Connect with us

Opinion

Week in Review: April 1-7, 2019

With how late WrestleMania goes, this is the week in review leading up to WrestleMania 35! 

Published

on

Chairshot WWE Week In Review

With how late WrestleMania goes, this is the week in review leading up to WrestleMania 35!

RAW

RAW Women’s Championship Match: I wish I was more excited about the Winner Take All stipulation about the Women’s Championship, but I’m not. It honestly feels like WWE didn’t think that the story they’d been building for a year wasn’t big enough for WrestleMania and needed to be made much bigger. Hopefully, it’ll turn out better than it sounds to me.

I love the Riott Squad, but they were pretty unimportant in the tag match, the all-out brawl after the match was over was THE moment of the night. It’s not often that we see brawls like this in WWE and never in the Women’s Division and Rousey, Lynch, and Flair did a fantastic job. Though, I do have to wonder what kind of idiot thought it was a good idea to put two brawling women in the same squad car. However, moment of the night goes to Charlotte Flair for the amazing knee she landed on Rousey. Bravo, ladies.

Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins: Seth Rollins REALLY needed a big moment to re-light interest in his Universal Championship match at WrestleMania and he did a pretty good job of it. I wasn’t thrilled about Heyman dismissing the Women’s match, but his selective memory about Lesnar’s career was amusing. I’m HOPING that Seth Rollins pulls this out somehow.

Eight Woman Tag: Even though this match wasn’t the best thing I’d ever seen from any of the women involved, I’m glad this match happened so Beth Phoenix could shake off any ring rust she might have. I’m also hoping that Sasha and the IIconics were just having a bad night because there were a lot of botches that didn’t do anyone any favors. I am hoping that Boss-Hug wins on Sunday, but I honestly can’t say I’m certain of it after Monday.

Batista: I was expecting a much longer promo than what we got, but I guess it was better than nothing.

Elias: I have a feeling that Elias isn’t going to get much concert time as much as they’ve hyped him as a musical act.

Jinder Mahal vs Apollo Crews: This was a match to build up the Andre Battle Royal and that’s the most that can be said for it. Crews has a lot of talent, that gets a little lost trying to cover for Mahal, who still stinks in the ring. It breaking down into a mock battle royal wasn’t a surprise, but it was very predictable.

Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio: I was a little disappointed, but not surprised, that Angle vs Mysterio didn’t happen. It’s clear that WWE wants to save Angle for WrestleMania. I’m still hoping SOMETHING will happen to keep Corbin vs Angle from happening, but it seems WWE is really serious about this match, and that’s a real shame.

Revival vs Aleister Black and Ricochet: I really enjoyed this match and I knew it was too much to hope that Black and Ricochet, who will be facing the War Raiders for the NXT Tag Titles on Friday, would win this match, but I am frustrated that no attempt was made to put them in the RAW Tag Team match since they got screwed over. Guess we’ll have to see what happens on Sunday.

Backstage: This was just a dumb segment to justify Strowman having a match and it sucked.

Roman Reigns: There’s been a lot of talk about who needs a win at WrestleMania more, Reigns or McIntyre, but since McIntyre has been getting in cheap shots and destroying Dean Ambrose, I’d say Reigns needs the win more, especially since McIntyre is as boring as paint.

Bobby Roode and Chad Gable vs Heavy Machinery: This was just a fun match. It looked like WWE hadn’t figured out what to do with Heavy Machinery, but they looked fantastic with Roode and Gable. Time will tell what will happen after WrestleMania since no RAW Tag Match has been made, but that can still change before Sunday.

Handicap Match: We went from fun to dumb so quickly, it’s actually pathetic.

Lashley and Rush: It’s been speculated that Balor might be bringing back the Demon for WrestleMania, despite claiming that he’d leaned on that persona too much. However, I’m glad that he’s doing it because it makes this never-ending feud with Lashley and Rush more interesting.

Rey Mysterio vs Baron Corbin: This was the Main Event of the go-home show of RAW and I can’t say it was a worthy one. The women should’ve ended the show, but I guess WWE wanted to give Angle one last final moment of RAW. The match was ‘eh’, but seeing Angle get some revenge on Corbin, and hopefully ‘taking’ him out of WrestleMania was a lot of fun. Thanks for the memories, Kurt.

SmackDown

Daniel Bryan vs Kofi Kingston: Well, it is officially official, Kofi Kingston WILL be facing Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania, or is he? Yes, the contract was checked over, notarized, and signed in a remarkably non-violent ceremony, with both men firing up the crowd with their promos. However, some sharp-eyed fans noticed that the date on the contract for the match was March 10, 2019, which was Fastlane, the match Kofi got screwed out of in favor of Kevin Owens.

Now, this could simply be oversight/laziness on WWE’s part since Kevin Owens signed the Fastlane contract meant for Kingston, or it could be another way for Vince to screw over Kingston if he should win the WWE Championship at WrestleMania. We’ll have to wait and see.

