Minutes to Bell Time

                    Body Slam Brigade December 18, 2020

                    Body Slam Brigade December 18, 2020

                    Body Slam Brigade December 18, 2020

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                    With so much happening in the world of wrestling right now, the television ratings have been as interesting to watch and study as the actual wrestling product.Big ratings can mean big contracts when it comes time for wrestling companies to negotiate with the television networks (USA, Fox, TNT). While there is still money to be made through PPV, live gates, and merchandising, it is these television contracts that make up the majority of revenue for the major promotions.

                    With that said, anyone that loves wrestling and wants to see it grow (and become better over time), needs to be interested in how the current product is performing as pertains to ratings. In many ways, ratings are votes for what people want to see on television.

                    Unfortunately, the ratings this week aren’t the most upbeat story for professional wrestling.

                    The week started with Monday Night Raw (12/14) doing 1,527,000 viewers, which was down 210,000 viewers from the week before. This 12/14 rating was the lowest in the history of Monday Night Raw.

                    Impact Wrestling on Tuesday received a big bump in their ratings last week going from 166,000 on 12/1 to 221,000 on 12/8. Impact also saw their on-line Twitch streaming numbers peak at 50,000 on 12/8, which was up 10-13x their normal audience on that platform. The spike in interest came from the AEW crossover angle spearheaded by Kenny Omega and Don Callis. The ratings on 12/15 fell back down to 177,000 viewers and Twitch only peaked at 14,000.

                    AEW did 913,000 viewers for the 12/2 Winter is Coming themed episode of Dynamite. The follow up episode on 12/9 was even higher at 995,000 viewers. The audience settled back down to 806,000 viewers for this week’s 12/15 episode.

                    NXT’s best rating of late was the Halloween Havoc episode on 10/28 where they brought in 876,000 viewers. This was the only week in 2020 where NXT went head to head with Dynamite and did more than 800,000 viewers. NXT’s highest head to head week was on 11/20/19 when they got 916,00 viewers.

                    NXT followed Halloween Havoc with 610,000 viewers on 11/4, which was the lowest number since May. In the good news department, NXT did 766,000 viewers on this week’s 12/16 episode. This was their highest rating since Halloween Havoc and their highest head to head rating since 7/1.

                    What does all this mean for now and in the future? Here are some of my thoughts.

                    1. The AEW-Impact angle combined with the debut of Sting on Dynamite did very strong ratings for both Dynamite and Impact, but only for a very short period of time. When wrestling fans think there is potential for a big surprise or announcement, they tune in. Getting people to tune in week to week is difficult unless you can string several weeks like this together where fans have anticipation that the episodes are can’t miss television.
                    2. Impact is running best of 2020 holiday specials for the next two weeks, which frankly makes the show extremely missable to most people. It’s bad timing because interest in Impact is high right now, but also not yet part of a new fan’s routine. Hopefully Impact does not lose many new viewers that they may have attracted in the last two weeks, but the risk seems high.
                    3. NXT rarely announces a line-up, but NXT always does a lot better when they do. We knew several matches for this week’s episode of NXT for days leading up the broadcast. This is basic and should continue. Announce a card that people want to see, and people will show up. Don’t announce a card, and people will assume your show isn’t exciting.
                    4. Monday Night Raw is perhaps the scariest situation of all. The lowest rating of all time will signify to Vince McMahon that what WWE is doing right now isn’t working. It is a certainty that WWE will react to the news. The question really comes down to how they react. Everything from pivoting away from major storylines to running legend themed shows is on the table. WWE could attempt to bring back Ronda Rousey, Brock Lesnar, or an eye-catching celebrity. They may fire some of the top creative people in the company. We know they’ll react, but it’s hard to assume that whatever they do will be good for the long term stability of the product.

                    That’s your weekly ratings update from me. Enjoy the issue and enjoy some wrestling.

                    Have a Great Weekend!

