– The new episode of WWE Playback went live on the WWE Network this morning. The special features Superstars looking back and reacting to the 2020 Men’s and Women’s Royal Rumble Matches.
Above is a sneak peek at the new WWE Playback episode. The clip features MVP, Samoa Joe and WWE Champion Drew McIntyre reacting to Brock Lesnar’s strong start in the 2020 Men’s Rumble Match.
– Last Thursday’s new episode of WWE Total Bellas drew 352,000 viewers on the E! network, according to Showbuzz Daily. The show drew a 0.15 rating in the key 18-49 demographic, ranking #56 for the night on the Cable Top 150.
This is down from last week’s Total Bellas episode, which drew 381,000 viewers and ranked #44 on the Cable Top 150 with a 0.17 rating in the key demo.
You can see E!’s episode recap video below.
Below is our Total Bellas Season 6 Ratings & Viewership Tracker:
Episode 1: 416,000 viewers with a 0.19 rating in the 18-49 demographic (season premiere) Episode 2: 257,000 viewers with a 0.12 rating in the 18-49 demographic Episode 3: 299,000 viewers with a 0.14 rating in the 18-49 demographic Episode 4: 219,000 viewers with a 0.08 rating in the 18-49 demographic Episode 5: 305,000 viewers with a 0.12 rating in the 18-49 demographic Episode 6: 426,000 viewers with a 0.20 rating in the 18-49 demographic Episode 7: 381,000 viewers with a 0.17 rating in the 18-49 demographic Episode 8: 352,000 viewers with a 0.15 rating in the 18-49 demographic Episode 9:
Season 5 Viewership Total: 5.589 million viewers Season 5 Average: 508,090 viewers per episode (11 episodes)
Season 4 Viewership Total: 4.360 million viewers Season 4 Average: 436,000 viewers per episode (10 episodes)
Season 3 Viewership Total: 6.342 million viewers Season 3 Average: 634,200 viewers per episode (10 episodes)
Season 2 Viewership Total: 4.702 million viewers Season 2 Average: 587,750 viewers per episode (8 episodes)
Season 1 Viewership Total: 3.842 million viewers Season 1 Average: 640,000 viewers per episode (6 episodes)
Former WWE NXT Tag Team Champion Vik The Spacelord was on today’s episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast. Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman asked Vik about how The Ascension’s WWE contracts changed when they got called up from NXT.
“I made so much more money that first year. It was great,” Vik expressed. “So a lot of people back then used to get to double dip. You wouldn’t sign a new contract yet, but you would get a month or two on the road usually where your hotels and cars were taken care of, and you would get paid per show that you were doing or whatever. But then you’d still make whatever you were making in NXT.
“That was still your contract, and so for most guys, it was pretty sweet when you go because you’re like, cool, I really don’t have to pay for anything, and I’m just making extra money from being on the road. It was kind of how everything worked for me and Konnor. The minute we got up, that stopped. Immediately, we came up that week, and here’s a new contract. Everything switches.
“You have to pay for everything yourselves, and the thing was we kind of said, ‘Hey, don’t most guys usually get taken care of for a little while,’ and they’re like, ‘Oh, okay. Well, yeah, I guess since you’re not used to the road yet.’ I think they got our cars and hotels for about a month, and by the end of that, we’re like, ‘I don’t want their hotels anymore.’ I know everything gets switched. Everybody that kind of came up after us all had kind of the immediate switch, and oddly enough, I think when we signed our new contract, when we first came up, it was almost exactly five years to the date that I had signed with NXT.”
Hausman asked where “The Spacelord” comes from in Vik’s new ring name. Vik revealed that it was inspired from current AEW star Jon Moxley.
“I am a comic book fan, but actually, it was Moxley that said it one day when we were training at Hard Knocks,” Vik revealed. “The song came on, and he just like looked at me. And he was like, ‘I see you getting up in the morning just having that song playing. You walk out in your living room and just light a cigarette and start making eggs, and you probably kick some girls out of your apartment or whatever,’ and I started laughing.
