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Top 5 Matches: Week Ending 5/5/2019

With some tournaments coming to an end, what made the Top 5 Matches list? Cause we all know it’s nothing from Raw or SmackDown after this week, ugh.

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With some tournaments coming to an end, what made the Top 5 Matches list? Cause we all know it’s nothing from Raw or SmackDown after this week, ugh.

Champion Carnival ended on Monday, Wrestling Dontaku was Friday and Saturday and we even had the block finals of the Global Tag League on YouTube. We had our last match of April decided! Let’s see the April pool of matches!

April Pool:

  • WrestleMania 35: WWE Championship: Kofi Kingston vs Daniel Bryan (c)
  • 205 Live: Cruiserweight Championship: Tony Nese (c) vs Buddy Murphy
  • NJPW Sengoku Lord: IWGP Intercontinental Championship: ZSJ vs Kota Ibushi
  • Impact Rebellion: Tessa Blanchard vs Gail Kim

Now on to this week!

Editor’s Note: I decided to go to an Indy show. STAR Pro-Wrestling had a show in Warminster, PA and I knew someone who had tickets. Now the Crown Jewel of the show was that Jimmy Rave is their Heavyweight Champion, so that’s always nice to see him. But the match that stole the night was The Ugly Ducklings vs Proteus Wheel. The Ducklings are great quirky faces, Rob Killjoy is a workhorse (you can find him on J Date) and Coach Mikey is the best. So this is a special mention just because it was a lot of fun. 

5. NXT UK: WALTER vs Jordan Devlin

Snippet from Mitchell’s Coverage:
Devlin hops up and jumps, but into Walter’s arms! Walter puts Devlin on the top rope to CHOP him off, and German Suplex him across the way! Cover, TWO! Devlin lives and fans declare “This is Awesome!” Walter pursues Devlin as he rolls out. Devlin staggers into another CHOP! Walter drags Devlin up and gives him the apron back suplex! Walter then follows Devlin into the ring, and brings Devlin up, but Devlin sunset flips! High stack, TWO!! Devlin was so close and yet so far, but fans cheer for the “UK! UK!” Walter clutches his bad leg while Devlin sits up. Devlin and Walter slowly stand, and Walter CHOPS Devlin down!

Walter kicks Devlin while he’s down, and fans want “One More Time!” Walter obliges and CHOPS Devlin. Devlin kicks back but Walter punches. They go back and forth but Devlin kicks, kicks and headbutts! Devlin drags Walter up but Walter blocks to reel Devlin in for the saido suplex! Cover, TWO!! Devlin still lives and Walter is surprised. But Walter won’t let up, and he climbs up top! Flashbacks to TakeOver, but Devlin kicks him back. Devlin climbs but Walter CLUBS him. Devlin hits back with slaps and chops, then yanks Walter off for the saido, but it doesn’t quite hit. Walter and Devlin stand again, and NOW Devlin reels Walter in for the saido driver!! Cover, TWO!! Walter survives and Devlin is beside himself.

Brooklyn applauds the effort and chants for “NXT! NXT!” Devlin wants it again, but Walter is dead weight. Devlin kicks and slaps, but Walter reels him in for a LARIAT! And then the WALTER BOMB! Cover, Walter wins!

Winner: WALTER via Powerbomb

Rating: *** 3/4

 

4. New Japan Wrestling Dontaku Night 2: Tomohiro Ishii vs EVIL

Both men just went after each other as soon as the bell rung. This was building up through tag matches and you saw more and more tension. EVIL even started using the Scorpion Deathlock just to get under Ishii’s skin since Rikki Choshu is one of Ishii’s mentors. This is a hard hitting Strong Style match. Nothing super fancy, just a lot of things that make you say “Ow”. Really good match.

Winner: Ishii via Vertical Drop Brainbuster

Rating: **** 1/4

 

3. NOAH Global Tag League: Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Maybach Taniguchi & Yuji Hino

After KaiOh exploded the match before this, that gave this a lot of significance. The winner of this match would win the block and face Sugiura and KAZMA.

What we got was great storytelling and stiff strikes. Yuji being he’s sarcastic bully self, Katsuhiko was aloof and plotting, Shiozaki was stoic and Maybach…was…well…Maybach. Shiozaki and Yuji had a nice chopping trade which led to a Yuji Hino signature, where he puts his hands behind his back and forces his opponent to make him react to strikes. Go did break his arrogance, but got dropped as a result. Then when Nakajima and Go were chopping and kicking Maybach, Yuji interjected himself and did his hands behind the back again to both. Again, it resulted in a Double Lariat for making Yuji feel pain, but these are always fun spots.

Yuji hit his finsiher, Fucking Bomb, on Nakajima, but neither were the legal man. So Shiozaki dumped out Yuji, so he and Maybach could get us to the finish. Maybach had a good advantage until a top rope Splash met Go’s knees. A few set up lariats, led to a big Gowan Lariat, and Taniguchi went to sleep.

So the current GHC Heavyweight Tag Team Champions make it to the finals.

