SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following is the latest in a new series of weekly in-depth articles exclusive to PWTorch which will help put in perspective major wrestling promotions with a weekly overview, looking at news and roster developments, results, future line-ups, social media activity, key interviews, plus a timely commentary at the end. We will be featuring similar features on other promotions each week and each will be updated weekly.
•Top Stories of the Week
- John Cena was replaced by Bobby Lashley in the World Cup Tournament at Crown Jewel amid reports that Cena was not willing to participate at Crown Jewel if it was held in Saudi Arabia. John Cena has not publicly commented on this topic or to explain why he is no longer participating.
- Daniel Bryan has been replaced by Samoa Joe for Crown Jewel. Daniel Bryan was given the WWE Championship match (that he won the right to at Super Show-Down) on Smackdown this week, but is being replaced by Samoa Joe in the WWE Championship Match at Crown Jewel. Daniel Bryan had also reportedly said he was not willing to participate in Saudi Arabia.
- Hulk Hogan is reportedly going to be a Crown Jewel now as well. While not mentioned on WWE TV this week, Hulk Hogan was temporarily added to the Crown Jewel preview page on WWE.com early Wednesday afternoon. It was taken down shortly after, but Hulk Hogan gave an interview to the Orlando Sentinel last week where he said he is looking forward to going to Saudi Arabia.
•WWE Weekly Event Results
WWE Live Event – Supershow (Corbin, Ky.) 10/27/18
No female wrestlers due to WWE Evolution
(1) Rusev defeated Andrade Cien Almas
(2) Baron Corbin beat Tyler Breeze
(3) The B-Team defeated The Revival
(4) Buddy Murphy beat Cedric Alexander to retain the Cruiserweight Championship
(5) Braun Strowman beat Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre in a 2-on-2 handicap match
(6) The Bar defeated Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championships
(7) A.J. Styles defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Jeff Hardy in a triple threat match to retain the WWE Championship
Source: Mandatory
WWE Live Event – Supershow (Asheville, N.C.) 10/28/18
No female wrestlers due to WWE Evolution
(1) Rusev defeated Andrade Cien Almas
(2) Baron Corbin beat Tyler Breeze
(3) The B-Team defeated The Revival
(4) The Bar defeated The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) and Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson in a triple threat match to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championships
(5) Braun Strowman beat Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre in a 2-on-2 handicap match
(6) Bobby Lashley (w/ Lio Rush) beat Zack Ryder
(7) Buddy Murphy beat Cedric Alexander to retain the Cruiserweight Championship
(8) A.J. Styles defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Jeff Hardy in a triple threat match to retain the WWE Championship
Source: PWTorch.com
WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster (Macon, Ga.) 10/29/18
(1) The Usos defeated Sanity
(2) Shelton Benjamin beat Tye Dillinger
(3) Asuka & Naomi defeated Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville
(4) R-Truth beat Andrade Cien Almas
(5) Randy Orton beat Jeff Hardy
(6) Rusev defeated Aiden English
(7) Becky Lynch beat Charlotte Flair to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship
(8) The Bar defeated The New Day and Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson in a triple threat tag team match to retain the Smackdown Tag Team Championships
(9) A.J. Styles beat Shinsuke Nakamura to retain the WWE Championship
Source: WrestlingInc.com
If you attend a live event, please send results to pwtorch@pwtorch.com. Thanks!
•WWE TV Match Results
WWE Evolution 10/28/18
(1) Trish Stratus & Lita defeated Mickie James & Alicia Fox (w/ Alexa Bliss) when Trish Stratus pinned Mickie James
(2) Nia Jax won the Evolution Battle Royal and won a future title opportunity
(3) Toni Storm defeated Io Shirai to win the Mae Young Classic
(4) Sasha Banks, Bayley, & Natalya beat The Riott Squad when Sasha pinned Liv Morgan
(5) Shayna Baszler beat Kairi Sane to reclaim the NXT Women’s Championship
(6) Becky Lynch defeated Charlotte to retain the Smackdown Women’s Championship
(7) Ronda Rousey defeated Nikki Bella (w/ Brie Bella) to retain the Raw Women’s Championship
For a more in depth review of the show, you can check out Wade Keller’s PWTorch Evolution PPV report HERE.
