Author: Josh Nason

Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He's a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.

AEW announces details of PPV availability & launch date on HBO Max

Posted on by Josh Nason

After first being announced last October, AEW pay-per-views will finally be made available for purchase on HBO Max starting with this month’s All Out.

Announced by the company Wednesday in a press release, the events will be available to buy starting this Friday for U.S.-based HBO Max subscribers at the discounted rate of $39.99, a dip from the $49.99 offered by Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, PPV.com and linear TV providers.

Following a purchase, the PPVs will be available exclusively to six months and then will be available to all HBO Max subscribers. As noted in the release, the PPVs will be ad-free “with all marketing and promotions of AEW PPV events primarily centered on HBO Max.”

There is a line in the release that says “Purchase and access to PPV Content may vary by subscription provider” which means that availability to purchase PPVs will vary depending where the user purchased their HBO Max subscription. Unsupported devices are listed here.

PPVs will remain as a purchasing option for the aforementioned Prime, YouTube, PPV.com and linear providers. With a baseline HBO Max price (which includes ads) for $9.99/month, the total monthly commit remains the same for AEW fans, but with more content available using one option vs. the other.

Within the release was also revealed that All Out’s start time is moving up to 3 PM Eastern vs. the previously announced 8 PM PPV start time. While not specifically mentioned why, the show was going head-to-head with WWE Wrestlepalooza on ESPN’s new streaming service as that relationship kicks off.

Andrew Zarian first reported this past week that news was impending on the Max front.

When AEW announced it was re-upping with WBD in a new TV rights deal that kicked off this past January, the impending availability of PPVs on HBO Max was revealed. However, when AEW head Tony Khan was asked about an update on a media call earlier this year, he said there was no timetable ever given or an expectation that technology would be available in the first half of the year.

WWE Raw on Netflix viewership update for Clash in Paris go-home show

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: WWE

The Monday, August 25th episode of WWE Raw on Netflix brought in 2.6 million global views to go with five million global hours viewed through its first seven days, according to the Netflix weekly Tudum report.

It was the go-home show for this past Sunday’s Clash in Paris.

Both numbers are down from last week’s 2.8 million global views and 5.4 million global hours viewed with one key difference being the show aired at an earlier time slot in the U.S. due to it being held in the United Kingdom.

Raw Viewership Details:

The listed runtime of 1:56 was up slightly from the previous week’s 1:49.

The show was in the top ten for 14 countries (U.S., Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, India and Saudi Arabia among them) and sixth globally for the week.

For the last ten weeks, Raw has averaged a reported 2.7 million global views and 5.33 million global hours viewed.

Raw Notes:

The show featured Roman Reigns in a show-opening interview segment, Bron Breakker vs. LA Knight, appearances by CM Punk, Seth Rollins and Jey Uso, Rhea Ripley vs. Roxanne Perez, a Becky Lynch & Nikki Bella segment, and more.

Last 10 weeks of WWE Raw on Netflix ratings/viewership:

Episode dateGlobal ViewsGlobal Hours
August 25, 20252.6 million5.0 million
August 18, 20252.8 million5.4 million
August 11, 20252.8 million5.3 million
August 4, 20253.0 million6.1 million
July 28, 20252.7 million5.5 million
July 21, 20252.7 million5.7 million
July 14, 20252.7 million5.4 million
July 7, 20252.6 million5.1 million
June 30, 20252.5 million4.6 million
June 23, 20252.6 million5.2 million
Average for last 10 weeks:2.7 million5.33 million

NBC Sports president thanks WWE ‘for taking a chance on Peacock’

Posted on by Josh Nason

Even though WWE worked its way out of its premium live event deal with Peacock seven months early, there is no ill will on the behalf of NBC Sports.

NBC Sports president Rick Cordella quote tweeted a clip from Sunday’s WWE Clash in Paris where Michael Cole thanked Peacock for their time as a PLE partner.

Cordella took the opportunity to thank WWE, company head Nick Khan, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon “for taking a chance on Peacock 5 years ago, as we were just launching. But it’s not goodbye.”

He went on to write that “We’re excited to stay a partner of the WWE, with must-watch, Saturday Night Main Events for years to come.”

As part of the restructuring of their deal that sees ESPN take over as WWE’s domestic PLE partner in September 2025 vs. April 2026 when it was originally announced, Peacock will become the exclusive home of the quarterly SNME specials beginning in November as part of a new multi-year deal that also includes archived SmackDown episodes 30 days after they air on USA. SmackDown will continue to air on USA as it has since last fall.

WWE archive content will remain on Peacock through year’s end while NXT PLEs will remain on the platform domestically through the original March 2026 contract end date.

WOL: AEW match announcements, ROH’s maybe happy streaming accident, WWE & ESPN

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: AEW

The final Wrestling Observer Live of the summer has arrived with your summer fill-in host Josh Nason, filling in for Andrew Zarian one last time before the calendar changes.