Kevin Owens Show: I’ve been very ‘meh’ about Styles vs Orton but their segment during the Kevin Owens show definitely got me more interesting. I loved them taking shots at each other’s career, maybe hinting at RL backstage issues between the two. This definitely is a WrestleMania match.

Eight Man Tag: We all knew that the Usos would likely face some backlash over their decision to forfeit their match against New Day so Kofi Kingston could go to WrestleMania, so the announcement of the Fatal Four Way Tag Match doesn’t surprise me and it gives Black and Ricochet a chance to be in WrestleMania.

Women’s Tag Match: The IIconics might not always be the best in the ring, but they’re hard to top on the mic, even if their gimmick is obnoxious. I’m really glad they’re getting this big WrestleMania opportunity.

Miz vs SAnitY: Shane definitely seems to be relishing his return to heeldom, but Miz turned it up to 11 in that handicap match, holy crap. This was another match I wasn’t totally sold on until Tuesday. I just hope Shane  and Miz don’t literally kill each other at WrestleMania.

Becky Lynch: I LOVED Becky showing up in a cop car after getting ‘arrested’ on Monday night. Her interview was exactly what was needed to bring all the threads this storyline together and owned to up to WWE planning for Rousey vs Flair until Lynch turned everything on its head. I honestly hope that Lynch walks away as the champion at WrestleMania, but we’ll have to see.

18 Person Mixed Tag: Well, we had to have one clunker of the night and this match was definitely it. Too many people, too thrown together, too ridiculous. Plus, it turning into another ‘battle royal’ was just dumb. It sounds like there was supposed to be two separate matches and someone decided to just lump everyone together to have them on the show.

Samoa Joe vs Mustafa Ali: It was mentioned Tuesday afternoon that Rey Mysterio had suffered an ankle injury during his match with Baron Corbin, leading to speculation that Mysterio would be removed from the match and Ali might be put in. Both those theories were put to bed when it was announced that Mysterio would still be competing and after Joe put Ali to sleep with the Coquina Clutch after a quick match. So much for that.

205 Live

Oney Lorcan vs Kalisto: It looks like Lorcan is here to stay and he had a great match with Kalisto. I would’ve been happier if Cedric Alexander had done a run-in after what happened a couple of weeks ago, but I’m guessing that Lorcan’s going to be a big, monster, heel for whomever wins the title at WrestleMania down the line.

Drake Maverick’s Office: I’m guessing that Cedric’s dealing with an injury and needs a little time off because Maverick’s decision to bench him instead of giving him the match with Lorcan is just silly. I guess we’ll have to see, it could just be WWE wanting to rebuild Alexander into their super-over underdog to replace Ali.

Tony Nese and Buddy Murphy: TBH, I think 205 waited too long to start the build for WrestleMania, because they only gave themselves a few weeks to build this feud and it’s showing because there’s not as much heat as the Cruiserweights need to stand out on the STACKED WrestleMania card. However, I think they’ll do a great job, I’m just not sure it’s going to be a standout match.

Mike Kanellis vs Akira Tozawa: I’d really like to know what the heck WWE has planned for Mike Kanellis because they looked to be building him into something and then have him lose clean to Akira Tozawa. I like Tozawa, but the narrative for Kanellis really seems to be going nowhere and that’s frustrating.

NXT UK

Kenny Williams and Amir Jordan vs European Alliance: The Lucky Bad Boys haven’t had the greatest luck as a team, but they’re improving! This week, their luck got test against the European Alliance in a fabulous match that actually saw Williams and Jordan get another win, to the surprise of everyone in the ring and out of it. I’m not saying that they’ll be getting a Tag Team Championship shot out of this, but they are inching toward that goal.

Rhea Ripley: Considering that she ran away when Piper Niven showed up, Ripley really has no business trying to pretend she’s not scared of Niven, but I guess that’s part of the gimmick.

Jordan Devlin: I’ve made no secret of the fact that I like Jordan Devlin, at least as an in-ring performer, but why did they wait until the go-home show to push the idea that Devlin wanted to face Dunne instead of WALTER? I predicted that they’ll probably have WALTER win in New York, but now I’m not sure about that.

Isla Dawn vs Kay Lee Ray: This match frustrated me because of how Isla Dawn has been used. She went from challenging for the NXT UK Women’s Championship to basically putting over everyone else. I’m still hoping Dawn, Ray, and Niven will create a female version of Gallus because they’d make a great team, and this match was great, I’m just very frustrated.

Toni Storm vs Jinny: I’m over this feud already because I don’t get Jinny and I’m not invested enough in Toni to really want to see her defeat Jinny either. I’m just ‘eh’.

Travis Banks: I was hoping that the Banks/Devlin feud would continue, but I guess Devlin’s getting a push after TakeOver. I’m intrigued to see how a Banks/Ohno feud will go though.

