Tag: bruce prichard

Former Ridge Holland believes Vince McMahon & Bruce Prichard messed with him following Big E incident | Exclusive

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

Following Ridge Holland’s traumatic incident with Big E, the former WWE wrestler recently revealed how Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard possibly messed with him after that.

In an exclusive interview with F4Wonline, Holland opened up on the ‘extremely difficult’ aftermath he faced following the incident with Big E. “ It was extremely difficult. Obviously, I’ll always preface it by saying the main point is that making sure that Big E was okay, and he’s all good now, and he’s healthy. But at the time, from a personal standpoint, it was probably one of the hardest times of my life. Coming in as a relatively unknown entertainer onto the main roster and then you know, being involved in an accident which put one of the biggest stars in the company on the shelf,” he said.

“So, from like death threats to all the social media things, it kind of marred my…kind of like drove a certain perception of me with fans that I struggled to kind of shake. And I’m sure that kind of went up into the, you know, the higher up into the office and stuff. And I just think their confidence in me, and especially my confidence in my own performance, was definitely affected ’cause I didn’t really wanna get in the ring. I was very nervous about getting in the ring after that. It shook me. So, yeah, it affected everything, home life, everything.”

However, when asked how the incident affected his working relationship with WWE and the higher-ups, Holland revealed an incident that he believes Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard did to mess with him.

“So initially, I was offered to go to counseling and stuff like that. Like it would be like, you know, obviously, like speak to someone, which I declined at that minute. I just didn’t really wanna speak to anyone, to be honest. The initial backlash, obviously, it’s funny ’cause the week, the week after, which I thought was kind of rough, they wanted me to do an apology promo live before I went out for a match.

“And I remember there were Vince [McMahon] and Bruce [Prichard] standing there, and they were counting down like thirty seconds till we go live. And I’m thinking, ‘I don’t know what I’m gonna say. I’m just gonna speak from the heart.’ And then it got to like five, four, and then they cut it. They just didn’t do promos right then. And then I had to go out and wrestle a match. So I think that was in poor taste. I think they did that to mess with me, and it really put a bad taste in my mouth, and I never really looked at those people the same, to be honest. I thought it was in really poor taste,” Holland finished.

Despite not being close friends with Big E, Holland respects the former WWE Champion and recently exchanged pleasantries with him at WWE WrestleMania 42. “I’ve had a couple of, you know, conversations with Big E. I actually saw him at WrestleMania. You know, I met his fiancée, and we just swapped pleasantries. You know, we were never close friends, but you know, I respect him, and I hope that goes both ways. I sent him some things, you know, to say sorry and profusely apologized, and I was in contact with him via text, you know, for days and weeks after, after the accident, checking in.“

The incident led to a lack of confidence in Holland, which he believes kept hanging over him. “It was tough just trying to kinda find myself again as a performer because I really was, on the main roster, being kinda like a Sheamus’ lackey. I never really got to find that area of like character development and wrestle like how I wanted to wrestle or be given the time to develop. And then obviously, with that hanging over me came confidence issues and stuff. So it kind of affected me. And the fans kinda labeled me as being unsafe and not being able to wrestle, and that followed me through, and it probably will for quite a while. So just trying to prove to myself that I am good at this, which I know I am. And trying to prove the naysayers wrong.“

Despite all the setbacks, Holland found his flow and enjoyed a successful second run in WWE NXT, Evolve, and TNA, before suffering an injury and getting released.

Ridge Holland looks back at his TNA injury and WWE release

Following a brief two-year run on the main roster, Holland returned to NXT. Looking back at his second NXT run under Shawn Michaels, he shared, “You know, we came in, and it was my idea to kind of run with the dangerous kinda, always injuring people. So that was my thing. I always wanted to come back, and the arc was to try a redemption arc. So I was always trying to do good, but things kept going wrong. And then the heel turn came. It’s when I started to realize, ‘Well, maybe I’m good at it. This is what I should do. Maybe I should be hurting people.’”

