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Andrew’s Top 5 Matches: Week Ending 9/6/2020

A few big events, impromptu tournaments and decent television product. What made the Top 5?

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AEW All Out, New Japan and their Junior Tag Tournament, along with normal television product. We get a surprisingly diverse Top 5, where it’s actually 5 and unique shows throughout!

Let’s take a look at the August Pool first, this way you see who won last week; and of course, what it fighting for the MOTY spot.

August Pool:

  • NJPW Summer Struggle: Minoru Suzuki vs Yuji Nagata
  • AEW Dynamite: AEW Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs Darby Allin
  • NOAH the Chronicle Vol 3: GHC National Openweight & GHC Heavyweight Championship Double Title Match: Kenoh (c) vs Go Shiozaki (c)
  • Impact Wrestling Emergence: Impact World Tag Team Championship: Motor City Machine Guns (c) vs The North 
  • Impact Emergence: Knockouts Championship Ironman Match: Jordynne Grace vs Deonna Purrazzo (c)

So my pick won’t be a real surprise since it’s currently my number one of the year, Kenoh vs Go Shiozaki, is a double title match done correctly. Would be nice to see it get some love, but I think it has a real shot since Shiozaki’s Heavyweight run has gotten a decent amount of attention.

Now on to this week.

Quick Top 5:

  1. NXT Fatal Four Way Iron Man Match: Tommaso Ciampa vs Johnny Gargano vs Finn Balor vs Adam Cole
    Rating: ****
  2. New Japan Road: LIJ (BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi) vs Ass Masters (Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato)
    Rating: ****
  3. AEW All Out: AEW Tag Team Championship: Hangman Page & Kenny Omega (c) vs FTR
    Rating: ****
  4. IMPACT!: Impact World Championship: Eddie Edwards (c) vs Eric Young
    Rating: *** 3/4
  5. WWE SmackDown: Women’s Tag Team Championships: Sasha Banks & Bayley vs Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax (c)
    Rating: *** 3/4

 

Honorable Mentions:

  • AEW All Out: AEW Women’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida (c) vs Thunder Rosa
    Rating: *** 1/2
  • NJPW Strong Ep. 5: Jay White vs Flip Gordon
    Rating: *** 1/2
  • WWE Raw: Seth Rollins vs Randy Orton vs Keith Lee
    Rating: *** 1/2
  • AEW Dynamite: Thunder Rosa vs Serena Deeb
    Rating: *** 1/2
  • New Japan Road: CHAOS (Toru Yano, SHO & Kazuchika Okada) & Gabriel Kidd vs CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii) & Yuya Uemura
    Rating: *** 1/4
  • WWE Raw: Keith Lee vs Dolph Ziggler
    Rating: *** 1/4
  • New Japan Road: Suzuki-Gun (El  Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs Ass Masters (Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato)
    Rating: *** 1/4
  • WWE SmackDown: Jey Uso vs Matt Riddle vs King Corbin vs Sheamus
    Rating: *** 1/4
  • AEW All Out: Dark Order (Stu Greyson, Evil Uno, Brodie Lee & Colt Cabana) vs Dustin Rhodes, Matt Cardona, Scorpio Sky & QT Marshall
    Rating: ***
  • New Japan Road: CHAOS (SHO, Toru Yano & Kazuchika Okada) & Yota Tsuji vs CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto) & Gabriel Kidd
    Rating: ***
  • NJPW Strong Ep 5: Hikuleo vs Brody King
    Rating: ***
  • New Japan Road: LIJ (BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi) vs Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & Gedo)
    Rating: ***
  • IMPACT!: Dez & Wentz vs Ace Austin & Fulton
    Rating: ***
  • New Japan Road: Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) vs Bullet Club (Gedo & Taiji Ishimori)
    Rating: ***
  • AEW All Out: AEW World Championship: MJF vs Jon Moxley (c)
    Rating: ***
  • New Japan Road: Yota Tsuji vs Satoshi Kojima
    Rating: ***

4t. WWE SmackDown: Women’s Tag Team Championships: Sasha Banks & Bayley vs Shayna Baszler & Nia Jax (c)

From Mitchell’s Coverage:

Shayna drags Sasha around by the bad legs, steps through but Sasha cradle counters! TWO, Shayna DECKS Bayley! Shayna has Sasha’s legs again, and stomps away on the bad knee!! Sasha can only scream in pain as Shayna ties the legs up in a Deathlock. Bayley runs in, it’s just like Payback! But Bayley uses the BAYLEY2BELLY to counter!! Shayna is down, Sasha crawls to cover, TWO!! But into a BANK STATEMENT! Nia clobbers Bayley and kicks Sasha! Nia goes back to her corner, Shayna crawls over, and gets the tag! Nia has Sasha in a STRETCH MUFFLER!! Sasha powers up and sunset flips, TWO!! Nia drags Sasha up to a fireman’s carry, then goes to a corner! Nia climbs, Bayley gets in to save Sasha!

Sasha falls but Bayley helps her up. They see Shayna coming, and manage to give her the DOUBLE SLAM! But Nia LEAPS for a double crossbody!! Double cover, Nia and Shayna win!!

Winner: Nia via Avalanche Crossbody

 

4t. IMPACT!: Impact World Championship: Eddie Edwards (c) vs Eric Young

From My Results:

We see a great back and forth this entire match. Young eats some offense and smiles through it, going at Eddie full tilt. Young does the smart thing by focusing the head and next with strikes, lariats, Slingblades; all in a way to soften Eddie up for the Piledriver.

