NXT tonight at 8 ET on WWE Network.
* Keith Lee and Kassius Ohno gear up for seismic clash
* Bianca Belair prepares for NXT Women’s Title clash with Shayna Baszler
* Johnny Gargano in action
* The Streets Profits ready 2019 conquest
* Dominik Dijakovic returns
NXT UK, today at 3 ET/8 GMT on WWE Network.
* Mark Andrews & Flash Morgan Webster vs. Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel
* One week after Jinny attacked Isla Dawn from behind, The White Which will attempt to conjure up payback against The Fashionista of NXT UK.
Although IMPACT Wrestling has been streaming programming through Twitch for some time, there was a special curiosity regarding the promotion’s new distribution strategy: to air on domestic television via the Pursuit Channel and stream concurrently on Twitch on Friday nights.
In numbers available on SullyGnome (a Twitch statistics and analysis website) for the 7 day period of January 8th-14th, IMPACT Wrestling peaked at 10,422 viewers (at some point on Friday night). The channel is programmed nearly 24/7 and over 155 hours in the last week averaged 318 viewers for a total watch time of 51,662 hours. IMPACT gained 4,816 followers for the week (and now has 67,320 followers on the platform).
IMPACT was the most watched program in the Wrestling category. In comparison, AAA was ranked second. The AAA promotion had no specific destination programming this week but did stream 144 hours of content. It peaked at 194 viewers and averaged 60 viewers with a total watch time of 8,731 hours.
Over the last 365 days, the most watched 5 promotions were the following:
1. IMPACT
2. AAA
3. Rocky Mountain Pro
4. House of Hardcore
5. Capitol Wrestling
Source: WrestlingINC
Popular Mexican wrestler Rush has been forced to pull out of an upcoming MLW event after signing an exclusive contract with Ring of Honor.
Rush’s signing was announced on Tuesday with a video from the Los Ingobernables founding member in which he says ROH is his new home.
MLW confirmed shortly after that Rush had been pulled from his scheduled match against La Park during WrestleMania weekend and would be replaced by Pentagon Jr.
“With great reluctance Rush has been forced to withdraw from his April 4th match against LA Park,” MLW wrote. “Despite efforts by MLW, Rush was pulled due to the insistence of a third party promoter.”
MLW CEO Court Bauer added, “This is a match and organization Rush wanted to be a part of, but sometimes politics get in the way and that’s what this comes down to: politics.”
Watch the signing announcement below.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Ivelisse isn’t the only wrestler looking to get out of their Lucha Underground contract, as Joey Ryan released a statement which implies he’s going through a similar battle.
As we noted, Ivelisse says she’s been requesting a release from her Lucha Underground contract for over a year and now feels like she’s being “legally held hostage.”
Joey echoed similar sentiments in a tweet on Tuesday saying,
“I back Ivelisse 100% on this. Prior to S4, we were told anybody who requested a release would be granted one. Some did and left after the tapings. Others showed faith in the product and now seems are being punished for it. With no S5 in sight, it’s petty to keep anyone locked up.”
https://twitter.com/JoeyRyanOnline/status/1085301692961181697
Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that the creative team behind the show are all for the cast working as much as possible and feel terrible about Dorian Roldan not granting release requests. One source says if it were up to the creative team making the show, talent would be allowed out of their contracts.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Lucha Underground wrestler Ivelisse says she’s been fighting to get out of her contract for over a year and now feels like she’s being “legally held hostage.”
Ivelisse released a statement via social media saying:
l’ve done everything in my power to avoid having to do this but.. at this point I literally have no other choice.. For a bit over 1 1/2 [years] now l’ve been battling LU to grant me my release. They convinced me to do S4 under the promise that I’d be released after the season concluded and was still unhappy. They currently are still refusing to do so despite having been told numerous times that they would. This has caused me an unbearable amount of grief for so long now, I really have no words to describe and don’t know what else to do.. being legally held hostage while Pro Wrestling is booming is a matter not to be taken lightly, especially coming from someone who has dedicated their life to their work, its everything to me. I am at my wits end, so at this point, regardless what happens from here on out, at the very least my story is told.
Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that there hasn’t been a lot communication between MGM and Lucha Underground execs in regards to an additional season. We’re told things are currently in a stalemate because both sides are standing firm on what the budget needs to be.
The show’s Executive Producer Eric Van Wagenen tells Pro Wrestling Sheet, “None of the producers, executives, or lawyers at MGM make those decisions. All contracts are controlled by the LLC – currently run by Dorian Roldan and John Fogelman.”
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live will take place from the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama as the road to Royal Rumble continues.
* Rey Mysterio and Andrade “Cien” Almas to continue their epic series
* The Miz to throw Shane McMahon “The Best Birthday Bash in the World”
* Carmella and Sonya Deville to square up
* What’s next for Becky Lynch and Asuka?
* Will AJ Styles find out how vicious Daniel Bryan can be?
Tonight’s WWE 205 Live will take place from the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
* Tonight’s 205 Live episode will return to the Tuesday 10pm ET timeslot on WWE Network.
* WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy issuing a non-title open challenge.
Kevin Owens has dropped a significant amount of weight as he prepares to return to the ring from double knee surgery. As seen below, Owens appeared at the Cavalcade of Customs event in Cincinnati this past Friday and signed autographs for fans.
WWE recently aired a “coming soon” promo for Owens’ ring return but there’s no word yet on when he will be back. There’s speculation on Owens returning in the 30-man Royal Rumble match later this month.
https://twitter.com/DominicDeAngelo/status/1084802882233344000
Source: WrestlingINC
The Riott Squad challenged Bayley and Natalya to find a partner this week for a six woman tag — and it led to Nikki Cross wrestling her first match on RAW!
After weeks of vignettes teasing Nikki’s move to the main roster, the Scottish born Superstar finally made her presence known to join Bayley/Natalya. She then helped her team earn a victory.
Heavy Machinery appeared during the “A Moment of Bliss” segment. EC3, Lacey Evans made brief backstage appearances as well, but neither spoke on camera.
Michael Cole mentioned that before any of the arriving Superstars are assigned to a brand, they’ll be appearing on both shows so the WWE Universe can “see what they got”.
Watch video of Nikki Cross’ RAW debut below.
Watch Otis Dozovic of Heavy Machinery disrupts Alexa Bliss’ interview with Paul Heyman during “A Moment of Bliss” and his partner Tucker Knight coming out to get him below.
And below you can see the appearances of EC3 and Lacey Evans.
