Last year, there were some fans curious why WWE didn’t give Triple H and Stephanie McMahon the positions as Executive Directors of SmackDown and RAW.
Instead, Eric Bischoff took the role on SmackDown and Paul Heyman on RAW. Fightful Select reported today that the married couple wasn’t given the roles for different reasons.
It was stated that many people backstage were “shocked” that Paul Heyman was put into this role as he was under Vince McMahon. It was noted that Heyman had been “the loudest voice in the RAW writer’s room” before getting the Executive Director position.
It was said that Stephanie “didn’t want that spot” as she is happy with her current role in WWE. On the flip side, Triple H didn’t get the spot as most believed that “if Triple H wanted the role, he’d have it.” Thus, he wasn’t interested as he’s in charge of the NXT brand.
Of course, both Heyman and Bischoff are no longer in these roles. In both cases, Vince McMahon made the decision to remove them.
After a few months of Heyman being on the sidelines, he was paired with Roman Reigns while Bischoff hasn’t been in WWE or on television since his departure.
The early betting odds for all of the matches that will take place at the WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view event have been released.
The card for the show that takes place this weekend (Sunday, October 25, 2020) from Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center has not been finalized as only four matches have been announced.
As of this writing, there is only one title change expected at this show. That would be Sasha Banks challenging WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley. According to oddsmakers, Banks will walk out with the strap.
Make sure to join us this Sunday for match recaps and our takeaways from this latest pay-per-view event held by WWE.
Hell In A Cell 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 (-2500) vs. Jey Uso (+800) – Hell in a Cell I Quit Match
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre (-135) vs. Randy Orton (+100) – Hell in a Cell Match
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley (+150) vs. Sasha Banks (-200) – Hell in a Cell Match
Elias (-137) vs. Jeff Hardy (+100) – Singles Match
Bryan Alvarez talked during today’s Wrestling Observer Live about the statement issued by WWE about local officials looking to investigate venues in the Orlando area that could be COVID-19 hotspots.
As noted, the WWE Performance Center and the Amway Center aka the WWE ThunderDome were among the places listed as potential hotspots.
Alvarez read the statement, which noted “Aventus Labs have administered more than 10,000 PCR tests to WWE performers, employees, production staff and crew resulting in only 1.5 percent positive cases as compared to the current national average of more than 5%.”
Alvarez stated that while no official numbers are known due to WWE not releasing them, he had heard around 38 for the big outbreak and then additional people testing positive during another outbreak. The second outbreak was in the double digits.
He stated that after this outbreak, there were a lot of people who disappeared. He noted that some of those who did disappear were due to contract tracing disappearances. This means that they didn’t have the virus, but had been around people who did have it.
He pointed out how WWE’s own statement noted there were essentially 150 positive tests. He added that he knows for a fact that there have been people in WWE who tested positive and the people who lived with them that ended up getting COVID-19, but not counting in WWE tests.
Alvarez stated that there is a crazy number of people that have contracted coronavirus as a result of WWE TV tapings.
Paul Heyman continues to speak about his alliance with Roman Reigns on WWE television.
He did so yet again in an interview with Metro.UK. This is where Heyman noted that this partnership has been something in the works dating back to Reigns’ main roster debut in 2012 when he was a member of The Shield with Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.
\”So this has been in the works ever since Roman Reigns debuted on the main roster and I would dare say this has been in the works since the day Roman Reigns was born.
So, what do I like about it? Every single solitary thing about it, I like. How long has it been in the works? Really since the beginning of time, as Roman Reigns knows it to be.\”
WWE first started this pairing on the SmackDown episode following the SummerSlam pay-per-view event in August. Since that time, Reigns has become WWE Universal Champion.
Reigns will make his next title defense against his cousin, Jey Uso, this Sunday at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event in Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center. This will be a rematch from the Clash of Champions event.
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 1.777 million viewers with a 0.52 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. This was down from last week, which did 1.855 million viewers and 0.57 demo rating.
To compare, just one year ago, RAW averaged 2.341 million viewers. This marked the first episode of RAW with its new roster after last week’s Draft and the go-home show for Sunday’s Hell in a Cell event.
