The fortunes of WWE and AEW have gone in opposite directions in recent months.
WWE is doing great business-wise, with Raw at its highest point of the year and live show attendance up across the board.
AEW last week did its second lowest 18-49 number of the year and while live attendance was great in May and June, the last two months haven’t been as good, and aside from New York, Toronto, and Uncasville, CT, most cities are doing lukewarm. For much of the year, Dynamite was drawing larger paid crowds than Raw and just behind Smackdown. In the last two months, the numbers have not been competitive. AEW hasn’t slipped that much but has slipped some, and WWE has grown tremendously.
Some will attribute this to Paul Levesque taking over from Vince McMahon, and that would be fair to a degree. Ratings for Raw have been up a lot. Smackdown hasn’t been up nearly as much although the past two weeks’ numbers with football moving the shows really aren’t indicative of where things really are with that show.
On Friday’s SmackDown, Sheamus defeated Ricochet, Sami Zayn, Madcap Moss, and Happy Corbin to earn a shot at Gunther’s Intercontinental title. He will now face Gunther at WWE Clash at the Castle, which takes place on September 3 in Cardiff, Wales.
The story of the match had Zayn, in his hometown, go to the back after injuring his shoulder taking white noise from Sheamus off the top rope. He eventually came back and attempted to pin Ricochet after hitting the helluva kick. Corbin broke up the count, dragging Zayn out of the ring and posting him. The finish had Corbin looking to pin Ricochet, but Sheamus instead came in and hit the brogue kick, pinning Corbin to win.
On last week’s SmackDown, Gunther pinned Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the Intercontinental title.
Here is the current lineup for Clash at the Castle:
Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship
Liv Morgan vs. Shayna Baszler for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
Gunther vs. Sheamus for the Intercontinental Championship
Seth Rollins vs. Riddle
Bianca Belair, Asuka, and Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley, Dakota Kai, and IYO SKY
Riddle and Seth Rollins will meet at Clash at the Castle.
On Monday’s Raw, Riddle revealed in a sit-down interview that he was “medically cleared” to return to in-ring action. After an altercation with Rollins in the ring, he challenged Rollins to a match at Clash at the Castle, which takes place September 3 in Wales. WWE’s social media later confirmed the match.
Riddle, who was scheduled for a sit-down interview on Monday’s show revealed to Rollins, who was in the ring, that he wasn’t in his mom’s basement but rather he was in Washington D.C., the home of tonight’s Raw. Riddle came to the ring and the two brawled. Rollins cut him off and put Riddle’s head on the announcers table for a stomp, but Riddle reversed and connected with a knee strike. Rollins ended up fleeing into the crowd, with Riddle chasing after him.
Here’s the lineup for Clash at the Castle:
Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship
Liv Morgan vs. Shayna Baszler for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
Seth Rollins vs. Riddle
Bianca Belair, Asuka, and Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley, Dakota Kai, and IYO SKY
A six-woman tag team match has been added to Clash at the Castle.
Bianca Belair issued the challenge on behalf of Asuka and Alexa Bliss. Bayley accepted for her, ISO SKY, and Dakota Kai, agreeing to a match for September 3 in Cardiff, Wales.
Bayley made her return to WWE following knee surgery at SummerSlam last month, introducing Dakota Kai and IYO SKY to the main roster. The following Monday on Raw, Bayley, SKY, and Kai made their intentions known by attacking Asuka and Bliss during their match against one another. Later, a match between SKY and Belair ended after Bliss and Asuka attacked Bayley and Kai in the ring.
Here is the current lineup for Clash at the Castle:
Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship
Liv Morgan vs. Shayna Baszler for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
Bianca Belair, Asuka, and Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley, Dakota Kai, and IYO SKY
Baszler won a gauntlet match on Friday’s SmackDown to earn a shot at the SmackDown Women’s Championship at Clash at the Castle on September 3. She will face current champion Liv Morgan.
The gauntlet match had Raquel Rodriguez pin Sonya Deville, Xia Li, Shotzi, and Natalya. However, going into the last match with Baszler, Rodriguez’s leg had been worked on by Natalya. The finish had Baszler locking in the kirifuda clutch, but Rodriguez reversed, pinning Baszler’s shoulders on the mat for a nearfall. Baszler then picked up the win with a rolling cradle.
Morgan retained the title at SummerSlam despite tapping out to Ronda Rousey’s armbar submission. The referee in that match instead counted Rousey’s shoulders to the mat, neglecting to see Morgan tap out.
