WWE is producing a new slate of legacy title belts.
Ahead of the college football season kicking off, WWE is now selling legacy title belts spotlighting some of the top programs in the country. They are priced at $549.99 each and are available to purchase through WWE Shop and Fanatics.
The belts include the “official branding and colors of select schools from the Southeastern Conference, Big Ten Conference, Big 12 Conference, and Atlantic Coast Conference.”
Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Michigan, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Colorado, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Penn State, North Carolina, Michigan State, Nebraska, Florida State, Florida, LSU, Tennessee, Miami, Oregon, and Kentucky are the schools featured.
“The collegiate WWE legacy title belts will be on display at Fanatics Fest NYC Aug. 16-18 at Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City,” WWE wrote in a press release.
Along with the collegiate belts, WWE is now producing legacy titles featuring the branding of NBA and NHL teams. These are in addition to the partnerships that WWE already has with the NFL and MLB.
The NBA and NHL belts are now available to pre-order and will ship “no later than Monday, October 7.” They are priced at $549.99 as well.
For the first time ever, WWE and the NHL are partnering together for a licensing deal.
It was announced today that WWE and the National Hockey League have entered into an agreement to produce WWE Stanley Cup champions legacy title belts. The belts, which will commemorate the winner of this year’s Stanley Cup Finals, will be available to purchase following the completion of the series. It begins this Saturday night with the Florida Panthers facing off against the Edmonton Oilers.
“Featuring custom side plates emblazoned with the logo and official markings of the winning team, the WWE legacy title belt prominently showcases the Stanley Cup, the oldest and one of the most coveted trophies to be awarded in sports,” a press release said.
The belts will be available to purchase on NHL Shop, WWE Shop, and Fanatics.
WWE also has partnerships with the NFL and MLB to produce custom title belts.
Wrestling programming will face competition from both the Stanley Cup Finals and NBA Finals over the next few weeks. If the Stanley Cup Finals goes seven games, the series will wrap up on Monday, June 24.
A look at the WWE’s last PPV of the Thunderdome era and what did and didn’t work on the Hell in a Cell show is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer. We’ve got the booking, future direction for Money in the Bank, update on MITB tickets, star ratings, poll results and match and performer of the week.
Also in this issue:
A new lawsuit against UFC and why it is a potential game changer along with what would be almost a sure thing if it’s successful regarding WWE, what the claims are, and if it’s successful what it says about payment of money to athletes.
New Japan running shows in the United States, a look back at the early shows in Southern California, who is and isn’t on the cards and more.
Becky Lynch returning, SummerSlam ticket sales, WWE return to MSG, WWE ticket sales, FOX and NBCU suggestions for WWE programming, Montez Ford surgery, Karrion Kross and Bronson Reed tryouts, Shayna Baszler talks angle, International TV ratings, controversy over writer with no product knowledge continued and reaction internally, Rey Mysterio talks angle he doesn’t want to do, Kushida talks Kyle O’Reilly, Titus O’Neil talks his award nomination, plus next week’s TV shows, WWE’s biggest YouTube videos from this past week and WWE company market value.
Saturday’s UFC show with match-by-match coverage, future directions for the talent, business notes and more
Changes being worked on for the Nielsen ratings and who isn’t happy about them and why, television vs. streaming in 2021 and a comparison using AEW programming.
Suwama’s vacating the Triple Crown, how it will be decided, and then look back at how the three belts, the United National, PWF and International belts all formed, when, their rules, their history and the creation of the Triple Crown more than 30 years ago.
A feature on the death of former bodybuilding star turned pro wrestler Melissa Coates.
More into detail on the ratings than any other source, how many different viewers the shows had, breakdown of who watches the shows and how they watch, DVR numbers and how long the average fan watches.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of 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.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering Raw, Eddie Kingston, Chris Jericho, and much more. You can send questions for tonight’s show to [email protected]
Raw tonight includes a three-way for a Money in the Bank spot with last week’s losers, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton and A.J. Styles, plus Elias vs. Jaxson Ryker in a strap match. Karrion Kross, Scarlett and Shotzi Blackheart are all there. They are probably working Main Event.
The NBA and NHL playoffs hurting wrestling numbers will continue this week. The Los Angeles Clippers vs. Phoenix Suns gave five is tonight and it could end the series. If a game six is needed, it goes against AEW on Wednesday and if a game seven is needed, it goes against Smackdown on Friday. So Smackdown & AEW could get a break this week to a degree. NXT goes against Bucks-Hawks tomorrow but that series won’t go against WWE or AEW, but will go against Impact on Thursday.
