With Bryan stranded somewhere in the California skies, it’s Vinny and Craig reviewing gobs and gobs of AEW television.
First it’s Rampage from Friday night, with Orange Cassidy vs. Alex Reynolds and the next chapter in the Best Friends divorce. Then it’s Collision from Saturday, with Kyle Fletcher & Powerhouse Hobbs facing Bryan Danielson & Claudio Castagnoli with major ramifications for the Dynasty PPV main event.
Finally we close with Battle of the Belt (singular) where the only official title match sees Athena defend the ROH women’s title against Red Velvet. That’s a lot of TV to cover, so there’s no time to waste—start listening right away!
The first episode of “Being the Dark Order” was released on Monday.
Days after it was revealed that Being the Elite would not return, the BTE YouTube channel published a new video featuring The Dark Order on Monday. Evil Uno, Alex Reynolds, and John Silver spent the majority of today’s episode trying to recruit more people for the show.
In storyline, The Dark Order purchased the rights to BTE using sponsorship money from Chilis. At the very end of the first episode, Evil Uno is shown texting with Matt Jackson about the deal.
“I can’t believe you spent all your chilis money on a sinking ship like BTE. You are gonna F this up like you F everything up!” Jackson’s text to Uno reads.
Sources close to Matt and Nick are telling me that they have officially finished up with Being The Elite. pic.twitter.com/4o7HWV0fKw
Last week, Brandon Cutler posted to social media that The Young Bucks had “finished up” with BTE. Then on Friday, our own Dave Meltzer wrote in the Daily Update that the show really is done.
“We’ll write more about it this coming week, but BTE is not on hiatus, it’s actually done. As of this point in time, there are no plans to bring it back,” Meltzer wrote.
Kip Sabian and The Dark Order have all recently signed new multi-year contracts with AEW.
In the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer confirmed that Kip Sabian and Dark Order members Evil Uno, John Silver & Alex Reynolds have signed new AEW deals. They’ve each signed three-year contracts.
Evil Uno and Sabian first revealed the news of the new contracts on social media earlier this week.
Sabian and the three Dark Order members all made their AEW debuts in 2019, the first year the promotion was in existence.
Sabian will be in action on tonight’s episode of Rampage. He’s teaming with The Butcher & The Blade against Keith Lee & The Hardys.
On last Friday’s Rampage, Sabian lost a singles match to Komander.
Evil Uno, Silver & Reynolds defeated Stu Grayson, Vincent & Dutch in a Fight Without Honor at ROH’s Death Before Dishonor pay-per-view last month. The Dark Order were also recently victorious against Hangman Page & The Young Bucks on the 100th episode of Rampage.
It was announced this Wednesday that Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks, and Page have all signed new multi-year AEW deals.
Erick Rowan appeared tonight on AEW Dynamite’s Brodie Lee tribute show.
He appeared towards the end of a six-man tag team match which pitted Alex Reynolds & John Silver of The Dark Order and Hangman Page against MJF, Santana, and Ortiz of the Inner Circle. Wardlow, who was at ringside, attacked Reynolds as he was making the save for his partner Silver. It was at that moment that Rowan came in and attacked Wardlow, sending him to the back. Rowan was identified both by his WWE name and the name he has been using outside of WWE, Erick RedBeard.
Reynolds, Silver, and Page made a comeback, but MJF put Ortiz’s foot on the ropes as he was being pinned. MJF then pulled the mask off of -1 (Brodie Huber) at ringside. -1 responded by hitting MJF with a kendo stick. Silver then pinned Ortiz with a discus forearm.
After the match, Rowan returned to the ring and helped an emotional Reynolds and Silver back to their feet. He held a sign that said “Goodbye for now, my brother. See you down the road” as they embraced.
Rowan and Lee, under the name Luke Harper, teamed regularly in NXT and later on the main WWE roster as part of the Wyatt Family. They also had a separate run as a team away from Bray Wyatt, repackaged under the team name The Bludgeon Brothers.
Sixteen matches are set for this Tuesday’s edition of AEW Dark.
AEW’s social media announced today that a match between Sammy Guevara and Marko Stunt had been added to the lineup, which was posted earlier this morning.
Additionally, a three way tag team match will be taking place. Chaos Project will meet the Dark Order’s Evil Uno & Stu Grayson as well as the team of Sonny Kiss & Joey Janela.
