AEW has signed a deal with an international television network that is set to lose its WWE programming at the end of the year.
With WWE moving its international media rights to Netflix in January, doors are open for AEW to make deals with the networks set to lose their wrestling programming.
Fox Sports Mexico is one of those networks and today they announced a new “long-term agreement” with AEW that will cover AEW Dynamite, AEW Rampage, and AEW Collision. The company’s pay-per-views will air on FOX Sports Premium beginning with Saturday’s WrestleDream from Tacoma, Washington.
Terms and length of the deal were not disclosed.
¡NOS SUBIMOS RING CON AEW! 💥
FOX Sports México adquiere los derechos de transmisión de All Elite Wrestlign, una de las marcas de lucha libre profesional más espectaculares del mundo ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/UY0Zk7zAdo
AEW programming previously aired throughout Mexico and some Latin America and Caribbean countries on TelevisaUnivision, but was quietly removed from the service earlier this year.
Google tells me there's about 35 million TV households in Mexico and Fox Sports Mexico says they reach 15 million of them. https://t.co/bFm4G5NKHU
Today’s press release also reveals that an “All Elite Show” will air on Mondays, which appears to be a recap show.
“FOX Sports Mexico will broadcast the entire All Elite Show in Spanish, produced with expert analysis and reviews of the week’s matches along with previews of the next AEW events. This program will air on Monday nights,” reads a translation of today’s press release.
With SmackDown airing on FS1 this week, WWE Backstage is returning for a special edition of the show.
A one-hour episode of WWE Backstage will air on FS1 from the WWE ThunderDome after SmackDown this Friday night. A replay of this week’s SmackDown will then air on FS1 after Backstage at 11 p.m. Eastern time.
SmackDown is making a one-week-only move to FS1 this Friday due to game three of the World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers being on Fox.
FS1 suspended weekly production of WWE Backstage this June, though it was noted that the show could return with occasional episodes surrounding major events. WWE Backstage launched in November 2019 and was hosted by Renee Young and Booker T. It also featured a panel of contributors that included CM Punk making select appearances.
The hosts/panel for this Friday’s episode of Backstage haven’t been announced.
This Friday’s SmackDown is the brand’s go-home show for Sunday’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view. The episode will feature the final build to Roman Reigns and Jey Uso’s Hell in a Cell I Quit match for the Universal Championship and Bayley and Sasha Banks’ Hell in a Cell match for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
Though she departed the company in August, Renee Paquette (formerly known as Renee Young in WWE) will be making an appearance on WWE-related programming this month.
Fox Sports announced today that Paquette and Booker T will host a pre-show for the Friday, October 16 episode of SmackDown. The special pre-show will be 30 minutes long and will air on Fox starting at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time.
The pre-show ties in with the October 16 episode of SmackDown being called the start of the second season of SmackDown on Fox. It will also be the first episode of SmackDown following this year’s WWE Draft.
“In celebration of the second season of FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN on FOX, FOX Sports’ WWE personalities come together for a special FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN KICKOFF SHOW on Friday, Oct. 16,” Fox Sports announced. “Longtime broadcaster Renee Paquette and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T host a bevy of WWE Superstars and special guests live from the brand new ‘WWE ThunderDome’ in Orlando.
“The FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN KICKOFF SHOW begins at 7:30 PM ET/PT and 6:30 PM CT/MT, leading into the season premiere of FRIDAY NIGHT SMACKDOWN on FOX at 8:00 PM ET/PT and 7:00 PM CT/MT.”
This year’s WWE Draft will begin on SmackDown this Friday and conclude on Monday’s episode of Raw.
Fox Sports has also announced that a WWE’s Best Moments of 2020 special will air on Fox this Sunday (October 11). The special “airs adjacent to Sunday’s regional NFL broadcasts airing in-market at 1:00 PM ET and 4:05 PM ET. Viewers with an NFL matchup airing at 1:00 PM ET can watch WWE: THE BEST MOMENTS OF 2020 at 4:30 PM ET; viewers with an NFL matchup airing at 4:05 PM ET can watch the special at 3:00 PM ET.”