The NHL playoffs are in the finals, Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Montreal Canadiens. Game one is tonight against Raw. Game two is Wednesday against AEW. Game three is Friday against Smackdown. The NHL crossover isn’t as big as the NBA, but once you get to the finals it hurts. Plus for AEW, they have to reestablish Wednesday which will take a few weeks after so many weeks off.
Vince McMahon will be scouting NXT talent at the Performance Center this week. As noted all week, the idea is to try and have a younger roster but they also want size.
The AEW ratings won’t be out until tomorrow. However, the cable numbers we got were not good, showing a 22 percent decline in viewers and 43 percent decline in hours viewed from the prior Friday night show. Keep in mind that while they do usually end up similar to Nielsen that is not always the case. The NBA game with the Phoenix Suns vs. Clippers had 11.5 times the viewership head-to-head. Whether it’s because of a more accurate method of measurement or because the people with the system skew more toward the NBA, the NBA in comparison to wrestling does far better here than in Nielsen across the board. It should be noted that DVR viewership of AEW on Sunday was up 47 percent off the Saturday night airing.
Impact will be expanding its exposure throughout Europe on Pluto TV. In particular they will have new exposure in the U.K,, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Austria.
WWE
John Morrison was interviewed by DAZN’s Steve Muehlhausen and he put over the Raw show from Monday.
AEW
Because of a curfew at the San Diego Airport, Konnan had to fly on Saturday to Orlando, drive to Jacksonville, which was two hours and got there 45 minutes before his segment started. He didn’t even know his segment until arriving so it was all put together not on the fly, but with almost no lead time.
OTHER NOTES
Today is the 23rd anniversary of the Undertaker vs. Mick Foley Hell in a Cell match, which is one of the most talked about and famous matches in pro wrestling history.
United Wrestling Coalition on Saturday night at Kelly’s Bar in Wrightstown, NJ. They are also collecting Toys for Tots and admission is free with the donation of a new, unwrapped toy valued at $15. The event is outdoors so you are encouraged to bring your own lawn chair and it starts at 5 p.m.
Sendai Girls did a PPV show from Niigata yesterday. Meiko Satomura said it was her last show. She had the NXT U.K. women’s title with her. Yurika Oka b Mei Hoshizuki to win the jr. title, Aiger & Rydeen Hagane b Kaoru & Sakura Hirota, Aja Kong & Hiroyo Matsumoto & Ayame Sasamura b Ryo Mizunami & Ike Iwata & Manami, Mio Momono & Rin Kadokura b Chihiro Hashimoto & Yuu to win the Sendai Girls tag titles, Minoru Suzuki & Meiki Satomura b Jinsei Shinzaki & Nanae Takahashi (thanks to Shannon Walsh of JoshiSunTimes.com)
The PFL announced the hiring of Derk Chang to its Board of Directors. Chang is the CEO of Friend MTS and former CEO of NBA China. Obviously the idea is to use his experience and connections to get into the China market.
King Mo, BuKu Dao and Alex Kane have been added to MLW’s 7/10 Battle Riot show. Also added to the show is a Bunkhouse Brawl with Team Filthy vs. Ross & Marshall Von Erich.
Northeast Wrestling from yesterday in Waterbury, CT: Gio Valvano b Ray Jaz, Channing Thomas b Chris Battle, Mike Gamble b Mosh Pit, Tony Vega & Cam Zagami b Traevon Jordan & Jaylen Brandyn, Megan Bayne b Tina San Antonio, Zane Bernardo & RJ Rude b PJ & Tommy Grayson, Hale Collins b Dutch (Bill Carr) via DQ, Ron Zombie b J-Hero, Wrecking Ball Legursky b Chris Moljo, Mike Verna b Jimmy Preston, Keith Youngblood b Brad Hollister to win the Live title (thanks to Nick Mahmood)
Combate Globo announced running Friday night for the only televised MMA show this weekend, live on CBS Sports Network at 11 p.m. Eastern. The top bouts are Jose Estrada (6-2), who finally gets a main event, vs. Leonardo Morales (10-4) at featherweight and Tommy Aaron (7-4) vs. Alex Velasco (8-6).