While this show has zero to do with WWE Clash in Paris (get that on Wrestling Observer Radio or the Bryan & Vinny Show), here’s what this ad-free 40 minutes does have to do with:

  • Josh has some issues with how AEW does their match announcements with a big pointer finger to Saturday’s AEW Collision
  • Josh recaps Saturday’s Collision with some befuddlement about what the deal is with Hologram (seen above)
  • Josh thinks that Friday’s technical issues with Ring of Honor Death Before Dishonor might be a blessing in disguise
  • Josh also talks about his love of afternoon live airings of WWE shows, Randy Orton’s Fireball product placement, and his take on Dave Meltzer & Bryan Alvarez’s debate about AEW All Out PPV buys vs. WWE WrestlePalooza.

All that and more awaits for free. Listen below for free on our Spotify or Apple Podcast account (search Wrestling Observer).

Click here to listen

TBS title match signed for AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Josh Nason

TBS Champion Mercedes Mone will look to keep her 462+ day run rolling on this Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite from Philadelphia as she defends against Alex Windsor.

Windsor called out Mone after a quick win over Ashley Vox on Saturday’s Collision, saying that Mone is scared of her because Mone knows she tapped out in one of their clashes over the last month.

Windsor was part of a four-way at Forbidden Door where she, Persephone and Bozilla failed to defeat Mone for the title. Windsor was close in winning on several occasions, but was thwarted. Mone celebrated her win and her nine titles on this past week’s Dynamite and was dismissive of Windsor.

The two have squared off in tag team matches three times this month with Wednesday being their first-ever singles meeting.

The match joins the previously announced eight-man tag team match featuring Kenny Omega, Hangman Page, the Young Bucks, and others.

AEW Dynamite current card | September 3rd, 2025

  • TBS Champion Mercedes Mone defends against Alex Windsor
  • Kenny Omega, Hangman Page & JetSpeed (Mike Bailey and Kevin Knight) vs. Kyle Fletcher, Josh Alexander & The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson)

Tag Team title match official for WWE Clash in Paris

Posted on by Josh Nason

The following are spoilers for tonight’s WWE SmackDown, currently airing live on Netflix and at 8 PM on USA in the U.S.

The next challengers to WWE Tag Team Champions The Wyatt Sicks were made on Friday’s WWE SmackDown as The Street Profits are up next.

Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins picked up the win over Melo Don’t Miz in Lyon, France, with the title match now official for Sunday’s Clash in Paris premium live event.

The end came when Ford and Dawkins hit The Revelation on Carmelo Hayes to pick up the win after The Miz was distracted by the Sicks who came out to intimidate him.

Ford and Dawkins are looking for their third Tag Team title reign and first since this past July when they lost the titles to Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis. Gacy and Lumis have two title defenses since that win.

WWE Clash in Paris lineup | August 31, 2025:

  • WWE World Champion Seth Rollins defends against Jey Uso, LA Knight and CM Punk
  • John Cena vs. Logan Paul
  • Roman Reigns vs. Bronson Reed
  • Good ‘Ol Fashioned Donnybrook match: Sheamus vs. Rusev
  • WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch defends against Nikki Bella
  • WWE Tag Team Champions The Wyatt Sicks (Joe Gacy & Dexter Lumis) defend against The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford)

Future United States title challenger crowned on WWE SmackDown

Posted on by Josh Nason

The following are spoilers for tonight’s WWE SmackDown, currently airing live on Netflix and at 8 PM on USA in the U.S.

In less than ten seconds on WWE SmackDown, the next challenger for reigning WWE Women’s United States Champion Giulia was crowned.

Michin earned a future shot at the champion with the super quick victory over Kiana James who ran at Michin with a loaded purse. Michin rolled her up to get the quick pin and then was beaten down by James and Giulia who was at ringside. The segment ended with Giulia surfboarding Michin’s arms and driving her face-first into the ringside steps.

It was James’ first televised match on SmackDown and her first match since mid-July when she lost to Michin on Main Event.

As noted on commentary, the 36-year-old Michin has never held a title during her time in WWE while Giulia has held the gold for over two months with one title defense to her name.

While a date has yet to be announced for the match as of this writing, it will be their first ever time squaring off.

Early estimate on AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door pay-per-view buys

Posted on by Josh Nason

While the event isn’t yet a week old, there are early pay-per-view estimates for last Sunday’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door from The O2 in London, England.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the early estimate is between 122,000-130,000 buys which would put it in line with May’s Double or Nothing and at the lower end of the tier for AEW buys this year.

Of note, the main show started at 1 PM Eastern vs. its traditional 8 PM Eastern start time due to the location and two hours earlier than July’s All In (3 PM Eastern).

