When WWE Backstage makes its official debut on November 5, John Cena will be one of the guests on the episode.
On last night’s special edition of Backstage, it was announced that Cena and former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will be guests on the show’s official premiere. Backstage will air weekly on FS1 at 11 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesdays starting on November 5.
There have been two episodes of Backstage prior to the official start of the studio show. A preview show aired after an MLB playoff game on October 15 and last night’s special episode aired after SmackDown.
Paige and Christian have joined hosts Renee Young and Booker T for the first two episodes.
Cena last appeared on WWE television as part of Raw Reunion in July. He also took part in a segment with Elias at WrestleMania 35.
Gronkowski retired from the NFL after the end of last season. He recently joined FOX’s NFL coverage as an analyst.
Gronkowski is friends with WWE’s Mojo Rawley and appeared during the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 33.
A special edition of WWE Backstage has been added to FS1’s schedule for tomorrow.
WWE on FOX’s Twitter account posted a video today where Renee Young announced that a new episode of the Backstage studio show will air live immediately after Friday Night SmackDown at 10 p.m. Eastern time tomorrow.
Due to game three of the World Series being on FOX, tomorrow’s SmackDown will air live on FS1.
Paige and Christian will join Young and Booker T on the WWE Backstage episode. Young noted that they’ll be speaking to Finn Balor, who turned heel by attacking Johnny Gargano on this week’s NXT.
A preview edition of WWE Backstage was shown after an MLB playoff game on October 15. The show will officially premiere at 11 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday, November 5 and will air weekly in that time slot.
Two matches have been announced for tomorrow’s SmackDown, with Kofi Kingston & Big E facing Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode and Nikki Cross taking on Mandy Rose. A face-to-face segment with Brock Lesnar and Cain Velasquez is also set, and Hulk Hogan (with Roman Reigns, Ali, and Chad Gable) and Ric Flair (with Shinsuke Nakamura and Baron Corbin) will appear on Miz TV.
The most important week in recent pro wrestling history reached strong heights before ending with an embarrassing low.
The Wednesday Night War began, with AEW Dynamite debuting on TNT opposite a stacked episode of NXT on USA. SmackDown made its move to FOX two days later and featured an appearance by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, a WWE Championship change, and the debut of Cain Velasquez. Sunday’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view looked like it was only going to be a footnote, but the main event made the show memorable for all the wrong reasons.
Here’s a look at three stories that defined the week:
1. AEW wins first night of Wednesday night ratings war
Pro wrestling returned to TNT last Wednesday as the premiere of AEW Dynamite averaged 1.409 million viewers. That topped the 891,000 viewers that NXT averaged. In the 18-49 demo, AEW posted a 0.68 rating — second for the night on cable and more than double what NXT did.
Smackdown on FOX, the ratings, what they mean, how this relates to Raw, the Velasquez vs. Lesnar and Fury vs. Strowman matches is the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer.
This week’s Observer also covers:
How FOX did with the competition, how FOX did compared to last season’s premieres, how the show did in Canada, note on how the kickoff show did, match-by-match and how the ratings changed, who drew big and who didn’t, the usage of legends, the story behind Velasquez’s negotiations, the end of Kingston’s reign, plus match-by-match coverage.
What went wrong with Hell in a Cell, the disaster of a main event, the reactions by fans, Vince McMahon’s reactions to those reactions, how the match order hurt the show, plus match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
Wednesday night war with ratings, where both sides lost viewers the most, the fall from the first week on TNT, the average viewer age for AEW and NXT and how different the makeup is, how every segment on both shows did.
What segments were strong set with what age groups, and how teenage viewership both shows differs greatly.
Smackdown draft, 205 Live going forward, the plans for Saudi Arabia, why the cruiserweight distinction in NXT makes no sense anymore, new WWE signings, Mae Young Classic, WWE injuries, Goldberg and Matt Riddle situation, Hulk Hogan wants a match with Vince McMahon, former Miss America contestant signs with WWE, U.K. star moves to Florida, remake of “Badstreet USA,” value of WWE stock, most-watched shows on WWE Network over the past week, plus notes on every live event by the WWE main roster and NXT this past week with business notes, results and highlights.
