===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Wednesday, January 1 2020 Issue #5811 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- Well, where do I start? First of all, happy new year! :) It's been a while, hasn't it? Not technically all our fault. Didn't think Yahoo! would do all those drastic changes. But we're out of there now, and from now on we are part of the groups.io service. How good is it? I don't know. I guess we'll find out. The majority of the subscribers haven't been migrated over. Invites are still slowly being sent. We couldn't just add everyone back on the list like I wanted. Everyone has to accept the invite to be added and invites might be in the spam/junk, not seen etc. We went from over 26,000 subscribers to just under 2,000 for now as more get added daily. But new year, new start. Thanks for sticking around. ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - The Lana and Lashley wedding segment might have its fair share of critics but it seems like it is a big hit on YouTube. Three videos associated with the angle which main evented Raw this past Monday have done millions of views each on the popular video sharing website which suggests that fans at least were curious to see what happened. Pro wrestling weddings always have a twist and never go according to plans and typically do well in terms of viewership due to the surprise factor. The highlights video of what went down on Monday has over 3.2 million views on the official WWE YouTube page while the video of Lana continuing to throw a fit after the show went off the air has 2.3 million views and counting. The WWE on FOX YouTube page also uploaded a five-minute video of the wedding angle and that already has 3.8 million views and growing. All three videos were uploaded on December 30. - There's another power couple in the making in the WWE as Andrade and Charlotte announced their engagement on Twitter. It was Charlotte who posted a photo of the two hugging each other with the words "Si" and then the United States champion posted a status of his own writing, "She said siiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!" This will be the third wedding for Charlotte who was previously married to Riki Johnson from 2010 to 2013. She talked about her marriage in the Second Nature book, revealing she left her husband after multiple domestic violence assaults. Later in 2013, she married Thomas Latimer, the wrestler better known under the name of Bram. The marriage lasted until 2015. Andrade has not been married before and the two have been dating since late 2018. - The 24/7 title kept changing hands even late at night on New Year's Eve yesterday with the gold swapping hands a couple of times throughout the FOX New Year's Eve broadcast. It was Mojo Rawley who won the title first after knocking out R-Truth while he was being interviewed on camera by Maria Menounos. Menounos acted as the referee and hit the three count on Truth, awarding the title to Rawley. But Mojo's reign was pretty short as on his way out, he

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Thursday, January 2 2020 Issue #5812 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- There go the holidays! Still enjoying my last two days of leave before getting back to the usual routine next week. Ugh. It's gonna suck. ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - NXT held its Year End awards last night with an in-studio show rather than a live broadcast. Cathy Kelley anchored the broadcast and was aided by Pat McAfee and Sam Roberts. The awards were as follows: The Undisputed Era (O'Reilly and Fish) won the NXT Tag Team of the Year. Nominees in this category included Viking Raiders, Mark Andres and Flash Morgan Webster, Grizzled Young Veterans, and The Street Profits. Adam Cole won the NXT Male Competitor of the Year. Other nominees included Johnny Gargano, Velveteen Dream, Walter, Tyler Bate and Tommaso Ciampa. Shayna Baszler won the NXT Female Competitor of the Year. Nominees included Rhea Ripley, Kay Lee Ray, Io Shirai, Toni Storm, and Bianca Belair. The NXT Rivalry of the Year went to Adam Cole vs Johnny Gargano. There were no other nominees announced. This is Gargano's second year winning the award after he won it with Tommaso Ciampa. Dakota Kai won the NXT Future Star of the Year. Nominees were Ilja Dragunov, Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, Br onson Reed, Tegan Nox, Kushida, Xia Li, Taynara, and Cameron Grimes. NXT Takeover of the Year went to the most recent one, Takeover: WarGames. This was the show during the Survivor Series weekend which included two awesome WarGames matches and the first-ever female one. The NXT Breakout Star of the Year went to Keith Lee. Nominees included Angel Garza, Joe Coffey, Piper Niven, Dominik Dijakovic, Damian Priest, Matt Riddle, Rhea Ripley, and Candice LaRae. The NXT Match of the Year went to Cole vs Gargano in a two-out-of-three falls match at NXT Takeover: New York. This was the match where Gargano won the NXT title during WrestleMania weekend. Cole vs. Gargano in a two-out-of-three falls match won NXT Match of the Year. The match where Gargano won the NXT Championship took place at TakeOver: New York on April 5th from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn during WrestleMania weekend. The NXT Overall Competitor of the Year was a battle between the NXT champion Adam Cole and former NXT Women' s champion Shayna Baszler. Adam Cole won the much-deserved award as he had a fantastic year, probably the best year out of anyone even on the main roster. - A combination of NXT and NXT UK tag teams will be part of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament this year. The participants and bracket were revealed last night on the first episode of NXT of 2020. On the left bracket there is Imperium (Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner) taking on The Forgotten Sons and then Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne versus Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster. The right bracket has Grizzled Young Veterans facing Kushida and a mystery tag team partner and Gallus (Mark Coffey and Wolfgang) versu

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Friday, January 3 2020 Issue #5813 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- Happy weekend everyone! ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - The much-hyped Homecoming edition of Dynamite on New Year's Day pulled in 967,000 viewers, an increase of 284,000 viewers from the December 18 episode. The show did a 0.36 rating in the 18-49 demographic which placed AEW in #13 in the top 50 cable chart. With NXT running a Best Of episode, AEW easily won the ratings war this week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com) - Killer Kross, the former Impact Wrestling star who was recently given his release from the company, applied to trademark his wrestling name with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on December 24, 2019. Kross, real name Robert Kesar, filed for the trademark himself a week after he got free from Impact Wrestling, noting that the first use of his name was on May 13, 2014. The word mark was filed under entertainment services, namely wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer. The free agent has not signed with any promotion yet although many expect him to join his girlfriend Scarlett Bordeaux at the WWE Performance Center and NXT. Kross had been in hot water with Impact Wrestling ever since the Slammiversary pay-per-view in July where he refused to blade in his first blood match against Eddie Edwards due to Impact failing to provide a doctor, ambulance, and testing at the show. Impact ended up punishing him for it for five months and was l eft out of all television tapings that came after that show. He asked for his release in May of this year, something which obviously did not help matters either. - Two matches have been announced for tonight's first Smackdown of 2020 on FOX. The first match announced was a triple threat women's tag team match featuring Bayley and Sasha Banks versus Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross vs Dana Brooke and Lacey Evans and then later in the day WWE also announced that Roman Reigns will be teaming up with Daniel Bryan to take on Dolph Ziggler and Baron Corbin. No other segments have been announced yet for the broadcast which will take place from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. With no Monday Night Football as competition until later this year, Monday Night Raw is expected to get some of its viewership back which might lead to Smackdown losing the most-watched WWE show title it has kept since moving to FOX. - WWE has hired 35-year-old video game journalist and producer Daniel Ryckert to work behind-the-scenes on the WWE Podcast Network as a producer. "Throughout my life, my two biggest passions have always been video games and wrestling. I was so fortunate to make a living working in one of those industries, and now it's time to try the other. Starting Monday, I'll be producing podcasts both in-house and on the road for WWE," Ryckert wrote on Twitter. Ryckert will be working on both After The Bell and The New

