The NWA Hard Times pay-per-view event is in the books.
The show took place on Friday night at the GPB Studios in Atlanta, Georgia and aired on FITE.tv.
The event sold out in three hours when the tickets went live on December 20, 2019. The company also announced that the VIP tickets sold out in just three minutes. The complete results from the show are below:
NWA Hard Times PPV Results
Trevor Murdoch defeated Question Mark to advance to the semifinals of the NWA TV Title tournament.
Dan Maff beat Zicky Dice to advance to the semifinals of the NWA TV Title tournament.
Ricky Starks defeated Matt Cross to advance to the semifinals of the NWA TV Title tournament.
James Storm and Eli Drake defeated The Rock & Roll Express and The Wilds Cards in a Triple Threat to win the NWA Tag Titles.
Thunder Rosa defeated Allysin Kay to win the NWA Women’s Championship.
Trevor Murdoch defeated Dan Maff to advance to the finals of the NWA TV Title tournament.
Ricky Starks defeated Tim Storm to advance to the finals of the NWA TV Title tournament.
Scott Steiner beat Aron Stevens by DQ in an NWA National Championship match.
Nick Aldis defeated Flip Gordon to retain the NWA Championship.
Ricky Starks defeated Trevor Murdoch in the tournament finals for the NWA TV Title
Drew McIntyre recently spoke with TV Insider where he showed interest in one certain showdown, which is a potential encounter with WWE Champion Brock Lesnar.
He won’t have to wait long to share the ring with “The Beast” as they could fight in the 30-Man Royal Rumble Match as Lesnar will be entering as the first entrant.
McIntyre brought up how it’s a big deal that Lesnar will be entering the match first and it’s never happened like this before as Lesnar is a once-in-a-lifetime athlete. He thinks it will be interesting to see how it plays out and hopes he will be able to wrestle Lesnar.
Drew McIntyre vs. Brock Lesnar?
McIntyre brought up how there hasn\’t been a confrontation between himself and Lesnar since he came back. He recalled them exchanging when he was younger and he got the upper hand. Since then, things have changed as he’s bigger and strong than he was at the time.
Obviously, with the winner of this match getting to pick whether they will challenge Lesnar for the WWE Title or the winner of Sunday\’s Strap Match between Daniel Bryan and WWE Universal Champion \”The Fiend\” Bray Wyatt, McIntyre could face Lesnar for the WWE Title at WrestleMania 36.
McIntyre made it clear that he will go after Lesnar if he wins.
\”If I won the Rumble, it\’s the same guy I\’ve had in mind for years. I\’d fight Brock Lesnar in a second,\” McIntyre declared. \”A lot of people on the roster genuinely wouldn\’t want to get in the ring with him. They are terrified of the idea. I want to get in the ring with him. I know we could put on a heck of a spectacle and a fight.”
The reason for his decision is to bring the title back to the show on a full-time basis.
\”There aren\’t many who can stand toe-to-toe with me. That\’s someone I definitely want. He gets this criticism that he doesn\’t show up to work all the time and this and that. The way I look at it, he was offered the contract. He signed the contract. It\’s not his fault. The only problem I have is the title is not on the shows and live events. We need the title back.”
Rey Mysterio recently spoke with TV Insider where he spoke about how WWE United States Champion Andrade reminds him of WWE Hall of Famer Eddie Guerrero.
This is where the idea of a potential Mask vs. Title match between himself and Andrade at WrestleMania 36 was brought up.
This comes after Andrade recently snatched Rey\’s mask off during a post-match angle. Andrade just retained the United States Title over Mysterio in a Ladder match on last Monday’s episode of RAW.
Mysterio noted that he would be willing to do a Mask vs. Hair match at WrestleMania 36, which he thinks would be a huge stepping stone for them
\”I think something along the ways that if he wants to keep feuding and going a step further, I\’m willing to put my mask on the line versus his hair for a WrestleMania moment. Whatever the case might be, whoever ends up winning, I think it would be a huge stepping stone for either of us.
