC3 has actually announced he tested positive for the virus.

    It’s been reported ROH will announce the new competitors to replace these three stars during the pre-show. 

    ROH Final Battle can be purchased via traditional pay-per-view and the FITE app. The show will be four hours long with the first hour airing for free at 7 pm ET on ROH Facebook Live, FITE TV, and traditional PPV while the main card will begin at 8 pm ET.

    \"\"/

    Final ROH Final Battle Card

    • ROH Champion Rush vs. Brody King.
    • Tony Deppen vs. LSG vs. Josh Woods vs. Dak Draper – Winner Receives ROH TV Title Match later in the show.
    • ROH TV Champion Dragon Lee vs. Four-Way Victor.
    • ROH Tag Team Champions Jay Lethal & Jonathan Gresham vs. Mark Briscoe & PCO.
    • ROH Pure Champion Jonathan Gresham vs. Flip Gordon.
    • Matt Taven & Mike Bennett vs. Vincent & Bateman.
    • The Foundation\’s Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus vs. Fred Yehi & Wheeler Yuta – Pure Rules Tag Team Match.
    • Danhusen vs. Brian Johnson.

  • WWE NXT Results (12/16): Dunne vs. O\’Reilly, Karrion Kross In Action, Ripley vs. Storm

    The December 16, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center. 

    WWE NXT Results 

    • Johnny Gargano & Austin Theory def. Leon Ruff & Kushida
    • Tomaso Ciampa def. Tyler Rust
    • Kyle O\’Reilly def.  Pete Dunne to become new #1 contender
    • Shotzi Blackheart def. Indi Hartwell via DQ
    • Karrion Kross def. Desmond Troy
    • Toni Storm def. Rhea Ripley

    Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:

    Tag Team Match

    \"\"

    Leon Ruff and Kushida vs. Austin Theory and NXT North American Champion Johnny Gargano took place in a tag team match, which opened the show. 

    WWE originally announced that Ruff would be teaming with Damian Priest, but that changed when there was an angle where Priest was attacked by the returning Karrion Kross and put through a table on last week\’s show. Clearly, Priest is going away from the feud with Ruff and Gargano. 

    In the match, there was a spot where Ruff wiped out from the top rope to the floor and seemed to twist his ankle in the process. The finish saw Theory catch Ruff with a super kick to the back of the head then hit his finisher for the win. 

    Ruff has still yet to get a rematch for the North American Title as Gargano beat Ruff and Priest in a Triple Threat Match at the NXT TakeOver: WarGames event. It will be interesting to see if this rematch takes place at New Year’s Evil.

    Toni Storm vs. Rhea Ripley

    \"\"

    Toni Storm vs. Rhea Ripley was official for this show over the weekend. 

    In the women’s WarGames match at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Storm, Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai, and Raquel Gonzalez defeated Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon, Rhea Ripley, and Io Shirai. 

    Last week’s show saw Ripley save Moon from an attack by Storm on NXT after Gonalez beat Moon in the main event. Thus, it was time for the two stars to meet again in singles competition on Wednesday.

    The match was the main event of this show. It was a solid match. The announcers continued to note that NXT had the best women’s division in all of wrestling. Gonzalez came out and distracted Ripley at one point. She later sent Rhea into the ring post then Storm hit her with a hip attack in the corner before hitting Storm Zero for the win. 

    Storm might have gotten the win, but the big story is the feud between Raquel and Rhea is continuing. 

    Karrion Kross Back In Action

    \"\"

    Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) got back in the ring against Desmond Troy, who wasn’t revealed ahead of time. 

    The match was quick and a pure squash. Kross crushed the kid. A great showing for the top star. Of course, this was the first match that he’s had in months as he suffered a separated shoulder at NXT TakeOver: XXX when he beat Keith Lee to win the NXT Title. The following episode of NXT TV in August saw him vacate the title. 

    He made his return last week on NXT when he Damian Priest, which will likely set up a new feud with the former NXT North American Champion. Heading into the show, there had no date as to when this match could take place. 

    After the match, Kross challenged Priest to a match at New Year’s Evil special on January 6th. 

    #1 Contender’s Bout

    \"\"

    The biggest thing to be announced was Pete Dunne vs. Kyle O\’Reilly with the winner getting a title shot from WWE NXT Finn Balor. 

    Last week’s show saw a promo segment with Dunne, O’Reilly, and Damian Priest making their case for why they should get a title shot. Balor stated that it wasn’t his job to find opponents. Thus, he left it up to WWE NXT General Manager William Regal. That will happen with Balor defending the strap against the winner at the New Year’s Eve special on January 6th. 