Monday Night Raw TV Results 10/29/18
(1) Finn Balor defeated Bobby Lashley (w/ Lio Rush) by disqualification after interference from Lio Rush
(2) Trish Stratus, Lita, Bayley, Sasha Banks, & Natalya defeated The Riott Squad, Mickie James, & Alicia Fox (w/ Alexa Bliss) when Natalya put Alicia Fox in the Sharpshooter
(3) Elias beat Jinder Mahal (w/ the Singh Brothers)
(4) Chad Gable & Bobby Roode defeated Authors of Pain and The Ascension in a triple threat tag team match
(5) Nia Jax defeated Ember Moon
(6) Lucha House Party (represented by Kalisto & Lince Dorado) defeated The Revival
(7) Dolph Ziggler (w/ Drew McIntyre) beat Apollo Crews
Smackdown Live TV Results 10/30/18
(1) AJ Styles beat Daniel Bryan with the Calf Crusher submission to retain the WWE Championship
(2) Big E (w/ Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) defeated Cesaro (w/ Sheamus & Big Show) in a Halloween themed street fight they called a “Trick or Street Fight”
(3) Shinsuke Nakamura defeated R-Truth (w/ Carmella)
(4) Jeff Hardy & Rey Mysterio beat Randy Orton & The Miz when Jeff Hardy pinned The Miz
WWE Mixed Match Challenge Results (Aired on Facebook Watch) 10/30/18
(1) Monster Eclipse (Braun Strowman & Ember Moon) defeated Mahalicia (Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox) when Braun Strowman pinned Jinder Mahal
(2) Fenominal Flair (A.J. Styles & Charlotte) beat Ravishing Rusev Day (Rusev & Lana) when Charlotte made Lana tap out to the Figure 8 submission
Updated Mixed Match Challenge Standings
Raw Standings
- Monster Eclipse (Braun Strowman & Ember Moon) 3-0
- Country Dominance (Bobby Lashley & Mickie James) 2-0
- B’ N’ B’ (Finn Balor & Bayley) 2-1
- Mahalicia (Jinder Mahal & Alicia Fox) 0-3
- Team Pawz (Bobby Roode & Natalya) 0-3
Smackdown Standings
- Awe-ska (The Miz & Asuka) 3-0
- Fenominal Flaire (AJ Styles & Charlotte) 3-0
- Day One Glow (Jimmy Uso & Naomi) 1-2
- The Fabulous Truth (R-Truth & Carmella) 0-2
- Ravishing Rusev Day (Rusev & Lana) 0-3
**The team from Raw and Smackdown with the best record will compete at WWE T.L.C. on 12/16/18 to determine the winner of the Mixed Match Challenge.
205 Live Results (Aired on WWE Network) 10/31/18
(1) Brian Kendrick defeated Jack Gallagher. Drew Gulak tried to interfere but was stopped by Akira Tozawa.
(2) Gran Metalik (w/ Kalisto & Lince Dorado) defeated an unnamed enhancement wrestler. After winning TJP ran in and stole Gran Metalik’s mask.
(3) Mustafa Ali defeated Tony Nese to become the number one contender. Cedric Alexander ran down to save Ali from a possible post-match attack by Nese. Buddy Murphy joined Tony Nese on the stage for a stare down between the four.
Buddy Murphy will take on Mark Andrews next week
Main Event Results (Aired on WWE Network and Hulu) 10/31/18
(1) Titus O’Neil defeated Mojo Rawley
(2) The B-Team beat Rhyno & Heath Slater
Source: WrestlingInc
•Upcoming Lineups for Stadium/PPV Events
WWE Crown Jewel on Nov. 2nd from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
(1)Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar for the vacant Universal Championship
(2) A.J. Styles (c) vs. Samoa Joe for WWE Championship
(3) Degeneration X vs. The Brothers of Destruction
(4) The Bar (c) vs. The New Day for the Smackdown Tag Team Championships
(5) WWE World Cup Tournament: Bobby Lashley, Kurt Angle, Jeff Hardy, Randy Orton, Dolph Ziggler, Seth Rollins, Rey Mysterio, The Miz
- The Bracket has been revealed and it is divided into Raw and Smackdown divisions. The WWE tweeted out this picture of the bracket:
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1057084364146659328
Survivor Series on Nov. 18 from Los Angeles, Calif.
