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Mishal’s Top 5: Hell In A Cell Matches

In preparation for this weekend’s PPV, Mishal presents the Top 5 Hell In A Cell matches!

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WWE Hell In A Cell Badd Blood 1997

In preparation for this weekend’s PPV, Mishal presents the Top 5 Hell In A Cell matches!

In 8 days, WWE presents what is widely referred to as its most brutal, unforgiving & punishing night of its calendar year. The one night of the year where rivalries are settled, blood is spilled (or teased, since we exist within a PG setting) & careers will be altered for the rest of time as superstars step inside ”The Devils Playground”, ”Satan’s Structure” or a variety of other nicknames to list off as they step inside Hell in a Cell.

For decades the cell has been positioned as the company’s most ominous structure, packed with violence, dread or a sense of brutality that is generally reserved for the most personal of feuds. The early days saw the likes of Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Triple H & Mick Foley define the cell itself, while in later years WWE saw it a fitting opportunity to brand the structure itself into its very own PPV event starting in 2009, to a fairly mixed response. While the cell matches of the modern-day pale in comparison to the quality of its earlier renditions, Hell in a Cell is still an event the company tries to pour some form of personal stakes into for the sake of making this feel like more than just another show based on a popular gimmick (e.g. TLC, Money in the Bank, etc.)

But, much like any other event based on a gimmick, now is the time fans generally reminisce on what the past has offered them. Sometimes what the worst of a certain scenario has been, but in today’s case, the best of what has become one of the company’s most accomplished gimmicks amongst hardcore & mainstream fans alike.

So, in this list I’ll be listing the very best Hell in a Cell matches dating back to its 1997 inception at a time when the tides of the wrestling world were shifting in ways nobody saw coming. As always, this list does hold some form of personal bias since I’m the one deciding what goes in, but any & all comments are always welcome!

Honorable Mentions

The Undertaker vs Mankind – King of the Ring 1998

For the sake of historical purposes, no list discussing the most memorable moments in the history of the Hell in a Cell concept can be discussed without mentioning the now historic collision between The Undertaker & Mankind at 1998’s King of the Ring. It wasn’t just the match that has defined the career of either man involved, but one of the most iconic contests in the history of professional wrestling of its blatant violence, unpredictability, life threatening risks & some of the greatest calls to come out of the mouth of J.R. Jim Ross in the man’s entire career to this very day.

While this may very well be the most iconic match on this list to many, the reason it isn’t featured in my personal top 5, is because it simply wasn’t that much of a traditional ‘match’ in any real sense. In spite of the ludicrous punishment inflicted on Mick Foley’s most famous alter ego & the story this ended up telling to those watching in person or at home, there are certainly other matches I could name that work better as an all-around contest. I’d imagine this may rub some people the wrong way depending on your stance, but I think other contests deserve more recognition since we are talking about the very idea of a ‘match’ here, and not the moments the structure has brought us since its inception.

5. Kurt Angle vs Steve Austin vs The Rock vs The Undertaker vs Triple H vs Rikishi – Armageddon 2000

Arguably the greatest example of the WWE’s creative team basically taking all of its top talent from the late 2000’s, shoving them into the most violent structure they’d conjured up to that point & doing the equivalent of what 8-year old me used to do in my early days of watching wrestling, simply smash my action figures into one another for a good 30 minutes on end.

There was nothing pretty about the Hell in a Cell match that headlined 2000’s Armageddon but there was never meant to be anything pretty either, it was a car crash, a beautiful one nonetheless. Featuring Kurt Angle, Steve Austin, Triple H, Rikishi (in the midst of his hilarious heel turn), Undertaker & of course, The Rock, this match was insanity from bell to bell, never slowing down & always giving you something to drool over from an action standpoint. Every star had a moment to shine, every spot worked due to the chaotic energy of the live audience, the violence was as vicious as ever & this all told an incredible story of the never-say-die attitude of Kurt Angle at the time who was defending his WWE Championship. What’s most impressive is the matches ability to balance all the star power on hand, never leaving anyone, even Rikishi, to linger in the background with everything happen within the ring.

Even the storytelling from outside the cage was pitch perfect as Vince McMahon at one point attempted to do the unthinkable by quite literally pulling the cell down with the competitors within it, only to result in The Undertaker throwing Rikishi off of the cell in one of the most incredible spots the structure has ever witnessed. It was a once in a lifetime spectacle, the kind that can never be replicated again due to its timing in terms of the era it existed within, the star power on hand & just how unhinged an Attitude Era audience once regardless of what you fed them.

4. Brock Lesnar vs The Undertaker – No Mercy 2002

I’ll admit it, this one is a bit of a personal favourite of mine more than most people I’m aware of.

The Undertaker & Brock Lesnar have had matches I’ve always been a sucker for, from their tendency to simply maul each other onto the verge of death, beat each other’s bodies up into pulps or their incredible ability to tell a story in the ring through simply selling a body part, their matches have always been ones I tend to revisit on multiple occassions. So much of today’s wrestling is jam packed with flips, kicks, dives & endless sequences that it takes away from what wrestling is at its core, it’s a form of art that wouldn’t exist if you can’t tell an effective story to translate into your action between the ropes.

And that’s what Undertaker & Brock Lesnar did at the 2002 No Mercy event, tell an incredible story as the WWE Championship hung in the balance.

