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.

World title match set for AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door

Posted on by Josh Nason

The second title defense for new AEW World Champion Hangman Page will come at this month’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view against a familiar foe in former champion MJF.

During Wednesday’s Dynamite, the two had an in-ring confrontation as Page has been a thorn in MJF’s side for several weeks, unwilling to take his bait as he holds an anytime, anywhere World title shot earned at All In: Texas in the Casino Gauntlet match.

The two threw insults at each other until Page got MJF so heated by calling him a coward and demanding he cash in his shot at Forbidden Door that MJF finally agreed and then quickly regretted it.

It will be Page’s second title defense after retaining against former champion Jon Moxley on the July 30th Dynamite, and MJF’s first World title shot since he lost it to Samoa Joe at December 2023’s Worlds End.

The two have a history in AEW and one that has seen them in two singles matches before: one in the 2019 Dynamite Diamond ring finals that MJF won and another this past March at Revolution that Page won.

Current AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door card | Sunday, August 24 | London, England

  • AEW World Champion Hangman Page defends against MJF
  • AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada defends against Swerve Strickland
  • AEW Tag Team Champions The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) defend against winner of Tag Team title eliminator tournament
  • Adam Copeland & Christian Cage vs. Nick Wayne & Kip Sabian
  • AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm defends against Athena
  • TBS Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone defends against Alex Windsor, CMLL TBD and Stardom TBD
  • TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher defends against Hiromu Takahashi
  • Lights out steel cage match: Darby Allin, Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi vs. The Death Riders (Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli), Gabe Kidd & The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson)

UFC announces all-inclusive U.S. media rights deal with Paramount, PPV era ends

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: UFC

After heavy speculation on what the UFC would do with their media rights package, TKO announced on Monday morning that the world’s largest MMA organization is heading to Paramount in a transformative, all-inclusive media rights deal in the United States.

The seven-year, $7.7 billion ($1.1 billion average annual value) begins in January 2026 and will see 13 numbered events and 30 Fight Nights come to the Paramount+ streaming service with some numbered shows to be simulcast on CBS.

The deal also ends the pay-per-view for the UFC, one that began with its inception in 1993.

From the release:

“This shift in distribution strategy will unlock greater accessibility and discoverability for sports fans and provide an important catalyst for driving engagement and further subscriber growth for Paramount+. Paramount intends to explore UFC rights outside the U.S. as they become available in the future.”

It’s a massive splash in the sports media market for new Paramount owner and Skydance Media CEO David Ellison who recently got clearance to purchase the media empire after a lengthy process.

The deal ends UFC’s run with ESPN that began nearly five years ago with a $1.5 billion total contract. That included the exclusive rights to offer UFC PPVs via their ESPN+ platform in addition to Fight Night events, The Ultimate Fighter, and access to library content. They were seen as a strong front runner given the impending launch of the ESPN streaming service and their connection to sports fans.

The release did not mention the video library or shoulder content like The Ultimate Fighter, meaning TKO could look to sell those assets elsewhere.

The news validates the desires of TKO leadership to get their $1 billion/year deal which leadership had floated previously. There was speculation they could split a package between entities like ESPN and Netflix.

The news comes less than a week after TKO announced WWE’s premium live events will head to ESPN as part of a five-year, $1.6 billion deal that begins in April 2026. WWE’s 10-year, $5 billion deal with Netflix began this past January and their new deals with both NBCUniversal for WWE SmackDown and NXT with The CW beginning last fall.

What remains now for TKO on the domestic front are NXT PLE rights and both UFC and WWE library/archive rights if they choose to sell them. With UFC Fight Pass, the company may just choose to keep them there.

WOL: The week WWE proved they are cancel-proof

Posted on by Josh Nason

For the first time in years, the Sunday edition of Wrestling Observer Live is TWO HOURS long (well, for Sports Byline, anyway).