Gleat will air live on YouTube on Thursday at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time for a show build around old UWF style matches with the big four bouts being:
Daijiro Matsui & Tetsuya Izuchi vs. Minoru Tanaka & Soma Watanabe
Chihiro Hashimoto vs.; Maya Fukuda
Masakatsu Funaki vs. Yu Iizuka
Sho vs; Takanori Ito
ROH is doing a buy one ticket, get the second night free in its presale for the 8/20 and 8/21 shows in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena. Tickets don’t go on sale to the public until 7/5 at 10 a.m.
GCW runs 8/7 in Los Angeles at the Ukranian Cultura Center on FIE at 8 plm.
Innovative Wrestling Fire on the Mountain on 8/14 in Kingsport, TN at the Civic Auditorium with an Ultimate Jeopardy match main event.
Turner Broadcasting and the NHL announced a deal on 4/27, which had been rumored the day before, for a seven-year contract that would include games on TBS, TNT, Bleacher Report and HBO Max.
NBC, which held the rights, officially pulled out of the bidding days earlier. WWE President Nick Khan on 4/22 was the first to say publicly that he didn’t expect NBC to get the second half of the NHL package. The package was going to go to USA as part of NBC for Wednesday night games weekly during the season. The plan was to start late this season to acclimate viewers to USA as the home for hockey when NBC Sports Network, the previous home, is shut down. The idea was to strengthen USA by giving them more live sports programming with the NHL and NASCAR being the prime properties. But NBCU made a low bid.
Turner bid $225 million per year for a deal that would start in the 2021-2022 season and last until the 2027-2028 season. In Canada a few days earlier it was being reported that FOX and FS 1 were the favorites to get the second half of the NHL package. There were multiple suitors for the weaker second half of the package after ESPN and ABC had bid $400 million for the primary package.
Tony Khan has commented on a recent deal between the NHL and Turner Sports and how the deal may have an effect on AEW’s time slot.
On Busted Open Radio, Khan said that the Wednesday night on TNT slot was their home, but they would consider moving if it was a good deal for both the company and its fans.
“I know Wednesday night is our slot and our home,” he said. “I’m thrilled with our partnership with TNT. It’s the lifeblood of our company and our primary revenue source and t’s the way most fans get exposed to AEW and see our show. And tonight and every night that we do Dynamite, for a lot of wrestling fans, it’s a really important night of the week. So I want everyone to [be] rest assured that they’re not going to have to worry about these kinds of major…you know, we have a contract with over two and a half years left for Wednesday nights in this slot. And if there was ever an opportunity to move or if there was a deal to be had, I would consider it. If we did something, it would have to be a really good deal for AEW and it would have to make sense for us. As it stands right now, that is the spot we’re in. If we move, I would certainly consider a deal if there was something in it for AEW.”
NHL and Turner Sports announced a seven-year media rights deal this week that will see NHL games air on both TNT and TBS beginning in the 2021-22 season. There has been no indication regarding what days NHL will air on either station.
We have a loaded issue of the Wrestling Observer this week, with business and history features.
We update WWE financials, with comments from Nick Khan, Vince McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Kristina Salen talking about the state of the company, the state of sports business, what media companies are looking at right now, AEW, plus a look at WWE revenue and profits. We also look behind the numbers at what they mean, how every category is doing and what categories the company is no longer reporting on. We also look at the decline of WWE ratings as compared to that of cable television and network television.
Also in this issue:
The new attempt at a unique concept PPV with the Triller promotion and Ben Askren vs. Jake Paul, the show, the match, the blitzed announcers, Ric Flair, comparisons to other similar things and long-term sustainability.
Kenny Omega vs Rich Swann match, followed by a story on famous title unification matches throughout pro wrestling history. We look at some of the biggest and most important matches of all-time that were two champions unifying a world title from 1920 to the present.
WrestleMania business numbers when it came to the two live shows, with real attendance, real gates and what it means.
New Smackdown announcing team, Pat McAfee talks his debut, Daniel Bryan talks his current situation and contract, thoughts on Daniel Bryan’s future, new hires and departures at WWE, change in show distribution, former star talks coming out of retirement, how the WWE & AEW shows rank among sports programming, WWE star bio released, Damien Priest talks Bad Bunny, more on Kalisto being let go, Dr. Wagner Jr. talks WWE, political reason for a winning streak, and most-watched YouTube segments on his week’s WWE programming.
A major feature on the career of Steve Austin and the A&E special, his background, how he got into wrestling, the WCW years, the Stone Cold name, life after wrestling, and what were key things not talked about on the documentary.
