WrestlingNews.com

Retribution Member Removed, Heat Between Seth Rollins And Matt Riddle, Plans For AEW’s #1 Contender Tournament Revealed, WWE Nixes Tag Team; Continues Controversial Angle, Why New Day Broke Up, Another Lars Sullivan Controversy, ThunderDome’s Future, AEW’s New TV Show, Raw Underground Finished

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Welcome to the WrestlingNews.com Insider Weekly Newsletter!

This week’s issue, Issue No. 14, includes news from Saturday, October 10, 2020 to Friday, October 16, 2020. Stories were written by Richard Gray, CJ Blaze and Subroto Mookherjee with final editing done by Richard for clarity. Exclusive behind-the-scenes information was added, with content exclusive to WNC Insider Members.

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– WWE News
– AEW News
– Impact News
– Ratings News

WWE News

– Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods returned to Smackdown this week after a long time. Following their return, they got a shot at the Smackdown Tag Team Championships.

Xavier Woods had not competed in the ring since October 2019, as he had a torn Achilles during a house show. Kofi Kingston was also out of action since Extreme Rules back in July. The two faced the team of Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura for the tag team titles.

It was a fast-paced match with multiple near falls, so fans were certainly entertained. Ultimately, it was the New Day who were the victors. They became the new Smackdown Tag Team Champions.

However, Stephanie McMahon then announced that Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods had been drafted to RAW, while Big E will stay in Smackdown. The New Day effectively split up with this decision.

– Lars Sullivan had been out of action for quite a while following a knee injury. Now it seems he has made his return to Friday Night Smackdown.

Several rumors suggested that Sullivan was being mentioned more during WWE meetings and it seems it was for a good reason. Sullivan returned at the end of The Miz and John Morrison vs Matt Riddle and Jeff Hardy’s match.

Sullivan showcased his physical strength as he destroyed all four Superstars following their match. The commentary team also put him over.

Stephanie McMahon then revealed that Sullivan will be added to Monday’s draft pool.

– During the #SpeakingOut movement, Matt Riddle was called out for sexual misconduct by Candy Cartwright. After denying the allegations, he proceeded to sue Cartwright and she then filed a lawsuit against Riddle, WWE, Evolve and more.

Candy Cartwright, real name Samantha Tavel filed a lawsuit against Riddle, WWE and others, asking for $10 million each.

Part of her lawsuit mentioned that she was removed her from bookings by WWE. She claimed that she has proof in the form of an email from WWE referee Drake Wuertz who also works as the Extra Talent Liaison for the company. The email, which was obtained by Babyface Vs. Heel is as follows:

“Samantha I regret to inform you that we will have to cancel your booking for this Wednesday[,] February 5th[,] as well as March 4th. Apparently there were some past issues I wasn’t aware of with you and one of our talent that would not make for an ideal work environment. Good luck to you in your career.”

– Chris Jericho is a veteran in the professional wrestling business. It follows what WWE does on a regular basis and as he worked in the company for several years, he knows the inner workings of WWE as well.

Jericho recently spoke to Busted Open Radio, where he talked about WWE trying to stop AEW’s momentum. According to Jericho, WWE does not care about the NXT brand as they simply use NXT in order to get in AEW’s way as AEW is slowly receiving comparable ratings to Monday Night RAW.

“It’s hard to say this without sounding egotistical.  I’m not saying this from a place of ego.  I’m talking from a place of fact.  It really did change the business.  When I signed with AEW, it was the equivalent of when Bobby Hull signed with the WHA in 1972.  He was the biggest star in the NHL and when he left to go to this new upstart league, everybody in the NHL got a raise including my dad, Ted Irvine, and a big one because they didn’t want to lose any other players.  That’s what happened with me.”
“The day I signed with AEW, everybody in the WWE got a raise.  Finally, the guys were making money, but still not what they should get in some cases, but still more than they got a whole lot more than what they were getting.  I think if those guys think about it, they all owe me a steak dinner because they are all making double what they were making all because Vince didn’t want them to go to AEW.  He didn’t give a sh*t about their talent level or what they were doing or who they were.”

“It became a real war at that point more than there has ever been. But all this could have been avoided by Vince if you think about it, but he was the one that kind of allowed me to go and now look where we are a year later.  We are kicking their ass and if there wasn’t NXT on a Wednesday, and it’s only there to stop our momentum.  They don’t care about their own show.  They care only about stopping our momentum.  We would be getting close to RAW ratings on certain nights.”

– Roman Reigns will defend the WWE Universal Championship against Jey Uso in an “I Quit” Hell in a Cell match at the pay-per-view later this month. Bayley will defend the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks.

The stipulation and title match were made on this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown. The following matches are confirmed for the pay-per-view:

Hell in a Cell Match for the WWE Championship
– Drew McIntyre (c) vs. Randy Orton

“I Quit” Hell in a Cell Match for the WWE Universal Championship
– Roman Reigns (c) w/Paul Heyman vs. Jey Uso

Hell in a Cell Match for the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship
– Bayley (c) vs. Sasha Banks

WWE Hell in a Cell 2020 will take place on Sunday, October 25, 2020 from the ThunderDome at Amway Center in Orlando, FL. We’ll have complete coverage here at WrestlingNews.com.