                    Ryan Joy

                    Founder of Minutes to Bell Time
                    Host of the Daily Wrestling News Show
                    Author of the Body Slam Brigade Newsletter

                    Introducing the Daily Wrestling News Show

                    The Body Slam Brigade Newsletter comes out on Friday, but if you want news closer to real-time, Body Slam Brigade author Ryan Joy is hosting a new podcast called the Daily Wrestling News Show!

                    The show is live every day at 10 AM on Facebook and You Tube or you can subscribe to the audio version on Apple, Spotify, or pretty much anywhere else you get podcasts. Use the links below to find the show!

                    Subscribe on Apple Podcast: Click Here
                    Subscribe Spotify: Click Here
                    Watch Live on Facebook: Click Here
                    Watch Live on You Tube: Click Here

                    Current TLC Match Card

                    TLC takes place on December 20th starting at 7PM on the WWE Network.

                    • Kevin Owens v. Roman Reigns – Universal Championship TLC Match
                    • AJ Styles v. Drew McIntyre – WWE Championship TLC Match
                    • Asuka and Lana v. Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler – WWE Tag Team Championship Match
                    • The Fiend Bray Wyatt v. Randy Orton – Firefly Inferno Match
                    • Carmella v. Sasha Banks – Smackdown Women’s Championship
                    • Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin v. The New Day – Raw Tag Titles

                    NXT New Year’s Evil

                    NXT New Year’s Evil takes place on 1/6 as a super episode of NXT television. The Card so far includes:
                    • Dexter Lumis hosts the show.
                    • Finn Balor v. Kyle O’Reilly – NXT Championship
                    • Damian Priest v. Karrion Kross

                    NXT UK

                    WWE ran a video package on Ben Carter who they signed earlier this year. Prior to signing with WWE, Ben Carter wrestled three matches for AEW. He defeated Lee Johnson on AEW Dark in a match that got a lot of attention. AEW even put Carter on television against Scorpio Sky on Late Night Dynamite. In the video, Regal and others talk about how well Carter connects with the crowd. They also discuss how he was trained by Seth Rollins.

                    It seems, Walter’s next NXT UK Championship defense will be against A-Kid. No date announced.

                    Steve Austin News

                    Straight Up Steve Austin is Back for another season starting January 11. Looks like Charlotte Flair, Bret Farve and others will be on this season.

                    Another Broken Skull Sessions interview show will air on the WWE Network on 12/20. Austin’s guest for the show will be Drew McIntyre.



                    The Christmas Story is All Elite

                    AEW announced Monday that scenes of “A Christmas Story” starring AEW talent will begin airing on Christmas Eve during the annual 24-hour marathon of the original movie on both TNT and TBS. The scenes will also air on TNT.tv and TNT’s YouTube account. MJF will be Ralphie, Jericho will be Santa Claus, etc.

                    AEW Unrivaled

                    The popular AEW Action Figures are suddenly available once again. As of Thursday evening, Ringside Collectibles had them in a status of Backorder with a mid-February time frame given. The figures in Unrivaled 2 include MJF, Hangman Page, Rey Fenix, Pentagon, and Dustin Rhodes.

                    Unrivaled 3 is also available for pre-order now. This series includes The Young Bucks, Riho, Darby Allin, Pac, and Orange Cassidy. The current dates range from Mid-January to Early February.



                    Road to Wrestle Kingdom

                    New Japan will broadcast three shows on the road to WrestleKingdom. They’ll be available through the New Japan World streaming service on December 21, 22, and 23 with all events starting at 4:30 AM Eastern

                    The highlight of the three nights will be the KOPW Provisional Championship match between provisional champion Toru Yano and challenger Bad Luck Fale. Fans are currently voting on whether the stipulation will be a Body Slam Match or a Body Slam Match plus Four Corner Pad Removal Match. Whomever wins the match will be the 2020 KOPW Champion because 12/23 is the last event of the year.

