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Andrew’s WWE Raw & SmackDown Live Ratings & Review ( 2/11 & 2/12/2019)

How did the WWE ‘Go Home’ shows do before Elimination Chamber? Let us know if you felt similarly!

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Back on the course of regularly scheduled programming, Andrew brings us the Ratings & Review of WWE Raw and SmackDown Live!

Well with these being ‘Go Home’ shows for Elimination Chamber or WWE in general, I come into these shows…let’s say…pensively.

Raw always tends to be the bigger unknown of these two. But the fact that SmackDown was a little flat last week, let’s just hope that was a hiccup and not a trend.

Let’s get to the shows!

Raw Ratings:

  • Sasha Banks & Bayley vs Nia Jax & Tamina vs Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan: Nia Jax wins via Samoan Drop – **
  • Finn Balor vs Drew McIntyre: Balor wins via DQ – *
  • Finn Balor, Kurt Angle & Braun Strowman vs Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley & Baron Corbin: Balor wins via Coup de Grace after restart – ** 1/4
  • Ruby Riott vs Nikki Cross: Riott wins via Riott Kick – * 1/2
  • EC3 vs Dean Ambrose: Ambrose wins via Cradle – 1/2
  • Raw Tag Team Title Match: Bobby Roode & Chad Gable (c) vs The Revival: Revival win via Shatter Machine – ****TITLE CHANGE!!!

Review Notes:

Stephanie and Trips start off the show talking, yay. Becky comes out since she saw a doctor, they say she’s cleared, but if she wants her spot she needs to apologize for last week. So the whole show is based around an apology and if Steph and Trips will screw her somehow. Hooray, “The Decision WWE Style” – ugh.

Conceptually the match is dumb since it punishes getting tagged in, but the women all played within the confines of the rules well. Forced tags on opposing teams and heels purposefully dropping off the ring apron, were all good. Sasha manages to get hurt again, so Bayley is alone again. She tags out to the Riott Squad at some point and that gives her a break. When Bayley does come back in, she shows good fire, a little bit of aggression, and overall a much needed layer to the character. But the numbers are too much, Nia Samoan Drops her and Bayley & Sasha are now one of the first two teams to wrestle in the Chamber match.

Now we get the beginning of making Raw look kind of amateurish. Elias starts his Hello, they cut to Becky Lynch talking to Finn, then he starts it again and they cut to a video package for Seth Rollins. Back to Elias a third time, visibly frustrated, tries to start again and the Lucha House Party interrupts. The most directionless, pile of crap group in WWE is the payoff, of a bad joke, in which the crowd is dead. No one cares, even Elias can’t make them care. Kalisto eats a guitar and Elias bails. This was a waste of time, but I guess Elias will be in a meaningless midcard angle with the Lucha morons. Yippee.

Lashley and Lio are ringside for the Finn versus Drew match. Writing clearly on the wall, Lashley interferes to DQ Drew, but they beat on Finn. Angle shows up, Corbin lays out Angle, Braun comes out. 6 man match of mediocrity, punctuated by an idiotic use of the in-ring ref missing a foot on the ropes, but a backstage ref corrected him and they restarted the match. THE REVIVAL LITERALLY HAVE BEEN SCREWED BY THIS A FEW WEEKS AGO! ALONG WITH NUMEROUS TECHNICALITIES THAT CAN BE OVERTURNED WITH REPLAY! -breathes- The selective application of things is very WWE, yes we all know the saying ” nothing matters, unless it does”. But the Revival being on the show later just adds to the idiocy of this bit.

Kevin Owens is back next month, yay!

Cross and Ruby was so unimportant, they interrupted the match for a backstage segment with Ronda. Can’t even pretend like the women in the ring have a shot, gonna overshadow them completely for talking. Suuure.

Rollins gives some kind of typical speech, Heyman comes out, gives a typical Heyman promo. I don’t care. Rollins will probably beat Lesnar, just cause someone has to. But I’m not looking forward to that reign at all.

Ambrose comes out while Rollins is in the ring, tells Rollins to beat the beast, and immediately babyfaces himself and repairs the bridge a little in case he doesn’t leave after Mania, or returns at some point. As for the EC3 match, I gave it half a star, it did nothing, it wasn’t good, Ambrose won with an awkward cradle.

The Revival, Roode and Gable put on a hell of a match. Gable’s speed and athleticism to crank the gears, Revival’s ability to put on solid, masterful tag team matches is great, and Roode is also a decorated tag wrestler, playing his role very well. This was such a pleasure on a show that would’ve been kinda bad up to this point. So congratulations to the new champions!

