Tag: wwe vault

WWE Head of Digital: ‘It shocks me every week’ how well Vault YouTube channel does

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE is very happy with the success of its Vault channel on YouTube.

The WWE Vault has become a big hit with hardcore fans, uploading rare and sometimes never-before-seen footage from the company’s video library. The channel launched in 2024 and now has four million subscribers. This week, its uploads included a 1992 mask vs. mask match from Lucha Libre AAA that pitted a young Rey Mysterio against Mr. Condor. Mysterio recorded a brief introduction to help explain the match to new viewers.

Front Office Sports published a story on Friday looking at WWE’s YouTube strategy. In the article, WWE’s Head of Digital Media Steve Braband said it shocks him every week how well some content on the Vault performs.

“The success of that came with no new resources [needed],” Braband said. “We tapped into a few people that were passionate about our archive, saw the engagement on our main channel, and just moved our whole vault to this page. We’re about to hit the four-million sub mark—and it shocks me every week how some content does.”

On the Vault channel, WWE regularly uploads full matches, events, and compilation videos on specific storylines. The company has also started up a similar WCW-focused channel.

“As of mid-May, the Vault page had 133.6 million hours viewed over the previous year, representing 131 percent year-over-year growth,” Front Office Sports wrote.

WWE’s overall YouTube strategy —

The Front Office Sports story is largely focused on the fact that AAA Noche de Los Grandes is airing on YouTube this Saturday. That broadcast will be headlined by the mask vs. mask match between El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser) and Original El Grande Americano (Chad Gable). Braband said WWE views YouTube as an important marketing tool that can help get talent over.

“We’re looking at it as a way to share content, create good content, drive business goals, but also remember how YouTube is connected to the whole Google sphere of it all,” he told Front Office Sports. “It’s a marketing tool. You’re able to show off this brand and grow it and grow new superstars.”

WWE celebrates 45th anniversary of Slaughter vs. Patterson Alley Fight

Posted on by Joseph Currier

On its 45th anniversary, WWE took some time to remember Sgt. Slaughter and Pat Patterson’s legendary Alley Fight from 1981.

The WWE Vault YouTube channel made a new upload today with complete video of the Slaughter vs. Patterson match. Along with the footage, there is an introduction with Slaughter speaking about the matchup. It took place at Madison Square Garden on May 4, 1981 and is one of WWE’s best-remembered and most influential matches of the pre-Hulkamania era, holding significance for being an early example of WWE presenting hardcore wrestling.

Slaughter details the set-up in his introduction, explaining the story of how his rivalry with Patterson began while Patterson was working as an announcer and wrestler. Slaughter and The Grand Wizard bullied Patterson into the feud by getting him to accept a $10,000 Cobra Clutch challenge. When Patterson was about to break the hold, Slaughter gave him a knee strike and bloodied him during a beatdown.

Their issues ultimately culminated in the Alley Fight, where the heel Slaughter lost when Grand Wizard threw in the towel. Slaughter credits the match for establishing his toughness with the audience. Though Grand Wizard threw the towel in, it was clear that Slaughter wanted to continue.

The Alley Fight was recognized as the 1981 Match of the Year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Slaughter said the bout helped inspire Mick Foley to get into pro wrestling, and WWE has held it up as an example of how to tell a good story through in-ring work. The match was contested without a referee and had no rules.

“I always wondered why they never had another one, but I guess out of respect for Pat and I, that they never had another Alley Fight,” Slaughter said. “I keep waiting for two guys that can’t get the job done and they’re going to announce an Alley Fight, but they never do

“But I always remember Mick Foley coming to me and going, ‘Sarge, I was in the third row during that match.’ And he said, ‘That excited me so much that I wanted to be a professional wrestler.’ They would always make the boys watch that match and say, ‘This is a professional wrestling match. This is what we want you to learn how to tell a story.’ Because without a referee, pretty tough to have a match without a referee. But we did it. It’s a classic, definitely a classic.”

Daily Update: Zelina Vega, WWE Vault, MVP

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

*AEW moves PPV to HBO MAX , details of the move, programming changes, All Out time move, All Out  card and ticket sales.

