Author: John Bass

Backstage Updates On The Future Of WWE 205 Live

It was reported earlier this week that the WWE 205 Live series is set to move to Friday nights on the WWE Network next week, and that WWE would still film the show after SmackDown each week.

In an update, Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that this is not a permanent schedule change. 205 Live will air from Los Angeles next Friday night, after SmackDown goes off the air, but the company has not decided on if they will keep the show on Fridays. It was noted that several ideas are being thrown around, including possibly ending 205 Live altogether. Until they come to a final decision on the future of the show, it will air on the WWE Network after SmackDown goes off the air on Fridays.

It was also reported earlier this week that the WWE NXT creative team is now handling 205 Live. Meltzer noted that Triple H is in charge of 205 Live and described it as “his show.”

Apparently 205 Live is suffering from low viewership on the WWE Network as well. Meltzer noted that Network numbers show that the show hasn’t done well in a long time. He speculated that it would be more cost-effective for WWE to sell an hour of weekly post-SmackDown programming to FS1 or some other network, than to tape 205 Live for airing on the WWE Network each week.

WWE should be making an announcement on the 205 Live timeslot change soon.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

John Hennigan Reportedly Has Signed A Deal To Return To WWE

Former WWE Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion John Hennigan (John Morrison, Johnny Impact) has signed a deal to return to WWE, according to PWInsider.

The 39 year old last worked for WWE in 2011. Since then he has had stints with Impact Wrestling, Lucha Underground and other promotions.

There’s no word yet on when Hennigan will make his return to the company, or if he will resume use of the Morrison name. Stay tuned for updates on his return.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Confirms New Announce Teams For Raw And Friday Night SmackDown, WWE Premiere Week News

WWE has announced new commentary teams with some big changes for Raw and SmackDown.

According to WWE, the announce teams going forward are as follows:

RAW – Vic Joseph, Dio Maddin and Jerry Lawler

Friday Night SmackDown – Michael Cole and Corey Graves with Renee Young as a Special Contributor

WWE announced the following:

STAMFORD, Conn. – WWE Premiere Week ushers in an unprecedented era of coverage with special episodes of Monday Night Raw, NXT, Total Divas and the FOX debut of Friday Night SmackDown bringing fans eight hours of primetime programming.

As part of WWE Premiere Week, new voices will be brought to the Raw, NXT and SmackDown broadcasts. Raw’s new announce team will include play-by-play from Vic Joseph with Dio Maddin and WWE Hall of Famer Jerry “The King” Lawler serving as analysts; NXT play-by-play will be called by Mauro Ranallo with Beth Phoenix and Nigel McGuiness as analysts; and SmackDown will feature Michael Cole handling play-by-play, Corey Graves serving as analyst and Renee Young as a Special Contributor.

Monday, September 30

The season premiere of Monday Night Raw airs at 8/7 C on USA Network as WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins defends his title against Rey Mysterio; The Miz hosts WWE Hall of Famers Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair on a special edition of Miz TV; Brock Lesnar makes a special appearance; AJ Styles defends his United States Title vs. Cedric Alexander; and Alexa Bliss takes on Sasha Banks.

Wednesday, October 2

NXT will make its two-hour live premiere this Wednesday, October 2, on USA Network at 8/7 C, as The Undisputed ERA defend their golden prophecy and the NXT Tag Team Championships in a match against the Street Profits. Also, NXT Champion Adam Cole defends his title against Matt Riddle; NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler takes on Candice LeRae; Johnny Gargano competes against Shane Thorne; and fans can witness “The Velveteen Dream Experience.”

Immediately following NXT, season nine of Total Divas will premiere on E! at 10/9 C. The hit series is back with a season more personal and action-packed than ever. WWE Superstar Ronda Rousey joins Natalya, Naomi and Nia Jax for the new season, which also includes returning cast member Carmella and newcomer Sonya Deville. Nikki Bella and Brie Bella will make guest appearances in the series as well.

Friday, October 4

SmackDown’s 20th anniversary will kick off the new era of Friday Night SmackDown’s highly-anticipated move to FOX broadcast network on Friday, October 4 at 8 p.m. ET/PT, when WWE Champion Kofi Kingston puts his title on the line against Brock Lesnar. The Four Horsewomen also square off as WWE Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair team up against WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley and Sasha Banks in tag team competition. Later Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon look to finally settle their ongoing dispute in a high-stakes Ladder Match with the loser forced to leave WWE.