However, the incident with Ilja Dragunov became another turning point in his career. “But then, when the Ilja [Dragunov] thing happened, it got a great reaction. You know, it was all over social media and everything, and then I got the word that the higher-ups said it was too close to the bone, so they had to call me off. That’s what it felt like for my whole NXT run. I would get, you know, get hot and then something would happen. I’d get hot, and something would happen. But I thought I was probably the best heel on the show leading up to the Chase U thing. Yeah. I thought I was getting great heat, great reactions. There was never a silent moment in the crowd, and it was weird.”

Looking back at his second NXT and Evolve run, Holland believes he was lied to by WWE management, who kept assuring him everything was okay despite removing him from televised programs.

“I just got dropped off TV after the, after I lost to Ricky Saints, actually. I just got dropped off TV, and then the next thing was like, ‘Oh, four months later you’re going to Evolve.’ And I kinda knew the writing was on the wall then. I asked if there was anything that I could’ve worked on. Is it my work, my promos? What is it? They said, ‘No, everything’s cool.’ Which is a lie, you know. Obviously, they took me off TV for a reason. So frustrating, but I took the jump to Evolve as another opportunity to kinda rebrand myself, trying to take the positive out of a negative.“

Last year, in September 2025, Holland, aka Luke Menzies, made his TNA debut against Mike Santana. While he believes he had a good match with Santana and it showed him a “shimmer of hope,” things again fell apart when he injured himself during his bout against Moose.

Walking through the exact moment of the injury, Holland shared, “I was, uh, gonna give Moose a pop-up powerbomb, and because he’s so athletic and you know, he jumped so high, I thought I was gonna lose him. So I stepped forward, and he came down. I took a step back, and the foot that stepped back just twisted in my boot. Yeah. And that’s what caused the injury there. And obviously, I couldn’t really put weight on my foot, and I thought for his safety and my safety, I’ve been in that situation before, I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. I couldn’t continue. And then, went to the back, got seen by some medical personnel. And then it was just basically fly home, WWE paid for imaging, found out the extent of the injury, and then, you know, obviously went through surgery.“

However, the 37-year-old believes WWE releasing him while injured was “bad company practice.” Reflecting on the situation, he said, “ I think it was just the fact that the situation was pretty murky. It could’ve been anyone who went through that situation. I think there’d have been a bit of an outcry, but, you know, as I said, I wasn’t able to wrestle and earn a living for seven months, and to be unemployed at that point. Couldn’t really walk, put weight on my foot, or anything. So it’s not as if I could go out and get a regular job. So yeah, it was a pretty poor situation. I thought it was bad business practice. I just don’t think that you do that to human beings. But unfortunately it’s, it’s corporate America, right? Things happen.”

Now gearing up for his indie comeback dates and a run in the UK’s National Wrestling League, Holland is looking forward to reinventing himself and not targeting any specific promotion, be it AEW or other companies.

“So at the minute, my biggest thing is to totally reinvent myself, just work anywhere and everywhere, and not have my heart set on working for a particular company. It’s more or less starting from the ground up, just starting from scratch and creating a little bit of a buzz and just showing people, you know, what I can do. So yeah, it’s just a matter of picking up as many bookings as I can, and obviously trying to give back as well, trying to help in any way.“

Holland believes he has now acquired knowledge that he believes will be valuable to elevate other wrestlers and himself. “I’ve learned some lessons, and I’ve learned some things. I’ve got a certain amount of knowledge that will be valuable to some other people. So if I can elevate myself, but elevate other people at the same time, that’s the goal.”

Bruce Prichard details scandal involving cemetery used for Undertaker vignettes

Posted on by Ian Carey

One of the cemeteries WWE used for The Undertaker’s early vignettes harbors a dark secret.

Bruce Prichard appeared on The Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast recently and discussed filming vignettes early in Undertaker’s career, including at a Stamford-based cemetery. Prichard said that either after a shoot, or shortly thereafter, his assistant showed him the front page of a Stamford newspaper detailing crimes connected to the cemetery.

