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Thursday, July 4, 2024 Issue #7281
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Happy Independence Day to all our American readers around the world!


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

BRITT BAKER CHALLENGES MERCEDES MONE FOR ALL IN

- The returning Britt Baker made her intentions very clear last night on Dynamite and challenged Mercedes Mone at the upcoming All In pay-per-view in Wembley. Baker told Mone that she wrestled at the first All In in Chicago and then went all in by becoming the first female to sign for AEW. She added that she also wrestled at All In last year while Mone looked like a broken bitch with a broken leg in the stands. "So I want to face you at All In," Baker said. Mone shoved her hand in Baker's face and told her that she's never broke, she stays rich, and since the double champion, there's a long list of wrestlers that want her so she better get in the back of the line, bitch. DMD got in Mone's face and said, "Bitch, what line?" as she looked behind her. Mone then told her that there's a price to pay if you mess with Mercedes Mone and held her two titles above her head to end the segment. Earlier in the segment, Baker revealed she was admitted to a hospital for a week after suffering from spins and blurry vision and the entire right side of her body stopped working, with doctors telling her she suffered a mini stroke. You can see the segment at .

HANGMAN PAGE RETURNS ON DYNAMITE

- Hangman Page made his return to AEW as the wildcard pick in the Owen Hart Cup tournament, defeating Jeff Jarrett to advance to the next round. Page has been off AEW television since Revolution and his last match came in a three-way match against Swerve Strickland and Samoa Joe for the AEW World title. There were rumors leading up to the show that Page might not make it to the pay-per-view due to some personal issues, but Page wrestled that show and then took a hiatus, with The Young Bucks announcing that he was being suspended from The Elite. Speaking of the Bucks, Matthew and Nicholas Jackson offered Page the fifth spot on their team for Blood & Guts but Page refused. Page now wrestles Jay White on Saturday at Collision in the semi final match of the tournament.

DANIELSON AND NIGHTINGALE ADVANCE TO FINALS

- Bryan Danielson reached the final of the Owen Hart Cup tournament after he defeated PAC in the opening match of Dynamite last night. Danielson will now face the winner of Hangman Page vs Jay White on next week's episode live from Calgary. He has often said that since his in-ring career is winding down, this is the last chance at getting a shot at the AEW World title. Willow Nightingale also advanced to the final after she beat her former friend Kris Statlander in last night's semi final. She now faces the winner of Mariah May vs Hikaru Shida which takes place on Rampage this Friday. Nightingale won last year's Owen Hart Cup tournament but the stakes are higher this year with an AEW Women's title shot on the line in London.

MARK BRISCOE JOINS TEAM AEW FOR BLOOD & GUTS MATCH

- ROH champion Mark Briscoe is the first member of Team AEW in the upcoming Blood & Guts match against The Elite. Cutting a promo on Dynamite last night, Briscoe said it's Shark Week and when he thinks of that, he thinks of blood, of blood and guts, and in three weeks time from Nashville, it's Blood & Guts with Team AEW vs The Elite, and he was entering the match as part of Team AEW. He is the first of five who will be on the team, with The Elite still hunting for their fifth and final member. Last night, The Elite tried to get Hangman Page back on board after they suspended him a few months ago, but Page didn't want any of it. This is the fourth edition of Blood & Guts, a concept similar to WarGames which was introduced in 2021.

MERCEDES MONE TALKS ENCOUNTER WITH SHANE MCMAHON

- In her newsletter this week, double champ Mercedes Mone detailed her encounter with Shane McMahon at an airport after Forbidden Door. News broke out earlier this week about the meeting between the two, which was unplanned, and both were going to different destinations from the same airport. "After it all, by only the fates aligned – I walked into the airport, was in line by the bagel shop when I suddenly looked up, and there he was, just as surprised as I was," Mone wrote. "My first day being a double title holder and the first wrestler and former WWE Superstar I see is McMahon...come on, if that isn’t the universe working in divine timing, I don’t know what else it could be!" Mone said that she always loved Shane and when the two locked eyes, both of them looked at each other as if saying, 'is that you!?' "Our faces lit up as we got to talking a bit and before he boarded his flight, he gave me his number...the rest as they say history or maybe a mystery!" The encounter comes amidst rumors that McMahon reached out to some AEW stars who he knows to gauge interest about a possible run with the company as a performer. AEW President Tony Khan said that he never met Shane McMahon in his life but he respects him both as a performer and as an executive, adding that the door is always open for him to come to AEW.

NXT RATING

- NXT ratings continued to crash this week, with the show doing just 542,000 viewers, down 69,000 viewers from the prior week. This was the least-watched episode of 2024. In the 18-49 demo, NXT had a 0.15 rating, down 0.03 from the previous episode and the lowest since April 30. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)

WRESTLEMANIA XL: BEHIND THE CURTAIN DOC NOW OUT

- The long awaited WrestleMania XL: Behind the Curtain documentary was finally released in its entirety last night on WWE's YouTube channel. The documentary covers the road leading up to WrestleMania XL and the decisions that had to be taken following the fans' backlash when Cody Rhodes was taken out of the main event so The Rock could headline with Roman Reigns. In a rare move, WWE decided to pivot and give the fans actually what they want, with The Rock saying that he did not like the fans being upset, which "bugged the shit" out of him, and it was his choice to turn it around and push for Cody vs Roman instead while he turned heel. The one-hour documentary already has over half a million views at time of this writing and you can see it at

MITB STORE OPENS IN TORONTO

- The Money In The Bank store opened for business this morning in Toronto. Located at the REC Room, the MITB store will have the largest collection of Money in the Bank merchandise under one roof with exclusive merchandise, replica championship titles, Superstar apparel, signed memorabilia, collectibles, mini-titles and so much more! The WWE Money in the Bank Store is a Fanatics experience and will be free and open to the public. The REC Room is located at 255 Bremner Blvd and will open today from 10AM to 8PM, tomorrow and Saturday from 10AM to Midnight, and Sunday from 10AM to 7PM.


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Wednesday, July 3, 2024 Issue #7280
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Not much going on today. Have a good one!


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

DYNAMITE PREVIEW

- The Forbidden Door fallout will take place tonight on Dynamite: Beach Break live from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois presented by Shark Week. Ticket sales picked up a bit over the past few days and the show is now at just over 4,600 tickets distributed according to @WrestleTix, and has a chance of surpassing last year's Dynamite in the same location on Thanksgiving Eve which had 5,066 in the venue. Three Owen Hart Cup tournament matches will take place, with Kris Statlander vs Willow Nightingale, PAC vs Bryan Danielson, and Jeff Jarrett vs the tournament wild card. Plus, Will Ospreay takes on Daniel Garcia with the AEW International title on the line, Mercedes Mone will have her double championship celebration, and Britt Baker returns!

COLLISION RATING

- The Forbidden Door go-home episode of Collision drew 422,000 viewers on Saturday, down slightly by 7,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had a 0.12 rating in 18-49, down 0.02 from the previous episode. No cable rankings are available as of press time. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

TKO HITS ALL-TIME RECORD ON WALL STREET

- TKO smashed through its all-time high on Wall Street today, reaching over $112 at time of this writing. TKO, which traded under the symbol WWE before, had a high of $110 which they reached on August 1, 2023. Stocks went down to $77 in December but then started an ascent since then, reaching the all-time high point today. The current share price gives the company a market cap of $18.76 billion and shares rose almost 40% since the start of 2024.

IN MONTREAL? THE PCO BURGER IS AVAILABLE!

- TNA Wrestling has teamed up with La Belle & La Boeuf Burger Bar in Montreal to create The PCO Burger ahead of Slammiversary. The PCO Burger is available only at La Belle & La Boeuf Promenades Saint Bruno and all participating franchises to celebrate for a limited time only. The 56-year-old Pierre Carl Ouellet is from the area and is being used for marketing as well to promote the show. TNA will be in Montreal for Slammiversary on July 20 with the show held at Verdun Auditorium and the biggest TNA attendance in many years is expected at the 4,000-seater arena.

MOOSE READY TO TAKE DOWN "NXT'S JUGGERNAUT" OBA FEMI

- During a recent interview with The A Show on RNC RADIO, NXT North American champion Oba Femi named Moose as his ideal opponent if he ever makes it on TNA television as part of this fledging partnership between the two wrestling promotions. The TNA champion took note of the interview, and said he would take him down. "Ok @Obaofwwe my Nigerian brother," Moose wrote on X. "Get your boss @ShawnMichaels the chef to call My Boss and I’ll gladly take down NXT’s juggernaut." NXT stars will be part of the upcoming Impact television shows following their involvement in the tapings last week. The partnership will continue through Slammiversary, the next TNA pay-per-view later this month.

OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST TO MAKE WWE TV DEBUT

- Olympic gold medalist Tamyra Mensah-Stock will be making her TV debut this week as part of the next episode of NXT Level Up. Wrestling under her new name of Tyra Mae Steele, the Olympian taped a match against Wren Sinclair. It follows her NXT in-ring debut from late March where she wrestled Breanna Covington in her first match in front of a crowd at an NXT non-televised live event. Mensah-Stock, 30, became the first black female athlete to win a gold medal in the women's freeystyle wrestling at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. She signed with WWE two years later and has been under a developmental deal ever since. Level Up airs on Fridays at 10PM ET on Peacock and WWE Network internationally.

RAW RATING

- Monday Night Raw this week drew 1,878,000 viewers, up 64,000 viewers from the prior week and the third week in a row that viewership increased from the previous episode. This was the most-watched episode of Raw since the Raw after Mania in April. Hourly numbers are not available as of press time, with cable ratings information being very hard to find for the past few weeks. The show drew a 0.62 rating in 18-49 demo, up 0.01 from the prior week. No cable chart info is available. (Ratings credit: PWTorch)


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Tuesday, July 2, 2024 Issue #7279
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Nothing to say today, back tomorrow!


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

MCINTYRE AND STARK ADVANCE TO MONEY IN THE BANK

- The final two participants in the Money in the Bank ladder matches qualified last night on Monday Night Raw. Zoey Stark was the first one to qualify after she defeated Dakota Kai and Ivy Nile. The match saw the interference of Kairi Sane, Alba Fyre, and Isla Dawn, allowing Stark to take advantage of the distractions and hit Kai with the Z-360 for the pinfall. Later in the show during the main event, Drew McIntyre defeated Sheamus and Ilja Dragunov in another triple threat match. McIntyre advanced after he pinned Sheamus following a Claymore kick. McIntyre vowed to win MITB and walk out of Toronto as the new World Heavyweight champion. Stark now joins Iyo Sky, Chelsea Green, Lyra Valkyria, Tiffany Stratton, and Naomi in the ladder match while McIntyre joins Jey Uso, Andrade, Carmelo Hayes, Chad Gable, and LA Knight.

THE CREED BROTHERS TO WRESTLE AT BLOODSPORT XI

- WWE tag team Brutus and Julius Creed of The Creed Brothers have been announced as participating in the upcoming Josh Barnett Bloodsport XI event. The announcement was made by Barnett himself yesterday in a post on X, writing that the pair of brutes are now storming their way to the Bloodsport mat. No opponents have been named yet. The Creed Brothers join Shayna Baszler on the show who was announced a couple of weeks ago. This is Baszler's second time wrestling for Bloodsport after she made her debut during their WrestleMania week event in Philadelphia. Bloodsport XI will take place on Sunday, July 28 from Brooklyn, New York.

RICOCHET OFFICIALLY A FREE AGENT

- Ricochet's WWE contract officially expired during the weekend and he is now a free agent. The former NXT North American champion is expected to join AEW at any moment and his WWE profile has already been moved to the Alumni section of the website. His seven-year run with WWE ended on the June 10 episode of Raw when he was destroyed by Bron Breakker and did the stretcher job. He was offered a new contract but he opted not to sign it. He has no no-compete clause so in theory he could appear on any show at any time. Another star, Natalya, is also reportedly about to, if not already, lose her WWE deal. Natalya was not at Raw yesterday and her status remains unknown. The in-ring veteran has been offered a new WWE deal but last known information was that she did not sign yet.

PAT MCAFEE RETURNING TO RAW NEXT WEEK

- Pat McAfee was absent from Raw again last night and was replaced by Smackdown lead commentator Corey Graves. This is the second week in a row that McAfee missed Raw, with last week pulling out of the show after his father-in-law died on the same day as Raw from his hometown of Indianapolis. But the former NFL player is returning on next week's broadcast for the fallout from Money in the Bank in Ottawa, Canada. Michael Cole made the announcement at the start of Raw last night. The Miz did commentary with Michael Cole last week. It was not specified why McAfee missed last night's Raw considering he has been filming his Pat McAfee Show everyday.

SMACKDOWN RATING

- Friday Night Smackdown from Madison Square Garden drew 2,256,000 viewers last Friday, down 80,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had a 0.66 rating in 18-49, down 0.07 from the previous show and was #2 overall on all of television. The Olympic trials on NBC won the night in terms of viewers and 18-49 demo, getting 5.5 million viewers and drawing a 0.80 rating head-to-head with Smackdown. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

MONEY IN THE BANK NEARLY SOLD OUT

- The Scotiabank Arena in Toronto is just under 1,000 seats shy of a complete sell out for this weekend's Money In The Bank premium live event. According to @WrestleTix, WWE has moved a total of 16,896 seats so far, with the arena set up for 17,893. The bulk of the available seats are floor ones, with the majority of the floor remaining unsold due to the high prices. Two sections on the hard cam side were also recently opened. Floor seats start at $397.75 CA and go up to over $2,000 CA for ringside. WWE is not using a stage for this weekend so it's pretty much a 360 degree use of the arena. WWE is also hosting Smackdown and NXT Heatwave in the same arena a day before and a day after MITB.

RAMPAGE RATING

- Rampage on Friday night drew 303,00 viewers, down 25,000 viewers from the prior week. It had a 0.09 rating in 18-49, down 0.03 from the previous episode and tied the lowest number since May 24. Rampage had the same competition as Smackdown. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

MERCEDES MONE SAYS TONY KHAN SAW HER AS THE BEST WOMEN'S WRESTLER

- In a 35-minute interview with HOT 97 in New York, AEW TBS and NJPW Strong Women's champion Mercedes Mone said that Tony Khan saw her as "the best women's wrestler of all time." Mone said she's thankful for AEW and for "such a beautiful boss and leader" in Tony Khan who saw her for who she is - the best of all time. "He worked endless amount of years to try to get me and to get me down. He finally got me," Mone said. "The numbers were right, the conversations were right, the alignment was right, and the goals were aligned. That’s the biggest thing." The champ champ revealed that signing a big money deal wasn't just about her, but for her family too. She said she financially supports her special needs brother and her mother and spent nearly two years without a stable income, although she did have a stream of income from other opportunities. “I wanted the goals of what his mission was for AEW and the women’s wrestling in AEW. And I wanted him to know how much I care and how much I want to bring to women’s wrestling here in AEW. And the alignment was just there," she continued. "And now here we are making magic!" Talking about walking away from WWE in May 2022, Mone said that something did not feel right that day and the way she and Naomi were talked to, "didn't settle in my heart." She said that if she didn't take control of her life right there, she was not going to be happy by having someone talk to her like that and make her feel like she doesn't belong. Mone added that she loves WWE and it was always her dream to wrestle there but it was time to walk away. You can see the interview at .


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Monday, July 1, 2024 Issue #7278
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Good to see Britt Baker back on TV. I think AEW missed her the past 10 months.


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

FORBIDDEN DOOR 2024 PPV RESULTS

- Here are the results from last night’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view which took place from the UBS Arena in Long Island, New York. ZERO HOUR: Kyle Fletcher defeated Serpentico; Malakai Black and Brody King defeated Tomohiro Ishii and Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong and Gabe Kidd, and Private Party in a four-way tag team match; Willow Nightingale and Tam Nakano defeated Kris Statlander and Momo Wantanabe; Mariah May defeated Saraya in an Owen Hart Cup match; Penta el Zero Miedo, Rey Fenix, and Mistico defeated Hiromu Takahashi, Titan, and Yota Tsuji in a trios match. PPV: MJF defeated Hechicero; Kazuchika Okada, Matthew and Nicholas Jackson defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi and The Acclaimed in a trios match; Bryan Danielson defeated Shingo Takagi in an Owen Hart Cup match; Toni Storm defeated Mina Shirakawa to retain the AEW Women’s title; Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Orange Cassidy; Samoa Joe, Hook, and Katsuyori Shibata defeated Chris Jericho, Big Bill, and Jeff Cobb in a trios match; Jack Perry defeated Konosuke Takeshita, Mark Briscoe, Dante Martin, Lio Rush, and El Phantasmo in a ladder match to win the vacant TNT title; Mercedes Mone defeated Stephanie Vaquer to retain the TBS title and win the NJPW Strong Women’s title; Tetsuya Naito defeated Jon Moxley to become the new IWGP Heavyweight champion; Swerve Strickland defeated Will Ospreay to retain the AEW World title.