WWE went up against an NFL game that aired on ESPN, which was between the Cardinals and Cowboys that had 11.317 million viewers.
Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Raw, courtesy of Showbuzzdaily.com:
Hour 1: 1.806 million, 0.50 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 2: 1.835 million, 0.56 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 3: 1.689 million, 0.49 in the 18-49 Demo
SmackDown Viewership
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.124 million viewers on FOX. This is down from the 2.178 million viewers that the show did for the previous week.
SmackDown averaged 1.987 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was up from the 2.087 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets.
The first hour drew 1.978 million viewers while the second hour did 1.995 million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did 2.156 million viewers while the second hour did 2.017 million viewers.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.60 rating in the 18-49 demos, the same from 0.50 rating as last week’s show.
Charlotte Flair has decided to take the next step in her career as she has signed with a management company.
On Monday it was announced that the former RAW, SmackDown, and NXT Women’s Champion had inked a deal with VaynerSports Agency.
The agency is owned by entrepreneur and internet personality Gary Vaynerchuk as well as his brother AJ. The agency launched in 2016 and is under the successful VaynerMedia umbrella. Flair looks to be their first wrestler.
Gary V reacted to the news with a response of “BEEN WATING TO ANNOUNCE THIS! So pumped!!!” while Flair stated, “So excited!!!”
In this year’s WWE Draft, Flair was sent to the RAW brand even though she is currently on hiatus. She hasn’t been seen on WWE television in a few months. The reason for that is due to her taking time off to get a cosmetic procedure.
There is no firm word on when she will be back. When she first removed herself from the product, there had been rumors that she could be back by SummerSlam in August, which obviously didn’t happen, while others suggested as long as possible January for the Royal Rumble.
Eric Bischoff made some interesting comments about WWE NXT and TNA Wrestling.
While speaking on his After 83 Weeks post-show, the former SmackDown Executive Director spoke about the differences between TNA about 7 years ago and today’s NXT.
“I don\’t think NXT is as good as TNA was when TNA was at its peak.”
He continued by noting that something being at its peak is subjective as some people like it at various stages. He stated that a lot of people liked it because it did feel different in the very beginning or because it was new or it had a smaller presentation. He noted that more than anything, everybody loves a competitor.
“But if you go back and look at TNA in terms of its peak across the boards, not for a moment in time but for an extended period of time across the boards in terms of television ratings, PPV buys and house show attendance. That\’s going to be that period of time that I was describing earlier.
Right around the Aces and Eights peak storyline period with Brooke [Hogan] and Bully [Ray] and all of that when they were putting 2500, 3500, 5000 people in a venue.
Yes, they did, and they actually paid for it. I don\’t know that NXT is doing anything better than TNA was when TNA was at its peak. I would be pretty sure…that I would bet that there are a lot more resources being pumped into NXT than there ever were being pumped into TNA.”
Bischoff came into the promotion in January 2010 alongside Hulk Hogan. He would be behind various storylines including the Aces & Eights group and Bully Ray becoming TNA World Heavyweight Champion.
It turns out that WWE originally had a different opponent in mind for John Cena at WrestleMania 36.
It wasn’t supposed to be Bray Wyatt, but rather Elias. Plans changed though. Elias shared the news in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated.
“New Orleans, I’m in the mix with John and the Undertaker. The next year, I’m in there with John and the Undertaker again—John at WrestleMania, the Undertaker the night next on Raw. I was supposed to go on and face the Undertaker at the show in Saudi Arabia.
That never ended up happening because of Goldberg, but that was supposed to be my match. The year after was supposed to be myself against John Cena at WrestleMania in a three-year running story. Things obviously changed and that didn’t end up happening.”
Cena took part in the Firefly Fun House match against Wyatt at WrestleMania. It was a trip down memory lane for Cena as it wasn’t a normal match. Instead, WWE aired a series of segments where he went through all of his old gimmicks.
Elias ended up wrestling and beating Baron Corbin at Wrestlemania 36 at Night 1.
Cena hasn’t been on WWE television since this contest. Instead, he has continued to focus on his career in Hollywood.