As far as moments, I really would love to relive a Royal Rumble moment, being that I hold the record right now for having the longest time in a Rumble match. These moments stick in my mind and heart. You always want to become better than you were yesterday.\”
It appears that WWE is moving on from the Mysterio vs. Andrade feud as Andrade already has his next title defense booked.
Andrade will defend the United States Title against Humberto Carrillo at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event.
Seth Rollins recently spoke with The Houston Chronicle where he discussed a wide range of topics including a showdown with CM Punk.
During the interview, the WWE RAW Tag Team Champion spoke about a possible match with the WWE Backstage analyst. He was also asked if the main event of WrestleMania is the only situation that would be big enough for the potential contest.
Rollins doesn’t think it would have to be at WrestleMania but he would be interested in the match. He talked about whether Punk is going to get back into the ring and how it appears that Punk hasn’t been interested in a return.
Seth Rollins vs. CM Punk?
Instead, Rollins thinks that Punk is comfortable sitting behind the desk and talking about wrestling.
\”But if he wants to get back into the ring and show that he\’s more than just a critic, and that he can actually back up what he is saying then I would love to be the guy to get in there and have the match and I think WrestleMania would be the proper stage for it, but I don\’t think it has to happen at WrestleMania.
I think that match is bigger than any one event and so if he were ever to come back, we could do it anytime, anyplace and it would sell out wherever.\”
Rollins had called out Punk a few times on social media when news surfaced that Punk had joined the WWE Backstage show on FS1. Time will tell whether that match gets booked.
Punk has talked about not being totally against the idea of wrestling again but not something that he\’s interested in doing at this stage of his life.
The card for Friday’s (January 25, 2020) NWA Hard Times pay-per-view event has been finalized.
National Wrestling Alliance is slated to hold its first pay-per-view event of the year at the GPB Studios in Atlanta, Georgia.
The show will be headlined by NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis facing Flip Gordon in a non-title match.
Other top matches featured on this card include NWA Women\’s Champions Allysin Kay vs. Thunder Rosa and NWA Tag Team Champions The Rock \’n\’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) vs. The Wild Cards (Thomas Latimer & Royce Isaacs) and James Storm & Eli Drake in a Triple Threat Match
The pay-per-view event can be purchased via the FITE app. The show will begin at 6:05 pm ET. Here is the final card.
Final NWA Hard Times Card
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis vs. Flip Gordon – Non-Title Match
NWA Women\’s Champions Allysin Kay vs. Thunder Rosa
NWA Tag Team Champions The Rock \’n\’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) vs. The Wild Cards (Thomas Latimer & Royce Isaacs) and James Storm & Eli Drake – Triple Threat Match
NWA National Champions Aron Stevens vs. Scott Steiner
TBA vs. TBA – NWA TV Title Tournament Semifinals and Finals
Trevor Murdoch vs. The Question Mark – NWA TV Title Tournament First Round Match
Zicky Dice vs. Dan Maff – NWA TV Title Tournament First Round Match
Tim Storm vs. Ken Anderson – NWA TV Title Tournament First Round Match
Ricky Starks vs. Matt Cross – NWA TV Title Tournament First Round Match
What are your thoughts on this match card? Do you plan on buying the pay-per-view and watching? Sound off in the comment section.
WWE RAW Women\’s Champion Becky Lynch appeared on WWE Backstage this week where she made headlines.
She did so when she spoke about why she thinks \”Women\’s\” should be removed from the women\’s division. In fact, she thinks everything associated with it should be removed.
Since then, news came out that WWE officials have reportedly issued an internal memo that says the WWE NXT Women\’s Title should be known as the NXT Title moving forward.
Lynch took to her official Twitter account to send out a statement in order to clarify her comments that she made on WWE Backstage. She wrote the following:
\”I wasn\’t advocating for any changes in title names or anything else (like I\’d have the power)—but simply an equal volume of opportunities that are based on skill, and not gender.
The term \’women\’ can limit openings because phrases like, \’there\’s already a women\’s match on the show\’ is still in wrestling\’s historical DNA.
We\’re all just Superstars who want our shots and places on the shows if we earn and deserve them. I\’d simply love us to get to a place where there\’s three \’women\’s matches\’ on PPV, or ten… or none if it so happens we\’re not serving the audience.”