Meltzer noted that while cable/satellite buys were down in the U.S. and Australia, the United Kingdom numbers made up for the deficit being in their prime time.

Estimated AEW PPV buys in 2025

  • Revolution (March): 135,000-140,000
  • Dynasty (April): 110,000-120,000
  • Double or Nothing (May): 122,000-130,000
  • All In (July): 180,000-185,000
  • Forbidden Door (August): 122,000-130,000

Top five AEW PPV buys all-time

2021’s All Out is the leader (205,000 buys), followed by 2023’s All In (200,000 buys), 2025’s All In (180,000-185,000 buys), 2024’s Revolution (180,000), and 2022’s Revolution (175,000).

Cody & Brandi Rhodes welcome second child

Posted on by Josh Nason

The Rhodes family has grown by one with the news that Cody & Brandi Rhodes have given birth to a second child.

Announced on social media by Brandi on Friday, the baby girl is named Leilani Ella Runnels and joins their first child, Libby, who was born in 2021. The news comes as a surprise as it wasn’t public that the couple were expecting a second child.

Cody, the reigning WWE Champion, has been off TV since being taken out by Drew McIntyre earlier this month after a tag team match on SmackDown. He is not scheduled for this Sunday’s Clash in Paris and was also recently doing filming for the impending Street Fighter movie reboot that also stars Roman Reigns.

Brandi has mainly been out of the spotlight since she and Cody departed AEW several years ago. She announced two weeks ago that she is opening up a kids boutique in Rosewell, Georgia, to go with her first business: Naked Mind Yoga & Pilates.

Dana White says UFC White House event is confirmed: ‘We got it done today’

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: UFC

The UFC is indeed heading to the White House.

At the end of an Instagram story Thursday (seen below), UFC president Dana White said he had both a long and good day and was about to take off from Washington, DC.

“The White House fight is on. I will have more details on that in the next few weeks, but we got it done today,” he said.

News broke earlier this year that U.S. president Donald Trump wanted a UFC event at the White House, but the idea was initially scoffed at by critics as to whether that was even possible given the logistics.

The event will take place on Saturday, July 4th and will air on Paramount+ (and very possibly CBS) as part of their new seven-year deal that begins in 2026.

Trump and White (seen above) are close friends with White crediting the two-time president with helping the UFC in its early tenure as he hosted events from his venues at a time when the sport was reviled by the mainstream. White has spoken at the Republican National Convention while Trump has been a regular at major UFC events over the past few years.

Tony Khan: I would love to have Chris Jericho back in AEW or ROH

Posted on by Josh Nason

Amid online rumors and discourse regarding Chris Jericho’s future in AEW and Ring of Honor, Tony Khan addressed whether he wants his first-ever AEW World Champion back in the company.

During a media call Thursday, Khan was asked about Jericho’s future and him potentially returning. Khan strongly put over Jericho’s legacy in AEW and ROH, that he’s grateful to Jericho, and thinks of the world of him.

“If and when the time presents itself, I would love to have him back. He’s always in the highest of standing in AEW or ROH,” Khan said.

Jericho’s contract expires at year’s end. He has been off AEW TV since April after driving away from The Learning Tree’s Big Bill & Bryan Keith, a faction that has been dropped. It was reported by our Dave Meltzer that Jericho decided that it was time for a break as he was touring with Fozzy at the time.

Meltzer reported last week that many within AEW expect Jericho to head to WWE when his contract is up. Jericho recently liked an Instagram post about him being open to a WWE return, which continued to fuel rumors about the situation.

Jericho has been with AEW since its inception in 2019, holding the World title once, the FTW title once, and the ROH World title twice.

News reportedly coming soon on AEW PPV availability on HBO Max

Posted on by Josh Nason

The question of whether AEW pay-per-views will become available for purchase on HBO Max will reportedly be answered soon.

Wrestling Observer Live Sunday host Andrew Zarian posted on X Thursday that he is “hearing that there will be an announcement regarding AEW PPVs on HBO Max in the coming weeks…”

The ability to purchase AEW PPVs on the app of their U.S. broadcast rights partner was part of AEW’s new TV/streaming rights deal that kicked off this past January. When Khan was asked about an update on a media call earlier this year, he said there was no timetable ever given or an expectation that technology would be available in the first half of the year.

AEW has four PPVs remaining in 2025 with September’s All Out, October’s WrestleDream, November’s Full Gear and December’s Worlds End.

AEW archive content and weekly simulcasts of both Dynamite and Collision are available on the service curently.

