The highly anticipated Stadium Stampede Match is in the books and what a sight it was at AEW Double or Nothing.
The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana, and Ortiz) vs. The Elite (Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and Adam Page) was the main event.
As seen on the show, The Elite went over. The Inner Circle was wearing football jerseys with the Inner Circle logo on them. Each group had football entrances. The contest featured a series of wild spots. They started outside of the ring in the stadium.
Matt Jackson got on a goal post to hit a moonsault onto the Inner Circle. Page entered the stadium on a horse and chased Guevara into the tunnel. Santana and Ortiz tried to drown Hardy in the pool but Matt transformed into various characters.
Hardy put Santana into the icebox and put a stick through the doors to keep him there. Matt told him that it would help his inflammation. Hardy rang a giant bell with Ortiz underneath then put him in a wheelchair and duct-taped him to it while Ortiz was convulsing.
Page and Hager had a brawl fight that ended with Page and Omega drinking whiskey and milk. Matt Jackson hit a series of suplexes to Sammy across the field. Nick hit Jericho a series of times with footballs then super kicked Jericho through a kicking net. Jericho attacked the Jaguars mascot. Page got the line marker and walked over Jericho with it.
Omega hit the one-winged angel off the seating area through a platform to Sammy for the win. There were so many different funny spots in this contest.
Jon Moxley took on Brodie Lee for the top title in the promotion in what many considered to be a top match featured on the card.
Moxley made his latest title defense as the AEW World Heavyweight Champion against Brodie Lee at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event.
The match had some brawling elements as the referee allowed them to use objects around the ring as weapons. Moxley backdropped Lee off the steel steps through the table. Lee sent him through cardboard signs. Moxley threw a small poker chip at Lee.
The end of the match saw Moxley hit Lee a few times with his finisher before locking in a rear-naked choke for the win.
We knew that this was gonna be a fight! Both men are out to prove a point! Order the Double or Nothing reply NOW on all major cable & satellite providers / @BRLive / @FITETV (Intl Fans Only) #AEWDoNpic.twitter.com/alMWWHIg0S
Lee made his promotional debut back on the March 18th episode of Dynamite on TNT when he made an appearance. He was revealed as The Exalted One, the leader of The Dark Order.
The former Luke Harper requested his release from WWE back in April 2019. He remained under contract until December when WWE finally granted the request.
What are your thoughts on retaining Jon Moxley retaining the AEW World Heavyweight Title? Was this the right call by AEW officials? Sound off in the comment section.
Hikaru Shida has become the new AEW Women’s Champion as she dethroned Nyla Rose.
Shida did so when she beat Rose to win the title in a No DQ match at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place. They used some kendo sticks and Shida was even sent through a table at ringside. The finish saw Shida hit an Avalanche Falcon Arrow for the win.
Rose won the title back on February 12th episode of AEW Dynamite when she beat Riho on TNT.
All Elite Wrestling set up this contest on the May 13th episode of Dynamite when the promotion held a #1 Contender’s Match that saw Shida vs. Penelope Ford vs. Britt Baker vs. Kris Statlander battle it out in a Fatal 4-Way contest.
As seen on the show, Shida ended up winning it. As a result, Shidaearned the right to challenge Rose for the AEW Women’s Title at the Double or Nothing PPV event.
The inaugural AEW TNT Champion has been crowned and it\’s Cody Rhodes.
At the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place, All Elite Wrestling booked this championship match between Rhodes and Lance Archer that served as the tournament finals.
Archer controlled the first half of the contest. At one point due to outside interference, Arn Anderson, the coach of Rhodes, was tossed from ringside. Mike Tyson, who was there to present the title to the winner, scared off Jake Roberts, the manager of Archer, after Roberts teased bringing a snake into the ring.
The finish saw Cody hit Cross Rhodes twice for the win.
The eight-man tournament was announced on March 30, 2020 and kicked off on the April 8th episode of Dynamite to crown its inaugural TNT Champion.
Kip Sabian vs. Dustin Rhodes and Lance Archer vs. Colt Cabana was booked for the right side of the bracket while on the left side feared Cody vs. Shawn Spears and Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara.
The semi-finals of the tournament took place on the April 29th episode of Dynamite. The pair of matches saw Rhodes vs. Allin and Rhodes against Archer.
As seen on the show, Cody went over Allin in the opening match while Archer beat Rhodes in the main event.