“And I was like, ‘Well, you’re right about the cigarette and eggs and definitely not kicking the girls out of my apartment at that time.’ It just kind of stuck. Everybody just kind of laughed and it just always stuck. All the guys that were around just kept calling me that. It’s one of those things that’s more or less true. I don’t know if I’m a lord of space, but I spend a lot of time out there.”
The Awakening (fka The Ascension) will be taking on The Headbangers at Atomic Revolutionary Wrestling on February 19th for the ARW Tag Team Championships. Vik recalled The Headbangers’ WWE return in 2016 and how surreal it was.
“I got to meet them because they came to RAW for a little while while we were there, and I know we were in one match with them for sure,” Vik recalled. “It was so weird. I’ll never forget that because I was standing on the apron with Aiden English, [Simon] Gotch and The Headbangers.
“There was The Spirit Squad, Mikey and Kenny. I just remembering thinking, this is so weird. Already Aiden English and Gotch are on my team, and then I’ve got The Headbangers here too. And we’re just like, this is weird. What year is this? We’re looking across the ring at Spirit Squad and I think it was American Alpha and The Usos.
“I remember it was really fun match, and it was cool to have them there, that’s for sure, because when I grew up watching wrestling, me and one of my buddies used to always try to steal their finish and do the powerbomb / leg drop onto one of our buddies through tables and other stuff that you’re not supposed to do.”
The Headbangers were on The Wrestling Inc. Daily last Thursday where they called themselves “the most underrated tag team of all time”. Vik gave his thoughts on if he agrees with that statement.
“Possibly now that I think about it,” Vik said. “I feel there’s a lot of teams that get underrated for sure, but when I think about it, yeah because they didn’t get a really long run in my opinion, and they were super cool. When I was a kid, I loved those two guys. I remember playing [WWF] War Zone, PS1 and always being The Headbangers.
“I would say they were in a tough time. WWE were transitioning into that Attitude Era where young guys like them had to deal with a lot of struggles against the older guys. It was just the lay of the land, and even just hearing stories from all sorts of guys like Edge and Christian, The Hardy Boys even Matt and Brian.”
The Awakening (fka The Ascension) battle The Headbangers for their Atomic Revolutionary Wrestling Tag Team Championships on Friday February 19th. You can find more info by following ARW on Twitter @WrestlingAtomic.
Viktor’s full interview aired as part of today’s episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it’s released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here. You can find the full interview in both video and audio form below:
WWE Hall of Famer Sean “X-Pac” Waltman is currently undergoing knee surgery.
Waltman posted the following Instagram clip as he was about 30 minutes away from going under the knife. He noted that he was being operated on by Dr. Chung at the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California.
Waltman tweeted on Monday night and noted that he’s looking forward to trying out the new knee when he’s done with post-surgery rehab.
“ACL, MCL, & Meniscus. I’ve needed it since 2007 or 08(Dont feel like looking up the exact date). Somehow I managed to still have some good matches, but it really limited me. Looking fwd to trying the new knee out when I’m done rehabbing it,” he wrote.
Waltman stated earlier this month that he needed the surgery if he ever wanted to have another match, and that he’s needed the operation since 2007. He also said that he’s learned to work around the injury over the years, and could still perform that way, but he wants to be as close to 100% as possible if he’s going to have a few more matches before retiring.
As noted back in December, Waltman recently found out he’s been cured of Hepatitis C and said he has one more good run in him, perhaps a half dozen solid matches or so.
Stay tuned for more on Waltman’s status. You can see his related posts below:
Surgery tomorrow. ACL, MCL, & Meniscus. I've needed it since 2007 or 08(Dont feel like looking up the exact date). Somehow I managed to still have some good matches, but it really limited me. Looking fwd to trying the new knee out when I'm done rehabbing it.
Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman is back to host the latest episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily podcast! The Wrestling Inc Daily is released Monday-Friday afternoon. Click HERE to subscribe on iTunes.
