Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will take place from the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana as the road to the Royal Rumble continues.
It was recently announced that Ring of Honor will be bringing back the Supercard of Honor show for WrestleMania weekend.
An interesting name that appeared in the press release was Marty Scurll. “The Villian’s” contract recently expired, but he is a free agent who will be working with ROH and the NWA for the near future.
In the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer reported that ROH is offering Scurll “WWE main roster money” in a deal that would have him working only 40 dates per-year, among other perks. There is no word on if he has signed it, but it is reportedly a better deal than the one they offered Matt Taven.
Taven, a former ROH World Champion, signed a new deal in September before his old one expired in October. The contract starts out at double the highest-paid wrestler in NXT, and can end up being about triple by the end of it.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Week 14 of the Wednesday Night War saw AEW Dynamite top WWE NXT once again.
Wednesday’s Anniversary Edition of Dynamite on TNT drew 947,000 viewers, topping the 721,000 viewers garnered by NXT on the USA Network by 31%, according to Showbuzz Daily.
AEW ranked #6 in the Cable Top 150, while NXT ranked #55. AEW ranked #36 in viewership, while NXT ranked #45 in viewership.
Last week’s Dynamite episode drew 967,000 viewers and ranked #13 in the Cable Top 150, and #40 in viewership, so it was only down 2% against a live episode of NXT. Last week’s taped special edition of NXT drew 548,000 viewers and ranked #66 in the Cable Top 150, and #48 in viewership.
AEW drew a 0.36 rating in the 18-49 demographic, beating the 0.19 that NXT drew in the same demo by 89% this week. Last week’s AEW show also drew a 0.36 rating while the NXT episode drew a 0.15 in that demographic.
This week’s NXT episode was the first regular live show of 2020, headlined by the beginning of the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and a Fatal 4 Way main event to crown the new #1 contender to NXT North American Champion Roderick Strong, won by Keith Lee. The Dynamite episode was the big Anniversary Edition.
Real Housewives of New Jersey on Bravo topped the night in the 18-49 demographic on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.45 rating, beating both NBA games on ESPN. Hannity topped the night on cable in viewership with 4.196 million viewers, ranking #10 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.31 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
The Jeopardy special on ABC topped the night on network TV in the 18-49 demographic with a 24 rating, and in viewership with 14.872 million viewers.
Below is 2020 NXT Viewership Tracker:
January 1 Episode: 548,000 viewers with a 0.15 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 8 Episode: 721,000 viewers with a 0.19 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 15 Episode:
2019 Total: 10.209 million viewers over 13 episodes
2019 Average: 785,307 viewers per episode
Below is 2020 AEW Dynamite Viewership Tracker:
January 1 Episode: 967,000 viewers with a 0.36 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 8 Episode: 947,000 viewers with a 0.36 rating in the 18-49 demographic
January 15 Episode:
2019 Total: 10.840 million viewers over 12 episodes
2019 Average: 903,333 viewers per episode
Source: Wrestling Inc.
As previously reported, there has recently been talk of some big news breaking regarding MLW and a major partnership.
Wrestling Inc. has been able to confirm with sources close to the situation that there is interest in MLW from Showtime. There isn’t currently any other specifics known.
While Showtime has not aired any wrestling programming, they have had interest in the genre in the past. The network was in talks with AEW just last year.
Wrestling veteran Alex Shelley will make his big WWE NXT TV debut next Wednesday night as he reunites with former tag team partner Kushida for the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
Time Splitters were an active team from 2012-2015 and last competed together in 2016.
Alex Shelley is most famously known for his time in TNA/Impact Wrestling as one half of the Motor City Machine Guns with Chris Sabin. He recently guest coached at the WWE Performance Center, leading many to speculate he’d team with Kushida in the tourney, but Shelley attempted to downplay this last night on Twitter.
“Everybody seems to think Kushi needs me,” he wrote. “Kushi and I, and The Bucks, and Forever Hooligans, and ReDragon, helped change [NJPW]’s jr. tag division. But really, he’s going to be awesome with any partner.”
Dusty Classic tournament matches set for next Wednesday are The Time Splitters (Kushida and Shelley) vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson and James Drake). Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne vs. Mark Andrews and Flash Morgan Webster will also take place next week, putting an end to the first round.
Tonight’s NXT episode saw the tournament kick off with Imperium’s Marcel Barthel and Fabian Aichner defeat Wesley Blake and Steve Cutler of The Forgotten Sons, while NXT Tag Team Champions Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish defeated NXT UK Tag Team Champions Wolfgang and Mark Coffey of Gallus to advance.