The Waiting Room, a new talk show hosted by Britt Baker, will also make a return. This week’s guest will be Tay Conti.
Here is the entire lineup for this week’s Dark, which will stream on Tuesday at 7 pm EST:
Sammy Guevara vs. Marko Stunt
Chaos Project vs. Evil Uno & Stu Grayson vs. Sonny Kiss & Joey Janela
Gunn Club vs. Cezar Bononi, KTB, & Seth Gargis
The Acclaimed vs. Alex Chamberlain & Damian Fenrir
Brandon Cutler vs. Adam Priest
Penelope Ford vs. Dreamgirl Ellie
Fuego del Sol vs. Peter Avalaon
Ivelisse & Diamante vs. Lady Frost & “Bionic Beast” Jenna
Alex Reynolds & John Silver vs. Lee Johnson & Aaron Solow
Kilynn King vs. Rache Chanel
Trent vs. Michael Nakazawa
Matt Sydal vs. Alan Angels
The Hybrid2 vs. Griff Garrison & Brian Pillman Jr.
An in-depth look at WWE finances and the company going forward is the lead story of the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Our lead story not just looks at the investors call this week, but goes through financial details and what they mean from the call, and looks at the landscape as well as things said that were misleading.
The new issue also covers:
TV ratings, streaming, value of the Thunderdome setting, Nick Khan’s debut on the call and his main comments, Vince McMahon talks his new management team, WWE numbers, new programming, plight of furloughed employees, company market value, cutbacks in expenses, Saudi Arabia, costs going up next month, how many people view the free tier of the WWE Network, Vince talks ratings, network subscriptions in the U.S. and abroad, how much money the company makes from television, and unique notes about merchandise sales.
Daniel Bryan’s statements regarding his career, how much longer he wants to do this, what he’s said about his own athletic ability, where he can be valuable and Roman Reigns’ opponens.
Hell in a Cell, a look at Survivor Series, changes from last year, the top of Raw, Money in the Bank, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Khabib Numragomedov’s last fight, Dana White talks if he will retire, Khabib says he will, plus UFC 254 with match-by-match coverage and poll results.
WWE talent and Twitch and comments by Paige, update on Thunderdome location after the end of November and why they have to move, we update the latest COVID outbreak in WWE, why Matt Riddle got a name change, brutal WWE match this past week, where wrestling stands in sports ratings, Canadian and U.K. ratings, donors to Trump and Biden’s campaign,why little was announced ahead of time for Smackdown, new names for lots of WWE talent, what former wrestler is WWE trying to keep from using his WWE name, and the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.
Impact’s Bound for Glory. We look at the situation with Kylie Rae, the injuries, Ken Shamrock in the Hall of Fame and his relationship with Dwayne Johnson, Mick Foley and Bret Hart, Shamrock’s background plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings.
TripleMania press conference, the matches announced, the unique new promotional tie-in with Marvel and the first show announced with no date and why.
Detailed look at the television business, with ratings breakdowns in every segment for Wednesdays and every category for other shows, looking at stats not available elsewhere to get the deepest read into how shows are doing, what categories are doing well and how shows compare with previous weeks and one year ago.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
This week’s episode of The Bump features former Tough Enough winner Maven, Elias, Pat McAfee, and the NXT Tag Team champions Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch.
Mustafa Ali is the guest on this week’s episode of After the Bell with Corey Graves.
The company has abandoned their attempt to trademark the name Cody Rhodes, HeelByNature reported.. Cody Runnels was rejected last year from attempting to trademark the name after WWE’s failed to renew the rights on time. Additionally on October 30, Cody dropped trademark applications for ‘Slamboree’ and ‘The Match Beyond’.
Goldberg, Lita, Ultimate Warrior, The Usos, Eddie Guerrero, Trish Stratus, and Booker T will be added to the WWE Battlegrounds roster on November 6.
WWE PC’s YouTube page has Kacy Catanzaro recreating her favorite Royal Rumble moment.