Today’s episode features:
Second City Chicago’s EJ Cameron joining Nick to talk all the pro wrestling news from the last twenty-four hours. Including:
* Randy Orton RKOing Alexa Bliss
* Edge entering the men’s Royal Rumble match
* A shoot count out happening on WWE RAW
* WWE Smackdown viewership continuing to rise
* WWE expecting a record 2020 financial report
* ESPN no longer airing WWE content
Nick’s interview with Vik The Spacelord (fka Viktor of The Ascension). Featuring Vik discussing:
* The Awakening’s upcoming match against The Headbangers
* Training at the Hart Dungeon
* How brutal Tokyo Joe was as a trainer
* Getting signed by WWE
* Transitioning from NXT to the main roster
* What is next for The Awakening
The latest installment of the Wrestling Inc. Daily mailbag discussing which RAW Superstar you would most like to see win the men’s Royal Rumble match
After making their way to the Impact Zone last week, AEW’s Marq Quen and Isiah Kassidy of Private Party, along with TNA/Impact veteran, Matt Hardy, will return tonight on Impact Wrestling.
Last week, Quen and Kassidy surprised the Impact World Champions, the Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson), during a confrontation with Chris Sabin and his new partner James Storm when they issued a shot at the tag team championship.
When the main event between Private Party and Sabin & James concluded the show, AEW’s high flyers picked up the win with their Gin and Juice finisher to etch their names as the new number one contenders of the tag team titles.
On a similar note, an eight-man tag team match is scheduled with the TNA World Heavyweight Champion Moose, Chris Bey, Sami Callihan and Ken Shamrock taking on the Impact World Champion Rich Swann, Tommy Dreamer, Willie Mack and a mystery partner.
Also on tonight’s card:
* Matt Cardona & Josh Alexander vs. Ace Austin & Madman Fulton
* Joe Doering vs. Cousin Jake
* Eddie Edwards vs. Brian Myers
* Tenille Dashwood vs. Rosemary
* Fire ‘N Flava (Kiera Hogan & Tasha Steelz) Fest
Following tonight’s broadcast of Impact Wrestling, AXS TV will feature an episode on Madison Rayne’s career through IMPACT in 60. This comes after she announced her official retirement while concluding Hard To Kill’s pre-show event.
After The New Day split up during the WWE Draft, Big E found himself defending his honor over and over again as a singles competitor on SmackDown. Just last month, his push took on new heights when he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship and successfully defended it against challengers like Apollo Crews.
This week on Oral Sessions, Renee Paquette asked Big E if his preparation to get to this spot, which has taken him almost eight years to achieve, was justified after winning the IC title.
“I think so, but in the same vein, I’m also someone who just bristles at compliments,” Big E began. “Like, I don’t know if things are going well. But it’s also a weird time because, in wrestling, your fans are your barometer.
“A crowd in Jackson, Mississippi, may respond differently from a crowd in Sacramento, or a crowd in Baltimore. When you can hit all these different towns, and it keeps working, and they’re loud, then that’s when I feel like, ‘Hey, I’ve got something good here. It’s working.’ But now, we don’t have that.”
Although his New Day brothers are now on Raw, he says Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods are still extremely supportive and continue cheering him on in the background towards bigger and better opportunities.
“They’ve always been supportive. I always appreciate that,” he exclaimed. “You know, Woods was out at the time when we first did the singles stuff, but Kofi was there. He was so genuinely happy for me and excited about whatever would come [from it]. I can’t imagine being in a group with two more selfless people, and that’s what I’ve always appreciated. It can be easy in this business to be selfish and just worry about your own push, but I love that we’re so genuinely supportive of each other and our projects in WWE or outside of the company. They were there for me, and I appreciate that!”
When Kofi Kingston became the WWE Champion at WrestleMania 35 just two years ago, the WWE Universe erupted in sheer happiness to see Kingston get his due as the world champion. For Big E, he recalls just how selfless his fellow partner was and how inspiring he became both in and out of the ring.
“I think one of the things I respected was that Kofi…there were times where he could have made it about himself, but he always included the three of us. I really appreciate that,” he complimented. “It was his moment, honestly. We were fortunate enough to be along on the ride. I’m glad we got to do the storyline in the Gauntlet Tag Team match. The reaction to that was really cool, too. Because, you know, in wrestling, it’s always about which faction member is going to screw the other. It was cool ’cause we never really did like real moments of brotherhood and sacrificing for the other, so that was really cool.
“Just seeing how hard he worked in and out of the ring, he was on all the time. He was doing everything [like] media calls, and he always did it with a smile on his face. He never complained. That’s something I’ll always remember. He was constantly going.”
