Scheduled for tonight’s Impact, airing on Pursuit and Twitch 10 ET/9 C.
* Johnny Impact & Michael Elgin vs. Rich Swann & Willie Mack
* Street Fight: Eddie Edwards vs. Killer Kross
* Glen Gilbertti vs. Tessa Blanchard
* Tommy Dreamer, RVD & Sabu vs. Moose & The North (Ethan Page & Josh Alexander)
* Desi Hit Squad vs. The Deaners
* Health update on Impact World Champion Brian Cage
All Elite Wrestling’s Double Or Nothing pay-per-view is currently estimated at drawing around 98,000 buys, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. This number includes buys from TV and digital pay-per-view, with close to a 50/50 split between the two platforms.
To compare, the All In event from 2018 reportedly drew around 55,000 pay-per-view buys.
The Observer noted that around 2/3 of the Double Or Nothing buys came from the United States. The UK came in at a strong second, followed by Australia, Germany and Canada. With replay buys, Double Or Nothing should top ECW’s best pay-per-view, which drew 99,000 buys, and become the biggest pay-per-view in pro wrestling history that was not produced by WWE or WCW. The Observer noted that Impact Wrestling/TNA only did half the buys that Double Or Nothing did in its 16 years, and they only did that a few times, and never came close to beating the number.
Regarding online interest in Double Or Nothing, AEW was the second most-searched item on Google Trends for Saturday night, topping 220,000 searches, trailing only the NBA’s Toronto Raptors. All In, New Japan Tokyo Dome shows and the ROH/NJPW Madison Square Garden show never cracked the top 20 trends list. WWE NXT as only broke the top 20 once, when it hit 50,000 for the recent NXT “Takeover: New York” event. The AEW interest on Saturday night beat the last UFC show by 12% and WWE Money In the Bank by 35%. When it came to second-day interest, Double Or Nothing more than quadrupled Money In the Bank and was more than six times greater than UFC 237.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
There have been a lot of questions as to where Joey Ryan would be heading following his recent legal battle with Lucha Underground. While AEW and WWE had both reportedly been interested in signing him, Ryan has decided to go a different route.
Joey Ryan stated at a Bar Wrestling event last night that he turned down lucrative deals from multiple promotions. He will remain on the independent scene where he built and innovated his brand.
Over the years, Ryan has become the “King of Dong Style” and has been known for his intergender matches. It was before this promo that he actually faced Priscilla Kelly. He stated that he wouldn’t be able to be his true self if he took a deal with another promotion.
Ryan, 39, compared himself to Aladdin, stating that he wanted to be a prince but knew he had to be his true, authentic self. He went on to say that independent wrestling and its fans have become the blonde girl he’s been looking for on Being The Elite. He finished by saying he may be a big fish in a small pond, but it is his pond.
You can see the video at this link.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg has been announced for Tuesday’s SmackDown Live episode from the Sames Auto Center in Laredo, Texas, his first blue brand appearance.
Goldberg will appear on SmackDown just days before his match with The Undertaker at WWE Super ShowDown in Saudi Arabia. Taker has been announced for Monday’s go-home RAW from the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, Texas.
Below is WWE’s announcement on Goldberg:
It has been a long time since Sasha Banks has been on WWE TV. The multi-time WWE Women’s Champion was last seen at WrestleMania 35, when she and Bayley lost the Women’s Tag Team Titles to The IIconics. There have since been reports of her wanting to quit the company.
According to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Sasha and Vince McMahon had a meeting on 5/23. Things have reportedly gotten better between the two, and while it is not official, she could be back sometime this summer.
It was reported a while back that Banks felt frustrated with WWE’s decision to take away her and Bayley’s tag titles at the last minute. The match with the IIconics also featured the teams of Nia Jax and Tamina along with Natalya and Beth Phoenix. She was under the impression that the duo would have a chance to have a strong run with the titles that they won at the Elimination Chamber PPV. The hope was they would help legitimize the titles.
Just recently, Sasha sent out a cryptic tweet that had that included lyrics from rapper Kendrick Lamar’s “Dumb It Down” single, as seen below:
https://twitter.com/SashaBanksWWE/status/1134185047710425088
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Chris Jericho appeared on Busted Open Radio today and revealed that he will do battle with “Hangman” Adam Page at AEW’s All Out pay-per-view during Labor Day Weekend near Chicago.
Page won the Casino Battle Royale on the AEW Double Or Nothing “Buy In” pre-show this past Saturday night to earn a shot against the winner of Jericho vs. Kenny Omega, in a match that will crown the first-ever AEW World Heavyweight Champion. It looks like AEW will be crowning that champion at All Out.
All Out takes place on Saturday, August 31 from the Sears Centre Arena near Chicago, the same arena where All In was held last year. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 14.
