WWE Nets $1.4 Billion From USA Network Deal, Releases Over 20 Main Roster & NXT Wrestlers; September 22nd Live Wrestling News Round-Up

Bianca Belair isn’t expected back on television quite yet.

On the August 18th episode of SmackDown, Bianca Belair was viciously attacked backstage by Damage CTRL, with her knee being the focus of the beatdown. The segment was part of an ongoing storyline and used to write the former Women’s Champion off TV.

At the time it was reported that Belair’s absence was planned well in advance, although there was no word on when she would return.

Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer notes that the star will be back with WWE by December at the latest.

You can check out that full report, here.

According to a new report The Rock’s window for a WWE return could be coming to an end.

The Rock made a surprise appearance during the September 15th edition of Friday Night SmackDown after teasing a WrestleMania clash with Roman Reigns.

The WWE legend had claimed that he was initially set to take on The Tribal Chief at last years WrestleMania before plans changed.

A report from Dave Meltzer has noted that the “window” for The Rock’s WWE return is closing and any main event calibre match would need to occur in the near future.

Writing in this morning’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Meltzer notes:

“As far as what does this mean for WrestleMania, it’s anyone’s guess past that the ball is always in Johnson’s court.

Last year one of his key projects was the launch of the XFL. This coming year, if the proposed XFL/USFL merger goes through, the onus on him as the face of the XFL during that prelude to Mania wouldn’t be as strong. As far as projects go, with the strike in Hollywood, he has time now but what happens if and when the strike is settled would be another factor.

The fact he publicly talked about Philadelphia as a possibility, which he did not do previously for Los Angeles, where nothing was ever said publicly, would lead one to believe he is at least seriously considering it.

He is 51, so he would likely be feeling that the window for a comeback and to be able to perform at a WrestleMania main event level is to be closing.”

On episode 500 of The Jim Cornette Experience Jim Cornette has addressed the current state of AEW!

Check it out below!

The Rock has thrown his support behind those released by WWE on September 21st.

On September 21st WWE released a number of Superstars across the main roster and NXT. The releases were expected following the company’s merger with UFC and came just hours after a monster new television deal with the USA Network was announced.

The highest-profile star to be released during the cuts was Dolph Ziggler who has been with the company for almost 20 years and is a former World Champion.

Posting on social media, The Rock paid tribute to Ziggler and sent a message to all those who were released.

Just seeing all these releases now. These days so f’n tough for the ones who gave their all to our crazy world of pro wrestling. Like @HEELZiggler.

What a decorated @WWE career and I’ll always be a supporter and fan. Can’t wait to see what he (and everyone) does next… #onward

John Cena’s WWE run may be coming to an end but he is set for a major match on tonight’s show!

According to PWInsider, John Cena is set to team with AJ Styles to take on The Bloodline duo of Jimmy Uso & Solo Sikola.

This will be Cena’s first match on SmackDown since teaming with Kevin Owens to defeat Roman Reigns & Sami Zayn in December 2022.

John Cena’s last televised match against Jimmy Uso took place on Monday Night Raw in 2014 when Cena teamed with Dean Ambrose to take on Goldust & Stardust (Cody Rhodes) and The Usos.

Cena would come out victorious that night, will the same be true tonight?

Let us know by hitting the thumbs below!

MJF’s WrestleDream plans could be about to change.

At Dynamite Grand Slam MJF put the AEW World Championship on the line in the main event against Samoa Joe. After an incredibly physical battle and a little help from Adam Cole, the champion retained the gold to extend his reign.

However, the victory came at a cost for Cole, despite not wrestling in the match.

When Cole ran in from backstage he jumped from the ramp to the floor and appeared to injure his ankle in the process. Adam Cole was seen backstage on crutches and sent to hospital.

Writing in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer noted that the injury could change plans for WrestleDream on October 1st. At the event, MJF and Cole are scheduled to defend their ROH World Tag Team Titles against The Righteous.

You can read Meltzer’s full report and criticism of AEW’s current plans for MJF, here.

Sean Waltman has revealed the WWE CEO Vince McMahon once paid off local law enforcement after DX found themselves in hot water with the police.

In a recent interview on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Sean Waltman, also known as X-Pac revealed that WWE was hit with a lawsuit for DX’s antics during the Monday Night Wars.

However, thanks to Vince McMahon’s willingness to break out his wallet, the company managed to avoid significant consequences.

On April 27th, during separate events held 19 miles apart in Hampton, Virginia, DX travelled from the WWE venue to the WCW venue, shouting insults at WCW’s bosses and accusing Ted Turner’s company of giving away free tickets to fill up arenas for television. They even attempted to enter the arena through the loading dock in their army jeep but were stopped by security personnel at the door.

Waltman revealed that when DX ran into trouble with the law, McMahon had already paid off the local police. Despite having to go to the station, DX were allowed to stay in their van.

You can read a full breakdown of this report, here.

Following the news that Randy Orton has been spotted at WWE’s Performance Center, a new report has given an update on his status over a year into his injury recovery.

Writing in this morning’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer would share some good news on Randy Orton, reporting that his presence in the WWE PC means that he will be returning to the company even if a current return date is unknown.

Dave Meltzer would state:

“[Randy] Orton has been at the PC often of late and has not hidden from fans so wasn’t keeping it a secret, but that does indicate he’ll be back.”

A new report has provided an update on the WWE’s global value following the companies merger with the UFC under the TKO umbrella.

Writing in this morning’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer would reveal that Endeavour is currently valuing the WWE at a staggering $9.3 billion despite a recent drop in share prices.