                    Yano originally won the provisional trophy by pinning Kazuchika Okada at Summer Struggle in Jinghu Stadium. Whomever holds the trophy at the end of the year is declared the champion.

                    Current Wrestle Kingdom Card

                    More news pertaining to the Wrestle Kingdom Card could be announced at any moment.
                    • January 4th Night 1
                      • Hiromu Takahashi v. El Phantasmo – Winner to Face Taiji Ishimori on Night 2
                      • Will Ospreay v. Kazuchika Okada
                      • Great-O-Khan v. Hiroshi Tanahashi
                      • Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi v. Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa – IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
                      • Tetsuya Naito v. Kota Ibushi for IWGP Double Intercontinental and Heavyweight Championship –
                    • January 5th Night 2
                      • Taiji Ishimori v. Hiromu/El Phantasmo – IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship
                      • Shingo Takagi v. Jeff Cobb – NEVER Openweight Championship
                        Sanada v. Evil – Special Singles Match
                      • Naito/Ibushi v. Jay White for IWGP Double Intercontinental and Heavyweight Championship

                    Status of the Kenny Omega Angle

                    Kenny Omega again appeared with Don Callis on this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling. Impact again emphasized the relationship of Karl Anderson and Kenny Omega from Japan. Anderson had a match with Chris Sabin in the main event. Callis and Omega pushed Anderson to dig into his Bullet Club Playbook to defeat Chris Sabin. After Anderson ran into Rich Swann in the hallway, Omega apologized to Callis about what he was going to have to do next.

                    At the conclusion of the evening, Anderson hooked Sabin’s tights on his way to a pinfall victory. Anderson got in a bit of a fight with both Swann and the Machine Guns in the back, which led to the return of Doc Gallows. Just before Impact went off the air, Omega ran in and clobbered Rich Swann. Don Callis used his executive privilege to make a six-man tag match for Impact’s Hard to Kill Pay Per View on 1/16. It will be Rich Swann and the Motor City Machine Guns v. Kenny Omega and the Good Brothers.

                    In addition to continued appearances on both Impact and Dynamite, Don Callis has done a ton of media with various news outlets and even an Impact media scrum. In all instances, Callis appeared in character.

                    Impact Ratings

                    The week before the Kenny Omega Angle began, Impact Wrestling had 166,000 viewers. Last week, that number went up to 221k viewers. This week, it dropped back down to 177K.  While still above the 166K level from two weeks ago, the majority of fans didn’t stick around to see more of what Impact had to offer.

                    On the twitch side of things, Impact dropped from a peak of over 50K last week to a peak of 14K this week.

                    Upcoming Content From Impact

                    The next two weeks of Impact Wrestling on AXS TV will be holiday specials where highlights of 2020 are played alongside year-end awards.

                    Impact will return on January 5th with an Eddie Edwards v. Sami Callihan match as the focal point of their return show.

                    That weekend on January 9th, Impact will run an Impact Plus special called Genesis. As of right now, Moose will face Willie Mack in an I Quit match and Impact will run a Super X Cup Tournament.

                    Seven days later on January 16th, Impact runs the Hard to Kill PPV which is headlined by Kenny Omega and the Good Brothers v. Rich Swann and the Motor City Machine Guns.

                    The Knockouts Tag Team Championship Tournament will conclude at Hard to Kill. Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz have already made the finals. They will face the winner of Havok and Nevaeh v. Jordynne Grace and Jazz. Impact has not announced when that semi-final match will occur.

                    While not announced for any of these shows, the Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo appears to be entering a program with Taya Valkyrie.

                    Taya Valkyrie Files for Trademark

                    Taya filed to trademark her ring name.

                    Jake Crist Levaing Impact

                    Crist announced on Twitter that he was leaving Impact Wrestling.

                    He wrote, “All good things must come to a end. My time at @impactwrestling was some of the best of my career. I wouldn’t be who I am without my time there. THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING. This isn’t the end. It’s just the beginning.”