Josh Nason guest hosts this week with a lot to talk about including:

  • The week that WWE proved they are cancel-proof with the return of Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman explaining there are no apologies for him returning, and the insulating culture of many WWE fans in 2025 that made it possible
  • The winners & losers of the WWE & ESPN PLE deal
  • An early look at AEW Forbidden Door, why this year’s lineup doesn’t feel special thus far, and why the gimmick has lost its luster
  • Why the John Cena heel turn was going to be a disaster from the start and why we should have known

All that and lots more ahead. Listen below for free or on either Spotify or Apple Podcasts (search for Wrestling Observer):

Click here to listen

Mercedes Mone makes surprise appearance at Athena’s MPX indie event

Posted on by Josh Nason

Eight company champion and AEW star Mercedes Mone appeared at a wrestling show Saturday, but it was not on Collision.

Instead, Mone made a surprise appearance at MPX’s Who Runs The World? all-women’s event in Texas, put on by Ring of Honor Women’s Champion Athena. Athena was in the ring, revealing that a new belt was coming to MPX when her former rival and now current ally appeared (seen below).

The two then did Mone’s CEO dance.

Athena will challenge AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm at this month’s Forbidden Door in London, England. This week on Dynamite, Mone made her return to AEW for the first time since losing to Storm at July’s All In: Texas.

Athena attempted to help Billie Starkz in a four-way TBS title eliminator on that show which led to Storm coming out and eventually Mone who then confronted winner Alex Windsor. At the end of the segment, Mone, Athena and Starkz stood tall over Storm and Windsor. Mone will defend against Windsor at Forbidden Door.

Reigning AEW titleholder reportedly signs long-term contract

Posted on by Josh Nason

Current TNT Champion Kyle Fletcher will be in AEW for the foreseeable future after signing a new multi-year contract with the company this past spring.

That news comes from Fightful Select, released just after Fletcher’s successful TNT title defense against Tomohiro Ishii on Saturday’s live Collision.

The outlet reported that it’s a “big money deal, especially in relation to Fletcher’s age.” He is 26 years old.

Fletcher’s star truly began to rise after an injury to now former Aussie Open partner Mark Davis at October 2023’s WrestleDream. He fully aligned with the Don Callis Family a month later and won the vacant Ring of Honor TV title at December 2023’s Final Battle.

While remaining on AEW and competing against the likes of Will Ospreay, Chris Jericho, Swerve Strickland and Konosuke Takeshita, the Australian native eventually lost the title to CMLL’s Atlantis Jr. in June 2024.

He competed in last December’s Continental Classic, making it to the semifinals where he fell in defeat to Ospreay in the semifinals. He did the same in this year’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament, losing to Hangman Page in the semifinals.

Fletcher won the TNT title last week on Collision by defeating Dustin Rhodes in a street fight.

Updated AEW All In Texas pay-per-view buys, where it places all-time

Posted on by Josh Nason

In this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, our Dave Meltzer provided an update on AEW All In: Texas pay-per-view buys and where it puts the July 2025 event in the company’s all-time record books.

Meltzer reported that the current estimate is between 180,000 to 185,000 for the Saturday, July 12th afternoon show. That was a slight uptick from the 175,000 estimated in the July 18th WON.

Top five AEW PPV buys all-time

That range which would put it third all-time in AEW history based on industry estimates, trailing 2021’s All Out (205,000 buys) and 2023’s All In (200,000 buys). 2024’s Revolution finished at an estimated 180,000 so All In: Texas is virtually identical or slightly ahead. 2022’s Revolution did an estimated 175,000 for fifth place.

All In: Texas gate, attendance & merchandise

In a previous WON, Meltzer confirmed the live gate for Globe Life Field exceeded $3 million, but didn’t have anything on specific attendance outside the 28,000-29,000 that Khan had said at the post-event press conference. After announcing a paid number for the first All In from Wembley Stadium, AEW has not provided an announced attendance of any kind for the following two All In events.

Meltzer reported the entire week brought in $1.2 million in merchandise sales ($725,000 for All In itself with the rest coming from the Starrcast convention).