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Saturday, January 4 2020 Issue #5814 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- Judging from my Twitter feed, I was probably the only one not watching Wrestle Kingdom live this morning. Even my top 10 trending topics were all NJPW related. While I understand WrestleMania is a long night, I would never want it to be a two-night affair like WK. Just one is more than enough in my opinion! ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - Friday Night Smackdown drew a total of 2,418,000 for the first episode of 2020, off hours 2,467,000 viewers in the first and 2,369,000 viewers in the second hour. The show drew a 0.7 in the 18-49 demographic and got beat by Hawaii Five-O, Magnum P.I. and 20/20. In terms of viewership, Smackdown only beat The CW. Raw beat Smackdown in the ratings for the first time since the beginning of October, getting a few thousand viewers more. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com) - Former Impact champion John Morrison appeared on Smackdown yesterday, his first WWE televised appearance since 2011. Morrison signed a new multi-year deal with WWE and was expected to start imminently. His appearance came after Cathy Kelley went to the locker room of The Miz to ask some questions as to why he attacked Kofi Kingston. After Kelley knocked on the door, it was Morrison who opened the door and not The Miz. "The Miz doesn't have anything to say tonight," Morrison said, as he closed the door again. Morrison and The Miz formed a tag team in the WWE between 2007 and 2009 and they won the tag team titles twice. Interesting enough, the duo split in 2009 after Miz lost a match to Kofi Kingston after Morrison accidentally got Miz disqualified, giving Raw a draft pick. The pick was The Miz and Miz attacked Morrison, who was later drafted to Smackdown. You can see the video at https://w-o.it/2FlQbHK. - The Usos made their return on Smackdown on FOX last night, their first appearance on WWE television since late July. With Daniel Bryan out after an attack by The Fiend, King Corbin and Dolph Ziggler continued their two-on-one attack on Reigns, cuffing him to the ropes and just when they were going to pour dog food on Reigns again, The Usos theme song kicked in. They met Ziggler with a double super kick on the entrance ramp and then delivered another one to Corbin in the ring. Both sporting shorter hair, the two then helped their cousin Roman Reigns up as Smackdown went off the air. The twins were last seen on WWE TV on the July 29 episode of Raw, four days after after Jimmy got arrested for a DUI. He was found not guilty by a jury last month. Jimmy's wife Naomi was also taken off TV for a much-needed break as well. You can watch the video at https://w-o.it/39B0SnM. - It was a night of many returns on Smackdown yesterday as former WWE champion Sheamus also made his presence felt. The Celtic Warrior has been out of action since April 2019 after he was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a condition whic

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Monday, January 5 2020 Issue #5815 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- NJPW had the retirement for Jushin Thunder Liger today. I remember seeing him the first time in the early 90s in WCW. Such a legend now. Glad he got a proper send off. Thank you, Liger! ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - With a career spanning over three decades, the world of professional wrestling said goodbye to Jushin Thunder Liger today in his last appearance at NJPW's New Year Dash. Liger had his final match on Sunday at Wrestle Kingdom 14 and a memorable retirement segment during today's show. Born Keiichi Yamada in 1964, he was given the gimmick in 1989, a character based on the anime television series of the same name. Having participated in over 4,000 matches throughout his 36-year career, Liger is one of the most recognizable names in the history of professional wrestling and an icon in his homeland of Japan. Liger wrestled for multiple promotions throughout his career including All Star Wrestling, Stampede Wrestling, WWE, WCW, Ring of Honor, TNA, and other independent promotions, but remained loyal to New Japan Pro Wrestling where he was the longest-serving employee. In WWE, he only had one match and that came under the NXT banner in 2015 where he wrestled Tyler Breeze at the NXT Takeove r: Brooklyn event. In WCW, he had a few more matches than that, wrestling for the Atlanta-based promotion between 1991 and 1992 and then 1995 and 1999. Liger also had a few matches under TNA/Impact Wrestling, making his debut for them at the Bound For Glory 2005 pay-per-view losing to Samoa Joe and then went on to have a few more PPV matches during the following year. Liger's title reigns are too many to count, including 22 which came in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He is regarded as one of the best high-flyers this industry has ever seen. AEW and Impact Wrestling saluted Liger with #ThankYouLiger tweets while WWE sent flowers for his retirement ceremony. - Tessa Blanchard was named the Impact Wrestler of the Year during a special episode of Impact Wrestling this past weekend on AXS TV. She is the first woman to ever win this Impact award. Blanchard and last year's winner, Sami Callihan, were also awarded the Impact Match of the Year for their historic intergender match at Slammiversary 2019 in July. The two will meet again later this week at the Hard To Kill pay-per-view where Blanchard will challenge for the Impact World title currently held by Callihan. In the other awards, Taya Valkyrie won the Knockout of the Year, The North won the Tag Team of the Year, Rich Swann won the X-Division Star of the Year, Sami Callihan winning the Impact World title on AXS TV debut won the Moment of the Year, Tessa Blanchard's Magnum move won the Finishing Move of the Year, and Willie Mack was the One to Watch in 2020. - AEW World champion Chris Jericho got his first victory at Wrestle Kingdom yesterday when he defeated Hirosh

