Connect with us

Opinion

WWE Week in Review November 12-18, 2018

Published

on

Chairshot WWE Week In Review

We are in the final week before WWE Survivor Series and TakeOver: War Games II and everyone’s looking to gain momentum going into Survivor Series Weekend.




On RAW, Alexa Bliss decides on the RAW Women’s team, Seth Rollins tries to focus on his upcoming match with Shinsuke Nakamura, but a shocking act by Dean Ambrose throws all that out the window. The RAW Elimination Team tries to find their captains. Baron Corbin finds himself in hot water with Stephanie McMahon, who finds herself making a deal with Braun Strowman to save Survivor Series, and Ronda Rousey learns a painful lesson about arrogance when RAW has some unexpected company.

On SmackDown, the fallout of the invasion of RAW throws Survivor Series into chaos. Miz finds himself in a position to make some changes to the SmackDown Men’s team. Becky Lynch swallows her pride and turns to a former friend when the consequences of her actions leave her on the sidelines. A confrontation between Styles and Heyman over Survivor Series has unexpected consequences that stun the WWE Universe.

On NXT UK, Triple H and Johnny Saint make a historic announcement that has a huge impact on the fledgling Women’s Division. While the gentlemen all jockey for position and respect.

On 205 Live, Lio Rush’s undefeated streak is on the line against a hungry and desperate Cedric Alexander. Buddy Murphy and Mustafa Ali prepare for their confrontation at Survivor Series, and Drew Gulak and Jack Gallagher face former friend Brian Kendrick and former victim, Akira Tozawa.

On NXT, Mia Yim face the EST, Bianca Belair. Lacey Evans tries to teach class to a rookie. Kyle O’Reilly faces Hanson to decide which team will have the advantage in War Games.

So, how did WWE do with all these balls in the air? Let’s find out!

RAW

WWE Universal Championship: Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar were in the house to hype the big rematch from last year: Brock Lesnar vs AJ Styles Part II. Heyman did his usual schtick of hyping Lesnar and vowing victory for his client.

This broken record was interrupted by Jinder Mahal, who had nearly faced Lesnar last year at Survivor Series. Mahal wanted to bring his enlightening mediation to the Beast. Lesnar seemed to play along before treating Mahal to a thunderous F-5. Not satisfied, Lesnar also took out the Singhs before leaving.

Baron Corbin vs Braun Strowman: Baron Corbin has been a marked man since his actions at Crown Jewel cost Strowman the Universal Championship. Strowman was denied his prize last week when Corbin high-tailed it out of the arena. Refusing to be denied his prey this week, Strowman interrupted the battle royal to decide who would captain the RAW Tag Team-Team, throwing everyone out, and declaring that he was not leaving the ring until Corbin came out here.

Instead of Corbin, Strowman got Stephanie McMahon, who was certainly wary of Strowman, but not really scared. Stephanie tried to talk Strowman down, assuring him that she understood that he was pissed over Corbin’s actions, but that she needed him to focus on Survivor Series and leading Team RAW to victory.

Strowman interrupted her, which is never a smart move and tells her that he doesn’t give a damn about brand supremacy or what Shane did. Strowman knows Stephanie’s trying to manipulate him. Stephanie offers a compromise: If Strowman leads Team RAW to victory on Sunday, she’ll give him whatever he wants.

It was here that Baron Corbin learned the ultimate hard lesson about being a toadie for the McMahons: They will never hesitate to throw you to the wolves. Strowman’s demands were simple: He wants Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title. He wanted Baron Corbin, and he wants Corbin to sign a waiver so he wouldn’t be held responsible for what happens. Stephanie agrees to his demands on one condition: He had to wait until after Survivor Series.

Strowman didn’t seem to realize that he was actually in weaker position and threatened to go to WWE Headquarters and destroy the place if Stephanie tried to renege on the deal. Before Stephanie could answer, she was interrupted by Ronda Rousey.

Stephanie wasn’t happy about this, but seemed willing to play nice, but Rousey wasn’t. It seems that Ronda’s head has gotten a little too big for her hat because she tells Stephanie that she doesn’t need a pep talk to get motivated to face Becky Lynch. She then moves on Stephanie, who hadn’t done anything.

Baron Corbin, who seemed to been emboldened by the fact that Strowman couldn’t touch him, came out to calm things down. He made the huge mistake of not only talking down to Rousey but touching her, which lead to him getting thrown by the irate Rousey. Barely recovering from that embarrassment, Corbin was confronted by Strowman, which lead to Stephanie having to get between them. Strowman threatened to neuter Corbin after Survivor Series, before leaving.