Here is the current card for Clash at the Castle:
Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship
Liv Morgan vs. Shayna Baszler for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
McIntyre defeated Sheamus in a Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook match on Friday’s SmackDown. In a match that featured tons of weapons, tables, and shillelaghs, McIntyre got the win with a claymore as Sheamus was kneeling. As a result, McIntyre will now face the winner between Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar at Saturday’s SummerSlam at Clash at the Castle, which takes place in Cardiff, Wales on September 3.
After the match, McIntyre said that someone had to take the title off of the “part-time champion”, referring to Reigns. This was when Theory attacked McIntyre from behind with the Money in the Bank briefcase.
The match between McIntyre and Sheamus was originally set to take place on the July 15 edition of SmackDown. However, Sheamus complained that he “had COVID”, with McIntyre defeating Ridge Holland instead. On last week’s SmackDown, McIntyre issued a challenge to Sheamus for the number one contendership. Sheamus agreed they would face next week in a Good Old Fashioned Donnybrook match.
Drew McIntyre has challenged Roman Reigns for the WWE Undisputed Universal title at Clash at the Castle this September in Wales.
On tonight’s SmackDown, McIntyre was introduced by Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods. He promised that he will defeat Roman Reigns and win the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship at Clash at the Castle, which takes place at Principality Stadium on September 3 in Cardiff, Wales. It will be WWE’s first major pay-per-view in the United Kingdom since WWE’s Insurrextion event in 2003.
After McIntyre made his proclamation, he and The New Day faced the Brawling Brutes (Sheamus, Ridge Holland, and Butch) in a six-man tag team match. Butch got the win for his team, pinning Woods with the Bitter End.
McIntyre first confronted Reigns and the Bloodline prior to WWE WrestleMania Backlash, making the save for RK-Bro. He teamed with RK-Bro to face The Bloodline at WrestleMania Backlash in a six-man tag match, where Reigns and The Usos managed to pick up the win.
WWE has announced the name of their September stadium show in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom, plus set an on-sale date for tickets for the event.
WWE Clash at the Castle will take place on Saturday, September 3, the first major stadium event in the UK since SummerSlam 1992. It was revealed today that tickets for the stadium show will go on sale Friday, May 20, with a pre-sale set for Wednesday, May 18. Registration for the pre-sale is available here.
Drew McIntyre was the first to reveal the name for the stadium show, announcing it in a promo at Friday’s WWE house show at the O2 Arena in London. A match between McIntyre and heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury has been hinted at for the event by both men. Fury previously appeared for WWE for a pair of matches in 2019.
The BBC claims that more than 125,000 people have registered for tickets at the 74,500-seat Principality Stadium.
BREAKING: WWE Clash at the Castle takes place LIVE from @principalitysta in Cardiff, Wales, on Saturday, Sept. 3, and tickets will be available Friday, May 20! #WWECastle@visitwales
Major players from five companies test positive for COVID causing changes in television or major shows.
Sunday’s Fukuoka Dome show and a look back at the previous pro wrestling events in the building that featured some of the biggest American stars of all-time.
The Discovery/Warner merger, what was said at the earnings call about cutbacks, and the different ways this can go for AEW
Streaming vs. television and the realities of the numbers
Wrestling on television in every category, who is up, who is down, factoring out cable losses, and reasons behind the ups and downs.
WWE & AEW shows coming up between now and August ticket sales, interest in the secondary market, how many seats WWE is setting up for the stadium shows
WrestleMania Backlash card update and business update
Saturday’s UFC report
New wrestling history television show series being filmed and who is behind it
Karl Lauer and the growth of the Cauliflower Alley Club
Ratings of all the television shows of the past week
Death of Toro Bill Jr.
Preview of TripleMania
Unique statement by L.A. Park about TripleMania
All Japan, Dragon Gate, NOAH and other Japanese events
This week’s PWG show
MLW answers the WWE’s attempt to get the lawsuit by MLW thrown out
Personnel changes in Impact
AEW injury notes
AEW’s Double or Nothing show
Updates on ticket sales for WWE & AEW shows
Promotion gets major television deal with Amazon Prime
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Friday News Update
Garrett and I will be doing a show today to go over a lot of major news, including WWE cuts, Warner/Discovery and AEW, and other news in the current issue of the Observer.
Some notes on the WWE cuts today.
Obviously Parker Boudreaux (Harland) had been removed from the Joe Gacy act so they knew something was coming
The decision had been made after several tryouts that they didn’t see Dakota Kai as main roster material. She had been with the company for years and the idea is not to have people have ten year careers as NXT stars so there was nothing left for her. A lot of people disagree but they have visions about women and obviously she’s a good wrestler but didn’t fit
Just as obviously, Malcolm Bivens last week had started a multi-week new storyline that had a lot of stuff left. While he did not sign a new deal, him being cut blindsided the people in creative at NXT
Same for Persia Pirotta, who just bought a house. She was in a storyline ongoing.