THREE CHAMPIONS CROWNED AT FORBIDDEN DOOR

- Three new champions were crowned at Forbidden Door last night, with Jack Perry unsurprisingly winning the ladder match to become the TNT champion, Mercedes Mone winning the NJPW Strong Women's title, and Jon Moxley losing the NJPW title to Tetsuya Naito. Perry was the first one to win the title in a match filled with several high spots, ladders, and tables. The self-proclaimed scapegoat won the match after Mark Briscoe attempted to climb the ladder but Perry cut him off by nailing him with another ladder and chair shots multiple times, allowing him enough time to climb and grab the hanging TNT title. Mercedes Mone is now Mone-two-belts after she defeated Stephanie Vaquer to claim the NJPW Strong Women's title while also holding on to the TBS title. Mone entered as the crowd favorite but the New York crowd quickly turned on her. Mone won the match after she hit her Mone Maker finisher and then applied the crossface, with Vaquer tapping out. This is the title that Mone was originally penned to win last year but suffered a broken foot while wrestling Willow Nightingale in the final of the tournament. Nightingale won that match after an audible was called by Mone. Moxley's run with the IWGP World title came to an end at Forbidden Door, catching people by surprise, although betting odds were clearly in favor of his opponent. Tetsuya Naito regained the title from Moxley after Moxley took it away from him at the Windy City Riot show this past April. Naito beat Moxley with his Destino finisher to end Moxley's run after just 79 days.

BRITT BAKER RETURNS AFTER 10 MONTHS OUT

- The doctor is back! Former AEW Women's champion Britt Baker made her return to AEW after 10 months out at last night's Forbidden Door pay-per-view and quickly set her sights on TBS and NJPW Strong Women's champion Mercedes Mone. The Long Island crowd popped big for Baker's return, who came out after Mone won the match against Stephanie Vaquer. Baker did not say or do anything except for staying at the top of the ramp, staring down the double champion, who stared back and held both titles above her head. Baker has not appeared on AEW television since September 2023, with her last match being a loss to Kris Statlander. Baker is already scheduled to be at Dynamite this week in Chicago. You can see her return at .

MARIAH MAY AND BRYAN DANIELSON ADVANCE

- Mariah May and Bryan Danielson advanced to the next round of the Owen Hart Cup tournament after their successful victories last night at Forbidden Door. Mariah May was the first one to qualifying for the semi final after she defeated Saraya during the Zero Hour broadcast. May pinned her fellow British star with a roll-up after she countered the Knight Light finisher for the victory. Then during the pay-per-view, crowd favorite Bryan Danielson beat New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Shingo Takagi in the quarter final to earn a spot in the semi final. Danielson won the match after he submitted Takagi in a hard-hitting contest. The tournament now continues on Dynamite and Collision before the final matches on next week's Dynamite in Calgary. The winners will receive a title shot at All In.

NJPW ANNOUNCES ITS OWN VERSION OF FORBIDDEN DOOR

- New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced its own version of the Forbidden Door show with Wrestle Dynasty which will take place on January 5, 2025, the night after Wrestle Kingdom. The show will held at the Tokyo Dome and will feature NJPW, AEW, ROH, STARDOM, and CMLL. AEW President Tony Khan has always said that Forbidden Door would not take place in Japan as this was an AEW show but was open to the idea of doing something similar for NJPW in Japan in the future. Last year, New Year Dash!! was held the night after Wrestle Kingdom. The announcement was made yesterday during the Forbidden Door pay-per-view.

DIJAK BACKSTAGE AT FORBIDDEN DOOR

- Former WWE and NXT star Dijak was backstage at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view last night in Long Island. In a video posted yesterday, Dijak alluded he would be there, and while filming the video, said he has to open the door (to go outside) and then maybe go for a nice four-hour drive from his New England location, which is pretty much the distance to Long Island where Forbidden Door was. Later, he posted a photo of his sunglasses with a Forbidden Door photo in the background and tagged AEW President Tony Khan. Dijak was not offered a new WWE deal despite he was one of the few NXT stars who were called up to the main roster during this year's draft.

AEW RETURNING TO ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM

- AEW is returning to the Arthur Ashe Stadium in September for Grand Slam. There is a slight change this time around as AEW will also tape Collision at the stadium. Usually AEW holds Dynamite: Grand Slam and a two-hour Rampage: Grand Slam at the location. There was no mention of Rampage. The show is set for Wednesday, September 25 with tickets going on pre-sale on July 16 at Ticketmaster.com, followed by a general public sale on July 18. This will be the fourth Grand Slam at the home of the U.S. Open. The first show drew 20,000 fans, the second had just over 13,000 fans, and last year it drew 11,000.

RAW PREVIEW

- Tonight's Monday Night Raw is the go-home episode for Money In The Bank and it has two ladder qualifying matches as part of the broadcast. The final two participants of both men's and women's matches will be decided tonight, with Sheamus vs Drew McIntyre vs Ilja Dragunov and Zoey Stark vs Dakota Kai vs Ivy Nile as the two qualifying matches. Also tonight, Xavier Woods will take on Karrion Kross, Rey Mysterio battles his son Dom Mysterio, Seth Rollins will be in the house, and Liv Morgan will put up her WWE Women's World title on the line against Zelina Vega of the LWO.

ANGELO DAWKINS GETS MARRIED

- Angelo Dawkins of The Street Profits got married in a very low-key ceremony presided over by his tag team partner Montez Ford. Dawkins married his long-time girlfriend Grace Russo who is 33 years old. "Made it official fam," he wrote on X, along with the hashtag #marriedlife. Their son, born four years ago, was also at the ceremony and so was Bianca Belair. The couple are also expecting another baby. Congratulations to the two!


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|_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\


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Sunday, June 30, 2024 Issue #7277
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Enjoy the PPV tonight, I will be watching on demand since I gotta work in the morning and this thing will probably still be running by the time I leave LOL!


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
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FORBIDDEN DOOR 2024 LIVE ON PPV TONIGHT

- Live from the UBS Arena in Long Island, New York, AEW and NJPW present Forbidden Door 2024 on pay-per-view. The full card is as follows: PPV: Swerve Strickland vs Will Ospreay for the AEW World title; Jon Moxley vs Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight title; Toni Storm vs Mina Shirakawa for the AEW Women's title; Mercedes Mone vs Stephanie Vaquer in a winner-take-all match for the AEW TBS and NJPW Strong Women's titles; Konosuke Takeshita vs Mark Briscoe vs Jack Perry vs Dante Martin vs Lio Rush vs El Phantasmo in a ladder match for the vacant AEW TNT title; Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi in an Owen Hart Cup tournament match; Matthew Jackson, Nicholas Jackson, and Kazuchika Okada vs Anthony Bowens, Max Caster, and Hiroshi Tanahashi in a trios match; MJF vs. Hechicero; Zack Sabre Jr. vs Orange Cassidy; Chris Jericho, Big Bill, and Jeff Cobb vs Samoa Joe, Hook, and Katsuyori Shibata in a trios match. ZERO HOUR: Yota Tsuji, Titan, and Hiromu Takahashi vs Penta El Zero Miedo
, Rey Fenix, and Mistico in a trios match; Kris Statlander and Momo Watanabe vs Willow Nightingale and Tam Nakano; Mariah May vs Saraya in an Owen Hart Cup tournament match; Malakai Black and Brody King vs Tomohiro Ishii and Kyle O'Reilly vs Roderick Strong and Gabriel Kidd vs Private Party in a four-way tag team match. The Zero Hour show will start at 6:30PM ET and will air on AEW's YouTube, X, and Facebook social media accounts. It will be hosted by Renee Paquette, RJ City, Jeff Jarrett, and Rocky Romero. Forbidden Door is available on pay-per-view via Bleacher Report, TrillerTV, PPV.COM, and YouTube for $50 while those internationally can watch the show via TrillerTV and YouTube for $20.

OVER 10,000 TICKETS DISTRIBUTED FOR FORBIDDEN DOOR

- The UBS Arena has opened more seats for tonight's Forbidden Door as the show surpassed 10,000 tickets distributed according to @WrestleTix. Ticket count stand at around 10,180 as of now, with just under 12,000 seats available on the chart. Floor and first raised level are pretty much all sold, including the hard cam section. Tickets in the newly-opened 300 level are priced at just $30.45 and are available at Ticketmaster.com. Forbidden Door is on track to do more than $1 million in gate, keeping the streak going for Forbidden Door pay-per-views to cross that impressive mark three years in a row.

RIHO RETURNS AFTER THREE MONTHS OUT

- The first-ever AEW Women's champion Riho is back in the company after an absence of three months. Riho appeared on Collision yesterday to answer Serena Deeb's challenge after Deeb issued another open challenge following her latest win on the show. The Japanese star last wrestled in the main event of AEW Big Business in mid-March in Boston, losing to Willow Nightingale. She had to go back home as her U.S. visa was expiring and needed a renewal and per regulations, you can only renew it at the embassy or consulate of your own country.

HIKARU SHIDA ADVANCES IN THE OWEN HART CUP TOURNAMENT

- Hikaru Shida is moving forward in the Owen Hart Cup tournament after she defeated Deonna Purrazzo last night on Collision. Shida will now take on the winner of tonight's match between Mariah May and Saraya which will take place at the Zero Hour show. The first semi final match is already decided with Willow Nightingale taking on Kris Statlander. This match and the second semi final match are set for next week's Dynamite. The final will be held on the July 10 Dynamite from Calgary and the winner will receive an AEW Women's title match at All In in Wembley.

NXT STARS APPEAR AT TNA IMPACT TV TAPINGS

- A few NXT stars were part of the TNA Impact television tapings this weekend which were held at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. No Quarter Catch Crew's Myles Borne, Charlie Dempsey, and Tavion Heights along with Izzi Dame were all part of the tapings, appearing as a surprise in front of a packed arena. These appearances are the latest as part of the working relationship that WWE and TNA have developed together, and this relationship is expected to grow more moving forward. TNA had two nights of television tapings at the former ECW Arena with a healthy crowd on hand.

SHINSUKE NAKAMURA APPEARS AT UFC 303

- While he has not appeared on WWE television for several weeks, Shinsuke Nakamura showed up on UFC Fight Pass last night at UFC 303 during the early preliminary fights. Nakamura was in the corner of Rei Tsuruya, who defeated Carlos Hernandez via a unanimous decision in the second fight of the night. Tsuruya entered the Octagon using The Rising Sun theme song, which Nakamura uses in WWE. In a post-fight interview with Sportsnet, Nakamura said that he knew Rei's father for a long time and he asked him if he could corner him at the show. "I said of course, it's my honor," Nakamura said. Nakamura added that he has a passion for fighting and he used to corner friends back in the day in Japan. The former NXT champion also said that he wants to keep wrestling for WWE and show his passion in the ring and still has a lot to accomplish in the company.


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Saturday, June 29, 2024 Issue #7276
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

That show-closing angle on Smackdown last night was simply incredible. Heyman is really the GOAT. I tell ya, when Roman Reigns returns, the roof is going to blow off.


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
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PAUL HEYMAN POWERBOMBED OUT OF THE BLOODLINE

- The newest version of The Bloodline has taken out Paul Heyman as the Wiseman refused to acknowledge Solo Sikoa as his Tribal Chief in a show-closing angle on Smackdown from Madison Square Garden last night. All the new members - Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, and Jacob Fatu - acknowledged Sikoa as their new leader and then Solo turned to Heyman and asked him to place the Ula Fala necklace, previously worn by Reigns, around his neck and to acknowledge him. "I acknowledge...that you are not my Tribal Chief," Heyman responded to a massive ovation from the sold-out MSG crowd. That was not the answer Solo was looking for and Heyman had to pay the consequences. Solo spiked Heyman and then Fatu hit a splash from the top rope and then all of them delivered a Shield-like powerbomb to Heyman on the announce table. Fatu then placed the Ula Fala around Solo's neck and all four posed with their index finger up in front of a fallen Heyman to end the night. You can see the segment at .

CODY RHODES BRINGS OUT KAYLA BRAXTON IN FRONT OF MSG FANS FOR FAREWELL

- Kayla Braxton signed off from her WWE duties last night for the last time with Smackdown at Madison Square Garden. The 33-year-old decided to move away from professional wrestling for now to pursue other gigs, including acting. After the show was over, Cody Rhodes came out and introduced Kayla to the MSG crowd who chanted "Thank you Kayla." An emotional Kayla said that eight years ago the fans accepted her and everyday since then, they have been some of the best days of her life. Cody then lifted her hands up and she walked to the back. "I love my WWE family. Thank you guys so much. I’m overwhelmed. I will miss you all but we will see each other again," she wrote on X after the show. Braxton, real name Kayla Becker, was spotted walking out of MSG with a bouquet of flowers. She had been working for WWE for the past eight years and did backstage interviews, hosted The Bump for several years, and also did the PLE kickoff shows throughout her time there. Braxton moved to Los Angeles a couple of years ago for other outside opportunities and is currently filming a movie. You can see it at .

THREE MORE QUALIFY FOR MITB LADDER MATCHES

- Three more WWE Superstars qualified for the Money In The Bank ladder matches after winning their respective matches last night on Smackdown. The first match saw Tiffany Stratton advance after she beat Jade Cargill and Candice LeRae in a triple threat. Cargill was taken out by Indi Hartwell who interfered during the match and Stratton hit the Prettiest Moonsault Ever on LeRae for the win. LA Knight also advanced after he defeated Logan Paul and Santos Escobar in his mach. Knight pinned the United States champion to win. The match had the involvement of Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers and Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks for added spice. And in the third and last qualifying match for the night, Naomi took down Indi Hartwell and Blair Davenport to advance. Cargill returned the favor to Hartwell and interfered in this match, allowing Naomi to hit her finisher. Two more need to qualify - one for the men's match and one for the women's match - before all six participants are revealed.

EL PHANTASMO QUALIFIES FOR TNT TITLE LADDER MATCH

- The last person qualified for the TNT title ladder match at tomorrow's Forbidden Door is El Phantasmo. El Phantasmo defeated AR Fox in a qualifying match on last night's Rampage, clinching the last spot in the ladder match. The match also features Konosuke Takeshita, Mark Briscoe, Jack Perry, Lio Rush, and Dante Martin. The TNT title was vacated after then-champion Adam Copeland suffered a broken leg at Double or Nothing after jumping from the top of the cage.

JERICHO ATTACKS MISTICO AT CMLL SHOW

- After Mercedes Mone made a surprise appearance at CMLL last week, it was Chris Jericho's time to make an unannounced appearance, attacking Mistico. During the Arena Mexico event last night, Jericho appeared donning a Mistico mask and attacked the popular Mexican star while the lights were out. Jericho hit the Codebreaker and the Judas Effect but the crowd didn't react much until he very slowly took off his mask to reveal himself. While both stars are part of the Forbidden Door pay-per-view tomorrow, both of them are in separate angles and matches which have not crossed over, so Jericho attacking Mistico was a bit confusing. Jericho will team up with Big Bill and a mystery partner to take on Katsuyori Shibata, Samoa Joe, and Hook in a trios match tomorrow while Mistico is teaming up with Penta El Zero Miedo and Rey Fenix against Yota Tsuji, Titan, and Hiromu Takahashi during the Zero Hour show.

NEARLY 3,000 TICKETS SOLD FOR AEW TV TAPINGS IN CARDIFF

- AEW moved just under 3,000 tickets for the Dynamite and Collision tapings at the Utilita Arena in Cardiff, Wales for August. This will be the first time that AEW will tape television shows outside North America and will do so during All In week. The location was a surprise since it's pretty far away from London where All In is taking place, but nevertheless, it was a good first few days of sales considering the arena holds under 5,000 seats. As per @WrestleTix, the arena is currently set up for 4,236 seats and tickets start from ?139.35. Ringside seats are going for a whopping ?766.85, or the equivalent of $970. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.co.uk.