RAW Women’s Division: Alexa Bliss told the Women’s Division last week that she was looking for people with killer instinct for the RAW Women’s Team.

In that spirit, Ember Moon took on Tamina Snuka in one on one action. Tamina was accompanied by her new partner, Nia Jax. Ember had a much better go of it this week, but the presence of Nia Jax kept her from maintain any momentum. The advantage of Nia paid dividends for Tamina who was able to pull out the win with a Superfly Splash and Alexa, who had been watching backstage, seemed pleased with this.

For weeks, Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch have been having an increasingly nasty war of words on social media. On Monday, Rousey addressed Becky Lynch in a final promo before Survivor Series. Rousey arrogantly dismissed Lynch and her threats as ridiculous, showing Lynch minimal respect. She then nearly broke her own arm patting herself on the back talking about how hard she’d worked to get where she was, not seeming to understand that Lynch had worked that hard and harder to get where she was and was a lot hungrier than Rousey.

Last week, the Riott Squad showed how far they’d go to get one over on their opponents when Ruby Riott ruthlessly broke a pair of sunglasses that supposedly belonged to Nattie’s late father, Jim Neidhart.

This week, Ruby Riott addressed the situation, showing some remorse, before revealing that she’d loved every minute of destroying those sunglasses. Her only regret was that she’d only destroyed the sunglasses. Nattie had had everything handed to her because of her name, but the Riott Squad had had to scratch and fight for everything. Riott said that she’d wanted to make Nattie cried and was happy that she’d succeeded.

At this point, Nattie’s music hit, and the Riott Squad turned to deal with the threat, but Nattie came out of the crowd and attacked Riott from behind. Logan and Morgan came to Riott, but Nattie tried to hold her own, but was overwhelmed by the vicious Squad before suffering the indignity of being hit with a Hart Attack by Logan and Riott.

Alexa Bliss announced her picks for the RAW Women’s Team, and her picks were no surprise for the most part: Mickie James, Nia Jax, Tamina. The one big surprise was Nattie, who Bliss had sent home to calm down. As for the final spot, Bliss announced that there would be a match between Sasha Banks and Bayley to determine who would get the final spot.

The match between Banks and Bayley was typically amazing. Both women wanted that spot and it show, especially when Bayley hit a Bayley-to-Belly on Sasha on the apron. However, as usual, we didn’t get a winner for Banks vs Bayley because the rest of Team RAW attacked the two women, ending the match in a No Contest. It was then that Bliss revealed that the match had been a game. The final member of Team RAW is Ruby Riott.

Before Banks or Bayley could fully process that, we were alerted to a commotion backstage. Going to the Women’s locker area, it was discovered that Becky Lynch had attacked Ronda Rousey and had Rousey in the Dis-Arm-Her while Rousey screamed and thrashed around. While Team RAW tried to process that, Lynch’s music hit. The women in the ring dared her to come in the ring, Team SmackDown jumped the RAW women and the fight was on!

What happened next wouldn’t be fully revealed until the next day, but somewhere in the brawl, Nia Jax punched Lynch square in the face, not a working punch, or even a potato, but a full powered punch in the face. Lynch’s nose started spurting blood, but it didn’t stop her from fighting, taking out Ronda Rousey when Rousey tried to come to Team RAW’s rescue. RAW ended with a bloodied Lynch in the audience, leaving Team RAW and Ronda Rousey in the ring.

Backstage, an enraged Stephanie McMahon berated Corbin for what happened. Corbin tried to make excuses, but Stephanie’s patience had run out. She orders Corbin to do something about what had just happened and warned that RAW could NOT lose on Sunday.

Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose: For weeks, Seth Rollins, and the WWE Universe have been trying to get answers for Dean Ambrose’s shocking turn, and Ambrose had refused to answer. This week, however, Seth had bigger things on his mind, namely, his match against Shinsuke Nakamura at Survivor Series.

Rollins gave an interview to Corey Graves, who asked him about his preparations for Survivor Series. Rollins admitted that he usually puts a lot of preparation and thought into his matches, especially a big one like the one with Nakamura, but right now, he’s not thinking about Survivor Series and didn’t really give a damn about Nakamura.