– Mercedes Martinez, who debuted on Raw as Retribution’s Retaliation, is being moved back to NXT, per PWInsider. Fans noticed on Friday that Retribution leader Mustafa Ali tweeted out a warning to the WWE roster without mention of Retaliation.

– AJ Styles’ rivalry with John Cena is arguably one of the best rivalries in the last decade in WWE. They had quite a few excellent matches and Cena certainly helped Styles early on in his WWE career.

While speaking on his Twitch stream, AJ Styles explained to fans how he and John Cena set built up their feud. Styles had no trouble finding something to insult Cena with. However, John Cena could not find much to insult Styles with, despite doing his research.

“I remember the first time we had the opportunity to talk about what we wanted to do and what kind of story we wanted to tell. He was asking what I wanted to say about him, and I was like – this is John Cena, you know, so I’m trying to figure out how to approach this without being a jerk about it – so, I was like, ‘Well, people always seem to think you bury them once you get in the ring with them, and it’s kind of over for them after that.’”

“He was just like, ‘Okay that’s good,’ Styles added. “He went on to say, ‘Well, I tried digging up some stuff on you and I couldn’t really find anything’, so that’s when he ended up coming up with the stuff about, ‘Well, if you don’t like it then you’ll just end up leaving to go somewhere else’. But I thought it was really cool that he takes some real stuff and throws it in the mix of entertainment, and you ended up with a matchup like AJ Styles and John Cena. I enjoyed working with him and can’t wait for the next one.”

– Matt Riddle made his way to Friday Night Smackdown and it seemed he was on the receiving end of a push. However, according to various reports, Vince McMahon might have paused that push for now.

Seth Rollins appeared during the WWE Watch Along during the first night of the WWE Draft on Friday Night Smackdown.

Even though he is in the blue brand, it seems Rollins has no interest in squaring off against Matt Riddle.

“I’ve got no interest in facing Matt Riddle at any point in my career, so he can go to Raw as far as I’m concerned.”

It seems there could be actual animosity between Riddle and Rollins. During Survivor Series weekend last year, Matt Riddle was insulting several WWE Superstars and Rollins was one of them.

Riddle’s wife Lisa had written a post on Instagram, making fun of the bodies of female WWE Superstars by saying they were “straight skinny jiggly fat.”. She used a picture of Becky Lynch to prove her point. While his wife deleted the post, it was screen-captured and shown online.

“Calling out multiple Main Roster Divas over the past couple of weeks for being straight skinny jiggly fat (not saying they aren’t beautiful, just saying SQUAT). It’s funny because there have been multiple female wrestlers that have asked to train with me. Each one of them look great in their gear. Clearly they know what they are doing (especially if they want to train with yours truly ). ALL females freaking SQUAT and go HARD! I do not have many photos of my rear end in minimal clothing besides these two. Here is a comparison of me, not caring what I look like, just trying to be strong a decent Olympic Lifter, and a mom of 3 vs two females getting paid a TON of money for how they look. Rant over”

– Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre are two of the top stars of the company and the top champions of Smackdown and RAW respectively. It seems Triple H desires to see them fight it out, but only when the time is right.

During the WWE Raw panel at New York Comic-Con, Triple H talked about Roman Reigns vs Drew McIntyre. If the company is able to properly set up their feud, it would be comparable to the feud of The Rock vs Steve Austin.

“The draft is always an exciting time because it creates these — I think in some ways the fantasy moments like I’ll be honest I don’t want to see Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns yet. I would love to see that percolate because I think that a couple of years down the road Roman Reigns versus Drew McIntyre is a Hulk Hogan/Ric Flair scenario, is a Rock/‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin scenario, and you don’t want to hit that before it peaks. That’s what makes the draft so exciting to me is those moments in time where you were like, ‘well, what if?’ and then ‘what if’ becomes a reality.”
The two Superstars have already faced off against each other before McIntyre got his WWE Championship run. So it will be some time until they feud again.

– AJ Styles is a veteran in the professional wrestling world. He compared in several promotions including Impact Wrestling, ROH and NJPW until finally coming to WWE in 2016 It. was the first time he performed in front of the WWE Universe.

Styles was engaged in a feud with Chris Jericho upon arrival in WWE. It culminated in a match at WrestleMania. While talking about the feud on his Twitch stream, AJ Styles revealed just how much Chris Jericho assisted him during his early days in the company.

“I love Chris. I can’t say enough good things about him. The dude is just awesome. My first WrestleMania was with Chris and he was all about helping me out. From the Royal Rumble when I debuted all the way to WrestleMania, he was always trying to help me out. Big thanks to Chris.”

Styles has been drafted to Monday Night RAW during the recent WWE Draft.

