Tag: AEW

Some AEW Inner Circle Members To Be In Attendance For Jake Hager’s Fight At Bellator 231

Bellator 231 takes place tonight where Jake Hager (2-0) will take on Anthony Garrett. In AEW, Hager is a member of the stable, Inner Circle, which also consists of AEW World Champion Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, Santana, and Ortiz.

According to Marc Raimondi of ESPN, Guevara, Santana, and Ortiz will be in attendance for the fight and then get in the cage for a post-fight photo op.

Hager recently spoke to Wrestling Inc.’s Dan Yanofsky about being able to work for both Bellator and AEW at the same time.

“Honestly, it was such a breath of fresh air. Both of those guys were so willing to work with me,” Hager stated. “AEW loves what I’m doing with Bellator and Bellator loves what I’m doing with AEW. I don’t think 10 years ago you would see that happen where an MMA fighter would go work on a pro wrestling TV show right in the middle of camp.

“For Scott and Tony to be willing to work with each other and understand that this is something really cool and cross-promote, among other things, the sky’s the limit. I feel like that’s the mindset with it. Entertainment is a big part of MMA and it is unique.”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Rock ‘N’ Roll Express To Present AEW Tag Team Titles To Tournament Winners

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express will be appearing on next week’s episode of Dynamite to crown the first-ever All Elite Wrestling Tag Team champs.

The legendary tag team will present the winners of the AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament with the title belts at Wednesday’s show in Charleston, West Virginia.

Despite most of their success coming in the ’80s, Robert Gibson and Ricky Morton are still active in-ring competitors who made their New Japan Pro Wrestling debut just last month!

They were inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame at the 2017 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony by their former manager Jim Cornette.

In case you missed it … The Lucha Bros. defeated Private Party to reach the AEW World Tag Team Championship Tournament final on this week’s episode of Dynamite, while SCU were victorious against The Dark Order.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Diamond Dallas Page Makes Surprise Appearance On AEW: Dynamite (VIDEO)

Diamond Dallas Page had Cody Rhodes’ back tonight during a surprise appearance on All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite.

Chris Jericho’s Inner Circle were shown throughout the show in a suite and during an interview segment involving Cody they began to interrupt AEW exec.

Rhodes didn’t budge, however, and told Jericho, “This isn’t like the other wrestling company we came from, this isn’t an invisible wall right here. I could easily step through and I could easily come up there and we can fight right here.”

Jericho attempted to call Cody’s bluff and pointed out how the numbers were on his side.

This prompted Dustin Rhodes, MJF and DDP to come out to make things even. The foursome walked up to the suite, but Inner Circle locked themselves in a room behind a glass door and Jericho began to mock Team Rhodes. Cody was two steps ahead though and wrapped his hand with MJF’s scarf though so he could punch through the door, causing a brawl to breakout.

Watch two videos showing these parts of the segment below.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

AEW Dynamite Preview 10/23/19

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite will air live from the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

* Britt Baker will be in action in her hometown against Jamie Hayter.

* Jon Moxley vs. PAC

* The Young Bucks vs. Best Friends

* Tag Team Tournament Semi-finals Match: The Dark Order vs. SoCal Uncensored

* Tag Team Tournament Semi-finals Match: The Lucha Bros vs. Private Party

* Kenny Omega vs. Joey Janela

* Cody Rhodes addresses AEW World Champion Chris Jericho and the Inner Circle.

AEW Dynamite To Debut In Germany

TNT Germany’s Facebook page announced earlier today that AEW Dynamite will premiere in Germany on Fridays at 21:50 local time.

Cody Rhodes commented earlier this month about bringing the brand to Germany.

“It’s definitely something that we’re looking at currently and not particularly because you’re asking me and you’re from Germany,” Rhodes said. “The German market is massive; I just did a German magazine two days ago, I was in two wonderful sell-outs in Paris in terms of France and that market. We don’t want to leave anybody out. One of the things about having a major cable carrier cover this company is that the international deals are very hard to navigate and they are beyond my depth as an EVP. But we have the right people in place because we want the product everywhere: Germany, France, and the smaller European countries.

“Right now, with FITE TV, I know that there are some places excluded and left out, but we’re doing everything we can to get what they call in production ‘ignitions’ to all these countries. And I’ll do everything in my power because it was always my goal for everyone to see. We don’t have a network subscription service just yet so we’re working with the tools we have.

“And our focus was Dynamite to begin with and then growing it out, so I would hope that nobody gets left out in the first month, at least, of Dynamite. Definitely something Mike Weber and FITE have done a great job that we’re working on and, believe me, Matt, Nick, and Kenny – a question we regularly ask in our group meetings is, ‘When are we going here? How do we get there because people want to see it.'”

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Dark Preview 10/22/19

The following matches were taped for tonight’s AEW Dark episode on YouTube:

* Brandon Cutler vs. Joey Janela

* Nyla Rose vs. “The Librarian” Leva Bates w/Peter Avalon

* Cody, Dustin Rhodes, and The Young Bucks vs. Private Party, CIMA, and T-Hawk

* Taz will make a guest commentator appearance.