Jeff Hardy’s recent arrest and a look back at his other issues over the years.
A full report on the UFC show from Australia, the record crowd, business notes, and a look at Israel Adesanya.
The situation with Dragon Lee going forward as well as where WWE and AEW may fit in, his being pulled from the New Japan tour as well as a look at this year’s Junior heavyweight tag team tournament that starts this coming week.
A full report on the debut of NWA Power, the new Internet television show Billy Corgan and Dave Lagana have put out, glory days of Georgia Championship Wrestling and its ratings, a look at Nick Aldis as NWA champion, business notes and economic realities regarding the company as well as what kind of Youtube numbers the different shows are doing.
Full coverage of all the WWE television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
Additional notes by Joseph Currier
WWE
A special preview of WWE Backstage will air tonight following the Astros-Yankees ALCS game on Fox Sports 1. Triple H will be on the show to announce a trade between Raw and SmackDown. Renee Young and Booker T will be joined by Paige and Christian. Shawn Michaels and Sting will also be on the show to break down their favorite match.
On Twitter, Eric Bischoff commented on Bruce Prichard replacing him as the executive director of SmackDown: “Bruce is a great producer, good friend and I am certain he is going to thrive in his position. He’s going to be working with a great team of the most dedicated and hard working people I have had the pleasure of working with and getting to know.” WWE has confirmed that Bischoff is no longer with the company.
Cain Velasquez on Ariel Helwani’s show mentioned that WWE is allowing him to work one more AAA date.
Maria Kanellis on Instagram noted that she has not asked for release and attempted to clear up misconceptions about her and Mike’s situation: “1. Family first. 2. I love and support my husband. 3. I make no apologies for either of my pregnancies. 4. Mike never went to rehab nor did WWE pay for it. 5. Mikes addiction was from about September 2013-July 2017. 6. We debuted in June 2017. 7. He never took time off. 8. I have not asked for my release. 9. You can unfollow me at anytime if you don’t like what I stand for. 10. Suck it. P.S. Have a nice day!”
Roman Reigns spoke to Forbes about how fans reacted to the finish of Seth Rollins vs. The Fiend at Hell in a Cell: “I think you should express your opinions, but it doesn’t hurt anybody if you have a shred of respect. Have a little respect for the performers who were out there killing themselves for you. I didn’t like the Hell in a Cell finish either, but I wasn’t about to cuss some guys out who got hit in the head over and over. Bray Wyatt put his health on the line to entertain some fans to the best of his ability. I didn’t like it, but I respect Bray’s effort and willingness to go out there and do what you have to do. So, if you can, just a little bit of respect.
Tommaso Ciampa tweeted about returning to the ring against Angel Garza on tomorrow’s episode of NXT: “I had neck surgery on March 7th. At the time, I was told that my estimated return date was March 7th, 2020. Tomorrow, I have my first match back. That’s 142 days ahead of protocol. Good luck, Garza.”
WWE posted an AOP video with them reacting to not being picked in the WWE Draft. In the promo, AOP said they’re going to take their frustrations out on somebody sooner than later.
AEW uploaded The Lucha Bros, Jack Evans & Angelico vs. Private Party & Best Friends from AEW Dark with Spanish commentary from Alex Abrahantes and Dasha Kuret (formerly Dasha Fuentes in WWE).
While doing an appearance on Wednesday’s Collider Live podcast to promote Girl On The Third Floor, CM Punk discussed his recent tryout with Fox for the WWE Backstage studio show.
He confirmed the tryout and that his agents reached out to him because of how much Fox is investing into WWE with SmackDown. He said Fox was interested in him and that he hasn’t dealt with anyone from WWE during the process, nor has he heard anything from WWE after the tryout.