– Bayley will defend the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship against Sasha Banks at Hell in a Cell later this month.

WWE has been building towards a Bayley vs. Banks program for months, with Bayley finally turning on Banks on the September 4 episode of SmackDown. For reasons unknown, Bayley defended her title against Banks this past Friday. The match was less than three minutes as it finished in disqualification when Bayley used a chair.

After the match, Banks beat up Bayley with the chair. Bayley was able to escape a situation where her head was locked in the chair before Banks could stomp on her.

The match on SmackDown setup the Hell in a Cell encounter. The bout is set to be the first step in a program that should span multiple pay-per-views.

– During this week’s episode of Friday Night Smackdown, the New Day was broken up as Big E remained on Smackdown, while Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods were drafted to RAW. It seems there was a good reason behind this decision.

During Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed the reason for WWE’s reason for breaking up The New Day. He said that the mentality backstage is that desires to give Big E a push as a singles star. In their mind, if he is part of The New Day then fans would want him to remain as part of the team.

Meltzer thinks that they splitting up The New Day was not the right decision. However, if the company intends on going all the way with Big E and make him a huge singles star, then everyone will be satisfied.

– Ember Moon made her return during NXT TakeOver 31. She might not have returned at all had it not been for some advice from a WWE Hall Of Famer.

Daily DDT recently spoke to Ember Moon, where she revealed how essential Edge and Triple H were in helping her make an in-ring return. She depended on the veterans, especially Edge, as he gave her valuable advice as to how she should prepare herself for a comeback.

“Honestly, because of him and Triple H, that’s how it started turning around. Edge was basically like, ‘Do this, get a sauna, get a bike, you have to do this.’ He basically sent me a Cliff-noted version of what he was doing because he had such a bad Achilles rupture, too, that they said he would never come back. When the complications started happening, that’s when they told me I might not be coming back.”

“Edge helped me out so much with telling me what type of therapy to do and routines that would help. I sent that to my therapist and everything started to turn around. It was slow, but it started turning around.”

We wonder what WWE has planned for Ember Moon now that she has returned.

– Lars Sullivan returned to Smackdown last week and decimated four Superstars. It seems he was getting a push. However, it seems he has made headlines for all the wrong reasons again.

A Reddit thread revealed several screenshots of a conversation Lars Sullivan and an Instagram account called Yoga For The Athlete. The account is owned by a woman named Annika Naidoo-Fuge.

Annika Naidoo-Fuge then spoke to Bodyslam.net, confirming that the conversation was real. She revealed that Sullivan started talking to her and then hinted at buying her photos. Sullivan then sent disturbing messages to her and then was blocked by her.

– Eva Marie is rumored to be returning to WWE, according to Cultaholic.

Per the report, Marie’s return is imminent and could happen as soon as tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw.

Marie gained fame as a cast member on E’s Total Divas for six seasons. She was with WWE from 2013 to 2017, having worked on NXT and SmackDown. In August 2017, Marie and WWE mutually agreed to part ways.

– Lars Sullivan is back on WWE television and back in the news for the all the wrong reasons.

As noted earlier here on WrestlingNews.com, Sullivan seemingly sent disturbing messages to a woman by the name of Annika Naidoo-Fuge. WWE is aware of the situation, according to WrestleVotes.

Sullivan does not have many supporters left in the WWE locker room but he does seem to still have support of Vince McMahon.

Remember Sullivan was fined $100,000 for racist and anti-gay posts he made on Reddit. He was set for a big match against John Cena at WrestleMania 35 but it was nixed after he suffered an anxiety attack the night he was scheduled to debut in January 2019.

While support for Sullivan is dwindling, WWE remains all systems go right now.

– WWE will continue to air Raw, SmackDown and pay-per-views from the ThunderDome at Amway Center in Orlando, FL.

Both PWInsider and Wrestling Observer are reporting WWE has extended their deal with Amway Center by four weeks. This means Survivor Series will be the second major WWE pay-per-view to emanate from the venue.

The internal hope was to begin running outside venues as soon as next month. However, the current situation with the COVID-19 pandemic has made that impossible. WWE’s original deal with the Amway Center barred fans from attending and assuming this agreement is an extension of the original contract, that will likely remain the case.

The ThunderDome has upgraded WWE’s television since its debut. The experience has been so well received, the company did the same for WWE NXT by revamping the Performance Center and moving their weekly TV there.

The 2020 WWE Draft will continue on tonight’s episode of Monday Night Raw from the ThunderDome at Amway Center. We will have complete coverage here at WrestlingNews.com.

– Total Bellas season six will premiere Thursday, November 12 at 9 PM ET on E.

Below is the official announcement:

E! follows Nikki and Brie’s pregnancy journey as the new season of “Total Bellas” premieres Nov. 12

WWE Superstars, New York Times best-selling authors and entrepreneurs Nikki Bella and Brie Bella are back with an all-new season of “Total Bellas,” premiering on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 9 ET/6 PT on E!.