(1) Ronda Rousey (Raw Women’s Champion) vs. Becky Lynch (Smackdown Women’s Champion)
(2) United States Champion (Shinsuke Nakamura currently) vs. Intercontinental Champion (Seth Rollins currently)
(3) Women’s Survivor Series Match: Team Raw vs. Team Smackdown
(4) ** WWE Champion (AJ Styles currently) vs. Universal Champion (TBD)
(5) ** Men’s Survivor Series Match
(6) ** Raw Tag Team Champions (Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose currently) vs. Smackdown Tag Team Champions (The Bar currently)
** These matches have not been officially announced yet, but based on the Raw vs. Smackdown dynamic already being set up they are likely to be announced soon.
•Upcoming Events
Fri. 11/2/18 WWE Crown Jewel, King Saud University Stadium, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Sat. 11/3/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Wizink Center, Madrid, Spain
Sat. 11/3/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England
Sun. 11/4/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain
Sun. 11/4/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, BHGE Arena, Aberdeen, Scotland
Mon. 11/5/18 WWE Raw, Manchester Arena, Manchester England
Mon. 11/5/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Arena Birmingham, Birmingham, England
Tue. 11/6/18 WWE Smackdown, Manchester Arena, Manchester, England
Tue. 11/6/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, First Direct Arena, Leeds, England
Wed. 11/7/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Lanxess Arena, Cologne, Germany
Wed. 11/7/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham, England
Thu. 11/8/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany
Thu. 11/8/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, The SSE Arena, Wembley, London, England
Fri. 11/9/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Unipol Arena, Bologna, Italy
Fri. 11/9/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Brighton Center, Brighton, England
Sat. 11/10/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Palalottomatica, Rome, Italy
Sat. 11/10/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Butlins Arena, Minehead, England
Sun. 11/11/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, The SSE Hydro, Glasgow, Scotland
Mon. 11/12/18 WWE Raw, Sprint Center, Kansas City, Mo.
Tue. 11/13/18 WWE Smackdown, Enterprise Center, St. Louis, Mo.
Sun. 11/18/18 WWE Survivor Series, Staples Center, Los Angeles, Calif.
Mon. 11/19/18 WWE Raw, Staples Center, Los Angeles, Calif.
Tue. 11/20/18 WWE Smackdown, Staples Center, Los Angeles, Calif.
Sat. 11/24/18 WWE Starrcade, U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Sun. 11/25/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Grossinger Motors Arena, Bloomington, Ill.
Sun. 11/25/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Alliant Energy Center, Madison, Wis.
Mon. 11/26/18 WWE Raw, Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wis.
Mon. 11/26/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, US Cellular Center, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Tue. 11/27/18 WWE Smackdown, Target Center, Minneapolis, Minn.
Sat. 12/1/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Arena Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Sun. 12/2/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, College Park Center, Arlington, Texas
Mon. 12/3/18 WWE Raw, Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Tue. 12/4/18 WWE Smackdown, Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas
Wed. 12/5/18 WWE Live Event –Raw Roster, Movistar Arena, Santiago, Chile
Thu. 12/6/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Luna Park Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Fri. 12/7/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Luna Park Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Sat. 12/8/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Antel Arena, Montevideo, Uruguay
Sat. 12/8/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Bell MTS Place, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Sun. 12/9/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Stampede Corral, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Mon. 12/10/18 WWE Raw, Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, Calif
Mon. 12/10/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Citizens Business Bank Arena, Ontario, Calif.
Tue. 12/11/18 WWE Smackdown, Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nev.
Fri. 12/14/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tenn.
Sat. 12/15/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Rabobank Arena, Bakersfield, Calif.
