WWE’s Sunday night programming block is coming back to A&E next month with three shows set to return.
It was announced today that Biography: WWE Legends, WWE LFG (Legends & Future Greats), and WWE’s Greatest Moments will return on April 26. The block begins at 8 p.m. Eastern with Biography, then WWE LFG follows at 10 p.m. and Greatest Moments airs at 11 p.m.
The new season of Biography is set to include episodes on the Von Erich family (April 26 and May 3), the Road Warriors (May 10), and The Four Horsemen. In the Von Erich documentary, Kevin Von Erich will tell the story of his family and the tragedies they suffered.
A press release said:
‘WWE Legends’ returns with new specials offering an inside look at legendary WWE Superstars, including the stories of the ‘Legion of Doom,’ ‘The Four Horsemen’ and famed ‘Von Erich family,’ that inspired a Hollywood film. ‘The Curse of the Von Erichs,’ airing on 4/26 and 5/3, will delve into the history of the Von Erichs where Kevin Von Erich tells the powerful story behind his family’s wrestling dynasty and the tragedies faced in building their empire. Following on 5/10 and 5/17 respectively are special two-hour episodes highlighting the Legion of Doom, also known as The Road Warriors, who are regarded by many as the greatest tag team in pro wrestling history and The Four Horsemen, who were wrestling’s first true supergroup led by Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard and others.
The new season of LFG will have a revamped coaching roster with Kevin Owens and Natalya replacing The Undertaker and Mickie James. Along with that, there will be an “all-new format” with raised stakes:
The in-ring competition series ‘WWE LFG’ returns for a new season with an all-new format, raising the stakes as rising talent battle for a shot at WWE stardom. Competitors face relentless pressure training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida where there are no limits and one defining moment could advance a Future Great to NXT or end their journey in the program altogether. Guided by iconic coaches and special guests including Booker T, Bubba Ray Dudley, Kevin Owens, Natalya and others, the series spotlights the next generation of hopefuls as they battle it out in front of packed crowds for a chance at greatness.
Greatest Moments, hosted by Michael Cole, takes a look back at iconic events and wrestlers in WWE history. The new season will spotlight Chyna, Roddy Piper, Lex Luger, and Seth Rollins:
‘WWE’s Greatest Moments’ offers fans a chance to count down the most iconic events in WWE history. Hosted by legendary play-by-play announcer Michael Cole, each half-hour episode pays tribute to WWE Superstars and Legends such as Chyna, ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper, Lex Luger, Seth Rollins and more. From unforgettable debuts and backstage chaos, to highlights from the premium live events like Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania, relive some of the most iconic moments from the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s.
The partnership between WWE and A&E dates back several years now, with today’s press release noting that it’s set to continue with approximately 200 hours of programming in the years ahead.
Season one just finished airing last night, but it won’t be long until “WWE LFG” is back for season two.
A&E has announced that the competition series will return with season two premiering on Sunday, June 22 at 10 p.m. Eastern time. The Undertaker, Booker T, and Bubba Ray Dudley are returning as coaches, with Michelle McCool replacing season one coach Mickie James. Shawn Michaels will also be featured in his role as WWE Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative.
LFG stands for “Legends & Future Greats.” The premise of the show is that WWE Performance Center recruits are competing to earn an NXT contract. Tyra Mae Steele (Olympic gold medalist wrestler Tamyra Mensah-Stock) and Jasper Troy (former college football player Antoine Frazier) were crowned as the season one winners. The Undertaker also was awarded with the inaugural WWE LFG title belt for having the best-performing team among the coaches.
The next season will feature both new contestants and some returning names.
“The intensity ramps up in season two, premiering Sunday, June 22 at 10 PM ET/PT, as 16 contenders – both new and returning – battle for a chance at their dream. Guided by an all-star lineup of WWE Legends, including coaches Undertaker, Booker T, Michelle McCool, Bubba Ray Dudley, and WWE SVP of Talent Development Creative Shawn Michaels, the competitors enter the next phase of training for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” A&E wrote. “As the coaches share their expert insights, hopefuls hone their skills, face off in high-stakes challenges, and navigate shifting team dynamics and even tougher rivals. Each hour-long episode delivers more action, drama, and the relentless pursuit of becoming WWE’s next breakout Superstar.”
It was announced in March that “WWE LFG” and “WWE’s Greatest Moments” had each been renewed for season two. Their first seasons aired in WWE’s Sunday night programming block on A&E alongside a new season of existing series “WWE Rivals.”