After a five-year absence from WWE programing, CM Punk resurfaced on tonight’s episode of WWE Backstage.
Renee Young introduced Punk towards the end of tonight’s show. Punk entered the studio to “Cult of Personality,” walked to the camera, and said “It’s as simple as this: just when they think they have the answers, I change the culture.” He then said he would be on next week’s episode of Backstage.
In a press release, it was noted that Punk would be joining WWE Backstage as a special contributor and analyst. He will be making select appearances in the studio with regular hosts Young and Booker T.
It was reported previously in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Punk’s agents contacted FOX about being part of WWE Backstage. He took part in a screen test but no information on his status had been revealed until now.
Punk walked out of WWE in January 2014, the day after that year’s Royal Rumble.
WWE Backstage airs on Tuesdays at 11 p.m. Eastern time on FS1. It’s a FOX Sports production, which means that Punk will be working for FOX rather than WWE.
Three 24/7 Championship changes have taken place since the end of this week’s WWE television episodes.
WWE uploaded a video where Drake Maverick interrupted a performance by Elias at FOX Sports’ Founders Day event. While Elias was focused on Maverick, R-Truth rolled up Elias to win the 24/7 title. Maverick then unsuccessfully chased after R-Truth and got thrown in a dunk tank.
In a video filmed on the set of FOX Sports’ college football studio show, host Rob Stone pinned R-Truth to win the title after Truth fell. Elias came up from behind and rolled up Stone to regain the championship.
In storyline, the 24/7 title rules were suspended for the night on this past Tuesday’s SmackDown so that Elias could focus on his King of the Ring first-round match against Kevin Owens. Elias defeated Owens with the help of Shane McMahon.
Ali vs. Buddy Murphy is set for the first round of King of the Ring, with the winner advancing to face Elias in the quarterfinals.
Both 24/7 title change videos are available to watch below:
We’re looking for reports on yesterday’s WWE show in Hershey, PA, ROH yesterday in Baltimore, the non-Raw stuff from Washington, D.C. tonight and the Smackdown house show in Roanoke tonight to [email protected].
The final Raw before WrestleMania is tonight in Washington, D.C. with an all-hands on deck show including Brock Lesnar, Roman Reigns and Ronda Rousey all advertised. The show has Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair & Ronda Rousey vs. The Riott Squad and if Lynch, Flair or Rousey turn on the other they are out of WrestleMania, Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio (why?), Beth Phoenix & Natalya & Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. The Iicnonics & Nia Jax & Tamina and The Revival vs. Ricochet & Aleister Black for the Raw tag team titles. There is also a Smackdown house show in Roanoke, VA.
The Smackdown and 205 Live tapings are Tuesday in Baltimore. Rey Mysterio vs. Andrade has been announced for the show as well as a contract signing for Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston.
While interest has inevitably decreased over the years, the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony feels like less of an essential part of WrestleMania weekend than ever.
There are a few major reasons why the Hall of Fame ceremony has lost some of its luster. As WrestleMania week has become a destination for promotions from the United States and abroad, fans have to make difficult decisions on how they’re going to spend their time and money.
The Conor McGregor situation is the lead story in the current issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Look at the investigation into him, his retirement, the timing, and why the retirement and Dana White’s reactions are both a public bluffing game.
Read the update on the WrestleMania card, both matches announced and those not yet announced, the Charlotte Flair title win and what it changes about the show, the multiple changes in the top part of the show, the women in the main event, the interest level in the different shows that week and more.
Also look at the New Japan Cup, with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results, on the entire last week of the tournament and the final show.
Look at Vince McMahon’s stock sale, how much he sold, how much he got and why, as well as the XFL launch and problems with the AAF. Look at the AAF’s new goal.
Look at the retirement of the Bella Twins and their careers, the value of Total Divas and their future plans.
