AEW Dynamite is establishing a regular routine in 2020 of garnering over 900,000 viewers each week on TNT, while NXT on the USA Network is averaging about 150,000 less viewers per week. Even though WWE is currently losing the Wednesday Night Wars, NXT’s move to the USA Network is still considered by most to everyone in WWE to be largely successful.
Day: February 11, 2020
The Revival turned down Sizable Contract Offers and EC3 Uptake
Both Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder of The Revival seem dead-set on leaving WWE and opting to bet on themselves by exploring new endeavors. The team has reportedly turned down hefty offers from the company of $700K per year. Vince McMahon obviously cannot force them to stay with WWE so both men will most likely leave the company when their contracts expire (one of their contracts reportedly expires in March or April 2020 and the other’s deal expires in August 2020).
Perhaps AEW could be a potential destination where the tag team could be better utilized. AEW is known to focus heavily on their tag team division (The Young Bucks – Matt and Nick Jackson – are executives, so this would make one think that maybe this is why the company focuses so prominently on its tag team division). The wrestlers in AEW’s tag team division appear to be treated more like legitimate stars rather than just a part of the show that is of slightly lesser value than singles superstars.
Speaking of underutilized WWE talent, former TNA World Heavyweight Champion EC3, who is currently signed with WWE (but drastically underutilized and not viewed as a star), could also have a future with AEW since he has recently been spotted in public with Chris Jericho. He also posted on social media that he received some excellent advice from Le Champion.
Rusev’s Contract Negotiations
Rusev is engaged in contract negotiations with WWE. Vince McMahon would reportedly like to keep him, but maybe he wants something WWE is not willing to give him. Otherwise these negotiations would probably be settled. This is possibly the reason he was kept off TV on February 3rd.
Shayna Baszler & Ronda Rousey News
Former NXT Champion Shayna Baszler is reportedly set to make her debut on Raw soon (definitely before WrestleMania 36). This will give her a chance to adequately build for a confrontation at the biggest show of the year with Becky Lynch. Meanwhile, Ronda Rousey will in fact return to WWE and it’s a matter of “when” not if, because she is under contract until WrestleMania 37 and 2021. WWE fans should not expect her to return on a full-time basis again. She is not willing to necessarily put her family through that again.
Because Shayna and Ronda are such good friends from their days in UFC together (in part two of the Four Horsewomen of UFC), the WWE universe shouldn’t be surprised if Ronda Rousey ends up playing a pivotal role in Baszler’s match and potential title win at ‘Mania.
Raw Superior to SmackDown Currently
Since SmackDown moved to FOX in October 2019, the quality of the programming has been up and down. The February 7th show was all over the place shifting focus between about 10 different stories. The continuity of Monday Night Raw with Paul Heyman in charge has probably been the best incarnation of Raw since the Attitude Era.
Every segment on the show over the past few months has felt very meaningful, and Heyman has done a very nice job of pivoting within storylines. The stories resonate with the WWE universe when certain superstars have suffered unexpected injuries. Maybe all he needed was for Brock Lesnar to come to Raw so Paul could gain a little more star power to work with and not have to divert his attention from Monday Nights.
Plethora of WWE News
WWE has announced that Hollywood actor Dwayne Johnson’s (The Rock) daughter Simone has officially started training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, FL. She will give the sports entertainment industry a go. She most likely feels the sports entertainment industry is embedded in her blood, since her father, grandfather, and great grandfather all achieved success with the company. She will endeavor to become the first-ever fourth-generation superstar in WWE history at just 18 years old.
WWE has also officially announced that WrestleMania 37 will be held in the Los Angeles Rams / Chargers new SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles in 2021. The stadium, which is scheduled to open in 2020, has the capability to seat 100,000 people. Expect a potentially record-breaking crowd about as large as the crowd that was in attendance for WrestleMania 32 at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
Matt Riddle reportedly had a verbal altercation with Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble which did not do him any favors in the match (the reason he was in the match was because Triple H lobbied for him to be in it). He was eliminated from the match, however, in less than a minute. He was at it again on Saturday night had an NXT live event in Las Vegas, guaranteeing that he would one day retire Brock Lesnar.
I can’t say I’m surprised, because The Bro’s been making comments like this for nearly 3 years. He may want to tone it down and have some respect for the hierarchy of the business and his day will come eventually (assuming his mouth doesn’t get him in trouble first).