As expected, the Casino Ladder Match was wild and featured the promotional debut of Brian Cage.
Cage ended up winning the contest at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday night.
All Elite Wrestling booked this contest that featured Darby Allin vs. Colt Cabana vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Fenix vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Kip Sabian vs. Kazarian vs. Luchasaurus vs. mystery man.
It turns out that the mystery competitor was Cage. Taz came out with him and the announcers questioned whether he was the manager or coach for the former Impact wrestling star.
A new wrestler entered the match every 2 minutes. Early on, Allin went to the top of the ladder and tried to stomp his skateboard onto Kaz but rather went through a ladder. He later briefly disappeared from the match after this spot.
A group of wrestlers grabbed a giant poker chip to put it on top of Cage as a way to keep him down. Cage managed to get back up and did some nice spots.
As a result of winning the contest, Cage has become the new #1 contender to the AEW World Heavyweight Title, which is currently held by Jon Moxley.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet as to when he’ll get the chance to challenge Moxley for the top title in the promotion.
.@MrGMSI_BCage has arrived as the mystery participant in the Casino Ladder Match! Order Double or Nothing NOW on all major cable & satellite providers / @BRLive / @FITETV (Intl Fans Only) #AEWDoNpic.twitter.com/pj1EitB2EB
WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle is slated to make his return to WWE programming when he appears on Wednesday’s episode of WWE NXT.
WWE confirmed on Saturday that the legendary pro wrestler will be the special guest referee for the Cage Fight between Matt Riddle and Timothy Thatcher that takes place on the show.
This will make his first appearance on WWE television since his departure from the company as he was part of the mass talent and staff releases by WWE due to coronavirus-related budget cuts. He had previously worked as an agent for the company.
It was also announced by NXT General Manager William Regal that a new match has been added to the lineup. Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley will team up against NXT Women\’s Champion Charlotte and a partner of her choosing.
This is being done as a way to further build on the program in the women\’s division heading into NXT TakeOver: In Your House on June 7.
Updated NXT Card
NXT Champion Adam Cole and William Regal to have negotiating session
Matt Riddle vs. Timothy Thatcher – Cage Fight (Kurt Angle as special guest referee)
Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley vs. NXT Women\’s Champion Charlotte and a partner of her choosing
Drake Maverick vs. Kushida vs. Jake Atlas – Triple Threat to determine the Group A winner of the Interim NXT Cruiserweight Title tournament
The semi-finals of the WWE Intercontinental Championship Tournament are set.
The second batch of matches in this tournament took place on Friday’s episode of WWE SmackDown in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center on FOX.
Those matches saw AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura with Styles going over and Sheamus vs. Jeff Hardy with Hardy being victorious.
WWE held the first batch of matches last week that saw Elias defeat Baron Corbin and Daniel Bryan beat Drew Gulak, who departed from the company after the match after his contract had expired with WWE and the company deciding to nix the talks about a new deal when he asked for more money.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Tournament Semi-Finals
Now, Bryan will battle Hardy while Elias is slated to take on Styles in the semi-finals of the tournament.
WWE announced when the finals will take place. It will take place next week on SmackDown.
WWE presents the Backlash pay-per-view event on Sunday, June 14, 2020 in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center that will air on the WWE Network. Time will tell whether the finals go down at this show.
A new match has been announced for the upcoming WWE Backlash PPV.
WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman will make his next title defense against The Miz and John Morrison in a Handicap Match at this event.
WWE set up this contest on Friday’s episode of SmackDown on FOX when the show opened with Strowman interrupting The Miz and Morrison on The Dirt Sheet.
This led to Strowman beating the Miz in a non-title match. After the match, he was challenged by Morrison to a Handicap Match at Backlash with the title on the line, which was accepted by Strowman.
WWE presents the Backlash pay-per-view event on Sunday, June 14, 2020 in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center that will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks. Here is the updated card:
Updated WWE Backlash Card
Edge vs. Randy Orton – Singles Match
WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Bobby Lashley
WWE Universal Champion Braun Strowman vs. The Miz & John Morrison – Handicap Match
The card for Saturday’s (May 23, 2020) AEW Double Or Nothing has been finalized.
The company has yet to officially announce the main event of this event that takes place in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place and will air on pay-per-view.
The belief is that this special will be headlined by the Stadium Stampede Match. Another top match is AEW World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley vs. Brodie Lee.