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Tuesday, January 6 2020 Issue #5816 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- I hate that the WWE title won't be defended at the Royal Rumble. It's one of the big four pay-per-views and it should be on the line. Brock being in the Rumble doesn't make sense to me unless they are kicking off a big angle during the match that sets up his new opponent. ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - Arena security had a big "oops!" moment yesterday on Raw after they tackled American actor Rick Malone in the ring, not knowing he is part of the show as Lana's and Lashley's wedding officiant. The incident occurred after the match between AJ Styles and Akira Tozawa ended. Malone rushed to the ring under the bottom rope and security followed, tackling him and keeping him on the mat. For some reason, the camera angle switched to the hard cam, showing the "ring invasion" and then switched to the ringside camera which turned away to the crowd as the commentary by Vic Joseph came to an abrupt stop. The show then went to break. During the break, a WWE employee is seen rushing in a ringside fan video telling security that Malone was part of the show and that's when they released him. Sure enough, after the commercial break ended, Malone was there in the ring ready for the Lashley and Lana segment, so all he was trying to do was actually get ready for his cue - albeit early - but someone forgot to alert security. Malone noted in a post on Facebook that he was trying to get to the ring for the segment but security prevented him so he had "no other choice but to dive into the ring headfirst," noting that security were "not pleased." But he looked at the bright side of it and joked about what happened, saying, "It was all just a simple misunderstanding!" You can see the videos at https://w-o.it/2urSg2N - The WWE title will not be defended at the Royal Rumble as the current champion, Brock Lesnar, was announced as one of the 30 Superstars who will be part of the Royal Rumble over-the-top rope elimination match. Lesnar, who appeared on Raw last night for the first time since the Survivor Series, was accompanied as always by Paul Heyman. Heyman said that they're ready to make history as his client will be entering the Royal Rumble as entrant number one and said that when the match is over, the reigning champion will be crowned the winner of the Royal Rumble. Usually, winners of the Royal Rumble get to wrestle for the WWE or Universal title at WrestleMania but nothing was discussed about what will happen if Brock wins. Heyman said that Brock would not be defending the title at the Rumble because there's no one on Raw, Smackdown, or NXT who is worthy enough to challenge for the gold. Others who have been confirmed for the Rumble match so far are AJ Styles, Roman Reigns, Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, and Eric Rowan. On a related note, Brock Lesnar was also announced to be appearing on next we

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Wednesday, January 7 2020 Issue #5817 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- Nothing to say today, back tomorrow! ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - CM Punk responded in a not so kind way to The Miz after Miz took a small dig at Punk on Twitter following the conclusion of last night's WWE Backstage episode on FS1. In a video posted by the WWEonFOX Twitter account, Miz is seen saying that they just finished filming Backstage and felt like "this was the best WWE Backstage episode ever." Young then said that Ember Moon's show from a couple of weeks ago was pretty good too, to which Miz responded, "Oh sorry I didn't change the culture. My bad." The dig was at CM Punk's first words uttered when he came out as a surprise on the show, with Punk closing the show saying that when they think they have all the answers, he changes the culture. CM Punk was quick to respond, although now the tweet has been deleted. Punk replied with, "Go suck a blood money covered dick in Saudi Arabia you f*cking dork." The video from WWEonFOX was also later deleted. You can see the video and Punk's tweet at https://w-o.it/2QzB4kh - NXT is back live on USA Network following a two-week break of live broadcasts from Full Sail University. As expected, AEW enjoyed a big victory over NXT last week but things could be much closer tonight. The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament kicks off tonight with two matches scheduled to take place, including The Forgotten Sons vs Imperium and Undisputed Era vs Gallus. The broadcast will be headlined by a fatal four-way match where the winner will be announced the new number one contender for the North American title currently held by Roderick Strong. Those in the match are Keith Lee, Dominik Dijakovic, Damian Priest, and Cameron Grimes. - The website SoCalUncensored.com is reporting that Mercedes Martinez has signed a deal with WWE and will be reporting to the WWE Performance Center this month. The 39-year-old Connecticut native has been wrestling for the past 20 years and worked for Shimmer, ROH, wXw, Women Superstars Uncensored, and several indies throughout her career. She also appeared at the AEW All Out pay-per-view in August where she was part of the Casino Battle Royale and in November participated in a taping of AEW Dark. Martinez also has a few WWE matches under her belt. She was part of the 2017 and 2018 Mae Young Classic tournaments, losing in the semi-finals to Shayna Baszler in the first one and then got eliminated in the second round by Meiko Satomura in the 2018 tournament. After the first tournament in 2017, she also had a couple of NXT TV appearances. - The first Raw of 2020 did 2,384,000 viewers, down 55,000 viewers from last week's broadcast which was headlined by the Lana and Lashley wedding. Hour one did 2,550,000 viewers, followed by 2,409,000 viewers in the second hour, before falling off to 2,195,000 viewers in the third and final hour. Raw lo

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Thursday, January 9 2020 Issue #5818 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- Another good round of Wednesday wrestling yesterday. Glad both shows are back live, they bring out the best of each other and that's the plus side of having competition. ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - WWE Backstage this week did 124,000 viewers, up from the 97,000 viewers the show did on New Year's Eve. This week's guest was The Miz, with Young, Booker, Christian, and Paige back together on the panel. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com) - The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament commenced on yesterday's NXT on USA Network with two matches taking place. In the first tournament match, Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel of Imperium defeated Steve Cutler and Wesley Blake, the tag team known as The Forgotten Sons to advance to the semi-finals and then Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly of The Undisputed Era defeated Mark Coffey and Wolfgang of Gallus in the second tournament match of the night to book their own spot in the semi-finals. Next week, Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne will take on Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster in the first match and the Grizzled Young Veterans take on Kushida and Alex Shelley in the second match. The semi-final matches will take place on the January 22 episode of NXT while there's no date announced for the finals yet. - Kushida's mystery partner for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament was revealed to be Alex Shelley. The 36-year-old Shelley has wrestled for ROH, TNA, and NJPW and together with Kushida, the two won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles twice as The Time Splitters. The two formed the tag team in 2012 and wrestled together till 2015, losing their titles to ReDRagon, the team of Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly who are now part of The Undisputed Era. Shelley is a veteran tag team wrestler having also wrestled with Chris Sabin as The Motor City Machine Guns for over five years while in TNA. - A number one contender for the NXT Women's title will be decided next week in a big battle royal featuring some of NXT's best females on the roster. The battle royal so far includes, in alphabetical order, Bianca Belair, Candice LeRae, Chelsea Green, Dakota Kai, Io Shirai, Kayden Carter, Mia Yim, Santana Garrett, Shotzi Blackheart, Vanessa Borne, and Xia Li. The winner of this battle royal will then go ahead to challenge Rhea Ripley at the upcoming NXT Takeover: Portland for the title on Sunday, February 16. - A pair of former Impact Wrestling stars made their NXT debut last night on USA Network. Chelsea Green, formerly known as Laurel Van Ness, showed up on the broadcast and beat up Mia Yim and Lacey Lane. She had already wrestled on Raw and Main Event but looks to be placed in NXT for the time being. Joining her was Robert Stone, the man formerly known as Robbie E. Stone came out after Green disposed of the other two and said that Chelsea is the first talent si