Other Wrestling
Tony Khan talked to PWInsider about Alex Reynolds being knocked out in a recent match: “Yeah, you know, we’ve been recently doing everything we can to work on our protocols and make this as safe as possible work environment. I’ve added another independent neurologist to the staff. We’ve added an independent doctor at all the shows in addition to our staff medical team and we’re adding extra support. I’ve added a two-way feature where the referees can talk back to us if there are injuries so that the referee, you know, not all communication is going one way, and I’ve encouraged the referees to let us know what’s going on.”
AJPW announced that Zeus has tested positive for COVID-19. He will remain isolated in a hotel in Osaka until November 11. Their international Twitter account noted that there was no close contact with other AJPW wrestlers.
Fightful Select is reporting that EC3 has finished with Impact Wrestling for the time being and is now working for Ring of Honor through the end of the year.
TSN has an interview with Eddie Kingston, who talks about signing with AEW and his match with Cody.
Matt Hardy posted a video hyping his Elite Deletion match taking place at Full Gear against Sammy Guevara.
We’ve got a G1 special on the Observer with the deepest look at the tournament anywhere. G1 MVP, G1 best match, G1 history notes, polls on the last three nights, the story behind Kota Ibushi’s win and much more in a new double issue of the Observer.
The business decline that was unavoidable, the difference in wrestling with fans who are not supposed to cheer and boo and who does the best with it, the ups and downs of the different wrestlers, who improved the most from last year, lots of G1 records, Power Struggle notes, a breakdown of every wrestler in the tournament and how they did in the ring this year as compared to last year, who were the best at carrying opponents, who had the best matches, how this year’s match quality compared to last year, just how great this year’s A block shows were, New Japan’s U.S. popularity and which wrestlers have had the best in-ring tournaments in recent years.
Also in this issue:
Harold Meij’s final day in charge of New Japan and key issues with his legacy, Tokyo Dome updates, and how the last days went down.
Things going on behind-the-scenes with President Trump that may be done that would help Vince McMahon and Dana White, Andrew Yang talks wrestlers as independent contractors and what he plans to do about it, Orange County Department of Health looking at COVID spreading in buildings that house WWE and MLW, and WWE’s statement.
What is and isn’t misleading and looking at WWE COVID numbers, we preview Hell in a Cell, note a mandatory conference all WWE talent has to attend this week, WWE getting an award looked at, WWE signing, why the plight of independent wrestlers is so different from before, WWE Network November theme, WWE star nominated for a movie award and new WWE Network deals.
Wrestling ratings compared to other sports, Canadian & U.K. ratings, Mike Bennett talks the problems in communication in WWE, Sami Zayn talks the ladder match, WWE market value and the most watched shows last week on the WWE Network.
Brian Ortega vs. The Korean Zombie with full coverage of Saturday’s UFC event,.
The surprising thing that matters far more than most gave it credit for when it comes to viewing wrestling shows.
Ratings breakdowns in every segment for Wednesdays and every category for other shows, looking at stats not available elsewhere to get the deepest read into how shows are doing, what categories are doing well and how shows compare with previous weeks and one year ago.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
WEDNESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
WWE on FOX has posted a video of the setup for tonight’s NXT Halloween Havoc show.
This week’s episode of The Bump features Rey Mysterio, Michelle McCool, Shotzi Blackheart, and William Shatner.
Elias and former Tough Enough star Maven will be the guests on next week’s The Bump.
Chad Gable will be the guest on Corey Graves’ After the Bell podcast tomorrow.
WWE released a statement on Tracy Smothers, who passed away early this morning at the age of 58. WWE stars commented on Smothers’ passing, including Edge and Sami Zayn.
‘Meeting Mark Calaway’, a show where WWE stars recall their first time meeting The Undertaker, will be available this Sunday on the WWE Network.
Season 7 of mobile game WWE Supercard has been announced. It will feature Styles & Techniques for deck building, super moves, new card tiers, a WarGames event, and much more. It will be released in November.
Sports Illustrated has an interview with Shotzi Blackheart regarding tonight’s Halloween Havoc show. Blackheart also spoke to Stephanie Chase on joining WWE and Halloween Havoc.
Raquel Gonzalez spoke to TVInsider about her Halloween Havoc match against Rhea Ripley.
Wade Barrett spoke to Metro on his run as the Nexus leader and feuding with John Cena.
Big E talked to Sportskeeda on his backstage chats with The Undertaker and Roman Reigns.
