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Chris Deez’s Pre-Royal Rumble WWE WrestleMania 34 Card Predictions

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With the Royal Rumble 2018 a matter of days away, we are officially on The Road to WrestleMania. However, the seeds were being planted long before now in preparation for the Showcase of the Immortals. Survivor Series 2017 gave us a much clearer indication of what WWE were planning for The Show of Shows, although as we all know, WWE and Vince McMahon are prone to changing their minds at the very last moment, meaning The Greatest Spectacle in Sports Entertainment (Is that enough different ways to say WrestleMania now?) this time around could be the most unpredictable and astounding we have ever seen.

Here are my early predictions for the top matches on the card.

Smackdown Live Tag Team Championships
Rusev Day v Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn v Bludgeon Brothers v The Usos (c)

This is an interesting one. The Smackdown Live tag division has been on absolute fire recently and has been one of 2017’s highlights for most fans, but WWE find themselves in an all too familiar position of having too many superstars to fit into a program hence why I’m going for another multi team match. The Bludgeon Brothers have made quite the impact since debuting but there’s only so many teams left for them to squash, so they need to be entered the title picture as soon as possible to give them some relevance.

The Usos were hands down the team of the year for 2017, but it might be time for them to drop the belts and freshen the division up a little. Rusev Day are over in a way nobody expected at all, but I can’t see WWE sticking the belts on them, yet which is a shame really as they’re both tremendously talented and Rusev has been misused for the longest time.

The most interesting element here is that of KO & Sami Zayn, and it all really comes down to what happens at the Rumble when the two face AJ Styles in a handicap match for the WWE Championship. The going plan seems to be AJ retains the belt, which is the right decision, and would surely lead to a split between the best friends and lead to yet another fantastic feud between the pair. If this is the case I would have Gable & Benjamin replace them in this match, or maybe Breezango. I’m expecting this to open the show, and regardless of which teams compete it has the potential to steal the show as it has so many times over the last 6 months or so.

WrestleMania 34 Predictions

When I say Uce, you say… no.

Shane McMahon v Daniel Bryan

If you’ve read anything I’ve written before you’ll know that this is my absolute nightmare, but it seems to be something WWE are determined to do. SD Live was meant to be the land of opportunity but the only opportunities we’re seeing are the ones for Shane to stroke his own ego. If Bryan does return it should under no circumstances be against Shane… he is NOT a wrestler and it’s scandalous that he keeps depriving talented superstars of main event spots.

For him to have faced AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, The Undertaker and competed in main events at numerous PPV’s honestly sickens me. Bryan could still have amazing matches with the likes of Owens, Styles or Zayn but he wont get the chance to. This is going to happen whether we like it or not. Toilet break match for me.

WrestleMania 34 Predictions

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!

Raw Tag Team Championships
The Bar v The Club v The Revival (c)

The Revival are the only team keeping me interested in the slightest bit about RAW’s tag division. The Bar are great and putting them together was absolute genius, but there’s only so many times I can watch the same match between the same guys no matter how good it might be. SD Live’s tag division has been on fire, while RAW’s has stagnated big time, so the return of The Revival will hopefully add fire into the mix.

The division still needs a few more legs though and I’m happy to see Gallows and Anderson return to a more prominent role recently. Seeing them capture the gold and Finn potentially doing the same would be a great way to build them up as the dominant faction in WWE, and its only a matter of time before we see the Authors of Pain or SAnitY called up… maybe on the RAW after Mania?

WrestleMania 34 Predictions

They’re not sports entertainers. They’re professional wrestlers. Top Guys!

Braun Strowman v Samoa Joe

Now I don’t overly want this to happen because Strowman at this point should be competing for a championship, but with the Universal Championship match all but decided we need something else for him to do in the meantime. Braun taking on Joe makes sense as it can be worked around what happened at Survivor Series when The Monster Among Men took out HHH not once, but twice. Joe was originally brought in as HHH’s hitman of sorts, so to have him once again do his dirty work makes sense. This is definitely a match up we all want to see, both men are insanely over despite one being a heel and seeing the two behemoths go one on one would be a sight to see.