Examine the lawsuit settlement with the wrestlers who have sued Lucha Underground, and the interesting note of the person who backed out of the suit.
Also look at Cain Velasquez’s crossing over into pro wrestling and his deal with AAA, including what they attempted to do with him, the storyline building him up and the wrestlers it looks like he’ll appear with.
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].
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight to talk about the John Oliver show, Raw, late Mania notes and the rest of the news. For tonight’s show, we’re looking for questions on the HBO piece from last night by John Oliver. Any other questions can be sent to later shows. For any questions you can send to [email protected].
Newsweek and Time covered the John Oliver/WWE story.
The injury to Mercedes Martinez yesterday looked like it came from a power bomb by Hiroyo Matsumoto. It was Martinez & Cheerleader Melissa vs. Dash Chisako & Matsumoto on the Shimmer show in Berwyn, IL. Chisako was on the top rope, and was waiting to frog splash Martinez, but could see she was hurt, and came down. Martinez has holding her side. When Melissa saw the injury, she grabbed a chair and hit Chisako in the back for a DQ ending to get the match over. They took a several minute break. Fortunately the injury wasn’t as bad as feared. She was hospitalized with bruised ribs. Charlie Morgan suffered some torn ankle ligaments in a later match where she teamed with Jessica Troy against Kris Wolf & Charlie Evans.
Martinez wrote a thank you message to everyone who thought about her situation. She said when she was in the ring she couldn’t breathe, lost feeing in her face, her left side was in shock and she was in unbearable pain. She said it was very scary.
Results were: Harlow O’hara b Rocky Radley, Martina won Battle royal, Cherry b Veda Scott, Jessicka Havok & Nevaeh b Steph DaLander & Indi Hartwell, Jessica Troy b AQA, Leva Bates won four-way over Miranda Alize, Delmo Exo and Zoe Lucas, Shotzi Blackheart b Sierra, Shazza McKenzie b Thunder Rosa, Samantha Heights & Brittany Blake b Rosemary & Dust, Kimber Lee b Charlie Morgan, Dash Chisako & Hiroyo Matsumoto b Cheerleader Melissa & Mercedes Martinez-DQ, Nicole Savoy b Allysin Kay to keep the Shimmer title, Zoe Lucas b Penelope Ford, Britt Baker b Kimber Lee, Thunder Rosa & Holidead b Miranda Alize & Hyan, Cheerleader Melissa b Solo Darling, Dash Chisako won three-way over Keira Hogan and Cherry, Hiroyo Matsumoto b Su Yung, Charlie Morgan & Kris Wolf (last match for Shimmer before retiring) b Charli Evans & Jesssica Troy, Samantha Heights b Dusty-DQ, Nicole Savoy b Shazza McKenzie to keep the title.
WWE
The first part of the WWE/FOX deal, long before the October start, is that parts of the NXT pre-show will air on FOXSports.com and the Fox Sports app, along with Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. It will include the WWE 2K Challenge. Four finalists from around the world will be competing in semifinals at 1 p.m. on Friday at Fan Axxess. This won’t be on all those streams but will be highlighted on the Xavier Woods Up Up Down Down show as well as WWE 2K on Facebook and Twitter. The winner will face off with A.J. Styles at about 6:30 p.m. on the NXT pre-game show, airing on the WWE Network YouTube, the Fox platforms and USANetwork.com. If the person beat Styles they win the Million Dollar Challenge.
The Miz appears Thursday in New York at BUILD Studio to talk WrestleMania and the WWE/Snickers relationship. It’s a free event.
Roman Reigns has announced he would be raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Eve Torres will be brought to WrestleMania for Fan Axxess. Alicia Fox, who hasn’t been around of late, will also be signing.
UFC
Ruslan Magomedov is the first UFC fighter to get a lifetime ban from the promotion. He tested positive for Ostarine in 2016 and was suspended for two years. Then on 10/10 he tested positive for steroids Methyltestosterone and Stanazolol. And his third strike came on 2/5 when he refused to be tested when USADA came.