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Friday, January 10 2020 Issue #5819 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- Ah, Friday finally! Haven't worked a full week since the last week of November so this week was looooong and almost never-ending LOL! ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - All Elite Wrestling enjoyed a big win in the Wednesday night war, drawing a total of 947,000 viewers, down 20,000 viewers from last week’s show. Dynamite placed #6 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic with a 0.36 rating, the same as last week. Apart from last week’s episode, it was the most watched since the November 13 broadcast. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com) - Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that Matt Hardy is expected to leave WWE once his contract is up this March. The former multi-time tag team champion has pitched to return with his Broken character but it looks like WWE creative shot down the idea. Hardy has started creating new videos lately on his social media and Meltzer says that he is the leading candidate according to speculations to be the leader of the Dark Order, the faction in All Elite Wrestling. The Dark Order angle is said to be climaxing with the reveal of a leader. Hardy has not been used much ever since his brother Jeff suffered a leg injury last year and had to undergo surgery. He recently started popping up on TV but has been used in almost squash matches, losing on every occasion. Matt has often said on Twitter that he had to return to WWE to finish the proper way and the Hardy Boyz return at WrestleMania 33 remains one of the most memorable moments in WWE history. - The recently re-signed John Morrison will be the special guest on Miz TV tonight on Smackdown on FOX, following last week's surprise appearance on the show. Last week, Morrison opened the door when Cathy Kelley went knocking on The Miz's locker room and told her that Miz had nothing else to say for the night. This came after Miz attacked Kofi Kingston. Miz and Morrison are former tag team partners and title holders but their careers went separate ways in 2011, with Morrison departing the promotion. He wrestled mostly on the indies and then went to Lucha Underground and Impact Wrestling. This will be Morrison's first time in a WWE ring on television since his departure in 2011. - Despite getting a nice bump from last week’s Best Of episode, NXT finished second in the ratings, getting only 721,000 viewers, up 173,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. The show however finished 55th in the all-important 18-49 demographic in the cable chart with only a 0.19 rating. The difference between the two shows was a total of 226,000 viewers, a big gap considering what numbers NXT was pulling lately. This was the least-watched episode of NXT – apart from last week’s Best Of episode – since October 30. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com) - WWE Raw Women's champion Becky Lynch has denied the story making the rounds tha

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Sunday, January 12 2020 Issue #5820 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- That was a very solid NXT UK Takeover. Some hard-hitting matches. Great show if you haven't seen it with an awesome ending. ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - Live from the Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas, Impact Wrestling presents Hard To Kill on pay-per-view. The full card is as follows: Sami Callihan vs Tessa Blanchard in an intergender match for the Impact World title; Taya Valkyrie vs Jordynne Grace vs ODB in a three-way match for the Knockouts title; Ace Austin vs Trey Miguel for the X Division title; The North vs Rich Swann and Willie Mack for the Impact Tag Team titles; Eddie Edwards vs Michael Elgin for the Call Your Shot trophy; Brian Cage vs Rob Van Dam; Moose vs Rhino; Ken Shamrock vs Madman Fulton. Apart from airing on pay-per-view, Hard To Kill will also be available on FITE.TV for non-US orders at a price of $19.99. - A tweet by Impact star Tessa Blanchard opened the floodgates, and not in the good way, after Blanchard wrote, "Hey women, try supporting one another. Cool things happen." A bunch of former co-workers hit back at Blanchard, who apparently wasn't the model citizen on her rise to the top. Today, she headlines the Hard to Kill pay-per-view with Sami Callihan for the Impact World title in an intergender match. NXT star Chelsea Green was the first to call her out on the tweet. "You’ve consistently put down, bullied, and belittled countless female coworkers, including me. Is that support?” Blanchard, to her credit, replied, saying that she's never been anything but kind to Green during her time working together. She told Green that she has zero merit in her comments and she's not saying that she's been a saint either and made silly decisions as well. "Instead putting me down here for a little clout...you’ve got my #,” Blanchard added. Former Impact wrestler Allysin Kay, who wrestled under the name of Sienna, also accused Blanchard of doing nasty things. "Remember when you spat in a black woman’s face and called her the N-word in Japan? Was that you ‘supporting women’? The AUDACITY of this tweet.” Blanchard once again replied to the tweet, flatly denying Kay's statement. "That’s my statement and the most attention I’ll give it because of how actually ridiculous it is,” she answered. Kay wasn't done yet though, explaining that different people tried to deal with Blanchard behind the scenes for years and she never changed. "Denying things even happened shows you haven’t grown. So it was time for that ass to get exposed. I guarantee you she will treat everyone w/ respect now, bc people are watching that much closer." But the individual who was on the receiving end of that spit, La Rosa Negra, jumped in to thank both Kay and Green for calling out Blanchard. She said that it happened in Japan in 2017 and if Tessa doesn't remember it happening, she certainly does. "I am not a mean girl w