Sources: Wrestling Inc. and Pro Wrestling Sheet
Tonight’s Anniversary Edition of AEW Dynamite will air live from Southaven, MS (the Greater Memphis area).
* Tribute to Legends of Memphis Wrestling
* Riho (c) vs. Kris Statlander (AEW Women’s World Championship)
* Sammy Guevara vs. Christopher Daniels
* Cody and Dustin Rhodes vs. Lucha Bros.
* Private Party vs. Hangman Page and Kenny Omega
* The Best Friends & Orange Cassidy vs. Jurassic Express
* Jon Moxley to give his answer about joining the Inner Circle
Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will see the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament kick off.
Io Shirai is said to be “not necessarily happy” with how she’s used in WWE NXT, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.
The Stardom women’s wrestling promotion in Japan currently has a goal of bringing back Shirai and WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Kairi Sane, but WWE may bring Shirai to the main roster to try and prevent that from happening.
This year is expected to be a big year for Stardom as New Japan Pro Wrestling parent company Bushiroad purchased them last fall and will put a lot of resources and marketing into the promotion moving forward. Meltzer noted that Stardom is looking to try and run bigger shows this year, but they recognize how it’s important for them to try and sign real stars, like Shirai and Sane. They both are already stars in Japan, but their runs with WWE will add to that.
Bushiroad reportedly wants to offer a lot of money to Sane and Shirai to stop them from re-signing with WWE. WWE may move Shirai to the main roster as her pay will then go way up. Meltzer noted that Shirai’s NXT pay is “nothing special” but she was making more money in Japan and working less dates, but because of her merchandise pay.
There was no further details revealed on why Shirai is unhappy in NXT, but besides that she has her fiancé back in Japan. Shirai and NJPW star Evil are engaged to be married, but there’s no word yet on when they will tie the knot.
There’s also no official word yet on when Sane and Shirai will see their WWE contracts expire. Sane reportedly signed a three-year deal back in March 2017. Shirai signed with WWE around the summer of 2018.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE has reportedly signed popular independent star Mercedes Martinez, according to SoCal UNCENSORED.
Mercedes Martinez was trained by Jason Knight and made her wrestling debut in 2000. She has wrestled in many promotions like Shimmer, Ring of Honor, World Xtreme Wrestling, Women Superstars Uncensored, Beyond Wrestling, and is the current AWS Heavyweight Champion.
She is a two-time Mae Young Classic competitor and wrestled in NXT on several occasions.
Mercedes Martinez was also part of AEW’s Casino Battle Royale at All Out.
Sports Illustrated listed her on their Top 10 Women Wrestlers of 2019.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Memphis is getting lots of love from pro wrestling to kick off 2020 as SmackDown took place from there last week and AEW is visiting the city this week. During WWE’s trip to Memphis, they also recorded 205 Live where Ariya Daivari offered a tribute (or a shot) to The King of Memphis Wrestling, Jerry Lawler, by staging a fist drop from the second rope.
Lawler was asked about the spot when he joined Cerrito Live.
“Well, he took a little too long up there. I watched it and I never would give my opponent that much time to recover while he was lying there waiting for me to drop a fist on him,” said Lawler. “He took a little too long as a matter of fact he acted like he was wearing two straps. He was dropping two straps. Then by the time he finally dropped down on his opponent, the guy raised his feet up right in his face and it didn’t work out too well for him.”
The removing of the strap and second-rope fist drop didn’t work out in terms of functionality, but Lawler was still honored by the acknowledgement.
“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” stated Lawler.
He was then asked about tonight’s AEW’s show which is being billed as a tribute to the legends of Memphis Wrestling. Lawler won’t be on hand due to his WWE ties, but many greats will be there including “Handsome” Jimmy Valiant and The Rock ‘N’ Roll Express.
“I have talked to some guys and I think they’re gonna have quite a few guys who were well known in Memphis,” Lawler said before rattling off the names of Memphis wrestlers who he knows will be on hand. “Dave Brown will be there. I talked to Dave and we have lunch every Thursday. Yeah, he’s gonna be there.”
While this will be a trip down nostalgia lane, Lawler thinks there is a more pertinent reason for AEW to bring out the Memphis legends.
“They’re looking to sell some tickets and pop the crowd,” stated Lawler. “I think a tribute to Memphis Wrestling is actually the last thing on their minds. They’re looking to sell some tickets and pop the crowd.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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