Lynch will make her next title defense against Asuka at this Sunday’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view event in Houston, Texas at the Minute Maid Park live on the WWE Network.
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 769,000 viewers, which is up from 700,000 last week. In the 18-49 demo, they drew a 0.24, up from 0.21 the previous week.
The episode featured NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong defends against Keith Lee, The BroserWeights (Matt Riddle, Pete Dunne) vs. Imperium (Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel), and The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson, James Drake) vs. NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era (Kyle O’Reilly, Bobby Fish).
AEW Dynamite on TNT was watched by 871,000 viewers, down from the 940,000 last week. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite pulled in a 0.35 rating, down from the 0.38 rating that the show did last week.
AEW Dynamite was taped the night before as the talents are on the Chris Jericho cruise. Matches for this show included AEW World Tag Team Champions SCU vs. Hangman Page and Kenny Omega, PAC vs. Jon Moxley, Chris Jericho, Santana, and Ortiz vs. Jurassic Express, and MJF vs. Joey Janela.
The viewership numbers are in for the latest and third episode of WWE Backstage, a weekly talk show, in 2020.
The show that aired on FS1 at 11pm ET drew 111,000 viewers. This is up from last week’s 84,000 viewers, according to Showbuzz Daily.
In the 18-49 demographic, WWE Backstage drew a 0.6 rating this week, which is up as the previous rating last week of 0.03. Regarding the Cable Top 150, the episode ranked #141, the up from last week as the show didn\’t make the top 150.
Through the first nine episodes that aired in 2019, the show averaged 117,777 viewers per episode.
Renee Young, Paige, and RAW Women\’s Champion Becky Lynch were featured on the show. Former WWE Champion CM Punk made an appearance on the show, which marked his first appearance on the show of the new year.
As of this writing, there\’s no word yet on when Punk will make his next appearance on the weekly talk show but it will likely be next month. He\’s been appearing on the show once a month.
WWE Backstage Viewership Numbers
Here is how the viewership numbers look like since its premiere:
WWE is making an interesting change to the way that the NXT Women’s Title will be referred to and described as going forward.
Pwinsider.com reports that WWE has issued an internal decree that going forward the title will now be called simply the NXT Championship.
It was noted that this decision was a way to the gender-specific designation of the championship.
It turns out that this idea was brought up by RAW Women\’s Champion Becky Lynch on Tuesday’s episode of WWE Backstage. She believes WWE should stop referring to the women\’s division as such. Her belief is that it was time to present things in a more progressive fashion.
With such a change, it’s the first step in the direction. As of this writing, there’s no word yet on if WWE plans to follow in this direction with the women’s titles on RAW and SmackDown.
NXT Women\’s Champion Rhea Ripley has her next two title defenses booked.
First up is this Saturday at the Worlds Collide event in Houston, Texas at the Toyota Center as part of Royal Rumble weekend where she will defend against Toni Storm.
At the NXT TakeOver: Portland show that goes down on Sunday, February 16, 2020 in Portland, Oregon at the Moda Center, Storm will defend against Bianca Belair.
The January 22, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University.
The show was headlined by NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong defending against Keith Lee.
WWE NXT Results (1/22/20)
Grizzled Young Veterans def. The Undisputed Era – Dusty Rhodes Classic Semi-Final Match
Toni Storm vs. Io Shirai ends in a no contest
Finn Balor def. Joaquin Wilder
Shayna Baszler def. Shotzi Blackheart
Matt Riddle & Pete Dunne def. Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel – Dusty Rhodes Classic Semi-Final Match
Keith Lee def. Roderick Strong for the NXT North American Title
Here are the 5 takeaways from this week’s show:
Grizzled Young Veterans Move On
The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson, James Drake) vs. NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era (Kyle O\’Reilly, Bobby Fish) battled in a semi-final match of the Dusty Rhodes Classic tag team tournament.
As seen on the show, Grizzled Young Veterans ended up winning the contest after Imperium distracted O’Reilly and Fish. This was a fine match but for hardcore fans, it was a special moment. It marked yet another crossover match for both brands – NXT and NXT UK.
