Matt Riddle got fans talking when he shared an interesting comment on social media.
It all went down when the WWE On FOX Twitter account hyped an appearance by WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg on Friday’s episode of SmackDown on FOX. This is where they asked fans who his next opponent should be.
The belief as of this writing is that Goldberg\’s opponent at the Super ShowDown pay-per-view show on Thursday, February 27, 2020 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd International Stadium will be revealed.
This is when Riddle responded to the post by writing, \”I\’m not gonna do what sources are saying I\’m not suppose to do. Or am I? What are sources saying?\”
This comes after a report by Dave Meltzer that Riddle has heat with Vince McMahon for calling out top stars such as Goldberg and WWE Champion Brock Lesnar on social media and other reasons.
An update regarding WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon’s decision to fire Co-Presidents George Barrios and Michelle Wilson has surfaced.
The news was made last week and WWE stock dropped as a result. Fast forward to Thursday’s WWE Q4 and Full-Year 2019 investors call, McMahon noted that the management transition came after careful consideration. He also stated that the decision was made on a \”different view of execution of our areas of focus.\”
Dave Meltzer reported in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that McMahon and his former Co-Presidents wanted to do different things with the significant money that the company earned through their TV deals with FOX and the USA Network.
According to the report, Barrios and Wilson wanted to maximize WWE\’s current profits in order to increase the stock price. Although McMahon wanted to do that as well, he also had plans that Wilson and Barrios did not agree with.
Those plans were to heavily invest the money such as spending big money to sign, keep and stockpile new talents. Also, he wants to create new regional brands in different markets just like they did in the UK with the WWE NXT UK brand.
It’s been rumored that WWE has considered NXT Japan, NXT Germany, NXT Australia, NXT Mexico, and NXT Canada for the future.
The idea behind these brands is for him to try to regain the \”monopoly\” of the pro wrestling business after the rise of mainly New Japan Pro Wrestling and AEW.
Matt Riddle is known to be outspoken and that is something that WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon apparently doesn’t like.
The issues between the two are due to Riddle’s social media posts and challenges, according to Dave Meltzer, who reported the news in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Meltzer noted how WWE Champion Brock Lesnar doesn’t like Riddle for making challenges to main roster stars as well as himself and that Lesnar has tremendous pull with McMahon.
It was added that “Vince also sees him [Riddle] as an outside guy and feels Riddle has no respect for the hierarchy of the business by challenging Goldberg and Lesnar.”
Riddle has made it clear for years that he wants to not only take on Lesnar in the squared circle but wants to retire him at WrestleMania, which is the biggest event of the year for WWE.
In fact, Riddle and Lesnar got into a backstage verbal altercation prior to Royal Rumble in Houston, Texas at the Minute Maid Park. According to recent reports, Lesnar told Riddle to stop calling him out because the match will never happen.
Riddle had an awkward interaction with Goldberg last year at SummerSlam after criticizing the WWE Hall of Famer on social media and interviews.
A new episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown is here and it’s shaping up to be an interesting show.
With just hours until bell time, it’s time to look ahead. The biggest thing that has been announced thus far for the episode is WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg making his return to WWE television.
WWE has been hyping up his return since Monday when the company made the announcement. As of this writing, there’s no official word on what WWE has planned for him to do on the show but the belief is that it will set up his in-ring return.
It’s been reported that he’ll get his opponent for the Super ShowDown pay-per-view event on Thursday, February 27, 2020 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd International Stadium on SmackDown.
Several segments have also been announced thus far for this show including the return of Daniel Bryan.
WWE SmackDown Preview
WWE holds this show from San Jose, CA at the SAP Center. WWE is advertising the following items for tonight’s broadcast:
Goldberg to appear
“Firefly Fun House” returns after Bray Wyatt’s Royal Rumble victory
The Miz & John Morrison to bring back “The Dirt Sheet”
Daniel Bryan returns
Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Dana Brooke vs. Carmella – Fatal 4-Way #1 Contender’s Match
WWE will also be announcing matches for existing feuds that will take place heading into the Super ShowDown pay-per-view event.
As usual, fans should expect more matches and segments to be revealed this afternoon for SmackDown.
Join us here later tonight for WWE SmackDown Results and our post-show SmackDown Takeaways feature.
Viewership data is in for this week’s battle in the WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite Wednesday Night War.
This week, AEW won in total viewers. It was close in every demographic group except Adults 50+, where NXT had a significant edge as they usually do.
Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
WWE NXT Viewership
NXT on the USA Network averaged 770,000 viewers, which is up from 712,000 last week. In the 18-49 demo, they drew a 0.22 rating, the same from the previous week.
The episode featured Angel Garza vs. Isaiah Scott, Dominik Dijakovic vs. Killian Dain, Mercedes Martinez vs. Kacy Catanzaro, Jordan Devlin vs. Tyler Breeze, and The BroserWeights (Matt Riddle & Pete Dunne) & Tommaso Ciampa vs. The Undisputed ERA (Adam Cole, Bobby Fish & Kyle O\’Reilly)
AEW Dynamite on TNT was watched by 928,000 viewers, up from the 828,000 viewers last week. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite pulled in a 0.36 rating, up from the 0.34 rating that the show did last week.
AEW Dynamite featured matches such as Dr. Britt Baker vs. Yuka Sakazaki, Jon Moxley vs. Ortiz, and The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and Hangman Page vs. Lucha Bros, The Butcher and The Blade (w/The Bunny). In the main event segment, Cody Rhodes got 10 lashes from MJF.
Next week’s battle will be very interesting to see which show wins the ratings battle as NXT will be getting closer to their next special, TakeOver: Portland while AEW edges closer to Revolution.
The February 5, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from the Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University.
The show was headlined by a six-man tag team match that saw The Undisputed Era take on Tommaso Ciampa, Pete Dunne, and Matt Riddle.
WWE NXT Results (2/5/20)
Angel Garza def. Isaiah \”Swerve\” Scott
Dominik Dijakovic def. Killian Dain
Mercedes Martinez def. Kacy Catanzaro
NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin def. Tyler Breeze – Non-Title Match
Tommaso Ciampa, Pete Dunne, and Matt Riddle def. The Undisputed Era by DQ
Here are the 5 takeaways from this week’s show:
Pete Dunne & Matt Riddle Follow Up
The big question heading into this week’s show was what’s next for Pete Dunne and Matt Riddle.
WWE kicked off the show with the two stars as they made a grand start by having their own entrance while riding in a golf cart that was decorated. They had the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic trophy.
Dunne brought up how the last thing he thought was that he would be in a tag team with Riddle but Riddle thought it was meant to be. They made it known that they would be the next NXT Tag Team Champions. This led out the champs, Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly, who came out to make fun of them.
They didn’t want to wait until Portland. However, Roderick Strong came out to calm them down. Riddle mocked Fish and Dunne stated that they would smoke the Undisputed Era at TakeOver: Portland.
This was a fun segment that further pushed this contest. Mission accomplished.
WWE booked Dominik Dijakovic vs. Killian Dain in a singles match that served as an opportunity for the winner.
As seen in the contest, Dijakovic ended up going over. As a result, he will challenge NXT North American Champion Keith Lee at the NXT TakeOver: Portland show.
It was a fun match and a step in the right direction for Lee in his next title defense.
This match was expected as WWE teased both Dijakovic and Dain squaring off in the ring after releasing a video earlier today on YouTube where they teased a showdown as both stars wanted a shot at the title. They both thought that they were worthy of a title match.
Mauro Ranallo brought up how William Regal booked Dijakovic vs. Lee at Portland. Thus it’s official. They had a staredown after the match.
The Undisputed Era found Tommaso Ciampa after looking for him for over an hour. They had been attacking random people backstage before going outside and being attacked by Ciampa.
Ciampa and Cole battled into the arena. Eventually, Dunne and Riddle came out to brawl with the rest of the members of the group.
Ultimately, NXT GM William Regal came out to book an six-man tag team match between the faces and heels for the main event.
A nice angle to not only further Dunne and Riddle vs. O’Reilly and Fish but Cole defending the NXT Title against Ciampa at NXT TakeOver: Portland.
Cole vs. Ciampa is expected to headline the show that takes place on February 16, 2020 at the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
As promised, Charlotte Flair made her return to NXT in order to answer NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley’s WrestleMania 36 challenge.
WWE did an in-ring promo with Bianca Belair, who will be challenging Ripley for the title at NXT TakeOver: Portland, where she noted that she doesn’t care about Flair.
This led to Flair coming out where she praised Belair but made it known that Belair isn’t her. Ripley came out and stated that she’s ready to drop Flair at Mania. The segment with Ripley remaining Flair that they are NXT. Belair and Ripley laid out Flair before having a staredown.
Once again, a segment that saw Flair not accept the challenge.
