Category: AEW

Backstage News On Plans For AEW’s Battle Of The Belts

This week it was reported that AEW’s first TNT supercard special is scheduled for early January. Battle of The Belts is reportedly the planned name for the event and was trademarked by AEW last January.

“Battle of the Belts” appears to be a throwback to several promotions that have used the name for special events, mainly Championship Wrestling From Florida in the 1980s. The NWA, ECW and FIP have also used “Battle of the Belts” for show names.

AEW and WarnerMedia announced back in May that TNT will air four annual AEW supercard specials beginning in 2022 to coincide with AEW Dynamite moving to TBS. This January event will be the first of the four shows airing next year.

AEW Rampage was also scheduled to move to TBS next year, but plans changed and Rampage will be staying on TNT. The first Dynamite episode on TBS is scheduled for Wednesday, January 5, just three days before the reported supercard event.

On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer noted that the supercard event is expected to be around an hour long. These TNT specials are inspired by the old Clash of the Champions events, which were typically an hour and a half long.

Meltzer also noted that these specials were originally planned to be longer. The idea behind these specials was for PPV-level cards to be on television. Back when these specials were announced in May, it was reported that TNT would be working with Tony Khan on them.

Currently, nothing has been set in stone.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Rampage Preview 10/29/21

Tonight’s AEW Rampage airs on TNT from the Agganis Arena in Boston, Massachusetts.

* Trick or Treat No DQ Match: AEW Women’s World Champion Britt Baker vs. Abandon (If Abadon wins, she gets a future title shot)

* Dante Martin vs. Matt Sydal

* World Title Eliminator Semifinal Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston

AEW’s Jim Ross Is Planning To Open A Cannabis Farm

WWE Hall Of Famer and current AEW play-by-play announcer Jim Ross (JR) has revealed he plans to open a cannabis farm in his home state of Oklahoma.

Jim Ross is getting into the weed business! The legendary play-by-play broadcaster recently revealed his plans to open a cannabis farm with his daughter in his home state of Oklahoma.

Good ol’ JR spilled the nugz on a recent episode of his Grilling JR podcast.

“My youngest daughter, her husband and I, and another guy, a lawyer, are getting ready to start a cannabis farm,” JR said. “We’re looking at the working title of Black Hat Farms. I bought some land in Oklahoma recently for the grow houses and all the things. That’s gonna be their life, that’s a big deal. She’s got a great job in marketing. She’s not gonna quit that, I wouldn’t even let her consider that. So, I’m excited about that for my kids,” the WWE Hall Of Famer added.

Although its weed laws are continuously evolving, the use of recreational cannabis is currently still illegal in the state of Oklahoma. Despite the changing attitudes towards weed, Oklahomans continue to be arrested for possession and, in 2020, the ACLU released a report that revealed black people 4.2 times more likely to be arrested for possessing cannabis in Oklahoma than white people.

As you’re no doubt aware, Jim Ross has dabbled in several business ventures outside the world of wrestling. He has a line of barbecue sauce and also sells his own brand of beef jerky called JR’s Family Barbecue. On his podcast, Ross said that his desire to leave something behind for his kids is partly what inspired him to get into the cannabis industry.

“I figured out it was probably smarter to leave them things while I was alive and sort through all the heartbreak and the minutiae and the legal stuff, the probate courts and all these things after I was gone,” he said. “It’s gonna be hard enough after I’m gone simply because I’ve got so much memorabilia. I need a clever, creative way to have somebody that knows what the hell they’re doing come into my home, inventory my memorabilia, then figure out the best way to pair it down.”

Ross was recently diagnosed with skin cancer after discovering a growth on his lower leg. During his time as WWE’s lead announcer, JR earned a deserved reputation as one of the best professional wrestling announcers of all time. He called almost the entire Attitude Era and is the definitive voice of professional wrestling to many fans as a result. Ross signed a three-year deal with All Elite Wrestling when the company launched back in April of 2019.

Source: TheSportster

AEW Dynamite Preview 10/27/21

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT at the Agganis Arena in Boston, Massachusetts.

* CM Punk vs. Bobby Fish

* Dark Order (Colt Cabana, Evil Uno, John Silver, and Stu Grayson) vs. The Elite (AEW World Champion Kenny Omega, Adam Cole, and The Young Bucks)

* Jon Moxley vs. 10 (AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament)

* Serena Deeb vs. Hikaru Shida (AEW TBS Title Tournament)

* Sammy Guevara (c) vs. Ethan Page (AEW TNT Title)

* MJF in action

Tony Nese Has Reportedly Signed A Deal With AEW

Tony Nese has apparently signed an AEW deal after appearing on Dynamite and wrestling matches on Dark.