    This match didn’t serve as the main event of the show. Instead, it started just before the start of the second hour. As expected, it was a hard-hitting affair with Dune getting the majority of the offense because he was the heel. There were some near falls. 

    O’Reilly hit his finisher for the win and to earn this upcoming title match. 

  • Finn Balor vs. Kyle O’Reilly Set For NXT New Year’s Evil

    The next challenger to WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor will be Kyle O’Reilly and it’s the first match to be added to the card of the upcoming NXT New Year’s Evil special. 

    During Wednesday’s episode of NXT from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center on the USA Network, WWE held a singles match between Pete Dunne and Kyle O\’Reilly.

    The style was physical and featured some near falls after O’Reilly made his comeback. O\’Reilly hit a knee strike in the corner that knocked Dunne’s mouthpiece out. The finish saw O’Reilly hit his finisher for the win. 

    Because O’Reilly was victorious, he earned the right to challenge Balor for the NXT Title. WWE holds the NXT New Year\’s Evil special on January 6th and it is the first episode of the weekly television show for the black and yellow brand of 2021. 

    It should be noted that Balor hasn\’t wrestled since undergoing surgery for a broken jaw after successfully retaining the title over O\’Reilly at the TakeOver 31 event this past October. 

    Balor broke his jaw in two places in the match. No other matches have been announced for this upcoming special, but that will change in the coming weeks.

  • Matt Jackson Discusses Criticism Of Build For Young Bucks vs. FTR Match

    Young Bucks vs. FTR was a match talked about by fans for years, but the build for their very first match was met by criticism from people.

    This was something that Matt Jackson discussed while doing an interview with Steven Muehlhausen on The Walkway to Fight Club.

    \”You know, the build maybe could have gone a little bit longer [as] people said it was a little rushed. But again, I don\’t think at the end of the day, nobody\’s even gonna think about that.”

    Instead, Matt thinks fans will remember the match. He brought up his brother Nick noting in the past that fans don’t think of the build to The Rock vs. Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania 18 and how there was an angle where the nWo tried to kill The Rock with a diesel truck. Instead, fans think of the match. 

    \”I\’m not comparing our match to that match. I\’m just saying two different matches, but nobody thinks about the delivery of the match. I think we stuck the landing.\”

    Dax Harwood stated before the match that he thought the contest could have had a better build-up. 

    Harwood and Cash Wheeler put the AEW Tag Team Titles against The Young Bucks at the AEW Full Gear pay-per-view event in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place last month. This is where Nick and Matt won the titles.

  • NWA Star Says Promotion Will Probably Hold TV Tapings Again In Early 2021

    Serena Deeb has become a top star in the NWA as she is the current Women’s Champion. She’s also been making AEW appearances. 

    Deeb made an appearance on The Hashtag Show to discuss a wide range of topics. During it, she noted that the promotion will likely start holding TV tapings again in the coming months, perhaps as soon as next month. 

    \”For the foreseeable future, I\’m really excited. NWA is probably starting back up again with some tapings in January or early next year. My intention as champion is to defend it all over the world. I would love to be a platform to showcase other women. The possibilities are endless.”

    The NWA had to briefly shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic as it suspended Powerrr tapings in March. They’ve worked with AEW as well as partnered with UWN to run events. 

    Also, NWA has been airing matches every week that took place at past events for its Shockwave series.While this is an indication as to when there’s been no confirmation by the NWA on them resuming TV tapings.

    Deeb teamed up with Big Swole to take on Ivelisse & Diamante on Wednesday\’s Dynamite episode on TNT.

  • Betting Odds For WWE TLC

    The final betting odds for most of the matches that will take place at the WWE TLC pay-per-view event have been released.

    The card for the show that takes place this Sunday (December 20, 2020) from St. Petersburg, Florida at the Tropicana Field has likely been finalized as only six matches have been announced with WWE expected to announce a pre-show contest. 

    Asuka was supposed to team up with Lana to challenge WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler for the straps. However, Asuka will need to find a new partner after WWE did an injury angle with Lana from this past Monday\’s RAW. 

    TLC Betting Odds

    The favorites to win are listed as – while the underdogs are listed with +. Odds call for all three titles to change. Here are the final betting odds courtesy of BetOnline:

    • WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns (-2000) vs. Kevin Owens (+650) – TLC Match
    • WWE Champion Drew McIntyre (-600) vs. AJ Styles (+350) – TLC Match
    • WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler (N/A) vs. Asuka & TBA (N/A)
    • Randy Orton (+200) vs. The Fiend (-300)
    • WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks (-500) vs. Carmella (+300)
    • WWE Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (-200) vs. Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin (+150)

    Make sure to join us this weekend for match recaps and our takeaways from this latest pay-per-view event held by WWE.