Sat. 12/15/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Oracle Arena, Oakland, Calif.
Sun. 12/16/18 WWE T.L.C. SAP Center, San Jose, Calif.
Mon. 12/17/18 WWE Raw, Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, Calif.
Mon. 12/17/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Stockton Arena, Stockton Calif.
Tue. 12/18/18 WWE Smackdown – Save Smart Center, Fresno, Calif.
Mon. 12/24/18 WWE Raw
Tue. 12/25/18 WWE Smackdown
Wed. 12/26/18 WWE Live Event – Raw Roster, Madison Square Garden, New York, N.Y.
-Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman in a steel cage match for the Universal Championship
-Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose vs Dolph Ziggler & Drew McIntyre for the Raw Smackdown Tag Team Championships
-Ronda Rousey vs Mickie James for the Raw Women’s Championship
-Tomasso Ciampa tweeted out an image of a 10-man NXT tag team match scheduled for this event: Velveteen Dream, Pete Dunne, Johnny Gargano, Ricochet, & Aleister Black vs. Tomasso Ciampa & Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly, Roderick Strong, & Bobby Fish.) All ten men are listed on the wwe.com event listing as well.
-Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Bayley, Bobby Lashley, Alexa Bliss, Jinder Mahal, and Elias all scheduled to appear as well
Wed. 12/26/18 WWE Live Event – Smackdown Roster, Allstate Arena, Chicago, Ill.
•Latest TV Highlights
Monday Night Raw
- The WWE is really accentuating that Dean Ambrose turned on the night Roman Reigns announced he was leaving for the foreseeable future. Seth Rollins called out Dean, who came out and stood in the crowd. Seth accused him of turning his back on The Shield and also said that Dean decided to make last Monday about him even though Roman made his announcement earlier that night. Dean never responded to any of these accusations looking completely disinterested at what Seth had to say and left when Seth threatened to come up through the crowd to fight him.
- Bobby Lashley replaced John Cena in the World Cup Tournament. In storyline, Baron Corbin decided to make this change because John Cena never qualified. Lashley replacing Cena was played off as a favor by Corbin for Lashley beating up Finn Balor earlier in the night.
- Monday Night Raw was a night of face-offs and cheap shots to hype Crown Jewel. To start the show Brock Lesnar and Braun Strowman faced off and after they both hit Baron Corbin with a body slam, Brock attacked Strowman while he had his back turned and hit him with a F5. The final segment of the show featured the Brothers of Destruction talking about how they will end DX at Crown Jewel. They called out Triple H and Shawn Michaels, when only Triple H came out on stage, Kane went to attack him when suddenly Shawn appeared behind The Undertaker and blindsided him with a superkick.
Smackdown Live
- A.J. Styles challenged Daniel Bryan for the WWE Championship on Smackdown instead of having the match at Crown Jewel. Daniel Bryan sold a knee injury most of the match and eventually tapped out to the calf crusher on the injured knee. After the match the two shook hands and were attacked by Samoa Joe. Joe put both in the coquina clutch. Later, Styles goes to Paige and demands a match with Samoa Joe at Crown Jewel and she obliged. Samoa Joe went right back to acting like the feud never stopped by talking about AJ’s wife and kids in a backstage promo later in the night.
- Becky Lynch cut a promo on Ronda Rousey ahead of their Survivor Series match in a few weeks. She called out Ronda saying that she is nothing like Ronda’s opponents thus far in WWE saying she “isn’t here to cosplay or talk about her reality TV show (taking shots at Alexa Bliss and Nikki Bella)” and at Survivor Series she is coming to rip Ronda’s arm off.
- In a backstage segment, Shane threatened to fire the Smackdown representative in the finals of the World Cup Tournament if they were to lose to the Raw representative because he doesn’t want his sister to be able to call someone on the Raw roster the “best in the world.” Randy Orton, The Miz, Jeff Hardy, and Rey Mysterio are representing Smackdown in the World Cup and were all flanking Shane as he made this threat.
- For a more detailed rundown of all the major happenings in WWE, you can read the WWE TV reports HERE.