Jim Ross Admits That AEW Still Has “Too Many Flips And Flops” For His Taste

“Good ol’ J.R.” Jim Ross took to his Grilling J.R. podcast this week to open up about why exactly he chose to sign a contract with All Elite Wrestling earlier this year. Ross admitted to listeners that money and the people involved with the company were major deciding factors when he signed, however, he would prefer the in-ring action to have less “flips and flops”.

“Somebody said, ‘Well, why are you at AEW?’ Because they pay me a lot of money, and I like the people I work for, and I love wrestling and love helping these young kids,” J.R. said. “Are they doing too many flips and flops for my taste? Yeah they are to be honest with you, they sure are. But they’re weaning themselves off that a little bit because that type of wrestling is not new and fresh anymore. How many times have you seen a 450 [splash]? A 620 [splash]… Now it’s not new anymore. It’s not new!”

Ross believes that using a more traditional approach and incorporating psychology to engage the viewer will ultimately be the style that AEW builds itself around.

“So we’ve got to figure out something else to get the people’s attention,” J.R. explained. “It might be a wrestling match; it might be using psychology and grabbing them by the emotional balls and pulling them right along in the story.”

J.R. signed a 3-year deal earlier this year as a Senior Advisor for AEW. The statement issued out at that time called his contract “the most lucrative deal in pro wrestling commentary history”.

Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to Grilling J.R. podcast

Kenny Omega Says He’s Bringing AAA Mega Championship To AEW

During an interview with Lucha Libre AAA’s Hugo Savinovich, Kenny Omega revealed that he will be bringing the AAA Mega Championship. Omega won the title Saturday night at AAA Heroes Inmortales XIII from Fenix.

“I’ve always been a man who said to make history everywhere I go,” Omega said. “I never said it would be easy. Does it look like it was easy? Fenix, you’re still one of the best, I’m just better. You were a great champion, but I will be better. That title, Mega Championship, you might see it back in Mexico, but you will, I promise you, you will see it in AEW.”

Back in February, AEW and AAA formed a working partnership.

The whole interview can be watched in the video below:

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Dynamite Tops WWE NXT In Viewership As Both Shows Viewership Drops

AEW Dynamite has topped WWE NXT in viewership for the third week in a row, but viewership for both has continued to drop since their TV debuts.

Wednesday’s Dynamite episode on TNT drew 1.014 million viewers while NXT drew 712,000 viewers on the USA Network, according to Showbuzz Daily. AEW topped NXT in total viewership by 42.4%.

AEW ranked #5 in the Cable Top 150, while NXT ranked #30. AEW ranked #25 in viewership, for the second week in a row, while NXT ranked #35 in viewership.

Last week’s Dynamite episode drew 1.018 million viewers and ranked #8 in the Cable Top 150, and #25 in viewership, so it dropped 0.4%, not including the airing on truTV last week. Last week’s NXT episode drew 790,000 viewers and ranked #27 in the Cable Top 150, and #33 in viewership, so it dropped 10%.

AEW drew a 0.44 rating in the 18-49 demographic, topping the 0.20 that NXT drew in the same demo by 120%. Last week’s AEW episode drew a 0.46 in that demographic while NXT drew a 0.22.

Last week’s Dynamite episode aired on truTV due to MLB coverage getting in the way of the regular schedule, and the show drew an additional 122,000 on trueTV. Dynamite did not air on truTV this week, just the regular timeslot on TNT.

Basketball Wives topped the night in the 18-49 demographic at #1 with a 0.54 rating, but just 1.208 million viewers. Tucker Carlson Tonight topped the night on cable in viewership with 4.068 million viewers, but ranking #11 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.32 rating in the 18-49 demographic.

Chicago Med on NBC at 9pm topped the night in viewership on network TV with 8.934 million viewers. The Masked Singer on FOX at 8pm topped the night on network TV in the 18-49 demographic with a 2.2 rating.

To compare, Monday’s WWE Draft edition of RAW on the USA Network drew an average of 2.287 million viewers, down from last week’s 2.334 million viewers for the post-Hell In a Cell episode, and ranked #13 for the night in viewership on cable and #6 in the Cable Top 150 with a 0.74 rating in the 18-49 demographic. Tuesday’s WWE Backstage preview episode that aired on FS1 at 8:13pm drew 597,000 viewers and ranked #25 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.20 cable rating in the 18-49 demographic.

Below is 2019 NXT Viewership Tracker:

September 18 Episode: 1.179 million viewers (one hour on the USA Network)
September 25 Episode: 1.006 million viewers (one hour on the USA Network)
October 2 Episode: 891,000 viewers (season premiere, both hours on the USA Network)
October 9 Episode: 790,000 viewers
October 16 Episode: 712,000 viewers

Below is 2019 AEW Dynamite Viewership Tracker:

October 2 Episode: 1.409 million viewers (premiere episode)
October 9 Episode: 1.018 million viewers (on TNT, 122k on truTV)
October 16 Episode: 1.014 million viewers

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Star Luchasaurus Injured

Luchasaurus did not compete on last night’s AEW Dynamite episode due to a hamstring injury.

Luchasaurus was scheduled to team with Jungleboy to face Rey Fenix and Pentagon in a first round match in the AEW Tag Team Titles tournament. Due to the injury, Jungleboy will now be teaming with Marko Stunt.

AEW officials reportedly decided to pull Luchasaurus from the match this afternoon, so he did not risk further injury.

There’s no word yet on when Luchasaurus will be back in action.