A video building Darby Allin vs. Anthony Henry is here.
Premier Championship Wrestling from Saturday night in Winnipeg before a sellout 400 fans: Leo & David London b Jack Pride & Damian, Dragneel b JL Spiker, Moses Luke b Ella Blake, Adam Knight & Darren Dalton b Robby Royce & ATM, Don Callis & Bobby Schink & Travis Cole b Kenny Omega & Chris Stevens, & Donny Dicaprio, Antonio Scorpio won three-way over Jay Walker and Alix Vanna to keep the PCW title. This is the Omega show we wrote about yesterday. (thanks to Andrew Shallcrosas)
AEW is releasing a T-shirt for the next 24 hours with 100 percent of all sales going to Kulture City for autism awareness.
Evolve on Thursday at Noon in Queens, NY at www.wwnlive.com: Austin Theory vs. Kyle O’Reilly for the Evolve title, Eddie Kingston & Joe Gacy vs. Konosuke Takeshita & Mao for Evolve tag titles, Montez Ford vs. Shane Strickland, Angelo Dawkins vs. Colby Corino, Darby Allin vs. Anthony Henry, Kazusada Higuchi vs Curt Stallion, AR Fox & Leon Ruff vs. John Silver & Alex Reynolds, Harlem Bravado vs. Adrian Jaoude.
wXw on Thursday at 4 p.m. in Queens also on WWN Live: Bobby Gunns vs. Shigehiro Irie for the wXw title, Aussie Open vs. Anthony Henry & JD Drake for the wXw tag titles, Marius Al-Ani vs. Emil Sitoci for the Shotgun title, Lucky Kid vs. David Starr, Absolute Andy vs. Chris Brookes, LAX vs. Alexander James & Jurn Simmons, Darby Allin vs. Avalanche, Lufisto vs. Yuu.
DDT on Thursday at 8 p.m. in Queens on WWN Live: Daisuke Sasaki vs. Konosuke Takeshits, Mao vs. Sanshiro Takagi weapons Rumble, Harashima & Kazusada Higuchi vs. Akito & Ethan Page vs. Shigehiro Irie & Jason Kincaid, Soma Takao & Tetsuya Endo vs. Yukio Sakaguchi & Masahiro Takanashi, Battle Royal for Ironman heavymetalweight title, Danshoku Deino & Antonio Honda vs. Joey Ryan & Royce Isaaacs, Miyu Yamashita vs. MakiIto.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix from Thursday night in Omaha: Branden Juarez b Santos Barbosa, Duke Cornell & Moonshine Russell b Jack Darling & Uncle Ricky, Willy Sweet b Brett Bishop, Tim Boston b Seto Kobara, Preston Maxwell b Bigote, Pat Powers NC Devin Carter, Tony Cortez & Paul Daniels & Joey Daniels b Con Artiest & Branden Juarez & Brett Bishop. Next show is 4/24 at the Waiting Room Lounge in Omaha.
White Wolf Wrestling from Saturday night in Madrid, Spain: Jason Jupiter won Rumble, Alex Soul & Viral NC Chad Parker & Mike Murdoch, Elvis Harrison b Noah Striker, Jason Jupiter b Pl Badia to win the Triple W absolute title, Will Ospreay b A-Kid. People have been raving about the main event. (thanks to Paul Sosnowski)
Ivelisse Velez is teaching at the Team Vision Dojo in Orlando. Larry Zbyszko has a class on 4/11 at 4 p.m.
I Believe in Wrestling on Friday night at the Team Vision Dojo.
SoCal Val signed with The Wrestling Agency in the U.K., which is handling bookings for a number of U.K. wrestling personalities. For booking info you can send to [email protected].
Barrington Hughes vs. Jacob Fatu has been added to Thursday’s MLW show.