With WrestleMania 37 less than three months away, Big E is gearing up towards where he’d like to be on the main event card. He’s hoping that all his hard work and preparation towards becoming the IC champion will rub off towards an opportunity on becoming a two-belt holder. He mentions to Renee who and what title he’s gunning for on his “Road to Wrestlemania.”
“Roman is clearly…when you get the WWE pecking order, he’s at the very top. Having that match is the biggest moment. I hope we’re at a point in another month or two where I feel like I’m established enough and I’m hot enough where it makes sense [for me to challenge him],” he mentioned. “In the same vein, I have no idea what the plan is. I also want this to feel earned. I think sometimes you can get too much, too soon. It’s also weird to say for someone who’s been around for eight years. Like, I don’t think I just came up, and they just handed me this world title opportunity. But a match with Roman for the world title [would be great].”
You can listen to Big E’s full interview here. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Oral Sessions w/Renée Paquette with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Major League Wrestling has added a AAA World Cruiserweight Title match to the loaded line-up for Wednesday’s MLW Fusion episode.
MLW announced today that AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Laredo Kid will defend his title against Zenshi on Wednesday’s show.
This is the first time that the title will be defended in MLW. Promotion boss Court Bauer said this week’s show is just the beginning of the promotion vs. promotion matches that he promised.
“I promised promotion vs. promotion crossover title matches and this is just the beginning,” Bauer said. “We’re giving you 2 big title fights this week on FUSION that carry a lot of prestige and significance in Mexico and Puerto Rico. I want to thank AAA for sharing our enthusiasm in building a shared universe where we can give fans what they want: fresh, interpromotional clashes.”
New #1 contenders to the MLW World Tag Team Titles will also be crowned on Fusion tomorrow night. TJP and Bu Ku Dao will face Violence Is Forever (Dominic Garrini and Kevin Ku) with the winners earning a title match with new MLW World Tag Team Champions Los Parks.
MLW has also announced that “Filthy” Tom Lawlor will be on Wednesday’s show to address rumors surrounding the upcoming Filthy Island event scheduled for February 17.
The storyline is that Filthy Island is now facing financial woes as big sponsors such as Reebok, Vitamins & Minerals and New Law Offices are pulling out of backing the tropical fighting extravaganza on the beaches of Honolulu. It was noted that the backlash is due to Lawlor helping Los Parks win the MLW World Tag Team Titles from The Von Erichs last week, and Team Filthy attacking ACH outside of his gym just days before ACH challenged MLW World Heavyweight Champion Jacob Fatu, apparently over his affiliation with The Von Erichs.
On a related note, MLW has released the opening video for the Caribbean Strap Match that will air tomorrow night on Fusion. You can watch that video at the end of this post. The match will see IWA Caribbean Heavyweight Champion Savio Vega defend his title against Richard Holliday.
Stay tuned for more on MLW and be sure to join us tomorrow night at 7pm ET for live Fusion coverage. Below is the updated line-up:
* Caribbean Strap Match: IWA Caribbean Heavyweight Champion Savio Vega defends against Richard Holliday
* AAA World Cruiserweight Champion Laredo Kid defends against Zenshi
* Violence Is Forever vs. TJP and Bu Ku Dao to determine new #1 contenders to new MLW World Tag Team Champions Los Parks
* “Filthy” Tom Lawlor will address the Filthy Island rumors
* Appearances by The Von Erichs, Alicia Atout, and more
Gamebreakers is a documentary series by Network Productions focused on exceptional individuals within the gaming industry. Player, caster, and AccelerateGaming team owner, Alicia “Aliciaxlife” Junus, will be featured in an episode streaming on Amazon Prime Video on January 31, 2021. Without taking too much from the upcoming episode, Aliciaxlife’s list of accomplishments is nothing short of incredible. Her journey to get to where she is today, surpassing the challenges she was met with along the way, deserves every commendation.
Take a look at an exclusive preview for Aliciaxlife’s episode below! Be sure to check out the full episode as soon as it goes live to show your support for Aliciaxlife and representation in the FGC!
Check out the official site for more info and episodes as they become available.