Becky Lynch decided to visit friends at Friday’s WWE SmackDown TV event.
This episode marked the season 2 premiere of the series on FOX and the first episode of SmackDown with its new roster. WWE had a number of special guests appear on the ThunderDome screens to make the show feel special. Ric Flair, Brie Bella, Goldberg, and Jeff Jarrett were featured.
While Lynch wasn’t on the screen, she was reportedly backstage. Alex McCarthy of talkSport was able to confirm today that Lynch was backstage at the Amway Center alongside Seth Rollins.
The former RAW Women’s Champion has been out of action since this past March. She was last seen in action when she retained the title by defeating Shayna Baszler during night one of Wrestlemania 36 tapings.
Fast forward to May, she announced that he was expecting her first child with Rollins. As a result, she relinquished the title and took a step back from the limelight during her pregnancy.
Lynch is expected to give birth in December. If WWE can have fans in attendance for WrestleMania 37, there is a rumor that WWE officials may try to get her to work the show.
WWE has confirmed that next week’s episode of SmackDown will move networks.
The company did so during this week’s SmackDown broadcast as it was noted that the October 23 episode will air on FOX Sports 1. The reason for this change is due to FOX airing the World Series in SmackDown\’s normal timeslot. The show will still air at 8 p.m. ET.
The teams in the World Series are currently unknown, but it will be Game 3 of the series. It’ll either be the winners of Tampa Bay Rays and Houston Astros as they continue to battle in the ALCS as well as Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves, which square off in the NLCS.
This is notable due to the viewership number that SmackDown did when it aired on FS1 last year.
That show was the lowest-rated episode of SmackDown of 2019 and in recent memory. It did 888,000 viewers and .27 in the 18-49 demo. The show had to go up against an MLB World Series game on FOX that averaged 12.220 million viewers.
There are also some big changes while trying to complete these two shows. Last year’s episode featured appearances by Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, Hulk Hogan, and Ric Flair.
This year’s show will serve as the go-home show of SmackDown for the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event.
While Paul Heyman is no longer the Executive Director of WWE Monday Night RAW, he has found himself in a good spot on SmackDown.
Heyman was paired with Roman Reigns back in August that ultimately led to not only Reigns making a big return at SummerSlam but also winning the Universal Title just one week later at Payback.
With Heyman being back on television, there’s been curious as to whether he has any influence on SmackDown creative.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select reports that although there are some stars who he was high on, while in the role of Executive Director, and were recently moved to SmackDown, he doesn’t have any influence on those stars.
The report states that it\’s just not Heyman\’s job description any more to help with creative outside of Reigns’ storylines. It was noted that he\’s willing to help when asked for input by wrestlers, but isn\’t necessarily something he is asked to do by WWE.
Although Brock Lesnar isn\’t under contract with WWE right now, the belief is that the two sides will agree on a new deal when WWE is able to hold big events again.
Daniel Bryan is returning to WWE television. The company announced today that the former WWE Champion will be appearing on this Friday’s episode of SmackDown although they didn’t mention what he’ll be doing on the show whether that’s a promo or wrestling.
It’s been reported that he had been away from WWE TV tapings likely as a COVID-19 precautionary measure.
He hasn’t wrestled since June 12 where he lost to AJ Styles in the Intercontinental Title tournament finals This was around the time that Brie Bella was in the latter her pregnancy with their second child, who was born on August 1st.
WWE has also announced that Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits has been added to the show.
WWE is hyping this as the season premiere of SmackDown on FOX. As a result, a loaded show is being advertised from Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center.
SmackDown Card
The New Day vs. Cesaro, Sheamus and Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman
Jeff Hardy vs. Lars Sullivan
Daniel Bryan to return
Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits
The October 14, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT Results
The Undisputed Era def. Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan to become the #1 Contender\’s
Jake Atlas def. Ashante \”Thee\” Adonis
Johnny Gargano def. Austin Theory
Candice LeRae def. Shotzi Blackheart to become the #1 Contender
Toni Storm def. Aaliyah (w/Robert Stone)
Imperium def. Drake Maverick and Killian Dain
Damian Priest retained North American Title over Dexter Lumis.
