BSB #48 – NXT MOVES TO TUESDAY – War is Over – ?

By Ryan Joy
Updated: April 2, 2021
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Body Slam Brigade March 27, 2021

BSB #48 – NXT MOVES TO TUESDAY – War is Over – ?

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“The greatest battles and wars in history weren’t won with the biggest weapons or the strongest soldiers. They were won with the greatest minds.”

– Shawn Spears

After 18 months of head to head competition between WWE’s NXT brand and All Elite Wrestling’s Dynamite, WWE and NBC officially announced that NXT will move to Tuesday nights starting April 13th. The Wednesday Night War is over.The move comes alongside a multi-year deal between NBC and WWE to continue the NXT broadcast on the USA network. Combined with Impact Wrestling’s recent announced move from Tuesday to Thursday, it also means that the American television audience will have wrestling in primetime every night Monday through Friday.

This move should obviously result in a sharp ratings increase for both AEW and NXT. That goes without saying, so for me the big question is how each brand’s longer term growth will be assisted by this move. I’m thinking about these questions:

Will AEW grow to have similar ratings to Raw and Smackdown?
What about NXT’s growth? Could they eventually do better than Raw or Smackdown?
Is Tuesday a better night for wrestling than Wednesday?
How does WWE respond if either AEW or NXT put up larger ratings than Raw and Smackdown?

I don’t think WWE needs to worry about Raw and Smackdown getting defeated in the weekly wrestling ratings any time in the next month or two, but it will be interesting to watch NXT and AEW’s trend lines over the course of the next several months. This is especially true since Raw and Smackdown often take a Post-WrestleMania dip in the ratings.

If we do see Raw and Smackdown dip at the same time that AEW and NXT surge, the numbers might get too close for Vince McMahon’s comfort. How does WWE react in that situation? Do we see short-term booking, wrestlers freely moving from brand to brand, changes in executive leadership? The same could be said on the AEW side. If things get close, will Tony Khan hot shot several shows to get a win? Will both companies start overspending on talent?

Will a potential wrestling boom become a bust as both companies lose sight of their vision?

That is the worse case scenario, so the reality of the situation is hopefully much different.

In any case, I think NXT’s move to Tuesday presents another exciting milestone if you’re a wrestling fan.

Sure the Wednesday Night War is over, but that was probably only a small battle anyway.

Let’s now see how these two companies co-exist moving forward. And more importantly, let’s see how AEW and WWE continue to react to each other’s successes and failures.

Have a Great Weekend!

Ryan Joy

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General News

WWE officially announced that NXT will move to Tuesdays starting on 4/13.
WWE Untold: Edge v. Mick Foley is a documentary covering their match WrestleMania 22. It debuts on the WWE Network and Peacock on 4/4
John Cena appeared on “Inside the NBA” last week and Shaq asked him about Shaq’s pro wrestling debut on AEW Television. When John said he didn’t see the match, Shaq put up a clip and asked John if he had any advice. Cena closed the semgent by saying Shaq would have made a great WWE Superstar.
John Cena has two books coming out next week:
- Do Your Best Every day to do your best everyday – Kids 8 – 12
  Be a Work in Progress
Brian James (Road Dogg) went to the hospital last Thursday (3/25) after suffering an apparent heart attack. James did go home earlier this week.
The Hurt Business split on Monday Night Raw this week. Bobby Lashley kicked Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin out of the group. King Corbin stood with Bobby Lashley at the end of Monday Night Raw, but MVP clarified via Twitter that Corbin is not a member of the Hurt Business.
Former WWE backstage personality Charly Caruso has joined ESPN in a full-time role.
WWE filed for a trademark “Gauntlet Eliminator”
A&E and WWE are doing free screenings of their new Biography series in six select cities. This is happening at the Drive In Movie Theaters of Houston, Memphis, Detroit, Indianapolis, Atlanta, and Philadelphia
Based on a series of vignettes on the March 31st episode of NXT, it appears that Taya Valkyrie will debut on 4/13 with a new name: “Franky”
WWE revealed that Brian Kendrick has retired from wrestling and taken on a producer role within the company.
PW Insider reports that Peacock has removed the DX Segment where DX dressed as the Nation of Domination. This follows Peacock’s removal of The Roddy Piper interview from WrestleMania VI where Piper had half his body painted black and also Vince McMahon’s usage of the “N” word when talking to Booker T.

