Read on for my thoughts on last night's Raw.
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Monday, October 5, 2020
WWEPC transformed, assorted wrestling press, Dark lineup, Gallagher on WWE exit, WWE producer returns, WWE changes event lineup, Takeover dark matches, NXT bringing back WCW concept, NXT return, HHH conference call, and Questions on grading Tony Khan, Reigns vs. Jey, Vince changing his mind, and AEW as the future
The WWE Performance Center will now feature its own television studio, the Capitol Wrestling Center. The structure is similar to Thunderdome, but includes small pockets of fans as well.
Allison Danger spoke on VOC Nation's "Talkin' Sass." Here are highlights.
King Corbin was on CBS' Fantasy Football Live.
Dark has announced:
- Will Hobbs vs. Ryzin
- Angelico vs. Shawn Dean
- QT Marshall vs. John Silver
- Eddie Kingston vs. M'Badu
- Matt Sydal vs. Michael Nakazawa
- Brandi Rhodes vs. Kenzie Page
- Lucha Bros vs. Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss
- Brian Pillman, Jr. and Griff Garrison vs. Cezar Bononi and David Ali
- Big Swole vs. Skyler Moore
- Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy vs. Eric Watts and Rey Rosas
- Chaos Project vs. Lee Johnson and Anthony Bowen
Jack Gallagher discussed what led to his WWE exit. Very upfront of him to take responsibility.
Scott Armstrong has returned from his WWE furlough.
Big Show will no longer part of Cauliflower Alley Club's virtual convention, with WWE stating this is due to Show selling Randy Orton's beatdown. Mark Henry is replacing him. That's a really odd direction to take for something that's not a WWE event.
Bea Priestley has won Stardom's vacant SWA Championship.
Stardom's Tokyo Cyber Squad has disbanded following a loss at a recent event. This group was founded and led by Hana Kimura.
Marty Jannetty spoke about his recent Facebook controversy and more.
Takeover 31 dark matches were Xia Li vs. Emily Andzulis and Danny Burch vs. Daniel Vidot.
WrestleMania 37 potentially moving to Florida got local press.
Halloween Havoc will be held on NXT October 28, with Shotzi Blackheart hosting. Another special episode to try to improve ratings. I'm good with seeing the annual NXT Halloween battle royal, though.
Ember Moon returned to NXT at Takeover 31, arriving after Io Shirai retained her NXT Women's Championship.
Triple H held a conference call after Takeover 31, recapped here:
- I love the venue name honoring the company's roots, but it feels really, REALLY out of place on a show theoretically centered around young talent changing the future of the company. A lot of NXT's appeal has been due to it not being WWE's "third brand," but forming its own identity.
- Toni and Ember makes things a little fresher, but it's time for some of the NXT mainstays to "graduate."
- Yeah, Triple H's approach is backward. Raw and Smackdown are much, much bigger than NXT and need to be the focal point. Once a talent is ready for bigger things, it's time to prepare to ship them out.
- It's bizarre to me they're using such dated event names on NXT when they're having such a struggle attracting younger fans.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. An A, no doubt. He's been very hands on and really gone to bat for the brand.
2. I really, really liked it. Impressive athletic spots aren't nearly as memorable as matches were two characters have a meaningful showdown that makes an impact.
3. They probably showed it so much to fill time while other stuff was put together.
4.a. Not while he's continuing to run the company.
4.b. That's kind of cruel, honestly.
5. They're pushing people and styles that WWE has generally thought had a niche audience. If they bring a change to how wrestling is presented 20 years from now, that's progressive in a sense. They of course have some old school elements, too.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Sunday, October 4, 2020
International wrestling updates, assorted wrestling press, Raw preview, Takeover hype, Smackdown audience, Garza update, and Questions on Mania 37's location, a WCW TV show in 2001, Demon Finn, and Stardust in AEW
CMLL is raising the prices of their significant weekly iPPVs.
AAA is beginning drive-in shows this weekend and next. Content from these will air on AAA TV.
AAA's El Hijo del Vikingo is taking time off, but remains under contract through 2023.
NJPW will hold a combined tour featuring the Real World Tag League and the Best of Super Juniors.
Stardom is working with Marvelous on a joint angle.
All Japan now has a Pro Wrestling Tees store.
The Colons' first post-WWE appearance was with Rack Attack Promotions.
NWA's Thomas Latimer and Kamille are engaged.
Sir Mo has trademarked that ring name.
Masked Republic has trademarked Legends of Lucha Libre.
Tracy Smothers is dealing with cancer and heart problems. Very sad to hear.
Raw has announced:
- Drew McIntyre and Street Profits vs. Randy Orton, Bobby Roode, and Dolph Ziggler
- The KO Show with Bray Wyatt
Kyle O'Reilly promoted Takeover 31 with the New York Post and talkSPORT.
Big Show worked with Special Olympics.
Smackdown drew 2.04 million viewers this week, very similar to last week.
OVW's first national champion is Jesse Godderz, who won a Rumble match for the honor.
- William Shatner honored him for doing so.
Takeover 31 is the first Takeover event to be on traditional PPV.
Angel Garza has a small quadriceps tear. He expects to miss less than a month. Glad he won't be out long.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. It's certainly being considered as a possibility.