EARLY BETTING ODDS FOR FORBIDDEN DOOR 2024

- AEW is back on pay-per-view tomorrow with another massive 13-match card. Not all matches are available for betting yet so today we bring you the early odds for the ones that are online. Please remember that these odds will change by the time the show starts tomorrow. Is Will Ospreay going to have two titles by the time Forbidden Door is over? Bookmakers don't think so and have placed Swerve Strickland as the favorite to retain with 1/8 odds while the AEW International champion is 17/4 to win. Mercedes Mone has monster odds in her favor and is clearly walking out with two titles. Mone is 1/50 to defeat Stephanie Vaquer who is 12/1 to keep her NJPW Strong Women's title and win the TBS title. AEW Women's champion Toni Storm will defend her title against Mina Shirakawa. Storm is 1/15 favorite to retain while her Japanese opponent is 6/1 for the upset. Jon Moxley's IWGP Heavyweight title is up for grabs and will defend against Tetsuya Naito. Odds favor the challenger, with Naito 1/3 favorite to win the title while Moxley is 3/1 to retain. An Owen Hart Cup tournament qualifier takes place with Bryan Danielson vs Shingo Takagi. Danielson is 1/15 favorite to advance while Takagi is 6/1. In two other single matches, MJF is 1/50 favorite to beat Hechicero who has odds of 12/1 while Zack Sabre Jr is 2/9 favorite against Orange Cassidy who is 11/4.


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Friday, June 28, 2024 Issue #7275
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Looking forward to tonight's Smackdown. Usually shows at Madison Square Garden are a bit more "special" so hopefully that continues tonight.

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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
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SMACKDOWN PREVIEW

- Over 17,000 fans are expected at Madison Square Garden tonight for Friday Night Smackdown live on FOX. The show will be headlined by the Bloodline acknowledgement ceremony, with the next chapter in this ever-evolving storyline being written at the world's most famous arena. Solo Sikoa, Tonga Loa, Tama Tonga, Jacob Fatu, and Paul Heyman are all set to be part of this segment. Also, three Money in the Bank qualifying matches will be taking place. Two women matches will feature Jade Cargill vs Candice LeRae vs Tiffany Stratton and Naomi vs Blair Davenport vs Indi Hartwell. The other men's match will have LA Knight vs Santos Escobar vs Logan Paul. Plus, WWE champion Cody Rhodes will also be in the house!

HULK HOGAN THINKS BRON BREAKKER IS WWE'S NEXT BIG STAR

- Speaking to Bill Apter of Sportskeeda, WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan was full of praise for Bron Breakker and labeled him the next big star in WWE. Hogan said that Breakker is "beyond his years" and it's impressive to keep that intensity and stay in the zone when the red light is on. "If they do the right thing with him, that could be your next Stone Cold, The Rock, or Hulk Hogan," he said. "He could be the guy." The former WWE and WCW champion also noted some similarities between Breakker and Goldberg, but while Goldberg had a certain thing just like The Rock had a certain thing, Breakker has all those certain things and "a little extra spice." Breakker is set to face Sami Zayn for his first title match on the main card and could be the next Intercontinental champion come Money in the Bank. "I can't even imagine what's going to happen when he really figures it out," Hogan continued.

WWE ON A&E RATING

- Week 16 of WWE on A&E had one episode of Biography featuring former ECW and WWE champion Rob Van Dam. The episode pulled in 229,000 viewers, down 59,000 viewers from the prior episode. The show had a 0.07 rating in 18-49, an increase of 0.02 from the previous week. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)

LOW TICKET SALES FOR COLLISION RESIDENCY AT ESPORTS ARENA

- AEW will start a five-week residency at the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas next month but attendance figures published do not look good so far. The company will tape five episodes of Collision as well as Ring of Honor's Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view between July 20 and August 17. ROH weekly TV will also be taped during those days. Attendance numbers published by The Wrestling Observer show that the July 20 Collision has 623 tickets sold, the July 27 episode is at 785 tickets, the August 1 and August 10 shows are at 318 each, and the August 17 episode is at 473. The Death Before Dishonor show is at 665 tickets. This residency is being dubbed as the AEW Path To All In Summer Series and the company is paying a total of $232,000 for all shows, a figure which will be offset by some credits that the city of Arlington is paying. The Esports Arena is being set up for 1,290 seats per show.

DYNAMITE RATING

- Dynamite rebounded in the ratings this week as its MVP, Big Bang Theory, returned as its lead-in program. The show drew 680,000 viewers, up 178,000 viewers from last week's record low. It is still the second least-watched episode of 2024 though, and had a 0.22 rating in 18-49, up 0.06, and also the second-worst number of the year so far. Dynamite was #6 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: PWTorch.com)

OUTSIDE PROJECTS ONE MAJOR REASON MERCEDES MONE CHOSE AEW

- During an interview on WFAN Radio in New York City to promote this weekend's Forbidden Door pay-per-view, TBS champion Mercedes Mone described how painful it was to do any outside work from WWE while she was part of their roster. Mone said that even to film something as popular as The Mandalorian, it was like "pulling teeth" to get time off from WWE due to their restrictions. "That’s definitely a big reason why I came to AEW," Mone said about outside projects. "Tony [Khan] said whatever I need, if I need that private jet to go from, you know...filming in LA to coming for shows, then it’s available for me," Mone said. The former Raw and Smackdown Women's champion was in negotiations with WWE for months before she decided to join AEW when it was apparent that WWE was not ready to meet her demands. She has the largest female contract in AEW and is one of the top paid performers in the company.

BOOKER T'S PODCAST JOINS ESPN RADIO

- Booker T's podcast The Hall of Fame will be moving to ESPN starting tomorrow and will air on ESPN Radio moving forward. Booker hosts the show with Brad Gilmore. "Brad and I have worked so hard on this show, and we are excited to bring our brand of radio nationwide as part of the ESPN Radio family," the two-time WWE Hall of Famer said. "The Hall of Fame is going national, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to share our insights, stories, and passion for wrestling and combat sports with an even larger audience." "Taking the Hall of Fame national with ESPN Radio is a dream come true for us," added Brad Gilmore. "Booker and I have poured our hearts into this show, and it’s incredible to see our hard work pay off. Like they say, ‘when you wish upon a star,’ amazing things can happen. We’re excited to bring our unique brand of radio to listeners all across the country and continue sharing our love for wrestling and combat sports." On the air for the past eight years, The Hall of Fame show covers professional wrestling, mixed martial arts, and professional sports. Their first airing on ESPN Radio comes at 10PM ET with live coverage of UFC 303 tomorrow.

WHO KILLED WCW? RATING

- The fourth and final episode of Who Killed WCW? on VICE drew a total of 124,000 viewers, down 24,000 viewers from the previous episode which was the most-watched of the whole series. In 18-49, it had a 0.05 rating, down 0.01 from last week.

NEMETH AND MACLIN ADVANCE TO TNA WORLD TITLE MATCH

- The six-way elimination match for the TNA World title at Slammiversary has two more participants following last night's Impact. Steve Maclin defeated Sami Callihan in the first match to advance while Nic Nemeth also punched his ticket to Montreal after he beat Rich Swann in the second qualifying match. The two now join Josh Alexander and champion Moose in the match, with two more names still to be added to the match. Those two will be decided next week on the July 4 episode of Impact, with Frankie Kazarian vs Mike Santana and Joe Hendry vs Jake Something.


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Thursday, June 27, 2024 Issue #7274
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Nothing to say today, back tomorrow!


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
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RHEA RIPLEY AND BUDDY MATTHEWS GET MARRIED

- WWE's Rhea Ripley and AEW's Buddy Matthews tied the knot a few days ago, with Ripley announcing they got married on June 23. "Til death," Ripley wrote, with a black heart emoji and the date in a post on Instagram, along with a photo of the two kissing each other. Both stars wore black for the occasion. The two have been dating publicly since 2022 and got engaged this past August. Several fellow wrestlers congratulated the brand new husband-and-wife team with comments on Instagram.

DIJAK A FREE AGENT TOMORROW AFTER WWE OPTS NOT TO RENEW DEAL

- NXT star Dijak is set to be free tomorrow as his WWE contract was not renewed. The man formerly known as Dominik Dijakovic wrote in a post on social media that WWE never made him a single offer and just informed him that his contract would not be renewed at the eleventh hour. "I consistently outperformed everyone’s expectations, especially throughout 2023 and early 2024. I never complained about anything or was difficult to work with," Dijak wrote. "I tirelessly pitched ideas to anyone who would listen, as recently as the day before I was notified. I never once missed a booking, and I was injured 1 time in 7 years for 3 months." He said that during WrestleMania weekend, a top WWE executive who was not named told him that he was "crushing it" and while he was set to feud for the NXT title, he got called up to Raw instead during the Draft but never used again. "I’m thankful, disappointed, but also excited. This has lit a fire under me to relentlessly prove myself to the world," he continued. "All I ever wanted was a fair shot and now I have the opportunity to go out and take it. That’s enough talk, now it’s time to Do or Dijak." Dijak has been with the company since 2017 and had a meaningful run on NXT before he got called up to the main roster in 2020. He was part of Retribution, a faction which flopped big time, and returned to NXT in 2022. He never won a single title in NXT or WWE.

WWE AND MANCHESTER CITY LAUNCH MERCHANDISE COLLABORATION

- WWE and English Premier League club Manchester City announced an exclusive merchandise collaboration that will see the two globally-recognized brands featured together across a range of new products. The new collection will include six t-shirts featuring Manchester City and WWE, along with designs inspired from WWE Superstars CM Punk, Becky Lynch, Roman Reigns and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Also, the two have jointly designed a new name and number style that the players will wear in their games scheduled during the preseason tour of America this summer. The design features the WWE logo within the number and a red outline. The new range of T-shirts are available at WWEShop.com, shop.mancity.com and Fanatics.com. Additionally, the merchandise will be available in the recently opened pop-up CityStore at Rockefeller Center in New York City. WWE Women’s champion Bayley and Baron Corbin will visit the CityStore on 6th Avenue in New York City tomorrow from 10 to 11AM for an exclusive meet-and-greet. The Premier League trophy will also be in store Friday and throughout the weekend. “We are excited to announce the launch of our exclusive retail collaboration with WWE today. As a club, we’re always exploring new ways to enhance our retail offering for our fans across the globe and collaborations like this with WWE are part of that ongoing strategy," said Serena Gosling, Director of Integrated Fan Experience and Retail & Licensing at Manchester City. “In addition, today’s announcement offers a further touch point for our fans within the U.S. and beyond to engage with the club, ahead of men’s first team visit this summer.”

NXT RATING

- NXT's ratings were brought back down to earth this week with the show doing just 611,000 viewers, down 113,000 viewers from the prior week and the lowest since May 14. The show had a 0.18 rating in 18-49, down 0.08 from last week's high and was #4 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)

TONY SCHIAVONE LOSES VOICE DURING DYNAMITE

- Tony Schiavone had to stop doing commentary for Dynamite last night after he lost his voice throughout the show. Around halfway through the show, the three-man commentary booth transformed into a two-man booth with Taz and Excalibur handling the rest of the broadcast. On the show, it was said that Schiavone was in the back but no explanation was given. Responding to a fan of X asking for his whereabouts, Schiavone simply replied that he lost his voice. "It was giving me problems all weekend. Thanks for asking," Schiavone replied. The AEW commentator will have a few days to rest his voice before Forbidden Door this Sunday on pay-per-view.

TONY KHAN SAYS SHANE MCMAHON IS ALWAYS WELCOME TO AEW

- In an interview with Sports Illustrated's Justin Barrasso ahead of this Sunday's Forbidden Door pay-per-view, AEW President Tony Khan discussed the rumor of Shane McMahon being interested in appearing for AEW in the future. "I heard the rumor he might be interested," he said. "I’ve never met Shane, but we have a lot of mutual friends. I have a lot of respect for him as an executive and a professional wrestler." The rumor started on Jim Ross' Grilling JR podcast when co-host Conrad Thompson revealed that McMahon reached out to some AEW stars to get an idea of what their opinion would be if he were to show up. While he said he never met McMahon, Khan is ready to do business. "Shane is always welcome in AEW," he said bluntly. Khan also discussed his relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery and his negotiations for a new media rights deal. You can read the full interview at

OVER 9,000 TICKETS OUT FOR FORBIDDEN DOOR

- The AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view has surpassed the 9,000 ticket mark according to @WrestleTix, with the show happening this weekend. While AEW has struggled to sell tickets for their weekly Dynamite and Collision, pay-per-view attendance has remained stable, albeit down from previous years. The UBS Arena is currently configured for just over 10,000 seats so if there's a strong walk-up, they could sell their remaining inventory and possibly open up even more. Last month's Double or Nothing also drew around 9,000 fans, while Dynasty had just over 6,000. Revolution remains the top show this year with almost 17,000 fans to witness Sting's last match.


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Wednesday, June 26, 2024 Issue #7273
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Sad news about Sika passing away. His brother Afa has been battling several health issues too lately so I'm sure it's a bit of an uneasy time for the family.


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
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SIKA OF THE WILD SAMOANS PASSES AWAY

- WWE Hall of Famer Sika of the Wild Samoans passed away yesterday at the age of 79. The news was announced by his nephew Jahnus Anoa'i. Real name Leati Sika Amituana'i Anoa?i, he was best known as former WWF Tag Team champion with his brother Afa, who together terrorized the tag team division of several promotions around the world. Sika started his career in 1973 and joined the WWF with Afa in 1980. After just a year, the duo left the company and worked for NJPW, Mid-South and Georgia Championship Wrestling before eventually returning to the WWF in 1983. Their second stint in WWE didn't last long either, leaving in 1985 but he returned a year later for another two-year stint. After retiring from in-ring competition, Sika helped train up-and-coming wrestlers at the Wild Samoan Training Center with Afa. Sika is the father of former Undisputed WWE champion Roman Reigns. He last appeared on WWE television at the 2020 Hell In A Cell premium live event where he celebrated his son's victory of his cousin Jey Uso.

ROMAN REIGNS ISSUES STATEMENT ON PASSING OF HIS FATHER

- In a rare personal post on social media, former Undisputed WWE champion Roman Reigns thanked everyone on behalf of his family for their outpouring support following the death of his father, WWE Hall of Famer Sika Anoa'i. "My father had a profound impact on my entire family and we are forever grateful for the foundation he built for us," Reigns wrote. "There’s no way to fill the void left by his passing but my sisters and I will do our best to represent him and his legacy. Rest in Power, Dad. We love you.” His last original post was on April 9 just after WrestleMania and his title loss to Cody Rhodes, posting a video in the gym writing, "Yesterday I mourned. Today is Day 1."

WRESTLING WORLD MOURNS SIKA

- The wrestling world used social media to remember WWE Hall of Famer Sika, who passed away yesterday at age 79. WWE paid tribute to Sika during last night's episode of NXT, and will do so again this Friday on Smackdown. "WWE is saddened to learn that Sika Anoa’i, a WWE Hall of Famer, one-half of The Wild Samoans tag team and father of Roman Reigns, has passed away," the company wrote in a post on X. "WWE extends its condolences to Anoa’i’s family, friends and fans." AEW wrote, "AEW and the wrestling world mourn the passing of the legendary Wild Samoan Sika. Our thoughts are with his family, his friends and his fans." TNA Wrestling also sent its condolences to the family, adding, "TNA is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of legendary Samoan wrestler Sika Anoa?i. We offer our sincerest condolences to his friends and family." Rikishi, Sika's nephew, wrote that the first thing that comes to mind when he thinks of his uncle is mentor. He was also his first trusted adviser, confidant, and someone who always spoke his mind. "As a professional, he showed me all of the ropes, (literally) and guided me on 'roadlife,' and being one of the boys," Rikishi wrote. "But more importantly, as my Uncle, he taught me to slow down, take my time, and truly ENJOY life. We both loved living in Pensacola and appreciated the slower pace of life." Sika's niece, Vale Anoa'i, wrote that her uncle was her dad's (Afa) closest brother, best friend, tag team partner, and soulmate. "There was no bond like theirs. Uncle Sika loved the family and Samoan culture more than anything. This loss is agonizing for all of us, but especially for my Dad. Please keep him in your prayers," she wrote. Other wrestling personalities also paid tribute to Sika with social media posts and you can read some of them at .