For those who missed it, below is a closer look at the AEW World Heavyweight Title belt, recently tweeted by AEW Executive Vice President Cody Rhodes. WWE Hall of Famer Bret Hart appeared at Double Or Nothing last weekend to reveal the belt.
https://twitter.com/CodyRhodes/status/1133098085075152896
UPDATE:
All Elite Wrestling has confirmed Chris Jericho vs. “Hangman” Adam Page for the All Out pay-per-view on Saturday, August 31 near Chicago.
Page vs. Jericho will crown the first-ever AEW World Heavyweight Champion. Tickets for the event go on sale June 14.
Below is the announcement:
https://twitter.com/AEWrestling/status/1134565225053790208
Source: Wrestling Inc.
“The Nature Boy” Ric Flair has updated his fans saying he’s better than ever in a new video, but states it’s once again a miracle he’s alive.
Flair posted a video on YouTube titled “Back in Action: Part One” in which he begins by thanking everyone for their support. He then explains that he had tubes down his throat for four days so his voice is sore.
Ric continued, “First of all, thank you … to my beautiful family, to all my friends, to all the doctors, nurses, everybody that brought me back again. It’s a miracle again!”
The 70-year-old then claimed his recent trip to the hospital was a 1.8 million dollar tuneup and added, “thank God for insurance!”
“But it’s ok, because I lived,” Flair exclaimed. “And I’m living here to tell you that the kiss-stealing, wheeling and dealing, limousine riding, jet-flying, son of a gun is not gonna change, slow down, I’m gonna move forward. I got autographs to sign. Commercials to make. Pictures to take. Friends to have a cold beer with. And I mean two cold beers if it’s Stone Cold. Do you understand that?!”
As you may recall, Ric Flair said he was attempting to quit alcohol in ’17 after his first medical scare.
Flair angrily explains at two different points that he knows who wasn’t there for him during his recent trip to the hospital and he plans to address this in a second video.
The WWE Hall of Famer also talks negatively about Richard Fliehr, his real name, but notes that Ric Flair became “The Man.”
“I’m never gonna get old,” Flair yelled after explaining his pop culture influence. “I don’t care how many doctors tell me ‘you’ve got to learn to grow up’ … I’m not gonna act like my age. DON’T EVER TELL ME THAT! I’m paying you to make me better so that I can be me! That’s me. And that’s all I’m ever gonna be.”
He also said one person wasn’t there for him recently and he planned to address this in a follow-up video.
ESPN’s 30 for 30 on Ric Flair featured many legends talking about his life, but “The Nature Boy” has a bone to pick with something Shawn Michaels specifically said.
In the second video posted early Friday morning, Flair begins by saying that while in a coma for 12 days he actually spoke with God and begged for his mercy.
Ric goes on to thank Jim Ross for comments he made in the 30 for 30 special … but his feelings towards comments made by HBK are very different.
“Shawn Michaels, I’m sorry but you’re not in a position to judge me,” he sternly stated. “I’ll never know who Richard Fliehr is? Really?” He then explains how he does know himself.
For those who don’t recall, Shawn Michaels gave his take on Flair in the ESPN special and said “Ric doesn’t love Richard Fliehr.” Adding, “I don’t know that he’s ever taken the time to get to know him [Richard Fliehr] or to find out who in the world he is.”
“C’mon man, let’s get serious,” Ric continued in the video. “You’ve opened the door so I’m giving it back to ya. Who are you to judge me?! I mean are you kidding me?! You IDOLIZED me and then all of a sudden contempt. For what?! For what you grew up loving? What inspired you to be who you are. I don’t think so, man!”
The 70-year-old then re-iterated that he doesn’t plan to get old and loves being young. “You can’t stop me now, baby … I got my wheels on the ground,” he added before signing off.
Flair’s famous WWE retirement match in 2008 was against Shawn Michaels.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Stephanie McMahon released a video from WWE HQ this afternoon to address what happened with Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman on this week’s RAW.
Lesnar and Heyman were set to announce who he would be cashing in his Money In the Bank title shot against – WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins or WWE Champion Kofi Kingston. That announcement never came and the angle ended with Lesnar just realizing that he had one year to cash in the briefcase. Stephanie says they will take action against Lesnar and Heyman.
“WWE renounces and in fact condemns the behavior of Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman on Monday Night RAW this past week,” Stephanie said. “Brock Lesnar walked to the ring with the Money In the Bank briefcase fashioned as some kind of boom box, let alone making promises about announcing who they were going to face and cash in the Money In the Bank briefcase against, which they did not do. But they also disrespected what the Money In the Bank contract represents, they disrespected both the Universal Champion as well as the WWE Champion, and in fact, I think they disrespected the entire WWE, as well as the WWE Universe.
“So, on behalf of our organization, on behalf of all our fans, I’m going to take this matter up officially with both the McMahon Family as well as our executive team, and we are going to take action.”