Of course, WWE set up this feud on Monday’s episode of RAW where Ripley made the initial challenge, which Flair didn’t accept. While a quick turnaround for the program wasn’t expected on this show, it does clearly show that WWE is trying to boost the ratings of NXT as the war with AEW Dynamite continues.
Back in November for the build to Survivor Series, WWE had main roster stars crossover to NXT and vise versa. If WWE continues to find a boost in its NXT viewership then expect to see more of this.
The Velveteen Dream made his return to NXT television after the main event had come to close that saw a six-man tag team match that featured The Undisputed Era take on Tommaso Ciampa, Pete Dunne, and Matt Riddle.
After the match, Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish, and Roderick Strong attacked Ciampa to the point where they spray painted the back of Ciampa with an X spot.
This is when Dream appeared after the lights went out with him standing on the top rope and attacking the group to make save.
On the September 18 episode of NXT, he lost the North American Title to Strong, which ended his reign at 231 days. This was done to write Dream off of television due to him dealing with a back injury.
A new match has been announced for the upcoming WWE NXT TakeOver: Portland special.
On Wednesday’s episode of NXT, WWE booked Dominik Dijakovic vs. Killian Dain in a singles match that served as a #1 contender’s match.
As seen in the contest, Dijakovic ended up going over. As a result, he will challenge NXT North American Champion Keith Lee at the NXT TakeOver: Portland show. They had a staredown after the match.
WWE presents the NXT TakeOver: Portland event on Sunday, February 16, 2020 in Portland, Oregon at the Moda Center and will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming days. Here is the updated card:
Updated WWE NXT TakeOver: Portland Card
NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. Tommaso Ciampa
NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) vs. Pete Dunne & Matt Riddle
Finn Balor vs. Johnny Gargano
NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair
The latest on MLW (Major League Wrestling) trying to get a new distribution deal for their weekly television show and other content has surfaced online.
On Wednesday, Pwinsider.com reported that the promotion is in talks with Amazon with the idea to air their content on Amazon’s Prime Video service.
The media outlet noted that MLW is still meeting with other potential outlets. One source noted that it\’s a \”fluid situation\” and there is \”momentum in a few directions with major players.\”
It was noted that Amazon is among many TV content producers looking to fill potential holes in its lineup as there is a looming writer’s strike that could halt production come June.
Thus, sports and pro wrestling are valued highly in these situations due to them not being affiliated with the union as they can continue to draw viewers.
Currently, MLW airs episodes of Fusion to YouTube and FITE in the US along with airings on beIN SPORTS.
If MLW reaches a deal with Amazon then it would mark the first general-purpose streaming service dipping into a weekly wrestling series.
Although Netflix reached a deal with Lucha Underground a few years ago to air episodes of the program on their service, the episodes didn’t air live and were taped shows that had already aired on the El Rey Network.
A new episode of AEW’s weekly television show, Dynamite, will air tonight.
As usual, the promotion has loaded up the show with some interesting matches. Thus, it’s time to look ahead to tonight’s episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT.
The show is expected to start with The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and Hangman Page vs. Lucha Bros, The Butcher and The Blade (w/The Bunny). Although not confirmed, the belief is that Jon Moxley vs. Ortiz will serve as the headliner.
AEW Dynamite Preview
AEW holds this show in Huntsville, AL at the Von Braun Center on TNT at 8 p.m. ET. AEW is advertising the following items for tonight’s broadcast:
PAC will be looking for Kenny Omega
Cody Rhodes to receive 10 lashes from MJF
Dr. Britt Baker vs. Yuka Sakazaki
Jon Moxley vs. Ortiz
The Young Bucks, Kenny Omega and Hangman Page vs. Lucha Bros, The Butcher and The Blade (w/The Bunny)
AEW will also be creating new programs and building on the hype for existing feuds as the promotion gets closer to their next pay-per-view event, Revolution, that takes place later this month.
WWE NXT is back for another episode with an interesting lineup, so let’s take a look at the preview for the show.
The company will present the fallout from last week’s show. Two segments have been confirmed such as a faceoff between NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair.
This comes after Belair won a #1 contender’s match to earn a chance to dethrone Ripley as champion as they meet at the TakeOver: Portland show in a few weeks.
Also, Charlotte Flair will return to NXT in order to respond to the WrestleMania 36 challenge made by Ripley on Monday’s episode of RAW. WWE has yet to announce any matches for the show, as of this writing.
