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Andrew’s WWE Raw and SmackDown Live Ratings & Analysis (6/10 + 6/11/2019)

Does Raw continue to be more enjoyable than SmackDown? Do they both suck? Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?

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Does Raw continue to be more enjoyable than SmackDown? Do they both suck? Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?

Last week did a lot for character work. Sometimes I appreciate good story telling moments, even if the wrestling was lacking.

With that said, SmackDown only having 19 minutes of wrestling last week, was awful. So maybe they can go back to being the ring work focused brand.

 

Raw Ratings:

  • 3 vs 1 Handicap Elimination Match: Lars Sullivan vs Lucha House Party: Sullivan wins easily – -** (that’s negative 2)
  • Bobby Lashley, Samoa Joe & Cesaro vs Ricochet, The Miz & Braun Strowman: Ricochet wins via 630 Senton – *** ¼
  • Lacey Evans & Alexa Bliss vs Becky Lynch & Bayley: Lacey wins via The Woman’s Right – **
  • IIconics vs 2 Jabronis from San Jose: IIconics win because it’s a job match – N/A
  • Raw Tag Team Championship Match: The Revival vs The Usos vs Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder (c): Dawson wins via Splash – ** ½ – TITLE CHANGE!!
  • Seth Rollins vs Kevin Owens w/ Sami Zayn special referee:  Owens wins via DQ – * ½

 

Analysis:

The open is a typical opening segment. Sami and Kevin just happen to ally a bit, a fairly throw away promo for everyone, but it feeds towards the main event and maybe the Stomping Grounds stuff. But my desire to care about any of this is pretty low.

Now it’s the dumbest most worthless bunch of 4 pieces of crap on the roster. I’d rather drink ram urine, while being held upside down in Thailand with my legs on fire.  This was a travesty. You’ve got a dumb monster guy, against 3 guys with no personality, no desire to care and the crowd was dead.  Raw is off to such a great start…ugh.

Cole asks like half a question, and then Lacey Evans and Becky Lynch drive the interview. It wasn’t a bad, but didn’t really add anything. Lacey knows her character and Becky added a few cute Irish flairs to her comments, like “Dirt before the bush” feels very not American, yet adorable. So this didn’t add much, but did grant some entertainment.

Alexa and Nikki have another interesting moment. Alexa apologizes for getting the number one contender spot on SmackDown, and tries to start painting Bayley as fake. Nikki doesn’t seem to totally buy it, but she and Alexa are still friends, so she’s not turning her back on her now. This will be interesting since it seems like Alexa is just being manipulative but Nikki could always be waiting out the advantages to the friendship. Hopefully they don’t take an easy way out.

Miz TV starts out interesting with Samoa Joe being the guest. Joe and Miz start what could’ve been a nice promo, but then it turns into “Oh Captain My Captain”, but a bunch of people suddenly caring about the US Title. It devolves into a 6 man because, it always does, but I really would’ve been more invested if it was Joe and Miz.

Surprisingly, the 6 man for how poorly it was set up was a damn good match. Lashley looked great, Braun even looked more competent than usual, just generally a nice match. Yes the finish looked a little rough, but I didn’t like how Cesaro was tilted on his side to take the 630. So that looked like a few weird elements.

This women’s tag match was more of a story telling match than a ring work match. Yes a few spots seemed awkward, but the way everyone played off of each other was great. Lacey getting the win and also using Nikki as a weapon during an out of the ring portion was great. Nikki gave Lacey the stink eye, and Alexa had to snap Nikki out of it, as the reverse of what happened last week. Nikki and Alexa’s subtle threads are what are really driving the Raw Women’s division current.

Heyman says things, which are usual Paul Heyman things. I can’t say I cared nor paid much attention, but it’s always “Lesnar is impending doom, maybe he’ll be there, but be scared, blah blah”.

Oh yeah there’s been an ongoing trapped in an elevator section with the 24/7 Champion and a few challengers. Cedric Alexander, Drake Maverick, Carmella, R-Truth, Heath Slater and EC3 are all having quirky comedy moments.  I wasn’t bothered by the whole elevator thing. It was a different take on the 7/11 European Television Championship and I was okay with the pivot.

IIconics face jobbers. IIconics are adorable; I appreciate their obnoxious, mean yet cute thing. Their matches tend to be a rough watch, but they know their characters.

Best in the World celebration time! Now, I don’t mind Shane winning with McIntyre’s help and being delusional. The biggest issue I have with it is that no one cares. The crowds tend to die for the most part; there isn’t that palpable heat that Vince used to have. So if it was more effective, I’d be all for it. But this seems to have outlived its usefulness.

It’s disappointing to admit the Triple Threat wasn’t exactly impressive. It was fine for what it was, and the finish is what made everything better. A solid underhanded victory from The Revival that screwed over The Usos. So it all works itself out decently.