Graves, who had seen what Nakamura is really capable of, tried to warn Seth that Nakamura wasn’t someone to take lightly, but Rollins wasn’t listening. He was more focused on the situation with Dean Ambrose. Despite his words last week, Rollins said that he still wanted answers from Ambrose about why Ambrose turned on Rollins and Roman Reigns, despite the fact that Ambrose hadn’t turned on Reigns, just Rollins. Rollins then said that Dean wasn’t a stupid man, he just wasn’t man enough to come to Rollins to tell him what the problem was.

At that point the TitanTron came to life, revealing that Dean was outside, sitting on the hood of a car, next to a roaring trash fire. Ambrose said that he was man enough to come in out of the cold and beat the hell out of Rollins, but he wasn’t going to do it. Ambrose said he didn’t owe anyone an explanation for what happened. He blamed Seth’s treatment of him for part of what happened and said that he’d changed and Seth and Roman didn’t notice. He then said that maybe part of him hoped his brothers would forgive him one day, but he said that the Shield, Seth, and Roman made him weak because he’d believed in that brotherhood and those days were over, he was going to burn it down.

What Dean was burning down became obvious when he pulled out his old Shield vest and through it into the fire. Seth was devastated, and went in search of his former friend, presumably to have it out once and for all.

Dolph Ziggler vs Finn Balor: Last week, Drew McIntyre shocked the wrestling world by soundly defeating Kurt Angle, with Angle’s own move, the Ankle Lock. This week, McIntyre didn’t hesitate to crow about his victory over the Hall of Famer and voicing his disgust over Angle crying in the ring. He also claimed that he’d sacrificed more than anyone in WWE and that he’s done with nostalgia acts.

Balor come out to save us from this nonsense, calling McIntyre a liar and saying that his actions against Angle last week crossed a line. McIntyre, not realizing, or caring that Balor isn’t someone to take lightly, made the massive mistake of talking down to the Irishman, saying dignity wasn’t a right, and insulting the Balor Club.

Tired of the blowhard Scot, Balor challenged McIntyre to a match, but McIntyre, claiming that Balor was beneath him, offered up Dolph Ziggler instead, saying that if Balor could beat Ziggler, he’d get McIntyre but before the match could start, McIntyre got in a cheap shot on Balor.

The match between Balor and Ziggler was really good. Thanks to McIntyre’s cheap shot, Ziggler dominated the first part of the match, but Balor got his wits back pretty quickly and was able to battle back. Ziggler COULD have put Balor away if he’d been more focused on wrestling than showing off. It looked like Balor was done for after Ziggler was able to dodge a Coup de Grace, but Balor rolled up Ziggler for the pin. Infuriating McIntyre, who’d looked more and more worried during the match.

To add more fuel to McIntyre’s woes, when Balor go backstage, Stephanie made him the final member of Team RAW, over the protests of Corbin, Ziggler, and McIntyre.

Tag Team Battle Royal: Since Strowman had rudely interrupted the first attempt, the Tag Team Battle Royal to determine who would be the captains of the RAW Tag Team Team at Survivor Series. It came down to Roode/Gable and the Ascension. Roode and Gable would pull out the win, but the RAW Tag Team would include pretty much the whole Tag division, not including AoP.

Bobby Lashley vs Elias: Lio Rush did his usual hype job for Lashley for his magnificent body, which seems to be about all Lashley has going for him sometimes. This body worship was interrupted by Elias.

Elias announced that he was reporting Lashley for kidnapping a child, asking Rush how old he was. He also found Rush’s gushing over Lashley’s body while Lashley was bent over, a little disturbing, asking the audience if they wanted to walk with Elias or bend over for Lashley and that Lashley was in danger of putting people to sleep.

Unamused, Rush called Elias a clown and challenged him to say all that to Lashley’s face. Amused, Elias told Rush to calm down, he was just trying to help the whole world understand that Lashley sucked.

The actual match was pretty good. Elias was able to keep up with Lashley, but Lashley’s hype man earned his pay yet again, when Rush was able to keep Elias from beating the ref’s count, earning Lashley a win by countout and the final spot on Team RAW.





Powered by RedCircle


Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5

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!

Published

on

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.


Powered by RedCircle


Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
Continue Reading

Opinion

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.

Published

on

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!


Powered by RedCircle


Let us know what you think on social media @ChairshotMedia and always remember to use the hashtag #UseYourHead!
Continue Reading

Sports

Entertainment

Sports Entertainment

Buy A Chairshot T-Shirt!

Chairshot Radio Network

Trending

WP Twitter Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com