Update on WWE PLE schedule for 2025 & how John Cena is affected

Posted on by Josh Nason

The end of the road for WWE megastar John Cena is less than five months away and how WWE’s premium live event schedule has evolved this year has essentially confirmed when his final match will take place.

On Thursday’s Wrestling Observer Live, our Bryan Alvarez reported that with the creation of July’s Evolution and by adding a second night of SummerSlam, WWE will satisfy their 2025 commitment of PLEs to Peacock with November’s Survivor Series.

That leaves December wide open for the final Saturday Night’s Main Event of 2025 which, at this point Alvarez said, will feature Cena’s final match airing live on NBC and Peacock.

Cena himself said in July that his retirement match is scheduled for mid-December and that “they are still trying to find a place for it.” However, his own father told a local news outlet in May that the match will take place at Boston’s TD Garden, less than an hour away from where Cena grew up. WWE has yet to announce anything.

Our Dave Meltzer has reported that if that is indeed the case, Saturday, December 13th would be the date to watch. The Garden has nothing publicly scheduled for that night.

As of this writing, Cena has 12 appearances left through the end of 2025.

Jim Ross sets date for return to AEW broadcast booth

Posted on by Josh Nason

Jim Ross will be returning to the AEW broadcast booth in just a few weeks time.

The WWE Hall of Famer revealed on his Grilling JR podcast Thursday that through his communication with AEW head Tony Khan, he will be heading to London, England, for this month’s Forbidden Door pay-per-view from the O2 Arena to “call a couple matches.”

Ross loves the venue (“It’s a hell of a building”) and is excited to be heading there, comparing it to London’s version of Madison Square Garden.

The 73-year-old made his return to the booth for July’s All In Texas — his first show after he underwent successful surgery to remove colon cancer. He revealed afterward that he experienced “a bad fall” in his hotel room just days before the event, but was still able to make his scheduled appearances Friday and then Saturday.

Current AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door card | Sunday, August 24 | London, England

  • AEW Unified Champion Kazuchika Okada defends against Swerve Strickland
  • AEW Tag Team Champions The Hurt Syndicate (Bobby Lashley & Shelton Benjamin) defend against winner of Tag Team title eliminator tournament
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. TBA
  • AEW Women’s World Champion Toni Storm defends against Athena
  • TBS Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone defends against Alex Windsor

Jonathan Gresham suffered two strokes days ago, details scary situation

Posted on by Josh Nason

In a post shared on social media Thursday night, former Ring of Honor World Champion Jonathan Gresham revealed a potentially devastating medical situation where he suffered two strokes just days ago.

Gresham wrote that on Tuesday, he woke up and was unable to walk, see, move the left side of his body, and could barely talk.

“It took me 30 minutes to dial 911, but I finally did. I woke up in the hospital, couldn’t remember what had happened. They told me they had done an MRI and I had two strokes. I’ve had a lot of tests run but everything has come back clean. They’re not sure what happened, and the only thing they said was it could have been a possible complication from a bad case of COVID I had a couple of weeks ago. They said we may never know the exact reason,” he wrote.

Gresham said he taking the next two-to-four-weeks off to both recover and be medically cleared. He last wrestled at Josh Barnett’s Bloodsport XIV last Saturday, losing to Pete Dunne.

He also noted that current WWE NXT wrestler and wife Jordynne Grace “saw me get carted off from the house on our Ring doorbell camera and somehow flew from Orlando to Atlanta in time that she was there when I woke up.”

He added that he wasn’t convinced he had suffered a stroke until Grace showed him a picture (seen below) of his face.

“I never thought this would be something for me to worry about at 37 years old,” he said. “I will be back soon.”

https://twitter.com/TheJonGresham/status/1953595044469919877

WWE collaborating with popular cult cartoon on next week’s SmackDown

Posted on by Josh Nason

WWE may be in Boston, Massachusetts, next Friday for SmackDown, but it will feel a little like Arlen, Texas, to some.