PAT MCAFEE MISSES RAW DUE TO DEATH OF HIS FATHER-IN-LAW

- Raw commentator Pat McAfee revealed on his show yesterday that he missed Monday Night Raw because his father-in-law passed away just hours before the show. Addressing the situation, McAfee said that after he wrapped up Monday's episode of his show, which also had Triple H on as guest, his wife called him to tell him that her father was in bad shape at the hospital, and they needed to go there. McAfee said that his father-in-law was admitted to the hospital a few days before battling an infection but on Friday they told them that everything will be okay and was supposed to be discharged. Unfortunately, things didn't go as doctors hoped for and he lost his battle. "Last night was obviously a very difficult night for our family," McAfee said. "And it was a nice reminder, thankfully my wife, her mom, with her dad, the last thing they said to him, Bob, who is a great man, was 'I love you' and I think this is a nice piece of perspective and a moment to tell everybody, like hey, tell your people you love them." The Miz replaced McAfee on commentary with Michael Cole.

RAW RATING

- Monday Night Raw this week had an average of 1,814,000 viewers, up 68,000 viewers from the prior week despite going against game seven of the NHL Stanley Cup final. That was the most-watched episode of Raw since April 8. The first hour started with 1,804,000 viewers and then increased nicely to 1,936,000 viewers for the second hour, and ended the night with 1,703,000 viewers. In 18-49, Raw drew a 0.61 average over the three-hour period, up 0.06 from the previous week and the highest since April 15. No hourly ratings or cable rankings are available as of now. (Ratings credit: PWTorch)

NXT HEATWAVE MAIN EVENT CHANGE AND MORE TITLE MATCHES ANNOUNCED

- The NXT Heatwave main event has been changed to a fatal four-way match with NXT champion Trick Williams now defending his title against Je'Von Evans, Shawn Spears, and Ethan Page. The change was made last night on NXT by General Manager Ava after Spears defeated Williams in a non-title match which closed the show. Je'Von Evans won a 25-man battle royal last week to become the number one contender but Ethan Page contested that win after he was taken out early in the match but was never eliminated from the battle royal. On NXT last night it was also announced that at Heatwave, the NXT Tag Team titles will be on the line as Nathan Frazer and Axiom defend their gold against Chase U, Roxanne Perez puts her NXT Women's title against Lola Vice, Wes Lee goes for the NXT North American title against champ Oba Femi, and Kelani Jordan defends the NXT Women's North American title against Sol Ruca.

SHAYNA BASZLER RETURNING TO BLOODSPORT

- Shayna Baszler is returning to Josh Barnett's Bloodsport next month and has been announced for the Bloodsport XI event on Sunday, July 28 in Brooklyn, New York. This is her second time that she will be fighting for Barnett's show which is promoted by GCW. During WrestleMania weekend in Philly, Baszler took on - and won - against Masha Slamovich. Fellow WWE Superstar Zoey Stark accompanied her to the ring. No opponent has been named for Baszler as of now. WWE President Nick Khan was in attendance for the Bloodsport X show in Philadelphia along with a few other WWE stars. That show also had NXT star Charlie Dempsey on the card.

DYNAMITE PREVIEW

- Dynamite is coming off the record low viewership of last week and you can bet things are going to get into a higher gear tonight to avoid a repeat of last Wednesday. Five matches have been announced for tonight's broadcast including Kyle O’Reilly vs Zack Sabre Jr, a trios match with Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, and Wheeler Yuta vs Shingo Takagi, Titan, and Hiromi Takahashi, Saraya, Anna Jay, and Harley Cameron vs Mina Shirakawa, Mariah May, and Toni Storm, Jay White battles Rey Fenix in an Owen Hart Cup tournament quarter final match, and Swerve Strickland teams up with Will Ospreay to take on Gates of Agony. Plus, segments featuring Daniel Garcia, TBS champion Mercedes Mone, and MJF will also be part of the show.

JIM ROSS BACK IN HOSPITAL

- Jim Ross continues his string of bad luck with his health as the AEW commentator was admitted to a hospital again because of difficulty breathing. In a post on X, Ross wrote, "Another trip to the ER. Difficulty breathing. Likely an overnight stay. I’ll be ok. Let’s fight!" The 72-year-old will now probably miss the AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door pay-per-view due to his health problems. He already missed the Double or Nothing pay-per-view due to hospitalization days before. He last called a match in April at the Dynasty show. The WWE Hall of Famer had a challenging 2024 so far, undergoing multiple surgeries due to cancer and several trips to the emergency room.

BEACH BREAK DYNAMITE RETURNING NEXT WEEK

- AEW announced that next week's episode of Dynamite from Chicago will be themed as Beach Break and will be presented by Discovery's Shark Week. The announcement got some questions from fans, wondering why a Beach Break themed episode of the show would be held from Chicago of all places. The Owen Hart Cup tournament will take center stage that week, with Jeff Jarrett taking on a mystery opponent plus Kris Statlander vs Willow Nightingale and PAC vs the winner of Bryan Danielson vs Shingo Takagi which will happen at Forbidden Door. AEW did not hold a Beach Break episode of Dynamite last year, with 2022 being the last one it held. It was headlined by Orange Cassidy vs Adam Cole in an unsanctioned lights out match.

FORMER WWE CHAMP TO TAG TEAM WITH CURRENT AEW STAR AT AAA TRIPLEMANIA

- Former WWE champion Jinder Mahal, now going by his real name of Raj Dhesi, will be teaming up with current AEW star Satnam Singh in a tag match at the upcoming AAA Triplemania XXXII event in Mexico City. The two, who will be managed by Jeff Jarrett, will be taking on Dr. Wagner Jr and Galeno del Mal, and Psycho Clown and Negro Casas in a triple threat match for the AAA Tag Team titles. This will be Dhesi's first match for the Mexican AAA promotion. The two-time WWE champion was recently released from the company after 14 years of service. Triplemania XXXII will take place on Saturday, August 17 at the Mexico City Arena in Azcapotzalco.


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Tuesday, June 25, 2024 Issue #7272
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Nothing to say today, back tomorrow!


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
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NXT PREVIEW

- NXT's momentum is certainly on the up and WWE is looking to make NXT #1 in ratings again for the third week in a row with tonight's episode. Six matches have been announced for the show later tonight, headlined by NXT champion Trick Williams vs Shawn Spears in a non-title match. Tony D'Angelo will defend his NXT Heritage Cup against Nathan Frazer and new number one contenders for the NXT Tag Team titles will be determined in a tag team turmoil match. Sol Ruca battles Arianna Grace in a number one contender's match as well, this time for the NXT Women's North American title, Wes Lee takes on Joe Coffey, and Tavion Heights battles Damon Kemp. Last week's NXT beat Dynamite in both viewership and 18-49 demo.

WWE EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF TELEVISION GONE FROM COMPANY

- PWInsider.com is reporting that Chris Kaiser, Executive Vice President of WWE Television, has been let go from his position yesterday. Kaiser has worked for WWE for the past nine years, starting as Senior Vice President of Television Production, then promoted to Executive Vice President of WWE Television Operations three years later, before getting to his last position in June 2021. The TV veteran's name is seen attached to many WWE documentaries and reality shows over the years and was also a crucial member in the creation of the WWE Thunderdome during the pandemic. Kaiser led the production, operations, and development of WWE's portfolio of original content.

GABLE AND VALKYRIE ADVANCE TO MITB LADDER MATCHES

- Back from the "dead," Chad Gable overcame Bronson Reed and Braun Strowman to advance to the men's Money in the Bank ladder match last night on Raw. Gable pinned the former NXT North American champion after a moonsault for the victory and following the match, the lights went out and Nikki Cross crawled her way into the ring. Gable, however, was smart this time around and bolted out of the ring before the rest of the Wyatt Sicks could attack. He now joins Jey Uso, Andrade, and Carmelo Hayes in the ladder match. Also, Lyra Valkyria earned a spot in the women's Money in the Bank ladder match after she beat Shayna Baszler and Kairi Sane in a triple threat match featuring all former NXT Women's champions. Valkyria pinned Sane with her Nightwing finisher to win. The Irish star advances in the match with Chelsea Green and Iyo Sky so far.

MATCHES ADDED TO MONEY IN THE BANK

- Two new matches were added to the Money In The Bank premium live event for early next month, including a big six-man tag team match. WWE champion Cody Rhodes will team up with Randy Orton and Kevin Owens to take on the Bloodline, with Solo Sikoa, Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, and Tonga Loa up for selection. The second match is an Intercontinental title bout with champion Sami Zayn defending against former NXT champion Bron Breakker. A stipulation was also added to the World Heavyweight title match, with Seth Rollins agreeing that if he loses the match, he won't be able to challenge for the title as long as Damian Priest holds it. If Priest loses, then he has to leave Judgment Day. The card is now up to five matches, which has become a standard for most WWE premium live events.

WRESTLEMANIA XL DOCUMENTARY OUT ON JULY 3

- The long-awaited WrestleMania 40 documentary which was supposed to be released a few days after the show, now has a new release date. Titled WrestleMania XL: Behind the Curtain, the documentary will premiere on July 3 and will stream exclusively on YouTube starting at 7PM ET. The documentary promises to show all the chaos behind the scenes leading up to WrestleMania, including the pivoting from Rock vs Roman to Roman vs Cody as the main event following fan outrage, The Rock's heel turn, and more. The original 10-minute running time is now over an hour as WWE added lots of more new footage from the show which led to a big delay in production and release.

BLOODLINE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT CEREMONY ON SMACKDOWN

- Things are going to get interesting this Friday on Smackdown live from Madison Square Garden as The Bloodline will hold an acknowledgement ceremony to welcome Jacob Fatu as the latest member of the faction. Roman Reigns is scheduled to return to the company soon as well and he might have something to say about Solo Sikoa taking over as the "head of the table" in his absence. Fatu made an impressive debut this past Friday and took out Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, and Cody Rhodes in quick succession. The last time Smackdown was held at Madison Square Garden on July 7, 2023, The Bloodline was also a big part of the show, with Tribal Court: The Trial of the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns taking place, continuing the Bloodline Civil War.

PAT MCAFEE MISSES RAW DUE TO FAMILY EMERGENCY

- One half of the Raw commentary team, Pat McAfee, was absent from the broadcast last night which took place from his hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana. According to PWTorch.com, McAfee had to miss Raw after a last-second family emergency, and was replaced on the show by The Miz. Miz pulled double duty as he also wrestled during the main event with R-Truth, losing the World Tag Team titles to Finn Balor and JD McDonagh of The Judgment Day. McAfee hosted his Pat McAfee Show earlier in the day and welcomed Chief Content Officer Triple H and Michael Cole on the show. The show was once again interrupted by a "You Lied" graphic from the Wyatt Sicks. The former NFL star has yet to publicly speak about missing Raw.

SMACKDOW RATING

- Smackdown live from Chicago, with appearances from CM Punk and the arrival of Jacob Fatu, drew 2,336,000 viewers, up 345,000 viewers from the prior week. This was the best number since April 12. In 18-49, Smackdown also drew a big 0.73 rating, up 0.21 from the prior week and also the highest since April 21. The show was second on network TV behind the NHL Stanley Cup Final. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)

RAMPAGE RATING

- Rampage on Friday drew 328,000 viewers, down 6,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had a 0.12 rating in 18-49, which is the same number it had the previous week. Cable ranking is not available as of press time. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)

COLLISION RATING

- Collision on Saturday night drew 429,000 viewers, down just 2,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had a slight increase in its 18-49 demo, up 0.01 to 0.14 compared to the previous show and was #5 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

REEBOK TO RELEASE BRODIE LEE SNEAKERS

- Reebok, in association with AEW, are releasing the Brodie Lee Classic Leather sneakers starting on July 1. Available exclusively at Champ Sports, 100% of the royalties will be donated to Highmark Caring Place, an NGO providing programs and equipping the community to support children and families who have experienced the death of a loved one. The sneakers are black and purple and have Brodie's name on the side.

RED ONE MOVIE TRAILER WITH DAWYNE JOHNSON RELEASED

- The trailer for Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's latest movie, Red One, was released today by Amazon MGM Studios. Directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Chris Morgan, from an original story by Hiram Garcia, Red One also stars Chris Evans, Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Liu, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, J.K. Simmons, Nick Kroll and Kristofer Hivju. The movie, with a budget of a whopping $250 million, is about Santa Claus being kidnapped from the North Pole and an E.L.F. (Extremely Large and Formidable) operative joins forces with the world's most accomplished tracker to find him and save Christmas. Red One is supposed to be the first of a potential franchise from MGM. Johnson, Hiram Garcia, and Dany Garcia of Seven Bucks Productions will serve as producers. Red One is scheduled to be released by Amazon MGM Studios in the United States on November 15, 2024 and by Warner Bros. Pictures internationally. You can see the trailer at
ovie-released-by-amazon-mgm-studios/


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Monday, June 24, 2024 Issue #7271
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

We had some connectivity issues on our website over the past several hours but they should be resolved now so even the app should be working.


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2025 ROYAL RUMBLE GOES TO LUCAS OIL STADIUM IN INDIANAPOLIS

- WWE today announced that the 2025 Royal Rumble will take place from the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana on Saturday, February 1. This will be the first time that WWE will be holding an event at the 70,000-seater stadium, home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts team. The announcement is part of a multi-premium live event agreement that WWE has struck with Indiana Sports Corp. Royal Rumble 2025 Priority Passes will soon be available from On Location, giving fans the chance for ringside seats, premium seats, pre-show hospitality with WWE Superstar appearances, ringside photo opportunities, and much more. To place a deposit or sign up for exclusive presale access, please visit . Ahead of the general on-sale date for Royal Rumble 2025, which will be announced at a later date, fans can register now to receive an exclusive presale offer by visiting .

WWE AND INDIANA SPORTS CORP ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP

- WWE and Indiana Sports Corp announced a first-of-its-kind partnership that will bring WWE’s three largest stadium events – WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble – to Indianapolis. Apart from the already announced 2025 Royal Rumble, Lucas Oil Stadium will also host a future two-night SummerSlam and a two-night WrestleMania in the coming years. Additionally, Raw, SmackDown, NXT and WWE live events will emanate from arenas across Indiana, including Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Evansville throughout the partnership. “We are excited to bring this groundbreaking partnership to Indianapolis and our state,” said Patrick Talty, President of Indiana Sports Corp. “For over four decades, our city’s sports strategy has brought in millions of visitors and priceless hours of international brand-building media coverage. This partnership with WWE continues to push that strategy forward in new and exciting ways. We look forward to welcoming the WWE Universe to our community and state and showing them all that Indy has to offer.” “Indianapolis is a fantastic city for major events and we’re excited to invite the WWE Universe to Lucas Oil Stadium for Royal Rumble in 2025, and a future SummerSlam and WrestleMania,” said Chris Legentil, WWE EVP, Talent Relations & Head of Communications at WWE. “Patrick and the team at Indiana Sports Corp have done a phenomenal job bolstering local economics and tourism, and we’re proud to partner with them to shine a light on the great state of Indiana.” WWE and Indiana Sports Corp will also work with community partners across the state to create a legacy program that will leave an impact well beyond the three Premium Live Events. More details will be announced at a later date.

TRIPLE H TALKS "GAME-CHANGING" NETFLIX DEAL

- Appearing on The Pat McAfee Show, WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque talked about the Netflix deal at length. Triple H said that Netflix is a "completely different animal" and they won't have restrictions that they currently have on cable and network television. He mentioned that currently, when the crowd chants "holy shit" or when The Rock decides to say whatever he wants to say, they have to take the audio out and sometimes black out the screen. But come January, they will not have that problem anymore with Raw on Netflix. Triple H also said that they're still working out stuff on how commercials are going to work, how ad breaks will fall, and length of the show, but streaming is the future and mentioned that the NFL and NBA are also dipping their toes to test the waters. "It's why this Netflix deal, for us, is so game-changing and everyone is going to be watching us in January," he continued. "Especially other sports, from the business side, they're going to be watching to see what we do, what we do differently, and how it's received." WWE programming will transition to Netflix for the majority of the world come January of next year and more countries will be added depending on when their current WWE television deal expires.