WWE holds this show in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University. WWE is advertising the following items for tonight’s broadcast:
Charlotte Flair to answer NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley’s WrestleMania 36 challenge
New NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin comes to Full Sail
How will Pete Dunne and Matt Riddle follow up on their Dusty Classic win?
The Undisputed ERA vow to get their hands on Tommaso Ciampa
Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair come face to face
As usual, fans should expect more matches and segments to be revealed this afternoon for NXT.
Join us here later tonight for WWE NXT Results and our post-show NXT Takeaways feature.
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 2.168 million viewers in Salt Lake City, UT at the Vivint Smart Home Arena on the USA Network, which is down from the 2.402 million viewers the previous week.
RAW Viewership
Here is the hourly viewership breakdown, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
Hour 1: 2.318 million – Last Week: 2.541
Hour 2: 2.164 million – Last Week: 2.441
Hour 3: 2.022 million – Last Week: 2.224
The episode was expected to increase in its viewership from last week. The reason for that is due to the lack of competition it faced as well as it serving as featuring the fallout from Randy Orton’s attack on WWE Hall of Famer Edge.
Here is the hourly 18-49 demos breakdown:
Hour 1: 0.72 – Last Week: 0.81
Hour 2: 0.66 – Last Week: 0.76
Hour 3: 0.63 – Last Week: 0.72
Some of the matches that took place include Liv Morgan vs. Lana, AOP & Buddy Murphy (Akam & Rezar) (w/Seth Rollins) vs. Kevin Owens & The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar), Rey Mysterio vs. Angel Garza (w/Zelina Vega), Asuka (w/Kairi Sane) vs. Natalya, and Ricochet vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Seth Rollins in a WWE Title #1 Contendership Triple Threat Match.
There was also a segment with Randy Orton talking about why he attacked WWE Hall of Famer Edge last week.
WWE will attempt to increase its viewership for Monday Night RAW next week due to no sports competition and the road to WrestleMania on its way.
In case you missed the show, you can check out the seven takeaways here.
An update on where things stand with WWE and WWE Hall of Famer Sting has surfaced online.
During Royal Rumble weekend, Pwinsider.com reported that there had been a lot of talk about Sting being a major part of Super ShowDown. This sparked speculation that he could make a return to in-ring action or make an appearance at the show.
Sting Spoke With WWE Officials
At the time of the report being released, it was noted that the deal wasn’t done but the conversations had proceeded so far that some believed Sting could appear at the Royal Rumble to start hyping his return.
Clearly, Sting didn’t appear at the show. Fast forward to Tuesday, PWinsider.com released an update that stated they were told on Monday night that those talks of bringing in Sting for the show had died down.
Thus, it appears that a deal wasn’t reached and Sting won’t be appearing at the show. However, in WWE anything is possible but with WWE bringing in Goldberg for the show, it\’s not likely at this time.
In 2015, it was revealed that Sting had spinal stenosis and wouldn’t be medically cleared. He has since retired from pro wrestling.
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar has received his next opponent as he will make his next title defense at the upcoming WWE Super ShowDown PPV.
WWE booked a #1 contender’s match on Monday’s episode of RAW in Salt Lake City, UT at the Vivint Smart Home Arena on the USA Network. This Triple Threat contest saw Ricochet, Seth Rollins, and Bobby Lashley battle it out.
Brock Lesnar Receives Opponent
Ricochet ended up winning the match and becoming the new #1 contender for the top title on RAW. As a result, he will now challenge “The Beast” for the WWE Title at WWE’s next event in Saudi Arabia. Post-match, Lesnar ran down to the ring and laid out Ricochet.
WWE has already confirmed that Lesnar will defend the title against Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania 36.
WWE presents the Super ShowDown pay-per-view event on Thursday, February 27, 2020 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd International Stadium that will air on the WWE Network.
Updated WWE Super ShowDown Card
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Ricochet
WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. John Morrison & The Miz
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
A new match has been teased for the upcoming WWE WrestleMania 36 PPV.
During Monday’s episode of RAW, Charlotte Flair came out for the second straight week to reveal who she would be challenging at WrestleMania 36.
Before Flair could make her announcement, NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley interrupted by walking out to the ring. Ripley cut a promo about how Flair has beaten many top stars but never defeated her. In fact, Ripley brought up how she holds a win over Flair.
Instead of Flair accepting the challenge, she walked out of the ring. Thus, WWE is stretching out this match announcement for at least another week. It’s been reported that this is a match that is planned to take place at the biggest event of the year for the company.