Mickie James garbage bag situation and the firing of Mark Carrano.
MLW’s new television deal, who else was in talks about that deal, MLW returning to shows with fans and a spinoff planned.
Coverage of this past week’s UFC show, business notes, where the top fighters are headed plus match-by-match coverage.
More detail on ratings than any other source, we have how every segment on NXT and AEW did as well as how it did with different age groups, genders and more, plus a look at all other wrestling shows of the past week.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of 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.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw, New Japan, what the NHL deal means as far as pro wrestling goes and much more. You can send questions for the show to [email protected]
The second NHL contract looks like it will end up with Turner Broadcasting, a seven-year deal at $225 million per year. This has a ton of ramifications when it comes to both pro wrestling rights fees, as well as time slots. We’ll talk a lot more about that tonight and there is an article already written in the Observer regarding what this means for wrestling and MMA. Fox & FS 1 were thought to be the frontrunners, while NBC/USA pulled out officially today. WWE President Nick Khan on Thursday said that he thought NBCU would not be getting the NHL deal. When NBC dropped NBC Sports Network, part of the deal was to add sports programming, with the key being the NHL and NASCAR, to USA, but evidently they didn’t want to bid as high as the numbers got for a partial package.
We’re looking for your thoughts on last night’s UFC show as well as tonight’s Impact Rebellion, you can leave a thumbs up, down or middle, best and worst match for each show to [email protected]
Daniel Cormier, on his show with Ariel Helwani, said that he wanted to smash Jake Paul on Saturday but he can’t do that at work and would have gotten into trouble. He challenged Paul to an MMA fight, saying he has no interest in boxing him but if he wants to fight him, fight in mixed rules. He said he would cut to 205 and would come out of retirement for such a fight. That is not going to happen.
Raw tonight has Drew McIntyre & Braun Strowman vs. T-Bar & Mace, Miz & Elias & Jaxson Ryker vs. Damien Priest & Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods and Nia Jax & Shyana Baszler & Rhea Ripley vs Asuka & Lana & Naomi. Bobby Lashley is also scheduled for an interview.
Tickets for AEW’s Blood and Guts went on sale this morning. We don’t know how many tickets were put on sale. It was not 2,500 but they will open up to 2,500 if they have the demand. They put about 1,500 tickets on sale, or that could be off by 100 or so in either direction, and the last time I checked they were 353 tickets shy of a sellout.
Triller filed a lawsuit against 11 streaming companies and 100 individuals (not named) claiming piracy in both offering and selling their PPV. They claimed there were two million people at least who streamed it illegally and that cost them $100 million.
The company released a statement saying:
It’s shocking to think a theft so grand can be done so blatantly and brazenly and with no remorse. There is zero difference between what they did and walking into a market stealing tons of a product and selling it at a discount in the parking lot. It’s neither civilly nor criminally any different, and we are prosecuting to the fullest extent of the law. There were more than two million illegal streams, akin to hundreds of millions of dollars. Sites, mostly using Google’s YouTube, such as FILMDAILY.COM, ACCESSTVPRO.CO, enONLINE2LIVESTREAM.US, CRACKSTREAMSLIVE.COM, SPORTS-TODAY.CLUB, MY-SPORTS.CLUB, BILASPORT.COM, TRENDY CLIPS, MIKE, YOUR EXTRA, ECLIPT GAMING, ITSLILBRANDON, and others are causing significant damage not just to Triller Fight Club but content creators overall. People put a lot of hard work, time and money into creating a product for the consumer, and having it stolen and resold is terribly damaging. The good news is they are not protected by VPN masking or other firewalls as their activities are criminal and grand theft, so we will ultimately find them and prevail not just for us but for content creators in general.
Ryan Kavanaugh, co-controlling shareholder, Triller
Vice announced that the trailer for the 5/6 two-hour Dark Side of the ring season premiere on Brian Pillman will be out tomorrow.
WWE
Next week’s A&E biography will be about Randy Savage. The A&E Biography website has both the Steve Austin and Roddy Piper documentaries up.
Mickie James will be doing an interview on her Grown Ass Women podcast on YouTube on Wednesday at 5 p.m.talking about her being let go and the garbage bag story.