RAW PREVIEW

- Monday Night Raw is live from Indianapolis tonight, the site of the upcoming 2025 Royal Rumble and future SummerSlam and WrestleMania. Two Money in the Bank qualifying matches will take place on the show, with Shayna Baszler vs Lyra Valkyria vs Kairi Sane and Braun Strowman vs Bronson Reed vs Chad Gable, who was added back to the match after briefly being replaced by Ilja Dragunov due to the Wyatt Sick6 attack from last week. Plus, Kofi Kingston takes on Karrion Kross, Bron Breakker battles Ludwig Kaiser, and Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn defend the WWE Women's Tag Team titles against Kayden Carter and Katana Chance. And while not in the official preview, it's highly likely we will see the next move from the Wyatt Sick6 faction.

CODY RHODES SHARES SPECIAL HUG WITH YOUNG FAN AT LIVE EVENT

- Cody Rhodes made a young girl's night at the non-televised live event in Bloomington this weekend when he noticed her particular sign at ringside. After beating Shinsuke Nakamura in the main event of the show, Rhodes grabbed the mic and pointed out a young girl at ringside who held a sign that read, "Cody I finished my story I got adopted!" The fans popped big and Cody invited her to the ring. With her parents encouraging her to go, a member of the WWE security team lifted her up and placed her on the apron, where she was still unsure if she can actually go in. Security told her to go in and she did, walking straight into a big Cody hug in the middle of the ring as the crowd cheered. Cody then signed a piece of a broken table and handed it over to the girl, who he embraced again before leaving the ring to "Cody, Cody" chants. You can see the video at .

KAYLA BRAXTON DENIES REPORT SHE TALKED WITH AEW

- Kayla Braxton, the WWE backstage correspondent who is in her final week with WWE, has refuted a report by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer that she talked with AEW. On the latest episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio, Meltzer said that there was "definitely" talk between her and AEW, adding that Braxton "could see the handwriting on the wall" when it was clear that Cathy Kelley and Jackie Redmond were the two preferred for WWE television. "So she was number three. So I think by that, she kind of could see maybe it's time to go somewhere else," Meltzer said. But in a post on X, Braxton, real name Kayla Becker, shot down Meltzer's words, saying that if she wanted to keep working in wrestling, she would not have walked away from the largest wrestling company in the world. "Nice try, rumor weeds," she added, posting a GIF which says "Nice try Jan!" Braxton said that the support she has received ever since she announced her time is up in WWE has been overwhelming and she was thankful for everyone. She is wrapping up her WWE duties this coming Friday with Smackdown in Madison Square Garden.

2 COLD SCORPIO ARRESTED AND CHARGED FOR STABBING

- Former wrestling star 2 Cold Scorpio was arrested 10 days ago for stabbing a man during a fight at a gas station according to TMZ.COM. Court documents which TMZ got ahold of show that the incident took place at Love's Travel Stop in Kansas City, Missouri at around 3:40AM where Scorpio, real name Charles Scaggs, works as a security guard. The whole mess started because a customer allegedly lit up a cigarette in the store according to Scaggs, something that is being denied by the victim, who said that he put the cigarette out before going inside. Scaggs told the police that he was threatened and after walking out of the store, the victim tried to attack him, at which point he pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed him in self defense. In their report, police said that the victim was on the floor bleeding from his head, chest, legs, abdomen, and buttocks when they arrived and was taken to a hospital. The former WCW, ECW, and WWF star was arrested and slapped with two felony charges: one count of first-degree assault and one count of armed criminal action. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was bailed out, with the court case expected to be heard next month.

CASSIE LEE AND SHAWN SPEARS WELCOME BABY BOY

- Cassie Lee and her husband, NXT star Shawn Spears, welcomed baby number two a few days ago, a baby boy by the name of Harley Dean. The news was revealed by Lee, formerly known as Peyton Royce, in a post on Instagram, writing, "Harley Dean, you complete us," along with the date of June 21. The couple have another son, Austin Jay, who was born in January 2023. They have been married since August 2019. Spears is set to wrestle Trick Williams tomorrow night on NXT on USA Network.

TV EXEC WHO PULLED PLUG ON WCW DIES AT AGE 77

- While VICE is running a four-part series on Who killed WCW, the man who truly pulled the plug and effectively put the promotion to bed, Jamie Kellner, passed away at age 77 according to Variety. Kellner, who replaced Ted Turner at the helm of Turner Broadcasting, was the person who made the decision to cancel WCW programming from TNT and TBS, and in process, ending Fusient Media's hopes of buying WCW from AOL Time Warner. WWE then came in and picked up the deal for a reported $4 million at the time. The Fusient's deal was only going to work if they still had a time slot on TNT and TBS and would fall without one. Kellner is best known as the only executive to create two broadcast networks who were profitable under his watch - FOX and The WB. He is credited for programs such as The Simpsons, Dawson's Creek, 7th Heaven, Cops, and many other hits who became all-time favorites along the years.

TRIOS MATCH ADDED TO FORBIDDEN DOOR

- Just when you thought Chris Jericho was being left off an AEW pay-per-view, the in-ring veteran found a way to keep his streak going! On Collision last night, Chris Jericho and Big Bill beat Private Party in a tag match and right after the match finished, The Learning Tree team were joined by Bryan Keith in continuing their post-match beatdown of their opponents. Out came Samoa Joe, Katsuyori Shibata, and Hook for the save. Joe told Jericho that his learning tree sucks and at Forbidden Door, they will take them on in a trios match. This match is the 10th one on the card, with the show now in double digit figures as far as bouts scheduled to take place. A couple of more, especially for the Zero Hour show, are expected to be added.


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Saturday, June 22, 2024 Issue #7270
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

That was one of the best Smackdown episodes in memory last night. From start to finish and everything in between clicked.

Jacob Fatu's debut couldn't have gone any better. The dude's a monster and I'm glad he's going to be able to show off what he's capable of in front of a big audience.

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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
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JACOB FATU DEBUTS ON SMACKDOWN AS THE LATEST BLOODLINE MEMBER

- The long-awaited arrival of one of the most alethic and gifted members of the Bloodline has finally arrived. Former MLW champion Jacob Fatu made his debut last night on Smackdown and was put over as a monster, taking out Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, and even the WWE champion Cody Rhodes. Rhodes and Solo Sikoa were supposed to go one-on-one in the main event but there was soon a DQ finish when Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa jumped in. Orton and Owens came out to even the odds but that would soon flip. With Sikoa cornered as the three faces were ready to beat him up, Fatu showed up and took out Owens and Orton. He hit the Samoan Drop on Owens on the steel steps then ran around and speared Orton through the barricade. Fatu then took out Rhodes and put him on the commentary table, went up to the top rope, and flew all the way to the table, destroying Rhodes and the table with a splash. All four members of the Bloodline then posed in the ring with their finger up as Heyman stayed outside. Fatu,
32, finished his duties with Major League Wrestling in March and signed with WWE after. You can see his arrival at

THREE MORE QUALIFY FOR MONEY IN THE BANK

- Three more WWE Superstars - two men and one woman - qualified for the Money in the Bank ladder match after winning their respective qualifying matches on Smackdown last night. Chelsea Green was the first one to qualify, beating Michin and Bianca Belair in a surprise result. Green stole the pin after Bianca hit the KOD in Michin and the crowd absolutely loved it. Former NXT champion Carmelo Hayes also overcame the odds and beat Randy Orton and Tama Tonga. Hayes did not even get a televised introduction but after a Tonga Loa distraction, Hayes rolled up Orton for the decisive pinfall. Andrade also punched his ticket to Toronto when he beat Grayson Waller and Kevin Owens in the last triple threat qualifier. It looked all bleak for Andrade when he got hit with the Stunner, but Waller broke the pin, kicked Owens' knee, and then Andrade caught him when Waller went for his finisher to get the victory. The qualifying matches continue on Monday with Braun Strowman vs Bronson Reed vs Chad Ga
ble, who has been re-added to the match after he was taken out by the Wyatt Sick6, and Lyra Valkyria vs Shayna Baszler vs Kairi Sane. Friday's Smackdown will have Logan Paul vs LA Knight vs Santos Escobar in another qualifier and two women matches with Tiffany Stratton vs Jade Cargill vs Candice LeRae and Naomi vs Blair Davenport vs Indi Hartwell.

DREW MCINTYRE TAKES OUT CM PUNK ON SMACKDOWN

- CM Punk's homecoming was rudely interrupted by the man who "quit" WWE this past Monday, Drew McIntyre. Punk opened the show and was threatened by the Bloodline but Cody Rhodes and his baseball bat made the save. But just when you thought he was in the clear, in came the Scotsman. Later in the broadcast, transitioning from segment to another, a garage door slowly opened up to show a bloody Punk on the floor and Drew McIntyre standing above him. McIntyre lifted Punk up in a fireman's carry and walked throughout the backstage area with him, went straight through Gorilla Position and on to the stage. He then simply dumped him off his back and ripped off a bracelet that had CM Punk's, his wife's AJ, and his dog's Larry names on it. Punk did the stretcher job and was loaded into an ambulance. You can see the segment at

KAYLA BRAXTON DEPARTING WWE

- WWE backstage correspondent Kayla Braxton has announced that she is departing WWE after almost eight years. Her last assignment will be Smackdown next week from Madison Square Garden in New York. "During my years with WWE, I was able to master the art of the backstage interview. I hope I was able to turn minutes into moments for you who watched week to week and maybe even ushered in a new fan base," Braxton wrote. She thanked Paul Heyman for everything he has done to elevate her career and said that she gained a wealth of knowledge from the Wiseman and for that, she'll be eternally grateful. "Now on the West Coast, I have been offered new opportunities that will further utilize the skills I gained working for the largest sports entertainment company in the world," she added. "I am extremely thankful to Triple H, Nick Khan, WWE and all of its partners for allowing me to be a trusted voice on WWE television for all these years." She said she's excited to reveal what is coming up next
in her career, but stopped short of announcing what that is.

MERCEDES MONE APPEARS ON CMLL

- TBS champion Mercedes Mone showed up at the CMLL show in Arena Mexico last night to confront NJPW Strong Women's champion Stephanie Vaquer. After making her full entrance complete with her CEO theme song, Mone grabbed the mic and said hello to Mexico. She held up her title in Vaquer's face and told her that at Forbidden Door, she's gonna show her why they call her the CEO. Vaquer fired back and then Mone slapped her. The two then started brawling before they were pulled apart. Mone held up the NJPW Strong Women's title and hopped around with both belts before throwing it back to Vaquer and left the ring. You can watch the segment at


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Friday, June 21, 2024 Issue #7269
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Back home finally and regular service resumes LOL!


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

WWE AND INDIANA SPORTS CORP ON VERGE OF MULTI-PLE ANNOUNCEMENT

- The often-reliable @WrestleVotes X account is reporting that WWE and Indiana Sports Corp are in the final stages to bring the 2025 Royal Rumble and a future WrestleMania and SummerSlam to the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The 2025 Royal Rumble proposed date is February 1 and that would make it the first-ever Royal Rumble in the month of February. The city of Indianapolis has not hosted a WrestleMania since WrestleMania 8 in 1992 at the Hoosier Dome, an event remembered for Macho Man Randy Savage winning the WWF title from Ric Flair and The Ultimate Warrior returning to save Hulk Hogan from Sid and Papa Shango. Indianapolis also hosted SummerSlam in 2008 but has not held a Royal Rumble. If this turns out to be happening it means that the city is coughing up probably millions of dollars as a site fee for each event, something that WWE is working on to get for every premium live event they have.

NXT RATING

- This week's episode of NXT drew 724,000 viewers, up 6,000 viewers from the prior week. In 18-49, the show had a very good 0.26 rating, up 0.04 from the prior week and their best number since December 2019. NXT was, for the third week in a row, the #1 show on cable television in the 18-49 demo. NXT went head-to-head with the NHL Stanley Cup Final. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)

SMACKDOWN PREVIEW

- Over 14,000 fans are expected at the Allstate Arena tonight for Friday Night Smackdown on FOX as Chicago's favorite son CM Punk will be appearing on the show with news about his return to action. Apart from Punk, LA Knight will be in the house to confront United States champion Logan Paul and Cody Rhodes will respond to The Bloodline's attack from Clash at the Castle. Plus, two Money in the Bank qualifying matches will take place with Randy Orton vs Tama Tonga vs Carmelo Hayes and Kevin Owens vs Andrade vs Grayson Waller.

CHAD GABLE OUT OF MITB QUALIFYING MATCH

- Chad Gable has lost his spot in the Money in the Bank qualifier set for Monday following the attack by the Wyatt Sick6 faction earlier this week. Gable was one of the clearly-featured Superstars who were left motionless backstage, with cameras focusing on him with blood running down his face. The leader of the Alpha Academy was supposed to take on Braun Strowman and Bronson Reed in a triple threat match on Raw for a spot in the MITB ladder match but now Ilja Dragunov is taking his place because of the attack.

NXT TO MOVE TO THE CW ON OCTOBER 1

- NXT will be officially moving to The CW Network on Tuesday, October 1. The news was confirmed after the network published its fall premiere schedule, leaving NXT in its current familiar time slot. NXT will be the only WWE show on network television come fall, as Smackdown is moving back to USA Network from FOX. WWE and CW signed a five-year deal to get the third WWE brand on its network last year, a move which surprised many. The CW is currently undergoing some sort of a revamp while adding more live programming and sports to its schedule.

NEW SHAWN MICHAELS FIGURE FROM MATTEL'S NOSTALGIC FAN FAVORITES

- Mattel has announced a new Ultimate Edition action figure of Shawn Michaels as part of their Mattel Creations’ Nostalgic Fan Favorites line. This new HBK figure celebrates his iconic match at WrestleMania 12, where he won the WWE title after a 60-minute Iron Man match against Bret "Hit Man" Hart. Mattel has recreated his entrance gear and even included a replica of the zipline trolley he rode down to ringside from high above the crowd. The figure stands 6 inches tall, with 30+ points of articulation and includes two pairs of swappable arms and three pairs of swappable hands, three swappable heads to accommodate multiple ponytail options and packaged with fully posable entrance gear and zipline trolley. It retails for $45 and will be available on July 25. You can check out the action figure at Mattel.com.

DYNAMITE RATING

- AEW had a bad night on Wednesday as Dynamite, with the first MJF match commercial free and an extended overrun, doing just 502,000 viewers, down 179,000 viewers from the prior week and a record-low for an episode in its usual time slot. Dynamite had a 0.16 rating in 18-49, down 0.07 from last week and another record low. It placed #3 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

JIM ROSS TO BE HONORED AT CAULIFLOWER ALLEY CLUB

- AEW broadcaster Jim Ross will be honored by the Cauliflower Alley Club as the first recipient of its brand-new Jim Ross Announcers' Award. The award will be presented as part of the CAC's 58th annual reunion which will be held between August 19 and 21 at the Plaza Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. The WWE Hall of Famer is a supporter and a lifetime member of the Cauliflower Alley Club. "The Cauliflower Alley Club is honored to recognize Jim Ross with this award, celebrating his unparalleled career and lasting impact on professional wrestling," the CAC said in a press release.

WHO KILLED WCW? EPISODE THREE RATING

- The third episode of Who Killed WCW? on Vice drew a total of 148,000 viewers, up 31,000 viewers from the previous episode. This was the most-watched episode of the series so far, with one more left to air next week. The show had a 0.06 rating in 18-49, up 0.04 from episode two. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)

SIX-WAY MATCH FOR TNA TITLE AT SLAMMIVERSARY

- TNA champion Moose will be defending his gold in a six-way match at the upcoming Slammiversary pay-per-view next month. Qualifying matches to earn a spot in the main event kicked off on Impact yesterday, with Josh Alexander advancing after he beat Eric Young. Two more matches will take place next week, featuring Nic Nemeth vs Rich Swann and Steve Maclin vs Sami Callihan. The July 4 episode of Impact will have the remaining two qualifiers with Joe Hendry vs Jake Something and Frankie Kazarian vs Mike Santana. Slammiversary will take place on Saturday, July 20 live from the Verdun Auditorium in Montreal, Canada.


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Thursday, June 20, 2024 Issue #7268
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Alright, today is my last day in Bangkok and I'm writing this from the airport waiting to board my long flight home. 15 hour-ish in total. From tomorrow, we should resume normal delivery times.

It's been a great two-week stay here but my liver really needs me to go back home and recover. LOL!