Whatever does happen with these two, at least one of them needs to be competing for a championship again afterwards. I would absolutely move Joe over to Smackdown Live and have him go for the United States Championship at the very least.

WrestleMania 34 Predictions

Literally the best thing in WWE right now. Who saw that coming/

Intercontinental Championship
Finn Balor v The Miz (c)

The fact that Roman Reigns is once again going to compete in the main event suggested he would drop the title soon, and it made sense for The Miz to win back the title he made so prestigious. Miz has now gone 3 straight PPV’s (SummerSlam, TLC, Survivor Series) without defending the belt, and no matter how good he has been on RAW this has hurt the relevancy of the title. What WWE need to do is give him a big-name opponent to bring the spotlight back onto the belt, and Finn Balor makes all the sense in the world.

Finn has been largely misused since returning from his most recent injury and his most recent rivalry with Bray Wyatt was embarrassingly bad to watch at times. Finn is another superstar who is over in a big way and he needs to hold a belt to raise his stock in the company again before eventually going on to try and reclaim to Universal Championship which we never lost.

WrestleMania 34 Predictions

Literally the last man you should be shoving your wife in front of…

Seth Rollins v Dean Ambrose

Surely, I’m not the only one who saw this coming from a mile off? From the first second that they buried the hatchet and teamed up to gain the Tag Team Championships, you just knew somewhere not too far down the line one would betray the other to set up a feud (again). This time I’m expecting Ambrose to be the one who turns as there are a good few reasons why he was motivated to. There’s the fact he never truly tasted revenge for Rollins originally breaking up The Shield all those years ago, Seth taking the pin when they lost the titles to Sheamus & Cesaro, Ambrose suffering a long-term injury and being replaced by Jason Jordan… the possibilities are endless.

WrestleMania 34 Predictions

No I will not fist you Seth, I’m a married man!

4 Horsewomen WWE v 4 Horsewomen MMA

This is a weird one for me. I don’t agree with Charlotte being wasted on a match like this when she could be defending her title instead, but at the same time the SDLive women’s division has been quite poor for a while now so I can’t imagine who she would even compete against. This match has been in the works for quite some time now and we know how doggedly stubborn WWE can be regardless of it being detrimental for the talent involved.

Ronda Rousey has been a long-time target for WWE since her UFC career started to go downhill and she would be a huge draw. Competing alongside Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke and Marina Shafir this will be the marquee matchup for the women and could well end up being quite entertaining if done right. As for the finish, I really hope WWE go with Rousey turning on her teammates and helping team WWE gain the win or else they run the risk of having non-WWE competitors making their 4 top women (Charlotte, Becky Lynch, Sasha Banks, Bayley) look weak and irrelevant.

WrestleMania 34 Predictions

It’s funny who you can bump into waiting for the bus

United States Championship
Dolph Ziggler v Baron Corbin v Bobby Roode (c)

Another match with lots of potential competitors but not a huge amount of interest around the belt. It is still early days for Roode but so far, he has been unspectacular and is proving to be nothing more than a flashy entrance. Dolph will certainly return between now and April claiming he wants back the title which he never lost, and I would expect him to reclaim it here.

Corbin… ahh I just don’t know anymore. Whenever it seems like he has finally caught a break and started to improve, WWE go and ruin him again. I imagine he will do well in the Rumble and then do something similar to the returning Dolph. Corbin lost the title in the last match between these 3 but never received a rematch prior to Dolph vacating the belt, giving Corbin the perfect way back in claiming to be the rightful champ.

WrestleMania 34 Predictions

GLORIOUS!

Raw Women’s Championship
Asuka v Alexa Bliss (c)

This one is looking almost as inevitable as the Universal Championship match at this point, with Asuka being the odds-on favourite to win the Women’s Royal Rumble after Paige’s supposed career ending injury. Over the next few months I’d expect Bliss to fend off a few other competitors, all the while having to look over her shoulder for Asuka and being stalked by her on RAW.

