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Wednesday, September 4, 2024 Issue #7340
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Alright, so, I'm heading out again Stateside tomorrow morning for a family/friends vacation. It's a 10-day trip so there might not be a newsletter everyday.

The website will still be updated regularly but newsletter might take a backseat on this one depending on the schedule.

Please sign up to our instant news alert service at where you'll get a notification of every news story as soon as it's live and also add us on social media for the latest. All our links are at wrestling-online.com.

I'm going to do my best to send the newsletter out at whatever time I can, but we have Universal Studios, Disney, Las Vegas, and other stuff on schedule so...you can imagine!

========================================================


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

OYSSEY JONES REMOVED AFTER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACCUSATIONS POP UP

- Odyssey Jones has vanished from WWE after the company got hold of several domestic violence reports and accusations against him. Some industry insiders have said that Jones was actually fired from the company but that has not been confirmed yet. An X account with the handle @AboutOdyssey has been posting since July about domestic violence. "The world needs to know the real 'Odyssey Jones.' Omari Jahi Palmer is a woman beater!!!" one of the messages on X reads. "Left me bruised up & with a slight concussion while on vacation for 'his birthday,'" reads another one. "Busy putting hands on women while on vacation & trying to keep me shut," it continued. "Odyssey Jones is nothing but a coward and a woman beater. He has CTE and bipolar disorder and is a completely different person behind closed doors," another post says. It's unclear who is behind the account. Most of the messages were replies to WWE's and Jones' X account. There have been no arrests made and no official confirmation of any domestic violence reports as of yet but WWE deemed the allegations serious enough to warrant his removal.

GIULIA TO GET TITLE SHOT ON CW DEBUT

- Giulia will get an instant title shot at the NXT Women's title at the upcoming NXT on The CW premiere episode on October 1. The former STARDOM and Marigold star, who made her debut at No Mercy, showed up at the end of NXT last night to confront NXT Women's champion Roxanne Perez again. "Me, you...CW,¡± Giulia said, dropping the mic and raising her hand. Perez, inches away from her, raised the NXT Women's title above her shoulder and the broadcast went to black. This will be the second title match on the premiere episode as Ethan Page has already been announced as defending the title on the show against an opponent yet to be named. The premiere episode will take place from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois and CM Punk will also be making an appearance.

JORDYNNE GRACE TO DEFEND TNA KNOCKOUTS TITLE ON NXT

- TNA Knockouts champion Jordynne Grace will be back on NXT television next week and will be defending the Knockouts title in an open challenge. Appearing via video, Grace said that next week it's going to be a big week with Raw, NXT, and Smackdown all airing on USA Network for the first time. "I have something that's going to make it a historic week," Grace said. "I spoke with Ava and it's official, for the first time ever I will be defending my TNA Knockouts championship in an open challenge match on NXT." Grace said that she wants to continue testing herself against the best so if there's a woman out there who thinks she can fill her shoes, she'd be more than happy to give her a shot. Jordynne will not be the only TNA star on NXT next week as Zachary Wenz and Trey Miguel of The Rascalz will also be in action challenging Nathan Frazer and Axiom for the NXT Tag Team titles.

SMACKDOWN RATING

- The taped Smackdown from Berlin the night before Bash In Berlin drew a total of 2,054,000 viewers, up just 4,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had a 0.53 rating in 18-49, down 0.03 from the previous episode and the lowest number since June 14. Smackdown was #1 across all of television for the night. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

LYRA VALKYRIA AND CHELSEA GREEN APPEAR ON NXT

- WWE Superstars Lyra Valkyria and Chelsea Green both appeared on NXT on USA Network last night. The former NXT Women's champion came to help Tatum Paxley after Paxley beat TNA Knockout Rosemary and was on the receiving end of a post-match beatdown by Rosemary and Wendy Choo. Paxley and Valkyria had a thing going on for several months before Valkyria made it to the main roster. Later in the broadcast in the main event segment, Chelsea Green also returned to NXT to demand a title shot at Roxanne Perez. The lights went out after Perez finished her promo and then Green's music hit. "Were you expecting someone else?" Green asked the NXT crowd. They did, and in fact, they got what they were expecting as Giulia then came out and took out Green with a knee to the face.

HOGAN SAYS HE SIGNED FIVE-YEAR DEAL WITH WWE

- Appearing on the Logan Paul Impaulsive podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan revealed that he has just signed a five-year deal with WWE. Hogan said that the deal is for licensing and merchandise, doing some ambassadorial stuff for the company and if they need him, appearing on WWE television as well. "I just love doing it. It's definitely different," Hogan said. The deal described by Hogan is similar to what other WWE Legends sign, although Hogan's could be valued a bit more due to his name and potential TV appearances. During the interview, Hogan also put over WWE President Nick Khan and how easy, supportive, and helpful has been since taking over the business-side of the company.

JANEL GRANT WILL NOT BE PART OF MCMAHON NETFLIX SERIES

- Filmmakers of the upcoming Netflix docuseries Mr. McMahon reached out to Janel Grant - who sued McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and WWE - to be part of the series but no deal was reached. "Netflix¡¯s documentary group made initial outreach to Janel¡¯s representation for an interview for this project," a spokesperson for Janel Grant told POST Wrestling. "Despite this, no such interview came to fruition." The decision rested with Grant and she decided not to be part of the series, perhaps not to leave any possibility of wrongdoing if McMahon's defense team played that card in court. Grant sued McMahon for sexual assault and sex trafficking. The lawsuit is currently on pause after the U.S. Department of Justice intervened to conduct their own federal investigation which could lead to criminal charges. The six-part Mr. McMahon series, from director Bill Simmons and executive producer Chris Smith, will premiere on Netflix on September 25. It will chronicle the rise and fall of the former WWE Chairman and CEO with interviews from McMahon himself, his family, friends, and former colleagues.

TWO LONG-TIME WWE EMPLOYEES GONE

- PWInsider.com is reporting that WWE's Lead Production Designer, Jason Robinson, has departed the company. Robinson was the brains behind most of the sets that you see on WWE television, including the grand sets at WrestleMania and also the Thunderdome during the COVID-19 pandemic. He worked for the company for over 23 years and was considered one of the main men when it comes to WWE production. In 2015, WWE.COM did an interview with Robinson, naming him as "The Grandest Set Designer of Them All." Robinson was not the only longtime employee who left the company last week. Michelle Carlucci, WWE's Director of Production Travel, left WWE after a nearly 37-year career with the Stamford-based company. She started working in 1998 and was promoted to Director of Freelance Crewing, Travel, and Special Projects in 2005 before moving to her latest position in 2019. There are no details as to why they have decided to part ways.

RAMPAGE RATING

- Rampage on Friday night drew 218,000 viewers, down 72,000 viewers from the prior week and was the second least-watched episode of the series ever. The show had a 0.07 rating in 18-49, down 0.03 from the prior episode and matches the lowest number ever for the show. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

KEVIN KELLY AND TATE BROTHERS FILE LAWSUIT AGAINST AEW

- The website TheWrestlingNews.com is reporting that former AEW commentator Kevin Kelly and former ROH/AEW stars Brandon and Brendan Tate, better known as The Boys, filed a lawsuit against AEW in the Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas. The lawsuit was filed by attorneys Stephen P. New and Benjamin Baer. New represented CM Punk and Ace Steel following the Brawl Out incident in October 2021. The lawsuit "seeks to void the arbitration clause of their talent contracts, as well as requesting the court certify a class-action suit against AEW over claims the company is misclassifying its wrestling talent as independent contractors, rather than employees." AEW, just like WWE, lists their stars as independent contractors rather than employees, something that has been in contention for decades within the business. Kelly was fired in March, just 10 months after he started working there, following a public bust-up with his former commentary colleague Ian Riccaboni. He later expressed frustration with AEW which did not help his case. The Tate brothers were released from their deal in April of this year due to budget cuts but AEW President Tony Khan later said that the two brothers no-showed several events, something that both of them deny.


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Tuesday, September 3, 2024 Issue #7339
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Nothing to say, back tomorrow!


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

SAMI ZAYN ASKS FOR WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE SHOT

- It looks like Gunther has his next opponent for the World Heavyweight title after Sami Zayn interrupted his in-ring promo last night on Raw. Earlier in the broadcast, CM Punk was gunning for Gunther's title, but he was once again attacked by Drew McIntyre, who laid him out and even forced the stretcher job. With Punk out of the way, Zayn answered the call and came out to a thunderous pop from the Denver crowd. Zayn is the last - and only - person to defeat Gunther on the main roster when he beat him for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania earlier this year. The Canadian told Gunther that he wants the WWE World Heavyweight title and Gunther shot it down quick. "I see the fire in your eyes. So if you really want a shot at this, if you really want this more than anything else, my answer...is no," Gunther said, before smiling, dropping the mic, and exiting the ring. Zayn wasn't happy so he asked Gunther why he's backing down from this fight when he never backed down from a fight his entire life. He reminder Gunther that he is the only guy who beat him inside a WWE ring. "You can run, you can hide for as long as you want, but Gunther, make no mistake, I'm coming for you and I will be a World Heavyweight champion," a fired-up Zayn said.

JOE TESSITORE ON RAW DEBUT: "THIS WAS AN AWESOME NIGHT"

- It was a good night for new WWE announcer Joe Tessitore who managed to get through his first three hours of WWE action without any hiccups and a lot of praise from fans online. Tessitore was interviewed at ringside after Raw went off the air by Jackie Redmond, and said that he feels "alive" when there is the passion and the intensity he felt during the show. "You want to live in the red in life. That¡¯s what this is. Raw. Live in the red. This was an awesome night," Tessitore told Redmond. The life-long wrestling fan admitted that he wasn't "great" in his debut, but he was that passionate fan who in eighth grade, he skipped school to go meet Big John Studd. Reaction online has been mostly positive, which is a change since wrestling fans tend to react very cold to new commentators who are not brought up in the industry. His distinctive voice has given Raw a more sports-like feel. Tessitore will continue doing commentary for ESPN and ABC during the college football season and will also remain as the lead boxing announcer for ESPN.

DRAGUNOV AND STROWMAN ADVANCE TO FATAL FOUR-WAY MATCH

- Ilja Dragunov and Braun Strowman both won their qualifying matches to enter the Intercontinental title number one contender's fatal four-way match last night on Raw. Dragunov defeated Dragon Lee and Dominik Mysterio in the first triple threat match, with the former NXT champion getting the win after he hit the Torpedo Moscow finisher on Lee. Later in the broadcast, Braun Strowman, who replaced Bronson Reed who is out with COVID-19, defeated Sheamus and Ludwig Kaiser, with Strowman winning after delivering the powerslam finish on Kaiser. The two now join Jey Uso and Pete Dunne in the fatal four-way match which will take place on next week's Raw. The winner will take on the Intercontinental champion Bron Breakker at a later date.

ODYSSEY JONES SEEMINGLY GONE FROM WWE

- Odyssey Jones, who was reintroduced to the WWE audience a couple of weeks ago and put in a story with The New Day, is seemingly gone from the company effective immediately. Jones' profile on WWE.COM is no longer there although a search for his name still brings up photos and videos from the last few Raw shows. His name was not brought up on Raw and there was no mention of anything remotely associated with him during The New Day segment, suggesting that he is completely out. WWE has not issued any statement or confirmed reports of his release, but there are rumors that a story might come out in public over the next few days that will explain why he was eventually let go. The 30-year-old spent over a year away from WWE TV and was drafted to Raw both in 2023 and 2024 and was never used until he came to the help of The New Day on the August 5 episode of Raw.

REY MYSTERIO AND OMOS AT NETFLIX LIVE EVENT

- WWE Superstars Rey Mysterio and Omos were part of the Netflix live event Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef yesterday in Las Vegas. The two were interviewed and gave their predictions on who will win the eating contest and later presented Joey Chestnut with a custom WWE replica title. Chestnut broke the world record, consuming a whopping 83 hot dogs in 10 minutes. The show was co-hosted by WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Garcia, making her first TV appearance since her husband Artem was arrested and charged with domestic violence. She did not have her wedding ring on during the show.

ACTUAL ATTENDANCE FROM ALL IN REVEALED

- Brandon Thurston from Wrestlenomics obtained the actual count of people inside Wembley Stadium for All In from the Brent Council, which is the local government where Wembley forms a part of. This year's attendance was 46,476 according to a freedom of information request on the event, slightly down from the "over 50,000" tickets sold and given away that AEW President Tony Khan announced. Last year's event had 81,035 paid attendance according to AEW records, but 72,265 in attendance. Unlike last year, AEW didn't really focus on attendance and never officially announced a number, mostly because of a drop of around 35% in figures compared to the prior year. All In next year will be from the Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, and the show will return to Wembley in 2026.

GISELE SHAW GIVEN TNA RELEASE

- TNA Knockout Gisele Shaw has asked for and was granted her release according to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Wrestling. The 35-year-old Filipino-Canadian wrestler has been working for TNA Wrestling since 2022, making her debut as The Quintessential Diva. She wrestled her last match during the Impact television tapings in Louisville, Kentucky this past weekend. Despite being featured regularly on TNA television, Shaw has never won a title in TNA and her last title shot came at the No Surrender TNA+ event in February of this year, losing the match to Jordynne Grace.


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Monday, September 2, 2024 Issue #7338
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Back home from Germany. Interesting finale as the plane I was supposed to fly on was deemed not fit to fly 30 minutes before we departed and it was touch and go if we were leaving last night, but thankfully they found a spare plane and we flew on another one!

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

NXT NO MERCY 2024 RESULTS

- Here are the results from last night's NXT No Mercy 2024 which took place from the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado. Axiom and Nathan Frazer defeated Andre Chase and Ridge Holland to become the new NXT Tag Team champions; Zachary Wentz defeated Wes Lee; Kelani Jordan defeated Wendy Choo to retain the NXT Women's North American title; Oba Femi defeated Tony D'Angelo to retain the NXT North American title; Roxanne Perez defeated Jaida Parker to retain the NXT Women's title; Ethan Page defeated Joe Hendry to retain the NXT title with Trick Williams as the special guest referee.

GIULIA MAKES NXT DEBUT AT NO MERCY

- Former STARDOM champion Giulia arrived in NXT last night and made her debut at No Mercy. After Roxanne Perez successfully defended her NXT Women's title against Jaida Parker and she was celebrating, the lights went out and the Japanese star walked out to a big ovation from the crowd. Giulia soaked in the atmosphere and then stepped in the ring for a face off with the champion, who held the title pretty close but then lifted it up over her shoulder as a towering Giulia stared at her. "No doubt @giulia0221g is an absolute star with a bright future in @WWE. What a time to be part of #WWENXT¡¯s Women¡¯s division," wrote WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H on X. Shawn Michaels also posted a photo with Giulia and NXT GM Ava, writing, "Believe the hype." The 30-year-old left Japan and Marigold last week to officially start her WWE career. You can watch her arrival at .

RAW PREVIEW

- Tonight's Raw is the last one before Monday Night Football kicks off on ESPN again which means there will be likely an exodus of viewers for the next several months. The post-Bash In Berlin broadcast already has several matches announced, including two Intercontinental title #1 contender matches featuring Dominik Mysterio vs Ilja Dragunov vs Dragon Lee in the first match and Sheamus vs Bronson Reed vs Ludwig Kaiser in the second match. Also, former WWE Women's Tag Team champions Unholy Union battle Damage CTRL, Zelina Vega vs Shayna Baszler, and The Creed Brothers and Ivy Nile take on Otis, Tozawa, and Maxxine Dupri in a mixed tag team match. Plus, brand new WWE Women's Tag Team champions Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill will have their title celebration.

JOE TESSITORE TO LEAD RAW COMMENTARY FROM TONIGHT

- There will be a new voice on WWE Raw tonight, live from the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, as ESPN's Joe Tessitore will kick off his WWE broadcast career alongside with Wade Barrett. The 53-year-old from New York is a sportscaster for both ABC and ESPN and is the lead for boxing events on ESPN, announces college football on ESPN and ABC, and also did play-by-play for Monday Night Football in the past. He is also a life-long wrestling fan. WWE announced that Tessitore signed with them in July. He will keep doing Raw until January 2025 when he then switches to Smackdown as Michael Cole and Pat McAfee take over for the Netflix move. He was introduced to the WWE audience during the SummerSlam pre-show by Michael Cole.