WrestleMania – April 10 and April 11

Hulk Hogan and Titus O’Neil will host WrestleMania
Night 1
- Bobby Lashley (c) v. Drew McIntyre – WWE Championship
- Sasha Banks (c) v. Bianca Belair – Smackdown Championship
- The Miz v. Bad Bunny
- Shane McMahon v. Braun Strowman – Steel Cage Match
- The New Day (c) v. AJ Styles and Omos – Raw Tag Team Championships
- Seth Rollins v. Cesaro
Night 2
- Roman Reigns (c) v. Edge – Universal Championship
- Asuka (c) v. Rhea Ripley – Raw Championship
- Bray Wyatt v. The Fiend
- Kevin Owens v. Sami Zayn
- Big E (c) v. Apollo Crews – Intercontinental Championship
- Riddle (c) v. Sheamus – United States Champion
Matches Not Announced for Specific Night
- The New Day (c) v. AJ Styles and Omos – Raw Tag Team Championship
- Braun Strowman v. Shane McMahon

Hall of Fame Ceremony

WWE announced this week that Rob Van Dam and William Shatner will be inducted in the 2021 WWE Hall of Fame.
WWE will hold a ceremony honoring their 2020-2021 Hall of Fame Inductees on April 6th. The special will broadcast on Peacock.
The 2020 Hall of Fame Class included The NWO, Batista, The Bella Twins, JBL, The British Bulldog, and Jushin Thunder Liger.
- While Batista was announced for the 2020 Hall of Fame, it was announced this week that Batista will not be inducted this year. It was a
Kane, The Great Khali, Molly Holly and Erich Bischoff were previously announced for the 2021 Hall of Fame.

NXT UK Prelude

WWE announced a special edition of NXT UK to take place during WrestleMania Week (April 8). Two matches have been announced for the show.

Rampage Brown v. Walter (c) – NXT UK Championship
Tyler Bate v. Noam Dar – Winner Gets NXT UK Heritage Cup Match
Comments from Ilja Dragunov
Kay Lee Ray and Isla Dawn v. Meiko Satomura and Millie McKenzie

NXT TakeOver Stand and Deliver

TakeOver will occur over two nights. April 7th on the USA Network and April 8th on the WWE Network and Peacock. Announced matches for TakeOver include:

Night 1 (April 7 on USA Network)
- Io Shirai (c) v. Raquel Gonzalez – NXT Championship Match
- Walter (c) v. Tommaso Ciampa – NXT UK Championship Match
- GYV v. MSK v. Legado del Fantasma – NXT UK Tag Team Title Match
- Gauntlet Eliminator Match to determine Johnny Gargano’s challenger for the North American Championship on Night 2
- Pete Dunne v. Kushida
Night 2 (April 8th on Peacock)
- Karrion Kross v. Finn Balor (c) – NXT Championship Match
- Adam Cole v. Kyle O’Reilly – Unsanctioned Match
- Jordan Devlin (c) v. Santos Escobar (c) – NXT Cruiserweight Unification Ladder Match
- Johnny Gargano v. Gauntlet Eliminator Match – NXT North American Championship Match
- Candice Lerae and Indi Hartwell v. Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart (c) – NXT Tag Team Championships

WrestleMania Edition of Smackdown – April 9th

WWE announced that the Smackdown on April 9th is scheduled to be a special WrestleMania themed edition of the show.

Andre the Giant Battle Royal
Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match: Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode (c) v. Otis and Chad Gable v. Street Profits v. Dominik and Rey Mysterio
Comments from Daniel Bryan, Edge, and Roman Reigns

Results:

Smackdown Results from 3/26

Seth Rollins defeats Shinsuke Nakamura – 09:12
Apollo Crews and Alpha Academy defeat Big E and Street Profits – 03:56
Bianca Belair defeats Natalya – 09:48
Rey Mysterio defeats Dolph Ziggler – 09:16

205 Live Results from 3/26

Ariya Daivari and Tony Nese defeat The Bollywood Boyz – 08:42
August Grey defeats Ashante Thee Adonis – 09:39