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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

AEW TO TAPE DYNAMITE AND COLLISION IN WALES DURING ALL IN WEEK

- AEW announced that they will be holding Dynamite and Collision tapings in Cardiff, Wales, as part of All In week. This is the first time that Dynamite and Collision will emanate from outside North America and follows the latest WWE model of having a TV taping overseas when they have an international premium live event. The August 21 tapings will be done at the Utilita Arena, not anywhere close to Wembley Stadium in London, with tickets going on sale on Friday, June 28 at 10AM BST at Ticketmaster.co.uk. "We are excited for the historic United Kingdom debuts of AEW: Dynamite and AEW: Collision in Wales at Utilita Arena Cardiff on August 21," Tony Khan said. "The event will serve as the perfect kick off to what will be an amazing week for AEW fans in the United Kingdom, culminating with All In London at Wembley Stadium on August 25."

BRACKETS FOR OWEN HART CUP TOURNAMENT

- The brackets for the men and women Owen Hart Cup tournaments were published yesterday just before the quarter final matches kicked off on Dynamite. In the men's tournament, PAC defeated Claudio Castagnoli to advance. Bryan Danielson vs Shingo Takagi is the other match on the left side of the bracket while Rey Fenix vs Jay White and Jeff Jarrett vs a Wild Card is on the right side of the bracket. The women's tournament also started with Kris Statlander defeating Nyla Rose to advance. The other match on the left bracket sees Willow Nightingale vs Serena Deeb. The right side of the bracket has Deonna Purrazzo vs Hikaru Shida and Mariah May vs Saraya. Both winners of the tournament will earn an AEW title shot at All In.

TWO MATCHES ADDED TO FORBIDDEN DOOR

- Two more matches have been added to the Forbidden Door pay-per-view, bringing the total number on the card to eight although this show is expected to have matches in double digits. With Bryan Danielson seemingly in no important program at the moment, his Owen Hart Cup tournament match against Shingo Takagi of New Japan Pro-Wrestling will happen on the PPV rather than on AEW's weekly TV shows. Last month, Danielson said that winning the Owen Hart Cup tournament might be his last chance at getting a shot at the AEW World title as his in-ring career is set to wrap up this year. Also, the returning MJF, who had his first match in six months yesterday on Dynamite, will be taking on Hechicero. The announcement of this match was done by AEW President Tony Khan on social media.

SWERVE STRICKLAND TO WRESTLE FOR HOUSE OF GLORY NEXT MONTH

- AEW World champion Swerve Strickland will be having a rare indie wrestling match for House of Glory on Friday, July 26. The champ, with Price Nana in his corner, will be taking on Amazing Red from the NYC Arena located in Jamaica, New York. Strickland will be hoping he walks into the show still as the AEW World champion as first he has to overcome Will Ospreay at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view at the end of this month. This is not Strickland's first match for HOG since joining AEW and did participate in a match against Mike Bailey last December.

SHANE MCMAHON TO AEW? "NOT AS CRAZY AS YOU THINK!"

- On the latest episode of Grilling JR podcast, co-host Conrad Thompson claimed that Shane McMahon has made contact with certain individuals in AEW to explore the idea of coming in as a talent. Thompson, who's pretty well-connected in the business, said on the show, "There was a friend of ours. He went out of his way to text me, 'Hey, that's not as crazy as you think. I know for sure that Shane McMahon has reached out to wrestlers on the AEW roster to at least hypothetically discuss the idea.'" The topic came up after the two were talking about the possibility of Shane McMahon returning and showing up behind enemy lines when JR said that Shane called to check up on him. "It's so crazy to think it might work depending on how it was positioned or introduced," Ross said. "Shane called me the other day. He's called two or three times, which I appreciate. He's always been sensitive in that respect." JR said that this is a question that only Shane can answer and wondered how Shane and Khan being together would work creatively. "Heck, who knows, it might be great," he added. Shane was last seen on WWE television at WrestleMania 39 when he blew his leg when hitting a leap frog against The Miz.

MIKA ROTUNDA REFLECTS ON HER BROTHERS AS WYATT SICK6 FACTION DEBUTS

- Mika Rotunda, the sister of Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas, reflected on the Wyatt Sick6 faction debut on Monday Night Raw. Mika wrote that on Raw it was the first time that Uncle Howdy was there without Bray Wyatt and that this was their dream, their vision, and their fairytale to fulfill. "He carried this on his back. But more importantly in his heart," Mika said of her brother Bo, real name Taylor Rotunda. "As siblings, we’ve always had a strong cord attachment to one another. As the lights when out in the arena and I watched from my TV, my pulse raised. My eyes welled. I felt every ioata with him. While also feeling this warmth, that can only be described as Windham. I’m so incredibly proud of Taylor." She said that honoring the memory of Windham while navigating the path of grief is a profound and personal journey but their family has been on a stage with the outside world to see inside it since that August 24, 2023 day. She described her brother as the greatest story teller she's ever known and while they all embrace the moments of sorrow, there is a duty to uphold which is to keep finding ways to express his madness and genius. "Upholding Windham’s homage can be a source of comfort and strength. We hurt. We heal," she continued. "In doing so, we keep their spirit alive and find solace in the impact they had on our lives." Mika also thanked WWE's Rob Fee and Jason Baker from Callom Studios for their work in bringing all this to life.

JOE HENDRY NXT APPEARANCE BRINGS IN MILLIONS OF VIEWS ONLINE

- TNA star Joe Hendry is really popular, and we mean really popular with fans at the moment! His surprise appearance on NXT this past Tuesday was welcomed with millions of views across WWE's social media properties, including a whopping five million on WWE's X account alone. On Facebook, it got over 1 million plays and the Instagram video has over a quarter of a million likes. On the NXT TikTok account, it has nearly 330,000 plays, way way more than other NXT videos which very surpass 100,000 and the same goes for the YouTube clip, which far outreaches any other recent NXT video. The Scottish star has seen a meteoric rise recently and continues to capitalize on his popularity. Last week, he bought space on a digital billboard across from the SSO Hydro in Glasgow which showed a picture of his face as over 10,000 fans were in the area for Clash at the Castle. Judging by how over he was, it wouldn't be a surprise if this was not the last time we see of Joe Hendry in NXT. Just say his name...


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Wednesday, June 19, 2024 Issue #7267
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Nothing to say today, back tomorrow!

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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

DYNAMITE PREVIEW

- Dynamite will start with no commercials for the first match tonight, a match which will feature MJF taking on Rush. This is MJF's first match since his Worlds End loss to Samoa Joe in December 2023. The Owen Hart Cup tournament kicks off on Dynamite as well with PAC vs Claudio Castagnoli and Nyla Rose vs Kris Statlander in the first two matches. An AEW Tag Team title eliminator match will also pit The Young Bucks vs The Acclaimed an eight-man tag team match is on the card with Mark Briscoe, Kyle O’Reilly, Orange Cassidy and Dante Martin vs Kyle Fletcher, Roderick Strong, Konosuke Takeshita and Zack Sabre Jr. Plus, Toni Storm and Mina Shirakawa will have their contract signing for the AEW Women's title at Forbidden Door and AEW champion Swerve Strickland and his challenger Will Ospreay come face-to-face. With no NBA to go against them, AEW will be looking at a rebound in the viewership after last week's low.

COLLISION RATING

- The one-year anniversary episode of Collision this past Saturday night on TNT drew 431,000 viewers, up 43,000 viewers from the prior week. That was the best number since the May 18 episode. The show had a 0.13 rating in 18-49, the same number of the prior week. Cable rankings are not available at the moment. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)

AEW PPV ARCHIVES ON TRILLERTV

- TrillerTV announced that it has made available all the AEW pay-per-views on their platform to purchase a la carte and as part of special PPV bundle packages. Starting from All In in 2018 and up to World's End 2023, the archive features a total of 25 events, each available as a standalone PPV purchase and in yearly bundle packages. With the purchase of these PPV events or bundles, fans are granted unlimited on-demand access regardless of their purchase choice. Visit the AEW PPV Bundles page on TrillerTV for a full list and purchase options. The PPV archive from 2019 to 2023 is available for purchase without a subscription, with worldwide availability excluding Iran, India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The 2024 PPVs are offered as a special discounted bundle exclusively for AEW Plus subscribers and will not be available for standalone purchase. AEW Plus subscribers also have access to a curated selection of classic AEW pay-per-views, including All In 2018, AEW Full Gear 2019, AEW Revolution 2020, AEW Revolution 2021 and AEW All In London.

TNA STARS JOE HENDRY AND FRANKIE KAZARIAN APPEAR ON NXT

- TNA stars Joe Hendry and Frankie Kazarian participated in the 25-man battle royal to become the #1 contender for the NXT title at Heatwave. The two were the only ones from a "different locker room" as Cody Rhodes said last week, with the rest all being part of NXT or WWE. Hendry got a big ovation with fans in the Performance Center singing along to his theme. "Say his name and he appears, Joe Hendry is here in NXT," he said on the mic, with the Scottish star saying this is no 25-man battle royal, but 24 men and one sensation because he's going on to win the NXT title and bring it to TNA. When the bell rang, almost everyone ganged up on Hendry and he was quickly eliminated by fellow TNA star Frankie Kazarian. Fans did not appreciate the move and chanted "bullshit." Kazarian had a better outcome and lasted until the final four.

JE'VON EVANS BECOME #1 CONTENDER FOR NXT TITLE

- Je'Von Evans won the 25-man battle royal last night on NXT and became the number one contender for the NXT title, a title shot he will receive at the upcoming Heatwave premium live event in Toronto next month. Evans, Dragon Lee, Shawn Spears, and Frankie Kazarian were the final four of the battle royal and Evans eliminated Spears last to claim the victory. But his victory was rather short-lived. Ethan Page, who at the beginning of the match was taken out by Oro Mensah, was never eliminated from the battle royal and complained to NXT GM Ava. Page then went on to defeat Evans in the main of the show, although his #1 contendership was not on the line and Evans will still go on to headline Heatwave. Apart from the ones listed above, the battle royal's participants also included Angel, Apollo Crews, Berto, Charlie Dempsey, Damon Kemp, Dante Chen, Eddy Thorpe, Edris Enofe, Joe Coffey, Joe Hendry, Lexis King, Luca Crusifino, Malik Blade, Myles Borne, Nathan Frazer, Ridge Holland, Tank Ledger, Tavion Heights, Tony D'Angelo, and Tyler Bate.

RAW RATING

- Coming off the Clash at the Castle: Scotland PLE and the debut of the Wyatt Sick6 faction, Monday Night Raw drew 1,746,000 viewers this week, up 138,000 viewers from the previous week. Raw went up the final game of the NBA Finals which drew over 12 million viewers. Hour one of the show started strong with 1,860,000 viewers, then decreased to 1,730,000 in the second hour, and rounded up the night with 1,650,000 viewers for the third hour. That third hour number was the most-watched since April 15. Raw was #1, #2, and #3 on the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic with an average of 0.55 rating, up 0.05 from last week. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)

WWE ON A&E RATING

- The 15th week of WWE on A&E featured just one episode of Biography on Sunday night, an episode focusing on Extreme Championship Wrestling. Titled ECW: Birth of Hardcore, the episode drew 288,000 viewers, the same number of viewers the previous episode on Eddie Guerrero did. The show had a 0.05 rating in 18-49, down 0.03 from the prior episode. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)

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Tuesday, June 18, 2024 Issue #7266
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

From a production standpoint, last night's debut of the Wyatt faction was a major home run. There was a lot of work in making it run smoothly and it came off perfect. Bray Wyatt would have been extremely proud of the work and presentation. That was excellent in more ways than one.

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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

WYATT SICK6 FACTION MAKE CINEMATIC DEBUT ON RAW

- After two months of hype, The Wyatt Sick6 faction made their debut last night on Raw and as promised, left a massacre behind them. At the end of Raw following the main event, the lights started to go out and then the opening note of Bray Wyatt's theme song Shatter by Code Orange kept playing on repeat. A door, the same one that was used for Wyatt's return in 2022 then appeared and Nikki Cross crawled out to a lantern which was at the top of the stage. She then pointed backstage where a camera followed to show total destruction. WWE Superstars, including the likes of Chad Gable, Gunther, etc all were shown beaten and Gorilla Position was destroyed, with everyone laid out with Erick Rowan, Dexter Luis, and Joe Gacy - all in masks - shown along the way. Uncle Howdy then walks up and is joined by the other three as they walked out to the stage to meet Nikki Cross. Uncle Howdy picks up the lantern and says "We're here!" and turns off the lantern as the show goes to black. This was an impressive single camera shot from the moment Nikki came out till the last frame. Judging from the looks of it, Nikki Cross has assumed the role of Sister Abigail, Erick Rowan is the Ramblin Rabbit, Dexter Lumis is Mercy the Buzzard, and Joe Gacy is Huskus the Pig. Bo Dallas is of course Uncle Howdy and together they are being called the Wyatt Sick6, a take off from Bray Wyatt's Wyatt 6 world. The sixth member is obviously Wyatt. After the show, Triple H tweeted a photo of Bray Wyatt which was used during his tribute show. Jason Baker, who created everything that had to do with The Fiend, also chimed in, writing that all masks and costumes were created by him and his amazing crew at Callom Studios. Joe Gacy and Nikki Cross both wrote "We're here" on X while Rob Fee, the mastermind behind the original White Rabbit reveal posted five fire emojis along with a photo of the group. You can watch the whole arrival at .

SETH ROLLINS RETURNS ON RAW

- Former World Heavyweight champion Seth Rollins returned to Monday Night Raw and quickly inserted himself in the title picture. Rollins opened up the show, his first appearance since night two of WrestleMania 40, and said that he returned to win the title and would be entering the Money in the Bank ladder match to earn it. The current champion, Damian Priest, interrupted and said that Rollins doesn't need to earn it, he will give him one at the premium live event in Toronto. Rollins accepted Priest's generous offer and the title match was made official. Rollins had been dealing with a knee injury leading up to WrestleMania and underwent surgery right after it to repair it. You can see his return at .

DREW MCINTYRE "QUITS" DURING RAW

- Drew McIntyre "quit" on Monday Night Raw in a short in-ring segment. With "CM Punk" chants in the background, a dejected-looking former World Heavyweight champion said that he can't do this anymore. "Screw this company...I quit," McIntyre said and exited the ring. Raw General Manager Adam Pearce met him in the aisle to try talking some sense into him but McIntyre kept walking and the show cut to commercials. After the show returned, they showed McIntyre backstage talking with Triple H at Gorilla, who told him that he's done and walked away. Pearce once again tried to tail McIntyre with no success. This past weekend, McIntyre lost his second shot at winning the championship at Clash at the Castle when CM Punk screwed him out of a win.

JEY USO HAPPY TO GIVE THE FIREFLIES BACK!

- Fans in France "activated" the fireflies for Jey Uso at Backlash and that trend continued for his entrance since then, but now, Uso is happy to give the fireflies "back" to the Wyatt Sick6! "I mean I want no smoke with them, for all I care they can have the fireflies back," Uso told Catherine Kelly backstage in a post-show interview. Jey said that he's happy they brought back the fireflies for him but it's a different story now. "His family is here now...that means, I gotta go," Uso told Kelly before yeeting out! In May, Jey revealed that Bray Wyatt's fiancee JoJo Offerman sent him a text message after he came out for his Backlash match to tell him how emotional it was watching him come out with all the fireflies in the stands. "I hope it sticks with me. I never asked for it. They did it and I just wanna keep it with me now," he said at the time.

CM PUNK OFFICIALLY ADVERTISED FOR SMACKDOWN

- CM Punk has been officially announced to appear on Smackdown this coming Friday live from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. While Punk is a Raw guy, this was said to be a "one-time" only thing since the show happens to be from his hometown and Punk will announce that he is cleared to resume in-ring action. It is going to be a packed house again at the Allstate Arena, where over 13,400 tickets have already been distributed according to WrestleTix and more sections opened behind the stage. While not the full arena is open, it's going to be one of the largest Smackdown crowds this year and with Punk now officially on the card, hundreds of more tickets will be sold in the next few days. WWE held Raw at the same arena on March 25 and packed in over 15,000 fans so to hold another show in the same place just three months later and still be able to nearly match the same number is pretty impressive.