A look at AEW’s changes coming up that will be announced over the next week with the debut of Collision, as well as a business analysis of rights fees as compared to WWE, different scenarios and different things that could be part of the new deal.
Full coverage of Backlash, including the booking, the show, Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia, Roman Reigns, business notes on the show, interest levels for the different events in a giant weekend of sports, PPV numbers, crossover between WWE and Alvarez fight, and the paradox of government money bringing WWE to cities and how that affects future hows in San Juan.
A full look at the AEW event at Wembley Stadium. We look at ticket sales, records, scalpers, the biggest shows ever in Europe, the biggest non-WWE shows in history, how viable is it regarding the all-time paid attendance records, and the three shows it has to beat, U.K. attendance records, differences in AEW & WWE ticket sale patterns, possible attractions for the show as well as opponents for he biggest matches and other London shows that weekend.
Full coverage of UFC 288, main event decision, what’s next for the top stars, business notes and match-by-match coverage.
A look at Dragon Gate’s Dead or Alive show
A look at the longest lasting U.K. headliners and Hall of Fame comments
The most detailed look at the ratings from the past week, with weekly placings, competition, and comparisons to one year ago, a well as how segments did
Wrestler goes for world title in two very different groups over a few week period
Konnan talks AAA U.S. TV negotiations
The politics behind the upcoming champion vs. champion match
Champion Carnival finals
How many tickets has Mercedes Mone moved for her next show
Early notes on All Together Now
Best of Super Juniors shows for this week
The most famous feud in Canadian football history, Angelo Mosca vs. Joe Kapp, and a detailed rundown
Former TNA & WWE star retires
Double or Nothing update
AEW booking team detailed
Crazy AEW PPV stat
Upcoming ticket sales to WWE & AEW shows
International TV numbers and streaming numbers
Aftermath of Omega vs. Moxley
Retired wrestler mentions being open to work Wembley Stadium as a farewell
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Sunday Update
Garrett Gonzales and I will be back tonight with Wrestling Observer Radio talking news of the past week, Smackdown and taking questions that you can send to [email protected] Bryan and I will be back tomorrow with Raw and all the news coverage.
Monday is one of the few off-days for Best of the Super Juniors in the condensed format. They are back with a Tuesday morning at 5:30 a.m. show in Akita for day four.
WWE’s block on A&E tonight has last week’s Most Wanted Treasures with DX at 8 p.m. and then the new stuff is Most Wanted Treasures covering Randy Savage at 9 p.m. with DDP, Molly Holly and the late Lanny Poffo on the show. At 10 p.m., is Stone Cold Takes on America.
Vince McMahon has agreed to pay attorney fees of $1.65 million for two class action suits against him for how he forced his way back into power in WWE. McMahon had put into place a new bylaw that would have restricted the power of the Board of Directors. Once McMahon was put into power and the two lawsuits were filed, he repealed the new bylaw that they were suing about so basically there is nothing left to sue over, but he is paying the costs of the plaintiffs attorneys.
Rich & Shameless, the TNT series that is among the highest rated shows on cable, with be airing the episode on Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker on Wednesday at midnight. This episode has been promoted for months.
We’re looking for reports from these weekend shows:
NXT in Davenport, FL and Sebring, FL on Friday and Saturday night
WWE in North Charleston, SC tonight
We’re looking for results, finishes and highlights.
For Raw tomorrow from Greensboro, NC, the matches announced are Raquel Rodriguez & Liv Morgan defending the women’s tag titles against Chelsea Green & Sonya Deville, a Battle Royal to determine who faces Gunther in Saudi Arabia for the IC title, Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Miz, plus Becky Lynch responds to Trish Stratus and Cody Rhodes will be there to talk Brock Lesnar. Lesnar is not advertised to be there.
The 5/27 episode of Rampage won’t air on TNT until midnight, after NBA coverage. The Countdown show for Double or Nothing airs after Rampage.
WWE from last night in Augusta, GA:
Bianca Belair b Asuka to keep the Raw women’s title
Omos b Dolph Ziggler
A.J. Styles b Austin Theory via DQ for a low blow Right in front of the referee. Crowd was very into this match
Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn won a three-way over The Street Profits and Ludvig Kaiser & Giovanni Vinci when Zayn pinned Vinci after a helluva kick
Rhea Ripley b Tegan Nox to keep the Smackdown women’s title
Gunther b Johnny Gargano to keep the IC title
Cody Rhodes b Finn Balor in a street fight This was Gargano’s first match back from a shoulder injury (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
Thanks to Drake Kizer and J.T. Elliott for reports from the AEW show on Friday night in Corbin, KY.