There’s also the prospect of Nia Jax being added into this match in some capacity. Her storyline as Bliss’ best friend is still ongoing but the tension is clear, and the cracks are starting to show in their relationship. Alexa facing off against two of the most dominant women on the roster would be a great way for her to play up to her heel characteristics, constantly ducking, dodging and evading any confrontation. The only outcome i can see is Asuka claiming her first main roster championship.

WrestleMania 34 Predictions

WWE is so predictable. Imagine if Bliss won though?

Universal Championship
Roman Reigns v Brock Lesnar (c)

Yep.

That is all.

WrestleMania 34 Predictions

….. FIIIIIIIIIE If you insist.

WWE Championship
Shinsuke Nakamura v AJ Styles (c)

Another one that’s virtually nailed on, WWE have dropped more than enough hints of this happening. The ‘dream match’, a phrase we seem to be hearing almost weekly these days, could well be the match of the night but only if Styles makes sure of it. It may be an unpopular opinion, but for me Nakamura has been absolute trash since stepping up from NXT thanks to a mix of horrible booking, WWE limiting his move set and killing his momentum by repeatedly having him lose to Jinder Mahal. Styles will also have to carry this feud on the promo side of things as  Nakamura has become no better in that department, so much so that he has been limited to a few words every time he has had a mic thrusted in his face recently.

Styles on the other hand has been nothing but phenomenal (sorry) in WWE. The company have shown on numerous occasions that he is every bit as important as Roman Reigns by having him compete on a RAW PPV against Finn Balor, appeared the following night on an episode of RAW, won the WWE Championship again to an incredible reaction from the crowd, and went on to have one of the best matches of 2017 at Survivor Series against Brock Lesnar.

Its only a matter of time before Nakamura tastes championship gold, but hopefully it won’t be on this night. They should be allowed to feud with eachother for a short while longer after Mania, Styles has put in too much fantastic work, arguable the best of his career, to drop the title on the biggest stage of them all.

WrestleMania 34 Predictions

The House That AJ Styles Built

HHH v Kurt Angle

The only thing with this one that I can’t decide on is how it will start up. On one hand HHH could start giving Angle hassle for not being a good enough GM, proven by him having to finish the job by pinning Shane at Survivor Series. At the same time, Angle could give HHH hassle for not believing in him and intervening when he already had the outcome of the match under control. There will more than likely be a stipulation here, maybe a no DQ affair, and im also expecting Angle’s job to be on the line.

Don’t expect this to be a very good match. 10 minutes maximum with Angle obviously winning.

V

You have the most beautiful eyes Hunter, I could get lost in them… I love you.

John Cena v …?

What do you do with a problem like John Cena? The 16-time champion doesn’t really have anything in the works after yet another period away from the company so it’s a hard one to predict. The safe money is still on him facing The Undertaker, but I pray to god this doesn’t happen, the legacy of Taker has already been tarnished and you just know Big Match John would come out victorious here. And after #Raw25 that seems a little less likely.

The other possibility is the horrible, excruciating, downright sickening thought of Jinder Mahal being a part of a major storyline heading into Mania. From a business point of view, it makes sense, WWE are still determined to dig into the Indian market by having Jinder as at least a strong mid card guy and Cena would be the perfect opponent. Their characters of Mr USA v Mr Anti America align perfectly and a Wrestlemania crowd is probably the only one you’ll find which will be sort of receptive to a match like this.

Personally, I wouldn’t have Cena compete at all, I would throw a curveball and have him as the host of the whole event. This way he can have a back and forth with various superstars and set up a match for after Mania, we know just how good he is on the mic and plus it didn’t do any harm to The New Day when they hosted last year did it?

WrestleMania 34 Predictions


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Opinion

Greg DeMarco’s 2024 WWE Royal Rumble Reaction

It’s the Royal Rumble! A favorite of many fans, the Rumble kicks off the Road To WrestleMania. Greg DeMarco is here with his live reactions to the event!

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WWE Royal Rumble 2024 Results

It’s the Royal Rumble! A favorite of many fans, the Rumble kicks off the Road To WrestleMania. Greg DeMarco is here with his live reactions to the event!

The WWE Royal Rumble is upon us, and while the Men’s Royal Rumble Match isn’t for the World Heavyweight Championship like I suggested, it’s still the most anticipated event of the year.