Revealed by Variety on Thursday, WWE is one of a plethora of creative mediums where the reboot of the popular comedy sitcom King of the Hill will make its presence felt. The show made its return on Hulu this past Monday where it’s been one of the platform’s most popular options.

Variety reported that the Friday, August 15th SmackDown will feature King of the Hill branding in addition to “digital creative” shown throughout the TD Garden. Additionally, both Sheamus and Johnny Gargano “will create videos inspired by moments from the show.”

Other marketing tie-ins include fellow TKO company Professional Bull Riding, NASCAR, the San Diego Comic-Con, Theo Von’s podcast, several Major League Baseball games, Whataburger, Fortnite and others.

The show’s initial run lasted 14 seasons and 259 episodes with pro wrestling occasionally coming up as a topic. After wrapping up in 2010, all ten new episodes dropped Monday.

Peacock’s WWE PLE bid revealed, separate WrestleMania deal was explored

Posted on by Josh Nason

In the wake of Wednesday’s announcement that WWE’s domestic premium live event package is heading to ESPN in April 2026, there is now more information on the efforts made for NBCU/Peacock to retain it.

On Thursday’s Wrestling Observer Live (seen below), our Bryan Alvarez reported that the Peacock bid was “in the neighborhood of $275 million per year.”

It’s unknown if that offer was for five years and the same terms (WWE video library and commitments for both five total documentaries and 250 hours of original programming) Peacock had before that TKO president Mark Shapiro noted ESPN’s package does not include.

As announced, the ESPN deal is for five years at $325 million per year, an increase of $50 million per year without the aforementioned added commitments that can be sold elsewhere which includes NXT PLEs.

Alvarez also noted that WWE was “shopping around WrestleMania as a separate deal” from the PLE package at one point, perhaps with an eye of selling those rights to one partner while the rest of the package went elsewhere.

WWE’s deal with Peacock ends in March 2026 with NBCU’s contract for SmackDown and Saturday Night’s Main Event still current.

Update on ESPN streaming service availability for cable & satellite users

Posted on by Josh Nason

This story was updated Thursday morning.

In a dizzying day of questions and answers regarding the availability of ESPN’s impending streaming service for existing cable & satellite subscribers, there are some updates that may make those subscribers a bit frustrated — at first, anyway.

This is especially pertinent for WWE fans given the news that the company’s full slate of premium live events will head to ESPN starting in April 2026 after WWE’s existing deal with Peacock ends.

Initially, it was reported by Alex Sherman of CNBC Wednesday that “cable subs will automatically get the ESPN (direct to consumer) product thru authentication.” That was followed by both Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics and PWInsider reporting that only customers of Charter (Spectrum), DirecTV, FuboTV, Hulu Live TV, and Verizon Fios would have that luxury and that everyone else would need to pay for the service.

Sherman provided some updated reporting Thursday through his newsletter, verifying Thurston and PWInsider’s initial information and giving some hope for those that are customers of Xfinity, YouTube TV, and other major providers. He quipped that while WWE had the Attitude Era, this is the Confusion Era for ESPN.

“…I’m told discussions with all of these pay TV providers are ongoing, and Disney hopes to have most of them done by the end of the year. It’s still unclear to me at this point if Disney can accelerate some of these discussions if their pay TV carriage renewals aren’t until 2026. 

Long-term, ESPN plans to have authentication deals with every major pay TV distributor. Disney doesn’t want existing cable customers leaving the bundle just because ESPN is now available outside of it. 

But when the application is ready for showtime on Aug. 21, there are going to be a bunch of pay TV subscribers who aren’t going to get their authentication access that they’re paying for.”

The service that launches later this month will start at $29.99 per month or $300 for an annual subscription.

WWE to ESPN coverage:

AEW tag team reportedly signs long-term contracts

Posted on by Josh Nason

Image: AEW

The Gates of Agony will be sticking around AEW for years to come.

A new report out by Fightful on Thursday confirmed that Bishop Kaun and Toa Liona have both signed long-term, multi-year contracts with AEW — a day after the duo individually posted a picture of them with Tony Khan on X, retweeted by their agent Steve Kay of Paragon.