This season, as Nikki and Brie prepare for some major milestones, including the expansion of their families with the births of their baby boys. In their memoir, “Incomparable,” Nikki reveals a deep secret she held from her family for more than 20 years. As Brie gives Nikki some childbirth and motherhood life hacks, it brings some of Brie’s emotions to the forefront from her previous pregnancy.

Brie attempts to bring Nikki and their brother JJ back together after they hit a rough patch in their relationship. In a devastating turn of events, The Bellas discover that their mom Kathy will need to have emergency brain surgery. Despite everything, The Bellas still find time to celebrate with their family babymoon trip and baby showers, and an impromptu decision leaves the twins wondering if Phoenix is their forever home.

Don’t miss the all-new season premiere of “Total Bellas” Thursday, Nov. 12, at 9 ET/6 PT on E!.

– NXT Champion Finn Balor went under the knife on Friday to repair the two fractures in his jaw that he suffered at TakeOver 31.

Balor noted one fracture was going into a tooth, so the tooth was removed. Three plates were then screwed in to help the fractures heal quickly. No wires were needed after surgery.

There’s no word yet on when Balor will return to the ring.

– A dual-brand women’s battle royal in order to determine the #1 Contender for the RAW Women’s Title was held during this week’s RAW.

During the match, Lana was put through the announcer’s table once again by Nia Jax after Jax was eliminated. It came down to Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott, Lacey Evans, and Natalya as they were the final four Superstars in the ring.

Ruby and Liv were eliminated at the same time. Then it came down to Evans and Natalya, who last competed against each other in Saudi Arabia. Ultimately, it was Natalya who eliminated Evans by hitting her against a post and throwing her out of the ring. However, she had forgotten about Lana as she was not eliminated.

Lana took advantage of the situation and kicked Natalya out of the ring. She won the match and is now the #1 Contender for Asuka’s RAW Women’s Title.

– Elias was out of action owing to a pectoral injury a few months ago. He could not compete in the Intercontinental Championship tournament on Smackdown. He was written off of WWE television shortly after.

He required surgery for his injury and was on the shelf for months. Now it seems The made his return during this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW.

Jeff Hardy, AJ Styles, and Seth Rollins competed in an intense triple threat match. During the match, then Elias suddenly made his way to the ring and smashed his guitar on Jeff Hardy’s head.

AJ Styles took advantage of the situation and pinned Hardy to win the match.

– Benjamin Carter has impressed many with his recent showing on AEW Dynamite against Lee Johnson and Late Night Dynamite against Scorpio Sky. It seems promotions other than AEW have shown great interest in him.

According to a report by Fightful Select, Carter has received looks from both AEW and Impact Wrestling. WWE is also making a “big play” to sign him to a contract.

WWE apparently wants to sign Carter for their NXT UK brand. According to the report,  Carter’s “residential status” did not allow him to sign with ROH. “The NXT UK deal would circumvent that and keep him closer to home.”

– Below is a complete recap of the 2020 WWE Draft:

Picks Announced on 10/12 Raw:

First Round:

  • “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt to Raw.
  • Bayley to Smackdown.
  • Randy Orton to Raw.
  • The Street Profits to Smackdown.
  • Charlotte Flair to Raw.

Second Round:

  • Braun Strowman to Raw.
  • Daniel Bryan to Smackdown.
  • Matt Riddle to Raw.
  • Kevin Owens to Smackdown.
  • Jeff Hardy to Raw.

Third Round:

  • Retribution to Raw.
  • Lars Sullivan to Smackdown.
  • Keith Lee to Raw.
  • King Corbin to Smackdown.
  • Alexa Bliss to Raw.

Fourth Round:

  • Sami Zayn to Smackdown.
  • Lacey Evans to Raw.
  • Cesaro and Shinsuke Nakamura to Smackdown.
  • Sheamus to Raw.

Fifth Round:

  • Nikki Cross to Raw.
  • Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode to Smackdown.
  • R-Truth to Raw.
  • Apollo Crews to Smackdown.
  • Dabba-Kato to Raw.

Sixth Round:

  • Titus O’Neil to Raw.
  • Carmella to Smackdown.
  • Peyton Royce to Raw.
  • Aleister Black to Smackdown.
  • Akira Tozawa to Raw.

Seventh Round (Raw Talk):

  • Lana to Raw.
  • Natalya to Smackdown.
  • Riddick Moss to Raw.
  • Liv Morgan and Ruby Riott to Smackdown.
  • Arturo Ruas to Raw.

More Monday Picks:

  • Shorty G to Smackdown.
  • Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik to Raw.

Free Agent Signings:

  • Erik to Raw.
  • Tamina to Smackdown.
  • Billie Kay to Smackdown.
  • Zelina Vega to Smackdown.

Undrafted:

  • Mickie James
  • Andrade

Picks Announced on 10/9 SmackDown:

First Round:

  • Drew McIntyre to Raw.
  • Roman Reigns to Smackdown.
  • Asuka to Raw.
  • Seth Rollins to Smackdown.
  • The Hurt Business to Raw.