Why? The Unknown.

That’s right–in this age of the internet (usually incorrectly) telling us everything it possibly can about what is going to happen in the world of wrestling, the Royal Rumble stands out because despite what we’re told (or, more importantly, what we choose to listen to), the event is always full of fun and surprises.


Check out Steven Mitchell’s 2024 WWE Royal Rumble Results & Review!


Women’s Royal Rumble Match

  • They really are driving home the “main event WrestleMania” point this year–strengthens my thought that women will main event Night 1. Triple H would catch a ton of heat if he keeps women out for the third straight year.
  • NAOMI! Good to see her back, and the emotional response she had.
  • Love Michael Cole calling out Naomi’s time in TNA, and recognizing her as a former Knockouts Champion.
  • Entering #3 doesn’t bode well for Bayley. I honestly don’t think she is gonna win.
  • JORDYNNE GRACE! I saw the reports earlier today. This is a much bigger deal than Mickie James, because Mickie was a returning legend.
  • “TNA HAS A WEAPON!” So glad to have Pat McAfee on the call.
  • Honestly, Jordynne Grace belongs in WWE.

  • Asuka comes in, and they sell the surprise of Bayley. STORYTELLING, people!
  • Something tells me when we get Kairi Sane in there, The Kabuki Warriors will eliminate Bayley.
  • Ivy Nile enters, and I immediately want to see her go toe-to-toe with Jordynne Grace.
  • What if they pulled some crazy sh*t and had Jordynne Grace win???
  • Just step through the ropes next time, Bianca.
  • When I first saw the C4 clock, I thought I would get tired of it But I am already used to it.
  • Here’s Kairi Sane, time to set the plan into motion!
  • This crowd does not appear to like Tegan Nox.
  • Welp, there goes my idea o Asuka and Kairi eliminating Bayley.
  • That was a hell of a way for Jordynne Grace to go out.

  • I think Michael Cole secretly loves to call a Meteora.
  • There’s a reason Maxxine Dupri doesn’t wrestle much.
  • That tandem Code Red was very Young Buckish. And that’s not a compliment.
  • Hair,…gear…this might be the messiest Royal Rumble yet.
  • Ah, here comes the winner, Becky Lynch (I am calling Becky eliminates Bayley to win her second Royal Rumble).
  • LOVE the scoreboard of time in the Rumble for selected wrestlers.

  • R-TRUTH?!?! (Funny story, it was Truth’s spot that Nia Jax took in 2019.)
  • If you push Mia Yim, she’ll take it further than you could imagine.
  • “How is everybody the most athletic person on Earth?” – Pat McAfee
  • Surprising that Roxanne Perez, at #27, is the first NXT entrant. I don’t think we’ll be seeing Tiffany Stratton of Blair Davenport since we only have 3 more to come.
  • Amazing reaction for Jade Cargill. Give her time, she’s definitely going to be a huge star.
  • JUST GIVE HER TIME.
  • Seriously, Nia Jax had to help Jade eliminate her–A LOT.

  • Greg Was Wrong: It is indeed Tiffy Time in the Royal Rumble.
  • Back to Jade–she is insanely over.
  • I know it won’t be, but this should be Tiffany Stratton’s official main roster call-up.
  • Liv Morgan returns at #30, and good for Liv. She nearly went wire-to-wire last year.
  • Liv Morgan: “Thank you!” Pat McAfee: “No problem.”
  • Tiffany Stratton eliminating Roxanne Perez is, to me, an invitation for a match with them on Raw this Monday.
  • Still love the scoreboard as Naomi passes an hour.
  • The camera is catching a lot of in-ring communications right now.
  • And Jade Cargill eliminates my pick to win. Bye Becky.
  • Jade Cargill in the final three of the Royal Rumble (with Liv Morgan and Bayley) is huge for her.
  • Hell of a debut for Jade Cargill.
  • And a huge win for Bayley.

Winner of the 2024 Women’s Royal Rumble Match: Bayley (eliminating Liv Morgan to win)

Fatal 4-Way Match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship: Randy Orton vs AJ Styles vs. LA Knight vs. Roman Reigns (champion, with Paul Heyman)

  • Glad to see AJ Styles got his tights back. Pants AJ Styles (but still with the football gloves) was not working. Not just bring the beard back to your face Allen–the think beard also ain’t working.

