AEW Dynamite will air live tonight on TBS from the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
As we previously reported, a rumored television deal between the National Wrestling Alliance and The CW Network is apparently in jeopardy following a controversial segment that took place at last month’s NWA Samhain pay-per-view event. Dave Meltzer had an update on the NWA and Billy Corgan situation on today’s episode of Wrestling Observer Radio.
According to an earlier report by Haus of Wrestling, the segment featured James Mitchell partying with several women and snorting a white powdery substance that was hinted to be cocaine.
The controversial segment reportedly upset some CW higher-ups who have since been pushing for NWA programming to air only on The CW app instead of the main network as was initially planned.
NWA CEO and owner Billy Corgan has dismissed the report on the matter.
The NWA and The CW have yet to announce any type of streaming or network TV deal. And it appears the deal may now be off with WWE NXT coming to the CW Network next year.
Source: eWn
Earlier this year, many fans were left disappointed when NBC canceled “Young Rock,” the sitcom that saw Dwayne Johnson serving as on-screen narrator looking back on his early years in the wrestling business. In a positive update, Harvey Wippleman, who worked as an executive consultant on the show, has floated the possibility of the show returning for a fourth season on another network.
In an interview with “Developmentally Speaking,” Wippleman noted that the show’s production staff is expected to work on an upcoming season after the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. “It was a great experience [to work on the show], and it’s not over yet,” Wippleman said. “It’s not on NBC anymore, but once the actors’ strike resolves, stay tuned. ‘Young Rock’ will be back. The story ain’t over yet.”
Speaking on his role as a consultant, Wippleman revealed he advised the writers on storylines surrounding the Memphis Wrestling aspect of the show and also had several Zoom meetings with Ryan Pinkston — the actor portraying Wippleman on ‘Young Rock’ — to teach him his accent, behaviors, and tendencies. He also praised Chavo Guerrero, the other executive consultant on the show, for expertly training the actors on taking bumps. “The young wrestlers that were portraying other people, he [Chavo] would explain to them what to do,” Wippleman revealed.
As for his well-documented friendship with The Rock, Wippleman praised “The Great One” for inviting him to be a part of ‘Young Rock’ and always looking out for his best interests. “Wonderful person,” Wippleman said of The Rock. “I’ve known him since he was a child. We’re very close — I would literally die for him. I mean, he’s made my life.”
Source: Wrestling Inc.
With the announcement last month that “WWE SmackDown” would be leaving Fox and heading back to USA in 2024, questions emerged regarding the futures for “WWE Raw” and “WWE NXT” on USA respectively. At least with “NXT,” its future will lie elsewhere, in a move that will also affect another wrestling promotion.
In a press release late Tuesday afternoon, WWE announced they had reached a deal with The CW to broadcast “NXT” starting in September 2024. PWInsider reported earlier in the afternoon that the two sides were in deep negotiations, so much so that an announcement could happen at any time. No financial details were disclosed, though the earlier report suggested that the deal would be “the biggest increase for “WWE NXT” media rights ever.”
The deal will mark NXT’s move from cable to broadcast TV, and will be a reunion between WWE and The CW, which aired “SmackDown” from 2006 to 2008; “SmackDown” also aired on The CW’s predecessor, UPN, from 1999 to 2006. The news comes on the heels of speculation that The CW was entering a relationship with rival promotion NWA, with both a wrestling and reality show set to air. It’s unclear what effect the WWE/CW deal will have on any potential NWA projects, or if a recent NWA angle said to give The CW pause helped contribute to this move.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE NXT airs live tonight at 8:00 pm EST on USA Network.
The WWE’s programming rights for Raw, NXT, and SmackDown are set to expire next year. Raw and NXT currently have agreements with the USA Network, while SmackDown is aired on FOX.
However, WWE has recently signed a five-year deal to bring SmackDown back to the USA Network starting in October 2024. This move may affect the renewal of Raw and NXT’s rights with the network, but negotiations are still possible.
Other networks, including USA Network, Warner Bros [TBS or TNT], Discovery, and FX, are rumored in obtaining the broadcasting rights for Raw, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.
Source: eWn
GUNTHER has now held the WWE Intercontinental Championship for well over 500 days, having first won the title from Ricochet back in June 2022. Last night’s “WWE Raw” included a four-way to determine the next contender for GUNTHER, and the lineup featured the former champion Ricochet, as well as The Miz, Bronson Reed, and Ivar of the Viking Raiders. Like much of last night’s show, there was plenty of action and excitement. However, not all was well coming out of the match, with Ricochet reportedly hurt.
Today’s “Wrestling Observer Radio” had hosts Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussing the situation. Alvarez stated that Ricochet was in WWE’s concussion protocol, meaning he must get cleared by a doctor before being able to return to the ring. Depending on the severity of his injury, that could take days, weeks, or possibly even months.
One spot relatively early on saw Ricochet slam his head onto the mat and, according to Alvarez, it was immediately clear that Ricochet should have been pulled from the match and checked out for a concussion. However, the high-flying WWE star finished out the match.