Prichard said:

“That cemetery, either after that shoot, shortly thereafter, my assistant came in and showed me the front page of the Stamford newspaper. That cemetery had been accused of stacking bodies. And they found them. And this guy would dig holes for us, he would let us go on mausoleums, everything.“

“They would just stack. And then once they knew the family was gone, they’d get rid of that headstone and sell it to another family. Sure, we got room! Don’t worry about it!”

“We got plenty of room, we got plenty of dirt,” Taker added.

While Prichard never named the cemetery directly, the timing lines up with the Fairfield Memorial Park scandal of the early 1990s, which led to several lawsuits against the cemetery. Testimony from cemetery workers stated that management did not know which bodies were in which graves, that bodies were sometimes buried away from where headstones had been placed, and that plots were sold more than once.

Prichard and Undertaker also discussed filming the vignettes, with Prichard saying he enjoyed them more than Undertaker did.

“They were fun!” Prichard said.

“They were anything but fun,” Taker replied.

Prichard and Taker’s comments about the cemetery scandal begins around the 40-minute mark of the interview.

Bruce Prichard explains short WWE PLE structure: ‘Ten matches on a card is hard to watch’

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

WWE’s Bruce Prichard has now opened up in detail on why he believes short WWE PLE structures to be better than the long ones. Over the years and since transitioning from Vince McMahon’s creative lead, the Stamford-based promotion has adapted into a more concise style of hosting just four to five matches on a PLE card. Recently, speaking on the Something To Wrestle podcast, Prichard shared his insights on the decision.

“I go back and watch; ten matches on a card is hard to watch. When you look at the presentation, and you put so many things in a ten-match card, at the end of the night, what do you remember? You’re most likely going to remember the main event, the last match on the card. But there may have been an angle in the third match and a hell of a match, but you have forgotten because you have seen so much other s**t. Good, bad, or indifferent. I think less is more.”

Speaking on the move from traditional PPV structure to streaming, Prichard also explained why such a change was important.

“Sometimes you have to battle that demon of, ‘We have to get more people on this.’ The PLE streaming aspect of the business has changed that completely. Because A, Talent is not paid on pay-per-view buys because there are no PPV buys. There is no time allotment. You can give them an hour, you can give them five hours, whatever. They don’t really want more than three (hours),” Prichard continued.

“It’s a different time and a different way people consume. ‘I need my WrestleMania moment.’ You have a moment next month in the main event. ‘I want to be on WrestleMania.’ Where? It’s going to get lost here, and we’re doing this here. There is a lot more territory and avenues. Plus, by the way, you’re doing television every week. You’ve got five hours of TV every week. That’s just a lot of television. Television is just as valuable as the PLEs with rights fees. To be on television to a huge number of people versus PLEs, that has changed. Every time you’re on screen is valuable.”

Since the past few years, WrestleMania has moved to two nights to allow for more time, matches, and the chance for wrestlers to showcase their talent, while generally limiting the card to just five matches a night.

Bruce Prichard recalls Vince McMahon’s WWE offer he ‘couldn’t refuse’

Posted on by Shounak Chakrabarti

WWE veteran Bruce Prichard recently revealed Vince McMahon’s offer, which led to his highly anticipated return to WWE in 2019.

In a recent episode of the Something To Wrestle podcast, Prichard finally spilled the beans on what led to his decades-long WWE return. Reflecting on his discussion with McMahon, Prichard revealed the offer that he couldn’t refuse.

“He looked at me, and he says, ‘Let me ask you a question, does your wife Miss Connecticut?’” Prichard said. “Said, ‘Nope. How about you? You miss Connecticut?’ I said, ‘Nope.’ So try this different way. I said, ‘Would you ever consider coming back?’ ‘I’ll consider anything, but I’m pretty happy doing what I’m doing right now.’ And he goes, ‘I don’t want you to change a thing you’re doing right now. I don’t want you to change a thing. Have it all.’”

The conversation took place during the Elimination Chamber event in Houston, where Prichard resided at that point in time. Sharing more details about their conversation, Prichard claimed that McMahon offered a contract that allowed him to continue doing his podcasts while still employed with WWE.