*The worst week of TV ratings you can imagine.  Each show broken down into all the details.*Clash in Paris coverage, business ntes
*Changes in Nielsen ratings and how this will affect sports sooner and later
*CMLL World Grand Prix with an 82:00 main event.
*Bandido vs. Hechicero is one of the best matches of 2025.
*ROH coverage including problems with the streaming.
*Early reviews on Smashing Machine starring Dwayne Johnson
*A look at the debut of Real American Freestyle
*Nick Hogan sued Bubba the Love Sponge, what he is suing over and the first court ruling comes in.
*The legend of Buford Pusser, a former pro wrestler who became a famous pop culture figure with movies and a TV show about him, and now it comes out that he may have murdered his wife.
*The Hall of Fame case for Steve Grey.
*CMLL with multiple sellouts coming up.
*Who is now in charge of AAA.
*What’s notable about the makeup of who is in charge.
*Update on Raja Johnson and Syco Stu
*Ronda Rousey with her thoughts on WWE tenure.
*Updates on Matt Riddle.
*One of the biggest indie crowds of the year in Atlanta this past week.
*Upcoming ticket sales to all the WWE, AEW and TNA shows over the next few months.
*Notes on a new AAA signing.
*What fighter just got a $10 million payout over a lawsuit settlement
*Jon Jones case update
*Chael Sonnen crosses Rick Rude and The Grappler .
*How much is TKO worth.
*How much is Dwayne Johnson’s TK  stock worth
*Notes on the movie Street Fighter and the character named after a pro wrestler.

This Week’s Back Issue

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Thursday Update

WWE

  • Zelina Vega made an Instagram post in remembrance of her father Michael Angel Trinidad, who passed away on this day in 2001 while working at the World Trade Center during the 9/11 terror attacks:
    • These pictures have so many stories attached to them.. some are obvious and are just beautiful memories I have with my dad, mom, brother and others. Some are sad like the sign we made for people looking for my Dad at Ground Zero or a txt from my childhood friend and her recollection of the day.
    • Others are more recent but mean the world to me, in one photo it’s my arm wrapped with the words Never Forget Michael Trinidad 9-11-01 written by Rey Mysterio, someone I watched in my Dad’s room on the tv.. another is of The Rock, someone he loved, we loved watching and celebrating together.. he brought his daughter, now a dear friend of mine, to visit my Dad at the memorial. Those are those crazy ‘I can’t believe I did that’ moments.. our faves know all about you Dad.. my fans know all about you, they visit you, make signs for you.. it’s insane.
    • I wish you would have gotten to meet my husband, I know you would have loved him and how amazing he is to me, Tim’s daughter Ruby.. she’s like a mini me and Tim, like your pride and joy in one. We miss you more than words the lump in my throat prevent me from saying. I love you forever. Our guardian angel. Michael Angel Trinidad. Thank you for being with me every step of the way. I felt incredibly blessed to finally bring a WWE title to you. Finally. That will stay with me forever but.. we’re far from done. Rest In Paradise. Love you Dad.
  • Shawn Michaels revealed the official poster for NXT No Mercy, which features Oba Femi, Ricky Saints, Jacy Jayne, Lola Vice, and Blake Monroe. The PLE is being held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on September 27.
  • Stephanie McMahon interviewed NFL legend Rob Gronkowski on her “What’s Your Story?” podcast.
  • WWE Vault uploaded the full WrestleFest event from 1997 that was headlined by (what was supposed to be) Terry Funk’s retirement match against Bret Hart.

Other Wrestling

  • On Insight with Chris Van Vliet, MVP said he wasn’t able to travel to London for Forbidden Door because of the time he spent in jail in Florida in the 1990s for an armed robbery:
    • Now England, the United Kingdom, just started the electronic transfer authorization, and they ask the question, ‘Have you been convicted of a felony that required you to have a 12-month stay or longer in a correction?’ Well, yeah, I did nine and a half years, so I answered truthfully, and that’s why I wasn’t allowed in for Forbidden Door.
  • Downunder The Ring interviewed Bryan Danielson.
  • The Battleground Podcast uploaded a new interview with Tony Khan.
  • Renee Paquette spoke with Dean Malenko on AEW Close-Up.
  • Darby Allin was the guest on a new episode of Talk is Jericho, discussing his climb of Mount Everest. 
  • Megan Bayne shared the great news that her baby cousin Matthew has been declared cancer-free:
    • For those of you who don’t know, back in January I shared that my cousin Matthew had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing treatment at just 6 months old. This week, we received the amazing news that he is cancer-free! He and his parents are finally back home, and his treatment is officially over. Thank you so much to everyone who showed their support and donated — I couldn’t be more grateful.
  • Matt & Jeff Hardy will throw out the first pitch at Fenway Park before the Boston Red Sox play the Athletics on September 18. TNA stars Eddie & Alisha Edwards will also be special guests at the game.
  • Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI & Trent Seven are set to team together in RevPro’s 2025 Trios Grand Prix in Barcelona on September 20-21.
  • Bishop Dyer (the former Baron Corbin) opened up to The Takedown about how he’s been looking to prove himself in his post-WWE career:
    • It’s a proving ground for me. A lot of people know me just from being Baron Corbin in WWE and they think they know what I can do. And I think it’s eye opening for a lot of people that step into the ring with me and go – this is a different animal. This is not the same Baron Corbin we watched for years, or whatever predisposed opinion of me they have, I’m bringing new stuff to the table. It’s a new hunger. A new excitement, especially getting into companies like MLW.
  • Saraya was a guest on Busted Open Radio.