“I’ve seen a million Ricochet matches, and he does not miss stuff, and he is not slow,” Alvarez said. “From that point forward, for a good three [or] four minutes, he’s slow and everything is not Ricochet-level. And it was clear this guy was messed up but they let him work the entire match.”
Both hosts agreed that Ricochet’s condition had seemed to improve after the commercial break, with the wrestler likely having a minute or two to recover. There was some confusion at the end of the bout, with Ricochet kicking out while the ref still counted to three, but it’s not yet clear if that was a planned angle or a mistake on someone’s part.
Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to
GUNTHER has now held the WWE Intercontinental Championship for well over 500 days, having first won the title from Ricochet back in June 2022. Last night’s “WWE Raw” included a four-way to determine the next contender for GUNTHER, and the lineup featured the former champion Ricochet, as well as The Miz, Bronson Reed, and Ivar of the Viking Raiders. Like much of last night’s show, there was plenty of action and excitement. However, not all was well coming out of the match, with Ricochet reportedly hurt.
Today’s “Wrestling Observer Radio” had hosts Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussing the situation. Alvarez stated that Ricochet was in WWE’s concussion protocol, meaning he must get cleared by a doctor before being able to return to the ring. Depending on the severity of his injury, that could take days, weeks, or possibly even months.
One spot relatively early on saw Ricochet slam his head onto the mat and, according to Alvarez, it was immediately clear that Ricochet should have been pulled from the match and checked out for a concussion. However, the high-flying WWE star finished out the match.
“I’ve seen a million Ricochet matches, and he does not miss stuff, and he is not slow,” Alvarez said. “From that point forward, for a good three [or] four minutes, he’s slow and everything is not Ricochet-level. And it was clear this guy was messed up but they let him work the entire match.”
Both hosts agreed that Ricochet’s condition had seemed to improve after the commercial break, with the wrestler likely having a minute or two to recover. There was some confusion at the end of the bout, with Ricochet kicking out while the ref still counted to three, but it’s not yet clear if that was a planned angle or a mistake on someone’s part.
Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to Wrestling Observer Radio
WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling star Tetsuya Naito will be undergoing his third right eye surgery on November 7. He announced the news to Tokyo Sports. Since 2019, Naito has been dealing with superior oblique muscle paralysis — a condition that causes double vision. He spoke about the surgery, noting the unfortunate news about it never getting “completely better.”
“It’s muscle paralysis, so even if you have surgery, it won’t get completely better. So, even if you have this surgery, … you’ll probably return to the same condition eventually,” assuming he continues to wrestle, a translated version of Tokyo Sports indicates he told the outlet.
Naito has undergone surgery twice before — in 2019 and 2022. His upcoming surgery this week will be his last since his doctor told him that the surgery can only be performed three times. Naito revealed that he wanted to wait to do the surgery after retirement, but he decided to “cherish the present,” and do it now.
Also, another reason was that after the 2023 G1 Climax tournament, his condition worsened. Naito was the winner of this year’s G1 Climax tournament, which was how he earned his Wrestle Kingdom 18 match against the current IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA for the title.
Over the weekend, Naito was in action at NJPW Power Struggle, where he and Yota Tsuji defeated the IWGP Heavyweight Champion and Yuya Uemura. It was the same event where AEW star Jon Moxley defeated Great-O-Khan in a Falls Count Anywhere match. IWGP United States Champion Will Ospreay also had a confrontation which led to another match likely being made for Wrestle Kingdom 18 — Ospreay is expected to be defending his title against both Moxley and David Finlay.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
It was announced in October, that the National Wrestling Alliance reportedly signed a TV deal with the CW. This was after NWA President Billy Corgan indicated on “Busted Open Radio,” that the NWA signed a TV deal with a Top 20 network. The deal would see the CW air “NWA Powerrr” and a reality television series. It now appears though, that their TV deal might be in jeopardy. According to an exclusive report from Haus of Wrestling, executives within the company were upset over what happened during last week’s Samhain pay-per-view.
During the show, there was a controversial segment that involved longtime manager, Father James Mitchell, “snorting cocaine.” Mitchell was the host of the Halloween-themed show. Per the report, the segment was the idea of Corgan. After it happened, The CW on social media received comments from furious fans.
While there hasn’t been any official statement about the backlash that the NWA received, the promotion did react to the show in general, tagging Mitchell in the process.
They wrote a few days after the pay-per-view on X, “Getting a lot of cool messages from people at #NWASamhain! We’re glad everyone had such a blast. Everybody’s excited and DEFINITELY wants to do it again … especially @MinisterReal [Father James Mitchell].”
Kyle Davis, who was one of the NWA Color Commentators during the segment, retweeted the video on X, with the caption, “We got a little out of control this weekend at #NWASamhain … And this is very much what the @nwa brand was in the ’80s FYI.”
Haus of Wrestling was also reportedly told that now, there is a “90% chance” that both the reality TV series — which was said in the report to have been “fully paid for by Corgan” — and “Powerrr” is going to be available on The CW app instead of on television.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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