WWE is really trying to put over that Dean Ambrose is leaving. Maybe its a way to make him feel important for when he’s ready to come back.
Here’s the truth about All Elite Wrestling and WarnerMedia rumors: They are rumors. Just rumors, as of now.
All Elite Wrestling has been in talks of many cable platforms to bring future programming to television on a national level. WarnerMedia has become the front runner for the gig of airing the program for AEW. Talks, from my understanding are pretty deep and nearing finalization.
WarnerMedia is the new company that holds the old Turner Broadcasting properties TNT and TBS (The former home of World Championship Wrestling).
WarnerMedia is set to present their offerings at the upcoming up-front event (a yearly dog and pony show for TV networks/Streaming services to present their programming to advertisers for possibly ad sales) on May 19, just a few days before AEW present’s Double or Nothing. Until there is a formal announcement form either side, this is just a rumor.
I have reached out to my AEW contact but they have not responded to requests for comment.
Commentary: A TNT/TBS TV deal for AEW would be huge. In fact, TNT would be perfect for AEW. AEW is largely an unproven concept that would need room to grow. I would hope that those running AEW are down selling AEW’s ability to produce compelling weekly television. Not because I don’t think they can, but I think they are going to need some runway
TNT would bring in the national audience that AEW would need to be viable. Their international deal would need to be significant as well.
IMPACT Wrestling Announces New UK TV Deal with 5STAR
TORONTO | LONDON – IMPACT Wrestling, a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment Corp., announced today a new broadcast deal with Viacom-owned Channel 5 to broadcast its flagship weekly show IMPACT! on 5STAR across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland starting on April 26, 2019.
This is a renewal of the partnership of IMPACT Wrestling’s deal with Channel 5, which launched IMPACT! on 5Spike in spring 2017. 5STAR, which is also part of the Channel 5 stable, is available on Sky TV (128), Freeview (30), Freesat (131), Virgin Media (151) and other DTT platforms.
New episodes of IMPACT! will premiere on 5STAR from 26th April at 11pm with weekly episodes airing in the same timeslot on Friday nights.
“Since IMPACT Wrestling’s inception in 2002, the UK has always been one of our most passionate markets,” said Ed Nordholm, president of IMPACT Wrestling. “We are excited to extend our broadcast partnership with Channel 5 and launch our weekly programming on 5Star, whose younger audience more effectively aligns with our core fan base.”
Cherry Yeandle, Senior Manager, Acquisitions and Co-Productions said: “We are thrilled to be continuing our relationship with IMPACT Wrestling and are looking forward to bringing all of the high-octane action to 5STAR. As well as quenching the appetite of the UK fans with this flagship weekly show, we are excited to introduce a new audience to all the wrestling drama – with its young audience demographic, we see 5STAR as a perfect fit.”
In 2018, IMPACT Wrestling enjoyed strong weekly audiences on 5Spike and a social media reach of over 48 million in the UK.
IMPACT Wrestling showcases top professional wrestling stars such as IMPACT World Champion Johnny Impact, Rob Van Dam, Brian Cage, Moose, Killer Kross, Eddie Edwards and Sami Callihan, Mexican superstars such as Pentagon Jr. and Fenix, the high-flying X-Division and the Knockouts, including Champion Taya Valkyrie, third-generation star Tessa Blanchard and Rosemary.
For more information, visit www.impactwrestling.com and www.channel5.com/5star.
About IMPACT Wrestling
IMPACT Wrestling is one of the world’s largest wrestling entertainment properties, creating more than 300 hours of original content annually across television and other digital platforms. IMPACT Wrestling specializes in creating premium content, events, products, merchandise and music, as well as the management and promotion of professional wrestlers. Its highly successful flagship, IMPACT!, is broadcast globally, including Fridays at 10 p.m. ET/PT worldwide on Twitch, Pursuit Channel in the United States, Fight Network and GameTV in Canada, Sony ESPN in India, 5Star and Fight Network in the United Kingdom, SuperSport in Africa, and MVStv in Mexico.
For more information visit www.impactwrestling.com.