Winner: Shiozaki via Gowan Lariat

Rating: **** 1/4

 

Honorable Mentions:

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku Night 1: NEVER Openweight Championship: Jeff Cobb (c) vs Taichi
Winner: Taichi via Black Mephisto
Rating: *** 3/4
NJPW Wrestling Dontaku Night 2: IWGP Heavyweight Championship: SANADA vs Kazuchika Okada (c)
Winner: Okada via Rainmaker
Rating: *** 3/4
IMPACT: #1 Contender Match: Johnny Impact vs Michael Elgin vs Pentagon Jr
Winner: Elgin via Elgin Bomb
Rating: *** 1/2
NOAH: Junta Miyawaki, Hi69, Minoru Tanaka & Shiro Koshinaka vs RATEL’S (Daisuke Harada, Tadasuke & HAYATA) & Naomichi Marufuji
Winner: HAYATA via Moonsault Press
Rating: *** 1/4
Wrestling Dontaku Night 1: Kazuchika Okada & Tomohiro Ishii vs EVIL & SANADA
Winner: EVIL via Scorpion Deathlock
Rating: *** 1/4
STAR Pro-Wrestling: STAR Pro Heavyweight Title NoDQ Lumberjack Match: Jimmy Rave (c) vs Jeff Cannonball
Winner: Rave via Roll-Up
Rating: ***
IMPACT: Eddie Edwards w/Kenny vs Fenix
Winner: Fenix via Fenix Driver
Rating: ***

2. New Japan Wrestling Dontaku Night 1: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Taiji Ishimori vs Dragon Lee (c)

Dragon Lee and Taiji put on a nice display of Lucharesu. It’s not a typical Junior style, when sure there are high spots, but there’s quite a bit of physicality as well. Beautiful transitions between moves coupled with big attacks that leave both wrestlers catching their breath, makes this a very entertaining match. Both have great chemistry, and no amount of me listing off moves will do this match justice. This was a great match and great main event for Night 1.

Winner: Lee via Desnucadora

Rating: **** 1/2

 

1. AJPW Champion Carnival Finals: Kento Miyahara vs Jake Lee

From Mathew’s Review:
Their chemistry in each match they have has been some of the best and they raised the bar right here with this match as I feel like this was Jake’s best match in his career so far. Jake really went all out with Kento in the beginning and even did his knee to the chest on the outside of the ring to mess up his breathing a little bit and it did work for the most part until Kento delivered some headbutts to fight back. Kento is still showing why he’s still the best in his craft and still the best All Japan has to offer but guys like Jake Lee, Naoya Nomura, and Yuma Aoyagi aren’t too far off either as those are your next top 4 for the future of All Japan right here. Loving the story of Jake trying to overcome his biggest obstacle with wanting to defeat Kento Miyahara as he keeps on losing whenever they fight each other.

Kento hits Jake with a Blackout to the corner and Jake ran towards him to hit a Helluva Kick to the face and would also deliver a PK for a two count. Kento hits another Blackout and hits a German Suplex Hold as Jake would kick out of it before getting up to hit the Shutdown German Suplex Hold, but Jake would break out of it and hits another knee to the chest as both go down. Both of them looking down at each other and Jake starts to deliver a few more knees to the chest and hits one more for good measure and Kento kicked out at two. Jake would quickly get him up to hit the Backdrop and this looks like it could be over but Kento barely kicked out of it and I really thought that was the end right there! Jake doesn’t know what to do anymore but he rolls his kneepad down as he looks to hit the Ko-Oh but Kento runs at him with a Blackout and a German Suplex Hold as Jake kicked out at two! Kento would hit another Blackout and Jake kicked out again but Kento quickly sets up for the German Suplex Hold as Jake was struggling this time to make sure his hands wouldn’t connect, but he failed as Kento would hit it and pins to win the Carnival!

That’s right, Kento Miyahara was able to win it all for the first time while still the Triple Crown Champion and I don’t recall when the last time the champion won the Carnival, but still a fantastic moment regardless. Jake Lee looked fantastic in the match and is definitely a star win or lose and the day that he finally beats Kento, it’ll be a moment we’ll never forget. Now that Kento won, it looks like his next title defense will be against one of the people that defeated him in the block matches, Shuji Ishikawa. That match is going to be amazing if you’ve seen their battles before. Great way to end the Carnival and can’t wait until next year.

Winner: Miyahara via Shutdown Suplex Hold

Rating: *****

 

Thoughts:

The Ugly Ducklings win all the matches! Wait, okay that’s not how this works. FINE.

I know many may be shocked to see Okada’s name in Honorable Mentions, but hey, that match didn’t really stack up to their previous matches. But now we’ve got two votes to decide since I threw in the Editor’s Note.

April Pool: Kofi vs Daniel – don’t really see another option. Everyone else is playing for second there.

Weekly: Kento vs Jake – That was a great matches that furthered their rivalry, whereas Okada vs SANADA felt more like a plateau point.


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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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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.

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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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