Tony Nese is apparently All Elite after being shown in the crowd on Dynamite and wrestling a couple of matches on Dark.

WWE has released a lot of wrestlers in 2021 in an attempt to trim its budget and seemingly streamline its roster. The company’s locker room may well have become a little more crowded than Vince McMahon intended when he appeared to be offering anyone and everyone under his employ a new deal in an attempt to stop them joining AEW.

Fast forward two years and a lot of the wrestlers let go have been granted a new lease on life under Tony Khan. Malakai Black, Andrade, and Miro, formerly known as Rusev, are all now under contract in AEW. It now seems as if Tony Nese has joined them, or at least that’s what Dave Meltzer has claimed during a recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio.

“He did the Dark tapings in Orlando and I think he wrestled more than one match. He’s signed so that’s the deal,” Meltzer said. Nese wrestled two matches during AEW’s Dark tapings over the weekend. The first was against Fuego Del Sol and the second was a win versus DeMarcio James. AEW tapes Dark in batches, so those matches may air at any point on YouTube over the course of the next few weeks.

Prior to wrestling a couple of Dark matches, Nese was shown sitting in the crowd during Dynamite. A tactic NXT used to employ to reveal its new signings. Both times Nese was shown came during World Title Eliminator Tournament matches. Since the bracket for that tournament is already full, the timing of Nese’s appearance implies his first rivalry will be with someone who isn’t going to win.

Nese was never given much chance to show WWE what he was capable of while under contract with the company, at least not on a big stage. The Premier Athlete spent the majority of his time on 205 Live. Nese wrestled his final match on 205 Live on June 15, 2021, and was released from his contract ten days later.

Source: TheSportster

Lance Archer Gives Update After Injury Scare On AEW Dynamite

On Saturday night’s AEW Dynamite, Lance Archer wrestled Eddie Kingston in a Title Eliminator Tournament Match.

During the match, Archer went for a moonsault off the top rope and landed on his head. He was checked on at ringside by the referee and Dr. Sampson, got back in the ring, and Kingston rolled him up for the win.

Archer commented afterwards, thanking AEW for taking care of him and letting the fans know he’ll be back.

“Listen. We choose to do this and take our health n lives in our hands every night,” Archer wrote. “I’ve done that move hundreds of times over my career. Just under rotated. Coulda been MUCH worse. Thank you to ALL at @AEW for taking AMAZING care of me and protecting me. I’ll BE BACK!”

This morning, Archer joked “Ice for the MiniHawk, too!” showing an action figure of himself laying on an ice pack.

On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio it was reported he passed all of his tests backstage. AEW even did a concussion check during the match and wouldn’t have bothered with a finish if it was any worse. Archer apparently wanted to keep wrestling, but was “upset backstage” that they couldn’t give the match a proper ending.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Rampage Preview 10/22/21

Tonight’s AEW Rampage will be at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida. This event was part of AEW’s tapings from last week.

* AEW World Women’s Championship: Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. (c) vs. Anna Jay

* World Title Eliminator Tournament Commences: Orange Cassidy vs. Powerhouse Hobbs

* PAC vs. Andrade El Idolo II

* TBS Women’s Championship Bracket Announced

AEW Rampage Numbers Vs. Supersized SmackDown, Tony Khan Excited

AEW Rampage tied SmackDown in the key 18-49 demographic last week, and they drew more viewers in the 30-minute head-to-head competition.

The first 30 minutes of AEW Rampage went head-to-head with WWE’s “Supersized” edition of SmackDown last week, and the two shows wound up tying in the key 18-49 demographic.

Not only that, but according to PW Torch, Rampage actually drew higher viewership than SmackDown during the 30 minutes of head-to-head competition. The report stated that in the 18-49 demographic, Rampage recorded 328,000 viewers compared to 285,000 for SmackDown.

According to Showbuzz Daily (h/t WrestlingInc.com), SmackDown averaged 866,000 viewers, and Rampage averaged 578,000 viewers. Both shows recorded 0.24 ratings in the 18-49 demographic. It’s important to note that the Supersized show aired on FS1, as Game 1 of the 2021 ALCS between the Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros aired on FOX, and it recorded 6.136 million viewers (via WrestlingInc.com).

Following the release of the numbers for Rampage and SmackDown, WrestleVotes reported “the numbers news is a HOT topic right now backstage” in WWE.

WWE greatly attempted to stack up the Supersized edition of SmackDown, which featured a singles match between Sasha Banks and Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch. The match was won by the former thanks to assistance from Bianca Belair . Those three will face off for the Raw Women’s title in a triple threat match at Crown Jewel.