This comes at a time where WWE is trying to hype up the WWE Worlds Collide show this coming Saturday night in Houston, Texas at the Toyota Center.
The Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Roderick Strong, Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs. Imperium (WALTER, Alexander Wolfe, Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner) will headline this show in an eight-man tag team match.
That’s how this semi-final match felt to most fans online but at the end of the day, it was a fine match that had a point and that’s all you can ask for as a fan.
A late addition to the card was a battle between Toni Storm and Io Shirai in a singles match.
This was a fun match and one I didn’t see coming originally but makes sense with the upcoming Worlds Collide show this Saturday night. After a back and forth affair, Bianca Belair ran down to cause the match to end in a no contest by attacking the two stars.
NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley ran down and brawled with Belair. Io took out Ripley and Belair. Storm ended up standing tall in the ring with the title, which led to the fans booing her.
This was also a nice way to build up Storm just days away from challenging Ripley for the strap at the Worlds Collide show. She was fresh off a loss to NXT UK Women’s Champion Kay Lee Ray in a Triple Threat Match at NXT UK Blackpool II.
Storm can be a nice challenger but it’s also clear that Io is quite over with the fans at Full Sail University as she regularly receives some of the biggest pops of the night.
Thus, her challenging Ripley, who is a babyface, is something that I can see happening down the line as well, which would no doubt be a fun feud.
Former WWE NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler took on Shotzi Blackheart in a singles match.
Of course, Baszler won this match and rightfully so. This marked her first singles match since dropping the NXT Women’s Title to Rhea Ripley in 2019.
WWE set up this contest last week during the women’s battle royal that saw Bianca Belair win to become the new #1 contender for the title. In the match, Shotiz eliminated Baszler.
Prior to the match, Baszler cut a backstage promo about how she would make Shotiz pay for what she did and is willing to take out any talent in her way while on the path back to the NXT Women’s title.
Thus, it’s clear that WWE is continuing the program between Baszler and Ripley. Now, it’s just a matter of time as to when WWE books the rematch.
The BroserWeights (Matt Riddle, Pete Dunne) vs. Imperium (Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel) in a semi-final match of the Dusty Rhodes Classic tag team tournament as one of the hyped bouts featured on the show took place.
It was a fun match and one of the better contests on the card for this show. It was a hard one to pick considering both teams involved. Dunne and Riddle was victorious.
Now, The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson, James Drake) will take on Dunne and Riddle in the finals of this tournament that should be a fun one to see.
After the match, the two teams cut a promo about how they would win the trophy.
This was a tough tournament to predict the winners but WWE did a nice job of making it a fun yet important series of matches between some top teams throughout.
In the biggest match of the night, NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong defended against Keith Lee.
As seen on the show, Lee picked up the win to become the new NXT North American Champion.
It was a move that many fans expected as Lee is over as a big star with fans in NXT. While he came up short in his hunt to challenge Adam Cole for the NXT Title, the company smartly recovered by making him a champion although it’s the mid-card title.
With such a talent in Lee, one has to wonder if not now then when as Lee could be called up to the main roster at any given time especially with his performance in the Raw vs. NXT vs. SmackDown Traditional Tag Team Elimination Match at the Survivor Series pay-per-view event last November.
Thus, with that being said, Strong does get a rematch for the title. When and where is the real question in this situation? I can see WWE booking a title rematch between these two stars at NXT TakeOver: Portland.
Although the deck was stacked against him in the lead-up, Keith Lee has beaten Roderick Strong to win the WWE NXT North American Champion.
Strong didn’t successfully retain the title over Lee in a championship match on Wednesday’s episode of WWE NXT in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University on the USA Network. Thus, it’s Lee’s reign now.
WWE held a match that would determine who is next line for a title shot two weeks ago on NXT.
A Fatal 4-Way Match that saw Cameron Grimes vs. Donavan Dijakovic vs. Damian Priesttook place with the winner becoming the next challenger to the title. Lee was victorious, earning the right to challenge Strong for the NXT North American Title.
There was some speculation that the company could save it for the next TakeOver special.
However, they booked on NXT television to help boost television ratings while they continue the war against AEW Dynamite, All Elite Wrestling’s weekly television show on TNT.