Prior to the premiere, the Friday Night SmackDown Kickoff Show “blue carpet” special will air at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on FOX from the Staples Center, featuring celebrity, Superstar and Legend arrivals, as well as backstage access.

Michael Cole’s return to SmackDown marks the end of a long run on Raw for “The Voice of WWE.” He first joined the Raw commentary team in 2008 and has remained there since. Before that he was the lead play-by-play man on SmackDown for nearly ten years.

Maddin recently made his debut on commentary during a recent edition of 205 Live.

The NXT announce team will reportedly stay the same for now. No word at this point on where Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton will be utilized in the future.

Lawler will likely only be used for a short period of time on Raw. Other people are reportedly being looked at for the spot on a full-time basis. This could explain why Mickie James was featured on commentary this week during Main Event, but we’ve been unable to verify this.

As we previously reported, Renee Young will now be hosting WWE Backstage Tuesday nights on FS1. Young is reportedly thrilled by the move since hosting is her passion and now she gets to do it on a giant platform every week. She echoed this sentiment via Twitter by sharing the new show announcement and calling it a dream come true.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

FITE.TV Announces “AEW Plus” Feature, Tony Khan Comments

FITE.TV has officially announced their new “AEW Plus” global subscription feature.

The new service will offer live and replay access to the weekly AEW Dynamite series, plus an a la carte option. It will be available to fans in several countries outside of the United States and Canada, including the UK, Australia, Japan, Ireland, Italy, Spain, the Middle East, Chile, and Brazil.

AEW President and CEO Tony Khan commented on the significant offering from FITE.

“FITE answered our call, and the call of AEW fans outside of North America, to offer the best global platform and partner for our wildly successful DOUBLE OR NOTHING event earlier this year, but that was just the start. The power of AEW will now be readily available live and internationally with AEW Plus, and that’s thanks to FITE, which combines the best technology with the passion of delivering our shows to audiences throughout the world,” Khan said in the press release.

Below is the full announcement on “AEW Plus” with full details:

AEW Plus Subscription Debuts Exclusively on FITE— New AEW Weekly TV Series offered via FITE to International Markets —

(September 25, 2019) — FITE, the leading digital streaming combat sports platform, announced today a new global subscription feature called “AEW Plus.” The new offering will provide live and replay access to the highly anticipated weekly television series from All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on a subscription basis as well as an a la carte option. It will be available in numerous countries and regions outside the U.S. and Canada including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Japan, Italy, Spain, Chile, Brazil and the Middle East.

The weekly TV series, called AEW: Dynamite, debuts on Wednesday, October 2, from Washington, D.C., on the TNT network for U.S. viewers. Now, for the first time ever, a TV series will be available LIVE worldwide at the same time through the innovative AEW Plus digital option.

In available countries, AEW Plus will feature the live two-hour AEW: Dynamite show every Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET for a $4.99 monthly subscription price on FITE. In addition, the monthly subscription will offer extra exclusive programming including behind-the-scenes footage. Additionally, there will be a weekly a la carte option for $2.99 providing even more options for consumers.

FITE offers a seamless, device-agnostic way to watch live events online, via mobile or OTT devices. Here is the link to subscription page.

“We are very pleased to expand our relationship with AEW,” said FITE COO Mike Weber. “We have worked with AEW since their inception, and this is the next step in their growth. We are thrilled to continue our working relationship with them and delivering what their fans want to see — more.”

“FITE answered our call, and the call of AEW fans outside of North America, to offer the best global platform and partner for our wildly successful DOUBLE OR NOTHING event earlier this year, but that was just the start,” said Tony Khan, President and CEO of AEW. “The power of AEW will now be readily available live and internationally with AEW Plus, and that’s thanks to FITE, which combines the best technology with the passion of delivering our shows to audiences throughout the world.”

Note: AEW has announced their next PPV Event, “Full Gear,” will take place on November 9 in Baltimore, but the quarterly PPV events shall remain separate from the AEW Plus series subscription.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Details On New FOX Sports Studio Show “WWE Backstage”

FOX Sports has announced their new studio show hosted by Renee Young will be called “WWE Backstage” and feature lead analyst Booker T.

The press release states:

SmackDown moves from Tuesdays to Fridays beginning Friday, Oct. 4 at 8:00 PM ET/PT on FOX, but WWE fans can still get their Tuesday night fix with FS1’s WWE BACKSTAGE, television’s only studio show devoted to all things WWE.