  • Pat McAfee campaigning for Roman Reigns to be given at least a 26% chance is amazing.
  • Say what you want about LA Knight, he’s a damn star and totally belongs in this match.
  • Roman completely sandbagged Randy on the table drop. I don’t think it was on purpose, but he definitely didn’t jump.
  • Roman Reigns is very much like Gunther in that he does the simple things SO WELL, like a jumping clothesline. That’s how you do it.
  • Yes, I compared Roman Reigns to Gunther. Don’t @ me, I’m right.

  • RKO City, Bitch.
  • Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand here’s Solo! (At some point, Solo will get tired of saving Roman’s ass.)
  • Solo ’bout to go through that barricade.
  • Solo indeed went through that barricade.

  • Yes, we had the Solo interference mid-match, but honestly in the end Roman won that clean.

Winner, #ANDSTILL your Undisputed WWE Universal Champion: Roman Reigns

WWE United States Championship: Kevin Owens vs. Logan Paul (champion)

  • Kevin Owens wearing Zubaz shorts in the Performance Center fight makes me very happy.
  • Logan Paul talking about a full time run, and now he’s putting on size.
  • Logan’s headband didn’t list very long.
  • I honestly hate it when modern-day wrestlers bust out a crotch chop.
  • If you were watching the Royal Rumble and didn’t know who Logan Paul was, you’d just assume he was a pro wrestler. That says everything you need to know about how good he is at this.
  • ANOTHER crotch chop. Now we’re at 2 too many.

  • Cue the “Better Buckshot Than Hangman” tweets. But they might be right.
  • I love the idea of a Logan Paul, Austin Theory, and Grayson Waller stable.
  • C’mon, there’s NO WAY Ryan Tran could see the knucks on Kevin Owens’ hand given his placement. It’s the little things.
  • Finish here tells me we’ll see KO vs. Logan Paul again. I’d guess on TV, if not in Australia.

Winner by disqualification, #ANDSTILL WWE United States Champion: Logan Paul

Men’s Royal Rumble Match

  • Jey Uso coming at #1 was expected thanks to the internet reports. But I still think Jimmy should be #1 and Jey #2, for the reaction shots on Jimmy.
  • Grayson Waller talking himself to the ring is perfect.
  • “No Yeet!” Grayson is a brilliant performer. I’d make a Roddy Piper comparison here, but y’all would get at mad at me.
  • Good to have Andrade back in WWE. Great reaction for him when the mask came off.

  • SmackDown superstar Carmelo Hayes! I really really really hope Trick is also in this match, just for the chants.
  • Melo pointed to the sign, C’mon, man.
  • Do you send Andrade to Smackdown, or do you send him to Raw and let him do his own thing?
  • Oh goody, Karrion Kross is here. Yay.
  • (Yes, that’s sarcasm you read.)
  • Dominik Mysterio is so good. Give him time, he’s going to be a huge star.

  • The Royal Rumble was a great place for the Apple Spot.
  • Here comes Bob Lashley–please just eliminate Karrion Kross.
  • Lashley wearing the WrestleMania white gear more than 2 months early.
  • Austin Theory still gets his concussion effect entrance, despite it being the Rumble.
  • What if–hear me out now–Finn Balor wins the Royal Rumble to get the shot at Seth Rollins, and Priest uses his briefcase to make that match a triple threat at ‘Mania?
  • I know he didn’t, but it sure looked like Jimmy was swerving while he drives in that interaction with Gunther.
  • Kofi did tell us the Rumble Magic wasn’t happening anymore.
  • Give me Ivar vs Gunther!
  • Bron Breakker is a star. It’s inevitable.
  • Of course Omos would be in the Rumble. Good to see MVP on my TV as well.
  • “I didn’t know humans came that big!” – Pat McAfee
  • I half think Pat McAfee didn’t know he was entering the Rumble.
  • Nice moment for Bron Breakker eliminating Omos. WrestleMania match?
  • R-Truth trying to get Dominik (Tom or Nick?) Mysterio to tag him in is brilliant.
  • DOM MADE THE TAG!!!
  • “And now R-Truth is the legal man.” – thank you Michael Cole.
  • Michael Cole delivers multiple TNA references tonight, along with a Dolph Ziggler reference. God Bless Michael Cole.
  • Imagine for a second that this was CM Punk’s actual WWE return.
  • The reaction to Drew McIntyre’s entrance is a reminder that they don’t actually need him.
  • Sami Zayn enters at #30, also known as “Not The Rock.”