OTHER NOTES
A sad story about two brothers who won the New Jersey state high school tournament and their grandmother dying right after is at (thanks to Barry Werner)
Memphis Wrestling from Saturday’s TV show: Bam Bam Malone NC Action Jackson, Diana Taylor b Paris Kelly, Da Russell Twins b Ryan Rembrandt & Precious, Norman Meklakov b Justin Cole, Chris Lexx b Carter Matthews, Austin Lane b Van Vicious. They are building the 5/15 television show called the Grind City Rumble. They are doing a taping with Jerry Jarrett as a guest. The show airs at Noon every Saturday on CW 30 and on YouTube. The Twitch review show with longtime Observer subscriber Brian Tramel and RynoJB is at 1 p.m. every Saturday called Rollin Into Mempho.
Combate Global announced an all women’s show on Univision this coming Friday night called Combate Latina starting at 12:30 a.m. late Friday night. The show takes place at the Univision studios in Miami. It airs on Televisa In Mexico at 5 p.m. local time Saturday. The main event has Criszaida Adames (4-0) vs. Karen Cedillo (4-1). In the co-feature, Dulce Garcia (2-0) faces Claudia Diaz (0-2). Dulce Garcia is much better known as pro wrestler Sexy Star of AAA and Lucha Underground fame.
El Hijo de L.A. Park vs. Bu Ku Dao was announced for MLW Fusion on Wednesday night.
AAW results from Saturday night in Villa Park, IL: Ace Perry b Jake Lander, Skye Blue b Katie Arquette, Mat Fitchett b Thomas Shire, Schaff b Davey Vega, Myron Reed b Brayden Lee to keep the Heritage title, Hyan b Skye Blue 2/3 falls, Fred Yehi b Matt Justice. Next show is 5/7 at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, IL with Mance Warner vs. Fred Yehi for the AAW heavyweight title, Myron Reed vs. Mat Fitchett for the Heritage title, Davey Vega vs. ACH, Skye Blue vs. Allysin Kay plus Ace Austin, Mad Man Fulton, Lio Rush, Laredo Kid, Jake Something, Manders, Bryden Lee, Ace Perry, Matt Justice and more.
ONE will air after Dynamite at 10 p.m. Wednesday night on TNT with Aung L N Sang (26-11) vs. Reinier de Ridder (13-0) for the light heavyweight title, Eddie Alvarez (30-8) vs. Rae Yoon Ok (14-3) and Kirill Grishenko (3-0) vs. Oumar Kane (3-0). Notable is that Shinya Aoki’s fight with Eduard Folayang will be airing on B/R Live, and not on TNT.
The Brady Roberts podcast MINT CONDITION MUSCLE has a new interview with NXT’s Franky Monet, talking about her background in fitness competitions, training under Lance Storm, being discovered by Shad Gaspard and marrying John Morrison.
Never fear, the original alternate is back with topics including:
– There was a little man in the ALF suit?
– The natural hockey hotbed of Las Vegas Nevada
– The WWE Cruiserweight World Classic and its interesting possibilities
– The fabulous Starrcade ’90 flashbacks featuring Canadian grappling luminaries Troy Montour and Danny Johnson
– The Horsemen’s inspirational message to “Get In Touch With Your Emotions”
– Thoughts on the New Japan Best of the Super Juniors aka the Taguchi revival series, Ricochet, Will Ospreay, Kota Ibushi’s shadow, Hiroshi Tanainjury, New Japan’s top six situation, the upcoming Dominion lineup, sending good vibes to Yumi Fukawa, Did someone say Pro Wrestling Bezzle?, Shimmer, and much, much more.
Lazier than Al Perez’ one eye, yet still deeper than Ole Anderson’s fake ass voice. It’s the Black Scorpion of radio shows (there’s only one, Sting…); It’s the Adam and Mike BIG AUDIO NIGHTMARE proudly here at F4WOnline.com.
Back after a short hiatus due to Adam’s immune system going viral, the original alternate returns by taking it old school. How old school? The first half of the show is all about the NHL’s trade deadline kind of sold school. What can we say? We had to ease back into things. And what better way than speaking upon the Imperial Blackhawks leaving everyone else in their dust? We also get into some other things too, like New Japan’s Cup looking to be filled, Stardom’s new streaming service, Kota Ibushi’s visions, the new unofficial official band of the BAN, and much more. It’s the radio show that knows all of the stuff that Chrisley doesn’t; it’s the Adam and Mike BIG AUDIO NIGHTMARE~! Proudly here at WrestlingObserver.com.