ETHAN PAGE TO DEFEND NXT TITLE ON CW PREMIERE EPISODE

- The NXT on CW premiere will have a main event featuring an NXT title defense with champion Ethan Page putting his gold on the line again. His opponent has not been named but WWE has just less than a month to figure that out. Page successfully defended his title last night against Joe Hendry with Trick Williams as the special guest referee. The October 1 premiere episode on The CW will take place from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, and the broadcast will also feature CM Punk. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.com with the cheapest tickets at $30. Over 5,000 tickets have already been sold.

ASUKA SIGNS NEW WWE DEAL

- Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com is reporting that former champion Asuka has signed a new, multi-year deal with WWE. Asuka has been out of action since May and underwent knee surgery since then. Her last match was at the Backlash premium live event where she and Kairi Sane lost the WWE Women's Tag Team titles to Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill. The Empress of Tomorrow has been signed to a WWE deal since 2015, starting her undefeated run in NXT and then moving on to the main roster in October 2017. Now part of Damage CTRL, the Japanese star is a former three-time WWE Raw Women's champion, one-time Smackdown Women's champion, one time NXT Women's champion, and four-time WWE Women's Tag Team champion as well as the 2018 Royal Rumble winner and the 2020 Money In The Bank winner.

RICKY STARKS DENIES TURNING DOWN CREATIVE IN AEW

- Ricky Starks, who for the past few months have come under scrutiny after rumors surfaced that he turned down several different creative pitches to return to AEW television, addressed the situation with a message on X. A few months ago, both the Wrestling Observer and Fightful wrote that Starks was slated to start a program with Big Bill, his former tag team partner. But the feud never took off and the idea was for Bill to turn on Starks, with Starks getting the blame for shooting it down. "Enough is enough," Starks wrote on X replying to a random comment about him. "Usually I don¡¯t even speak on this but it¡¯s tired I never turned down anything, EVER. Just stop." Starks has not appeared on AEW TV since the March 30 episode of Collision. He was at WrestleMania a few days later to see his good friend Cody Rhodes win the WWE title from Roman Reigns but was not shown on WWE TV. The belief is that Starks is moving to WWE once his AEW contract is up, even though AEW President Tony Khan recently said that he would love to get Starks involved on AEW television again.


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Sunday, September 1, 2024 Issue #7337
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

I really enjoyed Bash In Berlin last night. The crowd gave Lyon a run for their money too. Place was electric and when you have such crowds, the show is 1000% better. It was a good short trip and I'm writing this at the airport half-way home before I catch my second flight. On to the next one!


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

NXT NO MERCY LIVE ON PEACOCK AND WWE NETWORK TONIGHT

- Live tonight from the Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, WWE presents NXT No Mercy streaming on Peacock and WWE Network. The full card is as follows: Ethan Page vs Joe Hendry for the NXT title with Trick Williams as the special guest referee; Roxanne Perez vs Jaida Parker for the NXT Women's title; Oba Femi vs Tony D'Angelo for the NXT North American title; Kelani Jordan vs Wendy Choo for the NXT Women's North American title; Andre Chase and Ridge Holland vs Nathan Frazer and Axiom for the NXT Tag Team titles; Wes Lee vs Zachary Wentz. NXT No Mercy will start at 7PM ET and the pre-show will kick off 30 minutes prior. The pre-show airs free on WWE's social media properties as well as Peacock and WWE Network.

BASH IN BERLIN RESULTS

- Here are the results from yesterday¡¯s Bash In Berlin premium live event which took place live from the Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany. Cody Rhodes defeated Kevin Owens to retain the WWE title; Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill defeated Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn to become the new WWE Women¡¯s Tag Team champions; CM Punk defeated Drew McIntyre in a strap match; Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley defeated Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan; Gunther defeated Randy Orton to retain the WWE World Heavyweight title.

CODY RHODES FACES THE PRESS IN TRIPLE H'S ABSENCE

- Triple H did not do the post-Bash In Berlin press conference last night and was substituted by the current Undisputed WWE champion Cody Rhodes, dusting off his old EVP rank to face the media with the business-side of things. Cody said that the reason that Triple H was not there was because he left Germany earlier to make it in time to see off his oldest daughter go to college. That got a round of applause from people in the room. Berlin broke another WWE record last night, with the premium live event becoming the highest-grossing WWE arena event in the history of the company. That record was broken twice before in 2024 alone, first in Lyon for Backlash and then in Glasgow for Clash at the Castle, continuing a trend of rising ticket prices across the globe wherever WWE goes. Rhodes also had to endure further more Vince McMahon-related questions as it has become the norm at the press conferences. Asked why the locker room is quiet about the sexual abuse and trafficking allegations against their former boss, Rhodes said everyone's focus is to have great stories and great matches. He said it's not an attempt for anyone to be silent, but they're there to do their job. Asked again if he believed McMahon's accuser Janel Grant, Rhodes replied, "Again, I don¡¯t know enough about the information to give you a good enough answer there. I¡¯m sorry." The champion was also asked if he will be watching the Netflix docuseries on McMahon. Rhodes said that he's currently busy watching a Game of Thrones re-watch but he will eventually see it at some point, noting that WWE had nothing to do with the documentary.

OFFICE OF PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR ISSUES RETRACTION ON WRESTLEMANIA

- The video that Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro uploaded where he said that WrestleMania was coming to Philadelphia agin 2026 has been deleted. His office then issued a retraction via a statement published by several wrestling outlets, confirming that WrestleMania 42 will not be coming to Philadelphia after all. "This statement was mistaken, and we apologize for the confusion amid all the incredible events Pennsylvania is excited to host in 2026," the statement read. "While WrestleMania won¡¯t be here in ¡®26, we look forward to continuing to work with WWE and wrestling fans all across our Commonwealth to bring more great events to PA in the future." WrestleMani XL was hosted in Philadelphia earlier this year and it seemed unlikely that WWE would return to the same host venue and city two years later.

RAW OFFICIALLY STARTS ON NETFLIX ON JANUARY 6

- WWE confirmed yesterday during the post-Bash In Berlin press conference that Raw will officially start on Netflix in the United States and other International countries on Monday, January 6, 2025. The date was expected, but was not officially announced prior to yesterday. The last WWE Raw on USA Network will be held on December 30, 2024. Originally, Raw was supposed to end its association with USA in the beginning of October but with the Netflix deal starting in January, WWE had to take a pay cut to remain on USA for those three months. Smackdown is also moving to USA Network on September 13 so for the next three months, both Raw and Smackdown will be on the same network. NXT moves to The CW on October 1.

BAD BLOOD TO START AN HOUR EARLIER

- The Bad Blood premium live event next month will have an even earlier start time as advertising for the show lists a 6PM ET start instead of 7PM ET. The change, according to PWInsider.com, is because UFC 307 is also happening on the same day on October 5 and will start its pay-per-view portion at 10PM ET. TKO did not want the two events clashing with each other so WWE's show was moved an hour back. Bad Blood will take place from the almost sold-out State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia and will mark the first Bad Blood event since 2004. It will be held on the same day that the first Bad Blood was held in 1997, an event many fans remember for the Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker Hell In A Cell match and the arrival of Kane.

NXT STARS APPEAR AT TNA TV TAPINGS

- NXT stars Arianna Grace and Karmen Petrovic both appeared at the Saturday TNA Impact television tapings held in Louisville, Kentucky. The tapings followed the Emergence TNA+ event which took place on Friday night where another NXT star, Riley Osborne, took part in the Ultimate X match. Earlier in the week, Rosemary made an unannounced appearance on NXT television and lost to Kelani Jordan and tonight, TNA's Zachary Wentz and Joe Hendry will be wrestling at No Mercy. The relationship between NXT and TNA seems like it will be continuing for weeks and perhaps months to come with wrestlers from both brands crossing over.

LISA MARIE VARON SIGNS WWE LEGENDS DEAL

- Lisa Marie Varon, better known to WWE fans as Victoria, revealed that she signed a WWE Legends deal, which sometimes is also referred to as WWE Nostalgic contract by the talent. The 53-year-old California native said that she's honored and excited that WWE reached out to her about it. "It¡¯s a true honor to be part of the WWE Universe again. This doesn¡¯t mean I will be hopping back into the ring," she said, although she added the "never say never quote. The deal will allow her to be involved and featured in upcoming video games, merchandise, and other stuff that WWE does with their Legends, including pay-per-appearance deals and an upfront sum for signing. "Big thank you to WWE and all my fans and supporters, I hope you are excited about this as I am,¡± she concluded. Varon worked for WWE for nine years between 2000 and 2009 and then moved to TNA Wrestling for a few more years after that. She's a former two-time WWE Women's champion.

NIKKI GARCIA PHOTOGRAPHED WITHOUT WEDDING RING

- A casual-looking Nikki Garcia boarded a private plane to Las Vegas yesterday where she will be hosting the Netflix live event special of Chestnut vs Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef. TMZ paparazzi were on hand for Nikki's first public appearance since the arrest of her husband Artem Chigvintsev and the photos revealed that Garcia has dumped her wedding ring. The Dancing With The Stars pro was arrested on Thursday morning in Napa, California and charged with felony corporal injury to spouse or cohabitant. Nikki was confirmed the be the victim of the case. He was released on a $25,000 bail a few hours later. The two have been married since 2022 and have a baby boy, Matteo, together. TMZ, speaking to sources close to the couple, said that they had a very volatile relationship for years before Thursday's climax.

MAIN EVENT OFFICIAL FOR ALL OUT

- A couple of more matches were announced for All Out last night during Collision, with the card now standing with six matches, four of which are for a title. The main event was confirmed with AEW World champion Bryan Danielson making his first defense against TNT champion Jack Perry. Every match for Danielson is now like a retirement one as he said he will call it quits once he loses the title. The other match announced is for the TBS title where champion Mercedes Mone defends her gold against Hikaru Shida. Shida became the number one contender last night when she beat Thunder Rosa, Queen Aminata, and Serena Deeb in a four-way match in the main event of Collision. Shida already wrestled Mone a couple of weeks ago on Dynamite and lost.


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Saturday, August 31, 2024 Issue #7336
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Visited the Bash In Berlin store earlier today at the East Side Mall here in Berlin and we did a short YouTube of what's available. The line was super long to get in and the choices were not that great once inside. But here it goes:

We're early today as I'm heading out to the show!


========================================================


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

BASH IN BERLIN LIVE ON PEACOCK AND WWE NETWORK TODAY

- Live today from the Uber Arena in Berlin, Germany, WWE presents Bash In Berlin on Peacock and WWE Network. The full card is as follows: Gunther vs Randy Orton for the WWE World Heavyweight title; Cody Rhodes vs Kevin Owens for the Undisputed WWE title; Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn vs Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill for the WWE Women's Tag Team titles; Drew McIntyre vs CM Punk in a strap match; Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley vs Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan in a mixed tag team match. The premium live event will start at 1PM ET / 10AM PT / and 7PM local time in Central Europe. The Bash in Berlin Countdown starts two hours earlier and airs on WWE.com, Peacock, WWE Network, and WWE social platforms, including YouTube and TikTok. A press conference headed up by WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque will air immediately following the conclusion of the show.

LUDWIG KAISER ANSWERS LA KNIGHT'S OPEN CHALLENGE

- Raw Superstar Ludwig Kaiser answered LA Knight's open challenge on Smackdown last night for a crack at the United States title. The German-born star received a thunderous ovation as you can expect from the Berlin crowd and despite Knight being super over, it was Kaiser who was treated as the babyface during the match. Before the match started, Kaiser vowed to change the name of the United States title to the European title if he won, but that was not meant to be as Kaiser lost thanks to a BFT. Earlier in his promo, Knight was booed when he mentioned the United States title and the capital city of Washington, DC, and made a joke that people don't have to boo that. Prior to moving to WWE, Kaiser spent six years working for the German-based wXw as Axel Dieter Jr.

GIOVANNI VINCI RETURNING NEXT WEEK

- Former Imperium member Giovanni Vinci will be making his return to Friday Night Smackdown next week. The promo video hyping up his return aired yesterday on Smackdown from Berlin. Vinci has not been seen in five months and last wrestled on the April 22 episode of Raw when The New Day defeated him and Ludwig Kaiser in a tag team match. Kaiser then turned on Vinci with a vicious attack, writing him off television. During the draft, the Italian was moved to Smackdown, moving him from his former Imperium partners who remained on Raw.

PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR SAYS WRESTLEMANIA 42 IS IN PHILLY

- In a video posted on X, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro answered a question of if anything cool is happening in Philly for America's 250th anniversary in 2026. "So get this, in Philly we got the Major League Baseball All-Star game, we got the FIFA World Cup, we got WrestleMania, we got a little golf action, the PGA Championship and if you go over to Pittsburgh, we got the NFL Draft," Shapiro said in the video. WWE has not officially announced where WrestleMania 42 will be taking place but Governor Shapiro has seemingly spilled the beans and that means that WrestleMania returns to Philadelphia just two years after hosting WrestleMania XL. While it is not uncommon for WWE to return to the same stadium for another WrestleMania, returning after two years is not something that has been done. New Orleans' Mercedes-Benz Superdome got WrestleMania four years apart in 2014 and 2018 and that was the closest in-between years. WWE held WrestleMania in the same location back-to-back once, in 1988 and 1989 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. WrestleMania XL was at the Lincoln Financial Field earlier this year and was touted as the biggest WrestleMania of all time. It was, financially, the most successful WrestleMania ever, something that Las Vegas is aiming to break next year.

LATEST BETTING ODDS FOR BASH IN BERLIN

- WWE's Bash In Berlin is just minutes away and with over 13,000 fans in attendance, the Uber Arena is surely going to be loud! Not much has changed in terms of betting odds compared to yesterday but we'll go over each match to give you the latest numbers. Remember, please bet responsibly if you are using real money. Gunther's World Heavyweight title reign is surely going to continue as the Austrian star remains firmly in control with his odds at 1/50 to win while Randy Orton is 9/1 for the huge upset. The Cody Rhodes vs Kevin Owens match for the WWE title shares the exact same odds as the one above, with the champion at 1/50 and favorite to retain and the challenger at 9/1. CM Punk also remains the favorite heading into tonight's strap match with his odds at 1/7 while those of Drew McIntyre are at 15/4. In the mixed tag team match, the team of Damian Priest and Rhea Ripley are favorites with 3/10 odds and The Judgment Day's Dominik Mysterio and Liv Morgan are 11/5. And in the last match, Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill are slight favorites to become the new WWE Women's Tag Team champions with 7/10 odds while The Unholy Union are 21/20 to keep their gold.

COLLISION TO AIR HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH SMACKDOWN NEXT WEEK

- Next week's episode of AEW Collision will be moved to Friday night and will air head-to-head with WWE Smackdown as the All Out pay-per-view is on a Saturday. The show, airing live from the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, will also be followed by a live Rampage in its usual 10PM time slot, making Friday night on TNT a three-hour AEW block. Most AEW pay-per-views will revert to a Saturday night due to the NFL returning, at least until January of next year, so that will mean more Collision vs Smackdown in the future on a more even-playing grounds as both shows will be on cable television. Smackdown next week is the final broadcast ever on the FOX network as the show moves back to USA Network a few weeks earlier.

MERCEDES MONE RETAINS NJPW STRONG WOMEN'S TITLE

- Mercedes Mone successfully defended her NJPW Strong Women's title against Mono Watanabe last night at the NJPW Capital Collision live event which was held in Washington, DC. Mone vs Watanabe main evented the show and she came out with both the NJPW Strong Women's title as well as the TBS title she currently holds for AEW. Mone won the match after she hit the Mone Maker and transitioned into the Statement Maker, with Watanabe tapping out. This was the first time since May 2023 that Mone has wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling where she lost the match against Willow Nightingale in the tournament final to crown the inaugural NJPW Strong Women's champion. She won the title from Stephanie Vaquer at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view this past June.

