Tag: WWE Network

AWA Team Challenge Series’ pilot coming to WWE Network tomorrow

Posted on by Bryan Rose

What is being billed as a pilot for the AWA’s infamous Team Challenge Series will be the WWE Network’s Hidden Gem tomorrow.

WWE Network News reported that a unreleased 39 minute Team Challenge Series pilot with a date of 10/23/1989 will be uploaded to the network. The description reads: “Witness this unreleased home video pilot from the dying days of the AWA, as they unleash the infamous team challenge series.”

The Team Challenge Series was one of the last big angles the AWA ran, starting in the fall of 1989 through the summer of 1990. The roster was split into three factions: Larry Zybysko’s Legends, Baron von Rasche’s Blitzers and Sgt. Slaughter’s Snipers. Col. DeBeers took over Slaughter’s team when he left for the WWE the following year, renaming them the Diamondcutters.

Former jobber Jake Milliman ended up winning the series for Larry’s Legends, last eliminating Col Debeers in a battle royal for a (kayfabe) one million dollar check.

WWE Network notes: Ride Along, two NXT UK episodes

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has updated the Network schedule for next week.

A new episode of Ride Along will air in the post-Raw time slot on Monday. It will feature Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre and Nia Jax, Corey Graves & Renee Young.

On Wednesday, two new episodes of NXT UK are again listed on the schedule. They will premiere at 3 p.m. Eastern time and 4 p.m. Eastern before airing again at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., which is after new episodes of 205 Live and NXT.

Pete Dunne defending his United Kingdom Championship against Danny Burch is advertised for the first of next week’s episodes, along with Wolfgang and The Coffey Brothers making an “emphatic statement.” Mark Andrews, Flash Morgan Webster & Ashton Smith vs. Wolfgang & The Coffey Brothers and Trent Seven confronting Zack Gibson is advertised for the second.

Next week’s NXT UK episodes were taped in Cambridge, England at the end of July.

‘House Hardy Halloween’ airing after WWE Evolution

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The Halloween special that was filmed at the Hardy compound has its premiere date.

The WWE Network schedule lists “House Hardy Halloween” as airing on October 28 right after WWE’s Evolution pay-per-view ends. The brief description for the special is: “Bear witness as Woken Matt, Brother Nero and the rest of House Hardy prepare for a night of mayhem at their unprecedented Halloween Ball!”

House Hardy Halloween is listed as starting at 10:30 p.m. Eastern time. The Evolution pre-show will begin at 6 p.m. Eastern, with the main card listed as running from 7-10:30 p.m.

In the post-Raw time slot this Monday (October 22), WWE’s “Road to Evolution” special will air on both the WWE Network and USA Network. The show, which will “look back on the groundbreaking Women’s Evolution in WWE, featuring Superstars of the past, present and future coming together to celebrate a new chapter in WWE history,” is also set to air on E! at 10 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, October 24.

Shooter-themed Hidden Gems coming to WWE Network tomorrow

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Content highlighting professional wrestling’s shooters is coming to the WWE Network tomorrow.

WWE Network News reports that this week’s WWE Hidden Gems content relates to professional wrestling’s shooters. These matches will feature shoot wrestlers/athletes such as Lou Thesz, Karl Gotch, Danny Hodge, Nobuhiko Takada and Billy Robinson. These matches span several decades in multiple promotions, including Stampede Wrestling, AWA, WWE and the Florida and Texas territories.

The matches that will be uploaded include:

  • Lou Thesz vs. Wild Bill Longson (Texas Rasslin’, 6/17/52)
  • Karl Gotch and Rene Goulet vs. The Rugged Russians (WWE MSG event, 1/31/72)
  • Danny Hodge and Jos Leduc vs. Pak Song and Toru Tanaka (Championship Wrestling from Florida, 11/12/74)
  • Nobuhiko Takada vs. Athol Foley (Stampede, 8/12/83)
  • Billy Robinson vs. Rick Martel (AWA, 10/18/84)

Most recently, WWE has uploaded themed content to the collection including rare Undertaker/Triple H bouts, matches featuring Hispanic wrestlers such as Rey Mysterio and Pedro Morales and matches featuring Mae Young Classic talent.