It’s possible that when WWE presents the NXT TakeOver: Portland event on Sunday, February 16, 2020 in Portland, Oregon at the Moda Center that will air on the WWE Network a rematch between these two stars is booked.
Jon Moxley vs. Chris Jericho is official as AEW (All Elite Wrestling) has confirmed the match booking for the Revolution show.
Jericho defending the AEW World Heavyweight Title against Moxley, who has been portrayed as a top star, will likely serve as the main event of this show.
AEW set up this contest on Wednesday\’s episode of Dynamite when Moxley beat PAC in the headliner with the winner challenging Jericho for the title at Revolution. Moxley ended up winning the match.
Moxley has been the #1 contender in the men’s rankings for quite some time now and also been feuding with Jericho over the last month.
AEW presents the Resolution pay-per-view event on Saturday, February 29, 2020 in Chicago, IL from the Sears Center.
The show will air at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, and is available for purchase via iN DEMAND cable operators, DirecTV, DISH Network and B/R Live. International fans can purchase the event at FITE.TV.
The event is being promoted in conjunction with the popular C2E2 (Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo) convention and will mark the fourth AEW PPV event. AEW will be announcing more matches for the show in the coming weeks.
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
The finals of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic 2020 tournament are set.
The third batch of matches in this tournament took place on Wednesday’s episode of NXT on the USA Network in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University.
Those matches saw Imperium (Marcel Barthel & Fabian Aichner) Pete Dunne and Matt Riddle as well as Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish take on the Grizzled Young Veterans. Dunne and Riddle won their bout while Grizzled Young Veterans was victorious. After the match, the two teams cut a promo about how they would win the trophy.
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals
Now, Grizzled Young Veterans taking on Dunne and Riddle will go down in the finals of this contest. WWE has announced when the finals will take place.
There was speculation the match could be saved for three potential shows including an episode of NXT or NXT TakeOver: Portland or WWE Worlds Collide.
The Worlds Collide event goes down this Saturday in Houston, Texas at the Toyota Center as part of Royal Rumble weekend. The NXT TakeOver: Portland show goes down on Sunday, February 16, 2020 in Portland, Oregon at the Moda Center and will air on the WWE Network.
Instead, WWE confirmed that this match will take place on next week\’s episode of NXT on the USA Network.
The AEW Tag Team Champions SCU will not remain on top of the division as they have been dethroned by Kenny Omega and Adam Page.
Page and Omega beat SCU for the titles on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite that was taped on Tuesday night in the Bahamas on the Ship of Jericho on TNT.
All Elite Wrestling set up this contest last week when Omega and Page defeated Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent) (w/Orange Cassidy) and Proud-N-Powerful (Ortiz & Santana) and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) in an AEW World Tag Team Title #1 Contendership Four Way Match.
As a result, it surpassed Page and Omega to the #1 spot in the AEW tag team rankings and earned them this title match.
SCU won the AEW Tag Team Titles when the promotion held the finals of the Tag Team Title Tournament on the October 30th episode of AEW Dynamite in Charleston, WV at the Charleston Coliseum. SoCal Uncensored beat The Lucha Bros to win the titles.
What are your thoughts on Kenny Omega and Adam Page the AEW Tag Team Titles? Was this the right call by AEW officials? Sound off in the comment section.
WWE RAW Tag Team Champion Seth Rollins talked about his recent heel turn during an interview with expressnews.com.
On the December 9th episode of Monday Night RAW, Rollins joined the Authors of Pain in attacking Kevin Owens, which marked him turning heel for the first time since 2016.
In this interview, he talked about how this heel turn is much different than his heel turn in 2014 when he turned his back on fellow Shield brothers – Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose – to join the Authority.
“It is a different era than it was back in the day. Now, it’s easier to be an antagonist because … anybody who consumes entertainment has a voice to be heard,” he said. “They can get online and say whatever they want, and even if one or two people respond to it, that’s one or two people more than 20 years ago when they were just sitting in their living room talking crap to their friends. … Our audience looks for things to complain about, to dislike and to pick apart.