TNA EMERGENCE RESULTS

- Here are the results from last night's TNA Emergence show which aired live from the Old Forester's Paristown Hall in Louisville, Kentucky on TNA+. Frankie Kazarian defeated Kushida in the pre-show; PCO defeated Shera to retain the TNA Digital Media title in the pre-show; Zachary Wentz defeated Mike Bailey, Hammerstone, Jason Hotch, Laredo Kid, and Riley Osborne in an Ultimate X match to become the new TNA X Division champion; Steve Maclin defeated Eric Young; Jordynne Grace, Dani Luna, and Jody Threat defeated Ash by Elegance, Alisha Edwards, and Masha Slamovich in a six-knockout tag team match; Ace Austin and Chris Bey defeated A. J. Francis and KC Navarro to retain the TNA Tag Team titles; Moose, Brian Myers, JDC, and Eddie Edwards defeated Joe Hendry, Mike Santana, Matt Hardy, and Jeff Hardy in an eight-man tag team match; Nic Nemeth defeated Josh Alexander in a 60-minute Iron Man match to retain the TNA World title.

JBL SHOWS UP AT EMERGENCE

- WWE Hall of Famer John "Bradshaw" Layfield showed up at the TNA Emergence show last night and came out following the Iron Man match main event. JBL walked out slowly sporting a trench coat and cowboy hat, entered the ring and said something in Nic Nemeth's ear and then walked back out. Nemeth then continued to celebrate his 3-2 win against Josh Alexander. The former WWE champion accompanied Nemeth to his AAA Mega title match against Alberto El Patron a few weeks ago in Mexico during AAA's Triplemania show and then showed up at the GCW Homecoming event a week later delivering some clotheslines to Effy. This was his first time appearing in TNA Wrestling. You can see his appearance at .

NIKKI GARCIA CONFIRMED AS THE VICTIM IN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ARREST OF HER HUSBAND

- TMZ reports that it was Nikki Garcia's husband himself, Artem, who dialed 911 early in the morning to report the domestic violence at his house but then later called again to drop it. The website obtained the 911 radio dispatch call which said that the reporting party asked for medical assistance but then said that his wife threw shoes at him and he got into an argument with her. The 911 dispatcher noted that there is a child on scene and he is with his mother and told EMT services to check on the house, but Artem then called again and canceled it. Police still showed up around an hour later and arrested the Dancing With The Stars pro after they found evidence of physical violence on his wife, Nikki. Nikki Garcia's representatives were contacted by various media outlets and responded with, "This is a private matter, and Nikki asks for privacy for her and her family at this time." Nikki is supposed to host the Netflix live event Chestnut vs Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef on Monday.


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Friday, August 30, 2024 Issue #7335
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Hello from Berlin! Smackdown is done and dusted and looking forward to tomorrow's show. Crowd was hot today but not as good as Lyon I might say. I don't think anyone can top Lyon!


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

WWE KICKS OFF TWO-NIGHT BERLIN STAY TODAY

- WWE kicks off its two-night stay in Berlin today with Friday Night Smackdown and Bash In Berlin tomorrow, both shows at the Uber Arena. The two events, surprisingly and not, are not sold out yet, with Smackdown nearing 11,800 tickets and Bash at just under 13,000. Bash should be able to sell out by tomorrow as the arena is configured for just over 13,300 seats. The cheapest tickets remaining for tomorrow's premium live event are priced €480.50 and the most expensive is currently on the floor at €796. Bash In Berlin could very well break the record of the highest grossing arena event in WWE history as the prices of the tickets were extraordinarily high and the bulk of them were sold at those high prices. WWE is also running a store next to the arena with tons of merchandise available for sale. It's open until tomorrow night.

SMACKDOWN PREVIEW

- The Bash In Berlin go-home episode of Smackdown airs tonight on FOX but it will not be a live broadcast as the show has already been taped from Berlin. Two title matches will be part of tonight's broadcast including LA Knight defending his United States title in an open challenge, Baron Corbin and Apollo Crews team up to go against Angel and Berto of Legado del Fantasma, Andrade vs Carmelo Hayes, and a street fight for the WWE Women's title with Nia Jax vs Michin. Also, Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens have a face-to-face segment ahead of their match tomorrow night.

NIKKI CROSS SIGNS NEW WWE DEAL

- Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Wrestling is reporting that Nikki Cross has signed a new multi-year deal with WWE. Cross is now a member of the Wyatt Sicks faction after she was unused for several months. In fact, Cross has not wrestled on television since the November 2023 episode of Raw and prior to that most of her appearances were on Main Event. The Scottish star is now portraying the role of Sister Abigail but has yet to wrestle under that gimmick. The 35-year-old has been working for WWE since 2016 and is a former Raw, Tag Team, and 24/7 champion as well as the 2021 Money in the Bank winner.

EARLY BETTING ODDS FOR BASH IN BERLIN

- WWE is back on Peacock and WWE Network tomorrow afternoon with Bash In Berlin. It's a fairly small card so we are giving you the early odds for all the matches below and tomorrow morning we will update them with the latest ones. Remember, these odds will likely change. Cody Rhodes is the overwhelming favorite to retain the Undisputed WWE title with his odds set at 1/50. Kevin Owens is at a very, very distant #2 with 9/1 odds and it's safe to say that KO will not walk out champion. Interestingly enough, the same odds as above are attributed to the WWE World Heavyweight title match and champion Gunther is also 1/50 favorite to keep the title and Orton is 9/1. In the strap match, CM Punk is the big favorite with his odds at 1/7 while those of Drew McIntyre are at 4/1 for him to go 2-0 on Punk. Rhea Ripley and Damian Priest will walk into Berlin as favorites as their odds are 3/10 compared to those of Liv Morgan and Dom Mysterio who are at 9/4. New WWE Women's Tag Team champions are predicted as the team of Bianca Belair and Jade Cargill are the slight favorites with 8/11 odds while The Unholy Union team is 1/1 to retain.

EMERGENCE 2024 LIVE ON TNA+ TONIGHT

- Live tonight from Old Forester's Paristown Hall in Louisville, Kentucky, TNA Wrestling presents Emergence exclusively on TNA+. The full card is as follows: Nic Nemeth vs Josh Alexander in a 60-minute Iron Man match for the TNA World title; Mike Bailey vs Zachary Wentz vs Riley Osborne vs Jason Hotch vs Hammerstone vs Laredo Kid in an Ultimate X match for the TNA X Division title; Joe Hendry, Mike Santana, Matt Hardy, and Jeff Hardy vs Moose, Eddie Edwards, Brian Myers, and JDC in an eight-man tag team match; Jordynne Grace, Dani Luna and Jody Threat vs Ash by Elegance, Alisha Edwards, and Masha Slamovich in a six-knockout tag team match; Steve Maclin vs Eric Young; Kushida vs Frankie Kazarian in the pre-show; and PCO vs mystery opponent for the TNA Digital Media title in the pre-show. A TNA+ subscription is required to watch the show starting at 8PM ET. A subscription is $9.99 a month and you can cancel at any time.

MORE DETAILS RELEASED ON NIKKI GARCIA'S HUSBAND ARREST

- TMZ had an update on the arrest of Artem Chigvintsev, the husband of WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Garcia. According to the Napa County Sheriff's office, deputies responded to a domestic violence call in the town of Yountville before 10AM yesterday. Chigvintsev was arrested at the scene as there were injuries visible on the victim. The Sheriff's office also said that the victim in this case has asked for confidentiality although the report said that he was arrested for "felony corporal injury to spouse or cohabitant." An earlier TMZ update stated that someone from the house that Artem and Nikki share called 911 for a medical emergency around 8:30AM but as paramedics and fire department were on the way, another call from the same house came in to cancel the request. The first responders turned around as requested and did not show up at the house. Public records show that Chigvintsev was booked in jail at 10:40AM, 41 minutes after law enforcement officials responded to the call. The 42-year-old had a $25,000 bail, which was posted at 2:18PM yesterday so he spent just over 3 hours locked up. The couple, who live in Napa Valley, have been married since 2022 and have a four-year-old son together. Nikki is supposed to co-host a Netflix live event on Monday.

DYNAMITE RATING

- The post-All In Dynamite this week drew 691,000 viewers, down just 7,000 viewers from the prior week, experiencing no bump from the pay-per-view. The show had a 0.22 rating in 18-49, down 0.02 from the previous episode but still was #1 on the top 50 cable chart for the day. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

BATTLE OF THE BELTS XII SET FOR OCTOBER 17

- Fans attending the October 17 taping of Collision will get to enjoy an extra hour of action as the Battle of the Belts XII event will be taping immediately following the conclusion of Collision. This show will be taking place from the Adventist Health Arena in Stockton, California. It's a Thursday night taping so neither Collision nor BOTB will be live, and they will both air on October 19. The night before, Dynamite will be held close by in San Jose at the SAP Center so this will be part of back-to-back TV tapings. Tickets for the show will go on sale on September 6.



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Thursday, August 29, 2024 Issue #7334
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

I am off to Berlin tomorrow morning for Bash In Berlin so hopefully I will have some photos and videos up on our social media. I will be at both shows and will be checking out the store on Saturday. Talk to you next time from Germany!


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

VINCE MCMAHON DOCUSERIES ON NETFLIX OUT ON SEPTEMBER 25

- Streaming giant Netflix announced that the six-part docuseries on Vince McMahon, titled Mr. McMahon, will premiere on Wednesday, September 25. The long-awaited series, directed by Bill Simmons and from executive producer Chris Smith, will chronicle the rise and fall of the former WWE Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "The goal behind 'Mr. McMahon' was to pull back the curtain and reveal the true Vince McMahon, obscured beneath the persona he presented to the world," producer Chris Smith said. "Over the four years of production, the story evolved in truly shocking ways, culminating in some extremely harrowing allegations. The final product is a revealing documentary that we believe offers a rich and nuanced portrait of the man and the complex legacy he left behind." The full synopsis describing the series reads as follows, "From his transformation of the WWE from a small, regional business into a global entertainment powerhouse to the explosive sexual misconduct allegations that led to his eventual resignation, this six-episode series offers a deep dive into McMahon¡¯s life and his enduring franchise. Culled from over 200 hours of interviews with McMahon himself (prior to his resignation), his family members, business associates and some of the most iconic names in wrestling history, as well as the journalists who uncovered McMahon¡¯s allegations ¡ª filmmaker Chris Smith (¡®Tiger King¡¯) and executive producer Bill Simmons (¡¯30 for 30¡ä) present an unflinching, no-holds-barred look at one of the most enigmatic figures in sports entertainment." Now estranged from the company he helped build into a multi-billion dollar empire, McMahon is the subject of a sex trafficking lawsuit and a Department of Justice investigation. The official poster of the series has the words "mastermind" and "madman" with Vince McMahon pulling strings on...Vince McMahon. The poster can be seen at .

NIKKI GARCIA'S HUSBAND ARTEM ARRESTED

- Nikki Garcia's husband, Dancing With The Stars pro Artem Chingvintsev, has been arrested in Napa, California, and charged with felony domestic violence. TMZ.COM states that Chingvintsev is currently in Napa County Jail but has no further details on what happened. WWE Hall of Famer Nikki and Artem live in Napa Valley and celebrated their wedding anniversary earlier this week. The two got married in 2022 after meeting on DWTS in 2019. The couple have one son together, Matteo, who is four years old.

MORE MATCHES ANNOUNCED FOR ALL OUT

- More matches have been announced for the All Out pay-per-view which is set for Saturday, September 7 live from the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Former AEW American champion MJF will be taking on Daniel Garcia as Garcia looks to get revenge on MJF for turning on him after he lost his title opportunity against Will Ospreay several weeks ago on Dynamite. Garcia cost MJF the American title at All In, helping Will Ospreay win by distracting the then champion. Garcia had been MIA since the July 3 episode of Dynamite. Also, the highly-anticipated third chapter in the Hangman Page vs Swerve Strickland feud will be contested inside a steel cage. The two already have two matches against each other, with Strickland winning both of them. Their first match was at WrestleDream and their second bout was at Full Gear. In related All Out news, TNT champion Jack Perry was the first one to answer Bryan Danielson's challenge and requested a title match at All Out. The match has not been made official yet.

DANIELSON SAYS HE WILL RETIRE WHEN HE LOSE AEW TITLE

- AEW World champion Bryan Danielson announced on Dynamite that every match he has defending the title could potentially be his last one as once he loses the title, he's going to call it quits. Danielson said that he's going to be a fighting champion and will not retire as the champion and challenged the AEW locker room to try and end his career. The champion admitted that he requires neck surgery soon and he is wrestling in AEW without a contract as his full-time deal expired on August 1. Danielson previously noted that he is expecting to stay with the company in some capacity after he retires from the ring and did not close the door on having one off matches after that.

JON MOXLEY RETURNS TO AEW

- For the first time since Forbidden Door, Jon Moxley showed up on Dynamite last night and caused more people to scratch their heads than ever before. The former multi-time AEW champion was briefly interviewed by Tony Schiavone in the ring and called out Darby Allin, seemingly the first opponent he's going to work with. But before the segment was over, Mox had one more thing to say. Speaking directly to Schiavone, Moxley said, "It's going to take some time for everybody to wrap their brains around this, but we're going to get started now. This is not your company anymore!" Later in the broadcast, Marina Shafir aligned herself with Moxley after Shafir attacked several security personnel backstage when Moxley was looking for a fight. You can see his return at .

RAW TO BE HELD IN SAUDI ARABIA

- A press release issued by the Saudi Arabia General Entertainment Authority chief Turki Alalshikh revealed that Raw will take place in Riyadh later this year when the company goes over for the yearly Crown Jewel show. The Crown Jewel premium live event will take place on Saturday, November 2 and the press release says that the events will be back-to-back, meaning that Raw on November 4 will be a taped episode which will be recorded the day before. "The WWE Crown Jewel & Raw show, set to take place over two consecutive days, this event will be one of the global events hosted by Riyadh Season this year, carrying on its annual tradition featuring a stronger lineup of wrestlers within the most powerful, comprehensive, and diverse entertainment season in the world," the press release states. WWE already held Smackdown before the King and Queen of the Ring premium live event in May and the company often tapes Smackdown when they go for overseas PLEs, but Raw is always held in North America. Alalshikh announced that Riyadh Season 2024 will host 11 world championships and 10 exhibitions and festivals.

NXT RATING

- The No Mercy go-home episode of NXT this week drew 615,000 viewers, down 24,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had a 0.17 rating in 18-49, down 0.01 from the previous show and was #3 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

SID VICIOUS HAD STAGE 4 NON-HODGKIN'S LYMPHOMA, SON SAYS

- In a post on his Facebook profile, Sid's son Gunnar Eudy gave an update on his father's death, revealing two previously unknown conditions. Gunnar wrote that Sid was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and atrial fibrillation in 2016 and walked around with a pacemaker. But five years later in 2021, the former WWF and WCW champion received news that he had stage 4 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. "Although he never told anyone about his fight against cancer, Sid lived his life to the fullest, attending the gym, boxing classes, making appearances for his fans, and of course t-ball games for the kids," he wrote. He added that his father passed away peacefully in his bed and left behind a legacy of strength and determination. "I've never met anyone with a fraction of the strength as my father he truly was one of a kind," he continued, thanking all the fans for the uplifting words and love shown in the thousands of messages the family received.

