Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will be headlined by two title matches.
New NXT North American Champion Leon Ruff will grant Johnny Gargano his rematch after last week’s title change. Also, Io Shirai will defend the NXT Women’s Title against Rhea Ripley.
Tonight’s NXT will also feature an appearance by NXT Champion Finn Balor. Balor will give an update on his status and the title, his first since undergoing jaw surgery several weeks back.
Matches:
•World Heavyweight Championship: Jacob Fatu (c) vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.
•World Middleweight Championship: Myron Reed (c) vs. Brian Pillman Jr.
•National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone in action!
MLW returns TONIGHT at 7pm ET with the premiere of FUSION on Fubo Sports, Pluto TV and YouTube. Learn more about where to watch.
After 7 months, a new breed of fighting athletes rise up as MLW kicks off #TheRestart presented by newlawoffice.com.
Although the dreaded CONTRA Unit remains at large, their shadowy presence remains a constant starting and ending with the World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu.
After having his back broken at the hands of CONTRA during the May 9th hostile takeover of MLW, Davey Boy Smith Jr. has endured a painful road to recovery. Months of physical therapy and training with the likes of Kazushi Sakuraba have set the table for Smith’s quest to topple Fatu and take the championship. Now, the final stage goes down as for the first-time ever Jacob Fatu fights DBS for the World Heavyweight Championship!
A bitter year-long feud culminates in a World Middleweight Championship showdown. Brian Pillman Jr. challenges the longest reigning World Middleweight Champion in MLW history as he looks to take the belt from Myron Reed. Will Reed prove he truly is the “Young GOAT” or will the unpredictable and volatile Pillman get his hands on the prestigious title?
Ranked #1 in MLW since the summer of 2019, National Openweight Champion Alex Hammerstone will also be in action. Leading the charge to unite MLW’s athletes to rise up and take back MLW from CONTRA, “Your Boy Hammer” looks to make a statement when he steps into the squared circle.
Kevin Von Erich shares a secret about the origins of World Class Championship Wrestling with his sons, the reigning World Tag Team Champions Ross and Marshall Von Erich.
Plus: the 2020 Opera Cup brackets are revealed!
Fans can also watch nationwide on cable and dish via beIN SPORTS on Saturday nights at 10pm ET and on demand anytime, anywhere on DAZN.
Experience a new era in combat sports as MLW hits #TheRestart button and returns to top ranked weekly competition with FUSION!
MLW CEO & Founder Court Bauer issued the following statement on tonight’s restart via the MLW mailing list this morning:
Good morning!
After nearly 8 months today is the day. Welcome to #TheRestart of Major League Wrestling!
This year has been unlike any other in the history of our league and we thank you for being with us every step of the way.
Tonight at 7pm ET, we embark on a new era for MLW featuring a new breed of fighting athletes as we bring you into smoke filled arenas each and every week.
We’ve reloaded the roster, nearly doubling the number of wrestlers and we will be giving you stacked cards each and every week for free.
You’ll also notice new strategic alliances pop up on FUSION along with some other surprises.
I promise the intense competition will remind you of what we all love about MLW. My hope is that you will enjoy the extraordinary competition of the Opera Cup, championship bouts and some big marquee matches.
A key goal for #TheRestart was to give fans more ways to watch us than ever before. In addition to watching us nationwide on cable and satellite on beIN SPORTS, you can now stream us on not just on YouTube but on Fubo Sports Network, DAZN and Pluto TV plus we’re in 20+ countries and counting! Learn more about where to watch.
Thank you again for your incredible support throughout the year.
Now, get ready for a big night of fights!
•Jacob Fatu vs. Davey Boy Smith Jr.: World Heavyweight Title Fight
•Myron Reed vs. Brian Pillman Jr.: World Middleweight Title Fight
•Alex Hammerstone in action + more!
Sincerely,Court Bauer
CEO/Founder of Major League Wrestling
AEW has announced tonight that Matt Sydal has officially signed with the promotion.
Sydal made his AEW debut at All Out where he was a surprise entrant in the Casino Battle Royale.
Last Wednesday on AEW Dynamite, he was in a match against FTW Champion Brian Cage.
Before his move to AEW, Matt Sydal had wrestled in several promotions like Impact Wrestling, ROH, NJPW, and in WWE as Evan Bourne.
During his career, he’s held the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, ROH World Tag Team Championship, WWE Tag Team Championship, NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship, and the Impact X Division Championship.
Sydal did comment about signing with AEW.
He tweeted, “I did not do this alone. My hard work only worked because of the support I get from my family, friends and fans! 20 years of people helping, teaching and believing in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself. Thank you all. Onegaishimasu!¡Hagamoslo para el bien de todos!!”
Below is AEW’s announcement and Sydal’s comment:
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE is set to move the ThunderDome from the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, to the Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, according to a report on eWrestlingnews.
The report added that WWE’s “residency at the venue is expected to last for a while” especially since MLB isn’t expected to return until early 2021. The Tropicana Field hosts home games for the Tampa Bay Rays.
As noted before, WWE had signed a short-term contract extension with Amway Center through November. eWrestlingnews added that WWE is expected to move to the new arena by early December. With the NBA and ECHL scheduled to resume in December, the Amway Center will be tied up hosting home games for the Orlando Magic and Orlando Solar Bears.
Previously, @Wrestlevotes had reported that WWE was scheduled to leave the Amway Center on November 24, and was considering other venues in North Carolina, Illinois, and Texas. However, WWE has decided to stay put in the state of Florida, especially with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis making it clear that the state has no plans to shut down and is encouraging fans to pack sports stadiums–despite the ongoing pandemic.