“It’s such a short, short lifespan. If you can maintain being in that hero role for a lengthy period of time, you are doing something incredible.”
Over the last few weeks, Rollins and AOP have been feuding with Owens, Samoa Joe, and Kane on television.
Instead of booking a six-man tag team match at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event that goes down on Sunday, January 26, 2020 in Houston, Texas at the Minute Maid Park, WWE had different plans for most of these stars.
For Rollins, he’ll be working the Men’s Royal Rumble Match against 29 other stars.
WWE NXT Superstar Matt Riddle got fans talking over a recent post on his official Twitter account.
This post has fans speculating on a possible Royal Rumble Match appearance. It has also led to some fans having hope that he could have a potential showdown with WWE Champion Brock Lesnar.
Riddle has previously talked about his desire to share the squared circle with “The Beast” in the past.
In the post, Riddle shared an older photo of a backstage sign showing directions to Lesnar\’s locker room. He wrote in the caption,
\”All I\’m gonna say is watch WWE this week, [poop emoji] is about to get wild #stallion #ob #originalbro #kingofbros #splx #nxt #royalrumble2020.\”
WWE has yet to confirm whether NXT will have any involvement in the Men’s and/or Women’s Royal Rumble matches.
Competitors thus far confirmed for the Men’s Royal Rumble Match include the following:
Brock Lesnar in the #1 spot, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet, Rey Mysterio, AJ Styles, Erick Rowan, King Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, Otis, Tucker, Elias, Aleister Black, Rusev, Bobby Lashley, R-Truth, Braun Strowman, WWE Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, RAW Tag Team Champion Seth Rollins, RAW Tag Team Champion Buddy Murphy, Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens, Kofi Kingston, Big E
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 2.380 million viewers in Wichita, KS at the Intrust Bank Arena on the USA Network, which is up from the 2.030 million viewers the previous week.
RAW Viewership
Here is the hourly viewership breakdown, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
Hour 1: 2.548 million – Last Week: 2.218
Hour 2: 2.492 million – Last Week: 2.059
Hour 3: 2.101 million – Last Week: 1.814
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 the go-home show for RAW heading into the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event this Sunday.
Here is the hourly 18-49 demos breakdown:
Hour 1: 0.90 – Last Week: 0.66
Hour 2: 0.87 – Last Week: 0.61
Hour 3: 0.73 – Last Week: 0.56
Some of the matches that took place include United States Champion Andrade (w/Zelina Vega) defeats Rey Mysterio in a ladder match, Drew McIntyre vs. Randy Orton, Becky Lynch defeats Kairi Sane in a non-title match, Buddy Murphy & Seth Rollins (w/Akam & Rezar) defeat The Viking Raiders for the RAW Tag Team Titles, Erick Rowan defeats Matt Hardy, and Bobby Lashley & Lana defeat Liv Morgan & Rusev in the headliner.
There was also a segment with Paul Heyman and WWE Champion Brock Lesnar
WWE will attempt to increase its viewership for RAW next week, which shouldn’t be an issue due to no sports competition that the show will face compared to last week with the NCAA National Football Championship game on ESPN that was drew big ratings.
In case you missed the show, you can check out the five takeaways here.
All Elite Wrestling is expanding its roster as NJPW (New Japan Pro-Wrestling) star Lance Archer is reportedly in talks with the promotion.
This is according to a report by Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated. It was noted that AEW confirmed to the media outlet that Archer is in high-level talks with the company.
Lance Archer In AEW?
It should be noted that he’s still under contract with NJPW as he’s booked to work their tour of the United States that stars on Friday in Tampa and runs through February 1st in Atlanta.
Archer had a great year in 2019 that was highlighted with impressive performances in the G1 Climax tournament over the summer. He also earned his first title under the NJPW banner by winning the IWGP United States Title.
For those who may not recall, Archer, who’s real name is Lance Hoyt, had a run with WWE from 2009 to 2010 where he worked on the ECW and SmackDown brands as Vance Archer.
He would then move to NJPW until 2015 before taking a brief break while competing for Japanese promotion Pro Wrestling NOAH. He returned to NJPW in 2017.