WWE Network notes: Super Show-Down, Table for Three with 3MB

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Ahead of Super Show-Down taking place on Saturday (October 6), WWE has updated the Network schedule for next week.

A new episode of Table for Three with the members of 3MB (Drew McIntyre, Jinder Mahal, and Heath Slater) reuniting will be airing on the WWE Network after Monday’s go-home edition of Raw.

Super Show-Down will then air live on Saturday morning, and the Network schedule lists it as starting at 5 a.m. Eastern time and running until 10 a.m. Eastern. A pre-show for the event isn’t included on the schedule.

There have been 10 matches announced for Super Show-Down, which is being held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne Australia. The card is listed below:

  • The Undertaker (w/ Kane) vs. Triple H (w/ Shawn Michaels)
  • Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs. Braun Strowman, Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre
  • WWE Champion AJ Styles defending against Samoa Joe in a no DQ, no countout match
  • Ronda Rousey & The Bellas vs. Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan (if she’s able to wrestle) & Sarah Logan
  • SmackDown Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defending against Charlotte Flair
  • John Cena & Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens & Elias
  • Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz (winner gets a future shot at the WWE Championship)
  • SmackDown Tag Team Champions The New Day defending against Cesaro & Sheamus
  • Asuka & Naomi vs. Peyton Royce & Billie Kay
  • WWE Cruiserweight Champion Cedric Alexander defending against Buddy Murphy

Four matches added to WWE Network hidden gems

Posted on by Joseph Currier

AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Roman Reigns, and Brock Lesnar are featured in the matches that have been uploaded to the WWE Network’s hidden gems section this week.

Styles and Joe’s matches are from 2001, with Styles facing Rick Michaels in a WWE dark match and Joe taking on Tommy Dreamer for Ultimate Pro Wrestling in California. Reigns’ is from 2011 and against Corey Graves, when Reigns was Leakee in WWE’s Florida Championship Wrestling developmental territory.

Lesnar’s match is a 2003 title defense against the “American Badass” version of The Undertaker during an overseas tour in Finland.

The theme for the uploads is featuring the four wrestlers who will be in the WWE and Universal Championship matches at SummerSlam on Sunday. Reigns will challenge for Lesnar’s Universal title for the third time this year, while Styles is defending his WWE Championship against Joe in what will be their first televised match against each other in WWE.

Two Elias specials to air on WWE Network this month

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Two specials focusing on Elias are set to air on the WWE Network this month.

“Elias: Live from Bourbon Street” is listed as airing on the Network at 11:36 p.m. Eastern time this coming Monday. The performance was filmed at Razzoo Bar & Patio in New Orleans on the Thursday of WrestleMania week this April.

WWE posted the full performance on YouTube yesterday. At the end of it, there are clips hyping up “Walk With Elias: The Documentary.” It’s a mockumentary about the making of “Walk With Elias: The Album” and includes clips of interviews with others talking about him, seemingly leading up to Elias interrupting John Cena and being fought off by him at WrestleMania 34. The special will premiere on the WWE Network after Raw on July 30, though the runtime for it wasn’t announced.

Click play below to watch the Bourbon Street performance. The songs are similar to what he does at WWE shows. It’s noted that they’re a sample of his album, which will be released on Spotify and iTunes this coming Monday.

The Rock’s second match being added to WWE Network hidden gems

Posted on by Bryan Rose

One of The Rock’s earliest matches in his pro wrestling career will be tomorrow’s WWE Network Hidden Gem upload.