So as per usual, Firefly Fun House has become the highlight of Monday Night Raw. From the sign on the door, to the referencing of the first murder, to Bray murdering Rambling Rabbit again and then making some kind of breakfast spread…it’s just good dark twisted entertainment.

Now I appreciate Kevin Owens as much as the next guy, but Sami Zayn took things to a different level in this match. Not only was he just being a heel, but he even bumped like a referee and played the part of weak/easily intimidated. It works well with his character and it was the best aspect of the match. The match was nothing special, but Sami was tremendous.

 

Overall Score: 4/10

Now the show wasn’t good, or bad, just so average it was mind numbing. My final score is purely because of my own amusement math that I do. So a 5, minus 2 because of Lucha House Party, plus 1 because of the Fun House, is 4. Now where’s my ram urine…

 

SmackDown Live Ratings:

  • The Miz vs Elias: Miz via Skull Crushing Finale – N/A
  • The Miz vs Drew McIntyre: McIntyre via Claymore – **
  • Shane McMahon vs The Miz: Shane wins via Triangle Choke – N/A
  • Jobbers vs Heavy Machinery: Come on now, don’t ask dumb questions – N/A
  • Sonya Deville vs Carmella:  Sonya wins via Step Up Knee Strike – * ¼
  • Bayley vs Nikki Cross: Bayley wins via Bayley to Belly -**
  • New Day vs Dolph Ziggler, Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn: Kofi wins via Trouble in Paradise – ** ½

Analysis:

Miz TV opens SmackDown Live, and it’s bad when I feel like Miz is just being wasted the last few weeks. This goes back to what I said on Raw, when I don’t mind Shane winning, but the crowd doesn’t seem to be into it, and they don’t seem to lead anywhere. On Raw Miz is now shoehorned into the US Title picture and Shane gives Miz a shot at redemption by telling him he has to get through Elias and Drew to get to him. Ugh.

This goes the way we all expected. Miz beats Elias and then gets outclassed by Drew McIntyre. Shane, as the classic heel he is, decides to give Miz a match while he’s basically dead and makes quick work of him. The tactics employed are fine, but the fact the angle doesn’t have any real fan engagement makes it harder to watch.

So I guess Ember Moon is a nerd with a short fuse? That’s her gimmick? Deville and Mandy Rose just keep picking on her choice of reading material, and she gets huffy. Wow, I guess the WWE primarily watch anime geared towards teenage girls.

Rowan and Daniel Bryan come out against the Yolo County Tag Team Champions (real county in California, not real belts). Heavy Machinery, another duo of winners (big oof), wants a shot at the SmackDown belts. So Rowan and Bryan tell them to go through the jobbers first to earn their shot.

UUUGHHH! Yes that’s my analysis for this crap job match.

R-Truth accidentally gets himself stuck in a trunk whilst hiding from the horde of challengers.

Sonya Deville and Mandy continue their feud with Carmella. The numbers get the best of the Princess and Sonya lands a Step-Up Knee to knockout Carmella. The obvious path is Carmella getting annoyed that the numbers game keeps getting the best of her, so Ember will probably offer her services.

Again we have Alexa trying to manipulate Nikki, but you keep seeing that Nikki isn’t totally under her spell since she asks the logical questions. Alexa trying to get Nikki to soften up Bayley is obvious, so again, we’ll see how this story continues.

New Day comes out since Big E is back and healthy. These are always amusing and the fact that Ziggler, Sami and Kevin are involved mean only good things.

Aleister Black says nothing again. For someone who wants a conflict, he apparently needs to be approached, like he’s special. This is dumb because it’s counterproductive. In a fighting world, even a scripted fighting world, someone who runs their mouth for a month, but wants people to come to him, is a punk ass bitch. People don’t fear you, people don’t care about you.

Bayley versus Nikki was more of a statement to Alexa. It was competitive for a while, but towards the end Bayley proved she’s not the same softie that couldn’t pull the trigger during the Kendo stick on a pole match. Alexa didn’t really look shaken, but she also didn’t look like she was expecting such a different Bayley.

The main event was entertaining. A full blown Unicorn Stampede, solid ring work, good character work from everyone. Not bad at all. Kofi clearing out the last few problems by himself continued to make him look good.

 

Overall Score: 4/10

Well, I think I’ve figured out what it is. SmackDown just feels like a continuation of Raw anymore. It doesn’t feel unique, it hasn’t really focused on the in-ring work in a while and it’s just looking bad. Ratings reflect a disinterest in the new format, and I can’t really tolerate it. SmackDown used to be a nice palate cleanser after the overblown mediocrity that Raw usually is (it’s been better more or less lately, I mean in general), but now SmackDown is just lame.


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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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