SMACKDOWN RATING

- Smackdown got ripped by the NBA Finals and had its lowest rating of 2024 with just 1,991,000 viewers tuning in for the taped episode from Glasgow, Scotland. That was down 216,000 viewers from the prior week and the lowest first-run show on FOX since August 2022. The show had a 0.52 rating in 18-49, down 0.09 from last week and was #2 on all of television behind the NBA. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)

NXT PREVIEW

- A new number one contender for the NXT title will be decided tonight as a 25-man battle royal will determine Trick Williams' next opponent at the NXT Heatwave premium live event. The news of the battle royal, announced last week by WWE champion Cody Rhodes, had a big twist to it though as Rhodes said that some wrestlers from "different locker rooms" will be in it as well, throwing a curveball to the champion. Also set for tonight is Kelani Jordan's first NXT Women's North American title defense against Michin and a triple threat tag team match with Roxanne Perez and Lola Vice vs Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson vs Jacy Jayne & Jazmyn Nyx.

FIRST TWO QUALIFY FOR MITB

- The first two qualifying matches for Money In The Bank took place on Raw last night. In the first match, former WWE Women's champion Iyo Sky defeated Kiana James and Zelina Vega to advance and later in the evening Jey Uso beat Rey Mysterio and Finn Balor to punch his ticket to Toronto. Qualifying matches will continue this Friday on Smackdown with two more triple threat matches featuring Kevin Owens vs Andrade vs Grayson Waller and Randy Orton vs Tama Tonga vs Carmelo Hayes. For Raw next Monday it will be Chad Gable vs Braun Strowman vs Bronson Reed in another qualifier and Lyra Valkyria vs Shayna Baszler vs Kairi Sane.

PRO WRESTLING NOAH CHIEF TALKS HOW WWE COLLAB WAS FACILITATED

- It was Abema, the Japanese platform which airs both WWE and Pro Wrestling NOAH, who facilitated the negotiations between the two promotions that led to AJ Styles being announced for the July 13 card against Marufuji. Arihiro Takeda, CyberFight's Director, said that the promotion chose AJ Styles and WWE chose Marufuji when it came to decide who would be taking on who for the event. "It was like there was only one choice. If there's a NOAH wrestler who's well-known in America, it's got to be Marufuji," Takeda told Tokyo Sports. "He's a Japanese legend." Takeda added that this is just the start of the relationship between the two companies and hinted that there are many things to come which will strengthen that relationship. WWE does not typically work with other promotions but there was a shift in mentality when Triple H and Nick Khan took over the reigns and that led to more doors being open. The company is also working with TNA and Marigold.

ASUKA TO MOVE TO REHAB CENTER FOLLOWING KNEE SURGERY

- Former multi-time WWE women's champion Asuka is moving to a rehabilitation center to focus on getting her knee back 100% following surgery. The Japanese star underwent a 90-minute knee surgery last week which was a success, but obviously very painful. Asuka revealed details of her surgery in her latest YouTube video on her Kana Chan TV channel. Asuka was last in the ring at Backlash France where she lost the WWE Women's Tag Team titles along with Kairi Sane to Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill. She had been in pain for a long time and required help during the tour, although she soldiered on and wrestled as expected.

WWE LOOKING FOR PARTNERS IN MEXICO AND PUERTO RICO

- Lucha Libre Online is reporting that WWE is looking partner up with companies in Puerto Rico and Mexico as they continue to kick open their own version of the forbidden door. The website, in their exclusive story, continues saying that WWE wants something similar that they have with Pro Wrestling NOAH and Marigold in Japan and TNA in the United States and some sort of an alliance would allow wrestlers to appear sometimes on other shows. With WWE's recent push internationally, it's no surprise that they're targeting promotions outside the United States. Mexico is believed to be on the list for a future premium live event while Puerto Rico already very successfully hosted Backlash last year.

SWERVE STRICKLAND TO BE FEATURED IN A DOCUMENTARY

- Current AEW World champion Swerve Strickland is the subject of a new documentary from brothers Kenny and Keith Lucas and Mookie Thompson according to a report by Deadline.com. The documentary will explore the "unexpected creative partnership" between Strickland and rapper Derek "Flash Garments" Shaw. Work on this documentary kicked off after both were released from WWE and Kanye West's team respectively and the two teamed up to collaborate on Swerve's theme song which he currently uses in AEW. "Flash Garments and I were introduced to one another at very interesting times in our lives," Strickland told Deadline. "We knew we were meant to make history with one another by collaborating hip hop and pro wrestling on a different level. The Lucas brothers captured it in the best light possible." The Lucas Brothers said that as lifelong hip-hop and wrestling fans, they were instantly captivated by Swerve and Flash’s groundbreaking work in AEW. "In an era where the media often portrays black men in conflict, their partnership is a beautiful example of the incredible things that can happen when African American men work together. We believe their story needs to be told."

RAMPAGE RATING

- Rampage this past Friday on TNT drew 334,000 viewers, up 78,000 viewers from the prior week despite going head-to-head with the final part of the NBA Finals game. The show had a 0.12 rating in 18-49, up 0.03 from the prior week and actually placed #4 on the top 50 cable chart. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)

KONOSUKE TAKESHITA TO PARTICIPATE IN G1 CLIMAX

- AEW star Konosuke Takeshita will be participating in the 2024 G1 Climax tournament. The tournament begins on July 20 and will wrap up a month later, on August 18 in Tokyo. Takeshita is the only AEW star in the tournament this year and that means he will probably be very limited to AEW television during the duration of the tournament. Eddie Kingston was part of last year's tournament which was won by Tetsuya Naito.

BLOOD & GUTS TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE

- Tickets for the Dynamite: Blood & Guts episode on Wednesday, July 24 are now on sale for general public at Ticketmaster.com. The lowest price is $49.55 including all taxes and fees and there's already a Me+3 four-pack and AEW 5 Plus Pack offers available. The most expensive ticket is $725.55 for front row. Only 20 sections of the arena are open for this show, way below the 20,000-seater arena capacity. WrestleTix reports that AEW moved over 2,000 tickets in the opening weekend but the set up is only for 3,600 seats as of now. This can obviously grow depending on ticket sales over the next few weeks. Blood & Guts is taking place from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.


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Sunday, June 16, 2024 Issue #7265
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Well, Clash was a mixed bag for me to be honest. Was it worth staying up until 4AM? Probably not. Was really disappointed the main event ended the way it did. Sometimes, giving the people what they want is really the best option, especially after dropping so much money to attend.


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CLASH AT THE CASTLE: SCOTLAND RESULTS

- Here are the results from the Clash at the Castle: Scotland premium live event which took place from the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland. Cody Rhodes defeated AJ Styles in an I Quit match to retain the Undisputed WWE title; Isla Dawn and Alba Fyre defeated Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark in a triple threat tag team match to become the new WWE Women's Tag Team champions; Sami Zayn defeated Chad Gable to retain the Intercontinental title; Bayley defeated Piper Niven to retain the WWE Women's title; Damian Priest defeated Drew McIntyre to retain the WWE World Heavyweight title.

CM PUNK TALKS GETTING CLEARED, CULTURE CHANGE, AND MORE

- At the Clash at the Castle post-show press conference, CM Punk said that he's hoping to get cleared next week and will appear on Friday's Smackdown from Chicago to hopefully deliver the good news. Punk said that he was given permission to skip Raw on Monday to go back home and visit the doctors to get the all clear. He noted that his arm feels "amazing" after nearly five months of rehabilitation. Punk suffered a torn triceps during the Royal Rumble at the hands of Drew McIntyre and Punk made sure to screw McIntyre out of the World Heavyweight title again last night at Clash at the Castle. Punk, wearing a Celtic t-shirt, which is a big no no in Glasgow, said Scotland loves him despite screwing McIntyre and wearing that green shirt in the city. "Maybe the biggest guy in Scotland doesn't like me, but I think people in general are happy to see me," Punk said. Punk said he doesn't wish on anyone, even McIntyre, to suffer any injury and take away food from their family's table and doesn't harbor any animosity towards McIntyre for the freak accident at the Rumble, saying this is a combat sport and accidents do happen to all athletes. Asked by someone from the media if he would take on Drew McIntyre in a Hell In A Cell in his first match back, Punk didn't mince his words. "I mean this with all due respect, this is why I am happy you do not run a professional wrestling company," Punk said bluntly. "First match is a Hell in a Cell match? Brother, you gotta take that fantasy booking shit somewhere else!" With his time up, Punk didn't want to leave and wanted another question from a female this time around because of too much testosterone in the room already! Asked how it feels to be back now, several months in, Punk joked that it's great because they even have donuts now! "The climate has changed. It is a completely different culture. I try not to do media because I honestly don't like a lot of you," Punk said while cracking a smile. "Somebody here, and I'm very bad at compliments, told me they were extremely happy that I was back to experience the atmosphere and culture that I started to grow here and a lot of it was because of me, why this place is like this now. A lot of things I fought for, asked for, and begged for, and they are in place, and it's a much better place," Punk responded. "I'm older and wiser. It's a great crew. It's magic."

TRIPLE H GIVES HONEST ASSESSMENT OF CM PUNK SINCE HIS RETURN

- WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque was super complimentary of CM Punk and his behavior since he returned to the company late last year. Acknowledging that yes, there is a change, and yes, there are things that CM Punk fought for back in the day which are now in place, Triple H admitted that at a time, he and Punk, for a lot of reasons, "just saw things differently from each other" and while they saw eye-to-eye, it was more of angry and eye-to-eye and opposition eye-to-eye. "I cannot tell you how happy I am to have him back. I cannot tell you how exciting it is for me to see the Phil Brooks that I wanted to see then, and while maybe my efforts to get that were taken wrong and that's what led to friction, I always knew that the Phil Brooks I see today was always there," Triple H told the media. Triple H said that he's excited for the future and not just to work with him, but be around him and he's a pleasure to be around in the locker room, noting that Punk is helping with the talent by teaching them not just from a performer point of view, but as a person too. "I'm thrilled and excited to have him here and thrilled and excited to not only to work with him in a talent world but work with him to create the WWE that both he and I always wanted it to be," Triple H continued.

DAMIAN PRIEST SAYS LEG FEELS "LIKE TRASH"

- Damian Priest was very lucky to escape serious injury last night at Clash at the Castle when he tried a dive while stepping on the top rope but his ankle got caught in the ropes. Priest flipped over and his leg got tangled in the ropes, making it a scary few seconds. Asked how his leg is during the post-show press conference, Priest said it feels "like trash" at the moment and didn't get a chance to get it checked out because he had to rush to come and do the press conference. "Docs will check it out but I mean...I ain’t going anywhere. I was able to beat Drew McIntyre with one foot, so I’m pretty sure I’m all good to go," Priest said. Later in the press conference, Triple H said that he's hoping there's nothing serious and while Priest is walking okay for now, he's sure the adrenaline is a major reason why.

AJ STYLES TO WRESTLE FOR PRO WRESTLING NOAH

- Pro Wrestling NOAH today announced that former WWE champion AJ Styles will be participating in a match against Naomichi Marufuji on the Saturday, July 13 show Destination 2024. This was the major announcement that Pro Wrestling NOAH, along with WWE, hyped for today. The match will air on the Abema PPV platform, the same platform which carries WWE programming and WWE Network in the Land of the Rising Sun. This will be the first match in Japan for AJ Styles for a different promotion other than WWE since 2016. Styles had an illustrious career in Japan and is a former IWGP World Heavyweight champion for New Japan Pro-Wrestling.

CHAD GABLE RE-SIGNS WITH WWE

- Chad Gable has confirmed in an interview with Gorilla Position that he has re-signed with WWE. Asked about his contractual situation, Gable said, "So, what I'll say...yes I have." Gable gave props to Triple H for changing his whole trajectory and has delivered on all the promises he made. Gable said that when Triple H was telling everyone that he's trying to find time and consistent places on television for everybody, he was skeptical about it because he heard that line before, but actions speak louder than words and said that what Triple H said and promised was true. Gable's contract was running out last week and there were rumors that AEW were interested in his services as well.

FANS BOO SAMANTHA IRVIN AFTER REMARK FOLLOWING CLASH AT THE CASTLE

- Fans at the OVO Hydro were not happy with the ending of last night's Clash at the Castle and booed ring announcer Samantha Irvin when she said goodnight to everyone who came along. "Glasgow, that does it for Clash at the Castle," Irvin said as the crowd booed and chanted "bullshit." "I know it didn't end up the way you wanted it to," Irvin continued, as more boos drowned her voice. She eventually told everyone to get home safely. Drew McIntyre also lost it after the match and went on an F-bomb rampage, nearly attacking the referee and Corey Graves. He then started talking trash with Wade Barrett, who during the main event voiced his utter disappointment at what happened to Drew. It's the second time that McIntyre got screwed in the UK at Clash at the Castle, the first time by the debut of Solo Sikoa and now by CM Punk. You can see the video at .

HIKARU SHIDA ENTERS THE OWEN HART CUP TOURNAMENT

- Former AEW Women's champion Hikaru Shida has thrown her name to participate in the upcoming Owen Hart Cup tournament. Shida announced her intentions last night during the one-year anniversary of Collision. The Japanese star now joins Willow Nightingale, Kris Statlander, and Mariah May as the only entrants so far. While Shida qualified for the tournament last year, she ended up not taking part in it due to travel issues. Shida has not wrestled on AEW television since January. The winners of both the men and women tournaments will receive a title shot at All In in Wembley.


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Saturday, June 15, 2024 Issue #7264
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Trust my luck, when a regular 8PM ET show starts at a respectable 7AM where I'm at at the moment, the show today starts at 2PM ET which makes it a 1AM start time here in Thailand. Gonna be another long night!

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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
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CLASH AT THE CASTLE LIVE TONIGHT ON PEACOCK & WWE NETWORK

- Live tonight from the OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland, WWE presents Clash at the Castle: Scotland on Peacock and WWE Network. The full card is as follows: Damian Priest vs Drew McIntyre for the WWE World Heavyweight title; Cody Rhodes vs AJ Styles in an I Quit match for the Undisputed WWE title; Bayley vs Piper Niven for the WWE Women's title; Sami Zayn vs Chad Gable for the Intercontinental title; Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill vs Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn vs Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark in a triple threat match for the WWE Women's Tag Team titles. Clash at the Castle: Scotland will begin streaming live at 2PM ET / 11AM PT with the preview show starting an hour earlier. In Scotland, it will start at 7PM local time and 8PM for countries in Central Europe.

DREW MCINTYRE'S WIFE UNDERGOES EMERGENCY SURGERY

- Drew McIntyre's wife Kaitlyn will not be at Clash at the Castle supporting him as she underwent emergency surgery and he promised that he will win the title for her and bring it home. At the Kickoff show, McIntyre said that he wasn't going to talk about the subject but he can't stop thinking about it. "The one person who’s not going to be there is my wife because she’s in surgery right now, emergency surgery," McIntyre said. "And she told me, 'I want you to go there and bring that title home.' And I’m going to bring that title home." The Scotsman added that he's never been this focused his entire life and recounted that the last Clash at the Castle in Wales was a "stab through my heart" and his family's heart and is not going to let it happen again. "I’m back home. I couldn’t have dreamt of this moment. I’m going to have my people there, my family there, a redo, and a chance to make this right," McIntyre said.

THE ROCK SAYS THEY ARE AT THE "ONE-YARD LINE" FOR WM 41 MATCH

- Speaking to ESPN, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson didn't hide the fact that his participation at next year's WrestleMania in Las Vegas is pretty much a done deal. The TKO board member and former WWE champion told ESPN that they're on the "1-yard line" to create the biggest WrestleMania of all time and the biggest match of all time in Las Vegas. "I’ll just leave it at that, Final Boss style," The Rock teased. The Rock said that he was nervous when he got in the ring at WrestleMania this year, but after his first lockup with Seth Rollins, "it all clicked" and it became like riding a bike. "Then he tagged in Cody. First time ever, I locked up with Cody and the lockup feels good," Rock said. He added that when you lock up with someone in wrestling, you immediately know what kind of wrestler your opponent is. "If they’re going to be stiff, if they’re going to be smooth, if they’re going to be intense, if they’re going to be in control. Both guys smooth, in control," he said.

DREW MCINTYRE MAKES SURPRISE APPEARANCE AT ICW INDIE SHOW

- Drew McIntyre went to visit his old stomping grounds yesterday and made an unannounced appearance at the ICW After Hours show in Glasgow. With ICW champion Jack Jester in the ring cutting a promo, he said that they had one surprise for the crowd and at that point, Drew's theme song kicked in to a big pop from the stunned fans. McIntyre teased he was going to take on Jester but the two then had a big hug in the ring. Wearing an ICW t-shirt, McIntyre then cut a promo in the ring and posed with the champion to send everyone home happy. The Scotsman was the first ICW champion back in 2006 and had a run of 280 days with the title. He won the title again in 2014, beating Jester, and his run lasted 378 days.