KAYLA BECKER SAYS FULL-TIME WRESTLING CAREER IS OVER

- Speaking to Chris Van Vliet, former Smackdown backstage correspondent and WWE host Kyla Braxton said that her full-time career working in professional wrestling is over, but would not mind popping in for a cameo. Braxton, who is now using her real name of Kayla Becker, said that most wrestling fans think that when a female leaves WWE, the only option is AEW or open OnlyFans. "It¡¯s like the only two options that they think that you have," she said, admitting that wrestling will always be a love of hers and those who work there will always be part of her family. "I just really didn¡¯t want to pigeonhole myself as a host and a broadcaster and just see what else I can do out there," she added. "I mean, there¡¯s always the possibility that maybe I pop back in for a fun cameo or something down the road. But yeah, I think my time is done." The 33-year-old worked for WWE for eight years and wrapped up her commitments for the company with the June 28 episode of Friday Night Smackdown from Madison Square Garden in New York. She is currently doing acting work.


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Wednesday, August 28, 2024 Issue #7333
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Today we reached 50,000 followers on our Facebook. That's a fantastic milestone number and I thank you for pushing us over that number. If you still haven't followed us, you can do so by going to .

I know yesterday's newsletter was delivered just hours ago...my bad! Forgot to approve it!

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

- New AEW World champion Bryan Danielson will be addressing his wrestling future tonight live on Dynamite, three days after winning the title against Swerve Strickland in a fairytale ending. Speaking of Strickland, the now former champion will be in the house also for his first comments since losing the title at All In and newly-crowned AEW Women's champion Mariah May will have a championship celebration. Matches announced for tonight include Tomohiro Ishii vs Hangman Adam Page, Ricochet vs Kyle Fletcher, Jamie Hayter vs Harley Cameron, and an eight-man tag team match featuring Chris Jericho, Big Bill, Bryan Keith, and Roderick Strong vs Hook, Orange Cassidy, Kyle O'Reilly and Mark Briscoe.

AEW INTERNATIONAL TITLE MATCH AT ALL OUT

- The second match for the upcoming All Out pay-per-view was announced yesterday. The AEW International title will be on the line as new champion Will Ospreay will defend against one third of the AEW Trios champions, Pac. The other match announced so far is Willow Nightingale defending the CMLL Women's title against Kris Statlander. The match will have a stipulation which will be decided by Nightingale. The show is fast approaching with a September 7 date and AEW will shift its focus to All Out starting with tonight's Dynamite. The show will take place from the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

COLLISION RATING

- Collision this past Saturday on the eve of All In drew 442,000 viewers, up 36,000 viewers from the previous week. This was the most-viewed show in a month. Collision drew a 0.13 rating in 18-49, the same as last week's number. No cable ranking information is available. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)

RAW RATING

- WWE Raw climbed back in the ratings for the Bash In Berlin go-home episode, with an average of 1,796,000 viewers, up 155,000 viewers from the prior week. The show started with 1,889,000 viewers and then dropped slightly to 1,848,000 viewers before ending the night with 1,652,000 viewers. Raw had a 0.59, 0.57, and 0.53 ratings respectively for an average of 0.56, up 0.06 from the previous week. Raw was #1 on both cable and network television, almost doubling its nearest competitor on ABC. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

SPECIAL GUEST REFEREE ASSIGNED FOR NO MERCY MAIN EVENT

- The NXT title match at No Mercy this Sunday will have a special guest referee in the form of former NXT champion himself, Trick Williams. Williams will now referee Ethan Page vs Joe Hendry after NXT General Manager Ava revealed the news during the show-closing angle last night on NXT on USA Network. The 30-year-old lost the NXT title in a fatal four-way match at NXT Heatwave which also involved Je'Von Evans, Shawn Spears, and Page. He held the title for a total of 75 day, winning it from Ilja Dragunov on night one of NXT Spring Breakin'.

ROSEMARY MAKES SURPRISE APPEARANCE ON NXT

- TNA's Rosemary made a surprise appearance on NXT on USA Network last night and was the opponent for Kelani Jordan. Rosemary was Wendy Choo's choice to take on Jordan but the TNA star fell short in her quest to defeat the NXT North American Women's champion. Choo still had the last laugh and locked Jordan in a chokehold to end the segment. Choo is set to take on Jordan for the title this Sunday at NXT No Mercy. After her appearance, Rosemary posted on X, "If you cannot hear the Hive.. Go out and make them Louder.. That¡¯s better.. Hello, #WWENXT.. and Welcome to the Hive.. Wendy¡¯s promised such fun.."

WADE BARRETT TO MOVE TO RAW COMMENTARY TEAM

- The Sports Business Journal is reporting that WWE has confirmed to them that Wade Barrett will be joining Joe Tessitore as the new Raw commentary team starting September 2. Tessitore, who signed with WWE in July, appeared for the first time on WWE television during the SummerSlam pre-show where he was introduced by Michael Cole. As reported yesterday, Michael Cole and Corey Graves will be doing commentary for Smackdown once it moves to USA Network on Friday, September 13. Cole is expected to return to Raw in January along with Pat McAfee, with the two Raw commentators moving the opposite direction. Tessitore is a life-long wrestling fan and is a big part of the ESPN football announce team.


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Tuesday, August 27, 2024 Issue #7332
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Sad news that another legend, Sid, passed away yesterday. Didn't even know he was sick.


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FORMER WCW AND WWE STAR SID VICIOUS PASSES AWAY

- Gunnar Eudy, the son of former WCW and WWE star Sycho Sid, wrote on his Facebook that his father passed away. "I am deeply saddened to share that my father, Sid Eudy, has passed away after battling cancer for several years," Gunnar wrote. "He was a man of strength, kindness, and love, and his presence will be greatly missed. We appreciate your thoughts and prayers as we grieve this loss. Details for a memorial service will be shared soon. Thank you for your support." The 63-year-old started his professional wrestling career in 1987 with Continental Championship Wrestling and two years later he found himself in WCW where he teamed up with Danny Spivey to form The Skyscrapers tag team. A year later, he was revealed as the newest member of The Four Horsemen where he remained a member until he left WCW for WWF. In 1991, Sid made his WWF debut as Sid Justice and was the special guest referee for the SummerSlam main event between Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior vs The Triangle of Terror. His work that night also involved saving Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth from an attack by Jake "The Snake" Roberts and The Undertaker. Sid turned heel in early 1992 and started a feud with Hulk Hogan after he helped eliminate Hogan from the Royal Rumble, giving Ric Flair the win and the WWF title. Their feud culminated at WrestleMania in a match that saw the return of the Ultimate Warrior. Sid left the WWF in April of that year and returned to WCW in 1993 but his stint there was short lived after he had an altercation backstage with Arn Anderson. He returned to the WWF for two years between 1995 and 1997 where he became the WWF champion twice, losing the titles to Shawn Michaels at the 1997 Royal Rumble and a few months later again at WrestleMania 13 to The Undertaker. He would leave the company in the Summer of 1997 and after runs on the independent circuit and ECW, he went back to WCW where he won the World Heavyweight title. He suffered a nasty leg injury in 2001, coming off the top rope and snapping his leg during a match at the Sin pay-per-view, effectively ending his in-ring career. He last appeared on WWE television on the 1000th episode of Monday Night Raw.

WRESTLING WORLD MOURNS THE LOSS OF SID

- The wrestling world paid tribute to former WWF and WCW champion Sid Eudy after news of his passing was announced by his son yesterday afternoon. WWE led the tributes with a message on social media, a post on WWE.COM, and a beautiful video which aired on Raw. "WWE is saddened to learn that Sid Eudy has passed away. WWE extends its condolences to Eudy¡¯s family, friends and fans," the message said. WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque added, "A two-time WWE Champion. The Master and Ruler of the World. Few performers in the history of our business have had the look, intensity and ability to connect with the audience quite like Sid. My thoughts are with Sid's family, friends and fans." All Elite Wrestling posted a graphic of Sid Vicious and wrote, "AEW and the wrestling world mourn the passing of the legendary Sid ¡°Vicious¡± Eudy. Our thoughts are with his family, his friends and his fans." TNA Wrestling added, "We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of the legendary Sid Vicious. A true powerhouse and unforgettable force in the ring, his legacy will forever be remembered in the world of professional wrestling." Others that have worked with him, including the likes of Shawn Michaels, Sting, Ric Flair, and more also posted tributes to Sid on social media which you can read at .

USO AND DUNNE ADVANCE IN IC TITLE TOURNAMENT

- Jey Uso and Pete Dunne have advanced in the WWE Intercontinental title #1 contender tournament. Uso defeated Karrion Kross and Kofi Kingston in the first match and then Dunne defeated Xavier Woods and The Miz in the second triple threat match. Next week, the final two competitors will advance with Ilja Dargunov vs Dragon Lee vs Dominik Mysterio in the first match and Sheamus vs Bronson Reed vs Ludwig Kaiser in the other match. Both matches will take place on the post-Bash In Berlin Raw. All the winners will then meet in a fatal four-way match to see who will be taking on Bron Breakker next.

COLE AND GRAVES TO CALL SMACKDOWN ON USA

- Michael Cole and Corey Graves will be reuniting on the commentary table as the two will be calling Smackdown when the show returns to USA Network. The premiere episode will be Friday, September 13, and Cole will return to Raw when it moves to Netflix in January 2025. With Pat McAfee away for the next five months, Corey Graves served as his replacement on yesterday's broadcast. New WWE commentator and ESPN's own Joe Tessitore will be taking over Monday Night Raw with the Monday, September 2 episode. His partner has not been announced yet. He is scheduled to move to Smackdown after college football ends in January.

SMACKDOWN RATING

- Smackdown drew 2,050,000 viewers last Friday on FOX, down 202,000 viewers from the prior week for the least-watched episode since June 14. The show had a lot of pre emptions in many markets due to NFL pre-season games. Smackdown had a 0.56 rating in 18-49, down 0.05 from last week but was #1 in all of television for the night. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

BASH IN BERLIN STORE OPENS THURSDAY

- The Bash In Berlin store will open at the East Side Mall next to the Uber Arena this Thursday and will remain open until Saturday. Located at 11 Tamara-Danz-Stra?e, the store will contain exclusive merchandise, replica championship titles, Superstar apparel, signed memorabilia, collectibles, mini-titles and so much more. Store hours are Thursday from 10AM to 8PM, Friday from 10AM to 8PM, and Saturday from 10AM to 8PM. In addition, there will be two meet and greets, with Chelsea Green appearing on Thursday at 4:30PM and Carmelo Hayes on Friday at Noon. A wristband is needed for meet and greets which are free but limited.

JESSE VENTURA SAYS HE'S ON THE VERGE OF WWE LEGENDS DEAL

- In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, WWE Hall of Famer Jesse Ventura said that he is on the verge of signing a Legends deal with WWE, ending his 15-year exile from the company. Asked about his relationship with WWE is at the moment, Ventura said it has "much improved" compared to the previous years where he wanted nothing to do with the company as long as Vince McMahon was heading it. "We are on the verge right now, I can say this, that contracts have been written, contracts have been agreed upon, and all it requires is two signatures, one from them, and one from me," Ventura said. "And I will be back with the Legends.¡± He noted that the deal will be done fairly quickly because "time is money." Ventura visited WWE during Raw last month in his home state of Minnesota, a state where he was a governor between 1998 and 2003. He was greeted by WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H upon his arrival and mingled with the rest of the Superstars backstage. His visit was also mentioned on the show, with Michael Cole welcoming "The Body" back home.

RAMPAGE RATING

- Rampage on TNT drew 290,000 viewers last Friday, down 5,000 viewers from the prior week. Rampage had a 0.10 rating in 18-49, the same as last week. No cable ranking information is available. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)

RICOCHET'S FIRST ONE-ON-ONE AEW MATCH TOMORROW

- Ricochet will be making his Dynamite debut tomorrow night on TBS and is facing Kyle Fletcher in his first one-on-one match in AEW. The former WWE Intercontinental champion made his AEW debut on Sunday during the Casino Gauntlet match at All In, receiving a massive ovation from the crowd. Ricochet signed a multi-year deal with the company last week and was expected to make his debut in Wembley. He comes to AEW after a six-year stint in WWE.


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Monday, August 26, 2024 Issue #7331
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

I really enjoyed watching All In yesterday. I liked the flow of the show, they went from one match to another with barely time to breathe but if they didn't do it, it would have lasted five hours or more. Some solid matches, some great moments, and overall a top-to-bottom enjoyable four-hour show.


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ALL IN 2024 RESULTS

- Here are the results from All In 20204 which took place live on pay-per-view from Wembley Stadium in London, England. ZERO HOUR: Tommy Billington, Kip Sabian, Rocky Romero, Kyle Fletcher, Lio Rush, Action Andretti, and Top Flight defeated Jay Lethal, Satnam Singh, Anthony Ogogo, Ariya Daivari, Private Party, and The Dark Order in a 16-man tag team match; Willow Nightingale and Tomohiro Ishii defeated Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway; Dustin Rhodes, Sammy Guevara, Katsuyori Shibata, and The Von Erichs defeated Undisputed Kingdom and Cage of Agony in a 10-man tag team match. PPV: Pac and Blackpool Combat Club defeated The Patriarchy, House of Black, and The Bang Bang Gang in a four-way London ladder match to become the new AEW Trios tag team champions; Mariah May defeated Toni Storm to become the new AEW Women's champion; Hook defeated Chris Jericho to become the new FTW champion; The Young Bucks defeated The Acclaimed and FTR in a three-way match to retain the AEW Tag Team titles; Christian Cage defeated Orange Cassidy, Kazuchika Okada, Nigel McGuinness, Kyle O'Reilly, Zack Sabre Jr., Roderick Strong, Mark Briscoe, "Hangman" Adam Page, Jeff Jarrett, Ricochet, and Killswitch in the Casino Gauntlet match to earn a future AEW World title shot; Will Ospreay defeated MJF to become the new AEW International champion; Mercedes Mone defeated Britt Baker to retain the AEW Women's title; Jack Perry defeated Darby Allin in a coffin match to retain the TNT title; Bryan Danielson defeated Swerve Strickland to become the new AEW World champion.

FIVE NEW CHAMPIONS CROWNED AT ALL IN

- Five new champions were crowned at All In at Wembley Stadium, with just three champions managing to keep their hardware. Apart from The Young Bucks, Jack Perry, and Mercedes Mone, all the other champions are leaving London with less items in their carry-on luggage with several "changing of the guard" moments throughout the four-hour broadcast. There are new AEW Trios tag team champs in town as Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, and Pac won the four-way London ladder match, ending The Patriarchy's reign. It was Pac, who was originally scheduled to team up with the Lucha Bros in this match, who grabbed one of the titles to secure the victory. The timeless era is over as Toni Storm's reign of 281 days as AEW Women's champion came to a halt at All In, with Mariah May defeating her former friend. Storm won the title from Hikaru Shida back in November 2023 at Full Gear and had a very successful run with the belt, climbing to the second place of the most with combined days behind Shida. This is May's first run with a title in AEW since she signed with the promotion. Hook became a three-time FTW champion after he beat Chris Jericho in a last chance match. Hook's odds were greatly against him with Bryan Keith and Big Bill constantly interfering but Hook's dad, Taz, had enough on commentary at one point and locked in the Tazmission on Keith as his son did the same on Jericho, who tapped out. Britain's favorite Will Ospreay had a classic match with MJF which resulted in a new champion being crowned. Ospreay won the match after hitting the Tiger Driver and a little assist from the returning Daniel Garcia. The AEW American title is now no more and the AEW International title is back as Ospreay didn't even want to touch it after he won. Christopher Daniels ran down to hand Ospreay the original title. Needless to say, Ospreay was the true star of this show and was over like crazy. And to finish off the pay-per-view, Bryan Danielson won his first AEW World title after he defeated Swerve Strickland in a career vs title match with his family by his side. Danielson, sporting a crimson mask, made Strickland tap out to send the Wembley crowd into frenzy. The crowd was firmly behind the American Dragon, popping for every time he breaks the pinfall and chanting "Yes! Yes! Yes!" throughout the match. After the match was over, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, and Pac came out to celebrate with Bryan. His wife Brie, daughter Birdie, and son Buddy also joined in the ring, with the two kids clearly enjoying themselves even though it was probably way past their bed time!