The hour-long weekly show offers viewers the latest WWE news every Tuesday at 11:00 PM ET/8:00 PM PT, beginning Tuesday, Nov. 5 on FS1.

Longtime WWE broadcaster Renee Young and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T weigh in on the biggest stories in WWE, and are joined by a rotating cast of guests and personalities, including current and former WWE Superstars.

The show will officially premiere on November 5, but FOX Sports is offering a special preview of WWE Backstage on October 15th following the conclusion of the ALCS Game 3 on FS1.

“WWE BACKSTAGE is a wrestling show for wrestling fans. From hardcore fans to people new to wrestling, we’ll give them a little bit of everything,” Young is quoted as saying in the press release. “It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be loud, we’re going to give them a ton of opinions and I can’t wait to help spread the word about SmackDown coming to FOX.”

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

WWE NXT UK Moving To Thursdays Next Week

The weekly WWE NXT UK series will be moving to a new timeslot next week.

It was announced during yesterday’s episode that the show will begin airing on Thursdays at 3pm ET and 8pm BST, starting with next week’s episode.

NXT UK has been airing on Wednesdays at 3pm ET and 8pm BST since it launched in October 2018. A new timeslot had been rumored since it was announced that the main NXT show will be released on the WWE Network on Thursdays, 24 hours after it airs on the USA Network on Wednesdays.

Beginning next week, the weekly NXT UK episode will be released to the WWE Network at 3pm ET on Thursdays, while the main NXT episode will be released to the Network at 10pm ET.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Former WWE & Impact Wrestling Star Lisa Marie Varon (Victoria/Tara) Retires From Pro Wrestling

Former WWE and Impact star Lisa Marie Varon retired this weekend after a successful Championship win over Melina for Masters Of Ring Entertainment. She was presented the belt by Terri Runnells.

Best known for her time as a WWE Diva under the ring name Victoria and her time spent as an Impact Wrestling Knockout under the ring name Tara. Varon held both companies woman’s championships on several different occasions.

The 48-year old former champion enjoyed a successful 20-year run in the industry and had the following to say:

As @therealkurtangle said, “Oh It’s True. It’s damn True” Thank you @mastersofringentertainment for main eventing my final match this past Saturday. It’s such an honor leaving the ring as the Women’s Masters of the Ring Entertainment Champion. Thank you @realmelina , @theterrirunnels and @trishstratuscom for sharing this moment with me. Don’t be sad for me… be happy for me. I had an awesome 20 year run. I love you all so very much. I’m appreciative of your support and loyalty.

One-Hour Version Of WWE NXT To Air In Canada On Friday Nights

Sportsnet 360 is set to air a “condensed” version of WWE NXT each Friday night.

The one-hour version of the weekly NXT episode will be a “Best Of” show with highlights from what aired on the USA Network, according to John Pollock and PostWrestling.

The one-hour NXT show will begin airing on Friday, October 4. Sportsnet 360 will begin airing a 4.5 hour block of WWE programming on Fridays, starting at 6:30pm ET with the Aftermath studio show. NXT will then air at 7pm ET, SmackDown at 8pm, and Main Event at 10pm.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

PAC Vs. Adam Page Announced For AEW Dynamite Premiere

PAC vs. “Hangman” Adam Page has been announced for the AEW Dynamite premiere on October 2 from the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.

PAC vs. Page was originally planned for AEW Double Or Nothing back in May, but it was pulled due to creative differences between AEW and PAC. The match ended up taking place at an indie event in England, and ended in a DQ. PAC returned to AEW at All Out in August, defeating Kenny Omega.

https://twitter.com/theAdamPage/status/1176897079945416704

The current line-up for the AEW Dynamite premiere next Wednesday looks like this:

* Adam Page vs. PAC

* Jon Moxley appears live

* Cody Rhodes vs. Sammy Guevara

* The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega vs. AEW World Champion Chris Jericho and two mystery partners

* Nyla Rose vs. Riho to crown the first-ever AEW Women’s Champion

* MJF vs. Brandon Cutler

WWE NXT Preview 9/25/19

Tonight’s WWE NXT episode will air live from Full Sail Live in Winter Park, FL from 8-10pm ET. The first hour will air live on the USA Network and the second hour will air on the WWE Network.