•Latest Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Post-show on Smackdown featuring live callers, mailbag, on-site correspondent
-On Stitcher HERE
-On Apple Podcasts HERE
-Or search “Wade Keller” on your podcast app of choice
•WWE in the Media
-Becky Lynch was on the Not Sam Wrestling Podcasts hosted by Sam Roberts last Thursday ahead of the Evolution match with Charlotte. She talks about the fan support she has and said she thinks she is benefitting from the realistic elements to her rise back to the top and also that she’s been overlooked for some time now. Becky said she thinks Money in the Bank was the turning point in her eyes because in that match, people cheered every time she touched the ladder to go for the briefcase and she thinks management noticed her support. Becky also said she isn’t surprised that she gets cheered because her story of being overlooked is so relatable to the audience. She also acknowledges the comparisons between her at Stone Cold and says there’s no higher compliment than that. She talks about what Evolution and says her goal is to main event WrestleMania.
-Curt Hawkins was also on with Sam Roberts last week. He discusses his new wrestling figure podcast he is hosting with Zack Ryder called The Major Wrestling Figure Podcast. Hawkins talks about getting injured and that he was asked to start producing backstage while injured. He also says that while he and Zack Ryder have been on the road with WWE for a long time now, since they started so young, most of their peers are actually older than them. When asked how much longer he has in wrestling, Hawkins said that he hopes his close friends will be honest with him and tell him it’s time.
To check out the Becky Lynch and Curt Hawkins interviews you can listen HERE.
READ A FULL REVIEW at our sister site, PWPodcasts.com: RECAP AND REVIEW: Notsam Wrestling Podcast with Becky Lynch on if she’s surprised by the cheers, comparisons to Steve Austin, what her current goal is, Curt Hawkins on producing matches, his new podcast
-Matt Hardy was Lillian Garcia’s guest on the Chasing Glory Podcast this week. Matt shares his thoughts on Evolution saying that in many ways it’s overdue. Matt relives the WrestleMania 33 return and says that return is one of the best moments of his career. Matt then talked about the WWE 24 special saying that he and Jeff were very hands on in the making of that documentary. Matt then talked about his childhood with Jeff and growing up without a mother and what lessons he learned that he can share with his kids now. Matt talked about he and his wife’s relationship noting that they are seemingly polar opposites and how she helped him during his darkest times by staying on him and supporting him. Jeff also addressed his alleged retirement, saying that he stopped wrestling a few months ago to address his chronic health concerns and that if he feels better he will wrestle again, but he never left WWE and he is still fully employed and involved. Matt closed out the interview talking about the Hardy Halloween Special and the future of the episodic show taking place at the Hardy Compound.
The interview begins at 16:00 and you can listen to it HERE.
•WWE Social Media Highlights
During Monday Night Raw, WWE announced that Becky Lynch would meet Ronda Rousey at Survivor Series. They posted this clip to their YouTube channel of the two women’s champions meeting after Evolution.
Becky Lynch posted this tweet on Monday. Crediting the fans and acknowledging their strong support doesn’t seem like something a heel would really do. On Tuesday during her promo she snapped at some fans who were chanting “We want Ronda” so she seems to be going back and forth.
I was ready to go where I was going without the fans, but then you came with me. pic.twitter.com/cMC5WpmYno
— The Man (@BeckyLynchWWE) October 29, 2018
Becky cut a promo on Tuesday telling Ronda that she hasn’t faced anyone like her. Becky subtly mentioned that she “doesn’t cosplay or talk about her reality TV show.” Alexa Bliss took notice and sent out a tweet shortly after Becky’s on air comments which lead to a little back and forth between the two Tuesday night.