Second Round:

  • AJ Styles to Raw.
  • Sasha Banks to Smackdown.
  • Naomi to Raw.
  • Bianca Belair to Smackdown.
  • Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler to Raw.

Third Round:

  • Ricochet to Raw.
  • Jey Uso to Smackdown.
  • Mandy Rose to Raw.
  • Rey and Dominik Mystero to Smackdown.
  • The Miz and John Morrison to Raw.

Fourth Round:

  • Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods to Raw.
  • Big E to Smackdown.
  • Dana Brooke to Raw.
  • Otis to Smackdown.
  • Angel Garza to Raw.

Fifth Round:

  • Humberto Carrillo to Raw
  • Murphy to Smackdown
  • Drew Gulak to Raw
  • Kalisto to Smackdown
  • Tucker to Raw

– Finn Balor added more details about his surgery to repair his fractured jaw on Instagram. Last Friday he had surgery for two fractures of his jaw. One of the fractures involved a tooth, which required it to be removed. His jaw was wired shut to restore his bite and help align the fractures. Three plates were inserted to fixate the fractures for a quicker recovery. We will have more on when WWE expects him back in tomorrow’s installment of Ask WNC.

– Speaking of losing teeth, Natalya lost one on Raw after her confrontation with Mandy Rose. For those that missed Raw, WWE officially split up Natalya and Lana. We have results available at this link.

– The following matches are being advertised for next week’s “season premiere” episode of WWE Monday Night Raw:

  • Asuka vs. Lana for the WWE Raw Women’s Championship
  • Braun Strowman vs. Keith Lee
  • Elias puts on a concert for the fans and Jeff Hardy

We’ll have complete coverage here at WrestlingNews.com.

– Alberto Del Rio has been on a downward spiral for a long time. He was indicted for aggravated kidnapping and second-degree sexual assault. He was indicted by a Texas Grand Jury. Now it seems a trial date has been set for Del Rio.

The former WWE and Impact Wrestling star was arrested and charged with a second-degree sexual assault felony and aggravated kidnapping back in May of this year. The main charge is still aggravated kidnapping.

According to a report by PW Insider, Del Rio’s trial date will be on January 25th, 2021.

The charges against Del Rio could see him serving the maximum sentence, which would be 99 years in prison.

– Andrade continues to create buzz on social media after he wasn’t assigned to either Raw or SmackDown during the two-night WWE Draft.

After fans jumped to conclusions about him leaving the company, Andrade shared a photo on Wednesday from his days as NXT Champion to get people talking again.

PWInsider notes that there was talk last week of having Andrade return to NXT following his split from Angel Garza and Zelina Vega.

Stay tuned to WrestlingNews.com for the latest.

– John Cena had been in a relationship with Shay Shariatzadeh for a long time now and he kept his relationship private. Now it seems the two have tied the knot in a private ceremony on Tuesday, October 12th.

According to a report by PW Insider, the couple was married in Tampa. Multiple sources have confirmed this report that they are indeed married now.

The couple publicly announced their relationship back in March 2019. The two met when Cena was shooting for a film in Canada and the two were engaged to be married earlier this year.

– Andrade was one of the notable Superstars who were left out during this year’s edition of the WWE Draft. Many were speculating whether Andrade would leave the company, but Charlotte Flair confirmed that was not the case.

It seems the real reason behind Andrade not being drafted is due to an injury. According to a report by Wrestling Inc,  Andrade is currently going through minor elective surgery. The procedure and its recovery are likely to put him on the shelf for around a month. A source also noted he will be receiving a push once he returns.

“Wrestling Inc. has learned that Andrade hasn’t been drafted because he is undergoing a minor elective procedure. He is expected to be out of action for about a month. According to a source familiar with a situation, he is expected to receive a push when he returns.”

– Aleister Black is a former NXT Champion, but he has yet to find his footing on the main roster in WWE. His character went through some changes during his time on the main roster and now he has been drafted to Smackdown during the 2020 draft.

He told Sports Illustrated that fans have yet to see the final version of himself as of yet. He then talked about his character direction in the company.  He said he wants to develop a new aesthetic as he has always been about garnering a reaction from the audience.

“Initially, I want to establish this character. I want to establish this entrance, I want to establish this aesthetic. I want people to understand this character to the fullest extent. My character has always been designed to generate a response. I want this character to be a fundamental piece within the WWE universe that is understood and can move forward on this chessboard, and eventually get to the point where we have title matches. If those title matches somehow fail, then what is the consequence? Then what happens? I don’t want to do this for a while, then do that for a while. I want there to be multiple outros and intros for any type of storyline where I get involved.”

We will have to see what becomes of Aleister Black.

– Pro Wrestling Illustrated has announced Bayley as this year’s No. 1 women’s wrestler.

