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News From Cook’s Corner 5.25.20: Memorial Day

Memorial Day almost feels too accurate, for this edition of Cook’s news…

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Memorial Day Weekend holds a great deal of importance across the United States in which I live. It holds a little extra importance to me, as my birth took place on a Sunday during Memorial Day Weekend. I must admit it’s always been a little weird getting birthday presents during a time when we’re supposed to be somber and remembering those who gave their lives for our country. Or are we supposed to be happy about that? I’ve never really been sure, and I think if I asked ten different people I would get ten different answers. It’s difficult to say anything other than “Memorial Day is a day where we are supposed to remember soldiers while not working”. Some make a big display of it, and some complain that others don’t make enough of a display of it. Me, I just wish that people wouldn’t use it for political purposes, but I know that they will, and it’s pretty gross.

While all this is going on, I have a birthday. There is a low-level celebration at this point, since the numbers are getting bigger and I’d prefer to forget my actual age. I actually did for about six months a couple of years ago. It was pretty great. As far as presents go, I don’t ask for much, because the things I need are way too expensive for me to ask other people to pay for. A house, fancy car, good therapy…all these things cost way too much. Until Tony Khan slides into my DMs, I won’t feel comfortable asking anybody for these things.

This past week has been one of the worst I can remember as a wrestling fan. It would have been bad enough if it was only one of my best friends passing away far too soon. We had two wrestlers beloved by many pass way before their time.

There was other news over the past week. An AEW pay per view event. WWE getting mad at Owen Hart’s widow for no real reason other than she’s right. None of it is worth mentioning when we have so much to unpack. This Memorial Day edition of News From Cook’s Corner serves as a memorial to two fallen wrestlers, and something I need to get off my chest about the way my friend’s death was reported by the wrestling journalist with the most influence and most time in the profession. I prefer to write about good times…there aren’t any to be had this week.

Hana Kimura was 22 years old.

She had a whole life in front of her. She had the potential to do great things. Hana had already established herself as one of joshi’s top young stars, and had the ability to branch out & go other places if she so desired. She recently expanded her horizons by appearing on Terrace House, a popular Japanese reality show. From what I can tell, everybody Kimura worked with in wrestling loved her.

Unfortunately, we’re finding out how beloved Hana Kimura was by her peers because she’s no longer with us. STARDOM announced she passed away on Saturday in Japan, coming hours after Hana had posted some self-harm images on social media (later deleted) and left a message that can only be described as a goodbye.

What happened?

Like many reality shows, Terrace House has a very dedicated fanbase with a percentage of folks that take things way too seriously. An episode aired recently where Hana grew upset with a fellow castmate that accidentally washed her ring gear that had already been washed once, then threw it in the dryer causing it to shrink. She didn’t react well, leading to a torrent of online hatred from a portion of Terrace House fans who were already inclined to hate Hana for other reasons they’d decided on based off her appearances on the show. None of which would be acceptable reasons for telling somebody they need to kill themselves…because there is no fucking acceptable reason to do that.

I will never be able to wrap my head around why people think it’s ok to do that. Even if we all had super thick skin and never let anything people said ever bother us because we’re manly men or alphas or whatever…why would you tell somebody to kill themselves? It doesn’t compute to me. Now, I’ve said some pretty mean things over the years, especially in my younger days. I’ll probably say some things in the future that aren’t very kind. There are certain lines I wouldn’t cross. That’s because I have a sense of empathy. Even if I don’t particularly care for somebody, there’s still a human being in there somewhere.

I’m also smart enough to know that if I don’t like somebody that’s on a TV show, IT’S A TV SHOW. TELEVISION. ENTERTAINMENT. Not only would you have to be a sick piece of shit to send such hateful messages to somebody, you’d have to be a dumb piece of shit to not realize that even if it’s a “reality show”, it’s a show that’s largely based off the whims of the producers and what they decide makes a “good story”. Though, from what I can tell, the people that disliked Hana mainly did so because she had “big shoulders” and didn’t have the look of a typical Japanese woman. So maybe there was nothing the producers could have done to stop that.

Wikipedia tells me the episode in question debuted on Netflix Japan on March 31, and production on the show stopped on April 13. One would assume that Hana had little else but to deal with this abuse during the lockdown. It’s sickening. It’s all of the things that’s wrong with society in 2020. When we’re happy to empower those that abuse & denigrate others, this is what we end up with. A large group of people that believe that the only way to bring themselves up is to bring others down. Or, they don’t mind being down and just want everybody else to be as miserable as they are. They even have a nice little keyboard they can hide behind.

Most people could not handle what Hana had to deal with every day, and I’m saying that just based off a few messages I saw. I’m sure there was much worse, and there was obviously a lot more of it. A lot of people will say that they could, and there are plenty of folks that seem completely unbothered by what other people think. Maybe they’re just untouchable alphas. You don’t know unless you’ve been in that person’s shoes.

I’d like to think that if anything comes from the unnecessary death of Hana Kimura, it’s that some of us are just a little nicer to each other. A little more empathy from all of us would be nice. I’m keeping my expectations low because I’ve noticed that some people refuse to ever learn anything.

Hana deserved better. I’m terribly sorry for the loss to her family and all the people around the world that loved her, but couldn’t drown out the terrible monsters that did her in.

Shad Gaspard died a hero.