In the United States, AEW PPVs are available on the heavily-pushed Amazon Prime, Fubo TV, PPV.com and YouTube in addition to traditional cable & satellite outlets. Whether this capability would be available worldwide for Max subscribers worldwide is unknown. The service is currently available in over 90 markets across North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

Tony Khan ROH media call: Chris Jericho & Deonna Purrazzo’s futures, Philly unions

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: AEW

What was meant to be a 30-minute call between AEW/ROH head Tony Khan and the media to promote Friday’s Death Before Dishonor went into overtime due to an extended reply about the future of Deonna Purrazzo.

Full audio of the call is available below where he also talked about Chris Jericho and the Philadelphia union situation.

Khan was asked about why Purrazzo hasn’t been around and after dancing around answering the question, he finally got into it, confirming previous stories that she went to CMLL (last December) and “had an experience that wasn’t positive.”

He said that he wanted to work her back in at Death Before Dishonor, but that injuries and circumstances have affected the women’s Pure title tournament greatly “putting it mildly.” He said it’s ok if something doesn’t go well and if one match doesn’t go right, it doesn’t mean everything ends.

He confirmed she will be part of the tournament, but did not say whether she will work Friday’s show.

Women’s Pure title tournament updates

During the near 17-minute response about Purrazzo, Khan said that a quarter of the women that worked in the women’s casino gauntlet match ended up hurt afterward that appeared to affect the tournament.

He then said his bracket for the women’s Pure title tournament was set and then this week, he had to hold off on announcements due to injuries. He then talked about Queen Aminata and how her passport getting stolen affected plans for Wednesday, but that it looks like she will be free for Friday’s show.

He said Purrazzo, Aminata, and Serena Deeb are in the tournament and it sounded like the bracket could be revealed soon.

Chris Jericho’s AEW future

Amid online rumors and discourse regarding Jericho’s future and a possible jump to WWE when his deal ends at year’s end, Khan was asked about Jericho & potentially returning. Khan put over his legacy and that he’s grateful to Jericho and thinks of the world of him.

“If and when the time presents itself, I would love to have him back. He’s always in the highest of standing in AEW or ROH,” Khan said.

Philadelphia union controversy

Asked about the Philadelphia union issue regarding the 2300 Arena that arose Wednesday, Khan quickly said he has nothing to say on it.

Other Notes:

  • Khan said he had plans for Syuri in ROH, but she got hurt in her first appearance.
  • Khan said Nick Wayne will be back soon enough where there isn’t a need for an interim men’s ROH TV Champion.
  • Khan said there is nothing new on an ROH TV deal and that while he has had offers, any deal would have to make sense in “the big picture” with AEW and that he would hope any deal “would be in the framework of the AEW/WBD relationship.”

Click here to listen

Update on WWE Raw start time change & when it will begin

Posted on by Josh Nason

For nearly the entire month of September, WWE Raw will have an earlier start time.

On Thursday’s WrestleVotes Radio, the recent rumors of a time change were given some more weight as the outlet reported that the September 15th, 22nd and 29th editions of the flagship show will start at 7 PM Eastern.

The reason? The NFL.

WrestleVotes said that according to their sources, both WWE and Netflix want to see how Raw performs against Monday Night Football on the ESPN networks with an earlier start time. With most editions going around 2:30 hours, it will minimize the amount of head-to-head time by an hour.

On the 15th and 29th, there will be doubleheaders of NFL action that Raw will be going head-to-head with as the first game starts at 7 PM Eastern and 7:15 PM Eastern respectively. The single game on the 22nd starts at 8:15 PM Eastern.

This Monday’s Raw will also have an earlier start time for U.S. viewers, but that is because it is taking place in Paris, France, following Sunday’s Clash in Paris PLE. The following week’s Raw on Monday, September 8th will start in its usual 8 PM Eastern timeslot.

It’s unknown if this is expected to be a permanent change or perhaps one that extends throughout the NFL season. Netflix is also an NFL broadcast partner.

All-star tag team match announced for next AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Josh Nason

After one eight-man all-star tag team match on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite involving the Don Callis Family, another such match has been made for next week.

On one side will be Kenny Omega, JetSpeed (Mike Bailey & Kevin Knight) and AEW World Champion Hangman Page while on the other will be TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher, Josh Alexander and the Young Bucks.

This comes after Callis told Page that he wants the World title back in his Family and it was just a question of who was going to take it from him. Hechicero, Alexander, Rocky Romero and Lance Archer then came out to surround the ring and attack Page which led to Knight and Bailey coming out to help.

Romero then took out JetSpeed with a baton which led to Omega making an appearance to clean house as JetSpeed came back to life. He and Page then hit a combo V-Trigger and Buckshot lariat on Archer before embracing for the first time in years.

On Wednesday, AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada, Konosuke Takeshita, Hechicero and Alexander defeated AEW World Tag Team Champions Brodido (Brody King & Bandido) and JetSpeed ahead of the aforementioned Page promo.

It’s the first and only match announced for next Wednesday’s show from Philadelphia’s 2300 Arena.