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Monday, January 13 2020 Issue #5821 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- Not sure how I feel about Tessa winning the Impact World title. There's a reason why there's a men's and a women's title. You won't see a man going for the women's title. Yeah, there's the shock value and it got people talking but long term, not sure if it was a great booking idea. ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - Here are the results from last night’s Hard To Kill pay-per-view which took place from The Bomb Factory in Dallas, Texas. Ken Shamrock defeated Madman Fulton; Ace Austin defeated Trey Miguel to retain the X Division title; Taya Valkyrie defeated Jordynne Grace and ODB in a triple threat match to retain the Impact Knockouts title; Rob Van Dam defeated Daga; Eddie Edwards defeated Michael Elgin; Moose defeated Rhino; The North defeated Rich Swann and Willie Mack to retain the Impact Tag Team titles; Tessa Blanchard defeated Sami Callihan to win the Impact World title. - Tessa Blanchard wrote her name in the pro wrestling history books last night at the Hard To Kill pay-per-view becoming the first woman to win a promotion’s world title. She defeated Sami Callihan in the intergender main event, wrapping up a year-long storyline that saw Blanchard rise to the top. Her weekend wasn’t all going great though as after a tweet meant to unite the females in the wrestling community, several of her former co-workers fired back, exposing her as a bully and a racist, statements which Blanchard denied on social media when replying to her accusers. But her victory speech last night after Hard To Kill went off the air somewhat addressed those rumors, saying that she hasn’t been perfect. “Nobody in this life is perfect. We’re all human,” Blanchard said. “It doesn’t matter what you call me. I’ve got one of the strongest minds that I’ve ever known. So whenever you come for me, you come for all these people.” Blanchard, the daughter of WWE Hall of Famer Tully Blanchard, wrapped up her speech by telling fans that she is now the standard bearer of the promotion. “Man or woman…pound for pound…I am one of the best in the world, and I am now your world champion.” You can see her speech at https://w-o.it/386MFgX. - Multiple industry insiders are reporting that Impact's Brian Cage has signed a deal with All Elite Wrestling. The news was originally broken by SoCalUncensored.com. Cage was supposed to wrestle Rob Van Dam yesterday at Hard To Kill but an injury prevented him from doing too much physical stuff. Van Dam then ended up wrestling Daga instead. The 35-year-old Cage worked for Impact between 2012 and 2014 and then returned in 2018 where he won the Impact World title. Cage was also supposed to take part at the Double or Nothing Casino Battle Royale back in May but his appearance was pulled due to some creative differences between AEW and Impact Wrestling who opted not to have their world champion competing in a

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Tuesday, January 14 2020 Issue #5822 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- The best part of Monday Night Raw, hands down, was the Brock / R-Truth segment. I laughed my ass off and found it very entertaining. Truth is gold, and Brock was pretty funny too. I was hoping Brock wouldn't pin him for the 24/7 title though because if that happened...that's another title gone from WWE television! LOL! ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - Nikki and Brie Bella are featured on this week's episode of Cold As Balls from Kevin Hart's Laugh Out Loud channel. The twins get in an ice tub with Hart to dish on everything from dealing with cattiness backstage to getting all the women in the WWE to band together and start an evolution towards making wrestling better for women. Nikki also opens up about her main event match with Ronda Rousey at Evolution. Episode highlights also include chatting about getting their start, Hart's relationship with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, their theme songs, the first ring names that were chosen for them, their grandfather who didn't want them to wrestle, and more. You can see the episode at https://w-o.it/2tl3c1M. - The next episode of the highly-rated WWE 24 will be titled WrestleMania New York and will focus on the behind-the-scenes activity leading up to last year's WrestleMania, technically held in New Jersey. This episode will air immediately following the conclusion of the 2020 Royal Rumble on the WWE Network on Sunday, January 26. WWE 24: WrestleMania New York is the the 24th episode of the series and the first one for the new year. Usually WWE produces four or five episodes of WWE 24 per year although last year they had six in total, focusing on WrestleMania 34, Becky Lynch, Ronda Rousey, Batista, Kofi Kingston, and Trish Stratus. The latest episode on Trish made its debut on December 1. Ever since the show made its debut in 2015, the look back at the previous year's WrestleMania has always aired in late January. This is the sixth one focusing on WrestleMania. - TheWrap.com is reporting that WWE Superstar The Miz will be hosting USA Network's upcoming competition series titled Cannonball. He will be flanked by co-hosts Rosci Diaz and sideline reporter Simon Gibson. The 10-episode Cannonball will premiere on USA in the summer and will feature contestants from across America who face off in the “biggest, wettest, slippery-est water sports competition ever created.” Cannonball is produced by ITV America’s ITV Entertainment, based on the original format by ITV Studios Netherlands. The Miz and his wife Maryse have been a big hit on the cable channel with their Miz & Mrs show, pulling in decent numbers for the network. Season two will hit TV screens later this month. - Soon-to-be WWE Hall of Famer Dave Bautista has joined the cast of See, Apple TV+'s drama series. Bautista will start with season two of the show, which is created by Steven Knight and Francis Law

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Wednesday, January 15 2020 Issue #5823 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- Congratulations to AEW for their new TV deal with TNT. It's great for them, great for the wrestling business, great for the fans, and great for wrestlers too. ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - WarnerMedia today announced that it has expanded its relationship with All Elite Wrestling, extending its deal through 2023 in addition to also green lighting another show. "When Tony Khan first shared with me his idea of starting a new wrestling league, I was impressed by his audacity to go up against a contender that has been the only game in town for twenty years, and ultimately believed that together we could bring his vision for a new, authentic, gritty product to bear,” says Kevin Reilly, chief content officer, HBO Max, president, TNT, TBS, and truTV. “The fans have spoken and after only three months, we have seen AEW shake up the wrestling world and this will only continue as we build upon this momentum.” TNT has been super happy with AEW's ratings, constantly delivering nearly 1 million viewers every week and placing in the top 10 among the 18-49 demographic. "When we launched AEW one year ago, we wanted to start a revolution that would disrupt the wrestling business, but everyone said that it would take a strong weekly television partner to make AEW real in the eyes of everyone – above all, the fans,” said Tony Khan, president and CEO of AEW. “What virtually no one realized at the time was Kevin Reilly and TNT were committed to this very same movement from day one, and their belief in us made it possible for AEW to think and act big from the start. Here we are, only three months into Wednesday Night Dynamite, and now we’ve been extended through 2023! We’re now making the ultimate statement that the team of AEW and TNT is here to stay and to bring fans more of the great wrestling that the fans demand and deserve.” No details have been announced yet for the new show. - Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that WarnerMedia is paying AEW approximately $45 million per year for the new four-year television deal that will keep Dynamite on TNT through 2023. The deal is worth $175 million in total and WarnerMedia has the option to extend in 2024 for more money if they want to eventually keep the show. Meltzer said that this deal will make AEW profitable in 2020 and beyond. As part of the extended deal, AEW will get another hour on television sometime this year although no date has been announced yet. The third hour is likely to be also taped on Wednesdays, making it a long day of television considering AEW also tapes Dark for YouTube after Dynamite wraps up filming. - Tonight's Dynamite on TNT is another PPV-worthy loaded card, with five solid matches for the Bash at the Beach themed episode of the show. Scheduled for the show live from Miami tonight are Kris Statlander and Hiroku Shida vs Aw