Chris Jericho as filed a trademark for terms Fozzyfest and Fozzfest..
This was not a week with a lot of combat sports interest. The only thing with any relation to wrestling, boxing or MMA that cracked the Google top 20 all week was the XFL championship game which was No. 4 with 200,000 searches, which is a lot more interest than I would have expected. Even though UFC was on ABC for the afternoon time slot, it didn’t crack the top 20, nor did the celebrity boxing match with KSI, who was part of WrestleMania.
Matt Hardy’s twitter account was hacked and Reby Hardy said not to interact with it until they have it back. Twitter can be a nightmare when it comes to hacked accounts.
It’s been noted that Dwayne Johnson has a cameo as Luke Hobbs post-credits in Fast X, which premiered over the weekend in Italy. Apparently that is the signal that he’ll be back with the franchise and may mean the next Fast & Furious movie could have both Johnson & John Cena.
The trailer for the Conor McGregor-Michael Chandler season of The Ultimate Fighter is out right now. The season will air on ESPN on Tuesday nights starting on 5/30. As far as we know, McGregor has still not put himself back in the USADA testing pool meaning that in theory he can’t fight for at least six months. That is in theory because rules are changed for stars.
There was a front page article in the Washington Post on concussions talking about the effect that Chris Nowinski has had on sports and a lot about his Harvard football reunion and players with issues from football and his own issues in wrestling and football. (thanks to Matt Wexler)
Francis Ngannou said he will have an announcement about his future on Tuesday. Both Dan Hardy and Chael Sonnen have said it will be an announcement of his signing with the PFL. ONE claimed they are out of talks with him because they said he asked for a $20 million guarantee.
Other Notes
Dan Henderson, the MMA legend, is releasing an autobiography on 10/24 called “Hendo: The American Athlete.”
Defy from last night in Seattle: Joey Janela b Miles Deville, Bryan Keith b Evan Rivers, Mance Warner & Matthew Justice b Judas Icarus & Travis Williams to keep the tag titles, Nick Gage b Artemis Spencer, Schaff b Black Taurus Vert Vixen b Trish Adora to keep the women’s title, Nick Wayne b El Phantasmo to keep the Defy title. Gage & Spencer announced that GCW and Defy will be presenting joint shows in Seattle on 11/17 and 11/18. Next show is 6/3 in Seattle at Washington Hall with KENTA, and then 6/24 in Portland at the Wonder Ballroom has El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Komander.
Queen of Indies from last night in San Francisco: The first round was singles matches with a 20 minute time limit. The four winners will go into a tag team match where the two winners face each other in the finals. Promise Braxton won five-way over J-Rod, Amira, Gigi Rey and Jordan Blade, Lady Frost b Dulce Tormenta, Masha Slamovich b Hyan, Mio Momono b Maria, Unagi Sayaka b Billie Starkz, Sandra Moone & Takumi Iroha & Chigusa Nagayo b Karisma & Nicole Savoy & Lady Apache, Masha Slamovich & Mio Momono b Lady Frost & Unagi Sayaka to advance to the finals, Johnnie Robbie & Brooke Havok b Rachelle Riveter & Mac Daddy Mylo, Masha Slamovich b Mio Momono to win the first Queen of Indies tournament. It was announced that the second Queen of Indies will take place in Japan next year while King of Indie would remain in San Francisco. (thanks to Shannon Walsh and Wrestling with Demons)
Former promoter Rick Bassman, who years ago was promoting his autobiography, let us know it’s coming out soon and called “Little Big Man,” talking about a life that included battling stage 4 cancer, battling drug addiction and deaths of friends and his interactions with the biggest names in pro wrestling and MMA history.
Kirk White’s Big Time Wrestling from Friday night in Newark, CA before a sellout 500 fans: Dave Dutra b Jacob Fatu in a great match, True X b Eddie Cuervo, Black wan b Eliza Hammer (Black Swan does a ballerina gimmick) Big Fonz b Drake Frost, Viva Van b Alex Gracia, Chris Sabin & Alex Shelley b The Freaks, Shane Kody & Jinxx b Kaka Meng & El Guerrero in Kody’s retirement mach. Next show is 7/28 with Chris Masters (thanks to Jim Davis)
At last night’s Misfits boxing shoe at the Ovo Arena in London, there was a brawl in the crowd between two Love Island stars, Tommy Fury, best know for his fight with Jake Paul where he won, and Idris Viorgo.