WWE Network News reported tonight that tomorrow’s upload will be a dark match between Dwayne Johnson and Bodydonna Skip, also known as Chris Candido. The reported synopsis lists a March 11, 1996 date meaning this would be his second ever WWE match, with a dark match against the Brooklyn Brawler the day before at a WWE Superstars taping being his first.

Johnson, who was a standout college football player, transitioned into pro wrestling and started training in 1995 under his father, Rocky Johnson. After working several house shows, Johnson was sent to the USWA for more seasoning. 

After several months wrestling in Memphis as Flex Kavana, Johnson made his debut at Survivor Series 1996 as Rocky Maivia. He teamed with Jake Roberts, Marc Mero and The Stalker (Barry Windham) to defeat Crush, Goldust, Jerry Lawler and Hunter Hearst Helmsley in a Survivor Series elimination match, himself being the only survivor.

‘Black Saturday’ reportedly being added to WWE Network tomorrow

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The infamous “Black Saturday” episode of World Championship Wrestling will be this week’s Hidden Gem upload on the WWE Network, according to a report.

WWE Network News, who has broken similar stories in the past, first reported the news. While episodes of World Championship Wrestling have already been uploaded to the WWE Network, nothing has been uploaded before November 1985.

Viewers were in for a shock on July 14, 1984 when their usual World Championship Wrestling action was completely overhauled. Instead of Gordon Solie and wrestling stars from Georgia Championship Wrestling, Vince McMahon and the superstars of the World Wrestling Federation filled the hour time slot instead. While the Georgia show usually featured hot in-ring action and interviews, McMahon used the Saturday time slot mainly as a recap show that only featured the occasional in studio squash match.

Declining ratings due to viewership outrage over the drastic overhaul eventually led McMahon to sell the time slot to Jim Crockett Promotions, who took over in March 1985.

Kenny Omega match added to WWE Network hidden gems

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Perhaps capitalizing on the buzz from his IWGP Heavyweight Championship win, WWE has uploaded a Kenny Omega match to the Network’s hidden gems section.

The match is against Cru Jones and took place in Deep South Wrestling, which was part of WWE’s developmental system, on September 3rd, 2006. Including a pre-match promo from Omega, the video is just under six minutes long and ends with Omega winning with Sliced Bread Number Two.

Omega joined Deep South Wrestling in 2005 before leaving in 2006.

Xavier Woods vs. Michael Tarver (FCW, 2011), Brad Armstrong & Bob Armstrong vs. Lex Luger & Tully Blanchard (NWA, 1987), Curt Hennig & Larry “The Axe” Hennig vs. The Road Warriors (AWA, 1985), and Bob Orton Sr. & Bob Orton Jr. vs. Steve Keirn & Mike Graham (CWF, 1976) were this week’s other additions to the hidden gems category.

WWE.com has also been pushing Omega & The Young Bucks’ Street Fighter V video game matchup against The New Day at E3, which is taking place today.

First 52 Heat episodes added to WWE Network

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Sunday Night Heat is finally on the WWE Network.

WWE this morning posted the first 52 episodes of Sunday Night Heat on their streaming service, starting on the first show from August 2, 1998 through the July 25, 1999 episode. These first batch of episodes would end about a month before the show transitioned into a C show as SmackDown would make its debut a month later.

Heat was initally the sister show to WWE Raw, featuring the big stars of WWE doing angles that would carry over to the next night on Raw. Sometimes, Heat would air live on Sundays then Raw would be taped for the following day. When SmackDown started in August of 1999, the big stars were gone. After the brand split in 2002, the show featured Raw talent and would continue to air until 2008 when it was cancelled.

Along with episodes of Sunday Night Heat, WWE Network has also added collections on Mickie James and the Stooges, Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco this month.

Sunday Night Heat episodes reportedly coming to WWE Network

Posted on by Joseph Currier

It looks like Sunday Night Heat will be the next classic content added to the WWE Network.