The two are currently aligned with Ricochet.

The 35-year-old Kaun made his AEW debut in December 2021 on AEW Dark: Elevation, eventually getting paired with the 34-year-old Liona who debuted in October 2021, also on Dark: Elevation.

The two debuted as a team in April 2022 at ROH Supercard of Honor and were put into a program with then-ROH Tag Team Champions FTR which culminated with a title match at AEW Battle of the Belts IV.

They were members of The Mogul Embassy, winning the ROH Six-Man Tag Team Titles twice. Their first run with Brian Cage lasted 284 days from December 2022 through September 2023 before they lost to The Elite. They eventually regained the titles from the Young Bucks & Hangman Page in November 2023, holding them for 77 days before dropping them to the Bang Bang Gang (Jay White & The Gunns).

Kaun is a three-time ROH Six-Man Tag Team Champion as he held the titles with Shane Taylor & Moses in 2021 before Tony Khan owned the company.

They have yet to hold the AEW or ROH Tag Team titles.

VIDEO: ‘Speedball’ Mike Bailey & MVP exchange pleasantries after reports of conflict

Posted on by Josh Nason

If there is indeed an issue between “Speedball” Mike Bailey, MVP and The Hurt Syndicate within the walls of AEW, they tried their best to diffuse it Wednesday night with humor.

Seen below, MVP posted a video to his Instagram showing he, Bobby Lashley and Shelton Benjamin walking backstage when they came upon Bailey who was filming for his vlog.

MVP then said, “F**k you, Speedball.” Bailey then said, “Well f**k you too, MVP.” MVP then told Lashley and Benjamin to “tell him” and they jokingly stared at the floor, saying the same thing. A smiling Bailey said, “Well f*ck you guys, too.” before he waved and MVP did the same.

The video comes after a report emerged on Wednesday from Fightful that MVP had “rubbed a lot of people the wrong way” backstage in AEW and that he had made it clear he didn’t like Bailey. The report also stated he turned down pitches for The Hurt Syndicate to lose to FTR at Forbidden Door and would prefer to lose to a younger team instead like The Outrunners, Gates of Agony or Private Party instead.

To this point, no one on the AEW side or MVP’s side has denied the allegations publicly.

The Hurt Syndicate will defend the AEW World Tag Team titles at Forbidden Door against either FTR or Brodido (Brody King & Bandido).

Paul Heyman: ‘Whole deal’ with Travis Scott’s involvement in John Cena angle ‘fell apart’

Posted on by Josh Nason

The scuttlebutt regarding musician Travis Scott and a strained relationship with WWE apparently has some truth to it based on comments Paul Heyman made on Wednesday.

Heyman appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show where the big headline was him telling critics they wouldn’t be able to cancel Brock Lesnar, but he was also asked about Scott and his disappearance following the John Cena heel turn kickoff angle at Elimination Chamber.

Helwani asked if there was a payoff to The Rock and Scott’s inclusion in that angle.

“There was. It fell apart and we moved forward without it,” he said.

Helwani then asked what fell apart and Heyman said, “The whole deal with Travis Scott.”

Heyman was complimentary of Scott’s accomplishments and taste in women, but couldn’t confirm any rumors. He said he wasn’t sure if Scott was done with WWE and that he got along with him fine in any meetings he was in, but “I have heard things. I haven’t heard Travis’ version of it.”

A Scott song is used as the theme for WWE Raw, and there were reported plans for him to make his in-ring debut at Money in the Bank alongside John Cena against Cody Rhodes and a partner (possibly musician Bad Bunny). There was also a merchandise collaboration at this year’s WrestleMania 41.

Helwani then asked about The Rock’s lack of involvement in WrestleMania and Heyman said that “he was never advertised for WrestleMania” and he wasn’t sure what happened, suggesting Helwani get him on the show to talk about it.

The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) told Pat McAfee after WrestleMania that he made the call to not be involved in the angle at WrestleMania as he thought his part was done.