Grizzled Young Veterans: I found this promo a little strange. Of all the teams to worry about, why focus on Williams and Jordan? They’re hardly the only tag team that consider themselves contenders for the Tag Titles. Anyway, we’ll see what happens after TakeOver, but the idea of Williams and Jordan getting a shot makes me pretty happy.

Trent Seven vs Joe Coffey: This was a great match, as usual, but it definitely feels like they’re building towards a rift in Moustache Mountain by making Seven look like he can’t go anymore and is hold down Bate. Seven looked great in match, but he still tapped and that could be another building block in the takedown of the Big Strong Boys. We’ll see.

NXT

War Raiders vs Jobbers/Cezar Bononi and Adrian Jaoude: This was actually pretty hilarious. Rowe and Hanson completely destroyed their first opponents in unseemly hast and then demanded another team and destroyed them too and even faster! I know it was to try and intimidate Black and Ricochet but it was so funny!

Candice LeRae, Aliyah, and Vanessa Borne: I’m glad that NXT is finally remembering that Candice is more than Johnny Gargano’s perpetually worried wife, so I’m thrilled that she’s being given a storyline with Aliyah and Vanessa Borne, who have been on a roll lately. Very excited for this match.

Jaxson Ryker vs Oney Lorcan: Oney Lorcan is a nasty heel on 205, but he’s still a beloved babyface on NXT, but that wasn’t enough to help him against the Forgotten Sons this week, much to my surprise. Since it doesn’t look like there’s a rift between Lorcan and Burch, I’m a little curious as to how they’ll explain Lorcan getting called up by himself.

NXT Championship Promos: These were really good, but also pretty standard promos for Gargano and Cole. They hit all the right talking points and still kept Ciampa in the storyline, in case he can come back.

NXT North American Championship Promos: Since I really don’t like either man involved, it was hard for me to really pay attention to what they were saying, but it sounded pretty standard for them too.

Kairi Sane vs Bianca Belair: This was a really great match, but the real story was the all-out brawl that erupted after Baszler attacked again. I have a feeling that the NXT Women’s Division is going to have a say in who wins that Fatal Four Way. I loved that Shirai stood tall at the end of the day.   

NXT TakeOver: New York

NXT Championship Match: WrestleMania is usually the WWE show that makes history, but Johnny Gargano made some history of his own when he became NXT’s first Triple Crown/Grand Slam Champion after defeating Adam Cole in a breathtaking 2-out-of-3 Falls match that showed both men at their best. Cole had some help from the Undisputed Era, but Johnny Wrestling had come too far to be denied his prize and it was Johnny Wrestling who came out on top.

Even better than the victory was the celebration. Not only did Candice LeRae come out to celebrate with her husband, but Tommaso Ciampa, still in a neck brace came out to congratulate his best frenemy. Time will tell how that story is going to play out, especially since Ciampa’s return to in-ring competition is not a foregone conclusion, but it was a wonderful moment between two men who have been the best of friends, the best of enemies, and back again.

NXT UK Championship Match: Well, after nearly 700 days, the unbelievable finally happened, Pete Dunne was defeated by WALTER in an incredible match up that saw Dunne push WALTER to his limit, but the Stock Character managed to hold on before putting Dunne away with the WALTER Splash, but not before Dunne had kicked out of the WALTER bomb, which was crazy to watch. Time will tell what the Bruiserweight’s reaction is going to be, but this isn’t over by a long shot.

NXT North American Championship Match: I’ve probably said this too many times before, but I don’t really care for Velveteen Dream vs Matt Riddle. That said, this was a really good match with Velveteen Dream being the first person to pin Matt Riddle after rolling through the Bro-mission. Dream was a good sport, but I have a feeling this feud won’t be over.

Fatal Four Way for the NXT Women’s Championship: This was the match I was most looking forward to, hoping that someone would finally unseat Shayna Baszler, but that didn’t happen. It was an incredible match, but the fact that Baszler still retained is baffling to me since this seems like the perfect way to crown a new Women’s Champion while still protecting Baszler. I guess we’ll have to see what happens next week, but I hope they figure out a way to sort this out because they aren’t doing the Women’s Division a lot of favors.

NXT Tag Team Championship Match: Of all the teams in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic, Aleister Black and Ricochet were the most unlikely team to win, but win they did and face the War Raiders in an AMAZING match. War Raiders are huge guys, but both of them are amazing athletes with both men hitting sentons that have to be seen to be believed. To no big surprise, Raiders retained, but Black and Ricochet were allowed to give the NXT crowd one last, emotional, farewell before making their full transfer to the main roster.

WWE 2K19 Million Dollar Challenge: AJ Styles vs Stephen T. Benson: I’m not entirely sure WHY this had to be part of TakeOver, but it was interesting, even though I know nothing about video games outside of Super Mario Brothers and the first Legend of Zelda.

Note: No, I haven’t forgotten about WrestleMania, The Showcase of the Immortals will be getting its own, separate, Week in Review Article which will be out Tuesday, April 9, so keep your eyes peeled for it.

 


Powered by RedCircle


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

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