https://twitter.com/AlexaBliss_WWE/status/1057447616550711296
You should cosplay as a waterboy because of all the time you spend on the sidelines https://t.co/QOd7HxbiBz
— The Man (@BeckyLynchWWE) October 31, 2018
https://twitter.com/AlexaBliss_WWE/status/1057473864748425216
Ah shut your face. You probably pulled a hamstring typing that lame reply https://t.co/tqLVYhpt26
— The Man (@BeckyLynchWWE) October 31, 2018
•Closing Commentary
-Evolution delivered as one of the best PPVs this year in WWE. Most matches were fantastic and I believe all of the matches met what the general consensus probably expected heading into Sunday night. Looking at the card before the event, there were a few matches that looked like they could steal the show. To me, the Smackdown Women’s Championship match between Becky Lynch and Charlotte was easily the highlight of the night and worth watching for anyone who hasn’t. The NXT Women’s Championship match, Mae Young Classic Finals, and even the Ronda Rousey vs. Nikki Bella matches were also very good in their own ways. Overall, given the lack of build in recent weeks, this event definitely exceeded expectations.
-I would like to take some time to speculate on one of the topics brought up during the WWE Third Quarter Financial call last week. On that call they confirmed Crown Jewel would still be taking place in Saudi Arabia on Nov. 2 and that’s all they had to say about that (which is pretty telling to me.) What really caught my attention was the discussion regarding the WWE becoming a price tiered product. No details were given, only that this is most likely a 2019 event.
I’m curious to see what this becomes because I think the WWE is going to have some backlash for it depending on what they choose to do here. I think they are going to turn away a big part of network subscribers if they ask them to change a price tier just to keep the same content they have now.
I think one solution that is a realistic possibility is taking an approach similar to Hulu. With this the WWE can keep all the content currently available at the $9.99 per month price tag, but start running more advertisements on network originals and the library of wrestling shows. If they want to charge people a few dollars more to eliminate ads, that’s one way to add a new price tier. The downfall here, I believe, is they wouldn’t be able to eliminate ads from the live stream of the network shows or the live PPVs.
Another price tier that seems to make sense is the addition of the TNA tape library. It was reported a few months ago that Impact (formerly TNA) officials met with WWE officials, but it isn’t quite clear why. Impact officials strongly denied the idea that they were entertaining offers to sell the company, but maybe it was to discuss WWE buying the tape library for this WWE Network expansion.
They could also look into streaming shows for wrestling promotions that the WWE works with. There are already some wrestling promotions that have working relationships with WWE. Promotions like Evolve and Progress have had working relationships with the WWE for some time now and have shared wrestlers in the past for events like the Cruiserweight Classic and UK Tournament. In Wade Keller’s Afternoon Update on Wednesday, he made reference to a WWE.com article announcing that three currently signed NXT roster members are now champions in Evolve as well. The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) became the Evolve Tag Team Champions while Fabian Aichner became the Evolve Champion at Evolve 114. In light of this news, it appears the relationship between Evolve and WWE is stronger than ever. Wade also said that multiple sources have previously confirmed that Evolve content could be coming to the tiered WWE Network system along with other independent wrestling companies.
SOURCE: WWE.com
I’m excited to see where this price tier system goes, but I worry the WWE may be overestimating the desire for things like more tape libraries or the addition of outside promotions to the network. If they think they can increase the base price of the network for all users, or ask them to pay more just to keep their current accessibility, then make up for any loss of subscribers with people willing to pay more for additional content, I think they are going to take a net loss on that exchange. If they just hope to add new content for higher priced tiers, then no harm no foul in my opinion. Hopefully they will start openly discussing possible changes so we can learn more and they can try to further educate themselves and try to gauge what the fans want. I wouldn’t count on this happening, though. They’re notoriously bad at listening to the fans and what they want lately. See examples Roman Reigns, Becky Lynch, and Crown Jewel.
NOW CHECK OUT OTHER WEEKLY OVERVIEWS HERE.
OR JUMP TO LAST WEEK’S WWE OVERVIEW: WEEKLY OVERVIEW – WWE (thru 10/24): Reigns announcement, Social Media Support for Reigns, New Signees at Performance Center, Tag Title Change, Commentary on Evolution Hype
The following is the latest in a new series of weekly in-depth articles exclusive to PWTorch which will help put in perspective major wrestling promotions with a weekly overview, looking at news and roster developments, results, future line-ups, social media activity, key interviews, plus a timely commentary at the end. We will be featuring similar features on other promotions each week and each will be updated weekly.
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