The cover reveals the top five is rounded out with Becky Lynch, Asuka, Charlotte Falir and Sasha Banks in that order. The next five are Hikaru Shida, Tessa Blanchard, Riho, Io Shirai and Mayu Iwatani.

Lynch was the No. 1 ranked women’s wrestler last year. Lynch’s absence from Raw has allowed for Asuka to thrive to solidify her spot as one of the top professional wrestlers in the world.

Bayley is closing in on 500 days as SmackDown Women’s Champion and will defend the title against Sasah Banks at Hell in a Cell on October 25, 2020. She reacted to the news on Twitter:

AEW World Champion Jon Moxley is the top male wrestler.

This issue is available at this link.

– A stalker named Phillip Tomas II  broke into Sonya Deville’s house in order to kidnap her, which he had been planning for several months. His attempt failed and he was arrested.

He has several charges against him. He had a virtual court hearing on October 12th regarding the attempted kidnapping. His next appearance is on December 15th, where he will be there in person for the hearing.

The charges against him include aggravated Stalking which is a third degree felony, Armed Burglary of a Dwelling which is a felony punishable by life in prison, and Armed Kidnapping for Ransom or Reward or Hostage which is another felony punishable by life in prison. He is also facing a misdemeanor charge of Criminal Mischief for Less Than $200.

According to a report by Wrestling Inc, Sonya Deville has been receiving Thomas’ mails at home. At the time of his incarceration, he gave Deville’s address as his own. Authorities corrected this quickly so she is no longer receiving his mails. However, court records still show Thomas’ address as Deville’s residence. This act can be used against Thomas as an act of continued harassment.

Deville also has an injunction hearing against Thomas on November 12th.

– Paul Heyman was the Executive Director of Monday Night RAW. His goal was to push the newer generation of Superstars and gave them more spotlight, but Vince McMahon did not see it that way.

Heyman brought in Superstars who were not focused on the main roster and helped push them.  While it was working for a while, Heyman was ultimately fired from his role and subsequently, the pushes stopped as well.

While speaking to Ariel Helwani of ESPN, Paul Heyman explained how he was fired from his position. He served “at the pleasure of” Vince McMahon and then suddenly McMahon decided Heyman no longer served any purpose in that role.

I served at the pleasure of the Chairman Vince McMahon and there came a day I was no longer at the pleasure of the Chairman Vince McMahon. When I took the role of Executive Director, I made an agreement with Vince McMahon, I want this job as long as every morning Vince McMahon woke up, he said thank God or whatever deity he subscribes to Paul Heyman is looking after the store on Raw. And the day that Vince McMahon didn’t wake up and feel that way, I didn’t want the job anymore.”

“Apparently on that day on that given time and given moment, Vince didn’t wake up that morning thanking whatever deity he subscribes to that Paul Heyman was in charge of Raw. We left with a smile, a handshake, and a hug. Absolutely no harsh feelings and actually better feelings about each other because of the way that it ended because it’s ended miserably before.”

Heyman has been involved in his role as the manager for Roman Reigns.

– On April 15th, over one hundred WWE members of staff were fired. This included WWE producers. Several people received calls from WWE where they were they were no longer needed by the company.

Shane Helms was one of the producers who was furloughed on April 15th, but it seems he has not received a phone call as of yet.

Shane Helms spoke to Wrestling Inc, where he revealed he has not been fully released by WWE. He says he considers it as a release as he is not working, but he is still on furlough.

“Yeah, I guess it’s a furloughing, until I go back. To me, it’s the same thing as being released if I go back or whatever. April 15, Tax Day, of course, always sucks but it wasn’t anything that was unexpected for me anyway. Kind of made sense since I was sitting at home doing nothing, but I’ve been podcasting for a long time myself dating all the way back to 2010. I was just having this discussion with a friend of mine. I was live streaming back in 2010.”

Owing to the company not having as many events as before, Shane Helms is not needed by the company. With WWE touring unlikely to return until 2022, it is unknown whether Helms will be working in the company again anytime soon.

– The Undertaker and Kane are two of the most iconic Superstars in WWE history. The two teamed together as the Brothers of Destruction and now it seems their story will be getting more attention.

A WWE Network documentary by the name of “Brothers Of Destruction” will be making its debut at the Austin Film Festival according to Variety.

The Brothers Of Destruction film will be shown on October 29th, which is the final day of the festival. The documentary will make its way onto the WWE Network on November 15th.

The documentary will feature never-before-seen candid conversations between The Undertaker and Kane, as the two discuss their kayfabe journey together as brothers.

AEW News

– AEW will be holding a big 8-man tournament in order to determine the #1 Contender for the AEW World Championship. The finals will be held at AEW Full Gear on November 7th.

So far, six participants have been announced for the tournament and two spots remain. The company has one more week to announce the remaining participants.

According to a report by The Wrestling Observer Newsletter, AEW Dynamite’s October 21st episode will include four quarterfinal matches. The next week on October 28th, two semi-final matches will be taking place. Following that, the company will be promoting the finals for a week.