WWE Vault uploading classic Hulk Hogan series

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Saturday morning cartoons are coming to the WWE Vault YouTube channel in the form of a classic Hulk Hogan series from the 1980s.

Beginning this weekend, episodes of “Hulk Hogan‘s Rock ’n’ Wrestling” will be uploaded to the Vault channel every Saturday. The announcement was made in an article posted by entertainment publication Variety.

“WWE will begin running episodes of the cult classic cartoon series, which originally aired from 1985-1986, in batches of four episodes every Saturday morning beginning Sept. 6 on the WWE Vault,” Variety wrote. “The episodes will air in chronological order and will drop at 6 a.m., 8 a.m., 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. (all times are ET).”

The cartoon aired 26 episodes during its two-season run, with Hogan being voiced by Brad Garrett of “Everybody Loves Raymond” fame. The rest of the cast was comprised of other voice actors playing WWF stars like Andre the Giant, Junkyard Dog, and Roddy Piper. In the show, Hogan was the main good guy while Piper led a group of heels.

Hogan passed away at 71 years old this July following complications from neck surgery.

The WWE Vault channel — which has 2.88 million subscribers at the moment — spotlights classic wrestling content including some rare footage from the WWE archive.

Daily Update: Abyss, Bandido, WWE Vault

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Daily Update

Latest Headlines

Latest Audio

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • AEW heads to Arena Mexico, reaction of talent, background and key facts about Arena Mexico and wrestling history, the rise, fall and comeback of Mistico, the quadruple crown of wrestlers and even announcers and full coverage of the Tuesday and Wednesday night shows as well as this past Friday’s show.
  • Where New Japan stands today with its reset at Dominion, full coverage of the show, plus news ands thoughts regarding the G-1 Climax tournament
  • WWE preparing many major shows over the next few weeks
  • Coverage of TripleMania Regia
  • Vince McMahon, Linda McMahon and TKO make arguments to get out of the ringboys lawsuit and what statements made by McMahon and Gorilla Monsoon more than 30 years don’t look good regarding this case
  • A look at U.K. women’s wrestling pioneer and Scottish Hall of Famer Rusty Blair.
  • The most detailed look at the ratings of all the major shows
  • CMLL’s biggest show of the year announced
  • Konnan praises Corey Graves
  • A new television milestone reached this past month and an explanation of what it means
  • The U.S. team going to the world championships in Croatia
  • Hogan & Bischoff RAF promotion announces debut show and a very bad sign regarding their actual interest
  • Notes on two of the best attended indie shows of the year on the same night
  • El Hijo del Santo’s last match in Mexico as scheduled today
  • AEW women stars working in Europe
  • Advanced ticket sales for WWE, AEW and TNA shows
  • Tony Khan does interview, gets criticized regarding how he presented the info
  • More on Dana White and Nick Khan’s boxing project with Turki Alalshikh
  • What is the value of the UFC PPV shows?
  • Aaron Pico vs. Moovsar Evloev and what that says about UFC’s intentions
  • Reports on Vince McMahon getting back involved and what is and isn’t viable
  • Realities of AEW TV rating year-to-year
  • Gunther vs. Goldberg notes
  • Goldberg talks about why he’s coming back
  • Michelle McCool talks saving Undertaker’s life twice
  • Liv Morgan’s injury and changes that have to be made
  • Interesting note on WWE’s house shows in Mexico
  • WWE & AEW rivalry goes long past wrestling shows
  • Yet another WWE tournament