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Thursday, January 16 2020 Issue #5824 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- Sad news about the death of Rocky Johnson. Condolences to Dwayne Johnson and his whole family. Losing a parent is not easy, you never really get over it. ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - Rocky Johnson, the father of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, passed away last night in Lutz, Florida at the age of 75. Johnson began his wrestling career in 1965 and wrestled mostly for the National Wrestling Alliance during his career. In 1982, he jumped to the World Wrestling Federation where he feuded with the likes of Adrian Adonis, Greg Valentine, Don Muraco, and others. He then started tag teaming with Tony Atlas, winning the Tag Team titles once from the Wild Samoans in 1983. Johnson wrestled for WWE till 1985. After his retirement in 1991, Johnson started training his son and took a trainer role with WWE at Ohio Valley Wrestling but that assignment did not last long and was removed a few months later. In 2008, WWE inducted him into its Hall of Fame with Dwayne Johnson doing the honors for his father. Last year he published his autobiography Soulman: The Rocky Johnson Story, with his son writing the foreword. Rocky was married to Una but divorced in 1978 and married his second wife Ata just a few days later. Ata is the daughter of High Chief Peter Maivia and the mother of Dwayne. He divorced from his second wife in 2003 and later married speech pathologist Sheila to who he was married to until his death. Cauliflower Alley Club’s Brian Blair noted that Johnson had been ill over the last couple of weeks but did not specify what he had. No cause of death has been released. - The death of Rocky Johnson made headlines around the world, with major news outlets covering the story. The New York Times, CNN, Fox News, ESPN, Toronto Star, The Guardian, Sky News, The Sun, TGCom, Spiegel, CBC, The New Zealand Herald, TMZ, Yahoo! News, Daily Mirror and tons of other stations, newspapers, and online outlets all carrying the story. WWE.COM posted a story about the death of Johnson along with some photos and videos from his career. Several within the wrestling community such as Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Booker T, Mick Foley, William Regal, Triple H, Natalya, Jim Ross, Matt Hardy, Taz, Tommy Dreamer, Vince McMahon and many others tweeted their condolences to the family and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. The NWA Twitter account also posted a tribute to Johnson. NXT started the night with a tribute graphic for Johnson and a wider tribute is also expected on Smackdown and Raw. The Rock has yet to publicly address the loss of his father. - Madison Square Garden is advertising a DX reunion for WWE's return to the arena on March 22. This will be the first time that Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Road Dogg, and X-Pac have appeared together at the world's most famous arena in over a decade. The show, set for a 3PM start time, has two matches announ

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Friday, January 17 2020 Issue #5825 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- Happy weekend folks! Back tomorrow. ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - Rob Van Dam's "sex celebration" video from Impact Wrestling got the company banned from Twitch. The video shows Van Dam with his two very scantily clad girlfriends having way too much fun. "A lot of you guys think I was at my best way back in ECW," RVD says as his girlfriend Katie Forbes and their other friend Jennifer continued to grind on him. "What's ECW," Jennifer asks. "They weren't even born yet," Van Dam tells the camera! The video was also removed from YouTube, with the listing now set to private. The comments below the video were also a hilarious read. But Twitch did not appreciate the video and with strict rules against pornography or anything that resembles pornography, the company banned the Impact account. Accessing twitch.tv/impactwrestling, the page gives you a "Sorry. Unless you’ve got a time machine, that content is unavailable" error. Impact's weekly Behind The Lights Twitch show this week was also canceled and Impact saw the funny side of the whole ordeal, writing on Twitter, "There will be no edition of Behind the Lights this week for...fairly obvious reasons," while adding a laughing emoji. - Impact Wrestling will be using the TNA name for one night only during WrestleMania week for a show part of WrestleCon. The TNA show will be taking place on Friday, April 3 at The Ritz Ybor City in Tampa starting at 7PM ET. Tickets for this show will be on sale on Monday, January 20 at Noon ET. For those who are unable to attend the live event, it will also be broadcast on FITE TV for a fee. The Friday night show will be going head-to-head with the live Smackdown and many other shows that will be held during that weekend. The company used the TNA: Total Nonstop Action name from its inception in 2004 till March 2017. - AEW enjoyed another big win in the ratings on Wednesday night as Dynamite did 940,000 viewers for the Bash at the Beach themed episode, down just 7,000 viewers from last week’s episode. Dynamite did 0.38 in the 18-49 demo and placed #5 in the top 50 cable chart. Dynamite beat NXT in every demo and came close of actually matching the over 50 rating as well, something that NXT usually wins by a good margin. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com) - WWE will report its fourth quarter and full year 2019 results on Thursday, February 6, 2020 before the opening of the market. Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and Co-Presidents, George A. Barrios and Michelle D. Wilson, will host a conference call beginning at 11AM ET to discuss the results. A live web cast will be hosted through the corporate web site at corporate.wwe.com/investors. Last time around, Wall Street was not impressed at all with the numbers, driving the stocks down. WWE stocks are currently trading in the low 60s at the moment, down from the high 90s from las