About 5STAR
5STAR is the home to drama, documentaries, factual entertainment and comedy for young audiences. Launching in Britain in October 2006, the channel rebranded as 5STAR in 2016 under the ownership of Viacom International Media Networks. 5STAR is available on main digital TV platforms in the UK, including Sky TV (128), Freesat (31), Virgin Media (151) and Freeview (30). The channel reaches over a quarter of the UK viewing public each month as a sister channel to Channel 5, 5USA and 5Spike. Over the past few years original content on the channel has grown including, Celebs on the Farm, Young Dumb and Banged Up in the Sun and Rich Kids Go Skint, alongside UK drama, Clink.
Pro Wrestling Sheet is reporting that WWE has released one of their backstage announcers, Dasha Fuentes. There hasn’t been an official announcement or comment from either party.
Fuentes has been with WWE since 2014. She was a backstage interviewer for NXT and most recently she was on Smackdown Live! and 205 Live.
Keep posted for more news about Dasha’s release and more.
Jim Ross appeared on The Hannibal TV discussing all things about his pro-wrestling future.
Ross spoke about why he left WWE. He stated that he wanted to be a work horse. He said that in 2018, he was only booked twice and he wanted to do more. Ross’ quote was “I’m a work horse, not a show horse”.
Ross would go on to say that he will be a full time guy with All Elite Wrestling. He laughed off the idea of his contract being the “largest in announcer history”, but said he is very blessed with his contract.
In regards to AEW TV, Ross believes that AEW will be on a weekly schedule on a network. Last week, we reported that Ross thinks that AEW will be on TV this fall.
Watch Jim Ross Discuss His AEW Deal
Dean Ambroses last night with WWE was on Monday’s night Raw. Here is the video of The Shield saying goodbye to Dean Ambrose.
PWInsider is reporting that AJ Styles was injured during his match last night against Randy Orton. The nature of the injury was not revealed.
Styles was then pulled from him AXXESS Meet & Greet.
IMPACT Wrestling has announced that it has parted ways with former IMPACT Heavyweight Champion, Eli Drake.
Drake’s contract was set to expire next month. Over the last few months, Drake began to push back against IMPACT creative.
Statement from IMPACT: “Impact Wrestling announced today that it has terminated its relationship with Shaun Ricker, known as ‘Eli Drake’.”
The report from PWTorch is that Drake refused to do a match with Tessa Blanchard.
WrestleMania 35 is in the history books for better or for worse. Many big moments from the show this year, but just as much, if not more, filler. Here are my thoughts from a few of the biggest moments from WrestleMania.
Winner Take All
Becky Lynch is walking away from WrestleMania as the undisputed Women’s Champion of WWE. This was the only way Mania should have ended. Flair had a great showing, Rousey had an incredible performance, but the only ending that made sense was Lynch winning.
Now, Rousey fluffed the finish by having her shoulders up on the final pin fall. The match showcased the women in a great way. This showed any doubters that the women can carry the show.
My hope is that moving forward, WWE allows Lynch to lead the brand. I hope they stop treating her like a women’s star and start treating her like the star. She is the top guy in WWE right now.
Kofi Kingston Becomes WWE Champion
Kofi Kingston doesn’t scream “Main even player” or “The Face of WWE”, but he makes a nice addition to the top layer of headliners in WWE. Kingston has been with WWE for more than a decade. Him winning at Mania could be a nice way for him to begin slowing down his career or for WWE to start using him for occasional main events.
Personally, I hope Kingston has a nice run with the title. He’s a hard worker and a fan favorite. We want to see more of Kofi in the main event run. Knowing Vince, Kingston will probably drop the title within a month or two.
Seth Rollins Is The Universal Champion
In a surprising way to kick off WrestleMania, Brock Lesnar defended and lost his Universal title. Seth Rollins winning the title set a nice tone for the entire show. Rollins should be a focal point of Monday Night Raw well into the summer and the fall. Heck, if I had things my way, I would keep the title on Rollins into WrestleMania next year.
Triple H announced that Fox Sports 1 will be producing a weekly studio talk show for the WWE. No details were announced other than the show would air on Tuesday Nights and would talk all things WWE.
One would have to believe that, unless WWE goes with a former talent, Renee Young will most likely host the talk show. In the announcement, Triple H said that he had been wanting this for a long time.
WWE will begin broadcasts on the FOX Broadcast Network in October as part of a billion dollar deal with the network.