The bracketology has not been announced. So, many are wondering which stars will be competing against each other. The current participants are Kenny Omega, Colt Cabana, Hangman Page, Fenix, Jungle Boy, and Wardlow.

Many fans are hoping to see Kenny Omega and Adam Page face off in the finals.

– AEW is always on the lookout for talented wrestlers who will bolster up the already-deep roster. Earlier in the year, the company were keen on signing Mance Warner. However, due to his MLW contract, they could not pursue him. Now it seems the promotion has shown interest in the talent again.

According to a report by Bodyslam.net, AEW’s interest in signing Mance Warner has been “renewed.” The report stated that there is “100% interest” in hiring him.

I can now confirm that interest has once again picked up from AEW in regards to Mance Warner. After speaking to my sources close to the situation I was told “AEW 100% has interest” in Mance Warner.

Warner was present backstage at the AEW Revolution event in Chicago. He was invited to company events several times, but his MLW contract did not allow him to get into talks regarding a contract with the company.

– Ivelisse and Diamante made their AEW debut together as they went on to win the Women’s Tag Team Tournament. She was not signed with AEW for a long time, but it seems that is no longer the case now.

In an interview on Monday night, she was asked whether she signed a contract with AEW. She revealed that she was not able to confirm it before, but confirmed it now – she has officially signed a contract with the company.

She said it was an emotional moment for her as she had been through a lot the past couple of years. She revealed that she signed a contract the same week her house caught on fire.

As the house fire incident took place in September, it can be assumed that she signed a contract in mid-September.

– All Elite Wrestling received an extension from WarnerMedia and part of the extension included another show. Cody Rhodes revealed AEW will not be adding a third hour to Dynamite, but a new show is definitely coming.

TV Insider recently spoke to Cody Rhodes, where he talked about the new AEW show. He gave more details regarding the show, mentioning that AEW is signing new wrestlers for a good reason. The company will have a separate hour of programming and talents will be utilized in the new show.

“We have to move from novelty to commodity. One thing we’ve continued to do is recruit. People wonder why we’re recruiting when we only have this two-hour bullseye to hit. We know that this third hour is going to present itself soon. And I don’t mean a third hour of Dynamite. I mean a separate hour on a WarnerMedia network. We’ll be able to diversify and freshen up the content on a regular basis.”

He provided clarification that the new show will not be AEW Dark as Dark will continue to be uploaded on YouTube.

– AEW continues to grow as a company and it started with the help of various other wrestling promotions. Cody Rhodes recently talked about how the company will work with other companies.

ROH helped the Elite a lot in order to make All In a success and NJPW is why Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks became well-known names in the business. AEW is not self-sufficient and does not the help of other promotions.

While speaking with Asbury Park Press, Cody Rhodes explained how AEW will be working with other companies, should they go that route. He said it is not likely they will co-promote a major event with another company. However, they are open to maintain those relationships with other promotions.

“I think you’ll never see a full-scale, like, joint-promoted show (between AEW and another promotion.) We have too much pride in our individual brand. But in terms of the relationships, we’re never closing the doors and we’re never going to pull up the bridges.”

I laughed when I heard people talking about a working relationship with New Japan because clearly it already exists — Jon Moxley has been on New Japan, Chris Jericho has been on New Japan. It already exists, the working relationship. The NWA (owner) Billy (Corgan) and Tony Khan are in contact, Thunder Rosa’s the prime example of that. … I loved seeing Tanahashi on TV last week. He’s somebody I really wanted to get in the ring with one time as far as singles and never got the opportunity — and who knows? That might be something that can happen in the future. But our doors are open, our bridges are down.”

– AEW held the special anniversary edition of AEW Dynamite this week. It featured a match between Cody Rhodes and Orange Cassidy, where he defended his TNT Title. However, it seems the next challenger for the title has already been determined.

During the AEW TNT Title match, Darby Allin could be seen watching the two compete while sitting in the crowd. It was then revealed that Allin will be challenging the winner of the match for the TNT Championship at AEW Full Gear.

Cody and Cassidy ended in a time limit draw, so Cody successfully retained his championship despite Cassidy’s efforts.

AEW Full Gear will be taking place on November 7th.

– AEW will be holding an 8-man tournament which will determine #1 Contender for the AEW World Title. The finals will be taking place at AEW Full Gear on November 7th. The brackets for the tournament were previously not revealed but on this week’s AEW Dynamite, the brackets were revealed.

The two vacant spots were taken by Joey Janela and Penta. Now the tournament comprises of wrestlers such as Kenny Omega, Fenix, Hangman Page, Wardlow, Jungle Boy, and Colt Cabana.

Next week the quarter-finals for the tournament will be taking place. Kenny Omega and Hangman are on opposite brackets while Fenix and Penta are on the same bracket.

Impact Wrestling News

– Impact Wrestling announced on Sunday that Eddie Edwards will go one-on-one with Ken Shamrock at Bound For Glory on October 24. Sami Callihan will be in Shamrock’s corner.