Free matches added to WWE’s YouTube today include Undertaker vs. Batista in a no DQ match for the World Heavyweight title from the April 25, 2008 edition of SmackDown and Hulk Hogan vs. The Giant for the WCW title from Halloween Havoc 1995, as well as the monster truck sumo match that preceded it.
During a virtual meet and greet with Pro Wrestling Junkies, Alex Reynolds spoke about the incident that took place on last week’s Dynamite where he was knocked out, defending AEW’s safety protocols. “No, I think our team does a fantastic job,” he said (h/t Post Wrestling). “I think they took care of me, right away when we all realized I was hurt. They got me out of there nice and safe, so it’s a contact sport, you know? Injuries are gonna happen and I think they’ve shown that they can handle those situations so yeah, I don’t think those safety concerns are validated, as somebody who’s kinda just lived through it. I’ve put my trust fully in our staff”. Reynolds said that he would meet with AEW’s doctor when they tape next week and believed he would be cleared to return.
The Young Bucks are teasing an announcement during their sit down interview with Excalibur tonight on Dynamite.
The latest Aces High column with Hiroshi Tanahashi talks about Tanahashi’s run as the U-30 champion and challenging the MMA style that was popular at the time within the company.
Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite saw both Alex Reynolds and Ray Fenix get injured during their respective matches.
Reynolds was involved in the four-way tag team main event, teaming with Dark Order partner John Silver against The Young Bucks, The Butcher & The Blade and Private Party.
The injury occured when Reynolds took a big splash/leg drop combo from Private Party and was immediately knocked out, his right arm staying in the air during a pinfall. After he just laid there, Blade eventually dragged him into a corner and tagged himself in. Reynolds continued to lay there unconscious as action happened around him.
After several minutes without any medical attention, he staggered up to his feet and he and Silver took several moves from Nick Jackson but was still clearly out of it. He was eventually pushed out of the ring and not seen again.
On Wednesday’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Bryan Alvarez said he heard Reynolds was “feeling great afterward” but there was no further update on his condition.
Earlier in the night, Fenix was hurt during his AEW World title contender tourney match against Penta El Zero M.
The two were battling on the second rope when Fenix jumped up and hit a twisting headscissors on Penta. When Fenix hit the mat, he appeared to land awkwardly on his neck and left shoulder and was slow to recover, awkwardly taking a overhead throw of sorts from Penta afterward.
He could be seen talking to referee Aubrey Edwards throughout this happening and eventually recovered after a few minutes, getting back into the flow of the match and both hitting and taking several big spots.
On WOR, Dave Meltzer said he had no update other than Fenix was said to be “sore”. As of this point, he is scheduled to face Kenny Omega in the tourney’s second round for next week’s show which is expected to be taped Thursday.
AEW has announced a change to the lineup for this Saturday’s All Out pay-per-view.
The “Tooth & Nail match” between Britt Baker and Big Swole has been moved to the All Out card. A tag match has been announced to take its place on the pre-show, with Private Party facing The Dark Order’s 3 & 4 (Alex Reynolds & John Silver).
Baker vs. Swole being moved to the main card was announced via a tweet from AEW president and CEO Tony Khan: “Hey let’s just make All Out tomorrow night the best wrestling ppv we can possibly do. Now on the main ppv card: Dr. Britt Baker v. Big Swole in the 1st ever Tooth & Nail Match emanating from Dr. Baker’s dental office, anything goes, no DQ + falls count anywhere. See you tomorrow!”
Baker vs. Swole will be a cinematic match.
The All Out pre-show will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday. The main card will then start at 8 p.m. Eastern. Here’s the updated list of announced matches for the show:
AEW World Champion Jon Moxley defending against MJF
AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida defending against Thunder Rosa
AEW Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega & Hangman Page defending against FTR
Mimosa Mayhem match: Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy
The Dark Order (Brodie Lee, Evil Uno, Stu Grayson & Colt Cabana) vs. Dustin Rhodes, QT Marshall, Scorpio Sky & Matt Cardona
The Young Bucks vs. Jurassic Express (Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy)
Broken Rules match: Matt Hardy vs. Sammy Guevara
Tooth & Nail match: Britt Baker vs. Big Swole
Casino Battle Royale
Private Party vs. Alex Reynolds & John Silver (pre-show)