The 62-year-old claimed that despite his past clashes with the promotion, the offered deal was too good to turn down. “Truth be told, you can refuse anything you want to refuse, but it was an offer I couldn’t refuse, and I accepted the offer.”

Prichard had parted ways with WWE in 2008 after being released by Stephanie McMahon; however, after being decades away, he later made his celebrated return.

“I asked to see everything in writing, and it was almost as if I had insulted him, that I asked for everything in writing,” Prichard recalled. “I had everything in writing in 15 minutes. So every stumbling block that I’m looking for, can you give me a reason to say no, you took away from me, and in writing, it was even better than it was on the phone.”

Prichard currently works as the “Executive Director – CWT” (Creative Writing and Talent) for the Stamford-based promotion and also played an essential role in Cody Rhodes’ WWE return.

Cody Rhodes received special gift from WWE after WrestleMania 40

Posted on by Joseph Currier

After finishing his story at WrestleMania 40, new champion Cody Rhodes received a special gift from WWE brass.

Rhodes revealed at the post-WrestleMania night two press conference that Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Nick Khan, and Bruce Prichard gifted him a gold Rolex following Sunday’s event. Cody said it’s the “same watch” that his late father Dusty Rhodes once pawned so Cody could attend acting school.

Cody said:

Something that I wanted to share – I came to the back, and Bruce Prichard and Triple H and Nick Khan handed me this, which is the same watch that my dad had that he pawned so that I could go to acting school. So the level of investment and responsibility that the company just put in my hands, I hope I can pay it back, pay it forward a hundred times over.

Levesque said at the press conference that it was Khan’s idea to get Cody the watch. Prichard went and tracked down the right watch.

“We just wanted to give him, I don’t know, something that in some way commemorated his dad being here when this happened, because he was,” Levesque said.

In a eulogy following Dusty’s death in 2015, Cody said his father told him that he could have the watch if he ever won the World title. Cody didn’t find out about the watch being sold until 2015.

Cody won the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship by defeating Roman Reigns in Sunday’s main event. It put an end to Reigns’ 1,316-day run as champion.

While speaking to the crowd after defeating Reigns, Cody said he would not have gotten here without Levesque and Prichard.

Ronda Rousey: WWE is an absolute sh*tshow I don’t intend on going back to

Posted on by Josh Nason

On a day when excerpts of her new book caught the interest of the wrestling world, former WWE and UFC star Ronda Rousey made some additional comments Wednesday that included telling two WWE executives to “go f*ck themselves,” that she doesn’t intend on returning to the company, and that concussions were the reason she retired.

During an 18-minute video alongside her sister and co-author Maria Burns Ortiz, Rousey was asked about what fans would be most be surprised about in reading her new “Our Fight” book — the follow-up to her “My Fight/Your Fight” bestseller.

Among other things, she said, “…how much of an absolute sh*tshow it is at the WWE. They can’t hold a sword over my head and hold me hostage with my own career. I don’t need anything from them and I don’t intend on going back. I can say everything I think and feel where everyone else that is held captive by their organization can not.”

Rousey said she was held back on saying even more about her WWE experiences than she did in the book due to a contractual word count. She specifically took aim at John Laurinaitis and Bruce Prichard who she “was going to talk so much more sh*t about,” saying in an earlier part of the interview that the two could “can go f*ck themselves.”

Rousey did not mention any other executives like Vince McMahon, Paul Levesque or Nick Khan. Several excerpts released earlier Wednesday featured some choice comments Rousey had about McMahon and called out how WWE had treated female talent in the past.

The former WWE Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion also revealed that her career ended due to concussions that she first started suffering during her judo career. She said that she had to keep them a secret for years so she could continue to compete and perform, adding that WWE has a “complicated history” with their talents getting concussed so she felt she couldn’t talk about it.

In October 2023, Rousey said she was retiring from wrestling — several months after she lost to friend Shayna Baszler at WWE SummerSlam in her final match there. However, she returned that same month at a Lucha VaVoom show, teaming with friend Marina Shafir against Brian Kendrick and Taya Valkyrie. 