STING RETURNS AT ALL IN

- The Icon Sting made his first appearance in AEW since his retirement match in March, coming to the aid of Darby Allin who was about to be set on fire in a coffin. After Jack Perry defeated Allin, The Young Bucks came out to help Perry dump gasoline inside and on the coffin with the aim to light him up on fire. But as Perry got fire, the lights went out and the popular Seek and Destroy song hit the speakers. Sting came out, holding a baseball bat and The Bucks and Perry backed off in the ring. Sting got in the ring and swung his bat as the heels tried to fend him off. Perry hit him with a steel chair and Sting no sold the shot and Perry ran out. The Bucks then were on the receiving end of a double Scorpion Death Drop. Sting exited the ring and helped Allin out of the coffin to end the segment on a happier note. Allin and Sting defeated The Young Bucks in the main event of AEW Revolution in March, retaining their tag team titles and sending Sting into retirement with a perfect record.

NIGEL MCGUINNESS RETURNS TO THE RING

- Nigel McGuinness returned to the ring for the first time since 2011 and participated in the Casino Gauntlet match. McGuinness came in as the third entrant and immediately faced off with AEW Continental champion Kazuchika Okada. As you can imagine, the crowd went absolutely bonkers with several soccer-related and "F*ck him up Nigel, f*ck him up" chants. He even had a face-to-face with another surprise entrant, Zack Sabre Jr which got the Wembley crowd on its feet. The 48-year-old did commentary on the show but was replaced by Taz after the AEW Women's title match, where he even received a kiss by Mariah May. McGuinness, an ROH mainstay, last wrestled in December 2011. He has been part of AEW since April 2023.

RICOCHET MAKES AEW DEBUT

- Ricochet made his AEW debut at All In and was a surprise entrant in the Casino Gauntlet match. He came out when "Hangman" Adam Page was standing in the ring alone and when the "R" came up on the video screen, the fans erupted. Wearing black and gold ring gear, the former WWE Intercontinental champion lit the match on fire with several high spots. After he made his way out, AEW President Tony Khan posted the usual "is All Elite" message on X, welcoming Ricochet to the company. News broke earlier this week that Ricochet signed a multi-year deal and was expected in London. The man behind the name, Trevor Mann, actually owns the trademark Ricochet which is why he was allowed to use the name in AEW as well. The former WWE Intercontinental champion left WWE in late June of this year after a six-year stint, opting not to sign a new deal. He was written off television after he was brutally attacked by Bron Breakker.

JAMIE HAYTER RETURNS AFTER 15 MONTHS OUT

- Former AEW Women's champion Jamie Hayter returned during the Zero Hour portion of the All In pay-per-view. Hayter interrupted an in-ring segment featuring Saraya, the whole Knight family, and Haley Cameron. Saraya was complaining about not having a match on the show when last year she won the AEW Women's title and how she was the best female wrestler from England. At that point, Hayter's music hit to a big pop from the crowd and took out everyone, although Saraya managed to escape undamaged. Hayter has been out of action since May 2023 and last wrestled at Double or Nothing, losing her title to Toni Storm. She had a long shoulder injury which kept her out of action for the past 15 months.

DANIEL GARCIA RETURNS AT ALL IN

- Daniel Garcia returned at All In last night and caused a distraction to MJF which led to Will Ospreay taking advantage and beat him to become the new AEW International champion. The 25-year-old last appeared on AEW television on the July 3 episode of Dynamite, losing to Ospreay and then MJF turned heel on him after the match. Garcia's disappearance was due to his contract negotiations with the company as he had not signed a new deal and the MJF beatdown served as an exit for him if he had decided to leave. While it's unclear when Garcia's deal is up, the fact that he was brought back at All In suggests that the two sides are either close to or have agreed to a new contract. AEW President Tony Khan was asked about Garcia in the post-show press conference, with Khan saying that Garcia is a great part of AEW and has been with the company for a long time, but failed to give any real update. "Without saying exactly what's going on, it's a good sign that he was here," Khan said. "And really great to have him come and take that next step tonight after what happened with him and MJF, and Will Ospreay being involved in the International title, it was a great payoff to a lot of storytelling in the recent weeks on Dynamite."

AEW TO HOLD STADIUM SHOW IN AUSTRALIA IN FEBRUARY

- AEW announced that it will be visiting Down Under for the very first time on February 15, 2025 for AEW Grand Slam: Australia. The show will be held at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, a facility which has a capacity of just over 52,000 seats. The Saturday show seems to be a pay-per-view event and takes the name of the usual September Dynamite which is held at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. This year's Dynamite: Grand Slam has struggled big time when it comes to ticket sales and has not even reached 5,000 tickets sold so far.

FORBIDDEN DOOR IN LONDON TO BE HELD IN AUGUST

- AEW officially announced Forbidden Door to be taking place from London, England on August 24, 2025. The show is typically held in June but with All In moving to July to Arlington, Texas, Forbidden Door took All In's bank holiday weekend date instead. What's interesting is that AEW did not mention the arena where the show will be held, opting to just announce London. This is the first Forbidden Door outside North America, with the first one being held in Chicago, the second in Toronto, and this year's in New York. News of the show moving to London next year was spoiled by advertising outside Wembley Stadium this weekend.

COLLISION LOCKER ROOM "EASIER" AND "IN MUCH BETTER PLACE" THAN LAST YEAR

- Speaking at the post-show press conference, AEW President Tony Khan said that the environment backstage at Collision is "easier" than it was a year ago, and the locker room is "in a much better place," taking an obvious swipe at CM Punk without mentioning his name. Up until a year ago, Collision was pretty much a CM Punk show, with his rules on who appears or not. That came to an end at All In when he ended up in a fight with Jack Perry backstage which ultimately led to his firing from the company. "As evidenced by when we came up here versus what happened here a year ago, I think it¡¯s a much easier job I have because I had to deal with the people on Collision last year and it¡¯s a much easier meeting process to put the TV together than it was a year ago at this time," Khan continued. During All In, Jack Perry had broken glass with him which he used in the coffin match with fans chanting "Oh cry me a river" and "F*ck CM Punk" along the way.

BRYAN DANIELSON SAYS ALL IN WAS THE FAVORITE MOMENT OF HIS WRESTLING CAREER

- With his daughter Birdie sitting on his lap, Bryan Danielson explained how All In was the favorite moment of his wrestling career, 10 years after having a similar moment at WrestleMania. During the post-All In press conference, Danielson said that this was the first time that his daughter remembers him wrestling and it was the first time that his son Buddy saw him in the ring. "People ask me all the time what my favorite moment is in wrestling and I can never give them one answer because I¡¯ve loved all of it," he said. "But this is the first time she [looking at Birdie] remembers seeing me wrestle live. This is the first time my son has ever seen me wrestle live. And without a doubt, that was my favorite moment in my entire career." The new champion said that he will be at this week's Dynamite and while he hasn't thought about his future, he might have an announcement come Wednesday. He also put over Swerve Strickland, saying he was a great champion and is a great human being. Danielson is without a contract with AEW and requires surgery on his neck fairly soon. He plans on remaining with AEW for the foreseeable future, although he doesn't plan to wrestle often.

GIULIA WRAPS UP MARIGOLD COMMITMENTS, ON THE WAY TO WWE

- Japanese star Giulia wrapped up her Marigold commitments and is now on the way to the United States to start her career with WWE. Giulia wrestled her final matches last night at the Marigold Summer Gold Shine event in Tokyo, taking on 25 other women in the Giulia Gauntlet match. Each match had a one-minute time limit and offered her the chance to wrestle some of the best Japanese wrestlers before she heads Stateside. "Thank you for all the love," she later posted on X. "We're all connected forever!" Meanwhile, Marigold announced that they will be holding their first event in the United States in Las Vegas during WrestleMania weekend, with Marigold chief Rossy Ogawa hoping that Giulia's presence in WWE will help them get more exposure.

KEVIN OWENS WITH JUST A FEW MONTHS LEFT ON HIS CURRENT WWE DEAL

- In an interview with Sports Illustrated, former WWE Universal champion Kevin Owens revealed that the only new update about his current WWE contract from the last time he talked about it in May is that it now has less time on it. Owens' deal is believed to run out early in 2025, with January or February the rumored months, leaving him just a few months left to go. He signed a relatively big-money deal back in late 2021 and is now worth definitely more. The 40-year-old has been signed to the company since 2014, with this year marking a decade with the promotion where he won the Universal, Intercontinental, Raw and Smackdown Tag Team, United States, and NXT titles. Owens has often claimed publicly that he would love to continue working for WWE but with a proper alternative in AEW, Owens will certainly be in demand as his deal gets closer to an expiry.

TNA ENDING YOUTUBE INSIDERS, MOVING SOLELY TO TNA+

- TNA will be ending its YouTube Insiders membership to drive subscribers to the TNA+ subscription service. The last day for the TNA YouTube Insiders is Friday, August 30. All active paying members will receive a refund of their last payment. Anyone who subscribes to TNA+ World Champion plan for a whole year will be receiving the Bound For Glory pay-per-view for free. The plan costs $219.99 for 12 months and includes all the pay-per-view events, all the TNA+ exclusive events, live episodes of Impact, and full TNA library. The Special Attraction annual subscription is $95.99 and includes everything above without the live pay-per-views and this plan is also available for $9.99 a month. To take the special offer, use the BFGFREE promo code for $40 off by Tuesday, September 3 when signing up at .


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Sunday, August 25, 2024 Issue #7330
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Happy All In day to all those who celebrate it! I will be watching live and dropping some comments on X along the way.


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
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ALL IN LIVE ON PAY-PER-VIEW TODAY

- Live today from Wembley Stadium in London, England, AEW presents All In 2024 on pay-per-view. The full card is as follows: ZERO HOUR: Kris Statlander and Stokely Hathaway vs Willow Nightingale and Tomohiro Ishii in a mixed tag team match; Dustin Rhodes, Sammy Guevara, Katsuyori Shibata, and The Von Erichs vs The Undisputed Kingdom and Cage of Agony in a 10-man tag team match. Swerve Strickland vs Bryan Danielson in a title vs career match for the AEW World title; Toni Storm vs Mariah May for the AEW Women's title; MJF vs Will Ospreay for the AEW American title; Mercedes Mone vs Britt Baker for TBS title; Jack Perry vs Darby Allin in a coffin match for the TNT title; The Patriarchy vs Bang Bang Gang vs House of Black vs Pac and Blackpool Combat Club in a four-way London Ladder match for the AEW Trios titles; The Young Bucks vs FTR vs The Acclaimed in a three-way tag team match for the AEW Tag Team titles; Chris Jericho vs Hook in a last chance match for the FTW title; and a Casino Gauntlet match for a future AEW World title. Confirmed entrants for the Casino Gauntlet match include Orange Cassidy, Mark Briscoe, Kyle O'Reilly, "Hangman" Adam Page, Evil Uno, Roderick Strong, Dustin Rhodes, Matt Taven, and Mike Bennett. All In will start at 1PM ET, 10AM PT, 6PM GMT local time, and 7PM CET, with the Zero Hour show kicking off two hours earlier.

ALL IN 2024: HOW TO WATCH IF YOU'RE OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA

- For fans in Europe and any other part of the world except North America have a couple of options on how to watch today's All In, with a much cheaper price than the U.S. Triller TV is offering the show for $24.99 or else $19.99 if you already have an AEW Plus subscription. You can also opt for the All In and All Out double pack which is $34.99 if you have an AEW Plus subscription. AEW Plus costs $4.99 a month. PPV.COM is offering the broadcast for ?15.99 for those in the United Kingdom or €18.99 for those in Europe, which is the cheapest offering at this point. For those countries who have DAZN, the provider is offering All In for €19.99. Select international markets as well as North American users can buy the show via YouTube and those who are residing in North America only also have the ability to watch it on B/R.

BRIE GARCIA SITS DOWN WITH RENEE PAQUETTE AHEAD OF ALL IN

- Brie Garcia, the wife of Bryan Danielson, was the special guest of Close Up with Renee Paquette ahead of today's All In. Brie said that the whole family will be at Wembley Stadium today to witness what could be his last match and no matter the outcome, there will be tears, either of joy as he becomes the AEW World champion, or tears of sadness as he wraps up his in-ring career. She said that Bryan, at 43, should not be in this much pain and she sees his body breaking down every day which is effecting his playing time with his kids because he's in constant pain. Brie hopes that Danielson will fight hard tonight and thinks it would be badass for the kids to see their daddy become a champion. She said that she told him that they are not hoping that this is his last match and although they know his journey is coming to an end, it doesn't have to come to an end tonight. Garcia and Paquette also talked about other subjects including each being married to a wrestler, their husbands transitioning from a wrestler to parent when they come home and more. You can see the interview at .

FULL BETTING ODDS FOR ALL IN

- It's All In day and we are just an hour away from AEW's biggest pay-per-view of the year. These following odds are correct as of press time but remember, they might still change so please be careful when betting with real money. Is there going to be a new AEW World champion tonight? Bookmakers think so as they have tipped Bryan Danielson with 1/5 odds and favorite while champion Swerve Strickland is 3/1 to retain. The challenger in the AEW Women's title is also the favorite, with Mariah May have 1/20 odds and clearly the favorite to end Toni Storm "timeless" run with the title. She is at 7/1 to retain. The CEO will battle the DMD with the TBS title up for grabs. Mercedes Mone is the overwhelming favorite with 1/50 odds while Britt Baker is 10/1 for her first gold in a long time. Who will earn a future AEW World title shot. Several competitors are lined up for the Casino Gauntlet match and the most logical winner, Hangman Page, is the favorite with 4/25 odds. Orange Cassidy, who is entering #1, has 18/1 odds. The AEW Tag Team titles will be on the line in a three-way match as The Young Bucks defend against FTR and The Acclaimed. The Bucks are 1/7 favorites while both FTR and The Acclaimed are 5/1. Will Ospreay is looking to get the AEW American title to bring back the International design and he is 1/50 favorite to do just that and become new champion, with MJF at 10/1 and underdog to retain. A coffin match returns to All In for the second year in a row and this time the TNT title is also on the line. Jack Perry is 1/10 favorite to keep his gold while Darby Allin is 11/2 to regain it. A four-way ladder match will determine who will walk out with the AEW Trios titles. The champions, The Patriarchy, are currently favorites with 1/4 odds, BCC and Pac are 2/1, and House of Black and The Bang Bang Gang are at both 8/1. Hook gets his last crack at the FTW title as long as Jericho is the champion and by the looks of it, Hook is ready to go back home with extra luggage and bookmakers also gave him 1/50 odds for the win and the champion Chris Jericho at just 10/1.

JBL APPEARS AT GCW HOMECOMING EVENT

- Following his unadvertised appearance at the AAA Triplemania XXXII show last weekend, WWE Hall of Famer John "Bradshaw" Layfield resurfaced at the GCW Homecoming event last night. JBL made his presence felt in the main event when Effy interfered to try and screw GCW champion Mance Warner from retaining the title. The former WWE champion took down Effy with a couple of clotheslines from hell, helping Warner in the process. Layfield, wearing a trench coat and a cowboy hat, got a huge pop from the crowd when he showed up unexpectedly. Last week, he accompanied Nic Nemeth to his AAA Mega Heavyweight title match against Alberto El Patron. El Patron won the match and the title and after the match, JBL shook hands with his former WWE colleague.

TICKET SALES UPDATE FOR NXT ON CW EPISODES

- Tickets for the first two episodes of NXT on CW Network were off to a good start, with ticket tracking service @WrestleTix reporting the first-count numbers since they went on sale. The first episode will be taking place from the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois on October 1. The WWE hotspot is nearing 5,000 tickets sold so far but not the whole arena is being used, with nearly 7,500 seats in total for use. Meanwhile, the second episode on October 8, the episode which will go head-to-head with AEW's Dynamite: Title Tuesday, has just over 3,000 tickets sold for an arena setup of nearly 7,000. The show is being held at the Enterprise Center in St Louis, Missouri, and just like the Allstate Arena, only a small portion of it is being used. CM Punk and Randy Orton are both advertised to appear in their respective cities and it's highly likely that more main rosters stars will be showing up on the October 8 episode since it faces Dynamite.