Flair won the 30-Woman Royal Rumble Match at the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in Houston, Texas at the Minute Maid Park.
As a result, she can challenge for any title in WWE such as the RAW, SmackDown, and NXT Women’s Championship.
WWE presents the WrestleMania 36 pay-per-view event on Sunday, April 5, 2020 in Tampa, Florida at the Raymond James Stadium that will air on the WWE Network.
So far the only match that has been announced for this show is WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre.
The company announced during Monday Night RAW that the WWE Hall of Famer is slated to make an appearance on Friday Night SmackDown this week in San Jose, CA at the SAP Center on FOX.
Additional details on his appearance weren’t given. However, that hasn’t stopped fans from speculating. WWE is slated to make its return with the Super ShowDown event in Saudi Arabia later this month.
Goldberg worked last year’s Super ShowDown show in the country and with the Saudi Arabia government liking big stars from the past, speculation is that we could hear an announcement featuring Goldberg in action at this upcoming show.
WWE presents the Super ShowDown pay-per-view event on Thursday, February 27, 2020 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the King Fahd International Stadium that will air on the WWE Network.
WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming weeks.
WWE started their deal with Saudi Arabia in 2018 as the company signed a 10-year partnership with the Saudi General Sports Authority to bring two shows per year to the country in support of a new campaign, Saudi Vision 2030.
A new report has surfaced online that suggests that Triple H is high on one WWE NXT UK star.
Alex McCarthy of talkSPORT noted on Twitter that he spoke with a WWE official over Royal Rumble weekend who told him that Triple H \”is obsessed\” with Ilja Dragunov.
The 26 year old Russian signed with WWE in February 2019. Dragunov lost to Finn Balor in the Worlds Collide opener from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on the WWE Network last month.
This comes after it was reported by Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels is a \”huge proponent\” of NXT Cruiserweight Champion Jordan Devlin.
Devlin recently captured the title from former champion Angel Garza at WWE Worlds Collide when the two stars took on Isaiah \”Swerve\” Scott and Travis Banks in a Fatal 4 Way Match.
It was reported at the time that the idea behind the title win is for him to defend across all brands – RAW, SmackDown, NXT, and NXT UK.
WWE has already confirmed that Devlin will make an appearance on Wednesday\’s NXT episode on the USA Network as well as Friday\’s WWE 205 Live episode on the WWE Network in San Jose, CA at the SAP Center.
She did so on Monday’s episode of RAW in Salt Lake City, UT at the Vivint Smart Home Arena on the USA Network. Liv Morgan beat Lana in a singles match. After the match, Riott came out for what appeared to be a Riott Squad reunion.
However, that quickly faded as Riott attacked Morgan. Thus, it appears that the feud between Morgan and Lana is over as WWE shifts to her feuding with Riott.
Back in August, the WWE star underwent successful surgery to repair a bilateral injury on her left shoulder. She underwent the first surgery to repair the same injury on her right shoulder back on May 22nd.
She was last seen on WWE programming where she wrestled on an April 22nd episode of Main Event before RAW went live when she lost to Dana Brooke in a singles match.
Riott last competed at a WWE Live Event in Cardiff, Wales on May 17th as a participant in a Fatal Four Way for the RAW Women’s Championship that saw Becky Lynch successfully retain her title.
Before the injury, she hadn’t been used much since The Riott Squad was split up in the 2019 Superstar Shakeup.
The viewership numbers are in for Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown on FOX from Tulsa, OK at the BOK Center.
SmackDown averaged 2.422 million viewers, according to ShowbuzzDaily. This is slightly down from the 2.448 viewers that the show did for last week’s episode of SmackDown on FOX.
The show averaged 2.424 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was down from the 2.470 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets.
WWE SmackDown Viewership
The first hour drew 2.529 million viewers while the second hour did 2.318 million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did 2.548 million viewers while the second hour did 2.391 million viewers.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.70 rating in the 18-49 demos, the same as last week’s show. This episode was expected to see its viewership stay steady and it did so due to it serving as post-show of SmackDown for the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event.
Matches
Matches that took place on this show included The Miz, John Morrison vs. The Revival vs. Lucha House Party vs. Heavy Machinery in a Fatal 4-Way #1 Contender’s Match, Braun Strowman vs. Shinsuke Nakamura for the Intercontinental Championship, Roman Reigns, The Usos vs. King Corbin, Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler in a six-man tag team match, and Shorty G vs. Sheamus
WWE is expecting to see an increase in viewership for the following episode this coming Friday night as the show will be setting up feuds for the Super ShowDown event in a few weeks.