                    Essential Wrestling Podcast Episode 32 – Click Here

                    The Essential Wrestling Podcast airs every Tuesday at 6:00 PM. Join Al Karl, John D’Aconti, John Smith, Gary Mehafy, and Minutes to Bell Time’s Ryan Joy as they take you through the latest in Pro Wrestling. Find out and get the rationale behind who they think wins the week’s matches.

                    This Week’s Lineup

                    *The Guys make their Picks for TLC
                    *Rich Swann Successfully Defends the Impact Championship, but Moose is Lurking…
                    *It was Star-Studded Episode of AEW featuing Kenny Omega, Sting and Shaq
                    *Raquel Gonzalez with a Statement Victory on NXT
                    *Gary Mehaffy Discusses the First Heritage Cup Championship Defense
                    *Ryan Joy Updates us with New Japan Tournament Finals, RoH Final Battle, and NAWA Jingle Brawl
                    *Al Karl Reveals #15 on his Top 30 Favorite WrestleMania Matches
                    *Our Show is Sponsored by ProWrestlingPickem.com
                    *Our Graphics and Statistics are Presented by MinutesToBellTime.com

                    MLW Kings of Colosseum

                    The January 6th MLW Fusion Supershow event added a match this week. Alexander Hammerstone will face Mads Krugger for the National Openweight Championship. Krugger is the former Logan Creed repackaged as a member of Contra. It looks as though Hammerstone will need to defeat several members of Contra on the way to facing Jacob Fatu for the World Championship sometime in 2021.

                    Opera Cup

                    Tom Lawlor defeated ACH in the Semi Finals of the Opera Cup on the December 16th episode of MLW Fusion. He now advances to face Low Ki in the finals on 12/23.

                    MLW Top 10

                    MLW announced their Top 10 Rankings on Fusion this week. They use PWI Branding for this top 10 list.
                    1. Alexander Hammerstone
                    2. Low Ki
                    3. Tom Lawlor
                    4. LA Park
                    5. Myron Reed
                    6. ACH
                    7. Laredo Kid
                    8. Richard Holliday
                    9. Calvin Tankman
                    10. Mads Krugger

                    Final Battle Card So Far

                    Final Battle is Ring of Honor’s Biggest PPV of the year. It takes place on Friday December 18th. Several talents originally scheduled for the show have been pulled because they failed pre-travel COVID testing. Those talents include Bandido, Flamita, Kenny King, and EC3.

                    ROH had originally announced that all titles would be on the line. Pulling Bandido and Flamita from the card removes the possibility of having the ROH World Six-Man Championships defended.

                    Ring of Honor had also been advertising EC3 v. Jay Briscoe in a special grudge match. Obviously with EC3 pulled from the event, that match will have to wait as well.

                    ROH has stated that they will update us regarding the final card on the free first hour broadcast of Final Battle.

                    With that in mind, here’s the card at this time.

                    • ROH World Title Match: Rush v. Brody King
                    • Four Way Match to Determine TV Title Contender: Tony Deppen v. Dak Draper v. LSG v. Josh Woods
                    • Vincent and Bateman v. Matt Taven and Mike Bennett
                    • Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham v. PCO and Mark Briscoe – ROH World Tag Team Championships
                    • Jonathan Gresham v. Flip Gordan – Pure Championship
                    • Tracy Williams & Rhett Titus vs. Fred Yehi & Wheeler Yuta in the first-ever ROH Pure Rules Tag Team Match.
                    • Danhusen vs. Brian Johnson.
                    • TV Championship Match: 4 Way Winner v. Dragon Lee
                    • EC3 v. Jay Briscoe – Grudge Match – Canceled
                    • Mexisquad v. Shane Taylor and S.O.S. – ROH Six Man Tag Titles  – Canceled

                    Upcoming on ROH TV

                    On episode 483 of ROH TV, Rhett Titus faces Delirious and Dalton Castle faces Rhett Titus.

                     

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