Here's more wrestling news for October 15th 2021
And your headlines for Afternoon include
WWE accused of leaking AEW Viewership data to the press!
Why The Rock won’t be at November’s Survivor Series for the 25th Anniversary of his debut.
Marvel and Disney making HUGE plays to keep Batista around for future MCU projects
Cody Rhodes explains how fans booing him has affected his AEW career.
Miz and Mrs season three and number of new episodes confirmed And more!
We’re kicking off today with both WWE and AEW, as though both companies have claimed they’re not in competition,
that clearly isn’t the case. AEW’s insistence of constantly referencing WWE despite saying they don’t focus on
them is matched only by WWE’s booking events to coincide with AEW shows, and now Vince McMahon has allegedly taken things to the
next level. That’s according to Voices of Wrestling, who report that WWE has been leaking the AEW
Rampage fast national rating over the last couple of weeks, to hurt the competition. For those not in the know, the fast nationals for
cable measures the top 10 markets, but they’re never reported, because those numbers are hard to get.
In the last couple of weeks though, as Rampage’s viewership continues to drop, those numbers have been leaked to media outlets.
Voices of Wrestling point the finger of blame at WWE, saying that the leak was confirmed by a media outlet that reports the numbers, and say
that the data is coming from AEW. The fast nationals haven’t been leaked when the number have been strong for AEW, and
VOW called the act of leaking bad numbers “great P.R.” for WWE, especially to coax fans who don’t know what a good number on a
Friday night 10pm time slot is. It’s worth mentioning that this is only one side of the story, and VOW didn’t list the name of
the source who allegedly confirmed that the fast nationals are coming from WWE. This is a huge story ahead of tonight’s shows,
where a two-and-a-half hour SmackDown on FS1 will go head-to-head for it’s final 30 minutes with AEW Rampage, and judging by recent
weeks of falling viewership, things don’t look good for Rampage in this brief Friday Night War.
For months, WWE has been hoping on the Rock returning at Survivor Series, which will mark the 25th anniversary of the Brahma Bull's debut.
WWE had hoped that his appearance next month would lead to a Mania match with Roman Reigns, but that isn't happening now, and neither is
his appearance next month. That's according to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Pro Wrestling podcast, who explained that
the People's Champion is scheduled to be in Australia next month, filming the latest season of Young Rock.
This doesn't entirely rule out a live appearance by The Rock at Survivor Series, but it does make it very unlikely, as the former World Champion
has commitments that come first. Zarian added that even if The Rock doesn't appear in person, Survivor Series will have
some kind of celebration of his 25th anniversary, but that's all we'll see of the Great one this November.
The Rock isn't the only Superstar to make it big in Hollywood, as Dave Batista has become a household name thanks to the Marvel movies.
The Animal has made it clear he's done playing Drax the Destroyer after Guardians of the Galaxy 3 hits cinemas, but Marvel aren't ready
to say goodbye just yet. Movie source 'Giant Freaking Robot' has said that Marvel is trying all sorts to keep Batista,
including offering him millions of dollars. It's not said how much money exactly is on the table, but their report described the figure as "huge."
Batista has remained certain that he's finished with Drax, as he doesn't feel confident being filmed shirtless any more, but that won't stop
Marvel and Disney from trying to coax the former WWE Champion back into being a guardian of the galaxy.
Crown Jewel news now, as next week will mark WWE’s return to Saudi Arabia, after over a year away.
WWE reportedly wants the Saudi shows to be seen as must-see programming, instead of the glorified House Shows many fans see them
as currently, which explains next week’s stacked card, with four title matches, the finals of both the King of the Ring and
Queen’s Crown Tournament, and a Hell in a Cell match. WWE may want fans to think of Crown Jewel
as equal to other Pay Per View, but the odds aren’t in their favour, and we mean that literally.
Bet Online’s latest odds say that no titles are expected to change hands, with Roman Reigns, Big E, Becky Lynch and RK-Bro all
expected to leave with gold. Unsurprisingly, the Superstar most expected to win their match is Saudi Arabia’s own Mansoor,
who is virtually guaranteed to defeat Mustafa Ali in WWE’s first show back in his homeland. WWE could always surprise the fans, but we
don’t see that happening, and we’ll just have to tune into Crown Jewel to see if the show goes ahead as expected.
AEW news now, as during the company’s recent Grand Slam event, American Top Team invaded the broadcast, with Dan Lambert acting as the
mouth piece for the group. Together, Jorge Masvidal, Junior dos Santos, Paige VanZant and others created havoc, and things got
especially dangerous for Tony Khan. Sitting down with the New York Post, Khan revealed that Junior dos Santos accidentally
cracked his ribs in their confrontation inside Arthur Ashe Stadium: “He cracked them. I’ll be OK. But he legitimately
cracked them. I’ll be OK. It’s been a few weeks, but I’m sleeping on my right side. “It felt just right in the moment. It was just kind of
improvised. He’s a very strong man. I love the gasp pop it got.” Khan added that he was asking for it, and tried
his best to no-sell the injury, saying that dos Santos will be a handful in the ring for sure.
According to the leaked line-up for Full Gear, American Top Team will face the Inner Circle at next month’s Full Gear, and we’re sure Khan
will steer clear from the likes of dos Santos until his ribs are fully healed.
More from AEW, as Cody Rhodes has been the company’s quintessential babyface since 2019, but hasn’t been treated like one by the fans.
As of late, fans have been booing the former TNT Champion, as they’ve grown tired of Rhodes on TV, and are looking for a change.
Speaking to Busted Open Radio, Rhodes said that fans have the right to boo and cheer who they want, since they’ve paid for their ticket to be
there, and compared the response by audiences to him, to the 1995 Toy Story movie. He explained:
“Woody was having a hell of a time. He was having a great time. He was getting played with every day. He was the number one toy. Buzz Lightyear shows
, Woody gets thrown in the toy box. If you’re wondering how I feel, take a peek at how Woody felt in the very first Toy Story because that,
to a degree, has been my role lately.” With AEW signing some huge names in 2021 alone, including Andrade El Idolo, Malakai
Black, Ruby Soho, Bryan Danielson and CM Punk, it’s not hard to see why fans are showing an interest in these new names, over the TNT
Champion who’s been there for two years. Rhodes has previously said he’ll never turn heel, and that he’d sooner retire than do heel
acts on TV for his daughter to watch, but unless AEW can figure something out fast, the fans may be turning Rhodes heel whether he wants
to or not.
And we’re ending today with the Miz, who’s currently busy with Dancing with the Stars, but that isn’t his only project outside WWE.
Over to MLW, as former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion will make his debut for the promotion later this year, and his first appearance has
been confirmed. Last night, it was revealed that O’Spreay will make his live debut at a December event, when
MLW returns to the Melrose Ballroom in New York City. There’s still no word on who O’Spreay will be
facing, but it could very well be Enzo Amore, who was teased during last night’s broadcast, and whoever O’Spreay faces, we’re sure it’ll
be a big deal when the British wrestler steps foot in the MLW ring.
And we’re ending today with the Miz, who’s currently busy with Dancing with the Stars, but that isn’t his only project outside WWE.
This week, The Miz confirmed that Miz and Mrs, the A-Lister and Maryse’s reality show, will receive a third season, which will air for
10 episodes, presumably in 2022. This was announced on the Ellen DeGeneres show, and later confirmed by WWE and the
USA Network via press releases, as fans will get to see plenty more of pro-wrestling’s resident It Couple next year.