Watch: Top 10 Moments from Friday Night SmackDown (1.31.20)
WWE has started to announce things for the latest RAW show and it features an interesting lineup.
Thus, it’s time to look ahead starting with tonight’s episode of Monday Night RAW.
WWE has already confirmed that WWE Hall of Famer Edge will not appear on the show due to him “recovering” from the attack on him from Randy Orton last week. What is known is that Orton will address fans about his assault on Edge on tonight’s RAW.
WWE holds this show in Salt Lake City, UT at the Vivint Smart Home Arena. WWE is advertising the following items for tonight’s broadcast:
The fallout from last week’s show.
Drew McIntyre responds to WWE Champion Brock Lesnar attacking him.
Will Charlotte Flair announce which title she is challenging at WrestleMania 36?
Randy Orton will address his attack on Edge
Liv Morgan and Lana rematch
Ricochet, Seth Rollins, and Bobby Lashley will face off in a triple threat number one contender\’s match – winner faces Brock Lesnar at Super ShowDown
WWE will also be creating new programs and building on the hype for existing feuds that will take place heading into the Super ShowDown pay-per-view event.
As usual, fans should expect more matches and segments to be revealed this afternoon for RAW.
Join us here later tonight for WWE RAW Live Results and our post-show RAW Takeaways feature.
Major League Wrestling (MLW) was in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the 2300 Arena on Saturday night for an event titled Fightland that served as TV tapings of their Fusion show.
Matches on this show were taped for the weekly MLW Fusion TV series on beIN SPORTS. The first episode from this taping is expected to air in the coming weeks, with the replay being uploaded to MLW’s YouTube channel. Here are the spoilers, courtesy of PWinsider.com:
MLW Fightland Results
The show opened with a confrontation between The Dynasty (Alexander Hammerstone, Gino Medina, Richard Holliday) and Konnan, who got back up from Mance Warner, Logan Creed, and Savio Vega
The Dynasty defeated Mance Warner and Logan Creed.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. defeated Erick Stevens with a diving headbutt after a running powerslam
Brian Pillman Jr defeated Jimmy Havoc with Priscilla Kelly with the Air Pillman springboard clothesline.
King Mo Lawal defeated Low Ki by KO after Ki’s towel was tossed in the ring. Post-match, Team Filthy (Dominic Garrini, Tom Lawlor, Kit Osbourne, Erick Stevens) came out and a brawl with Low Ki\’s corner man Ross Von Erich. Marshall ran out to make the save. Lawlor hit the ring and nailed Low Ki with King Mo\’s umbrella.
Douglas James defeated Septimo Dragon with a guillotine choke
Alexander Hammerstone defeated T-Hawk with The Nightmare Pendulum – MLW National Openweight Title Match.
Mance Warner defeated Gino Medina with a roll up
Killer Kross defeated \”Filthy\” Tom Lawlor by DQ when Team Filthy interfered. This brought Davey Boy and The Von Erichs down. This set up the main event.
Myron Reed defeated Laredo Kid with a 450 splash – MLW World Middleweight Title
Los Parks (LA Park & Hijo del LA Park) defeated Contra Unit (Josef Samael & Simon Gotch) when LA Park pinned Samael after a twisting splash – Lumberjack Match. Lumberjacks included: The Von Erichs, Zenshi, Injustice, Savio Vega, Logan Creed, Mance Warner, and more.
El Lindaman defeated Zenshi with a double underhook German suplex into a pin
Jacob Fatu defeated CIMA to retain the MLW World Heavyweight Title
Richard Holliday vs. Mance Warner\’s \”surprise opponent\”. The surprise star was The Blue Meanie, who won the match when Holliday got counted out while arguing with Mancer who was on commentary.
Davey Boy Smith Jr, The Von Erichs & Killer Kross defeated Team Filthy when Ross Von Erich pinned Kit Osbourne after an Iron Claw chokeslam
A new match has been announced for the upcoming WWE NXT TakeOver: Portland special.
McKenzie Mitchell announced on WWE Now that Dakota Kai vs. Tegan Nox will take place in a Street Fight at this show.
The two stars just battled in a singles match on this week’s episode of WWE NXT in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University on the USA Network that saw Nox go over.