She followed that up with a November match for Wrestling Revolver, teaming with Shafir against Athena and Billie Starkz which was followed by a rematch in her Ring of Honor debut. AEW and ROH head Tony Khan said there was no plans to sign Rousey past that one match but that he would have her back anytime.

Bruce Prichard on Vince McMahon allegations: ‘I’m not involved’

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Bruce Prichard says he can’t comment on the Vince McMahon allegations.

On his podcast Something to Wrestle, Prichard responded to the Vince McMahon allegations by saying he himself is not involved with the ongoing investigations, and can’t comment on the investigation itself.

“As far as lawsuits and things of that nature, I’m not at liberty to discuss any legal matter with the company whatsoever,” he said. “So to that, there’s nothing that I can say, so there can’t be a response from a legal standpoint…I’m not involved. I’m not being sued, I’m not accused of anything. It’s a legal matter…and sometimes it’s as simple as for those that believe, an explanation is needed and for those that don’t, no explanation will do. That’s kind of where we are, let the rest of it sit in the hands of the fine legal system we have here in the United States of America.”

McMahon resigned from TKO and WWE last month after a lawsuit was filed by a former employee who accused McMahon of sexual assault and sex trafficking. Additionally, McMahon is currently under federal investigation.

Prichard returned to WWE in 2019 as part of the creative team, and soon became a senior vice president. He took over the role of executive director of SmackDown later that year, and the following year was named executive director of both SmackDown and Raw.

WWE’s Bruce Prichard undergoing triceps surgery

Posted on by Ian Carey

Bruce Prichard is having triceps surgery. 

The news was revealed on Thursday by Prichard’s Something to Wrestle With co-host, Conrad Thompson

“Bruce is having triceps surgery this morning. We hope to record Saturday,” Thompson wrote on X. 

Prichard underwent shoulder surgery in December as well. He also had rotator cuff surgery in 2022. 

The 60-year-old producer is a longtime ally of Vince McMahon. He returned to work on the WWE creative team in 2019 after being gone since 2008. 

Following allegations against McMahon in the lawsuit filed by Janel Grant last week, Ronda Rousey took to social media to state that as long as Prichard remains in WWE, McMahon will still have a hand in running the company. 

Rousey wrote:

Bruce Prichard is basically Vince’s avatar, if he’s still around Vince still has a hand in the business. Vince was still running things through Bruce when he was ‘gone’ before

Ronda Rousey: If Bruce Prichard is around, Vince McMahon still has a hand in WWE

Posted on by Joseph Currier

In a social media post on Saturday, Ronda Rousey responded to Vince McMahon’s resignation from WWE.

It was announced on Friday night that McMahon is gone from WWE following the allegations that were made against him in Janel Grant’s lawsuit. WWE president Nick Khan sent an email to staff informing them that McMahon has resigned from WWE and its parent company TKO Group Holdings and will no longer have any role in WWE or TKO Group.

McMahon was the executive chairman of TKO Group.

Rousey doesn’t believe that McMahon will remain uninvolved. In her post on X, Rousey stated that, as long as Bruce Prichard is still with WWE, McMahon will have a hand in the company. Rousey claimed that McMahon was still running things through Prichard following his July 2022 “retirement.”

Rousey wrote:

Bruce Prichard is basically Vince’s avatar, if he’s still around Vince still has a hand in the business. Vince was still running things through Bruce when he was ‘gone’ before

Prichard, a longtime ally of McMahon’s in WWE creative, returned to WWE as part of the creative team in 2019.

McMahon’s 2022 retirement happened during a hush-money scandal that was triggered when the WWE board of directors learned of his settlement with Grant. Because he remained majority shareholder at the time, McMahon was able to force himself back into power in January 2023. That isn’t an option this time because WWE has been acquired by Endeavor.

Grant’s lawsuit was filed against McMahon, WWE, and John Laurinaitis on Thursday. It accuses McMahon of physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking.

McMahon has vowed to vigorously defend himself against the allegations.