Zelina Vega defeated Carmella in their Queen’s Crown tournament semifinal, and Vega will face the winner of Doudrop and Shayna Baszler at Crown Jewel. Finn Balor got past Sami Zayn in the King of the Ring semifinal, and he’ll challenge the winner of Jinder Mahal vs. Xavier Woods at Crown Jewel. The show closed with Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns signing their Universal Championship match contract for Crown Jewel.

Though SmackDown predictably finished with far more total viewers than Rampage, this was a giant win for AEW. Their “B” show was able to outdraw the final 30 minutes of SmackDown, which has enjoyed much greater viewership than Raw in recent years.

AEW already soundly defeated NXT in the “Wednesday Night Wars”, and now they’re starting to gain momentum against WWE’s main show. It’ll be interesting to see if WWE reacts to this, and if we’ll see more direct competition between SmackDown and Rampage before long.

Tony Khan Excited:

Tony Khan is pretty happy on Monday after learning how AEW Rampage fared in the numbers while up against WWE SmackDown this past Friday.

Tony Khan is a pretty happy camper on Monday after learning that AEW Rampage not only kept up with WWE SmackDown in the ratings this past Friday, but actually beat the blue brand in some of the key demos they use to measure the successes and failures of a professional wrestling television program. While SmackDown was boosted by the over-50 demo and won in total viewers, the argument being made is that advertisers care most about the areas where AEW Rampage won.

Heading into Friday night, there was a lot of talk about how AEW was going to compete head-to-head with WWE for the first real time since they became a company a couple of years ago. This wasn’t NXT versus AEW Dynamite. No, this was one of AEW’s top shows versus one of WWE’s top shows and AEW President Tony Khan was hyped for it. He called out Raw by saying “it sucked” and he added a buy-in show to AEW while going commercial-free for the first 30 minutes to counter SmackDown’s commercial-free last 30 minutes. In some cases, Khan was criticized for calling out the competition so much, but it’s clear his strategy paid off.

The complete demographic breakdown for last Friday were as follows:

  • People 18-49 – 0.24 (SmackDown), 0.24 (Rampage)
  • Females 18-49 – 0.16 (SmackDown), 0.14 (Rampage)
  • Males 18-49 – 0.32 (SmackDown), 0.34 (Rampage)
  • People 18-34 – 0.15 (SmackDown), 0.17 (Rampage)
  • Females 12-34 – 0.10 (SmackDown), 0.10 (Rampage)
  • Males 12-34 – 0.20 (SmackDown), 0.16 (Rampage)
  • People 25-54 – 0.28 (SmackDown), 0.28 (Rampage)
  • People 50+ – 0.43 (SmackDown), 0.21 (Rampage)

Kahn said in a tweet before the numbers were revealed, “I’m only estimating but this suggests to me that we probably did pretty well in the yet-to-be-released head-to-head ratings from 10 pm-10:30 pm, a fight that I didn’t ask for or start, but one for which I was more than willing to show up and in which I was thrilled to participate.” When the numbers were revealed, he was clearly excited about it.

The ratings were extremely close and the demos tight, but this is a big victory for AEW in some respects.

While this was a one-time thing and SmackDown will shift back to its regular time and channel this Friday, one has to wonder if Khan is feeling good about his product and wondering if it’s time to try and take on WWE a bit more often. It is interesting how the supporters for each promotion have come out in droves to back both AEW and WWE. It certainly goes to show that competition in the wrestling industry certainly gets the fans going.

Source: TheSportster

AEW Dynamite Preview 10/16/21

Saturday night’s AEW Dynamite from the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida.

Below is the card as of this posting:

* Bryan Danielson vs. Bobby Fish

* Malakai Black vs. Daunte Martin

* The Lucha Brothers (Fénix & Pentagon Jr.) (c) vs. TBA (AEW World Tag Team Championship)

* World Title Eliminator Tournament Bracket: AEW will reveal the AEW World Title Eliminator Tournament. The final of this tournament will take place at Full Gear PPV

AEW Rampage Preview 10/15/21

Tonight’s AEW Rampage will be live at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, Florida.

The Buy-In pre-show at 9pm ET on YouTube:

* Tay Conti vs. Santana Garrett

* Bobby Fish vs. Lee Moriarty

* Bryan Danielson vs. Minoru Suzuki

AEW Rampage at 10pm ET on TNT:

* CM Punk vs. Matt Sydal

* Ruby Soho vs. The Bunny

* Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager & AEW TNT Champion Sammy Guevara) vs. Men of the Year (Ethan Page & Scorpio Sky) & the debuting former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos (w/Dan Lambert & Jorge Masvidal)