  • In the ring, Drew McIntyre is amazing. Just keep the microphone away from him. (And stop the damn counting!)
  • And there goes my choice for the Men’s Rumble!
  • Love having both Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in the press boxes watching to see who wins.
  • Punk kinda looks like Chris Jericho in there. Seriously.
  • Between Punk and Cody, Cody is the right choice. I really don’t want to watch Punk right now–he needs to hit the cardio, and hard. Given Seth Rollins’ injury and Punk’s conditioning, WWE would be smart to make the World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 40 a multi-man match.

Winner of the 2024 Men’s Royal Rumble: Cody Rhodes


Overall thoughts on the 2024 WWE Royal Rumble

For at least the second straight year, the Men’s Royal Rumble Match was kinda disappointing. Not the result–that’s fine. But the match itself. It just wasn’t nearly as exciting as the Women’s. Of the four matches, I would place it 4th in terms of enjoyment.

Great moments for both Bayley and Cody Rhodes. Logan Paul continually shows that he deserves to be considered a pro wrestler, not a celebrity who is wrestling. Pat McAfee is a joy on commentary. Jordynne Grace is a WWE Superstar, regardless of what company she is signed to. Bron Breakker is a star.CM Punk is very out of shape. Cody Rhodes is about to become THE guy, and he deserves it.

Overall I give the event a thumbs up, but they have to do something about the Men’s Royal Rumble Match moving forward.


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WWE Raw Heads To Netflix: What Does It Mean?

Monumental news drops as WWE RAW is moving to Netflix. Is it truly a game changing move? Greg DeMarco analyzes this shift for the TV wrestling business.

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WWE Logo Metalic

Monumental news drops as WWE RAW is moving to Netflix. Is it truly a game changing move? Greg DeMarco analyzes this shift for the TV wrestling business.

Being a wee little kid in the 80s, I am “lucky enough” to remember having 3 TV channels, and my dad explaining what an 8-track is, how shocked I was when I say a laser disc for the first time, when I bought a 6 CD changer, installed my own car stereo, and all the way up to the fact that I have now been watching WWE pay-per-view/premium live events on the WWE Network and Peacock for 10 years. Hell, in the same month (February 2014) I signed up for the WWE Network, cut the cord to drop cable and got Sling TV. I have since moved onto YouTube TV which is highly recommended.

Over the last two years the NFL has put Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime, simulcast to various streaming services, and less than 2 weeks ago put a playoff game exclusively on streaming when a Wildcard Weekend showdown between the Chiefs and Dolphins was only shown on Peacock.

And now it’s fully permeated into pro wrestling.

WWE and AEW are both in the midst of a very important time on the business side, with all of their TV rights up for grabs. The first domino fell when SmackDown On FOX became SmackDown on USA Network, and soon after we learned that WWE NXT was moving to broadcast television and joining The CW (which is also rebranding, but just to CW).

The AEW suite of programming that includes Collision, Rampage, and their most successful show Dynamite is up for renewal with Warner Bros/Discovery, and Tony Khan has been optimistic about the relationship and potentially an increase in rights fees.

That brings us to Tuesday morning, and the likely groundbreaking WWE announcement that Raw is moving to Netflix, starting in January 2025. Triple H tweeted that they’re changing the game, and TKO President and COO Mark Shapiro (who knows a thing or two about shifts in media consumption) used the word “transformative” in his statement, and I really think he couldn’t be more right.

But what does it all mean?