Rousey last wrestled for WWE since her contract expired following SummerSlam 2023. Later in the year, the UFC Hall of Famer worked three tag matches teaming with Marina Shafir for Lucha VaVoom, Wrestling Revolver, and ROH.

Daily Update: WWE Raw, Bruce Prichard, Dominik Mysterio

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Clip

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Highlights of the current issue:

  • Match and performer of the week
  • TKO COO Mark Shapiro talks WWE and UFC business and changes they are thinking about
  • Future of the house show business and why breaking even should be okay
  • Injury rate in WWE and AEW and does the schedule make a difference
  • His thoughts on the PFL taking over Bellator
  • Upcoming media rights deals to be made
  • Ideas for UFC’s streaming service
  • How much UFC is making for certain overseas shows as well as WWE
  • When deals are up
  • Change in the look of the WWE ring
  • Running shows in the same city in the same weekend
  • What is the median income of the viewers of all the different promotions
  • What is the level of education of the viewers of all the different promotions
  • What is the ethnic makeup of the viewers of all the different promotions
  • A look at All In 2024 ticket sales
  • A look at NXT Deadline and the interest level
  • A look at the Tokyo Sports MVP and its top candidates and why the person who should win has little chance to win
  • Full coverage of Saturday’s UFC show
  • The most detailed look at the TV ratings, with competition, how each segment did, how the audience has changed over the past year and demo breakdowns
  • AEW and former WWE star headed to Arena Mexico
  • Plight of arrested wrestling star ends up in Mexico president press conference
  • Stardom PPV coverage and build to the Sumo Hall show
  • All Japan tag team tournament coverage
  • New Japan tag team tournament coverage
  • AEW star will headline major NOAH show
  • Updates on Okada
  • Notes on Iron Claw movie
  • Former WWE tag champ retires
  • Sukeban coverage
  • Former WWE announcer working with Trump
  • Great match on indie show
  • U.K. promotion running April show in U.S.
  • Major show with big names in U.K. next week
  • TNA return ticket sales
  • More on the firing of Kevin Sullivan by AEW
  • Update on Continental Classic
  • Von Erichs and AEW
  • Tony Khan talks Sting’s retirement and Ric Flair
  • Khan talks future of Bryan Danielson
  • Danielson talks CM Punk
  • Ticket sales to upcoming WWE & AEW shows
  • International TV ratings and streaming numbers
  • AEW star on show in Vietnam and why
  • Final Battle rundown
  • Why Montreal didn’t do well for AEW
  • Injury updates
  • Update on buys for last two PPVs
  • How much money did the UFC owners pay themselves as compared to the fighters
  • Dana White laughs at Bellator sale to PFL
  • Former UFC champion arrested for allegedly punching his brother
  • Average ticket sales for AEW & WWE
  • More on multiple WWE firings
  • Royal Rumble notes
  • Update on WWE and Giulia
  • Changes in WWE TV schedule
  • Notes on newcomers to NXT
  • Notes on the new WWE signings
  • Rundown of WWE arena events

This Week’s Retro Observer Newsletter

Monday Update

Garrett and I will be up early tonight covering Raw, the Women’s MVP of 2023, Impact secret signing, AEW financials and other topics. 

Raw tonight is the final WWE show before an eight-day break for the holidays. Raw is live from Des Moines. Smackdown on Friday was already taped. Raw on 12/25 and Smackdown on 12/29 will be taped best of shows and then regular tapings will return on 1/1. The NFL game tonight is the Philadelphia Eagles (10-3) vs. Seattle Seahawks (6-7). C.M. Punk is not scheduled on tonight’s show as best we can tell. He was never advertised although people not following closely after last week would certainly assume he would be on. Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre will be building up their match in two weeks, Gunther defends the IC title against Miz, and if Miz doesn’t win, he can’t challenge Gunther for the title again, Damian Priest & Finn Balor defend the tag titles against The Creeds, Piper Niven & Chelsea Green defend the women’s tag titles against Katana Chance & Kayden Carter and R-Truth vs. JD McDonagh in the annual Miracle on 34th Street fight.