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Saturday, August 24, 2024 Issue #7329
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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

ALL IN CELEBRATION EVENT TOMORROW

- AEW will have an All In: London celebration tomorrow at Box Park Wembley, a party which kicks off at 11AM. General admission ticket holders will get to have a Q&A session with several AEW stars hosted by Renee Paquette and RJ City, a Nigel McGuinness Magic show set, photo ops with AEW stars, and a chance to take pics with the AEW World and TNT titles. A trivia with prize giveaways will also be hosted by Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen. Scheduled to appear at the party include Swerve Strickland, Prince Nana, Will Ospreay, Britt Baker, FTR, Toni Storm, The Acclaimed, Billy Gunn, Stokely Hathaway, Kris Statlander, Mariah May, Hook, Willow Nightingale, Bryce Remsburg, and Alex Abrahantes. Merchandise stands will also be open in the area from 10AM.

MERCEDES MONE PENS OPINION PIECE FOR THE INDEPENDENT

- Ahead of tomorrow's All In pay-per-view in London, TBS and NJWP Strong Women's champion Mercedes Mone wrote an article for The Independent newspaper. Titled "How I helped women¡¯s wrestling get the respect it deserves," Mone discusses her wrestling heroes, how she started, quitting WWE, and coming over to AEW. Mone described the difference between WWE and AEW as "night and day" and says she loves it so much to be part of this company. "In WWE you have no idea what you¡¯ll be doing week to week, but here I have space to be heard. Along with Tony Khan and with my friend and personal writer Jennifer Pepperman, there¡¯s time to sit down and really plan out the kinds of stories we want to tell," Mone wrote. "I¡¯m treated with genuine respect, and I really feel seen in a way I sometimes haven¡¯t before. I love it so much here.¡± Mone promised that she's going to make sure that women's wrestling keeps growing and she was here to tell everyone that they cannot be ignored, nor be denied. "I¡¯ve helped make room not only for myself, but for every great woman who steps into that ring ¨C and this Sunday at All In, we¡¯re going to show them that we¡¯re here to stay," she continued. The full post can be read at .

EARLY BETTING ODDS FOR ALL IN TOP MATCHES

- AEW returns to pay-per-view tomorrow night with the highly-anticipated All In live from Wembley Stadium in London, England. Today we will present the early odds for the top matches for the show and tomorrow we will update with the latest odds for the full card. Please bet responsibly if using real money. In the AEW World title match, Bryan Danielson is the favorite to finally clinch some gold with his odds at 1/5 while those of Swerve Strickland are 3/1 to retain. If Danielson loses, he will have to retire. Odds are also in favor of the challenger in the AEW Women's title match as Mariah May is the overwhelming favorite with 1/20 to win the title against champion Toni Storm, who is 7/1 in her odds. Mercedes Mone will defend her TBS title against Britt Baker and unfortunately for the doctor, things are not looking good for her as Mone is 1/50 favorite to retain her gold while Baker is 10/1 and a long shot. The odds for Will Ospreay vs MJF are completely reversed from the above, with Ospreay 1/50 favorite to win the AEW American title while champion MJF is 10/1 to retain. And in the AEW Tag Team title match, The Young Bucks are favorite to retain their titles with 1/7 odds as FTR and The Acclaimed are 4/1 and 7/1 in their numbers.

NATALYA RETURNS TO VOICE-OVER BERLIN PROMO VIDEO

- After three months away from WWE programming, Natalya returned to provide voice-over for a WWE video showcasing the company's relationship with Berlin ahead of Bash In Berlin next week. Footage of the Hart family, including those of Bret Hart, Owen Hart, and the British Bulldog, were used in the promo video, with clips from the Owen Hart vs Bulldog match for the inaugural European title match from Raw in Berlin back in 1997 showcased. Natalya has not been seen on WWE television since early June and her last match was on the June 4 episode of NXT, defeating Izzi Dame. Her WWE contract was about to expire but the company managed to lock her in a new deal just in time before she hit free agency. And while she did sign a new deal, she has not been used in any way, marking this her first work ever since.

WWE TRIO PAY TRIBUTE TO SIMONE BILES ON SMACKDOWN

- WWE trio Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Naomi paid tribute to multi-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles yesterday on Friday Night Smackdown, wearing three different outfits similar to what Biles wore at the Olympics. Belair wore a white outfit with red stripes and stars, Cargill had all-red gear, while Naomi sported a blue/silver outfit with stars on it. The three took on WWE Women's Tag Team champions Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn who were joined by Blair Davenport in a six-woman tag the match, a match which the faces won. Belair and Cargill will wrestle for the tag team titles at Bash In Berlin next week. Biles won four Olympic medals at the Paris 2024 Olympics, with three gold and one silver. Her 11 Olympic medals and 30 World Championship medals make her the most decorated gymnast in history.

WWE SPEED WOMEN'S TOURNAMENT BRACKET

- The bracket for the women's tournament to crown the Women's Speed champion was published yesterday. Eight women will compete in the quick matches which will air exclusively on X and the winner of the mini tournament will receive the WWE Women's Speed title. The matches will consist of Iyo Sky vs Lyra Valkyria, Naomi vs Blair Davenport, Elektra Lopez vs Kairi Sane, and Candice LeRae vs Piper Niven. The second round will have the winners of the first two matches against each other and the winners of the third and fourth matches against each other. The tournament will kick off on Wednesday, September 4 at Noon ET on X. Andrade is currently the WWE Speed title holder for the men.

U.S. TITLE OPEN CHALLENGE IN BERLIN

- The United States championship will be on the line next week in Berlin as champion LA Knight has issued an open challenge. Knight defeated Santos Escobar on Smackdown last night and then after his win, he challenged anyone to come get his belt on Smackdown. Smackdown will take place at the Uber Arena, the same location where the premium live event is being held the following night. While his challenge was not totally clear, the match is not part of the Bash In Berlin card so for now, at least, it remains on Smackdown.

NIKKI GARCIA TO HOST NETFLIX EVENT

- WWE Hall of Famer Nikki Garcia has been tapped to co-host a huge Netflix event titled Chestnut vs Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef. Garcia will be joined by actor and comedian Rob Riggle as hosts of this year's most anticipated competitive eating event on Monday, September 2 starting at Noon PT. The show, with commentary from Cari Champion and Chris Rose, will be held at the HyperX Arena at Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The press release announcing the event also mentions WWE moving to Netflix starting in 2025 along with Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson in November and NFL games on Christmas Day.


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Friday, August 23, 2024 Issue #7328
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Ricochet signing with AEW is the best thing for him. His style suits more AEW and he will be presented as a bigger deal there. He was kinda lost in WWE and that wasn't his fault. Hopefully he will do great things in AEW cause he's an amazing talent.


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RICOCHET SIGNS MULTI-YEAR AEW DEAL

- Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful is reporting that Ricochet has signed a multi-year deal with AEW and will be in London this weekend to officially start with the company. The former WWE Intercontinental champion left WWE in late June of this year after a six-year stint, opting not to sign a new deal. He was written off television after he was brutally attacked by Bron Breakker. His signing with AEW comes as no surprise as he was expected to land there once he decided to part ways with WWE. Once a big favorite of Paul ¡°Triple H¡± Levesque in NXT, the 35-year-old never found proper footing on the main roster and was not utilized to the best of his abilities ever since he got called up in 2019.

FORBIDDEN DOOR 2025 TO BE HELD IN LONDON

- Digital advertising outside Wembley Stadium in London are advertising the next Forbidden Door pay-per-view for the city in 2025. A photo by X user @CiaranRH93 shows the AEW x NJPW: Forbidden Door logo as well London 2025, confirming that the event is replacing next year's All In as a London event. All In will be taking place in Arlington, Texas in 2025 but the show is returning to Wembley Stadium in 2026, with advertising around the stadium also showing "See you in 2026." While no location for Forbidden Door has been officially announced, it's more than likely that it will be held at The O2 Arena, unless AEW decides to go bold and pick another stadium in the city. At the recent press conference, AEW President Tony Khan said that the company still has big plans for London next year and it looks like somebody jumped the gun and started the advertising before AEW announced anything.

DYNAMITE RATING

- Going head-to-head with night three of the Democratic National Convention, Dynamite drew 698,000 viewers this week, down slightly by 5,000 viewers from the prior episode. The show did go up in the 18-49 demo, doing a 0.24, up 0.01 from the previous week and was #8 in the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)

ULTIMATE X MATCH FOR EMERGENCE NOW COMPLETE

- The Ultimate X match at next week's Emergence TNA+ event is now complete with all six competitors qualified. Last night on Impact, Hammerstone and Laredo Kid advanced to the match after their respective qualifying match. Hammerstone beat Kushida and Frankie Kazarian and Laredo Kid beat Jai Vidal and Bhupinder Gujjar. The two now join Mike Bailey, Jason Hotch, Zachary Wentz, and NXT's Riley Osborne in the match, with the X Division title on the line currently held by Bailey. Emergence will take place next Friday live from the Old Forester's Paristown Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.

BOUND FOR GLORY 2024 TICKETS ON SALE NOW

- Tickets for the 2024 TNA Bound For Glory pay-per-view went on sale this morning at etix.com. The show will take place on Saturday, October 26 live from the Wayne State University Fieldhouse in Detroit, Michigan. TNA is selling BFG tickets along with the Impact TV tapings the next days as a combo, with general admission tickets at $50, reserved seating at $80, and then two special combo tickets going for $499 and $599 respectively. The Suplex Combo deal for $499 includes second row seats in the floor area and a commemorative chair while the Powerslam Combo deal offers front row seats in the floor area and the commemorative chair as well. All ticket-buyers of the Powerslam and Suplex Combo deals will receive numerous perks in addition to the take-home chair. The highlight is a Fab Five Photo before Bound For Glory. All 100 ticket-buyers will get their photo taken during a private reception with Nic Nemeth, Jordynne Grace, Joe Hendry, Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy. In addition, the deal includes ringside photo-op after BF, photo-op with the champions on Sunday prior to the Impact tapings, a BFG/TNA Swag Bag, and first entry into the building on both nights.

SMACKDOWN PREVIEW

- Smackdown tonight is live from the nation's capital in Washington, DC with two title matches announced for the broadcast. The show will be headlined by a match for the WWE Tag Team titles as The Bloodline - Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu - defend their gold against the number one contenders, The Street Profits. Plus, United States champion LA Knight takes on Santos Escobar with the title on the line, and Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and Naomi team up against Alba Fyre, Isla Dawn, and Blair Davenport in a six-woman tag team match. Plus, The Grayson Waller Effect returns with WWE champion Cody Rhodes as the special guest.

REIGNS AND HEYMAN TO APPEAR BLOOMBERG'S POWER PLAYERS EVENT

- Bloomberg announced that former WWE Undisputed champion Roman Reigns and his Wiseman, Paul Heyman, will be joining the Power Players event in New York next month. Reigns and Heyman will take the stage at the Bloomberg World HQ "to share the future for sports entertainment's most electrifying double act" as part of The Business Behind Sports panel. This event is mainly targeted to sports executives, with registration to attend currently priced at $875 for the whole day. roThe two have not been seen on WWE television together since night two of WrestleMania XL when Roman Reigns lost the title to Cody Rhodes. Reigns recently returned to the company at SummerSlam but Heyman is still out selling the powerbomb by Solo Sikoa's Bloodline.

RONDA ROUSEY ISSUES LONG APOLOGY OVER SANDY HOOK CONSPIRACY VIDEO

- Former WWE and UFC Women's champion Ronda Rousey apologized for sharing a Sandy Hook conspiracy video 11 years later. Rousey retweeted a conspiracy video of the horrific attack on Twitter back then, but deleted it later. But the internet never forgets and Rousey, who was supposed to participate in an Ask Me Anything on r/squaredcircle on Reddit yesterday, ended up not doing anything after the post was flooded with Sandy Hook-related questions, calling her out for her past actions. Later, Rousey issued a long, heart-felt apology, owning up to her mistake, admitting she was wrong. The former champion said she redrafted her apology many times over the past 11 years and it was supposed to be part of her biography book until her publisher convinced her it would do more harm than good. She called retweeting the video "the single most regrettable decision" of her life and quickly realized her mistake when she posted it. "But honestly I deserve to be hated, labeled, detested, resented and worse for it. I deserve to lose out on every opportunity, I should have been canceled, I would have deserved it," Rousey wrote. "I still do. I apologize that this came 11 years too late, but to those affected by the Sandy Hook massacre, from the bottom of my heart and depth of my soul I am so so sorry for the hurt I caused." Rousey had a very important message for those who have "fallen down the black hole of bull shit," saying that amplifying such conspiracies will only make you feel powerless, afraid, miserable, and isolated. "You're doing nothing but hurting others and yourself. Regardless of how many bridges you've burned over it, stop digging yourself a deeper hole, don't get wrapped up in the sunk cost fallacy, no matter how long you've gone down the wrong road, you should still turn back," Rousey wrote. Ronda also said that she is thoroughly remorseful and ashamed of herself for contributing to the pain she caused by sharing the video. "I've regretted it every day of my life since and will continue to do so until the day I die," she added.


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Thursday, August 22, 2024 Issue #7327
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Great crowd on Dynamite last night. International fans hit different. Apparently, they were even wilder for Collision!


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
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ALL IN SURPASSES 50,000 TICKETS

- All In has surpassed 50,000 tickets according to ticket tracking service @WrestleTix, with a few more days to go for the show. More tickets are expected to be sold in the following days with the cheapest priced tickets in the 500 level now at just ?27.25. The most expensive tickets are on the floor and are going for ?1,562.75. But available floor tickets are scattered and the most available seats are in the 200 and 500 levels at this point. The stadium has a different configuration than last year's show and it's currently capped for 53,832 seats although that can easily expand if there's more demand. AEW claimed to have sold over 81,000 tickets for last year's show although just over 72,000 fans were in Wembley that day.

MORE ADDED IN THE AEW CASINO GAUNTLET MATCH

- A few more individuals threw their hat in for the Casino Gauntlet match at All In this Sunday live from Wembley Stadium in London. Former AEW World champion Hangman Adam Page, ROH champion Mark Briscoe, Kyle O'Reilly, and The Dark Order's Evil Uno were all added to the match last night on Dynamite, joining the already-announced Orange Cassidy who will be the first one in the match. The Casino Gauntlet match features 21 AEW stars, with two wrestlers beginning the match and other entrants coming in every few minutes. The match is won via pinfall or submission in the ring and it can end even before everyone has made it out. The winner of the match will receive a future AEW World title shot.

WILDCARD MATCH FOR FINAL SPOT IN AEW TRIOS LADDER MATCH

- The final spot in the AEW Trios ladder match at All In will be decided this coming Saturday on Collision. Top Flight will team up with Lio Rush to take on Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, and PAC in a trios match with the winning team advancing to the ladder match which already has The Patriarchy, Bang Bang Gang, and House of Black. Penta El Zero Miedo and Fenix were supposed to be in the match along with PAC but their removal from the show and PAC teaming up with Blackpool Combat Club all but confirms that the two brothers are on their way out of AEW. Both Penta and Fenix are rumored to be going to WWE once their contracts expire, with Penta up first and Fenix finishing up a few weeks after.

MANDY SACS TO PARTICIPATE IN BLACK LABEL PRO COMBINE EVENT

- Mandy Sacs will be at the Black Label Pro Crowning Glory event next month and is participating in the DraftKings Wrestling Combine. The Combine will have four men and four women who will go head-to-head in a series of contests to see who is the best athlete. Sacs will join Ash by Elegance, Jordynne Grace, and Xia Zhao, the artist formerly known as Xia Li in WWE in the women's group while the men will have Mike Rallis, better known as Riddick Moss, Parker Boudreaux, and Moose. The event will take place on Wednesday, September 4 at the Logan Square Auditorium in Chicago, Illinois. Jerry "The King" Lawler, Mustafa Ali, and Raj Dhesi will also be part of the event. For more information go to blacklabelpro.com.