Wrestling Remains A Strong Media Product

I have been claiming this for over a year now. As many online will cite a decline in TV viewership for both WWE and AEW, the TV product has been a strong value to networks. Even in dropping SmackDown, FOX themselves said they didn’t pump enough resources into the show, and that the advertising return wasn’t what they wanted. That doesn’t mean the product (TV value, we’re not talking about creative here) isn’t strong. It’s so strong that USA Network picked up SmackDown for $280 million per year, giving WWE an increase over the FOX deal. CW is paying $20-$25 million annually for NXT, and now Netflix is paying $500 million for RAW.

Why? Because wrestling isn’t just a strong media product, it’s consistent. And that is key.

Look at this quote from Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria:

“Raw is the best of sports entertainment, blending great characters and storytelling with live action 52 weeks a year and we’re thrilled to be in this long-term partnership with WWE.”

Now cross reference that with a comment from CW President Dennis Miller from back when the CW/NXT deal was announced:

“We are thrilled to welcome the WWE brand into the CW Sports portfolio as they play an integral role in our mission to bring live sporting events to the network year-round.”

What do those statements have in common? The year-round, 52-week nature of wrestling programming. It’s an unbeatable value for networks. It’s cheaper than a deal with a major sports league, and it’s not finite. Wrestling joins news, talk, and sports talk as the only year-round programming available to networks. And WWE and AEW have shows that essentially always land in the Top 5 after you factor out live sports. You can’t beat it.

What Does This Mean for Netflix?

Don’t get it twisted, this is also a huge leap for Netflix. Prior to the WWE Raw deal, Netflix has only experimented with live events, streaming the live Chris Rock “Selective Outrage” special, and showing The Netflix Cup live (a golf event featuring athletes from their F1 series “Drive To Survive” and their golf series “Full Swing).

WWE is the perfect partner for Netflix as it gets into live programming. It’s sports entertainment: sports like programming (which Netflix has done) that focuses on storytelling (which Netflix has obviously done). And no one does it better than WWE. It’s essentially plug-and-play for Netflix, the perfect solution for their live programming aspirations.

The perfect solution that they were willing to pay $5 billion for.

What Does This Mean for AEW?

The biggest risk to an AEW renewal with Warner Bros Discovery was WBD picking up WWE Raw–and that risk has been eliminated by Netflix. Don’t discount that fact–Netflix did Tony Khan a huge favor by throwing $500 million per at WWE. The path is clear for AEW to remain on the Turner networks.

But at what price?

I know I usually write as if I have all the answers, but I have zero idea either way on this one. WBD no longer has any other options if it wants to keep wrestling (except for TNA, who recently expressed a desire to be on a bigger network), and AEW (at least, Dynamite) is a weekly Top 5 program for them on Wednesdays, on cable.

On the other hand, AEW doesn’t exactly have another network begging for their services. The reason WWE could get a yearly increase for Raw, SmackDown, and NXT is because it was truly a bidding war. Unless Tony Khan gets another network involved, any threat of walking away from a deal doesn’t really hold water.

So if I were a betting man (and who would ever bet on this) I would expect an announcement of a renewal for AEW and WBD relatively soon. We may not know the terms of the deal, I will take a shot in the dark and say that AEW gets a small increase (not the “nearly double” that had been reported last year).

Regardless of the increase (or not), given AEW’s recent attendance challenges, this likely renewal would have to be viewed as a win for the company.


Personally, this is simply an amazing time to be a fan. We’ve seen WWE go from one live TV show per week with Monday Night Raw, through the Monday Night Wars, the addition of SmackDown and later NXT, to being this global juggernaut that is commanding half-a-billion dollars per year for Raw. I also think this makes Raw the flagship once again. All of this comes after Vince McMahon is largely out of power, Triple H has taken over creative (and holds a pretty good success rate so far), and the company was sold to Endeavor, and merged with the UFC as a business entity under the TKO banner.

If you know me, you know I am a huge follower of the business side of the wrestling business. I often care less about WHAT wrestling companies do, but HOW they do it. I have always gravitated towards that, since middle school. And for the past near 24 months, I have been like a kid in a candy store.

The Peacock deal for the WWE Network runs out in 2026, right? The fun never stops!


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