I haven’t heard officially that Bruce Prichard isn’t backstage tonight, but he either has or will be getting shoulder surgery and will be away from backstage for a while recuperating.

PWInsider reported Dominik Mysterio having signed a new deal. Rey Mysterio has as well.

Mascara Dorada beat Rocky Romero to win the Historic welterweight title on Friday’s Aena Mexico show. Match was said to be great. Andrade returned on that show teaming with Soberano Jr. & Angel de Oro over Atlantis Jr. & Star Jr. & Mistico which led to challenges of Soberano Jr. vs. Atlantis Jr., coming off them being a tag team, and Mistico vs. Andrade. Andrade talked about matches with Mistico, Volador Jr. and Atlantis Jr. Press attention was way up due to Andrade. Attendance was up, but not by a lot. He’s back on Friday teaming with Brillante Jr. & Espanto Jr. against Magia Blanca & Magnus & Volador Jr., so that’ll start him with Volador.

On Friday’s Smackdown, the Reigns-Orton showdown peaked at 2,405,000 viewers and 0.59 per Wrestlenomics. It stayed pretty strong until a drop in the last 45 minutes, but the main event with Orton vs. Jimmy Uso did pick up to 2,155,000 viewers and 0.54. 18-49 was well below what the shows have been doing in recent months but total viewers was a good number.

In pretty significant sports business news, John Ourand left Sports Business Journal as the biggest name writer for that publication to join Puck.

QT Marshall sent in a video to AAA that was on its TV this weekend which would indicate he’s going to continue working there. Harley Cameron was also in the video.

El Hijo del Vikingo was shaken up in his Friday match with Black Taurus, but worked the next night as part of the ROH tapings teaming with Komander.

MLW is looking at signing new talent, running more shows and bonusing talent. It’s been pretty much acknowledged within WWE that they got money in the settlement and apparently a significant enough number for MLW to upgrade, but the only way that actual number would be released would be by TKO in an SEC filing if the number is significant to WWE. Remember, a number significant to MLW is very possibly not significant to WWE.

Pandemonium Pro from last night in Los Angeles: Ishmael Vaughn & Aaron Solo b Fuego del Sol & Alan Angels, Brian Cage b Jordan Cruz, Honest John won over Robert Martyr, Vinny Pacifico, Richie Coy, Jake Painter and Chris Nastyy, Nyla Rose & Serpentico b Dark Sheik & Anton Woorhees to win the tag titles, Trish Adora b Aspyn Rose, Miyu Yamashita b Mike Bailey (said to be a super match with awesome kicks back and forth and crowd on fire), Wicked Wichett b Jack Evans, Taya Valkyrie b Brooke Havok, Sandra Moone won over Masha Slamovich, Akira and Sonico (said to be fun with the couples working together), Johnny Hollywood (TV) b El Hijo del Vikingo in a non-title match after head-butting him with a bicycle helmet that Valkyrie threw in. (thanks to Chris Champol)

UFC 297 has 17,652 tickets out for the 1/20 show in Toronto at the Scotiabank Arena. It’s 1,503 tickets shy of capacity per WrestleTix. It’s the show headlined by Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis for the middleweight title

AARP magazine has a mention of Andre the Giant playing Bigfoot in the $6 Million Man TV show in the 70s.

Bruce Prichard on recent WWE changes: ‘It’s exciting times’

Posted on by Ian Carey

Bruce Prichard has commented on the recent changes in WWE. 

Prichard returned to his Something to Wrestle With podcast recently and commented on the “exciting times” currently taking place in the company. 

“Let’s call it exciting. It’s exciting times,” he said. “People take life for granted sometimes and take things happening around you for granted and it’s all how you look at life. You can either love life, live life or you can hate life and just exist. There were times in my life where I chose the latter, but I choose the former. I would rather live life and enjoy it because life is a journey, not a destination. Remember, the light at the end of the tunnel may be you.” 

Prichard also took time on the show to clarify his role with creative for the NXT brand. Following Paul Levesque taking time away from the company due to health concerns, there were reports that NXT would become a “McMahon-Prichard production.” Prichard was said to be involved with the marketing, promotion, and direction of the show. He noted on his podcast, however, that he has never written a single episode of NXT.  