On the heels of WCW Thunder and Saturday Night being uploaded, WWE Network News reported today that episodes of Heat will be coming to the Network on May 7th. The number of episodes that will be uploaded on that date hasn’t been confirmed, but the report noted that they’ll begin with Heat’s premiere from 1998.

Heat began as an hour-long series on the USA Network in August of 1998 and went on to air on MTV, TNN/Spike TV, and WWE.com before ending its run in 2008. It started as WWE’s B-show before SmackDown debuted, with Heat eventually becoming the secondary show for the Raw brand.

The most noteworthy episode of the series aired during halftime of Super Bowl XXXIII in 1999, with Mick Foley winning the WWF Championship from The Rock in a pre-taped empty arena match.

WWE Network airing Bruno Sammartino special on Monday

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The WWE Network will be honoring Bruno Sammartino on Monday night.

WWE announced today that a documentary on Sammartino would be airing on the Network immediately after Raw on Monday. The company noted that the special will include some of Sammartino’s “greatest matches, moments, and more,” but no other details have been revealed.

Sammartino passed away at 82 years old on Wednesday morning after having been hospitalized for the last two months. WWE paid tribute to their longest-reigning champion in history later that day with a 10-bell salute at their house show in South Africa and with a graphic at the beginning of that night’s episode of NXT. Raw will be WWE’s first live programming to air since Sammartino’s death.

Monday’s Raw will feature the final build to the Greatest Royal Rumble and Brock Lesnar returning to television to hype up his Universal Championship match against Roman Reigns in Saudi Arabia. It will be Lesnar’s first appearance since retaining the title at WrestleMania 34.

WWE Network surpasses two million subscribers for WrestleMania

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

The WWE’s promotion of WrestleMania for free led to a total of 2,124,000 subscribers worldwide for the Network for its biggest show of the year.

The paid total was 1,808,000, up nine percent from the 1,661,000 paid for last year’s WrestleMania. It should be noted that the past several months had a $9.99 price for three months instead of one month which was going to lead to an increase in the total number.

WWE also touted that there were 25.2 million hours viewed in total among the subscribers over this past week, beating last year’s number of 22.5 million. This would mean that the average time a viewer spent on the Network in total over the past week was up and the average number of paid subscribers for the first three months of the year was 1.56 million, up from the expected total of 1.53 million. Keep in mind a lot of that was discounted offers.

The key to the discounted offers is the hope that those subscribers stay and pay the full $9.99 going forward, and it really won’t be until the August numbers come in that you can fairly compare the two years.

However, WWE also noted that its anticipated OIBDA for the first three months of 2018 would be about $30 million, above its projections from a few months ago where the first quarter OIBDA would be $23 million to $27 million.

Management predicts total OIBDA in 2018 to hit $145 million, up from its $140 million projection. It’s fairly certain at this point that 2018 will be the most profitable year in company history.

Women’s & UK tournaments announced for WWE Network

Posted on by Joseph Currier

While hyping up upcoming programming during tonight’s Hall of Fame ceremony, WWE confirmed that two tournaments are coming to the Network.

WWE announced the second annual Mae Young Classic and another United Kingdom tournament, which will be called King of the Ring. When the tournaments will be happening wasn’t mentioned, but Dave Meltzer reported last month that there’s been “a lot of movement going on behind the scenes” with the company’s UK project lately.

WWE’s initial UK tournament took place across two days in January 2017, with Tyler Bate becoming the inaugural United Kingdom Champion. Kairi Sane won the first Mae Young Classic by defeating Shayna Baszler in the finals last summer.

The commercial also advertised new seasons of the Edge & Christian Show, Table for Three, Ride Along, Camp WWE, and WWE Story Time, along with a WWE 365 documentary on AJ Styles and WWE 24 specials on The Hardys, Raw’s 25th anniversary, and Ronda Rousey.

“Something Else to Wrestle with Bruce Prichard” — based on Prichard and Conrad Thompson’s podcast — and “Elias: Unplugged” were announced as coming to the Network as well.