He said he loves Renee Young and that the role would be similar to what he does for CFFC MMA. He said he was clear that he didn’t want to come in just to dump on the product but that if there’s something that’s bad, he would have to be honest about it.
Punk didn’t say where the process is at or how the tryout went. He did reiterate that he’s not interested in returning to the ring, but is in a position where he’s open to anything other than wrestling because he’s grown as a person and is a businessman.
He talked extensively about horror movies, acting, his friendship with Dave Batista, what he learned from Eddie Guerrero, and more.
CM Punk was brought in this week to do a screen test for Fox Sports One’s new WWE Backstage show, first reported by PWInsider’s Mike Johnson and later confirmed by our Dave Meltzer.
According to Johnson, Renee Young was also present at the tests held at Fox Studios in Los Angeles and that other personalities have been brought in for potential roles over the past few months including Taz, Rey Mysterio, Sean “X-Pac” Waltman, and Paige.
The Backstage show is a Fox production and not WWE, but it’s unclear who made the reach out to the 40-year-old Punk (real name Phil Brooks) to come in for the test.
Formally announced by WWE earlier this week, Backstage kicks off on FS1 on Tuesday, November 4th and will be similar to other panel discussion shows under the Fox Sports banner. Young and Booker T have been confirmed thus far as co-hosts.
Meltzer had reported previously in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Punk’s agent was pushing for him to get a tryout, but WWE wasn’t interested. Acrimony between the two sides grew when Punk left the company in 2014 and was released, getting the legal papers on his wedding day. He went on Colt Cabana’s podcast that fall and detailed his issues with the company, specifically with a claimed medical misdiagnosis from Dr. Chris Amann. That later led to Amann filing a defamation lawsuit against Punk and Cabana which the latter won.
Punk was on a panel with Johnson as part of Starrcast earlier this month and said if WWE called him, he wouldn’t “not take” the call. Besides filming movies, Punk has been doing more as a commentator for CFFC.
For this part, Punk tweeted the following before moving onto promoting his new movie:
WWE has confirmed the hosts of their studio show on FS1.
Renee Young and Booker T will be the hosts of the show, which is called WWE Backstage. It will air on FS1 at 11 p.m. Eastern time/8 p.m. Pacific on Tuesdays every week starting on November 5. There will also be a preview show after game three of Major League Baseball’s American League Championship Series on Tuesday, October 15.
A press release stated that Young and Booker T will “weigh in on the biggest stories in WWE, and are joined by a rotating cast of guests and personalities, including current and former WWE Superstars.”
For the preview show, Young and Booker T will be “joined by special guests to reveal the WWE Backstage set at the FOX Studios Lot in Los Angeles, and to break in their brand-new ring.”
“WWE Backstage is a wrestling show for wrestling fans. From hardcore fans to people new to wrestling, we’ll give them a little bit of everything,” Young said. “It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be loud, we’re going to give them a ton of opinions and I can’t wait to help spread the word about SmackDown coming to FOX.”
“It’s awesome being part of the FOX family and part of this movement of Friday Night SmackDown to FOX,” Booker T said. “FOX Sports has always been the one-stop shop for sports and now it’s going to be the one-stop shop for sports and entertainment. I think this is going to be a tag team that’s going to last for a long time, and one that cannot lose. As I always say, now can you dig it, sucka?”
WWE having a weekly studio show on FS1 was first reported in May 2018. This April, Triple H confirmed the show would be debuting in the fall.
SmackDown is making its FOX debut next Friday (October 4). The premiere will feature Brock Lesnar challenging for Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship, a ladder match between Kevin Owens and Shane McMahon, Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair vs. Sasha Banks & Bayley, and appearances by legends for SmackDown’s 20th anniversary celebration.
The Owens vs. Shane ladder match has a stipulation where both of their careers are on the line.
The press release announcing WWE Backstage hyped that more information — including additional on-air personalities and special guests — will be announced at a later date.
