Month: October 2021

WWE NXT Preview 10/19/21

Tonight’s WWE NXT 2.0 episode on the USA Network will feature the final build for next week’s Halloween Havoc special.

Impact Stars Ace Austin and Gia Miller Lose Home In Apartment Fire

Impact Wrestling stars Ace Austin and Gia Miller lost their home in an apartment fire on Monday morning in Dayton, Ohio.

Austin and Miller took to Twitter on Monday to let fans know they were alright, as is their pet cat. Miller noted that she woke up at around 9:30am from the smell of smoke, realizing that their second story apartment was on fire.

Miller noted on their GoFundMe account how the fire originated on their front porch, nearly trapping them inside. They ran through the flames and were met by neighbors and firemen rushing to get them to safety. She noted that they were just a few seconds from being trapped, but escaped as their home was engulfed in flames and smoke. They lost all of their belongings, but later found their pet cat, alive but buried under the collapsed ceiling.

“We are physically okay. Our little family is reunited. As for our home, it is gone. Something we worked so hard to build over the last year and a half, gone in minutes. We do not know what was able to be saved if anything. Now, we have to rebuild. Like a phoenix, from these ashes we will rise. Any help, even the smallest amount, is appreciated,” she wrote.

You can access Austin and Miller’s GoFundMe campaign at this link. You can also access Austin’s Pro Wrestling Tees store at this link. TheGoFundMe campaign has raised $14,027 as of this writing, of a $5,000 goal. As of this writing they have had 205 donors to the campaign. Top donors include Ryan Barkan of PW Tees with $2500, WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page with $500, Cody Rhodes with $500, Nick Jackson with $500, Mark Madden with $250, Matt Cardona with $250, D’Lo Brown with $200, and Impact Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo with $100, among many others.

Below are related posts from Austin and Miller:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

“Filthy” Tom Lawlor Leaving MLW

Top MLW star “Filthy” Tom Lawlor is leaving the company.

Lawlor’s two year contract is expiring soon, and he is finishing up with the company, according to Fightful Select. MLW sources confirmed the departure and spoke very highly of the veteran talent.

Lawlor is done with MLW as of now as the recent Casket Match was a way to effectively write him out of the storylines. That match saw Lawlor lose to MLW Caribbean Heavyweight Champion King Muertes at the Fightland taping in Philadelphia earlier this month. There was still some time left on Lawlor’s contract, but it will expire before MLW’s next set of TV tapings in November.

The leader of Team Filthy first started working with MLW in 2017 and is a one-time MLW World Heavyweight Champion. He won the Battle Riot match in 2018, and won the Opera Cup Tournament in 2020.

Lawlor is currently working for NJPW after making his debut for the promotion in July 2020. He became the first-ever NJPW Strong Openweight Champion back in April after winning the New Japan Cup USA tournament, defeating Brody King in the finals.

Lawlor has expressed interest in returning to MMA, and said while he left his gloves in the ring after his last bout, he is not officially retired. Lawlor remains under contract to the PFL (Pro Fighters League). The former UFC star last fought on June 17 of this year, defeating Jordan Young by unanimous decision at the PFL 5 event in Atlantic City. He currently has a MMA record of 11-8-1.

There is no word on if the 38 year old Lawlor has interest from AEW or WWE, or what his contract status is with NJPW.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Rampage Numbers Vs. Supersized SmackDown, Tony Khan Excited

AEW Rampage tied SmackDown in the key 18-49 demographic last week, and they drew more viewers in the 30-minute head-to-head competition.

The first 30 minutes of AEW Rampage went head-to-head with WWE’s “Supersized” edition of SmackDown last week, and the two shows wound up tying in the key 18-49 demographic.

Not only that, but according to PW Torch, Rampage actually drew higher viewership than SmackDown during the 30 minutes of head-to-head competition. The report stated that in the 18-49 demographic, Rampage recorded 328,000 viewers compared to 285,000 for SmackDown.

According to Showbuzz Daily (h/t WrestlingInc.com), SmackDown averaged 866,000 viewers, and Rampage averaged 578,000 viewers. Both shows recorded 0.24 ratings in the 18-49 demographic. It’s important to note that the Supersized show aired on FS1, as Game 1 of the 2021 ALCS between the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros aired on FOX, and it recorded 6.136 million viewers (via WrestlingInc.com).

Following the release of the numbers for Rampage and SmackDown, WrestleVotes reported “the numbers news is a HOT topic right now backstage” in WWE.

WWE greatly attempted to stack up the Supersized edition of SmackDown, which featured a singles match between Sasha Banks and Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch. The match was won by the former thanks to assistance from Bianca Belair . Those three will face off for the Raw Women’s title in a triple threat match at Crown Jewel.

Zelina Vega defeated Carmella in their Queen’s Crown tournament semifinal, and Vega will face the winner of Doudrop and Shayna Baszler at Crown Jewel. Finn Balor got past Sami Zayn in the King of the Ring semifinal, and he’ll challenge the winner of Jinder Mahal vs. Xavier Woods at Crown Jewel. The show closed with Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns signing their Universal Championship match contract for Crown Jewel.

Though SmackDown predictably finished with far more total viewers than Rampage, this was a giant win for AEW. Their “B” show was able to outdraw the final 30 minutes of SmackDown, which has enjoyed much greater viewership than Raw in recent years.

AEW already soundly defeated NXT in the “Wednesday Night Wars”, and now they’re starting to gain momentum against WWE’s main show. It’ll be interesting to see if WWE reacts to this, and if we’ll see more direct competition between SmackDown and Rampage before long.

Tony Khan Excited:

Tony Khan is pretty happy on Monday after learning how AEW Rampage fared in the numbers while up against WWE SmackDown this past Friday.