As Eddie continues to show his resolve, he goes for a Plancha to the outside, but lands a little oddly, jamming his knee. This is a great sell from Eddie for the rest of the match. He hits a Tiger Driver, but can’t get his legs all the way over since he’s selling the knee. Teases the Boston Knee Party, but EY powders, causing Eddie to go for a desperation Tope. Hampered by the knee, Eddie is slow to get back in the ring.

EY goes for the World Title, the referee takes it from him. While the ref is distracted putting the belt away, EY uses his hockey mask to crack Eddie in the head. Piledriver afterward, and we have a new world champ.

Winner: Eric Young via Piledriver

 

1t. AEW All Out: AEW Tag Team Championship: Hangman Page & Kenny Omega (c) vs FTR

From Mitchell’s Coverage:

Hangman BOOTS Dax, spins Cash around but Cash gets around to club Hangman! Cash Electric Chairs, Dax tags in, ANOTHER BULLDOG DOOMSDAY!! Cover, TWO!?! Hangman survives and FTR can’t believe it! Dax tags Cash back in, Cash climbs back up, but Omega trips him up! Hangman dumps Dax out hard! Hangman climbs up to go after Cash, for a SUPER FALL AWAY SLAM! Cover, TWO!?! Cash survives and no one can believe it! Omega and Hangman want to finish this, “This is Awesome!” and they line up a shot on Cash. The ref tells Omega he has to go back to the corner but Omega doesn’t care. Dax anchors Hangman, Hangman kicks him away, slingshot but Cash ducks! Luckily Omega ducks, too! Hangman and Omega switch roles, Omega runs but Cash moves, Hangman takes the V-TRIGGER!!

Cash CHOP BLOCKS Omega’s bad leg! Omega tries to help Hangman wake up but Cash drags him away. Cash dropkicks Omega out of the ring, then tags in Dax. Dax drags Hangman up, Cash hops up, MIND BREAKER!! Cover, Dax taunts Omega, TWO?!!? Hangman survives!? Cash throws Omega out, Dax drags Hangman. Cash tags in, clobbers Omega, MIND BREAKER AGAIN!! Cover, Dax pushes Omega out, FTR WINS!!

Winner: FTR via Mind Breaker

 

1t. New Japan Road: LIJ (BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi) vs Ass Masters (Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato)

From My Results:

LIJ plays the heel roll in this match, and we all know it works perfectly. BUSHI takes a shortcut, uses his shirt to choke Wato, and then Hiromu comes back in and starts mocking Tenzan’s Mongolian Chops. Tenzan may have taken Wato under his wing a little, but now he’s getting a bit offended by Hiromu’s japes. Taguchi however uses the Mongolian Chop to break up a submission, and Tenzan nods and claps approvingly.

Wato fights off both Hiromu and BUSHI at different points to finally tag in Taguchi, and we get a mostly serious time save for two spots. One where BUSHI and Hiromu saw the Hip Attack coming, so they nonchalantly part and Taguchi’s ass goes crashing. Then Taguchi hits a Drop Toe Hold sending Hiromu head first in BUSHI…mostly where you’d expect that to land if it’s funny.

Taguchi did a really good job at trying to keep Wato grounded and buy him time, but BUSHI and Hiromu have such great chemistry and timing, they’re saves and distractions proved a little better. Wato and Taguchi show off a tandem move, Taguchi does a Wheelbarrow Facebuster and Wato comes off the top with a Bulldog; simple but effective, yet only a 2 count.

Wato and Taguchi get an opening to go for the RPP, but BUSHI shakes off Taguchi and slows down Wato just enough to make sure the RPP misses. A little more LIJ domination and we see the Tandem Facecrusher once again, now referred to as the LAT.

Winner: LIJ via LAT

 

1t. NXT Fatal Four Way Iron Man Match: Tommaso Ciampa vs Johnny Gargano vs Finn Balor vs Adam Cole

From Mitchell’s Coverage:

Ciampa staggers back and CHOPS Cole down! And he CHOPS Gargano down! The crowd is thunderous as Ciampa drags Cole up and snap suplexes him to the floor! Ciampa goes after Balor, and throws him into the boards again! We’re at THREE minutes left as Gargano fires off on Ciampa. Ciampa CHOPS back, and again, and again! Gargano flops down, Ciampa puts him under the ring! RING FRAME GUILLOTINE!! Gargano gasps and sputters, Ciampa drags him up and into the ring! Ciampa covers, but Cole drags him off it! Cole throws forearms, Ciampa hits back. Ciampa gets back to Gargano, Balor drags him off now! Balor and Ciampa brawl, Ciampa throws Balor all the way to girders! Ciampa throws Cole into more girders!

Ciampa hurries back to the ring, but Gargano surprises him with a cradle! TWO!!! Ciampa is up, and he throat chops Gargano!! We’re at 90 seconds!! Ciampa looms over the gasping Gargano, drags in him up and puts him in a corner. Ciampa CHOPS Gargano again! ONE MINUTE! Ciampa puts Gargano up top, CHOPS again, then climbs up to join Gargano. Gargano feebly resists, Ciampa brings Gargano up, SUPER AIR RAID CRASH!! But Balor COUP DE GRACE!! Cover on Ciampa, Balor gets the fifth fall!!

Winner: Tie between Finn and Cole

 

Thoughts:

This is an interesting week. Everything is fairly close quality wise, and nothing sticks out completely. Sure the Four Way was cool, but it wasn’t nearly as epic as some may have had in their mind. The All Out match, though the best on the show, was still a little bit of a drag because of other things. Junior tags was a damn good match, but kinda predictable and not something that will stick in minds much.

All things considered, I think I’m voting for the Women’s Tag Match. It was surprisingly high quality considering Nia was involved (they did keep her limited a little), plus we got the nice angle with Sasha and Bayley. So it all worked well together and I won’t lie, I was impressed.


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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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