This show marks the second special for the promotion in 2020, which features a stacked lineup.
With Britt Baker suffering an injury on Wednesday\’s Dynamite, the promotion had Penelope Ford replace her against Kris Statlander.
AEW World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley vs. Brodie Lee
Cody Rhodes vs. Lance Archer – AEW TNT Title Tournament Finals
Jungle Boy vs. MJF
Darby Allin vs. Colt Cabana vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Joey Janela vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Kip Sabian vs. Kazarian vs. Luchasaurus vs. mystery man- Casino Ladder Match for future AEW World Championship shot
AEW Women’s Champion Nyla Rose vs. Hikaru Shida – No DQ Match
The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz) vs. The Elite (Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and Adam Page) – Stadium Stampede Match
Penelope Ford vs. Kris Statlander
Shawn Spears vs. Dustin Rhodes
Best Friends vs. Private Party – #1 Contenders Match (Pre-Show)
What are your thoughts on this card and the feuds that AEW is presenting to its fans? Sound off in the comment section.
WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair has opened up on signing a new deal with WWE shortly after making the news known to the public.
He did so while speaking with Raj Giri. It turns out that he signed the deal last week. While he’s now under a new agreement with the company, he made it known that he’s never gone without getting paid by the company.
Flair stated that WWE dealing with the coronavirus slowed down the actual official signing. He brought up how everybody went to work on figuring out on their end what to do.
He pointed out how it\’s a lot to deal with in wrestling because it\’s not a seasonal sport and is year-round. He added that just figuring your way around that has been an act of genius in itself.
It turns out that despite their friendship, AEW President Tony Khan told him that he wouldn\’t even ask Flair to join AEW.
\”Tony [Khan] told me that he wouldn\’t even ask me to come to work there because he knows how tight I am with [WWE]. Our friendship is one thing but he respects my loyalty to the company. That\’s how much respect [Khan] has for me and my relationship with the company which speaks volumes to what kind of guy Tony is. The same would apply to my daughter and WWE.\”
Flair didn’t disclose the length of the deal but noted that he hopes that WWE keeps him around in some capacity for many years.
It appears that a match and segment has been revealed ahead of Monday\’s episode of WWE RAW.
Cable TV guides are advertising WWE Champion Drew McIntyre being the special guest on MVP\’s VIP Lounge.
With MVP serving as the manager for Bobby Lashley, it’s likely that this segment is to further hype the upcoming championship match that will see McIntyre put the title on the line against Lashley.
This contest is one of the top matches featured on the Backlash pay-per-view card that takes place next month.
Also advertised for this episode is a Triple Threat with the winner becoming the new #1 contender to RAW Women\’s Champion Asuka.
The advertised participants are WWE NXT Women\’s Champion Charlotte Flair, Nia Jax and Natalya. Although not confirmed, it’s likely that the winner of this contest will challenge Asuka for the strap at Backlash.
It should be noted that WWE has not officially announced this segment and match for the show. That could change over the weekend as RAW gets closer.
The only thing announced for RAW in advance is WWE United States Champion Andrade defending the title against Apollo Crews.
One match will reportedly not be live come Saturday night at the AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event.
It was noted on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Live that All Elite Wrestling is taping the Stadium Stampede match on Friday in Jacksonville, Florida. The reason for this ten-man match being taped is so AEW can edit the contest and put it together ahead of the broadcast.
As of this writing, there’s still no word yet as to what the main event of Double or Nothing will be. It’s possible that the Stadium Stampede will serve as the headliner of the show.
This contest is to take place from the empty TIAA Bank Field, the home of the NFL\’s Jacksonville Jaguars
It’ll see The Elite (The Young Bucks, AEW World Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega & Hangman Page) and Matt Hardy vs. The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Jake Hager, Santana, Ortiz).
Although not confirmed, there’s speculation that it will feature a few cameo appearances and some surprises. It’s supposed to be a wild brawl with the wrestlers having the entire stadium and football field to do battle on. A ring is going to be set up in the middle of the field.
The betting odds for most of the matches that will take place at the AEW Double Or Nothing pay-per-view event have been released.
The card for the show that takes place on Saturday (May 23, 2020) in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place has been finalized.
AEW World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley vs. Brodie Lee is expected to headline the show. Darby Allin is the favorite to win the Casino Ladder Match.