Dave Meltzer notes:

“The first major shoe to fall was that John Ourand reported that Smackdown will be leaving FOX at the end of September 2024 and returning to the USA Network in a five-year deal that would end at the end of September 2029. WWE then sent out a press release to confirm the deal.

Neither side released the financials of the deal but the word is that they will average $287 million over the five years, a 40 percent increase over the $205 million on the FOX deal. However, this has led to a stock decline since Wall Street was expecting a minimum of $307.5 million on the deal and that number was part of the stock price.

With the disappointment in the number Smackdown got, the TKO stock tumbled to $85.97 per share, which is an overreaction but they as late as this past week had been getting indications from the company of a bigger increase. The market value at this point would be $7.149 billion but that is just the WWE market value, with a drop of 14.8 percent on 9/21.

With WWE worth 49 percent, that would make the value of TKO theoretically $14.590 billion when the stock price reflects both WWE and UFC. TKO itself is claiming that UFC is worth $12.1 billion and WWE is worth $9.3 billion, so the combined company is worth $21.4 billion.

In theory, WWE and McMahon got a great deal since TKO has UFC at 56.5 percent of the value, but instead of 43.5 percent, WWE got 49.0 percent of the company. Vince McMahon’s personal stock would be $2.393 billion, far below the $3.510 billion the company had claimed it would be worth with the merger.

But this was a one day overreaction to bad news.”

The Wrestling Observer audience have voted for their match of the week once again and this weeks MOTW features the reunited Lucha House Party!

CMLL presented it’s 90th anniversary show on September 16th in front of a roaring 15,000 fans in Arena Mexico.

During the show Samuray del Sol, AKA Kalisto, & Lince Dorado teamed to take on the duo of Titan & Soberano Jr. in the shows fourth match.

What followed was an incredible acrobatic display of Lucha Libre and in-ring excellence with the former Lucha House Party duo coming out on top.

Dave Meltzer, writing in this morning’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, rated the match 4.75 stars, a near perfect score, and with an overwhelming majority the match was voted the Wrestling Observer match of the week by WON users.

What has been your favourite match of the past week? Let us know by writing in using the get involved feature at the top of the page!

The viewership figures for the Grand Slam special episode of AEW Dynamite have been revealed and it is good news for Tony Khan.

AEW Grand Slam featured several high profile matches including a AEW International Championship match between Jon Moxley and Rey Fenix.

Although the show may be best remembered for the terrifying ending to Jon Moxley’s title defence, the ratings don’t lie and they spell positive things for AEW & Tony Khan.

AEW Dynamite’s September 20th episode garnered impressive ratings, according to Wrestlenomics. The show attracted 984,000 viewers, a significant increase from the 888,000 viewers it had the previous Wednesday.

Moreover, it achieved a 0.36 rating in the coveted 18 to 49 demographic, surpassing the 0.310 ratings posted on September 6th and September 13th.

You can read a full breakdown of these ratings and what it could mean for AEW, here.

In a new vlog Zilla Fatu, son of WWE legend Umaga, has revealed a previously unknown act of kindness from Chris Jericho to his family following his father’s passing.

The video, published of Fatu’s YouTube channel, features his mother LT sharing an incredible story of Chris Jericho’s kindness during their families time of need.

Check out the video clip below!

Umaga's son, Zilla Fatu shared this video onto his YouTube channel. It features his mom telling an incredible story about the kindness of @IAmJericho. pic.twitter.com/HshoXeUeRH

— Wrestle Features (@WrestleFeatures) September 22, 2023

On September 21st, 2023, the WWE released over 20 NXT and Main Roster Superstars including former WWE World Champion Dolph Ziggler and former United States & Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin.

Here is the full list of everyone who was released on September 21st, 2023.

• Dolph Ziggler
• Mustafa Ali
• Shelton Benjamin
• Rick Boogs
• Emma
• Aliyah
• Elias
• Riddick Moss
• Top Dolla
• Quincy Elliot
• Bryson Montana
• Dana Brooke
• Mace & Mansoor
• Dabba-Kato
• Shanky
• Yulisa León
• Daniel McArthur
• Kevin Ventura-Cortes
• Alexis Gray
• Brookyln Barlow
• Ikeman Jiro

Do you think AEW/IMPACT/NJPW Wrestling should sign any of these new free agents? Let us know by using the ‘get involved’ feature at the top of the page!

The financial details behind WWE’s deal with USA to bring SmackDown to the network have been revealed.

According to reports from CNBC and the Wall Street Journal, WWE has announced a significant five-year rights deal with USA Network to bring SmackDown to the network starting in October 2024. The deal is estimated to be worth an average of $287 million per year, with a total value of $1.435 billion over the course of five years.

This move comes as part of a broader strategy by NBCUniversal to bring live sports to its networks.

You can read a full breakdown of this report and what the $1.4 billion could mean to the WWE, here.

Good Afternoon!

I hope everyone is doing well and is ready for the weekend!

A bit of a later starting blog today due to the WWE mass releases last night (more on that later) and a busy morning but we are here now and that’s all that matters!

I will be with you from 2pm to 6pm BST (9am – 1pm ET) covering all the biggest stories from WWE, AEW, NJPW, IMPACT and more.

We will be kicking things off today with the biggest stories from the last 24 hours including:

• WWE nets a massive $1.4 billion as part of their new USA Network deal.
• Over 20 WWE & NXT Superstars are released including Dolph Zigger, Mustafa Ali and Shelton Benjamin.
• AEW Grand Slam lands Tony Khan a massive ratings boost.
• Vince McMahon paid off local police during the Attitude Era.
• The Rock sends message of support to Dolph Ziggler following his WWE release.