This Week’s Back Issue

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Tuesday Update

 WWE

  • WWE has announced Jelly Roll will be on the July 11 edition of SmackDown in Nashville.
  • WWE 2K has released footage of Abyss’ entrance for WWE 2K25.
  • In an interview with Fightful, Abyss reiterated that he doesn’t plan on wrestling again and is focused on being a producer for WWE: “To answer quite frankly, I’m done. Physically, I don’t have plans on wrestling again. Never say never, but I don’t see it in the cards, nor do I want it in the cards. I’m so happy with what I’m doing and the challenge that being a producer presents to me every day there. I’m so focused on that and being the best producer I can be. I had a great career with no regrets. Nothing I would have changed. It was time to move on and fortunately, I was lucky enough to be presented the opportunity to be a producer for the biggest and best wrestling company in the world. That, to me, was something that I never saw coming. I never thought that was going to be a possibility, just like I never thought this video game participation would be a possibility. That’s what I’m focused on now. Being the best producer I can be and contributing to the business that way.”
  • King Vikingo & El Hijo del Vikingo vs. Alberto El Patron and El Mesias has been added to AAA Verano de Escandalo on July 11.
  • Cody Rhodes will teach Nightmare Yoga on July 9 at Naked Mind Studio in Roswell, Georgia.
  • WWE Vault posted a thank you note to subscribers as the channel now has two million subscribers and 1 billion views. It has asked fans to continue sending in recommendations and requests.
  • In terms of specific requests, the note said that they have not found footage of Hulk Hogan on Jake Roberts’ Snake Pit or Owen Hart vs. Kurt Angle, more Omni house shows are coming, Mistico vs. Dean Malenko “didn’t happen,” and they have WCW Cyber Ring footage that is “mostly on green screen.”
  • Recent additions to the channel include Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage dark matches, Shane McMahon vs. Kurt Angle in a street fight from King of the Ring 2001, and Goldberg’s “rookie year” with an hour of footage.

AEW & Other Wrestling

Daily Update: Will Ospreay, Darby Allin, WWE Vault additions

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Latest Audio

Latest Free YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

  • The notes of just how much of the young audience AEW has lost
  • All In at Globe Life Field both realities and perception
  • History of famous promotional wars and how they turned out and why
  • Why the few incumbents that lost did
  • The rise and fall of WCW
  • The finances of AEW
  • The issue with all non-Raw and Smackdown shows in the U.S. market right now not involving AEW
  • History of Saturday Night’s Main Event
  • High water marks for the show in the 80s
  • The Hogan vs. Andre match
  • Why SNME went away and its return and why that didn’t work as well
  • Preview of tomorrow’s show and betting odds
  • AEW Worlds End notes and WWE’s head-to-head show in Orlando
  • Full coverage of NXT Deadline
  • Full coverage of UFC 310
  • Tokyo Sports Awards, including unique things Zack Sabre Jr. has done and the history of all 51 MVP winners since 1974
  • More on the new Global Fight League, which features tons of post-40 UFC champions and major stars, to be debuting soon
  • For those outside the U.S. where the WWE Network moves to Netflix, what non-live shows will Netflix be airing and how little it is as compared to the WWE Network
  • Preview of both Tokyo Dome shows in January
  • The death of Karloff Lagarde Jr.
  • The most detailed look at the ratings of all the U.S. TV shows, comparisons to one year ago, segment-by-segment and rankings for the night and week.
  • What CMLL star trained with the Olympic team only a few years ago
  • Pentagon Jr. update
  • Tag team tournament finals in Japan
  • Top star in Japanese group gets suspended
  • Another top star cutting down his schedule
  • International TV ratings
  • Ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
  • Tag team getting a non-wrestling national television show
  • Wrestling legend getting a non-wrestling TV show
  • Notes on the new season of Dark Side of the Ring
  • Willie Mack situation in GCW
  • What wrestler was GCW hoping to get for the Hammerstein Ballroom
  • Tessa Blanchard update
  • Lots of notes about the AEW on sale in Texas
  • Update on Rey Fenix situation
  • Most viewed streaming segments of AEW & WWE this past month
  • Steroids in BJJ
  • MMA Awards
  • Mark Shapiro talks future in WWE, UFC and even boxing ideas*WWE injury updates
  • Lots of notes about WWE shows on A&E in 2025
  • Son of sports legend makes quiet WWE debut
  • Janel Grant case updates
  • Dwayne Johnson movie updates

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Tuesday Update

WWE

AEW/Other Wrestling

  • Ahead of his match against Ricochet at AEW Collision this weekend, Will Ospreay wrote on X: “Gentlemen’s agreement. If there is one minute before the time elapses. You & me stand in the middle of the ring and throw bombs till one of us drops. Holloway style. Stand & Bang. I ain’t drawing with you again.”
  • Darby Allin did an elbow drop through a table at a Nitro Circus event on Monday.
  • Backstage comments featuring Jack Perry and The Young Bucks following NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed.
  • Our own Tom Lawlor is set to take on Minoru Suzuki as part of the beIN Sports taping portion of MLW Kings of Colosseum on January 11.
  • Suwama and Shuji Ishikawa are establishing a new promotion called Pro Wrestling Evolution. Their first show will take place on January 29 at Shinjuku FACE.
  • TNA has released a new Chris Bey shirt, with all proceeds going to Bey.
  • Mance Warner will defend the GCW World title against Super Crazy at their January 11 event.