LATEST BETTING ODDS FOR CLASH AT THE CASTLE: SCOTLAND

- WWE Superstars will Clash at the Castle in Glasgow, Scotland in a couple of hours and we are presenting the latest betting odds for the show. While these are as close as possible to the start of the show, they might still change so be careful when betting with real money. Broken dreams are likely for Drew McIntyre tonight in his home town of Glasgow. The WWE World Heavyweight champion Damian Priest is 8/13 and favorite to retain his championship in the main event while McIntyre, perhaps thanks to some CM Punk interference, is the underdog at 23/20. Who says I Quit tonight? Judging by these odds, it will be AJ Styles who is 7/1 to lose the match tonight while the Undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes is 1/20 and big favorite to retain. A new WWE Intercontinental champion is being predicted by bookmakers as Chad Gable is the favorite to win his match against Sami Zayn. Gable is 4/7 in his numbers while the champion is 5/4 to retain. The WWE Women's Tag Team titles are pretty much safe that they are not changing hands with Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill the overwhelming favorites at 1/14 while Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn are 7/1 and Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark are at 9/1. Bayley and Piper Niven, who are wrestling for the WWE Women's championship, have the same odds of Cody and AJ, with the champion favorite at 1/20 while Niven is 7/1.

AGAINST ALL ODDS 2024 RESULTS

- Here are the results from the Against All Odds 2024 TNA+ event which took place live from the Cicero Stadium in Chicago, Illinois. Sami Callihan defeated Jonathan Gresham in the pre-show; Alisha Edwards and Masha Slamovich defeated Allysin Kay and Marti Belle to retain the TNA Knockouts Tag Team titles in the pre-show; Steve Maclin and Mike Santana defeated Trey Miguel and Zachary Wentz; PCO defeated Rich Swann; Brian Myers and Eddie Edwards defeated Nic Nemeth and Ryan Nemeth to retain the TNA Tag Team titles; Frankie Kazarian defeated Joe Hendry; Mustafa Ali defeated Trent Seven to retain the TNA X Division title; Ace Austin and Chris Bey defeated Eric Young and Josh Alexander; Jordynne Grace defeated Tatum Paxley to retain the TNA Knockouts title; Moose defeated Matt Hardy to retain the TNA World title.

JEFF HARDY RETURNS TO TNA AT AGAINST ALL ODDS

- While Matt Hardy was unable to capture the TNA title at Against All Odds versus Moose in a hard-fought match, he still stood tall at the end of the show along with his brother Jeff, who returned to the promotion for the first time since 2017. After the match was over, The System attacked Matt and his wife Reby in the ring. Matt tried to protect his wife with his body and then Joe Hendry came out to lend his support, but was also taken out by The System. Ryan and Nic Nemeth also joined the fray to somewhat even the odds. Cue in Jeff's iconic theme song and the crowd goes bananas. The former champion came out to make the save, taking out The System with chair shots and a Twist of Fate and a swanton bomb on Moose for good measure. It's safe to say that the Chicago crowd absolutely loved this finish and seeing Hardy back. Nic and Ryan Nemeth eventually join the party as Matt, Jeff, Reby, Hendry, and the Nemeths stand tall in the ring to end the night with chants of "TNA" from happy fans. You can watch the video at .

TATUM PAXLEY ANSWERS JORDYNNE'S GRACE OPEN CHALLENGE

- NXT star Tatum Paxley appeared at TNA Against All Odds today and answered Jordynne Grace's open challenge for the TNA Knockouts title. Paxley tried to steal the TNA Knockouts title last Sunday at Battleground but met resistance in the form of Ash by Elegance and a few moments later both of them found themselves knocked out after Grace got a hold of the belt and wiped them both with it. Grace ended up losing the NXT title match against Roxanne Perez. But the outcome was different tonight in Chicago as Grace successfully defended her title after delivering the Juggernaut Driver on the NXT star for the victory.

WHO KILLED WCW? EPISODE TWO RATING

- Episode two of Who Killed WCW? on Vice drew 117,000 viewers this past Tuesday. That is down 21,000 viewers from the premiere episode. It had a 0.02 rating in 18-49, also down by 0.01 from episode one and placed #114 on the top 150 chart on cable. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)


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Friday, June 14, 2024 Issue #7263
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

A little bit earlier today! We'll be back tomorrow with more.


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
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SMACKDOWN PREVIEW

- Friday Night Smackdown comes to you live from the OVO Hydro tonight as WWE moves to Glasgow, Scotland for the weekend. Smackdown is airing live in the United Kingdom and in Italy as they take advantage of the prime time start in the region. Three matches have been announced so far featuring Michin vs Nia Jax, Kevin Owens vs Solo Sikoa, and Naomi vs Chelsea Green. Also, The Grayson Waller Effect will be taking place with DIY as guests and Cody Rhodes and AJ Styles will both be in the house just 24 hours before their I Quit match for the WWE title.

CODY RHODES GOES CROWD SURFING AT KICKOFF SHOW

- Thousands of people showed up at the Clash at the Castle: Scotland Kickoff show held at the SEC Centre Hall 4 in Glasgow, just hours ago. A sea of people greeted Superstars such as AJ Styles, WWE champion Cody Rhodes, Piper Niven, WWE Women's champion Bayley, and Drew McIntyre. WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H also made an appearance to start the show, which was hosted by Michael Cole. Cody Rhodes was so impressed with the crowd that he decided to do a first: he jumped in and crowd surfed to several rows back. "Oh I'm in so much trouble," Cody said when he got back up on the stage! You can see it at

WWE MOVES MANY TICKETS AHEAD OF CLASH AT THE CASTLE

- There was considerable movement in tickets for Clash at the Castle tomorrow with the floor area now mostly sold although a few hundred tickets remain available. Floor tickets now are priced around ?350 each, which is still considerably high since you're not technically at ringside. But with one day to go for the show, the OVO Hydro is looking much better in terms of tickets distributed. The risers are pretty much sold out, with the last few remaining tickets on sale starting from ?303.50. If WWE manages to sell the remaining tickets, this show could very well break the record of the biggest arena gate in WWE history. Smackdown tonight is still struggling a little bit floor-wise, but doing much better than yesterday. The cheapest available price to get in is ?70.80 and the risers are pretty much sold out. Floor tickets start from ?93.50.

DREW MCINTYRE INDUCTED INTO THE SCOTTISH PRO WRESTLING HOF

- Drew McIntyre was inducted into the Scottish Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame yesterday at the Ibrox Stadium, the home of the Glasgow Rangers football team. The WWE Superstar was presented with a plague by Jacqueline McLaren, the Lord Provost of Glasgow. McIntyre is the 10th individual to be inducted into the HOF and the first active one. In a post on X, McLaren said it was an honor to present Drew McIntyre with the plague that inducts him in the Wrestling Hall of Fame of Scotland. "This annual event recognises achievement in a unique art form that combines sportsmanship, live performance & entertainment. Congrats Drew," she added. McIntyre said that "it doesn't feel real" to be inducted at the Ibrox as he's a big Rangers fan but it's incredible and it blows his mind. McIntyre's weekend could get even better as he challenges Damian Priest for the World Heavyweight title tomorrow night at Clash at the Castle.

WWE RETURNING TO UK AND IRELAND IN OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER

- WWE announced that it will be returning to the United Kingdom and Ireland for two tours of four days each in October and November. Cardiff, Liverpool, Newcastle, and Manchester will host WWE non-televised live events on October 13, 14, 15, and 16 respectively while Dublin, London, Nottingham, and Sheffield will welcome the WWE Superstars on November 3, 4, 5, and 6. Tickets will go on sale on Friday, June 21 at 10AM BST. The show in Manchester will be the first one at the brand-new Co-op Live which holds just over 20,000 fans. Tickets for this particular event will go on sale at a later date. The November dates will follow the WWE Crown Jewel premium live event in Saudi Arabia which is being held on November 2.

MONE SAYS TONY KHAN JETTED BACK HOME AFTER BROTHER FELL ILL

- In her weekly newsletter, TBS champion Mercedes Mone wrote how her younger brother was rushed to the hospital on Wednesday, the morning that she was set to defend the TBS title on Dynamite. When she got the call that her brother was admitted due to his bad health, she said she called her two friends - Mojo Rawley and Samurai del Sol - who went over to her house to assist. "My heart and my mind were in the cross hairs, as I was having to prioritize and juggle every emotion and responsibility in between," Mone wrote. She said that she was then surprised by over 20 of her cousins, aunts, uncles, and family friends who came to watch her wrestle that night, but none of whom were aware of the situation back at home yet. "Not only was seeing my family such a surprise but another blessing I received came from the immediate response as I called Tony Khan to relay what was going on," Mone added. "WITHOUT HESITATION, Tony said he would help." She noted that Khan took her with him on his private jet and on the way to Jacksonville, they made a detour to stop in Orlando to drop her off so she could be with her family. "No lie, I'm actually crying tears of joy and gratitude as I write this. I'm so blessed and grateful to be working at a company like AEW and to have a leader whose motto is "family first,'" Mone continued.

TNA AGAINST ALL ODDS LIVE ON TNA+ TONIGHT

- Live tonight from the Cicero Stadium in Chicago, Illinois, TNA presents Against All Odds exclusively on the TNA+ streaming service. The full card is as follows: Moose vs "Broken" Matt Hardy for the TNA title; Jordynne Grace vs a mystery opponent in an open challenge for the TNA Knockouts title; Mustafa Ali vs Trent Seven for the TNA X Division title; Brian Myers and Eddie Edwards vs Nic Nemeth and Ryan Nemeth for the TNA Tag Team titles; Eric Young and Josh Alexander vs Ace Austin and Chris Bey; Steve Maclin and Mike Santana vs Trey Miguel and Zachary Wentz; Joe Hendry vs Frankie Kazarian; PCO vs Rich Swann; and Sami Callihan vs Jonathan Gresham in the pre-show.

JEFF HARDY RETURNING TO TNA

- PWInsider.com is reporting that Jeff Hardy is on his way back to TNA Wrestling and could be very well making his return this weekend. TNA has Against All Odds tonight and then television tapings tomorrow both at the Cicero Stadium in Chicago, Illinois. Jeff's brother Matt is in the main event of the TNA+ event against Moose as he targets the TNA World title. Jeff, currently under an AEW deal, did not have the best time in AEW despite the hype surrounding his arrival. After months out due to rehab, Jeff was also injured in a match against Sammy Guevara this past February and has not wrestled or appeared on AEW TV ever since. He last worked for TNA in 2017 where he is a former TNA World champion.

DYNAMITE RATING

- Dynamite drew 681,000 viewers this week, down 109,000 viewers from the prior week and the second least-watched episode of 2024. There was a good reason for that though as the show went head-to-head with game one of the NBA Finals. In 18-49, Dynamite had a 0.23 rating, down 0.05 from last week's show and was #2 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)


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Thursday, June 13, 2024 Issue #7262
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

We have a new video up on our YouTube, a look at the Clash at the Castle store in Glasgow. Check it out at .

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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

MATT HARDY TEASES APPEARANCE IN NXT BATTLE ROYAL

- Matt Hardy has teased the idea of being in the 25-man battle royal to become the #1 contender for the NXT title. In a post on X, Hardy wrote that after he "procures the TNA title of the world on Friday," he might just delete 24 other obnoxious ants and also become the NXT champion. Hardy will be wrestling for the TNA title tomorrow night at Against All Odds in Chicago against Moose. The NXT battle royal will take place on Tuesday on USA Network and will also feature other wrestlers from a "different locker room."

LOGAN PAUL INTERVIEWS DONALD TRUMP

- United States champion Logan Paul interviewed WWE Hall of Famer and former U.S. President Donald Trump for his Impaulsive podcast/YouTube series which will drop this week. Trump hyped his appearance by uploading a video on his TikTok having a face-off with Paul as Paul's co-host held the WWE U.S. title in the center. A photo of a smiling Trump and Paul both holding the United States title was also published. The champ said he also reached out to the White House to have President Joe Biden as a guest ahead of the presidential election. You can see the photo at

A FEW THOUSAND TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE FOR SMACKDOWN IN GLASGOW

- With just one more day to go, there are still a couple of thousand empty seats at the OVO Hydro for Friday Night Smackdown in Glasgow, Scotland. Prices did go down a bit, with the cheapest set at ?116.20 each and you can now get ringside seats for ?201.35 each. The timing of the show is also not helping: tomorrow, Scotland's football team plays in the opening match against Germany in the Euro 2024 tournament and that is airing at the same time head-to-head with Smackdown. The Scots love their football and apart from the originally high prices, it's adding to the problem of Scotland not breaking any records for Smackdown.

NXT RATING

- Despite an appearance by Cody Rhodes and no major sports against it, NXT didn't capitalize when it came to viewership and the show drew 718,000 viewers, down 50,000 from the prior week. It had a 0.22 rating in 18-49, which was the same as last week's broadcast and was #1 for the night on cable. This was the second #1 ranking in a row for the show. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)

CM PUNK JOINS PARADIGM TALENT AGENCY

- Deadline.com is reporting that WWE Superstar CM Punk has signed with talent agency Paradigm for representation in all areas, especially that of entertainment. Just recently, the same talent agency has added Tiffany Stratton and current WWE World Heavyweight champion Damian Priest to their roster as well as more Superstars look to venture out beyond the world of professional wrestling. The Deadline article writes that after Punk made his spectacular return at the Survivor Series, he moved more than $1 million in merchandise sales in just over 24 hours and continues to be one of the top sellers for the company.

CLASH AT THE CASTLE: SCOTLAND STORE OPEN

- The Clash at the Castle: Scotland store opened in Glasgow this morning. Located at Unit 024 inside St. Enoch Shopping Centre at 55 Enoch Square, the official WWE store has the largest collection of WWE Clash at the Castle: Scotland merchandise under one roof as well as exclusive merchandise, including replica WWE championship titles, Superstar apparel, signed memorabilia, collectibles, mini-titles and so much more! The WWE Clash at the Castle: Scotland Store is a Fanatics experience and is free and open to the public. A separate Clash at the Castle Title Belt Store is also located around 15 meters away from the regular store and it will house the largest selection of replica WWE title belts. Store hours are Friday and Saturday from 10AM to 8PM and Sunday from 10AM to 5PM.

BLOOD & GUTS RETURNING ON JULY 24

- The Blood & Guts match is returning as The Elite - Matthew and Nicholas Jackson, Jack Perry, and Kazuchika Okada - challenged AEW's "best" for the match. The foursome tried to recruit champion Swerve Strickland to be on their team but Strickland blew them off and they attacked him. Of all people, The Acclaimed and Billy Gunn came out to make the save and even the odds, although it's highly unlikely that this trio will be on The Elite's opponents list. Blood & Guts Dynamite will take place on Wednesday, July 24 from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, with tickets going on pre-sale tomorrow at AEWTix.com. The inaugural Blood & Guts match was presented in 2021 and featured The Pinnacle vs The Inner Circle. In 2022 it was The Jericho Appreciation Society vs Blackpool Combat Club and last year we had The Golden Elite vs Blackpool Combat Club.

JACK PERRY ADDED TO TNT TITLE LADDER MATCH

- Jack Perry earned a spot in the TNT title ladder match at the upcoming Forbidden Door pay-per-view after he defeated Dustin Rhodes on Dynamite last night in the qualifying match. The man formerly known as Jungle Boy now joins Konosuke Takeshita and Mark Briscoe in the match, with other participants still yet to be added. AEW has not specified how many competitors this ladder match will have. The TNT title was vacated after then-champion Adam Copeland broke his leg coming off the top of the cage at Double or Nothing. He has since undergone surgery and is targeting a return for later in the year.

NEW nWo BOOK TO BE RELEASED NEXT YEAR

- ESPN reporter Marc Raimondi has announced a new book on the nWo titled Say Hello to the Bad Guys: How Pro-Wrestling's New World Order Changed America. Set to be published on March 25 by Simon & Schuster, the 352-page book will have a narrative history exploring professional wrestling’s most popular faction and how their existence influenced American culture like never before. Marc Raimondi is currently an NFL reporter for ESPN and is a longtime former combat sports reporter, specializing in mixed martial arts and professional wrestling.


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