Make sure to join us on Saturday for match recaps, and our takeaways from this latest pay-per-view event held by AEW.
AEW Double Or Nothing Betting Odds
The favorites to win are listed as – while the underdogs are listed with +. Here are the final betting odds courtesy of BetOnline:
AEW World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley -250 vs. Brodie Lee +170
Cody Rhodes +110 vs. Lance Archer -150 – AEW TNT Title Tournament Finals
Jungle Boy +110 vs. MJF -150
Darby Allin 7/4 vs. Colt Cabana 9/1 vs. Orange Cassidy 7/1 vs. Fenix 4/1 vs. Scorpio Sky 10/1 vs. Kip Sabian 10/1 vs. Kazarian 10/1 vs. Luchasaurus 12/1 vs. mystery man 11/4 – Casino Ladder Match for future AEW World Championship shot
AEW Women’s Champion Nyla Rose -200 vs. Hikaru Shida +150
The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz) -180 vs. The Elite (Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and Adam Page) +140 – Stadium Stampede Match
Viewership data is in for this week’s battle in the WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite Wednesday Night War.
AEW won the night in total viewers and in the key 18-49 demo. Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
WWE NXT Viewership
NXT on the USA Network averaged 592,000 viewers, down from last week’s 604,000 In the 18-49 demo, they drew a 0.13 rating, down from 0.15 last week.
The episode featured the return of Tommaso Ciampa to do an in-ring segment with Karrion Kross, Io Shirai vs. Rhea Ripley, and two Interim Cruiserweight Championship Tournament matches – El Hijo del Fantasma vs. Akira Tozawa and Drake Maverick vs. KUSHIDA.
AEW Dynamite on TNT was watched by 701,000 viewers, up from the 654,000 viewers last week. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite pulled in a 0.26 rating, up from the 0.22 rating that the show did last week.
AEW Dynamite featured bouts such as Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara, Jon Moxley vs. The Dark Order’s 10 in a non-title match, a face-to-face confrontation took place between Lance Archer’s manager Jake “The Snake” Roberts and Cody’s “head coach” Arn Anderson, MJF vs. Marko Stunt, and Nyla Rose and Britt Baker vs. Hikaru Shida and Kris Statlander.
The May 20, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from the Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University and we have the results.
The show was headlined by Io Shirai vs. Rhea Ripley.
WWE NXT Results (5/20)
Karrion Kross (w/Scarlett) def. Liam Gray.
El Hijo del Fantasma def. Akira Tozawa
Mia Yim def. Santana Garrett
Roderick Strong def. Dexter Lumis
Danny Burch & Oney Lorcan def. Ever-Rise (Chase Parker & Matt Martel)
Io Shirai vs. Rhea Ripley ends in no contest
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Killer Kross Opens The Show, Daddy Comes Home
WWE had Killer Kross and Scarlett open the show by doing their cool entrance right before Kross’ second NXT match.
As expected, Kross worked a squash match against some jobber named Liam Gray. The former Impact Wrestling star squashed Gray with a series of suplexes before locking in his finisher.
After the match, Tommaso Ciampa walked out and introduced himself to Kross. He says that NXT is his home but Kross already knew that which is why Kross attacked the main attraction. He respects Kross’ aura of being special. Ciampa said that NXT has the best pro wrestlers in the world but Kross stands out. He pointed out that Kross has a killer entrance.
Ciampa stood on the apron and Scarlett held the rope for Ciampa to get in. He said that on June 7 at TakeOver, it’ll be Ciampa vs.Kross and that’s special. He said welcome to the main event.
An excellent segment and a match many will look forward to seeing.
.@NXTCiampa is not about to ??? ???? from @WWEKarrionKross…
Roderick Strong vs. Dexter Lumis, Velveteen Dream Seeks Revenge
A late addition to the card was Roderick Strong vs. Dexter Lumis in a singles match.
It was a decent hard-hitting affair. In an interesting finish, Strong went over Lumis.
This match was interesting as WWE has been pushing Lumis, a former Impact Wrestling star, in recent weeks by having him do squash matches. This was his first real test against Strong, who has been someone that NXT has been behind for quite some time now as part of The Undisputed Era.
After the match, Lumis attacked Strong but was beaten down by the group until The Velveteen Dream ran out and made the save. Lumis and Dream stood tall to end the segment.
Dream already lost to Cole with the title on the line but it appears this feud is going on further.