2. I seem to remember rumblings of Smackdown being turned into a WCW show but wisely WWE focused on building their own brands.
3. Finn seems to have more or less moved on from that character and returned to being the Prince. I don't believe there are any considerations for it returning any time soon.
Nothing to add to 4, 6, or 7.
5. Stardust is a WWE-owned character. As for something like Stardust, I doubt it. What he's doing currently is nothing like that character.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Saturday, October 3, 2020
WWE taking ownership of third-party accounts, NXT and 205 Live moving, another Ryan lawsuit, more on NJPW leadership change, Speaking Out coverage, Lawler show notes, Abdullah sued, AEW TV show update, why Raw Underground wasn't held this week, CIMA injury, wrestling wedding, MLW return plan, Omega discusses video game, HIAC match set, Smackdown matches announced, and Questions on Takeover vs. COVID, Aaliyah's status, lucha trademarks, and NWA surveying fans
WWE talents' Twitch accounts will be taken over by the company in the weeks ahead. Talents will receive a percentage of the revenue generated from those accounts, which will go toward their yearly downside guarantee.
- WWE will be pushing its on Twitch channel more heavily going forward, and doesn't want these accounts competing with their official account. Talent will now be mandated to appear on WWE's Twitch as part of their booking contract.
- Andrew Yang has been in contact with talent regarding this issue, as the feeling is this is out of line for an independent contractor relationship.
- Johnny Gargano is shutting down his Pro Wrestling Tees store, while Roderick Strong is shutting down his Cameo account. I really hope WWE has something they're working on that will rival Cameo and these other services.
NXT and 205 Live are moving to the WWE Performance Center, beginning with Takeover 31. The two shows are being taped together to keep their rosters separate from Raw and Smackdown as a COVID precaution.
- NXT will return to live episodes each week under this plan.
Joey Ryan has filed another lawsuit over someone using social media to defame him, as well as indicating this individual promoted violence against him. Ryan is seeking millions of dollars in punitive damages on top of suing for missed revenue.
NJPW's leadership shift notes:
- Harold Meij had heat from Western talent for how he handled the departures of The Elite. NJPW didn't expect AEW to become as successful as it has become, and treated them as a lesser company than NJPW.
- Meij made the call to not use Chris Jericho after the 2019 Tokyo Dome event due to Jericho's large contract. Jericho was a big driver of revenue in international markets.
- Meij was seen as a businessman who didn't fully grasp the wresting business, and one more focused on the company's bottom line. This led to cuts in places like flights for talent. Notably Meij himself had a large salary.
- Meij's departure was not a big surprise, as he was passed over for North American expansion plans.
- While Meij oversaw large increases in profits, he was nowhere near his lofty goals for revenue for the company. More major TV deals would have been needed to reach what he intended.
- Meij is leaving the Bushiroad Board of Directors and giving back all his stock as part of a severance package. He will no longer be part of that company at all.
- Meij had made notable changes to appeal more to a women's audience.
- Meij had really been visible at NJPW events in contrast to past executives, which had been taken both positively and negatively. Some saw that as him spotlighting himself rather than the wrestlers.
BBC covered the #SpeakingOut movement, specifically Travis Banks.
WWE had cameras at Jerry Lawler's 50th anniversary event, so footage could be used at some point.
- The show ended up featuring Dr. Tom Prichard, Tony Atlas, James Ellsworth, The Boogeyman, and Thunder Rosa in matches. Jerry Calhoun and Downtown Bruno were referees in the main event.
Abdullah the Butcher is being sued for not paying the money awarded to Devon Nicholson in a case that found the Butcher guilty of negligence and assault and battery for transmitting Hepatitis C to Nicholson. Very disappointing to see this occur.
AEW's second TV show is currently planned for 2021. Pandemic-related issues keep pushing it back.
Raw Underground was absent this week due to many extras being affected by the COVID outbreak.
WWE's Randy Orton tattoo trial is set for February 16.
Impact has set a new TV deal in the UK and Ireland with Premier Sports and FreeSports, featuring Impact and Impact Plus specials. That's a good move for the company.
WWE's Spain return has been moved to May 7.
CIMA was injured in a car accident, including a broken nose. I hope he recovers soon.
Impact's Jordynne Grace has married ROH's Jonathan's Gresham.
MLW will resume taping in Florida for its restart.
Kenny Omega discussed AEW's upcoming video game on the Highspots Virtual Gimmick Table.
Hell In A Cell has announced Roman Reigns vs. Jey Uso for the Universal Championship inside Hell in a Cell.
Smackdown has announced:
- Bayley vs. Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women's Championship
- The Fiend vs. Kevin Owens
- Sheamus vs. Big E in a Falls Count Anywhere match
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. It is entirely possible they hold off until the last minute to make changes as they did with Clash of Champions, in the case talents are cleared.
2. I don't believe so. She could be appearing as part of Rey's deal.
3. No.
4. He's trademarking a different name than the one owned by AAA. I think in this case it's kind of inevitable he'd have to do so under his real name without jumping through legal hoops.
5. To gauge interest in how to go about coming back, i.e. iPPVs vs. YouTube and so on.
More wrestling tomorrow.
Main Event and Friday Night Smackdown Reax - 10/2/20
Read on for my thoughts on yesterday's Main Event and Friday Night Smackdown.
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