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Saturday, January 18 2020 Issue #5826 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- After a few months delay, the new W-O News app for iOS is in beta testing. If you want to help with testing, e-mail us your Apple ID and we'll send you an invite. Testing will go for a week. ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - Smackdown did a total of 2,580,000 viewers last night, off hours 2,616,000 in the first hour and 2,544,000 in the second hour. That was 78,000 viewers up from last week's broadcast. Smackdown beat every show in the 18-49 demo, helped by repeats airing on CBS which is usually the main competition. In viewership however, Smackdown only beat The CW and ABC's Fresh Off The Boat and trailed everything else, including repeats. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com) - Two Royal Rumble matches got a stipulation added to them while two new matches have been confirmed for next week's pay-per-view. The Universal title match between The Fiend and Daniel Bryan will now be a strap match, a match which hasn't been done in WWE for quite a long time. Meanwhile, Reigns vs Corbin is now a falls count anywhere match after Reigns picked the stipulation last night on Smackdown. The two new matches feature Sheamus vs Shorty G and Smackdown Women's champion Bayley defending against Lacey Evans. Braun Strowman and Shinsuke Nakamura were the latest two added to the 30-man over-the-top rope Rumble match. 19 entrants are so far confirmed for this match. - One half of the WWE Women's Tag Team champions, Kairi Sane, made her return to the ring last night after she was injured at the TLC pay-per-view in early December. The Japanese former NXT champion was pretty beat up and suffered a concussion during the tables, ladders, and chairs match against Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. She got hit in the head by a flying monitor and then took a suplex on the floor, banging her head on the unprotected part of the aisle. After the match, Asuka, Flair, and Lynch praised Sane for being a true warrior. In her return match, Sane and Asuka teamed up with Sarah Logan to take on Natalya, Lynch, and Flair. Despite losing the match, Sane was happy for her return. "I'm back I love wrestling," she wrote on Twitter. - Former WWE Divas champion Nikki Bella will be a guest star on Nickelodeon's prank show The Substitute according to TheWrap.com. The show transforms celebrities into unrecognizable people to prank children, with Nikki pranking the kids at Las Palmas Middle School in Covina, California. Her sister Brie will also be part of the episode. First, Nikki will play an eccentric gym teacher, then an awkward speech teacher, and then a career counselor obsessed with clowns. A team of Hollywood special effects artists will help Nikki transform herself before she unveils her real identity. The featured school receives a donation of $25,000. The episode will air on Friday, January 31 at 8PM ET. - The Owen Hart Foundation Twitter a

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Monday, January 20 2020 Issue #5827 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- Here we go another week. Royal Rumble week! Apart from WrestleMania, this is my favorite PPV of the year. Usually they always deliver, although sometimes there are big misses. But overall, it's a fun show. ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - The Royal Rumble go-home episode of Monday Night Raw airs live tonight on USA Network from the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas. Apart from another Brock Lesnar appearance - which makes it three weeks in a row - two matches are being advertised by WWE for tonight's broadcast. The first is a ladder match for the United States title with Andrade defending against former champion Rey Mysterio and the second match is a mixed tag team match featuring Rusev and Liv Morgan versus Bobby Lashley and Lana. More Superstars - especially from the women's match - are expected to be announced for the Royal Rumble as well. So far, only four confirmed entrants are in the women's match - Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, Nikki Cross, and Sarah Logan. - The WWE United Kingdom title is no more as WWE has renamed it to the NXT UK title. At last week's NXT UK tapings in York, NXT UK General Manager Johnny Saint did the presentation of the new title to champ Walter with the rest of Imperium by his side. The WWE United Kingdom title was introduced in January 2017 when there was no NXT UK established yet with Tyler Bate being the inaugural champion. When NXT UK was formed, all the other titles were referred to NXT UK rather than the WWE UK titles so it made sense to change this to refer to the UK brand. - In an interview with French-Canadian website TVA Sports, former WWE Tag Team title holder Sylvain Grenier revealed that he is now working for WWE again as an agent/producer. The 42-year-old Quebecer is best known for being part of the La Résistance tag team between 2003 and 2005 with René Duprée. After his release from WWE, he worked for Impact Wrestling doing French commentary between 2007 and 2009. “When WWE came to Montreal in April 2019, I went to meet Kevin Dunn to ask him for pictures of the time I won the team titles at the Bell Center," Grenier told TVA Sports. "We started talking about things and others and he told me that the company was looking for agents. I had just had a child, I was working on my show, I didn't want to end up on the road as much as before. But he told me that things had changed. The company then invited me to the premiere of SmackDown on FOX in Los Angeles and a few exchanges later, we had an agreement.” Grenier explained his role as being the guy who "fine tunes" a little bit of the ideas that others come up with and to serve as a bridge between the powers that be and the wrestlers on how their particular match should go. "For the moment I'm in training. But eventually I will be assigned to the red team or the blue team, Raw or SmackDown. I'm going to do

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Tuesday, January 21 2020 Issue #5828 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- Nothing to say today, back tomorrow. ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - WWE today announced a new partnership with ViacomCBS’s Channel 5 to broadcast highlights of its weekly programs Raw and SmackDown on free-to-air television in the UK. Beginning February 2, Channel 5 will air a one-hour version of Raw on Sundays at 10:30AM and one-hour version of Smackdown on Saturdays at 10:30AM. In addition, NXT UK will air on Paramount Network each Wednesday at midnight. “Bringing highlights of our flagship programming to free-to-air television for the first time in the UK with Channel 5 is a significant step for the WWE brand, and more great news for our passionate fanbase in the UK,” said Andy Warkman, Vice President and General Manager, WWE UK & Ireland. “WWE has strong appeal throughout the UK and across generations so we’re very excited to be bringing their high-quality entertainment to an even bigger free-to-air audience in the UK,” said James Tatam, VP Commercial, Digital and Operations, Channel 5. As part of the agreement, content will be made available on Channel 5’s streaming service My5. In addition, full seasons of Total Divas and Miz & Mrs will be offered to My5 viewers, as well as on ViacomCBS-owned Pluto TV in the UK. - Speaking in an interview with Reel Talker uploaded yesterday on YouTube, WWE Superstar Rusev talked about the current angle involving his wife marrying Bobby Lashley. Asked how he feels with his wife being in an angle with another man, Rusev said that it's no different than what other actors do in Hollywood with certain roles requiring you to do certain things. "You can always say no but we are not those people," Rusev said. "We're always professional." He said that having his wife Lana in that angle is not a problem for him and he knows it's not a problem for her either. "People always come and ask me, 'How are you feeling?'" Rusev explained, before he answers the question with another question. "Why are you asking me? Go ask her. She's the one who has to kiss!" he continued. Rusev put his wife over for being professional and for agreeing to go ahead with the angle and also had big praise for Lashley, who he said is very respectful and a great guy overall. "He's game for anything. It's not like he is a stubborn veteran who thinks he knows everything," he said, before saying again that he's a really good guy. - WWE Backstage is set to be an interesting one tonight with CM Punk back on the panel with special guest and Raw Women's champion Becky Lynch. Punk has not appeared on the show in a few weeks and getting him on the broadcast with Lynch booked as the guest will surely get some people talking. Lynch's fiancee, WWE Superstar Seth Rollins, challenged CM Punk when Punk was announced for his first show but Punk brushed the challenge off. Backstage last week drew a very low 84,000