The biggest match announced for the show over the last week was Io Shirai vs. Rhea Ripley and rightfully so.
It marked the first match back for Ripley since she dropped the NXT Women’s Title to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 36.
The match was solid and they had plenty of time to work. The finish saw Flair walk out to the ring to watch the contest only for her to run in and attack both stars to cause a no contest.
Clearly, WWE is reigniting the feud with Ripley and Flair, which has played out over the last few weeks since Ripley made her return to television. The real interest is how WWE plans to get there.
Will WWE make it a three-way bout at the NXT TakeOver: In Your House special? Perhaps they go right back to Flair vs. Ripley but with the inclusion of Io, she’s either a blockage in the middle of the road or a third person in this match to allow WWE to extend the Flair-Ripley feud for a later date and one final singles match.
Kushida faced Drake Maverick to close out Group A in the Interim NXT Cruiserweight Title Tournament.
WWE had hyped going into the contest that if Maverick won then he would force a three-way tie atop Group A as Jake Atlas previously lost to Kushida, but he also defeated Maverick. On the flip side, a victory for Kushida would put him in the Interim Cruiserweight Title Match opposite the winner of Group B.
As seen on the show, Maverick went over after he countered an armbar into the pinfall. The match was decent but didn’t get a ton of time for these guys to tell whatever story that was needed.
Maverick’s situation with the company is still odd as it plays out as he was released from the company along with other talent last month due to budget cuts.
It was announced after the match that due to Kushida, Maverick, and Atlas being tied in the standings of Group A, there will be a Triple Threat Match next week. The winner of this contest will then advance to the finals of the tournament.
After several weeks of building and following along to this moment, the finals of Group B took place when El Hijo del Fantasma collided with Akira Tozawa.
This was the fastest-paced match on the show due to the styles that these two bring to the squared circle, which made for quite the entertaining bout even though the two stars don’t have much drawing power.
The contest isn’t one to boost viewership but WWE is clearly behind Fantasma and someone that could become a decent name in star power for them should he get the proper booking to go along with it.
As seen on the show, Fantasma went over to advance.
It appears that Candice LeRae will be feuding with Mia Yim going forward.
Yim beat Santana Garrett. After the match, LeRae and Johnny Gargano walked out to the ring where they mocked her for losing to NXT Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair. LeRae congratulated her for actually winning a match tonight.
LeRae blamed Yim’s loss on playing to the crowd. LeRae blamed Yim for not letting her have the chance of facing Flair. Gargano said that LeRae wouldn’t have dropped the ball and blown that type of opportunity. Yim and LeRae started to brawl.
Gargano pulled down the rope and Yim flew to the floor. Keith Lee walked out and ran Gargano into the ring. Gargano and LeRae retreated to the back and the segment ended with them staring down.
So there are the next feuds for these four stars. Perhaps singles or even a mixed tag team match on task at TakeOver?
All Elite Wrestling has announced a new match for their upcoming Double or Nothing pay-per-view.
On Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite, Shawn Spears did a news anchor segment where he cut a promo about how Dustin Rhodes had retired from the pro wrestling business.
He brought up Rhodes not only losing but also being beaten down by Lance Archer following their TNT Title tournament match. Moments later, AEW confirmed the match.
The AEW Double or Nothing pay-per-view event will take place on Saturday, May 23, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place.
AEW Double or Nothing Card
AEW World Heavyweight Champion Jon Moxley vs. Brodie Lee
Cody Rhodes vs. Lance Archer – AEW TNT Title Tournament Finals
Jungle Boy vs. MJF
Darby Allin vs. Colt Cabana vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Fenix vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Kip Sabian vs. Kazarian vs. Luchasaurus vs. mystery man- Casino Ladder Match for future AEW World Championship shot
AEW Women’s Champion Nyla Rose vs. Hikaru Shida – No DQ Match
The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana and Ortiz) vs. The Elite (Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and Adam Page) – Stadium Stampede Match
Britt Baker vs. Kris Statlander
Shawn spears vs. Dustin Rhodes
Best Friends vs. Private Party – #1 Contenders Match (Pre-Show)
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
The first match has been announced for the upcoming WWE NXT TakeOver: In Your House special and its Karrion Kross vs. Tommaso Ciampa.
Just after Kross had worked his second match under the NXT banner, which was a squash match similar to his debut, the returning Ciampa made his way out to the ring where he would cut a promo about how Kross is special.