“The business is about adaptation—you either adapt or die,” Archer told SI.com in December. “People don’t know who I am, they don’t understand what I’m capable of, or who I’m going to be. Keep doubting me and I’ll keep surprising you.”
This potential signing comes after it’s rumored that Brian Cage will be joining AEW. This was following his match at Impact Wrestling’s Hard To Kill pay-per-view.
Cage’s wife has since denied that he’s signed with the promotion but the belief is that he will make a deal with All Elite Wrestling. Time will tell whether these two wrestlers will eventually sign with the promotion
All Elite Wrestling has announced the latest set of AEW Rankings for the week ending Wednesday, January 22, 2020.
These rankings are for the following divisions – men’s, women’s, and tag team.
The updated standings come after the results of Tuesday’s AEW Dark episode. The way it works is the talent will be listed in rankings by their match records but doesn’t include the champions.
Hikaru Shida fell from the #1 spot in the women’s rankings as she was surpassed by Nyla Rose.
The other change was in the tag team division that saw Kenny Omega & Adam Page become the #1 contenders after winning a big match on last week’s Dynamite episode to earn a championship match on Wednesday’s show that was taped on Tuesday night. Omega and Page will challenge AEW Tag Team Champions SCU for the straps.
AEW Rankings
The rankings will be updated each week. You can see the rankings here:
A new episode of AEW’s weekly television show, Dynamite, will air tonight.
The company taped this show on Tuesday night in the Bahamas on the Ship of Jericho. In fact, All Elite Wrestling officials took extra precautions in order to make sure the show made the air.
It’s been reported that AEW had two copies of the taped show flown in two different planes back to Atlanta, Georgia just in case there were any issues with the planes.
Thus, it’s time to look ahead to tonight’s episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT.
The show is expected to start with AEW World Tag Team Champions SCU vs. Hangman Page and Kenny Omega. Although not confirmed, the belief is that PAC vs. Jon Moxley in a #1 Contender’s Match for the AEW World Championship will serve as the headliner.
AEW will air this show on TNT at 8 p.m. ET. AEW is advertising the following items for tonight’s broadcast:
AEW World Tag Team Champions SCU vs. Hangman Page and Kenny Omega
#1 Contender’s Match for the AEW World Championship: PAC vs. Jon Moxley
Joey Janela vs. Fenix
Chris Jericho, Santana, and Ortiz vs. Jurassic Express
Britt Baker vs. Priscilla Kelly
MJF vs. Joey Janela
AEW will also be creating new programs and building on the hype for existing feuds.
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 is building up this show around a championship match that will see NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong defend against Keith Lee
WWE had a few NXT UK talents appear on last week’s show. With the WWE Worlds Collide show taking place this Saturday night as part of Royal Rumble weekend, fans could see some stars across the pond appear on this show to further build matches as the show gets closer.
WWE holds this show in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University. WWE is advertising the following items for tonight’s broadcast:
NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong defends against Keith Lee
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-finals: The BroserWeights (Matt Riddle, Pete Dunne) vs. Imperium (Fabian Aichner, Marcel Barthel)
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Semi-finals: The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson, James Drake) vs. NXT Tag Team Champions The Undisputed Era (Kyle O\’Reilly, Bobby Fish)
Imperium and The Undisputed Era will be in the same building
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.
John Cena shared some insight into his ring attire when he was a recent guest on an episode of The Late Late Show With James Corden to promote his latest film, Dolittle.
During an appearance on the show, Cena talked about his signature \”jorts\” [denim shorts] that he wore throughout his in-ring career. It turns out that his \”Dr. of Thuganomics\” character originally inspired the attire.
John Cena Shares Insight
The reason for that is due to him wanting to be different from other stars as they wear traditional ring gear while he wore street clothes.
\”If you look at my other options, it\’s just underwear,\” Cena said. \”So I wanted to do some sort of street clothes because my persona was a tough, wannabe rapper kid from the mean street of West Newbury. Tough to do that in your underwear, tough to do that. So I also wore sneakers while most guys wear calf-high or knee-high leather boots.\”
In a more funny way, Cena also brought up how he did try to wear cargo style shorts while performing for WWE. However, he found that it was common for the crotch to blow out of the cargo shorts.