Same for Dexter Lumis, which leaves creative in the lurch since he’s supposed to be married to Indi Hartwell and they were given no name to develop a storyline reason he’s gone
Paige Prinzivalli was a referee who was cut
Mila Malani and Raelyn Divine were from the Las Vegas tryouts and had not made it to television
Draco Anthony had just started on television.
The WWE’s 9/3 show at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales will be called WWE Clash at the Castle. Tickets go on sale on 5/20 and are expected to sell out instantly.
Smackdown tonight from Albany, NY was taped on Friday since the Smackdown crew is in London and the decision was made not to tape from there:
Ricochet vs. Shanky for IC title
Raquel Rodriguez vs. ?
Naomi vs. Shayna Baszler
Xavier Woods vs. Ridge Holland
Kofi Kingston vs Sheamus
Drew McIntyre vs. Sami Zayn cage match
Ronda Rousey vs. Shotzi Beat the Clock challenge
Charlotte Flair vs. Aliyah Beat the Clock challenge
Usos-RK Bro contract signing
AEW Rampage tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern on TNT:
Darby Allin vs. Swerve Strickland Owen Hart qualifier
Sky Blue & Willow Nightingale & Trish Adora vs. Jade Cargill & Kiera Hogan & Red Velvet
Keith Lee vs. Colten Gunn
Hook-Danhausen confrontation
Samoa Joe vs. Trent Baretta for ROH TV title
UFC tomorrow from the Apex in Las Vegas:
Tatsuro Taira (125.5) vs. Carlos Candelario (126)
Gina Mazany (126) vs. Shanna Young (125)
Natan Levy (155) vs. Mike Breeden (155.5)
Gabriel Green (170.5) vs. Yohan Lainesse (169)
Daniel Lacerda (125) vs. Francisco Figueiredo (125.5)
Alexandr Romanov (236.5) vs. Chase Sherman (247)
Krzysztof Jotko (186) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (185)
Darren Elkins (145.5) vs. Tristan Connelly (146)
Jared Gordon (155.5) vs. Grant Dawson (155.5)
Andre Fili (145.5) vs. Joanderson Brito (145.5)
Andrei Arlovski (246) vs. Jake Collier (265)
Rob Font (138.5) vs. Marlon Vera (136)
Font missed weight by 2.5 pounds and had to forfeit 20 percent of his purse
They are pushing tomorrow’s Amanda Serrano (42-1-1) vs. Katie Taylor (20-0) boxing match for Taylor’s lightweight title as the biggest women’s boxing match in history. It is the first time a women’s fight will ever headline Madison Square Garden. It is said that DAZN paid WWE nearly $500,000 to heavily promote the show across all of WWE outfits in a deal made with Stephanie McMahon. It will be the first women’s boxing match where both participants will earn in excess of $1 million. They are claiming it is expected to sellout. There are 14,000 tickets out and 3,000 still left as of yesterday. WWE is involved heavily in this with a lot of talent at the weigh-ins and some will be at the right itself.
There will be a lot of stuff this coming Monday in mainstream media since Dwayne Johnson turns 50.
Arena Mexico has one of its biggest shows of the year tonight with Mistico vs. Titan vs. Templario in a series of singles matches to determine the Universal champion. Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero, at one time Mexico’s best tag team, reunite to face Averno & Mephisto, another former regular team.
There will be a Toro Bill Jr. tribute match on Monday night in Puebla.
Rush is back after knee surgery this week on shows for Robles Promotion in Mexico. He will b be working shows in Mexico City, Merida and Cancun. The Mexico City show has Rush & Bestia del Ring & Vangellys vs. Chris Masters & Marco Corleone & LA Park as the main event, plus Dragon Lee & Dralistico & Bandido vs. Flamita & Taurus & Carlito. (thanks to The CubsFan)
Go Shiozaki vs. Kaito Kiyomiya is official as the GHC title match on tonight’s NOAH show at Sumo Hall. Champion Kazuyuki Fujita vacated the title due to testing positive for COVID. The show starts at 2 a.m. Eastern and 11 p.m. Pacific and airs live on Wrestle Universe. Wrestle Universe also has a free trial for the show.
Slex & Kai Fujimura vs. Alejandro & Yasutaka Yano
King Tani & Mohammed Yone & Akitoshi Saito vs. Manabu Soya & Tadasuke & Hajime Ohara
Nosawa Rongai & Eita & El Texano Jr. & Kotaro Suzuki & Super Crazy vs. Hayata & Yoshinari Ogawa & Chris Ridgeway & Seiki Yoshioka & Yuya Susumu
Kazushi Sakuraba & Kendo Kashin vs. Rene Dupree & El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr.