Six matches are now confirmed for the pay-per-view:

Impact World Championship Match
– Eric Young (c) vs. Rich Swann

Impact Knockouts Championship Match
– Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs. Kylie Rae

Impact Tag Team Championship Four-Way Match
– Motor City Machine Guns (c) vs. The North vs. The Good Brothers vs. Ace Austin & Madman Fulton

Impact X-Division Championship Six-Way Scramble
– Rohit Raju (c) vs. Trey Miguel vs. TJP vs. Chris Bey vs. Willie Mack vs. Jordynne Grace

Undisclosed Location Match
– EC3 vs. Moose

– Eddie Edwards vs. Ken Shamrock (w/Sami Callihan)

We’ll have complete Bound For Glory coverage right here at WrestlingNews.com.

– Impact Wrestling has announced that EC3 vs. Moose will air on the Bound For Glory pay-per-view from an undisclosed location. This comes after EC3 recently stole Moose’s TNA World Heavyweight Championship and burned it.

Given the stipulation, this may be a cinematic match, but that has not been confirmed.

Below is the updated card for October 24:

Impact World Championship Match
– Eric Young (c) vs. Rich Swann

Impact Knockouts Championship Match
– Deonna Purrazzo (c) vs. Kylie Rae

Four-Way Impact Tag Team Championship Match
– Motor City Machine Guns (c) vs. The North vs. The Good Brothers vs. Ace Austin & Madman Fulton

Impact X-Division Championship Six-Way Scramble
– Rohit Raju (c) vs. Trey Miguel vs. TJP vs. Chris Bey vs. Willie Mack vs. Jordynne Grace

Undisclosed Location Match
– EC3 vs. Moose

We’ll have complete Bound For Glory coverage right here at WrestlingNews.com.

– Joey Ryan was among many names called out during the #SpeakingOut movement. He was fired by Impact Wrestling due to the allegations against him and it seems he is now suing his former employer.

According to a report by PW Insider, Joey Ryan filed a lawsuit against Impact Wrestling’s parent company Anthem Wrestling LLC, stating that the company is in a breach of contract. He is currently seeking $10 million.

In the lawsuit, it was alleged that Ryan “signed a contract on 9/1/19 that was slated to run through 8/31/21 but that contract was breached when Impact Wrestling Executive Scott D’Amore emailed Meehan on 6/22 to inform him that the company was no longer going to be booking him due to ‘recent allegations.’”

It was said that following the email, Ryan was given a formal release notice from Impact Wrestling. It was said that the end of his contract was being “amended” on June 22nd and they released him.

It was said that Anthem Wrestling did not perform as guaranteed in the “expressed language of the contract to follow and abide by the terms prescribed” in the terms of termination in the contract. His lawsuit also stated that Anthem Wrestling “failed to perform as guaranteed by failing to adhere to the express terms.”

Ratings News

– The first night of the WWE Draft took place on Friday Night Smackdown this week. According to a report by Showbuzz Daily, WWE Friday Night SmackDown brought in an average of 2.0865 million viewers for its two-hour broadcast. The first hour received 2.156 million viewers in the first hour and 2.017 million in the second. They also got a .8 in the first hour and .7 in the second in the coveted 18-49 demographic. This is an increase compared to last week’s episode. Last week the show brought in 2.043 million viewers in the overnight ratings. The first hour received 2.105 million viewers, and the second hour retained 1.980 million viewers. The show also managed a .55 rating in the 18-49 demographic against the NBA Finals.

– Last week’s episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown garnered 2.178 million viewers on FOX. That is up from the 2.087 million viewers the show did in the overnights that came out Saturday morning. The audience was up from the 2.155 million final viewership the show did in the week prior. The blue brand failed to win any demographics due to the NBA Finals on ABC. The game did 8.890 million viewers on ABC.

– This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw featuring night two of the 2020 WWE Draft garnered 1.855 million viewers on the USA Network. The audience was up from the 1.686 million viewers the show did last week. Hour one did 2.006 million viewers, hour two did 1.884 million viewers and hour three did 1.676 million viewers. The three hours finished fourth, sixth and seventh in the 18-49 demographic in Monday’s cable ratings. Monday Night Football between the Los Angeles Chargers and New Orleans Saints won the night with 10.694 million viewers on ESPN. Raw also had to contend with the MLB National League Championship Series on FOX between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves, which drew hours of 3.587 million viewers, 3.005 million viewers and 3.028 million viewers.

– Viewership numbers for both Dynamite and NXT went up this week.

This week’s WWE NXT drew 651,000 viewers on the USA Network. This is up from last week’s 639,000. The show ranked No. 51 in the 18-49 demographic with a 0.17 rating.

This week’s AEW Dynamite did 826,000 viewers on TNT. This is up from last week’s 752,000 viewers. The anniversary show ranked No. 15 in the 18-49 demographic with a 0.30 rating.

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