SHIMMER 109: Sierra def. Thunderkitty with a Superkick. Shazza McKenzie def. Alisha Edwards with a splits stunner into crossface for the submission, Indi Hartwell (with Steph De Lander) def. Allie Kat with a springboard dropkick, Shotzi Blackheart def. Miranda Alize, Hyan, AQA, Penelope Ford, and Kiera Hogan in a six-way lucha scramble with the Back Lagoon to Miranda, Dash Chisako and Hiroyo Matsumoto def. Blue Nation (Jessica Troy and Charli Evans) with a frog splash (D’Lo Brown style) from Dash to Charli, Solo Darling (with Willow-on-a-Stick) def. Zoe Lucas with a cloverleaf, Hudson Envy def. Aerial Monroe, Kimber Lee, and Kris Wolf in a four-corners match, Dust retains the Heart of SHIMMER Title by hitting Leva Bates with her flag while the ref is distracted by Rosemary, Cheerleader Melissa and Mercedes Martinez retain the SHIMMER Tag Titles against the Sea Stars (Ashley Vox and Delmi Exo) following a top rope curb stomp to Ashley Vox, Nicole Savoy retains the SHIMMER Title against Britt Baker with the Savolock. Hudson Envy attacks after the match.
SHIMMER 110: Charli Evans def. Cherry, Hyan def. Aerial Monroe with a Glam Slam, Jessicka Havok def. Sonya Strong in a surprisingly competitive match, Steph De Lander (with Indi Hartwell) def. Veda Scott, Nevaeh, and Brittney Blake with a big boot to Nevaeh, Su Yung def. Shotzi Blackheart with an airplane spin into a Michinoku Driver, Hiroyo Matsumoto and Dash Chisako def. Twisted Sisterz (Thunder Rosa and Holidead) with a Rock Drop from Matsumoto to Thunder Rosa, Allysin Kay def. Shazza McKenzie by sitting out a sunset flip attempt and leaning into the ropes, Rosemary def. Samantha Heights with a spear, Charlie Morgan def. Mercedes Martinez with a jumping DDT, Nicole Savoy retains the SHIMMER Title against Hudson Envy with the Savolock.
The Women’s Wrestling Extravaganza podcast covered all three nights of RISE/SHIMMER.
The insane schedule of events this week in New York (thanks to Phil Stamper):
Wed, Apr 3 – Dojo Wars – Colossal Sports Academy at The Coliseum, 333 Preston Ave, Voorhees, NJ – 8 pm – CZWrestling.com
Wed, Apr 3 – Pizza Party Wrestling – Phil Sheridan Building, Ridgefield Park, NJ – 7 pm
Wed, Apr 3 – UPWA – Wayne PAL Building, 1 Pal DR, Wayne, NJ – 7 pm
Ed in San Antonio presents the WRESTLEMANIAWeekend Event:
Saturday, April 6th, at 12:00 pm: Lunch (all you can eat) at Churrascaria Plataforma ($90 per person), located at 316 W. 49th street in Manhattan. Purchase tickets here~!
WWE officially announced what had been widely reported on for the last month: SmackDown will be moving to Fox in October of 2019, while Raw will remain on the USA Network.
The company put out a press release today officially announcing the five-year agreement. SmackDown will air on Fridays starting on October 4, 2019 on the FOX network. It will remain a two-hour broadcast.
“WWE and FOX are a perfect match,” Vince McMahon said. “Moving SmackDown LIVE to broadcast TV and having the ability to leverage FOX’s extensive portfolio of world-class sporting events will expand the reach of our flagship programming.”
Meanwhile, WWE concurrently announced that Monday Night Raw will continue on the USA Network in what is also a five-year deal with NBC Universal. It will start in October 2019.
“Monday Night Raw and USA Network have dominated Monday nights during a truly historic run,” Chris McCumber, President, Entertainment Networks for NBCUniversal Cable was quoted as saying.“Our partnership with WWE is one of the strongest and most successful in the business, and together we’ll take Raw to even greater heights.”
These agreements increase the average annual value (AAV) of WWE’s U.S. distribution to 3.6 times that of the prior deal with NBCU.