“I do have to say, because it’s something people, even internally, have come to me with and made comments about…that I was writing NXT. I never said a word. You know what else I never did? I never wrote one NXT show in the history of my existence,” Prichard said.

“I’m a fan of NXT, I love NXT. Shawn Michaels recently came out and talked about how, ‘It’s been me, it’s been me since day one.’ Shawn has done a tremendous job of grabbing NXT by the horns and doing what he’s done. I love Shawn Michaels to death.” 

H/T to Fightful for the above transcriptions. 

Wrestling Observer Live: Prichard takes another role, RAW report, Bryan Danielson, more!

Posted on by Bryan Alvarez

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Mike Sempervive is back with tons to talk about including the weekly RAW report, Bryan Danielson update, Forbidden Door, Bruce Prichard taking over another job, and tons more. A fun show as always and we apologize for the audio delay!

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Report: Bruce Prichard named interim WWE Head of Talent Relations

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Bruce Prichard has been named interim Head of Talent Relations of WWE, as John Laurinaitis has been placed on administrative leave.

PWInsider reported tonight that WWE issued a memo to talent that Prichard is the new Head of Talent Relations going forward. According to the memo, “pending the conclusion of [WWE’s] Board of Directors’ internal investigation”, Laurinaitis has been placed on administrative leave. The memo additionally promised that Prichard would provide a “seamless transition.”

PWInsider also reported earlier tonight that Laurinaitis was not backstage for tonight’s Raw.

Laurinaitis, along with Vince McMahon, are under investigation by the WWE Board of Directors over a $3 million dollar hush money agreement to a former employee who allegedly had a sexual relationship with both men. McMahon voluntarily stepped down as CEO and Chairman of WWE on Friday while the investigation takes place. Stephane McMahon has been named interim CEO and Chairwoman.

Prichard, who has worked with WWE off and on since the 1980s, returned to the company in 2019 as a Senior Vice President. Additionally, he is the Executive Producer of both Raw and SmackDown.

WWE executive Bruce Prichard to undergo surgery for torn rotator cuff

Posted on by Ian Carey

Bruce Prichard will be having surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff. 

The WWE executive revealed the news during his “Something To Wrestle With” podcast on AdFreeShows.com. He will be having the injury repaired next week. 

“I have a torn rotator cuff,” Prichard said. “The plan is to get it fixed next Wednesday. Six months rehab. I had colitis. I changed my diet. I started working out. I started getting healthy and started feeling good. Actually, man, I put on weight because I’ve been working out and I’m getting stronger and all this good sh*t, feeling really good. But my shoulder was bugging me. So I was going in for treatments for my shoulder.”

Prichard continued to say that he was unaware of the injury until he noticed his arm was bruised. 

“Then one day I look in the mirror, and my entire right arm is just black and blue. I mean, the ugliest thing you’ve ever seen in your life. I’m like, ‘What’s this?’ It didn’t hurt. As a matter of fact, my shoulder pain had gone away. So I went to the doctor and I said, ‘Hey, what the hell is this bruising from?’ They looked at it and said, ‘You tore your bicep clean off the bone from the shoulder.’ I’m like, ‘Well, how the hell did I do that?’ I mean, I did nothing that I could say, ‘Oh, wow. Boy, I heard that pop, or I felt that.’ Nothing like that.”

Prichard then said he had the injury assessed again during WrestleMania. 

“I’m thinking I feel great. I continue my training. I’m stronger than ever. I’m doing all my stuff and the next thing you know, my shoulder starts hurting again. This time it’s a little different pain and it’s intense and it’s not going away. So I got checked out at WrestleMania.”

An MRI confirmed a torn rotator cuff and surgery was recommended. 

“It’s torn and I’m gonna get it fixed. It got to the point where I just was in pain all day long and I don’t feel like being in pain all day long, so I’m just going to be in pain for six more months knowing that there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.”

H/T to WrestlingNews.co