Tony Khan is a pretty happy camper on Monday after learning that AEW Rampage not only kept up with WWE SmackDown in the ratings this past Friday, but actually beat the blue brand in some of the key demos they use to measure the successes and failures of a professional wrestling television program. While SmackDown was boosted by the over-50 demo and won in total viewers, the argument being made is that advertisers care most about the areas where AEW Rampage won.

Heading into Friday night, there was a lot of talk about how AEW was going to compete head-to-head with WWE for the first real time since they became a company a couple of years ago. This wasn’t NXT versus AEW Dynamite. No, this was one of AEW’s top shows versus one of WWE’s top shows and AEW President Tony Khan was hyped for it. He called out Raw by saying “it sucked” and he added a buy-in show to AEW while going commercial-free for the first 30 minutes to counter SmackDown’s commercial-free last 30 minutes. In some cases, Khan was criticized for calling out the competition so much, but it’s clear his strategy paid off.

The complete demographic breakdown for last Friday were as follows:

  • People 18-49 – 0.24 (SmackDown), 0.24 (Rampage)
  • Females 18-49 – 0.16 (SmackDown), 0.14 (Rampage)
  • Males 18-49 – 0.32 (SmackDown), 0.34 (Rampage)
  • People 18-34 – 0.15 (SmackDown), 0.17 (Rampage)
  • Females 12-34 – 0.10 (SmackDown), 0.10 (Rampage)
  • Males 12-34 – 0.20 (SmackDown), 0.16 (Rampage)
  • People 25-54 – 0.28 (SmackDown), 0.28 (Rampage)
  • People 50+ – 0.43 (SmackDown), 0.21 (Rampage)

Kahn said in a tweet before the numbers were revealed, “I’m only estimating but this suggests to me that we probably did pretty well in the yet-to-be-released head-to-head ratings from 10 pm-10:30 pm, a fight that I didn’t ask for or start, but one for which I was more than willing to show up and in which I was thrilled to participate.” When the numbers were revealed, he was clearly excited about it.

The ratings were extremely close and the demos tight, but this is a big victory for AEW in some respects.

While this was a one-time thing and SmackDown will shift back to its regular time and channel this Friday, one has to wonder if Khan is feeling good about his product and wondering if it’s time to try and take on WWE a bit more often. It is interesting how the supporters for each promotion have come out in droves to back both AEW and WWE. It certainly goes to show that competition in the wrestling industry certainly gets the fans going.

Source: TheSportster

WWE RAW Preview 10/18/21

Tonight’s WWE RAW will take place from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California, with the final build for Thursday’s Crown Jewel event in Saudi Arabia.

Rhea Ripley Loses WWE Women’s Tag Team Title While Traveling

One half of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, Rhea Ripley, took to Twitter earlier today hoping to spread the word that her luggage has gone missing. Among the lost items is the Women’s Tag Team Title belt that Rhea travels with for press and appearances.

“*LOST GEAR BAG* My MosherZ of Albuquerque I know this is a stretch but, if any of you have seen a black travel suitcase around Office Boulevard & Montaño rd please hold onto it and let me know. It has all my gear in it, including my title. Cheers!”

It’s been noted in the past that WWE will give a replica title belt to their stars when traveling and doing press. They also have a series of championship titles made specifically for television that appear best on camera.

Rhea and Nikki A.S.H. (known as “Super Brutality”) have been defending their tag titles both on television and at WWE Live Events against Natalya and Tamina. They have been champions since September 20, 2021 when they defeated Natalya and Tamina in Charlotte, NC.

https://twitter.com/RheaRipley_WWE/status/1449791967634747392

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Lacey Evans Gives Birth To Her Second Child

Lacey Evans has given birth to her second child, sharing photos from her home birth on Instagram.

Evans shared the news on Instagram, attaching photos of her home birth. The wrestler explained in the post why she had opted to give birth at home, citing COVID restrictions in hospitals as the reason for her decision. “Due to covid my family wouldn’t get to fully be a part of welcoming our second child into the world,” Evans wrote.

“Born 4:20 am in my recliner. 7lbs 8oz. With my Lil lady and husband by my side.” Evans and her husband have one other daughter together who is shown alongside her mom in the photos of the birth. Evans admits it was one of the hardest things she has ever done, but also incredibly rewarding. She signed off by writing, “she is perfect. I’m going to take a nap now.”

AEW Dynamite Preview 10/16/21

Saturday night’s AEW Dynamite from the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida.

Below is the card as of this posting:

* Bryan Danielson vs. Bobby Fish

* Malakai Black vs. Daunte Martin

* The Lucha Brothers (Fénix & Pentagon Jr.) (c) vs. TBA (AEW World Tag Team Championship)

* World Title Eliminator Tournament Bracket: AEW will reveal the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament. The final of this tournament will take place at Full Gear PPV

AEW Rampage Preview 10/15/21

Tonight’s AEW Rampage will be live at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida.

The Buy-In pre-show at 9pm ET on YouTube:

* Tay Conti vs. Santana Garrett

* Bobby Fish vs. Lee Moriarty

* Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki

AEW Rampage at 10pm ET on TNT:

* CM Punk vs. Matt Sydal

* Ruby Soho vs. The Bunny

* Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager & AEW TNT Champion Sammy Guevara) vs. Men of the Year (Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky) & the debuting former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos (w/Dan Lambert & Jorge Masvidal)

WWE SmackDown Preview 10/15/21

Tonight’s WWE SmackDown from the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California will be a special Supersized edition that airs on FS1 due to the MLB airing on FOX. The episode will air for 2 hours and 30 minutes with the last half hour airing commercial-free.