As a result, it would expose him to fans during his matches and he had to change back to the jorts.
\”So I\’m pretty much in street clothes, and I chose denim because you don\’t blow the crotch out of denim. I tried cargo pants and in front of the world a few times – here I am trying to put my life on the line with a superstar that I\’m trying to have a match with and everybody\’s just looking at my d–k. So, denim is a safe play. And they\’re back in, so I kind of stood the test of time!\”
WWE presents the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event on Sunday, January 26, 2020 in Houston, Texas at the Minute Maid Park and airs on the WWE Network.
Updated WWE Royal Rumble Card
WWE Universal Champion Bray Wyatt vs. Daniel Bryan – Strap Match
Men’s Royal Rumble Match: Brock Lesnar in the #1 spot, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, Ricochet, Rey Mysterio, AJ Styles, Erick Rowan, King Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler, Otis, Tucker, Elias, Aleister Black, Rusev, Bobby Lashley, R-Truth, Braun Strowman, WWE Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, RAW Tag Team Champion Seth Rollins, RAW Tag Team Champion Buddy Murphy, Samoa Joe, Kevin Owens, 7 Participants TBA
Women’s Royal Rumble Match: Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross, Sarah Logan, 26 Participants TBA
WWE Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Asuka
Baron Corbin vs. Roman Reigns – Falls Count Anywhere Match
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley vs. Lacey Evans
Sheamus vs. Chad Gable
WWE United States Champion Andrade vs. Humberto Carrillo
What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.
The viewership numbers are in for Friday’s edition of WWE SmackDown on FOX from Wichita, KS at the Intrust Bank Arena.
SmackDown averaged 2.562 million viewers, according to ShowbuzzDaily. This is up from the 2.497 viewers that the show did for last week’s episode of SmackDown on FOX.
The show averaged 2.580 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was up from the 2.502 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets.
WWE SmackDown Viewership
The first hour drew 2.616 million viewers while the second hour did 2.544 million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did 2.679 million viewers while the second hour did 2.326 million viewers.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.80 in the 18-49 demos, this is the same from last week’s show.
This episode was expected to see its viewership stay steady and it did so.
Matches
Matches that took place on this show included John Morrison (w/The Miz) defeats Big E (w/Kofi Kingston), The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso) defeat The Revival (Dash Wilder & Scott Dawson), Lacey Evans defeats Bayley in a non-title match, Alexa Bliss (w/Nikki Cross) defeats Sonya Deville (w/Mandy Rose), and Roman Reigns defeats Robert Roode in a tables match.
There was also the opening segment that saw the return of Kane where he cut a promo about the Royal Rumble that led to a brawl between Bray Wyatt and Daniel Bryan.
WWE is expecting to see an increase in viewership for the following episode this coming Friday night as the show will be back to the go-home show of Smackdown for the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event this weekend.
The next episode will also feature the fallout from last week’s show that was newsworthy for various reasons such as Kane’s return.
Watch: Top 10 Moments from Friday Night SmackDown (1.17.20)
\”It\’s kind of funny to be honest. All of these rumors that I\’ve been to Pittsburgh and I\’ve been cleared to wrestle and I\’ve signed a new contract. I have no idea where any of it came from. The last time I was in Pittsburgh I had my wrist fused in 2013. I don\’t know.\”
This return for the legendary pro wrestler has been speculated for months. It all started when Edge shocked fans by making a surprise appearance on the pre-show for WWE SummerSlam event and hitting a spear to Elias.
It was reported that the former World Champion was then spotted in Pittsburgh where WWE’s medical director, Dr. Joseph Maroon is headquartered. This made fans think he was there to be medically cleared.
In fact, there have been rumors of him possibly returning for the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania 36. According to Edge, this can’t be further than the truth as he hasn’t signed a contract with WWE.
\”I would go to Pittsburgh to see Pearl Jam for sure but I haven\’t been there and I haven\’t signed a contract. I think I would know. I\’ll get this tsunami of comments saying, \’You\’re coming back! You signed a contract.\’ I really haven\’t.\”
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