The Tropicana Field, established in 1990, was originally known as the Florida Suncoast Dome. In 1993, the Tampa Bay Lightning moved to the stadium and its name was actually changed to the ThunderDome.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
IMPACT! tonight at 8/7c on AXS TV and Twitch!
* Fallout from Turning Point
* The Rascals last week on Impact after being evicted from the tree houise for not paying rent for two years.
* Dez and Wentz vs. Trey and Rich Swann
* Search continues for who shot John E. Bravo
* Knockouts Tag Team Championship Tournament begins
Tonight’s WWE RAW will feature the final build for Sunday’s Survivor Series pay-per-view.
WWE is teasing that the Ricochet vs. RETRIBUTION storyline will also continue on tonight’s show.
The news of Zelina Vega’s abrupt release from WWE on Friday caught the attention of labor union leaders and politicians, and was covered by mainstream media outlets.
Vega reportedly failed to comply with the third party edict handed out by WWE last month and proceeded to open a new OnlyFans account, which did not help her case among WWE brass, according to Dave Meltzer on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio.
Meltzer noted that Vega was adamant in her position to continue with her Twitch account and the backstory is that she was among “a couple of women who were making more money through social media than their WWE contracts.” Vega was supposedly “making a lot of money on Twitch” prior to WWE asking talents to cease activity on third party platforms.
For Vega, it boiled down to choosing between WWE and Twitch, and she chose the latter, according to Meltzer.
“She made her choice and WWE had no option but to fire her,” he said.
Meltzer mentioned that since the old way of making money in WWE through house shows and PPV paydays is no longer available to talents, they are looking at other revenue sources while working only 5-6 times a month since the start of the pandemic.
Previously, talents who had low guarantees on their contracts were heavily reliant on paydays from house shows and PPVs. While talents who signed contracts pre-AEW are most unhappy due to lower guarantees, talents who got bigger contracts post-AEW have been less vocal about the developing situation.
With WWE taking away the talents’ ability to make money off streaming platforms, there is growing resentment in the locker room, added Meltzer.
“With no house shows or PPVs, they need a way to augment the past money and WWE took it away from them.”
On the flipside, WWE maintains that it should get a slice of the revenue that talents make by utilizing their WWE names, albeit in third party platforms.
WWE is reportedly in the process of doing their own Twitch deal and giving a percentage of that revenue to talents. The percentage will be counted against downside guarantees, which is another bit of information that hasn’t sat well with some talents.
Vega returned to her Twitch feed on Friday within a few hours of her WWE release. She is presently serving the customary 90-day non-compete clause, which prevents her from appearing on TV for any other wrestling promotion until mid-February 2021.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Eddie Edwards vs. Daivari – Winner: Eddie Edwards
Tenille Dashwood and Jordynne Grace vs. Rosemary and Taya Valkyrie – Winners: Rosemary & Taya Valkyrie
Swoggle vs. Brian Myers – Winner: Brian Myers
James Storm and Chris Sabin vs. XXXL (Acey Romero and Larry D) – Winners: Chris Sabin & James Storm
“Defeat Rohit” Challenge for the X-Division Championship: Rohit Raju (c) vs. Cousin Jake (w/Cody Deaner) – Winner: Rohit Raju
Post-Match:Eric Young and new associate, former TNA star Joe Doering, come in and take out The Deaners.
Moose vs. Willie Mack – Winner By DQ: Willie Mack
Impact World Tag Team Championship: The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander) (c) vs. The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson) – Winners & New Tag Champions: The Good Brothers
Knockouts Championship: Su Yung (c) vs. Deonna Purrazzo – Winner & New Knockouts Champion: Deonna Purrazzo
Backstage: Jordynne Grace goes looking for Tenille Dashwood. She is furious that they lost their match. Alisha Edwards jumps in to call Jordynne “Disgrace” after them losing in a tag match, too. Dashwood asks Alisha if she would like to be her partner for the Knockouts Tag Team Tournament. She says, yes!
Impact World Championship: Rich Swann (c) vs. Sami Callihan – Winner & Still Impact World Champion: Rich Swann
The Rascalz appear to be leaving Impact Wrestling. During tonight’s broadcast, it was revealed that the trio are being “evicted” from the Treehouse. A match was then set up for next week and it’s being hyped up as their “last hurrah”. Dez and Wentz will be facing Rich Swann and Trey Miguel.
According to Pwinsider, this appears to be a legitimate exit “barring a last second change.” The group signed with Impact in the fall of 2018 and Miguel had been receiving a push as of late and competed for the vacant Impact World Title at Slammiversary. He also worked an X-Division title match at Bound For Glory.
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will feature more build for the upcoming Survivor Series pay-per-view.
For the second week in a row WWE has not announced a SmackDown preview to open Friday morning with. No matches or segments have been announced for tonight’s show.
It’s likely that more members for Team SmackDown will be revealed tonight. The men’s team currently has Kevin Owens, Seth Rollins, Jey Uso and King Baron Corbin with one member to be revealed, while the women’s team h as Bianca Belair and Ruby Riott with three members to be revealed.
The new feud with Carmella and SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks will also likely continue tonight. Lars Sullivan is expected to be in action after two weeks of sitdown interviews, and Daniel Bryan is rumored to return after being attacked by Jey Uso two weeks ago, while WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns watched.
