WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the Moda Center in Portland, Oregon.
A year out from his WWE exit, Matt Riddle recently teased the possibility of joining All Elite Wrestling, specifically with the intention of making more money and working a decent television schedule. According to a new report, though, that idea may be a little far-fetched right now.
Fightful Select reports that AEW President Tony Khan has had zero interest in bringing Riddle aboard to the company, “especially over the last number of years.” In recent months, Riddle has worked with some talents signed to AEW — including Brian Cage, Dralistico, Komander, Penta El Zero Miedo, and The Beast Mortos — on the wrestling circuit. As Fightful points out, though, all those matches emanated from promotions based in Mexico, and not the United States.
In addition to the idea of signing with AEW, Riddle also recently discussed a backstage encounter he had with Khan following his loss to Zack Sabre Jr. at the April 2024 NJPW Windy City Riot show in Chicago. According to Riddle, the conversation between him and Khan was relatively awkward. While Khan initially seemed happy, Riddle stated that he later seemed “confused” when Riddle asked him if he liked the match with Sabre Jr. in a “different” kind of tone.
Since leaving WWE last year, Riddle has worked for several independent promotions across Mexico, Canada, and the United States. “The Original Bro” has additionally appeared for New Japan Pro-Wrestling and Major League Wrestling. Riddle’s latest MLW appearance came at the Summer Of The Beasts event on August 29, which saw him defeat former MLW World Tag Team Champion Matthew Justice.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
The Motor City Machine Guns have been the subject of much discussion in recent months, as fans around the world are still wondering where they will end up. Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin’s contracts with TNA expired at the beginning of April, and rumors have been rampant concerning whether they will choose to sign with WWE or AEW. Initially, it looked as if Sabin and Shelley would become ‘All Elite,’ with the two men already having a brief history with AEW, appearing at All Out 2022. However, that talk seemed to die off, and the word inside the business was that they were WWE-bound.
Now it seems there is an answer, at least according to Dave Meltzer, who claimed in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the Motor City Machine Guns are expected to start in WWE imminently. As far as the destination within WWE, Meltzer claims that, despite the fact that Sabin and Shelley are one of the most influential tag teams of their generation, they will be part of the “WWE NXT” brand when they eventually debut.
“NXT” has a lot of big events coming up in the near future, as the brand will be moving to The CW on October 1. The live debut on October 1 will take place from the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois, which will then be followed by a live episode in St. Louis, Missouri on October 8, which will go head-to-head with “AEW Dynamite.” Following on from the two live shows on October 1 and 8, “NXT” will be back on the road for the Halloween Havoc PLE, which will take place on October 27 at the GIANT Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
According to multiple reports, the current plan is to have Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin debut in a tag team match during WWE NXT’s Chicago debut on October 1st.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown is the premiere episode live on the USA Network, from the Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington.
Another potential update has surfaced regarding WWE’s plans for an upcoming special on NBC this December.
As noted, WWE has filed to trademark Saturday Night’s Main Event to bring back the iconic show from the company’s past live specials on NBC.
The original WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event specials aired on NBC from 1985 to 1991, replacing Saturday Night Live. In 1992, WWE presented the special on FOX before it was discontinued.
In another update, on the latest Straight Talk with The Boss w/ Magnum TA and Greg Gagne podcast, Gagne noted that the reason WWE recently signed Jesse Ventura to a contract is to have him return to his old-school role as color-commentator for the WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on NBC special.
“I mean, with what they’re paying those guys to come in, I think Jesse’s going to do the — they’re doing some NBC Saturday night shows, about four of them, they’re gonna use Jesse for that,” Gagne said.
This resurgence of Saturday Night’s Main Event is part of WWE’s broader media plan, and as part of it, they have inked a new agreement with NBCUniversal to bring Friday Night SmackDown back to the USA Network. The deal includes four prime-time specials on NBC each year, making the return of Saturday Night’s Main Event a fitting inclusion.
