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Tuesday, December 24, 2024 Issue #7440
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Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

Just wanted to say Merry Christmas to all those who celebrate it because not sure if there will be a newsletter tomorrow, probably will be a slow news day. Hope you have a good one and Santa gets you nice presents! :)

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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/

MAXXINE DUPRI ANNOUNCES ENGAGEMENT

- WWE Superstar Maxxine Dupri and NXT's Anthony Luke have announced their engagement via a post on social media. "Status: FOREVER," Dupri wrote on Instagram, sharing several photos from the special occasion and flaunting her new bling on her finger. Luke is a former San Diego State University football player and was signed to an NIL deal in 2023 following his trial during SummerSlam weekend that same year. He wrestles at NXT non-televised live events but has yet to make the jump to the NXT main roster. Congratulations to the duo!

SMACKDOWN RATING

- Smackdown last Friday suffered against the Indiana-Notre Dame College Football Playoff First Round game, with the show doing a record-low of 1,326,000 viewers, down 204,000 viewers from the previous week. This was the least-watched Smackdown of 2024. The college football game had an audience of 13.4 million across ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2. In 18-49 demos, the show drew a 0.37 rating, down 0.10 from the prior week and was #3 on the top 50 cable chart for the night and #5 in overall television. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

IYO SKY ADVANCES IN THE WOMEN'S INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE TOURNAMENT

- Former WWE Women's champion Iyo Sky advanced in the Women's Intercontinental title tournament last night on Raw. Sky beat Natalya and Alba Fyre in her triple threat qualifying match and completes the final four with Dakota Kai, Lyra Valkyria, and Zoey Stark. Both semi final matches will take place on next week's Raw, with Kai vs Stark and Sky vs Valkyria. The final will take place on the Raw Netflix debut on January 6.

ELIMINATION CHAMBER TICKETS UPDATE

- In the first count provided by @WrestleTix, the Elimination Chamber premium live event taking place from the Rogers Center in Toronto has 23,600 tickets moved so far, with just over two months left for the show. The former SkyDome currently is configured for 30,000 seats but as always, that will expand if necessary. The stadium can hold over 40,000 fans if every seat is in use. Tickets remain extraordinarily high for the event, with the cheapest being CA $170 and the most expensive for ringside at CA $4,000, both figures without the additional taxes and fees. The Elimination Chamber will be the largest wrestling gate in Canadian history, mainly thanks in part to the high ticket prices. Tickets are available from Ticketmaster.ca.

DUSTIN RHODES SIGNS NEW MULTI-YEAR DEAL WITH AEW

- Dustin Rhodes has announced that he has signed a new, multi-year deal with AEW and is staying put for the foreseeable future. "I want to thank my boss @TonyKhan for every opportunity he has given me," Rhodes wrote in a post on social media. "Since coming here and being an original since inception, I have truly had the time of my life." Rhodes added that everyone knows his story and how much he has been through during all his years in professional wrestling. "Lost my passion and found it again HERE in @AEW at the first Double Or Nothing. Did not expect this One Last Ride to last as long as it has, and man, what a run I have had!" Rhodes noted that he wants to finish his career in AEW as it feels it's his home and never felt the respect that he found in AEW. "This makes me want to do my very best for Tony and push myself harder than I ever have. I feel loved and wanted here. I love all of our roster deeply,” he continued. Rhodes is currently a double champion in Ring of Honor, sharing the ROH Tag Team titles with Sammy Guevara and the Six-Man Tag Team titles with Ross and Marshall Von Erich.

AEW AND ITV EXTEND UK TV DEAL

- British broadcaster ITV and AEW today announced that they have agreed to extend their TV broadcast deal into 2025. ITV will continue to show weekly episodes of AEW programming, with AEW Dynamite every Friday night and AEW Collision every Wednesday night on ITV4 and ITVX. The renewal for 2025 takes ITV into its sixth year as AEW’s free-to-air UK partner, first broadcasting AEW Dynamite in 2019. "We are thrilled to extend AEW's partnership with ITV to continue bringing the best wrestling action to fans all across the United Kingdom," said AEW CEO, GM and Head of Creative Tony Khan. "We thank all of our incredible fans in the UK as well as everyone at ITV for their loyal support of AEW since our inception." Richard Botchway, Commissioning Editor at ITV, said: “We are proud to continue to be the UK free-to-air broadcast partner for AEW. We’re looking forward to continuing our relationship into 2025, bringing the UK audience every minute of action across ITV and ITVX.”

RAMPAGE RATING

- Rampage on Friday drew 227,000 viewers, down 52,000 viewers from the prior week. It had a 0.13 rating in 18-49, up 0.02 from the previous week and it was #15 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)


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