It will be interesting to see where the storyline goes on Monday’s RAW. Lesnar is scheduled to be at next Friday’s WWE Super ShowDown event in Saudi Arabia, but no opponent has been named. He could participate in the 50-Man Battle Royal, but there’s been no talk of that happening. Rollins is scheduled to defend against Baron Corbin at Super ShowDown while Kingston will defend against Dolph Ziggler.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
With Double or Nothing in the rear view mirror, AEW can now turn its attention to its upcoming events and its TNT premiere later this year. But in this day and age, broadcasts go beyond just TV as there are also numerous streaming options.
Tony Khan joined Busted Open to discuss some of those options and AEW’s distribution strategy.
“We are going to be doing a live, weekly television show on TNT. It will debut prime this fall. We are also going to be distributing to a number of other top-wrestling markets,” said Khan. “I can’t exactly say where the TV is going to be and then as far as pay per view distribution, I thought that our partners were awesome for this show. Like I said, we had done a great show and we now have that under our belts. The folks at Bleacher Report Live were awesome. The cable and satellite carriers were in demand, working with all the cable carriers, DirectTV and Dish Network; that has been great. I really like the people at FiteTV and ITV Box Office did an amazing job at the show and I think we are really going to be happy when the numbers come in from England from the UK in general because of the support that we received from them was great and we really would like to be partners with them for a long time.
“I can’t say enough great things domestically here in the United States to have wrestling back on the Turner Network or with Warner Media with TNT. They are a wrestling network, for better or for worse. There have been a few channels that have been really successful in our lifetime broadcasting wrestling and TNT is absolutely one of them as much as anyone. I think it is really cool that they are back in business.”
There are numerous content providers out there to provide a streaming option for AEW going forward, but Khan says that’s not his primary focus right now.
“Bleacher Report Live did it for [Double or Nothing], for the over-the-top distribution. It is a little bit of putting it in the cart before the horse a little bit, streaming services and things in that nature. I think there will be a demand for it but right now for 2019 and going forward this year, two big things I am really focusing on is pay per views, which we have done with these traditional shows, and this primetime television product,” stated Khan.
In just about five months, AEW launched, had their inaugural event and landed a TV deal with a major network. He talked about why and how AEW got this far this fast.
“It’s all according to plan. Even last summer I had kind of the idea that this summer it was going to be like this,” revealed Khan. “The stuff we had laid out – I really wanted to do a Memorial Day show. I really wanted to do All Out, which is what we are going to do, something along the lines of what the guys were doing with All In, with the same fans and marketplace, but it’ll be our show and under our banner and with the same spirit of fans and excitement. We have done Double or Nothing, we are going to do All Out. One other show I am really excited about is Fight for the Fallen and all of these things are falling into place. We are doing Fight for the Fallen July 13th in Jacksonville, Florida.”
Khan then talked about wanting to do a show for Jacksonville, which is where he resides, and where AEW’s headquarters are located. Once that July event is out of the way then his focus will be on the new TV show.
“The next step in the plan was to get a TV launch, so everything has gone into plan. I am sure there will be things that won’t work out our plan, but everybody that I wanted we have on our roster,” said Khan. “To me, I can’t believe we did it but we have done it. We got all of the performers essentially that you wanted to get to headline the shows that are going to be the guys that will be there week in and week out for the TV show and we have a deep roster too. I have always talked about not doing a lot of five, six nights a week touring and keeping the wrestlers away from their homes, their families and other things they have going on in their life.”
Khan then brought up AEW wrestler Britt Baker who is also a practicing dentist. He cited her as an example of work/life balance as she may have to reschedule some AEW appearances in order to accommodate her practice.
“She is a really important person to our roster and is a great person and a great headliner. I think we have really helped make that possible for her and I want to keep doing that for people,” revealed Khan. “It’s not just people who are working outside of AEW, there are even people who work full-time for AEW with full-time health benefits. When we are up doing TV, it’s not like we are going to be on the road. Despite doing TV, it’s not like we are going to do 5-6 shows a week, even then a full-time schedule.”
Source: Busted Open via Wrestling Inc.
The moment Jon Moxley’s interview on Talk is Jericho went live on Wednesday, it became a hot topic of discussion around the wrestling world. Similar to CM Punk’s interview on Colt Cabana’s podcast, it offered fans a glimpse into the inner workings of WWE.
It appears that the former Dean Ambrose isn’t the only one who has had thoughts about leaving WWE. According to Dave Meltzer on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, there are a number of people who are interested in leaving the company and some of the names would reportedly shock fans. Meltzer noted that the majority of the people in the company have at least inquired about outside opportunities, and that you can count the number of people who haven’t “on one to two hands.”
In recent months, several talents have asked for their release, including The Revival, Sasha Banks and Luke Harper. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson have also reportedly turned down new contracts.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