Masa Kitamiya vs. Michael Elgin
Masakatsu Funaki vs. Simon Gotch for National tile
Naomichi Marufuji & ? vs. Kinya Okada & Yoshiki Inamura
Takashi Sugiura & Hideki Suzuki vs. Kenou & Katsuhiko Nakajima for GHC tag titles
Go Shiozaki vs. Kaito Kiyomiya for vacant GHC heavyweight title
Jake Lee vs. Yuma Aoyagi will be the Champion Carnival finals on 5/4 at Korakuen Hall. Lee won the A block. Aoyagi went to a 30:00 draw with Kento Miyahara to finish with a 3-1-1 record while Miyahara and Takuma Nomura both finished 3-2.
Mirai beat Natsupoi in the semifinals and Koguma in the finals to win the Stardom Cinderella tournament meaning she can challenge for any title.
Jessica McKay, who just left Impact (formerly Billie Kay) has a role in a movie called “The Charisma Killer” directed by Michael Matteo Rossi.
Chris Jericho will be doing a three-date talk show promoted by Inside the Ropes. The shows are 7/4 in Glasgow, 7/5 in Belfast and 7/6 in London. The 7/6 date means he will be missing the Dynamite/Rampage tapings for that week in Rochester, NY. He is advertised for that show.
Other Notes
Jose & Joel Maximo, the SATs, have been added to the 5/13 MLW show in Philadelphia at the 2300 Arena.
Combate Global tonight on Paramount + from Miami at 11 p.m. Eastern has a lightweight main event with Ivan Castillo (22-13) vs Claudio Quintana from Chile (8-4). The semi is also a lightweight bout with Hugo Flores (9-4) vs. Richie Palomino (5-2).
Icebox is running a show in Alameda, CA on 5/7 with JTG vs. Jacob Fatu, Juicy Finau vs. Vinni Massaro, Fred Rosser vs. Jeckles, Boogeyman vs. ?, Carlito vs. Titus Alexander, Ultimo Panda vs. Boyce Legrande and more.
559 Fights on 5/21 in Visalia, Ca at the Convention Center.
LFA on 5/13 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on UFC Fight Pass is headlined by Italo Gomes (10-2) vs. Meiquizael Costa (17-4).
Empire State Wrestling on 5/21 in Buffalo,NY at the RiverWorks is headlined by Buddy Matthews vs. Trey Miguel. There will also be a ladder match and Shazza McKenzie and Big Bill Collier are on the show.
Mike Rotunda, as IRS will be appearing for CWE on shows on 5/26 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, 5/27 in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, 5/28 in Regina, Saskatchewan and 5/29 in Carnduff, Saskatchewan.
Pro Wrestling Phoenix from Wednesday night in Omaha,NE: Duke Cornell b Luke Luna, Angus Keyser b Ryan Romanitc, Omar Pachecco b Logan Ocean, Lars Metzger b Keaton Stoneburner, Purple & Xander McIntosh b Paul & Joey Daniels, Willy Sweet b Austin Fouts, Moonshine Russell & Jack Darling b Tim Boston & Seto Kobara Next show is 5/7 in Omaha at the Epoca Cantina,
PFL from last night in Arlington, TX in their tournament:
Heavyweight: Klidson Abreu b Adam Keresh via decision
Featherweight: Bubba Jenkins b Kyle Bochniak via decision
Heavyweight: Ante Delija b Matheus Scheffel second round knockout
Heavyweight: Denis Goltsov b Cody Goodale first round knockout
Heavyweight: Renan Fereira b Jamelle Jones first round knockout in 25 seconds
Featherweight: Chris Wade b Lance Palmer via decision
Heavyweight: Bruno Cappeloza b Stuart Austin first round knockout
Women of Wrestling will be taping its television show for syndication on 5/5, 5/6 and 5/7 at the Globe Theater in Los Angeles.
United Wrestling Coalition on 5/28 in Bordentown, NJ at the Elks Lodge with a 25 man Rumble
ISPW on 5/7 in Morristown,NJ at the Mennen Sports Arena is headlined by Danny Morrison vs. Justin Corino for their title. Appearing in non-wrestling roles on he show include Maven, Jake Roberts, Earl Hebner, Greg Valentine, Demolition Tito Santana and Tommy Rich. There will also be a Bushwhacker Luke Williams vs. Brooklyn Brawler match.
Impact will be running shows on 5/13 and 5/14 in Kissimmee, FL at the Osceola Heritage Park Event Center. Both nights will be TV tapings.
Lucha Libre on 5/26 at the Opera House in Toronto for the Demand Lucha promotion.