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
#1 Contender\’s Match
The Undisputed Era
WWE booked Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan vs. The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong) in a #1 Contender\’s Match.
Of course, there was an interesting tag team match with mixed members of various teams competing against each other a few weeks ago. Members of these two teams won the contest and set up this match.
Kyle O’Reilly did a promo before the match talking about how the group will stay around for a long time and Ridge Holland being in a hospital bed isn’t different from what they would’ve done for injuring Adam Cole. O’Reilly noted that he will be back next week.
The match was fine. The end came when Strong landed a flying knee strike to the jaw of Lorcan. As a result, they will challenge Fandango and Tyler Breeze for the NXT Tag Team Titles next week.
NXT North American Champion Damian Priest defended his title against Dexter Lumis.
Priest has had successful title defenses against Timothy Thatcher and Johnny Gargano since becoming North American Champion when he won it in a five-way ladder match at NXT TakeOver XXX this August.
Lumis just made his return two weeks ago in a backstage segment. It appears that WWE just threw this match together as there was no real back story.
The finish saw Cameron Grimes run out and hit a double foot stomp to Lumis that led to Priest hitting a chokeslam for the win. Priest stood tall before hitting a reverse DDT to Grimes. As Priest went up the ramp, Gargano hit him with a chair. Shoti Blackheart announced that the NXT North American and Women\’s Title matches will be have stipulations that will be decided by spin the wheel at Halloween Havoc.
For a second straight week, WWE gave Ember Moon time to discuss her return to NXT again.
Last week, the promo segment got interrupted and eventually led to her teaming up with Rhea Ripley to take on Dakota Kai & Raquel González in a tag team match that saw the babyfaces go over.
This week’s segment saw Moon do a sitdown interview, but it was more of a video package. Moon stated that 2019 was a horrible year for her and spending a year away made her realize that she can’t let people forget who she is. She also found out who she wants to see her character to be. When the doctor told her that she was cleared then she knew that she was NXT.
She said that she took herself off the main roster to come home as her drive is back. She called NXT the best women\’s division in all of wrestling. She said that when she left NXT she did so on top, but everything is different now. She said that you don’t get a title shot off past success so she knows she has to go through the best that NXT has offered to get it.
A late addition to the card was Candice LeRae vs. Shotzi Blackheart in a match to determine the new #1 contender for the NXT Women’s Title.
These two stars worked hard to put on a memorable match and did so. The finish saw Indi Hartwell appear at ringside to give brass knucks to LeRae to hit Shotzi with and win the match.
As a result of this win, she will challenge Io Shirai for the NXT Women’s Title at the upcoming Halloween Havoc special of NXT on the USA Network in two weeks.
LeRae just challenged for the title back at the NXT TakeOver 31 event where she fell short in her pursuit of the title. While at least WWE did something to make this contender credible, Io has been booked as a dominant force in the division not to mention that WWE has already built up two other contenders.
Those stars are Rhea Ripley and Ember Moon, who have already voiced their intentions of coming after the title. Thus, it might be hard for fans to buy into being a serious title contender.
Johnny Gargano vs. Austin Theory in a singles match is in the books.
The match was good, but it seems as if these guys could have a lengthy match with some back story then they could revisit this down the road and it would be better. Gargano went over with his finisher.
Gargano is fresh off a loss to NXT North American Champion Damien Priest at NXT TakeOver 31. At the time, there was some speculation that he could be headed to the main roster, but that wasn’t the case as he wasn’t drafted and obviously worked this show. It will be interesting to see where he goes from here as I don’t see him being in the NXT Title hunt.
Theory continues to be someone who is lost in the shuffle since arriving and that needs to change as most would agree that he’s a really good worker.
Jon Moxley successfully made his latest defense of the AEW World Heavyweight Championship.
The title match took place on Wednesday’s special episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT as it served as the anniversary show.
It was booked in the main event from Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place. Archer challenged Moxley for the strap but fell short in his attempt.
