Lesnar back on Smackdown
Kofi Kingston, whose WWE heavyweight title reign will near six months by the time SmackdownĢƵ debut show on Fox on Oct. 4, will defend his title against Brock Lesnar that night.
WWE had to make a big splash with the opening show on Fox to make execs happy, and there is no bigger name in WWE in FoxĢƵ eyes than Lesnar. Don’t be surprised if Lesnar wins the championship that night.
The match will be LesnarĢƵ first actual wrestling match on a WWE TV broadcast since defeating Bob Holly on the March 2, 2004, episode of Smackdown.
Another WWE Draft
WWE announced earlier this week that it will hold another draft and it will be a two-night event.
The first night will take place on the Oct. 11 edition of Smackdown on Fox, with the second night the Oct. 14 edition of Raw on the USA Network.
The word is that the shows will have a hard split and be kept separate.
WWEĢƵ FS1 show
The planned Fox Sports 1 WWE talk show will be taped weekly in Los Angeles at FoxĢƵ studios and the plan is for Renee Young to be the lead host.
Fox announces more WWE specials
Fox has announced it will air even more WWE specials leading up to the Oct. 4 debut of Smackdown on its channel. WWE SmackdownĢƵ Greatest Hits will air next Friday at 8 p.m.
Two days later, John Cena will host WWE WrestleManiaĢƵ Legendary Moments on Fox around NFL coverage.
NXT does solid number
Wednesday nightĢƵ NXT debut on the USA Network drew 1,179,000 viewers before switching over to the WWE Network.
WWE officials have to be ecstatic with the number, although its Network had issues at the top of the 9 p.m. hour when fans had to switch from USA to the WWE Network for the second hour.
The show will be split again this coming Wednesday before being a full two hours each week on USA starting Oct. 2.
AEW show name revealed
AEW heads to TNT in a few short weeks, and it has announced the name of its show. The weekly show will be named All Elite Wrestling: Dynamite.
AEW to Pittsburgh
Speaking of AEW, tickets remain for the its TV taping at the Petersen Events Center on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Oct. 23.
Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com.
This weekĢƵ question
What did you make of Kenny OmegaĢƵ comments about going to war with NXT? Craig, Mount Pleasant.
The word “war” is one that I don’t use unless it is in a name or I am quoting someone. My grandfather almost died in World War II and one of my closest friends is serving in Afghanistan right now. Honestly, hearing athletes talk about “going to war” turns my stomach.
Alright, with my soapbox view out of the way, let me explain what Omega said.
Long story short, Omega said AEW is going to war with friends of his, meaning NXT and WWE wrestlers. He proceeded to say that if all of the wrestlers were on the same show, the NXT guys would be in dark matches and he would be in the main event.
What are my thoughts? I guess if he feels that way, he is free to speak his mind.
But, as an officer and higher-up with AEW, he should know better. Then again, how much experience did he have “in the office” to be given an official title anyway?
He was negotiating with AEW and WWE and the former had to do something to sweeten the pie so he didn’t sign with the latter.