This rivalry dates back to November\’s TakeOver: WarGames event where Kai turned heel by attacking her former best friend.
WWE presents the NXT TakeOver: Portland event on Sunday, February 16, 2020 in Portland, Oregon at the Moda Center and will air on the WWE Network. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming days. Here is the updated card:
Updated WWE NXT TakeOver: Portland Card
NXT Champion Adam Cole vs. Tommaso Ciampa
NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) vs. Pete Dunne & Matt Riddle
Finn Balor vs. Johnny Gargano
NXT Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair
Dakota Kai vs. Tegan Nox – Street Fight
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
Another year, another time for The Revival to convince WWE management to be released.
News broke on Friday from Bryan Alvarez on Wrestling Observer Live that Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder had requested their release from the company last week. They still have time on the deals and clearly wants out of them early.
However, as of this writing, they have yet to be granted their release. The Revival has filed to trademark their finisher, \”Shatter Machine,\” and \”#FTRKO,” which is seen as a step towards life outside of the company.
In January 2019, it was reported that The Revival was unhappy about their position in the company and requested their releases. Later that year, it was reported they were offered five-year, $500,000 per year deals to stay with WWE, but haven’t accepted.
A new episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown is here and it’s a loaded show.
With just hours until bell time, it’s time to look ahead starting with tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
Several segments and matches have been announced thus far for this show including Roman Reigns, The Usos to take on King Corbin, Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler in a six-man tag team match. Also, Braun Strowman vs. Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura is booked.
WWE holds this show from the Tulsa, OK at the BOK Center. WWE is advertising the following items for tonight’s broadcast:
The Miz, John Morrison vs. The Revival vs. Lucha House Party vs. Heavy Machinery – Fatal 4-Way #1 Contender’s Match
Braun Strowman vs. Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura
Roman Reigns, The Usos to take on King Corbin, Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler in a six-man tag team match
Shorty G vs. Sheamus
WWE will also be announcing matches for existing feuds that will take place heading into the Super ShowDown pay-per-view event.
As usual, fans should expect more matches and segments to be revealed this afternoon for SmackDown.
Join us here later tonight for WWE SmackDown Results and our post-show SmackDown Takeaways feature.
Viewership data is in for this week’s battle in the WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite Wednesday Night War.
This week, AEW won in total viewers. It was close in every demographic group except Adults 50+, where NXT had a significant edge as they usually do.
Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
WWE NXT Viewership
NXT on the USA Network averaged 712,000 viewers, which is down from 769,000 last week. In the 18-49 demo, they drew a 0.22 rating, down from 0.24 the previous week.
The episode featured The Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Pete Dunne and Matt Riddle in Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals, Tegan Nox vs. Dakota Kai, Finn Balor defeats Trent Seven, Dominik Dijakovic defeats Damian Priest, and there was a contract signing for the Tommaso Ciampa-Adam Cole NXT Title Match at NXT TakeOver: Portland.
AEW Dynamite on TNT was watched by 828,000 viewers, down from the 871,000 last week. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite pulled in a 0.34 rating, down from the 0.35 rating that the show did last week.
AEW Dynamite featured matches such as Kip Sabian (w/ Penelope Ford) vs. Cody Rhodes (w/ Arn Anderson), The Young Bucks vs. The Butcher and The Blade (w/ The Bunny), AEW World Champion Chris Jericho, Santana and Ortiz vs. Darby Allin and Private Party
Next week’s battle will be very interesting to see which show wins the ratings battle as NXT will be getting closer to their next special, TakeOver: Portland while AEW edges closer to Revolution.
The January 29, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from the Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University.
The show was headlined by The Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Pete Dunne and Matt Riddle in Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals.
WWE NXT Results (1/29/20)
Finn Balor def. Trent Seven
Shotzi Blackheart def. Deonna Purrazzo
Dominik Dijakovic def. Damian Priest
Tegan Nox defeated Dakota Kai
Kayden Carter def. Chelsea Green
Pete Dunne and Matt Riddle def. Grizzled Young Veterans
Here are the 6 takeaways from this week’s show:
Finn Balor Stands Tall
Finn Balor in NXT
Former NXT Champion Finn Balor was in action when he took on Trent Seven in a singles match.
WWE actually gave Seven some offense and rightfully so as he’s a heck of a worker. However, just like he should have, Balor went over in the end of a hard-hitting affair.