I think most fathers would make the same choice Shad did, given the situation. He & his son were caught in a rip current. Once lifeguards arrived, Shad instructed them to save his son first. I’d assume they would have done so anyway, but then I’ve never been in a rip current or had to save anybody from one, and it’s been years since I watched Baywatch. Unfortunately, once Shad’s son was saved, Shad disappeared. He didn’t re-appear until a couple of days later on the shores of Venice Beach.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost ten years since Gaspard was part of WWE. Some have commented that they were surprised how much news his death made considering that Cryme Tyme was never really a major part of the show and weren’t one of WWE’s longest-tenured acts. They had an affiliation with John Cena for like two weeks, which was mentioned in a $40,000 donation to a GoFundMe for Shad’s family. All this tells me is that Cryme Tyme probably should have been featured more back in the day. They always seemed over to me. I wouldn’t put them in the same category as Morton & Gibson, but they were a popular tag team.

I remember when Cryme Tyme split up and everybody thought he was going to be the star that broke out. Instead, Shad got released, and JTG stayed on the payroll for years without actually doing anything. I don’t think anybody bet on that one. Gaspard did some indy bookings here and there, with some alongside JTG as “Crime Time” once WWE finally let him go.

Shad had other interests though. He did some acting, some modeling, wrote a graphic novel. He did motion capture work for multiple video games. Started a family, obviously. There was also the time where he detained a drunkard that was trying to rob a gas station. You hear nothing but good things about Shad Gaspard, and I can’t say I remember hearing anything bad about him while he was alive.

You feel bad for his family, and you hope his son can cope with the traumatic event.

I’m not the first person to have a bone to pick with Dave Meltzer on this website.

I’m certainly not the first person online. In fact, picking on Dave has become a bit of a cottage industry for some people. Conrad Thompson figured out years ago that he could have some pretty successful podcasts by reading old Wrestling Observers to old-timers. Bruce Prichard & Eric Bischoff were happy to use erroneous information to bump up whatever talking points they were selling, and fans were happy to pick on Dave.

I’ve always held back a little bit. For one thing, I’ve never claimed to be any kind of insider. I’m just a guy that spouts off on the Internet. Some of it might be true, some of it might be false, some of it might be unintelligible. Somebody that lives in a glass house shouldn’t throw stones, and there’s a reason why I’m afraid to change clothes too often.

Also, I have respect for Meltzer’s longevity. The guy has been writing about pro wrestling nonstop since before I was born. I’m not exactly young anymore, so that’s a lot of material produced over the years. Dave Meltzer has been sold to us for years as pro wrestling’s pre-eminent journalist, which most of us didn’t argue with because of the competition. We’ve got some young guns out there fighting over who’s next in line, but right now Dave’s still the head honcho of this game.

That being said, when you’re pro wrestling’s #1 journalist, the guy everybody looks to when the news breaks and things are happening, you’re held to a higher standard. That’s the way it has to be. Dave Meltzer has to be on his best at all times. He’s not a backwoods hillbilly with no connections like me, who can write any sort of rubbish because that’s what’s expected of me. People expect better from Dave F’n Meltzer.

So when I was informed that Dave wrote about Larry Csonka in the Observer, and informed of what he wrote, I was surprised to learn something I didn’t know about my buddy.

Honestly, while talking with some friends about it, I wasn’t sure if we should dispute it or not. “Motorcycle accident” kinda makes Larry sound like a badass, right? Especially if he’d already had part of his leg amputated. I might have missed Larry’s biker years, but I can tell you that he absolutely did not lose his leg due to a motorcycle accident. The truth isn’t as sexy.

Larry suffered an injury while moving a paving stone for some yard work. He patched things up, he went on doing what he usually did, which was review wrestling shows. Sometime during the next week it got infected. The pain became too much and he had to go to the hospital. Had to finish reviewing his second show of the day though, because he was Larry Csonka. (One of those was a freaking Wrestle Kingdom show too. I’m telling you, the guy wasn’t human.) They had to remove part of his leg. The second operation happened after he didn’t react well to the first one.

To be honest, I wasn’t 100% sure on Friday when I was informed of Dave’s bit. I remembered part of the story, but I went back to the podcast Larry did on his injury to make sure I had things right. Heck, I went back to another one that Dave also appeared on. In his defense, it’s not like I’ve listened to everybody on every podcast I’ve ever been on. But, I dunno, if I heard that Jerome Cusson was going to talk about how he lost an arm the other day, that might interest me. You don’t hear about that every day on a wrestling podcast, I don’t think.

It’s an amazing thing that I thought to go back to a podcast somebody did about their injury to properly write about it, yet the pre-eminent journalist in our field, who, by the way, has people writing on his website & appearing on podcasts there that knew Larry & knew other people that knew Larry, just went off what he thought happened. He could have left out what he thought happened, said Larry lost his leg previously, and we wouldn’t have thought anything of it.

Apparently somebody went in and fixed it for Dave, so at least there’s that. I guess.

I’m not even mad about it. I’m disappointed. We expect better from the man that who has done this longer than anybody, and has had more success than anybody at it. I am starting to understand why Bruce & Eric get so worked up about these things Conrad reads them. As much as I’ve heard both are full of it, I get their vitriol towards Dave. When you hear something about a friend that you know is 100% untrue, but you also know that a lot of people will believe it because it’s Dave F’n Meltzer, and you hear multiple things like that every week, I imagine it adds up.

Not to mention the fact that when you read one thing you know is untrue, it calls into question everything else Dave’s written over the years. That’s a lot of things to call into question, and makes me wonder if we can ever have a true history of pro wrestling that isn’t sanitized by WWE for our protection. That’s not good.

I just want Meltzer to be a better reporter than me, somebody who has never done any reporting in his life. I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

Thanks for reading. I can 100% guarantee you that next week will be better. Until then, keep your stick on the ice.


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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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