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Wednesday, January 22 2020 Issue #5829 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- Really enjoyed yesterday's Backstage discussions. Too bad this show is not in a better time slot as I think it would be a bigger hit if it was let's say after Smackdown or something like that. Not sure who thought an 11PM start time would be a great idea! ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - NXT returns live from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida tonight on USA Network with four matches so far announced. The semi-final matches of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament take place tonight with Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne taking on Imperium and Undisputed Era versus Grizzled Young Veterans. The winners of these two matches will meet in the final of the tournament, a final which still does not have a confirmed date. After winning a number one contender's match, Keith Lee will get his hands on Roderick Strong for the opportunity to win the NXT North American title while on The Bump it was announced that Io Shirai will take on Toni Storm. - During WWE Backstage last night, CM Punk put over the WWE women's division and said it's the most exciting thing in WWE at the moment while Raw Women's champion Becky Lynch sat next to him for most of the program. "I like the fact that there's a little girl in Ireland that watches TV or watches on YouTube or however they digest their WWE, and they see Becky and that can change their life," explained Punk, who said that he now watches through a different lens and when he did the straight edge gimmick, there are still fans who come up to him at autograph signings, or Twitter and say that they never did drugs when they were kids because of him. "So I look at all these different women...you (Becky), Charlotte, Sasha, Bayley, Asuka...and I just think of the groundswell of representation. For the longest time this has always been a male dominated sport. It just opens so many different doors and avenues," Punk continued. "There's a whole chunk of demographic out there that has been ignore d for a very, very long time and it's just nice and exciting to see women who aren't just used as you know - pardon my French - pieces of ass." Punk mentioned that during the past several decades there are several iconic photographs in professional wrestling, mentioning Hogan shaking hands with Savage, Austin bleeding while in Bret's Sharpshooter, and said we can add Becky with a busted up face bleeding while taunting Ronda Rousey from the stands a week before the Survivor Series. When asked who he thinks will win the women's Royal Rumble match, Punk went with Sasha Banks and thinks that she and Bayley will have their moment at WrestleMania for the Smackdown Women's title. You can see him delivering some of his comments at https://w-o.it/37kVT9b. - Next week's episode of WWE Backstage on FS1 will be taped from Miami, Florida, the first time that the show has not been held at

===================================================================== TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:wrestling-online+unsubscribe@groups.io ===================================================================== Watch Royal Rumble free on the WWE Network! http://w-o.it/wwentwrk ===================================================================== _ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___ \ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __| \ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ | \_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___| ___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __| | (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _| \___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___| _ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___ | \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \ | .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| / |_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\ ==================================================== Thursday, January 23 2020 Issue #5830 ==================================================== Visit our website at http://www.wrestling-online.com ==================================================== //->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]- Good decision with Keith Lee going over last night. He has momentum and I would like him to get a good showing at the Royal Rumble, if NXT will be part of it. It was a very good match and had a great ending. ======================================================== //->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE Web version at http://www.wrestling-online.com/ - It looks like WWE took one giant step towards equality, at least within NXT, as the promotion has dropped the specific gender when addressing their female champion. Just 24 hours after Becky Lynch suggested on Backstage that using "women" is somewhat still holding them back on being on par with their male counterparts, NXT is now referring to their women's champion as the NXT champion. The change was pretty evident on television when Mauro Ranallo referred to Rhea Ripley simply as the NXT champion multiple times yesterday and the WWE.COM review of the NXT show also refers to Ripley as the NXT champion. The company does not refer to the males as "men's champions" and the distinction was only done when it came to the women. Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com adds to the story that WWE issued an internal decree that moving forward, the NXT Women's title will be referred to as the NXT Championship. So far, on the WWE.COM page showcasing all the champions, the women are still listed as women 's champions. - The go-home episode of Monday Night Raw drew 2,380,000 viewers this week, up 350,000 viewers from last week's record low. Hour one started with 2,548,000 viewers and then went slightly down to 2,492,000 viewers for the second hour before suffering a big drop to 2,101,000 viewers for the third and final hour. Raw was #1, #2, and #4 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic and was #7 in overall viewership for the night on cable. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com) - The final match of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament will be held on next Wednesday's NXT on USA Network. Last night on NXT, The Grizzled Young Veterans and the team of Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne advanced to the final match after they overcame The Undisputed Era and Imperium respectively. The NXT UK tag team of Zack Gibson and James Drake got the best of The Undisputed Era after all four members of Imperium appeared to distract the NXT Tag Team champions. Unfortunately for Imperium though, Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner failed to go past Dunne and Riddle for an all-UK final. To reach the finals The Grizzled Young Veterans went through Alex Shelley and Kushida in the first round and later Fish and O'Reilly while Riddle and Dunne defeated Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster in the first round and later Imperium. With The Undisputed Era out of the tournament it means that first-time winners will be crowned next week. Samoa Joe and Finn Balor, the Authors of Pain, The U ndisputed Era, and Aleister Black and Ricochet are the previous winners. - WWE Backstage on Tuesday on FS1 drew 11