WWE set up this contest after Balor attacked Seven in a parking lot after Saturday’s Worlds Collide show in Houston, Texas. At this show, Balor beat Ilja Dragunov in a singles match while Seven and Tyler Bate lost to DIY (Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa).
Balor will take on Gargano at the NXT TakeOver: Portland event next month.
NXT North American Champion Keith Lee came out to the ring for a promo. This led to Damien Priest and Dominik Dijakovic walking out to the ring to make their case for a title shot.
However, Dijakovic and Priest started talking trash about each other which led to Lee walking to the back and a match being booked. An odd start to a match.
It turns out that Dijakovic ended up winning the match with his finisher in a back and forth affair.
Thus, it appears that WWE has set up a potential challenge for Lee going forward with the outcome of this match. This isn’t a fresh feud as the two have feuded in recent months and worked several multiple man matches in that time.
WWE NXT Champion Adam Cole will have an opponent at the next special for the NXT brand.
This episode saw the confirmation of Cole making his next title defense at the NXT TakeOver: Portland event on Sunday, February 16, 2020 in Portland, Oregon at the Moda Center that will air on the WWE Network. This was set up when Tommaso Ciampa attacked Cole in the ring where he put him through a table and signed a contract in his own blood.
Cole has been on top of the division for quite some time and it will be interesting to see whether WWE finally pulls the trigger on a title change.
The company has been building up to this match for months and rightfully so as it’s the biggest match that WWE can make right now. It also sets up a potential feel-good moment for Ciampa, who never lost the title but rather had to vacate it due to him being sidelined after getting neck surgery.
The fight was on as Tegan Nox and Dakota Kai battled in a singles match.
These ladies put in hard work and delivered a pretty good match. It ended when Knox went over with some outside help by Candice LeRae, who has also wrestled Kai in the past.
This match came after NXT TakeOver: WarGames III event when Rhea Ripley, Mia Yim, Tegan Nox & Candice LeRae beat Shayna Baszler, Bianca Belair, Io Shirai & Kay Lee Ray to win the WarGames match.
There was a heel turn during the match as Kai attacked Nox in the holding cell, which marked her heel turn.
Time will tell whether WWE books these two stars in a gimmick type match.
Former Impact Wrestling star Chelsea Green made her television in-ring debut when she took on Kayden Carter.
As expected, Green got the majority of the offense but ultimately lost to Carter. This was an odd outcome as most fans expect for Green to win her matches considering she\’s being hyped as a top free agent and has a manager. Perhaps WWE doesn\’t have an opponent for her next.
Green is still managed by Robert Stone, who was Robbie E in Impact Wrestling. This comes a few days after she worked the Women’s Royal Rumble Match where she was quickly eliminated.
Green resurfaced in NXT last June and eventually made her debut on television late last year after being sidelined due to a broken wrist that resulted in her getting surgery.
The 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is in the books.
On this show, The Grizzled Young Veterans took on Pete Dunne and Matt Riddle in the finals of the tournament to honor the legendary pro wrestler. This was a fun match to watch and one that I thought was better than my original expectations.
In the end, it was Riddle and Dunne who won the match. They will challenge The Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) for the NXT Tag Team Titles at NXT TakeOver: Portland.
The dynamic of Riddle and Dunne continues to be an interesting watch. Now, where Dunne and Riddle go from here is the next question and something to look out for going forward. Whether they become the new champs or split off in a separate program.
Having The Grizzled Young Veterans in this contest also brought up their drawing ability, which will be something to keep an eye on as time goes by.
While this year’s tournament may not have had the star power that previous year’s did, it was fun to watch.
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2020/02/pjimage-2020-02-05T194544.840.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2019/07/dominik-dijakovic-711x400.jpg\")
![\"Tommaso](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2019/12/tomasso-ciampa-711x400.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2020/02/pjimage-2020-02-05T203944.722.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2019/04/velveteen-dream-nxt-4-17-711x400.jpg\")
![\"Finn](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2019/10/Untitled-design-19-711x400.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2018/10/Keith-Lee-NXT-10-10-711x400.jpg\")
![\"Adam](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2019/11/adam-cole-711x400.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2020/01/pjimage-2020-01-28T153559.791.jpg\")
![\"Chelsea](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2020/01/pjimage-2020-01-08T204858.987-711x400.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https://media.sescoops.com/uploads/2020/01/pjimage-2020-01-28T153601.627-1.jpg\")
![ShowbuzzDaily](\"https://showbuzzdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Final-Cable-2019-Nov-20-WED.png\"){kind=link}