The match featured various brawling and weapons being used. They even went through doubles tables. The finish of the match saw Moxley roll up Archer for the win. After the match, Eddie Kingston, Pentagon, and Fenix came out to the ring. Kingston cut a promo about how he never actually lost to Moxley then attacked Moxley to close the show.
Archer earned this title opportunity last month at the AEW All Out pay-per-view event. Archer took part in the 21-man Casino Battle Royale, which he won by last eliminating Eddie Kingston.
The AEW All Out pay-per-view event will take place on Saturday, November 7th, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place. This will be the final PPV event of the year for AEW.
Moxley has yet to receive an opponent at this show, but with it quickly approaching, that should be changing soon.
AEW has announced the full bracket for the World Title Eliminator tournament.
There will be 8 competitors in the tournament. Penta El Zero M, Rey Fenix, Kenny Omega, Joey Janela, Colt Cabana, Hangman Page, Wardlow, and Jungle Boy have been confirmed. The purpose of this tournament is to crown a new number 1 contender for the AEW World Championship.
AEW has released the brackets for the tournament, which you can see here:
Penta El Zero M vs. Rey Fenix
Kenny Omega vs. Joey Janela
Colt Cabana vs. Hangman Page
Wardlow vs. Jungle Boy
Based on these brackets, it does set up the possible finals match of omega vs. Page, which would be an interesting match since they split as a tag team.
The AEW All Out pay-per-view event will take place on Saturday, November 7th, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place. This will be the final PPV event of the year for AEW.
The four quarterfinal matches will take place on the October 21st episode of Dynamite and the two semifinal matches set for the October 28th Dynamite.
John Cena has tied the knot again. The legendary WWE Superstar and Shay Shariatzadeh were married Tuesday, October 12th in Tampa, FL. Their marriage license can be viewed below courtesy of the Hillsborough County Clerk of Circuit Courts.
News of the couple\’s relationship was made public in March 2019. They were engaged earlier this year. Congratulations to the newlyweds!
John Cena was previously married to Elizabeth Huberdeau from 2009-2012. He was also engaged to WWE personality Nikki Bella. Prior to their split, Cena and Nikki were scheduled to get married in May 2018. The couple announced their separation in 2018 after dating since 2012 and being engaged for a year. The main reason for their split was due to Cena being against having children but had later stated that he is willing to be a father. Earlier this year, Nikki gave birth to a son with Artem Chigvintsev.
Speaking of Cena, he announced today in a post on his official Twitter account that he’s the new voice of Honda. He also shared the first commercial:
We define who we are when we persevere in the face of obstacles. Proud to be the new voice of @Honda, starting with this message that encourages people to ”Rise to the Challenge.” pic.twitter.com/S7PgmkYq11
Andrade was not drafted during this year’s WWE Draft nor was he signed as a “free agent” to either RAW or SmackDown.
As a result, it caused speculation that he could be returning to NXT. Whether he does go back to NXT remains to be seen, but there’s a reason as to why he wasn’t selected in the Draft.
Wrestling Inc reports that Andrade is undergoing a minor elective procedure and is expected to be out of action for a month.
Andrade joined Mickie James as the only two stars not drafted following the conclusion of night two of the WWE Draft. James is currently out of action with a broken nose, which will prevent her from wrestling for a couple of weeks.
Andrade was last seen in action on Monday’s episode of RAW where he dropped a loss to Angel Garza in a singles match. Post-match, Andrade, and Zelina Vega were attacked by Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss.
The NXT speculation came about when he tweeted and deleted \”thank you,\” but that was quickly cleared up by Charlotte Flair. His girlfriend stated that he was simply wishing Vega well as they go their separate ways. However, he then shared a photo of himself with the NXT Title.
As of this writing, Andrade nor WWE has commented on his status and when he’ll be placed on a brand.
WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns appeared on ESPN\’s First Take on Wednesday morning to promote match against Braun Strowman this Friday on SmackDown.
One of the topics that came up once again was the possibility of wrestling his cousin, Dwayne \”The Rock\” Johnson. Roman Reigns vs. The Rock is arguably the biggest match WWE could possibly promote, so this is an intriguing hypothetical.