RICH SWANN SUSPENDED BY TNA AFTER ARREST

- Brandon Thurston for POST Wrestling is reporting that TNA star Rich Swann was arrested on June 8 in Florida and charged with disorderly public intoxication and causing a disturbance. The arrest came after Swann attempted to forcefully enter an apartment just before 10PM. A report by the Altamonte Springs PD says that when the resident of the apartment told him to leave and that he had a gun, Swann yelled, "This is my house." The person in the apartment then opened the door and flashed his weapon and Swann left. Later, a woman also made a phone call to the police saying someone was following her. Swann was following the woman but she managed to escape by locking herself inside her house before Swann reached to get in. Police officers arrived and found the former TNA champion and arrested him, with the report saying that Swann was intoxicated. He was later released the next day after a $250 bond was posted. TNA was unaware of the arrest until POST Wrestling flagged the story. The company suspended Swann and said that he was entering a substance abuse rehab program. "TNA Wrestling takes any and all charges against its performers seriously," TNA told POST Wrestling in a statement. "Rich Swann is responsible for his own personal actions." "He has informed TNA Wrestling that he is voluntarily entering into a substance abuse rehabilitation program. TNA Wrestling has suspended Rich pending the completion of its investigation into the incidents," the statement continued. This is not the first time that Swann had issues with the police and was arrested multiple times before.

NXT RATING

- NXT this week drew 639,000 viewers, up 22,000 viewers from the prior week against the second night of the Democratic National Convention. That was their best number since July 9. The show had a 0.16 rating in 18-49, down 0.01 from the prior week. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)

MAURO RANALLO RETURNING TO WRESTLING COMMENTARY

- A familiar wrestling voice will be heading up the commentary team for Scott D'Amore's new promotion Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling as Mauro Ranallo is getting back behind the mic after a long sabbatical. Ranallo, who previously did commentary for NXT, Smackdown, and New Japan Pro Wrestling, has not done mic work for a wrestling company since 2021 when he called the Kenny Omega vs Rich Swann match for Impact Wrestling. MLPW will have its first two shows on October 19 and 20 which will also air live on Triller TV. The promotion ran from the 1930s to the 1980s so this is basically a revival for the brand. D'Amore was fired from his post as TNA President in February of this year and has not been involved in anything since then.


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Wednesday, August 21, 2024 Issue #7326
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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

FIRST INTERNATIONAL DYNAMITE TONIGHT ON TBS

- Tonight's Dynamite will be the first one outside North America and will come to you from the Utilita Arena in Cardiff, Wales. The arena is now sold out, with just over 4,200 tickets sold and this will be the most attended Dynamite in several weeks. It was hoped that the show would sell out quicker since it's a new market but the end game was reached just in the nick of time. AEW will also tape Collision right after Dynamite. The show will be on tape delay due to the different time zone and the company is hoping for a rowdy international crowd ahead of this weekend's All In at Wembley Stadium in London.

COLLISION RATING

- Collision on TNT last Saturday drew 406,000 viewers, up 36,000 viewers from the prior episode. This was the most-watched episode since July 20. The show had a 0.13 rating in 18-49, up 0.02 from the previous week and was #16 in the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)

KHAN WEARS WBD/MAX CAPS FOR INTERVIEWS TEASING TV DEAL

- AEW President Tony Khan continued teasing an impending media rights deal announcement during interviews. Last week, Khan wore a Warner Bros. Discovery cap, a cap which he said he wears proudly, and during an interview with Barstool Sports this week, he wore a Max baseball cap, the company's streaming service. Khan said that he was given the hat in Paris "as part of a great backpack of stuff" he found in his hotel room when he went for the Olympics to meet WBD President David Zaslav and other WBD officials. "They were very kind to us," Khan said. The company is expected to remain part of the WBD family with the new media rights, a deal that is expected to be announced very soon.

DYNAMITE PREVIEW

- Five matches, two of which are for a title, will be part of tonight's historic Dynamite, the first show outside North America and just days before the All In pay-per-view. Cardiff in Wales will play host to tonight's show which will have Toni Storm defending the AEW Women's title against Saraya, Kazuchika Okada vs Claudio Castagnoli for the AEW Continental title, Darby Allin and FTR vs The Elite in a trios match, Hook vs Big Bill, and Chris Jericho vs Tommy Billington. Plus, MJF and Will Ospreay come face-to-face ahead of their AEW American title match and AEW World champion Swerve Strickland and Bryan Danielson will have the final showdown moderated by Nigel McGuinness.

LIV MORGAN WOWS AT THE CROW'S PREMIERE IN NEW YORK

- WWE Women's World champion Liv Morgan lit The Crow's world premiere red carpet on fire last night! The event, held at Village East by Angelika in New York City, had several celebrities in attendance and Morgan showed up in a black dress with her right leg exposed, black high heels, and the Women's World title on her shoulder. Daddy Dom was nowhere to be seen as Morgan flew solo for this event. The Crow, from Lionsgate Films, features Bill Skarsg?rd, FKA Twigs, and Danny Huston in the leading roles. It comes out in theaters nationwide tomorrow, August 23. You can see some of the photos at

JOE HENDRY BECOMES #1 CONTENDER FOR NXT TITLE

- A TNA star is now the number one contender for the NXT title after Joe Hendry won a three-way match last night on NXT to earn the title shot at No Mercy. The match featured Hendry, Pete Dunne, and Wes Lee. Ethan Page, who was on commentary for the match, got involved and distracted the referee as Hendry had the former NXT UK champion down and out. Dunne recovered and hit the Bitter End on Hendry but Trick Williams ran in and hit the flying knee on Dunne while the ref was still distracted. The other referee then crawled his way back in the ring and counted to three, with Page unable to break the pinfall in time. After the chaos died down and Hendry celebrated, Zachary Wentz, another TNA star, jumped his former tag team partner Wes Lee at ringside and the two brawled to end the broadcast with several referees and security trying to separate the two. No Mercy takes place on Sunday, September 1 live from Denver, Colorado.

JOHN CENA SIGNS NEW LONG-TERM DEAL WITH WWE

- His in-ring career will be over by the time 2025 comes to an end, but John Cena's involvement with WWE will continue for years to come after that. The 16-time world champion, appearing on the Club Shay Shay podcast, announced that he signed a contract extension with WWE which will keep him with the company for the foreseeable future. "I have such a trustworthy relationship with them over two decades. I am a champion of the brand," Cena said, adding that he loves the company and WWE is his home and everyone in it is part of his family. "Even after 2025, I¡¯ve already signed an extension to remain a member of the WWE family for the near, mid, and long-term future. I don¡¯t think there will be a beat of my heart where WWE doesn¡¯t come out of." John Cena will start his 2025 farewell tour with the first episode of WWE Raw on Netflix. He will work 36 dates throughout the year, including most of the premium live events, culminating with one final match in December 2025.

RAW RATING

- WWE Raw this week suffered against night one of the Democratic National Convention, with the show doing 1,641,000 viewers, down a quarter of a million viewers from the previous week. There are no hourly numbers available as of press time. The show had an average 0.50 rating in 18-49, down 0.13 from last week and it was the lowest since June 10. Raw was #2 on the top 50 cable chart for the night behind CNN and its coverage of the DNC. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)


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Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Issue #7325
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

The online reaction to Pat McAfee temporarily leaving is very mixed to say the least. Some people like him, a lot of people hate him. I personally enjoy his commentary as he's a fan and not just there doing a job. I like his personality, and he makes me smile with some of his one-liners. Gonna miss him on the mic.


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
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UNCLE HOWDY TO WRESTLE NEXT WEEK ON RAW

- Bo Dallas will have his first WWE match since November 2019 next week on Raw under the Uncle Howdy gimmick. Howdy will take on American Made's leader Chad Gable on the show after last night on Raw, the Wyatt Sicks continued their targeting of the faction, with Ivy Nile ending up getting the worst from Nikki Cross. The Uncle Howdy gimmick has never wrestled in WWE and the man behind the mask has not stepped between the ropes for nearly five years. Dallas' last match in a WWE ring was on November 13, 2019 at a non-televised live event in Zurich, Switzerland where he teamed up with Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode against Kalisto, Lince Dorado, and none other than...Chad Gable! His last televised match was at the Crown Jewel 2019 premium live event in October where he and his tag team partner Curtis Axel were part of the World Cup Tag Team turmoil match.

STRAP MATCH OFFICIAL AT BASH IN BERLIN

- The CM Punk vs Drew McIntyre match at Bash In Berlin is now a strap match. It was Punk who on Raw said that he asked General Manager Adam Pearce to make it official and McIntyre appeared to accept. "Have you started drinking?" McIntyre asked Punk before accepting the terms of the new match. The AJ and Larry bracelet remains a point of contention, with Punk willing to give up the strap in return of the bracelet, something that McIntyre refused, adding that both AJ and Larry are safer and happier attached to him. This will be their second one-on-one match following SummerSlam, which McIntyre won.

PAT MCAFEE TO RETURN TO RAW IN JANUARY

- Pat McAfee wrapped up his WWE duties for the rest of the year but vowed to return to the company in January 2025 when college football ends. McAfee will resume his role on ESPN's College Gameday this weekend. On Raw last night, a highlight package of McAfee was shown and he thanked the fans, all the WWE personnel working backstage, and his broadcast partner Michael Cole for allowing him to be part of this dream job. Earlier in the day during the Pat McAfee show, McAfee said that WWE is where he should be at, putting the company over big time, saying he can't believe he gets paid to have fun there. Cole and McAfee started on a very rough patch when McAfee showed up as a guest to his first WrestleMania in a jacket and shorts and Cole lost his marbles. Eventually, Vince McMahon OK'd McAfee's choice of attire and then things turned around, with Cole now calling Pat one of his biggest friends in the entire world.

SMACKDOWN RATING

- Smackdown drew 2,252,000 viewers on FOX last Friday, down 17,000 viewers from the previous episode which was Roman Reigns' return. In 18-49, Smackdown had a 0.61 rating, down 0.03 from the prior week and was #1 on network and overall on all of television. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

ROUSEY TALKS BECKY LYNCH MATCH THAT NEVER WAS

- In an interview with Chris Van Vliet promoting her newest graphic novel, former WWE Raw and Smackdown Women's champion Ronda Rousey discussed what led to her departure and the match against Becky Lynch which never materialized. Rousey said that she always wanted to wrestle with Shayna Baszler and the powers that be would have never allowed it to happen until she threatened to leave because they didn't want to do the match against Becky Lynch. "And I was like, fine...I¡¯m gonna tag with Shayna and she¡¯s going to turn on me, and then I¡¯m gonna leave...or I¡¯m gonna f*cking leave right now," Rousey said in the interview. "That was the only reason we were able to do it, because they wouldn¡¯t let us do any Four Horsewoman stuff." Rousey said that Vince McMahon was convinced that no one knew that she and Baszler were friends in real life and didn't buy into any of the Four Horsewoman storyline. Asked why the match against Becky Lynch never happened when she returned, Rousey was blunt in her answer. "Because Vince is an 80-year-old asshole," she said. "Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and Bruce Prichard...they can all suck a dick!" Rousey is glad to hear that things improved under Triple H and had nice things to say about him and his wife Stephanie, calling them fantastic. She said that when she was about to start IVF, Stephanie gave her a necklace which had a locket with pictures of her daughters in it and told her to remove them and put hers instead when she had them. "I never took her babies out. I put my baby on top and I¡¯m gonna have to add some more pictures," she continued. Quizzed about her future in professional wrestling, Rousey shut the door on a full-time schedule again, but was open to doing bits and pieces. "I might come back and have some fun here and there. But I can¡¯t be leaving home and being on the road like that," she concluded.

RAMPAGE RATING

- Rampage last Friday on TNT drew 295,000, up 76,000 viewers from the prior week. This was the best number since the week before the Olympics started. The show had a 0.10 rating in 18-49, up 0.01 from the previous show. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)

HOGAN QUESTIONS KAMALA HARRIS' ETHNICITY, THEN REALIZES HE EFFED UP!

- Hulk Hogan might be in hot water again after last night he asked a crowd at the Thirsty Cowboy in Media, Ohio, if he should leg drop Vice President Kamala Harris and then questioned her ethnicity and everything was caught on video published by TMZ. Promoting his new Real American Beer, Hogan got into a "What?" shtick with fans, asking a bunch of questions to get the "What?" response ala Steve Austin. "Want me to bodyslam somebody?" Hogan asked as the fans cheered instead of whatting. "Want me to bodyslam Kamala Harris?" he continued, receiving an even bigger cheer. "Want me to drop the leg on Kamala?" Hogan asked again. "Is Kamala a chameleon? Is she Indian?" Then a light bulb switched on and Hogan stopped. "I'll get the heat for that one, brother," Hogan said. "That was not me, that was the beer talking!" The Hulkster appeared at the Republican National Convention last month and made a speech before Donald Trump was introduced to the stage. You can see the video at .


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Monday, August 19, 2024 Issue #7324
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Hey yo! Good to be home, but next trip is just under two weeks for Berlin and WWE's Bash! Never been to Berlin so looking forward to cross off another place!


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

RAW PREVIEW

- Four matches have been already announced for tonight's WWE Raw live from the FLA Live Arena in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The WWE Women's Tag Team titles are up for grabs in a triple threat match as Alba Fyre and Isla Dawn defend their gold against Damage CTRL and the team of Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark, Sheamus takes on former stablemate Pete Dunne, The New Day team up with Odyssey Jones to battle The Final Testament, and Maxxine Dupri battles her former friend Ivy Nile. Plus, CM Punk will be in the house to deliver a message to CM Punk and Randy Orton speaks after hitting the RKO to Gunther last week.

PAT MCAFEE TO MOVE AWAY FROM RAW COMMENTARY AFTER TONIGHT

- Tonight's Monday Night Raw will be the last one for now for Pat McAfee as he prepares to start College Gameday this weekend for ESPN. McAfee returned to the company earlier this year after college football was over and was reunited with Michael Cole doing commentary for Raw. "I'm fairly bummed out that tonight will be my last trip to that wonderful WWE family for a while," McAfee said in a video posted on social media. "Football season is starting which is awesome, but the WWE family is where I'm supposed to be, and I know that." It's not known who will replace McAfee for now, but new WWE Raw commentator Joe Tessitore will start fairly soon with the September 2 episode while Michael Cole switches to Smackdown.

HIGH TICKET PRICES REMAIN FOR BASH IN BERLIN

- Tickets for Bash In Berlin have continued to move but large quantities of floor tickets remain thanks to the high prices. With the show just two weeks away, WWE is still selling floor seats at €2,033, €1,990 and €1,695 each while the cheapest first raised floor tickets are at €312. The Uber Arena is configured for over 13,000 seats and this show is still at just over 11,000 in terms of attendance, although it's highly likely it will be a sell out once tickets start going down in prices in the last few days. With extraordinary high tickets when it went on sale, this show will probably break the record for the highest-grossing arena show in WWE history. WWE will also hold Smackdown in the same location on the eve of Bash In Berlin.

FANATICS CEO SAYS CODY RHODES DRIVING WWE MERCH BUSINESS

- At Fanatics Fest yesterday, the founder and CEO of Fanatics, Michael Rubin, personally delivered the news to Cody Rhodes informing him he's the #1 guy driving the WWE merchandise business. Rubin said Rhodes is "without a doubt" the top guy, a news that the WWE Champion was obviously very thrilled with. "When you hear it from the man himself, it hits different," Rhodes wrote on X. Cody flew to New York for Fanatics Fest and then flew to Fort Myers, Florida immediately afterward for a WWE non-televised live event. At Fanatics Fest, Cody was welcomed by a massive, massive crowd and he had a surprise, picking one young fan cosplaying as him and gave him a replica WWE title.