Sources: eWn and Wrestling Headlines
Nikki Garcia and Artem Chigvintsev are calling it quits.
On Wednesday, the former Nikki Bella in WWE filed to divorce Chigvintsev just weeks after he was arrested for domestic violence.
The divorce filing comes nearly two weeks after Artem was arrested for felony corporal injury to spouse or cohabitant for allegedly attacking Nikki. He bailed out later that day.
Garcia is using Evan Craig Itzkowitz as her divorce lawyer.
Nikki Garcia and Artem Chigvintsev share a 4-year-old child named Matteo. Nikki and Matteo are currently staying at the family home in Napa Valley, while Artem has been staying with a friend.
Source: eWn
NXT Anonymous posted a video on Twitter of Tony D’Angelo of The Don of NXT paying off a mystery person with the intent of him taking care of Oba Femi.
On this week’s season premiere of WWE NXT, it was revealed who that was, as the NXT North American champion found himself face-to-face with one of TNA Wrestling’s biggest powerhouses, Hammerstone.
Despite the impressive challenge Hammerstone put up against NXT’s behemoth, Femi was able to keep his win-loss record in tact, winning the match with one of his devastating powerbombs.
Backstage, The D’Angelo Family was shown distraught, with Tony D’Angelo walking off in anger after seeing his hired gun taken out.
Source: eWn
In the opening contest of this week’s “NXT,” Axiom and Nathan Frazer defended their NXT Tag Team Championships against “WWE SmackDown” stars Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins, together known as the Street Profits. The Street Profits put forth a valiant effort against Frazer and Axiom and even appeared to be closing in on a victory. Unfortunately for them, Ford’s pinfall attempt on Frazer was interrupted by the surprise arrival of The Bloodline’s Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga, and Tonga Loa, who currently hold the WWE Tag Team Championships via the Freebird rule.
Tama was the first to enter the scene when he pulled Ford out of the ring and sent him crashing into the nearby steel stairs. As Dawkins approached Tama in defense of his partner, Jacob Fatu came charging at him. Joining in on the action, Loa then wiped out Axion with a clothesline in the ring, while Tama laid out Frazer with a suplex. The Bloodline concluded their attack with a Swanton to Dawkins, courtesy of Fatu.
For Tama Tonga and Jacob Fatu, tonight marks their first appearance on the “NXT” brand. For Tonga Loa, it marks his return to the “NXT” brand. Under his former ring name of Camacho, Loa wrestled over three-dozen “NXT” matches between 2012 and 2014, with his last taking form in tag team action against The Ascension at a June 2014 “NXT” live event.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE NXT tonight on USA Network.
WWE NXT General Manager Ava took to Twitter today to announce that TNA’s The Rascalz (Zachary Wentz & Trey Miguel) were unable to compete due to “somewhat conspicuous circumstances.”
Instead, The Street Profits will challenge Nathan Frazer & Axiom for the titles. This match will open the show.
For over a decade, “WWE Raw” has been a three-hour affair. As the red brand’s time with USA Network draws to a close, however, it has been announced that WWE’s flagship show will be temporarily reverting to a two-hour weekly schedule. WWE took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to make the announcement during the season premiere of “Raw” on Monday night. The reason for the format change was not disclosed.
The change is expected to begin on the October 7 episode of “Raw,” immediately after WWE’s upcoming Bad Blood premium live event, and last through the December 30 episode of “Raw,” which will be the show’s final episode on USA Network before it moves to Netflix in January. During this period, the show will air from 8pm to 10pm EST; as pointed out by Fightful’s Sean Ross Sapp, this means the Monday night 10pm EST television block will be free of wrestling programming for the first time in decades, as the previous two-hour format started at 9pm EST for much of its run.
Whether Netflix will maintain the two-hour run time, return the show to three hours, or implement some other plan is currently unknown. Despite USA Network’s recent acquisition of “WWE SmackDown,” there are no known plans to change the blue brand’s run time or that of “WWE NXT,” which is preparing its own move to The CW Network.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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