Last month, The Rock stated that if he ever returned to work one more match at WrestleMania, then Roman Reigns would be the ideal opponent. In fact, The Rock said he\’d be \”honored\” to put Reigns over.
During his appearance on First Take, Reigns kept the conversation going. He said it would be \”amazing\” for The Rock to use his star power to once again shine a spotlight on the WWE product for a whole new audience.
\”It would be amazing, Reigns said. \”I think for any Superstar of my generation to have someone on his level, someone that has done so much not only in sports entertainment, but the movie industry, entertainment in general. The man has what a billion followers online and stuff. To be able to put that type of spotlight on our current generation and what we do within our product in WWE would be amazing and just sharing the ring with him.\”
Family Affair
Roman Reigns is currently feuding with another cousin of his, Jey Uso. After headlining the recent Clash of Champions pay-per-view, they will do battle once again at Hell in a Cell on October 25th. Despite the bad blood we\’ve seen on television, both men are now on record talking about how much they\’re enjoying working together.
\”I\’m really enjoying what I\’m doing right now to share the ring with my cousin Jey Uso. To be able to tell that story of our family, the lineage, and the history of where we come from, is pretty cool. To continue it and take it to the next level is what I’m doing each and every time.”
One of the first questions that came up was his removal as the Executive Director of WWE RAW. The change happened earlier this year as Heyman had been overseeing the creative for the RAW brand until Vince McMahon decided to make a change and Heyman was pulled from that role.
“I served at the pleasure of the Chairman Vince McMahon and there came a day I was no longer at the pleasure of the Chairman Vince McMahon. When I took the role of Executive Director, I made an agreement with Vince McMahon, I want this job as long as every morning Vince McMahon woke up, he said thank God or whatever deity he subscribes to Paul Heyman is looking after the store on Raw. And the day that Vince McMahon didn’t wake up and feel that way, I didn’t want the job anymore.”
He stated that he’s been in a similar role where McMahon wasn’t happy with him and it was a miserable existence. He said he didn’t want that.
“Apparently on that day on that given time and given moment, Vince didn’t wake up that morning thanking whatever deity he subscribes to that Paul Heyman was in charge of Raw. We left with a smile, a handshake, and a hug. Absolutely no harsh feelings and actually better feelings about each other because of the way that it ended because it’s ended miserably before.”
Heyman said that proof of his exit is a positive thing as it came down to McMahon’s comments on an earnings call shortly after the move was made. He recalled McMahon stating that he thought Heyman did a great job instead of saying something like they needed someone with a new vision.
“My run in terms of serving at the pleasure of the chairman was up and then this opportunity presented itself both for me, for Roman and for WWE and we all jumped on it.”
After a few months of Heyman being on the sidelines, he was paired with Roman Reigns.
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 1.855 million viewers with a 0.57 rating in the key 18-49 demographic. This was up from last week, which did 1.686 million viewers and 0.52 demo rating.
To compare, just one year ago, RAW averaged 2.279 million viewers. This marked the second night of this year’s Draft.
WWE had to deal with just one NFL game that aired on ESPN, which was between the Saints and Chargers that had 10.654 million viewers. Last week’s show faced two NFL games.
Here’s the hourly viewership breakdown for Raw, courtesy of Showbuzzdaily.com:
Hour 1: 2.006 million, 0.60 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 2: 1.884 million, 0.59 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 3: 1.676 million, 0.52 in the 18-49 Demo
SmackDown Viewership
Friday’s SmackDown averaged 2.178 million viewers on FOX. This is up from the 2.155million viewers that the show did for the previous week.
SmackDown averaged 2.087 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was up from the 2.042 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets.
The first hour drew 2.156 million viewers while the second hour did 2.017 million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did 2.105 million viewers while the second hour did 1.980 million viewers.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.60 rating in the 18-49 demos, the same from 0.50 rating as last week’s show.
WWE booked a triple threat match on Monday’s episode of RAW on the USA Network. AJ Styles vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Seth Rollins took place in the second hour of the show.
Near the end of the match, Elias came out of nowhere and hit Hardy in the back with a guitar. Styles took advantage of this moment and pinned the former WWE Intercontinental Champion for the win.