Ciampa thinks this because of his entrance and look, which makes Kross stand out from all of the other talented wrestlers under contract with WWE NXT.
Ciampa ended his promo by stating that at TakeOver, it’ll be Ciampa vs.Kross and that’s special. He said welcome to the main event.
WWE presents the NXT TakeOver: In Your House event on Sunday, June 7, 2020 and will air on the WWE Network.
There\’s no word yet on where the special will be held from but the company has been taping NXT television in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University. No matter where it\’s held, it will be on a closed set.
Alexa Bliss recently did an interview with The Express where she spoke about the big news that Becky Lynch shared on an episode of Monday Night RAW earlier this month.
Lynch vacated the WWE RAW Women’s Championship, which was awarded to Asuka, right before she announced her pregnancy. She’s been engaged to Seth Rollins since August.
It turns out that the WWE locker room found out about Lynch’s pregnant during the segment as WWE had kept it a secret aside from a small group of people who knew about it.
“No actually, we all found out at the same time when she announced it. Nobody knew, everyone kept it very secret which they should because that is her news to announce, which is awesome and we’re all so happy and excited for.
I did reference it on Moment of Bliss and it wasn’t even on my script. So we had to add it in after because it was kept so secret, which it should be because that’s their exciting news to announce.”
Bliss continued by noting how everyone was so excited and all the girls were smiling. She stated that it was great because Lynch had such an amazing year. She recalled congratulating Lynch and told her that everyone was so happy for her.
However, at the time, Lynch had a camera crew with her so she didn’t want to bug her with everything going on in addition to everyone coming up to Lynch congratulating her.
Rhea Ripley made her WrestleMania debut this year but it was likely not how she had originally thought it would go.
Of course, Ripley wrestled Charlotte Flair with the NXT Women’s Title on the line at WrestleMania 36. Flair was able to dethrone Ripley to win the championship.
With the outbreak of the coronavirus, WWE had hold the event on a closed set with no fans in attendance.
In an interview with Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, Ripley commented on her match against Flair at Wrestlemania 36 and how she felt about the match.
“I absolutely loved it. I enjoyed it thoroughly, even though it was super weird with no crowd. And it was the first time that I had competed or just come out in front of no crowd. It was super strange, but at the same time, like WrestleMania is Wrestlemania and it was still a huge moment for me in my career. To be able to share that and share the ring was no one other than Charlotte Flair was just incredible.”
Ripley continued by noting how much praise she got about that match after they did it. She thought it was insane to think that at just 23-years-old and only wrestling for eight years and worked her first WrestleMania.
“Everyone telling me that I just absolutely killed it. Man, it was definitely a confidence boost.”
Ripley stated that she was legitimately happy about the match and cried about it because she was so overwhelmed with the feeling of prideful and the stress being lifted was amazing.
Viewership data is in for Monday’s WWE RAW and Friday’s SmackDown. Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
RAW Viewership
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 1.757 million viewers, which is down from the 1.920 million viewers last week.
Here is the hourly viewership breakdown:
Hour 1: 1.810 million, 0.53 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 2: 1.818 million, 0.53 in the 18-49 Demo
Hour 3: 1.644 million, 0.48 in the 18-49 Demo
RAW featured the Edge accepting Randy Orton’s wrestling match challenge at WWE Backlash while the main event featured WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Baron Corbin in a non-title match. Other matches that took place on this show included Charlotte Flair vs. Ruby Riott, Women’s Tag Team champions Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross vs. The IIconics (Billie Kay & Peyton Royce), and Shayna Baszler vs. Natalya.
SmackDown averaged 2.042 million viewers on FOX in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. This is up from the 2.025 million viewers that the show did for the previous week’s episode of SmackDown.
The show averaged 2.043 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was up from the 2.040 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets.
The first hour drew 2.030 million viewers while the second hour did 2.055 million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did 2.087million viewers while the second hour did 1.992 million viewers.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.50 rating in the 18-49 demos, the same from the 0.50 rating as last week’s show.
A new match has been announced for the upcoming WWE Backlash PPV and it’s Edge vs. Randy Orton.
Two weeks ago when WWE aired a video package hyping the returns of the WWE Hall of Famer and former WWE Champion for last week’s show, there was speculation as to whether this was a typo. It turns out that it wasn’t.