TATUM PAXLEY TO APPEAR FOR REALITY OF WRESTLING

- Booker T's Reality of Wrestling promotion announced that NXT star Tatum Paxley will be appearing at their non-televised Breakout event on Sunday, August 25. In late July, the promotion also said that talent appearing on NXT Level Up will be able to appear on their Breakout events moving forward. Kale Dixon, a trainee at the WWE Performance Center who appears on NXT Level Up, will also be on the August 25 live event which will take place at the Walker Texas Lawyer Arena. Breakout shows are ROW¡¯s non-televised live events which are free for the public and offer trainees at the school an opportunity to perform in front of a live audience and against wrestlers from the ROW roster.

ALL IN 2023 DOCUMENTARY NOW STREAMING

- The AEW Stories documentary on last year's All In pay-per-view from Wembley Stadium is now streaming on AEW's YouTube channel. The documentary is labeled a mini one, running just 12 minutes, and starts with old footage of Cody Rhodes high-fiving The Young Bucks detailing the first All In, with Tony Khan describing Rhodes, The Bucks, and Kenny Omega as pioneers. Several interviews with stars who were part of last year's show are part of the documentary as well as quick takes with behind-the-scenes personnel who made the show all possible. And for those wondering, no, CM Punk is not featured at all. All In returns to London's Wembley Stadium this Sunday on pay-per-view.


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Sunday, August 18, 2024 Issue #7323
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Finally back home and dead tired. Not much going on today, we will be back sometime tomorrow.


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

THE ROCK ON AFA: "I'LL NEVER FORGET WHAT YOU DID FOR OUR FAMILY"

- In a touching post on social media, Dwyane "The Rock" Johnson paid tribute to his late uncle, Afa Anoa'i, who passed away on Friday at the age of 81. Rock said that uncle Afa is finally at peace with his brother, and his other uncle, Sika. "The Wild Samoans were trailblazers in the world of professional wrestling. Multi-time @WWE tag team champions and eventually, bestowed their rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame," he wrote in the caption along with several photos. "The last picture is one of my all time favorites- it¡¯s my uncles Afa and Sika with my grandfather, High Chief Peter Maivia ¨C and I believe that¡¯s Professor Toru Tanaka," Rock continued. "What I love about this picture is you can SEE & FEEL the LOVE & MANA amongst these smiling, loving men." One of the photos included featured Afa in a hospital bed holding the Brahma Bull WWE title, giving a thumbs up. "I love you uncle and I¡¯ll never forget what you did for our family in ¡®87. 'Come to me' Nashville to Bethlehem," he concluded.

WWE A BIG HIT AT FANATICS FEST

- WWE owned Fanatics Fest this weekend in New York as several top WWE Superstars turned up to support their merchandise partner in their first-ever fan festival. By large, WWE was the most popular entity during the fan fest despite several other popular athletes, sports personalities, and artists being also part of the massive event. But it was WWE fans and the likes of CM Punk, Paul Heyman, Rey Mysterio, Tiffany Stratton, Bianca Belair, Jade Cargill, and others who stole the show, with long lines and packed panels. WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque even surprised fans, coming out to his theme song at the WWE exhibit. WWE President Nick Khan was also present in person. Fanatics Fest continues and ends today, with WWE champion Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Logan Paul, Rhea Ripley, and others all scheduled to appear.

NIC NEMETH LOSES AAA MEGA HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE

- Nic Nemeth, the current TNA World champion, lost the AAA Mega Heavyweight title last night at Triplemania XXXII in Mexico City. Nemeth was defeated by a familiar face - Alberto El Patron, the man who Nemeth defeated as Dolph Ziggler when he cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase the night after WrestleMania in 2013. The finish came when El Patron threw a glass full of water in Nemeth's face and then low-blowed him, covering him for the pinfall victory. Nemeth entered the ring accompanied by WWE Hall of Famer John "Bradshaw" Layfield, who sat at ringside watching the main event. An angle following the show also saw JBL coming in to shake hands with the new champion. You can see Nemeth's and JBL's entrance and the finish of the match at .

TWO TITLE MATCHES OFFICIAL FOR ALL IN

- Two more title matches were made official for All In at London's Wembley Stadium next week. AEW Tag Team champions The Young Bucks will be defending their gold against both FTR and The Acclaimed in a three-way tag team match after both challengers went to a 30-minute time-limit draw on Collision with no number one contender set. FTR defeated The Young Bucks to retain the tag team gold at last year's All In. Meanwhile, a London ladder match for the AEW Trios title was also announced and this will involve a total of four teams. The champions, The Patriarchy will defend against The House of Black, The Bang Bang Gang, and another team which is yet to be determined. The final team will be revealed in a wildcard match set to take place on next week's Collision which will be taped from Cardiff, Wales.

WAYNE AND WYATT RHODES WRESTLE IN DARK MATCH AT COLLISION

- The nephews of Cody and Dustin Rhodes, Wayne and Wyatt, wrestled in a dark match at the Collision tapings last night. Using the name of The New Texas Outlaws, which is the name that Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdoch used back in the day, the two relatively young up-and-comers took on Aaron Solo and Jon Cruz. They officially made their wrestling debut five months ago wrestling at the Rhodes Wrestling Academy event. The two brothers are the sons of Kristin Rhodes Ditto, full sister of Dustin and half-sister of Cody.


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Saturday, August 17, 2024 Issue #7322
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Alright, my time in the U.S. is up and I'm at the airport waiting to head back home. Normal sending times will resume tomorrow.

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

JACOB FATU RETURNS, TAKES OUT ROMAN REIGNS

- For the first time since SummerSlam, Jacob Fatu appeared on Smackdown last night and took out Roman Reigns, their first encounter on WWE television. Reigns came out after Solo Sikoa said that if he wanted the Ula fala, he should come out and take it from him. Obviously, the former champion marched out to a massive ovation and Sikoa directed Tama Tonga to stand to the side. Reigns took out both of them and then grabbed the Ula fala and put it around his neck. But a few seconds later, Reigns was attacked by the returning Samoan Werewolf, hitting a superkick while wearing a walking boot. Fatu continued his assault with a ground and pound and a hip attack in the corner, before moving to ringside where he and Tonga lifted him up on Solo's shoulders and was powerbombed - The Shield style - on the announce table. Reigns was thrown back in the ring where Tonga grabbed the Ula fala and handed it back to Sikoa. The night ended with Solo, Tonga, and Fatu throwing their ones up standing tall over Reigns. Fatu has not been seen on TV since SummerSlam when he hit a splash from the top rope and onto Cody Rhodes who was laid out on the announce table. Fatu suffered a foot injury in the process. You can see the video at .

JEY USO THANKS FANS FOR SUPPORT AFTER AFA'S PASSING

- Following the dark match on Smackdown, Jey Uso thanked the fans for their support after a tough day with the passing of Afa the Wild Samoan. An emotional Uso addressed the crowd, saying, "Being in the center of the ring though, still brings joy to each one of the family members that you saw perform tonight." Jey continued, "We needed this tonight, we needed you guys tonight. From my family, thank you." Uso wrestled WWE World Heavyweight champion Gunther after Smackdown went off the air and that had the interference of Ludwig Kaiser and Damian Priest. The match, after ending in DQ, was restarted as a tag match, with the faces coming out victorious to send everyone home happy.

WRESTLING WORLD PAYS TRIBUTE TO AFA

- The wrestling world mourned the death of Afa of the Wild Samoans, with WWE leading the way in tributes. WWE aired a video of Afa on Smackdown last night, produced and aired just a few hours after his death was announced. "WWE is saddened to learn that Afa Anoa¡¯i Sr. ¡ª a WWE Hall of Famer and one-half of the iconic Wild Samoans tag team ¡ª has passed away. WWE extends its condolences to Anoa¡¯i¡¯s family, friends and fans," read a message from the company on X. WWE Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque wrote that Afa was devoted to his family, dominant in the ring, and dedicated to building future generations of WWE Superstars. "My thoughts are with the entire Anoa¡¯i family as we remember the legendary Afa." AEW also sent its condolences, writing, "AEW and the wrestling world mourn the passing of the legendary Wild Samoan Afa. Our thoughts are with his family, his friends and his fans." TNA added, "TNA is saddened to learn of the passing of Afa Anoa¡¯i Sr., one-half of the legendary Wild Samoans tag team. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the Anoa¡¯i family, his friends and fans during this time." Others, including family members led by Roman Reigns, also paid tribute to the Hall of Famer which you can read at .

WWE TO RUN LIVE EVENT IN SAME CITY AND SAME DAY AS WORLDS END

- WWE will be running a non-televised live event on Saturday, December 28 in Orlando, Florida, just over a dozen miles away from where AEW will hold its Worlds End pay-per-view on the same day. WWE's show will be at the Kia Center, where over 13,000 fans saw Smackdown last night, with tickets already on pre-sale now at Ticketmaster.com. The Worlds End pay-per-view takes place at the Addition Financial Arena, located 16 miles east of the Kia Center. The WWE show is part of its yearly holiday tour.

AEW ENDS ESPORTS STADIUM RESIDENCY TONIGHT

- AEW ends its Esports Stadium residency in Arlington, Texas with tonight's Collision live on TNT. The residency started with the August 17 episode of Collision and since then, AEW held every Collision taping until now and Ring of Honor TV, as well as ROH's Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view. It was dubbed as the AEW Path To All In Summer Series and the company paid a total of $232,000 for all shows, meant to be a cost-cutting decision since the company has been having trouble selling tickets to Collision while on tour. AEW had just over 1,000 fans for every Collision, reaching the maximum capacity of the arena. The next Collision will be taped from Cardiff, Wales, right after Dynamite on Wednesday and the show resumes its tour in the United States with the August 31 episode from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

STING HINTS AT APPEARANCE AT ALL IN TEXAS

- Sting has hinted that he will be at All In Texas next year. In a message on X, Sting said that the show - to be held at the Globe Life Field in Arlington - is "just down the road" from him and he will be watching "from somewhere." The Icon, who retired in March, has not appeared on AEW television ever since his retirement match at Revolution and has kept a relatively low profile since then. He was at WrestleCon during WrestleMania weekend but that's as far as his appearances go lately. Sting was part of the inaugural AEW All In London last year, teaming with Darby Allin to take on Christian Cage and Swerve Strickland in a coffin match. He retired from AEW undefeated and as AEW Tag Team champion with Allin.


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Friday, August 17, 2024 Issue #7321
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Yeah, kinda late today!

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

AFA PASSES AWAY AT AGE 81

- WWE Hall of Famer Afa Anoa?i, one half of the legendary Wild Samoans, has passed away at age 81. His passing comes just two months after his brother Sika, father of WWE Superstar Roman Reigns, passed away at age 79. The news was announced by his son, Samu. "It is with deepest regret that we announce the passing of my father Afa Anoai Sr. It was a peaceful transition and he was surrounded by loved ones. Please respect our privacy as we morn our father," he wrote. Afa had been dealing with several health issues lately, including two heart attacks. He also underwent several surgeries after falling earlier this year. Afa started his wrestling career in 1971 and was trained by his cousin Rocky Johnson and uncle Peter Maivia. He teamed up with his brother and started terrorizing promotions such as Stampede Wrestling, the NWA, and others, before moving to the WWF in 1979. He and Sika had two stints with the WWF and returned alone in 1992 as the manager of The Headshrinkers. He had his final match for WWF in 1994. He also managed Samu and Sione, the man formerly known as The Barbarian. After his departure from national television, Afa started the Wild Samoans Training Center where he trained several people along the way and ran his wrestling promotion World Xtreme Wrestling. Afa, a former three-time WWF tag team champion, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007 along with his brother. He last appeared on WWE television at the Hell In A Cell premium live event in 2020 to celebrate Roman Reigns' victory.

BOBBY LASHLEY GONE FROM WWE

- Bobby Lashley has been removed from the active WWE.COM bio page and moved to the alumni section, with the former WWE champion now officially gone from the company. Lashley's contract with WWE expired last weekend and he opted not to sign a new one. Since his deal expired, there are no no-compete clauses and he can appear anywhere at any time. The former champion has not wrestled since the May 5 non-televised live event in France, beating Santos Escobar. His last televised appearance was on April 12 of this year, in a triple threat match against LA Knight and Santos Escobar. The 48-year-old Lashley has been with the company since 2018 and is a former two-time WWE champion, two-time Intercontinental champion, three-time United States champion and two-time ECW champion.

MVP DEPARTS WWE

- MVP has also departed WWE and his profile has been moved to the alumni section on WWE.COM. The 50-year-old has been with the company since 2020 and was on his second stint with WWE, returning at the Royal Rumble that year and then sticking around when The Hurt Business banded together. After The Hurt Business was abandoned by WWE, MVP moved to managed Omos but despite the potential, the pairing never really took off. MVP last appeared on WWE television when he accompanied Omos to the Andre The Giant battle royal on the eve of WrestleMania XL. While in a recent interview MVP said that his latest run was quite the ride, his departure wasn't a quiet one, accusing WWE of being racist and showed no love lost for Paul "Triple H" Levesque.

STEVE AUSTIN SAYS WRESTLEMANIA XL APPEARANCE WAS CLOSE

- In an interview with Unlikely with Adrian Hernandez, WWE Hall o Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin revealed that an appearance at WrestleMania 40 was close to being made, but eventually it did not work out. Austin was penned to be part of the main event where he had to confront The Rock, but that spot eventually went to The Undertaker when the deal fell through. Asked how close it was for WrestleMania 40, The Rattlesnake said, "Oh, it was close. And they certainly reached out to me and we had conversations, but my wife and I had some things going on that I didn¡¯t need to go to Philly at that time." Austin said that while he couldn't make it to that one, WrestleMania 41 will be in Nevada, in the state where he currently lives and he hopes to be there for it. He previously said in an interview that he doesn't want to travel outside the state but Las Vegas is in Nevada and only 400 miles away. "But anyway, it¡¯ll be in Vegas...so I hope to be there this year!"

IRON MAN MATCH SET FOR TNA EMERGENCE

- The TNA World title will be defended in a one-hour iron man match at the upcoming Emergence special event on TNA+. The match will see champ Nic Nemeth defend his gold against former champion Josh Alexander and it was announced following last night's Impact where the two went to a 30-minute time-limit draw. Nemeth has been champion since July's Slammiversary pay-per-view while Alexander hasn't held the title since March of last year when he had to vacate the title due to a torn triceps. Emergence will air on Friday, August 30 from the Old Forester's Paristown Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.

RILEY OSBORNE QUALIFIES FOR ULTIMATE X MATCH

- NXT will be represented at the Emergence TNA show later this month as Riley Osborne qualified for the Ultimate X match yesterday. The Chase U member defeated Chris Bey and John Skyler in the qualifier which opened Impact last night. Jason Hotch also qualified for the same match when he beat Ace Austin and Rich Swann. Osborne and Hatch now join Zachary Wentz and Mike Bailey in the match, with two more open spots available. Those spots will be decided on next week's show with two matches featuring Frankie Kazarian vs Kushida vs Hammerstone and Laredo Kid vs Bhupinder Gujjar vs Jai Vidal.

DYNAMITE RATING

- Dynamite this week climbed to 703,000 viewers, up 81,000 viewers from the prior week which had competition from the Olympics. In 18-49, Dynamite drew a 0.23, up 0.04 from the previous week and just like the viewership, the best number in three weeks. It was only the third time since June 12 that the show went over the 700,000 viewership mark. Dynamite was #1 on cable TV for the night in the demo. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)

A LOOK AT THE GLOBE LIFE FIELD STADIUM

- AEW will make its debut at Globe Life Field next year as it brings All In to the great state of Texas and specifically, the city of Arlington Texas. Opened in 2020, Globe Life Field is the home of the Texas Rangers team of the Major League Baseball and can sit up to 40,300 in the stands. The record attendance was of 43,598 for a Morgan Wallet concert held in October 2022 and that is a number that AEW will be looking to break come July 2025. The stadium cost $1.1 billion to construct and has a retractable roof. Artists such as Green Day, Metallica, Def Leppard, Lady Gaga, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Elton John, Jonas Brothers, and others all performed at the stadium. The stadium is located adjacent to the AT&T Stadium, the popular Dallas Cowboys home and the site of WrestleMania 32 and 38. The Esports Stadium, a location which AEW is currently using, is also half a mile away.



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