Elias walked out of the ring and had a staredown with Hardy, who was still in the ring.
Elias had been sidelined due to an injury. Back in May while on SmackDown, he took part in the tournament for the vacant Intercontinental Championship after WWE stripped Sami Zayn of it.
He beat Baron Corbin during the first round of the tournament. However, in late May, it was announced by WWE that Elias had suffered an injury in storyline due to a car accident.
However, the real story was that Elias had suffered a torn pectoral muscle and required surgery. At the time, the belief was that he would be out of action for 6-9 months.
Not only with this return happening on RAW, but also with him starting a storyline with Hardy who is also on the red brand, it appears that this is where he’ll be working for the next year.
Balor successfully retained the title over Kyle O’Reilly in the main event of NXT TakeOver 31 event.
Balor had previously confirmed last week that he broke his jaw in two places during his latest title defense. He even shared an x-ray photo of it.
Although WWE did air a video package on last week’s episode of NXT to recap the match and show photos of Balor in the hospital, they didn’t provide an update on his status.
During a recent episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that WWE made the injury seem to be worse than it actually is. Bryan Alvarez speculated that WWE knew the severity of the injury and that could be the reason as to why they didn’t strip him of the title.
Lars Sullivan is slated to work his first match since suffering an injury that had put him on the sidelines.
WWE confirmed on Monday evening that “The Freak” will take on Jeff Hardy in a singles match on Friday’s episode of SmackDown on FOX. Sullivan had knee surgery in June 2019.
Sullivan just made his return last week on SmackDown after Matt Riddle and Jeff Hardy defeated John Morrison & The Miz in a tag team match. Sullivan laid out everyone to stand tall to close out the segment.
WWE has already confirmed some other matches for this episode of SmackDown from Orlando, Florida at the Amway Center.
The New Day will team up against Cesaro, Sheamus and Shinsuke Nakamura. This match is being hyped as The New Day’s farewell as Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods were drafted to RAW while Big E will remain on SmackDown.
The biggest match is Roman Reigns defending the Universal Championship against Braun Strow, which will likely be the main event. This comes just a few weeks before Reigns defends the title against Jey Uso at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event later this month.
It was reported earlier today that WWE had decided to extend its deal with the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida to hold ThunderDome shows through November as the original deal was slated to expire on October 31st.
Aside from that, there had been no update until now as to what WWE has planned for December and going further. It’s looking like WWE will extend its deal with the arena for the remainder of 2020.
Bryan Alvarez noted on today’s episode of Wrestling Observer Live that he’s been told that WWE’s deal with the arena is probably going until at least January. He stated that the original agreement was for no fans to be allowed to attend.
However, he speculated that WWE might be able to adjust the deal and have it where fans can slowly be able to attend the events just like they’ve been doing with the Performance Center for weekly NXT shows. He added that WWE is going to be in the ThunderDome for a while.
WWE transformed the training facility and turned it into the Capitol Wrestling Center where it’s like a mini version of the ThunderDome The only difference is that there are a few fans and family members allowed to attend while being in pods and going by the social distancing guidelines with masks.
Aleister Black spoke with Sportskeeda about a wide range of topics.
During the chat, he was asked if he ever sees his real-life wife, Zelina Vega, manage him in WWE.
\”I personally think that it makes no sense to put me and her together because Aleister Black and Zelina Vega don\’t have anything in common,\” Black said. \”Tom and Thea, who are married, have everything in common, but the characters have literally no alignment with each other. So am I saying never, never, never, never? No, but right now it\’s zero to none. There\’s nothing that\’s going to happen that is going to put myself and Zelina Vega together.\”
Black stated that he thinks WWE has wanted to focus on her in-ring work for a very long time and he thinks that’s right as she has proven to be a good manager and holds her on the microphone.
He stated that even when she was a manager, she would do some spots in the ring.
He said that Zelina has a few more matches than some of the people that were established Superstars on the brand before she made the transition. He added that she wants to focus on being an in-ring competitor.
The two stars have crossed paths in the past both NXT and on the main roster. Time will tell whether they will work together in the future.
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