Instead, WWE is moving forward with their feud. Of course, Orton lost to Edge in a Last Man Standing Match at WrestleMania 36 last month. Many considered this to be the end of their feud that had started the night after Royal Rumble when Orton attacked Edge.
Last week’s show ended with Orton issuing a challenge to Edge to a wrestling match at Backlash. It ended with Edge not giving an answer and Charly Caruso stating that if it did happen it could be the greatest match of all-time.
Monday’s episode of RAW opened with Orton demanding an answer, which brought out Edge to accept the challenge and make the contest official.
WWE presents the Backlash pay-per-view event on Sunday, June 14, 2020 in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center that will air on the WWE Network.
Ricky Starks is now a free agent and looking to sign a deal with a promotion.
Starks announced on Monday on Busted Open Radio that he is now a free agent after his deal with the NWA expired and they mutually parted ways.
Starks had been with the NWA since August of 2019. After the appearance on the radio show, he took to Twitter to share this new vignette.
This video saw him do an old school interview that ended with saying that he can’t be underappreciated or overlooked.
The interviewer asked him why it took so long for him to be signed. This led to a transition where he was thinking and seeing himself run through a field.
He said that the question isn’t why it took him so long but why it took y’all so long. The video faded to black. You can see it below:
You can check out NWA Powerrr every week via their Official YouTube channel.
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Drew Gulak is the latest WWE star to depart from WWE.
On Saturday, there was speculation that Gulak was gone after his profile was moved to the WWE Alumni section on WWE’s official website, which happens when a talent is released by the company.
It turns out that the news is true, according to a report by Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet. Pwinsider.com reports that this wasn’t a release but rather Gulak\’s WWE contract expired on Friday.
It was added the two sides had been discussing a new deal but had not yet come to terms on the deal before Gulak\’s existing deal expired.
The departure has not been announced publicly, but that will likely change soon.
He just worked a match on Friday’s episode of SmackDown on FOX from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. He took on Daniel Bryan in a losing effort as part of the Intercontinental title tournament.
This match came after WWE officials had decided to pair him up with the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion as of late by being his coach.
Drew joined WWE in 2016 where he went onto be used as part of the cruiserweight division for the most part.
Brie Bella talked about her marital problems with Daniel Bryan being shown for the world to see.
She did so in an interview with TVInsider.com. These issues that many married couples deal with are airing on the current season of Total Bellas on the E! Network.
Brie started out by talking about how she is in quarantine with her husband Daniel Bryan, Nikki, and Nikki’s fiancé Artem Chigvintsev while watching the show and reliving the problems that they had, which brings back those feelings.
She said that you’re never prepared for reality television or what is going to happen.
“[Bryan and I] never had the intention of showcasing our marriage the way we did this season.”
She stated that what happens when you’re on camera is that the producers start to realize what is really going on. They ask whether she and Bryan are distant and not happy.
“You start to ask these same questions and realize, I’m not happy. We are distant and evolving differently. But Bryan and I put on a brave face and show this part of our marriage because we do believe a lot of married people who have kids go through this.”
Brie also talked about Total Bellas and being in quarantine.
Christian joined The Wrestling Inc Daily podcast to talk about the new film Cagefighter which also features Jon Moxley and former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell.
Earlier this year, the UFC Hall of Famer expressed interest in a potential move to WWE.
In this interview, he was asked about Liddell’s interest and how he thinks he would do inside of the squared circle. According to the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, he sees him in the same way as WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan.
\”He\’s obviously got the look for it. It\’s kinda like Hulk Hogan whereas any time Hogan walks into a room, he\’s got that distinctive look. Everybody, whether you\’re a wrestling fan or not, you know who he is. Chuck has that same thing. Whether you\’re an MMA fan or not, he\’ll walk into a room and everyone goes, \’Oh, that\’s Chuck Liddell.”
\”I think that even at his age, he definitely brings something to the table. He also appreciates it and said it publicly that he\’s a wrestling fan.”
Christian stated that Liddell appreciates what wrestlers bring to the table and that it\’s a lot tougher than people give it credit for.
He added that is another thing he likes about the film because it gives credibility to the wrestler which I appreciate.
It should be noted that Liddell isn’t looking to do a run in WWE but rather just one match. Shane McMahon, who is good friends with Liddell, has expressed interest in trying to make a deal. Time will tell whether it works out.
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