What happened in this contest wasn’t necessarily centred around the use of ”foreign objects” as so many other cell matches are, it was a good, old fashioned brawl within the confines of a steel structure between two titans. The match perfectly captured the nature of the old vs new guard, as Undertaker, a war-torn veteran was consistently one-upped by the far younger, more agile & more aggressive Brock Lesnar who targeted Undertaker’s ‘broken’ arm like a shark smelling blood in the water. Despite Hell in a Cell so frequently being referred to as a stipulation favouring violence before anything else, this was anything but that, with The Undertaker’s selling & emotion in particular being the standout element of an unforgiving contest that feels so much more brutal than most other cell matches.

It could be the selling, the story, the performance put on by Undertaker to ensure Brock Lesnar looked like the phenomenon he truly was, the simple violence relying solely on bodily punishment or the matches brutal pace, but there’s a quality this match holds that makes its brutality so much harder to watch than many of the other matches I rewatched before writing this. If you haven’t watched this overlooked gem of a contest, it’s an incredibly high recommendation from me.

3. Batista vs Triple H – Vengeance 2005

If your favourite Hell in a Cell matches are the ones focused on sheer brutality & sheer brutality alone, I’m not sure there are any out there more violent, sadistic & torturous as the war engaged between Triple H & Batista at Vengeance in 2005. This match served as the capping off of an intense feud which served to cement Batista as one of the biggest stars of his generation, culminating in his title victory at Wrestlemania 21, subsequent victory over ”The Game” a month later at Backlash and this final, decisive chapter in their months long feud within the WWE’s most brutal structure.

In terms of what Hell in a Cell represents within the context that WWE presents it, this is arguably the best example of it to the casual fan. Whether you look for blood, barbwire steel chairs, steel chains, sledgehammers, steel steps or an ungodly amount of punishment taken by Triple H to get his former protege over, this was Hell in a Cell down to a tee. Both men went into this looking strong & came out even strong, in particular Batista who lived up to his moniker of being deemed ”The Animal” perfectly, beating the life out of one of the company’s top guys at the time with everything he had.

Considering the in-ring ability of both men being more reliant on heavy blows or sudden bursts of offense, it’s no surprise that this match was the best in their series of matches by a longshot. Neither former Evolution stablemates are wrestlers who’ve put on ”mat classics”, but both went into this seeking a fight, and what we got was one of the best you can come across.

2. Triple H vs Mick Foley – No Way Out 2000

Just for the sake of context, to understand the shoes this match had to fill going into it is something that needs to be discussed. Besides carrying the infamous title of being a ”Career Threatening Match”, Triple H & Mick Foley had the insurmountable task of following up their 2000 Royal Rumble classic over the WWE Championship in Madison Square Garden just weeks prior to this bout, a match widely hailed as amongst the finest of either man’s professional careers. Their initial match was one packed with insane levels of brutality that many thought could never be topped, but nonetheless both Triple H & Mick Foley’s alter ego ‘Cactus Jack’ stepped into Hell in a Cell with a purpose in mind, steal the show.

And the two legends did just that, creating a match which was sadly undermined by the events that followed at Wrestlemania 2000 in regards to the character of Mick Foley, is still one of the finest Hell in a Cell matches to date just off the top of my head.

Not only did this serve as a jaw dropping final contest to a feud filled with insane degrees of violence, in a lot of ways this felt like the ultimate ‘swan song’ in the career of Mick Foley, at least within the confines of this very match. There were countless call-backs to Foley’s infamous dive off the cell back in 1998, use of classic weapons that helped define his career but also an attempt to up the ante by adding fire into the mix, as well as Foley making an already painful dive look all the more painful by basically plunging himself through the ring. Additionally, you had Jim Ross who continued his streak of adding to Mick Foley’s iconic moments with his ever-incredible calls on commentary & a rabid crowd that despite likely predicting the result, showed their love for the Hardcore Legend in spades.

Even though the intention & long-term impact of the matches stipulation wasn’t followed up effectively afterwards, greatly damaging its integrity in the long run, this was the kind of spectacle that makes the cell such an eventful environment for rivals to interact within, especially when it comes to capping off one of the annual blood feuds the company tends to put on. While my issues with it stem more from its follow-up as for the contest itself, it stands on its own as a fantastic match in every right.

1. Shawn Michaels vs The Undertaker – Badd Blood 1997

Is it too generic to place this at the top of my list due to how done to death placing this match at this position is?

Yes?

Good, because I couldn’t care less when a match is as beautifully booked as The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels inside Hell in a Cell takes place & doesn’t get all the recognition it so rightfully deserves.

This match is what a match placed at the top of any ”Best of” list should be, a standard-bearer, a trend setter, a game changer, a match packed with a plethora of iconic moments, cements the legacy of the stars involved & most importantly, leaves fans with more questions or curiosities going out than they had coming in. Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels accomplished everything I just listed, along with providing the iconic introduction of one of the generations most interesting characters in Kane alongside Paul Bearer at the matches’ end.

Even the action was unlike anything seen at the time, at least by the usual standards. Upping the violence generally seen by audiences up to that point from WWE, feeling like somewhat of an ushering in of the Attitude Era for some but also doubling down on the new, ‘edgier’ direction the product was seemingly going down at the start of the year with stars such as Steve Austin bringing in a new persona to the product. Simply revisiting this match today feels so much larger than you’d expect because of the historical significance this resembles, not just now but even back when it originally aired in 1997.

For being the boundary breaker that it is, for cementing itself as one of the most important matches in wrestling history & playing a significant role in ushering in the largest boom period the industry has ever seen, I can’t think of a single match more worthy of being at the top of this list than The Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels.


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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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