Now the main event talking segment was done well. Becky apologized half heartedly, Trips and Steph didn’t screw her, said she’s getting her match. Ronda comes out happy that the match is going to happen because she wants it as well. HOWEVER – Vinny Mac shows up, says he’s THE MAN, and Becky is suspended for 60 days and Charlotte is his choice to take her spot and take the title from Ronda. Yes, many of us saw this coming one way or the other, but the framing of this is great. It frames Becky as the underdog, Ronda as the fighting champion who wanted her face off with Ronda and Charlotte as the corporate face of disdain. So after 2 weeks of Ronda getting booed to frustration, Ronda is now babyfaced since she is framed to be “pro Becky”. So if Ronda plays a part in getting Becky back into the match, I won’t be surprised.

Overall Score: 5.5/10

Honestly, the last two bits, the tag match and the Becky, Vince, Charlotte segment made this show a little better than average. It dragged and was downright awful or dumb looking at times. But they had a great wrestling match, where the deserving team finally won. As well as giving more depth and breathing time to their main storyline. At least they’re doing the big ticket stuff well.

 

SmackDown Live Ratings:

  • Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose vs Carmella & Naomi vs The IIconics – Naomi wins via Thicc-Legged Moonsault – **
  • Chamber Gauntlet Match:
  • Daniel Bryan vs Kofi Kingston: Kofi wins via Trouble in Paradise
  • Kofi Kingston vs Jeff Hardy: Kofi wins via S.O.S.
  • Kofi Kingston vs Samoa Joe: Kofi wins via Sleeper Hold Counter Pin
  • Kofi Kingston vs AJ Styles: Styles wins via Calf Crusher
  • AJ Styles vs Randy Orton: Orton wins via RKO – **** 1/4

Review Notes:

Video package review of how Raw signed off Monday, followed by Charlotte in the ring. Gives a solid nasty bitch heel promo, plays well to the crowd for the heat. I’ve never really been a fan of how Charlotte gives promos, but this was actually pretty solid. The “point to the sign and chant Becky” line came off awkward, but still not terrible.

The same as Raw, Triple Threat, loser is first to fight in the chamber match! Peyton starts off with Carmella and immediately tags Mandy. The IIconics did the perfect thing in this match for heels, they never got in the match. They literally dropped off the apron and ran away from confrontation at times. Naomi pins Mandy with the Thicc-Legged Moonsault and the former Absolution duo will start off against Sasha and Bayley. IIconics ambush the other teams after the bell to stand and look strong, after not being involved in the match. Clever girls…

Mustafa Ali video saying his injured but he’ll get even.

McMiz TV, Shane will be on NCIS:LA, Miz is acting super happy and babyface. The fact that Miz is just happy and loses the snarky douche persona is refreshing and nearly cute. He literally seems ecstatic in this angle with Shane, so if they lose at Chamber and break apart, I kinda hope Shane turns on Miz, keeping Miz more of the babyface/fan support side of the feud. Usos dominate the promo aspect, though Miz and Shane have a great moment when they were trying to prove they knew each other as well as Jimmy and Jey. Usos just weren’t having their shit and Superkick them and leave them laying.

Now comes the gauntlet and the New Day reveal of who they’re picking as the fill in for Mustafa. Kofi and Daniel Bryan start things off, and this alone was a solid match. Now it did great things by showing Daniel is vulnerable without help. New Day got banished, Rowan did as well, and in his scrambling to try and win quickly, Bryan gets caught by a Trouble in Paradise, Kofi gets the pinfall. Jeff Hardy comes out and immediately tries to throw some of his bigger signature moves on an already weakened opponent. Hardy misses a lot, and then gets caught in the S.O.S. Now with Joe coming out at 3, most of us probably saw this going the same way as Rollins from last year, and here’s where the plucky workhorse loses, but nay! Kofi manages to reverse the Sleeper Hold into a pin. Joe being the angry man he is, sinks in the Coquina Clutch after the loss, so AJ has to break it up. Now AJ does what Cena didn’t do well last year. Trying to play the whole ” You don’t need to continue, you’re hurt, just stop” angle. AJ showed real concern cause he helped him back into the ring and seemed sincere. Kofi got fired up and what we saw wasn’t bad at all. Kofi versus AJ could definitely be a good number 1 contender match, maybe at Fastlane or Mania. AJ catches Kofi with the Calf Crusher, and awaits Randy Orton. As the crowd gives Kofi the standing ovation, Randy flies in from off camera and hits and RKO out of nowhere for the 1-2-3, right at 10 eastern. Perfect punctuation. Yes a couple spots here or there were a little sloppy, but generally speaking this was a great match. Maybe even better than last year’s Raw gauntlet.

Overall Score: 7.5/10

When a gauntlet takes up an entire hour, it doesn’t allow for many talking points, but yeah, that was great. Fantastic story telling, legitimizing Kofi, Kofi showing the hunger to be champion after 11 years during his stand off with Styles. It’s all great. And of course, Orton out of nowhere is always magic. Damn good show, not a ton of storyline beats, but everything it did do, moved things along nicely.


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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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