Raw Results from 3/29

Sheamus defeats Riddle – 12:44. Riddle attacks Sheamus after the match.
Braun Strowman defeats Jaxon Ryker – 02:28
Xavier Woods defeats AJ Styles – 07:54 – Disqualification when Omos gets involved.
Naomi defeats Shayna Baszler – 2:22
Drew McIntyre defeats Ricochet – 02:54
Drew McIntyre defeats Mustafa Ali – 03:46

NXT Results from 3/31

Cameron Grimes defeats Roderick Strong – 11:51
Santos Escobar defeats Tyler Breeze – 10:30
Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell defeat Gigi Dolin and Zaida Ramirez – 03:06
Raquel Gonzalez defeats Zoey Stark – 04:52
Xia Li defeats Kayden Carter and Kacy Catanzaro – 03:06
LA Knight wins Battle Royal – 12:56 – (Bronson Reed, Dexter Lumis, Leon Ruff, Swerve Scott Cameron Grimes also qualify for the Gauntlet Eliminator).

NXT UK Results from 4/1

Aoife Valkyrie defeats Stevie Turner – 04:44
Teoman defeats Josh Morell – 05:25
Pretty Deadly defeat Kenny Williams and Amir Jordan – 15:36

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Kenny Omega by My Ill Gotten Brain

AEW News

Christian Cage had his first singles match (also competed in the Royal Rumble) on the 3/31 episode of AEW Dynamite. He wrestled a 16.5 minute match against Frankie Kazarian that he eventually won with the “Kill Shot.”
QT Marshall solidified his heel turn this week by debuting a new faction that took out the key members of the Nightmare Family. QT is flanked by Nick Comoroto, Anthony Ogogo, and Aaron Solow.
Kris Statlander returned this week to take out Penelope Ford in the Arcade Anarchy match.
Trent returned in the Arcade Anarchy match.
The Arcade Anarchy Match more than exceeded expectations, and it ended with Miro getting his first loss in AEW.
On last week’s Dynamite, AEW announced that they’re going to hold a house show in Jacksonville on 4/9. The matches will not air on television. Earlier this week, AEW revealed the card for this house show.
- TNT Championship Match: Darby Allin vs. Battle Royale winner
- Young Bucks & Brandon Cutler vs. Death Triangle (PAC, Penta,Rey Fenix)
- Cody Rhodes vs. Ethan Page
- Kenny Omega & Michael Nakazawa vs. Matt & Mike Sydal
- Hikaru Shida, Tay Conti, Red Velvet vs. Allie, Nyla Rose, Britt Baker
- Jade Cargill will be in action
- Jurassic Express & Dante Martin vs. The Pinnacle
- Eddie Kingston vs. Cezar Bononi
- Battle Royale for TNT Title shot in Main Event, 12 probable participants: Lance Archer, Scorpio Sky, Powerhouse Hobbs, Ricky Starks, QT Marshall, Butcher, Blade, Dustin Rhodes, Austin Gunn, Colten Gunn, 10, Colt Cabana
- Orange Cassidy will be in action

Upcoming on AEW Dark Elevation on 4/5

Matt Hardy v. Alan Angels
Scorpio Sky and Ethan Page v. Matt and Mike Sydal

Upcoming on AEW Dynamite on 4/7

Jon Moxley and Young Bucks v. Kenny Omega and Good Brothers
The Bunny v. Tay Conti
Darby Allin v. JD Drake – TNT Championship
Inner Circle Returns
Jurassic Express v. Bear Country

AEW Dynamite Results from 3/31

Christian Cage defeats Frankie Kazarian – 16:30
Cody Rhodes and QT Marshall Exhibition Match Ends in a No Contest.
Jon Moxley defeats Cesar Bononi – 07:46
Good Brothers and Kenny Omega defeats Lucha Bros and Laredo Kid – 14:16
Nyla Rose and Allie defeats Hikaru Shida and Tay Conti – 06:52
Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy defeats Miro and Kip Sabian – 14:26

AEW Dark Results from 3/30

Butcher and Blade defeat Milk Chocolate – 05:48
Madi Wrenkowski defeats Jazmin Allure – 04:04
Chaos Project defeats Dean Alexander and Justin Law – 05:18
Angelico defeats Sonny Kiss – 06:38
Evil Uno, Stu Grayson, Colt Cabana defeats Vary Morales, Bill Collier, and D3 – 07:46
Jurassic Express (Luchasaurus and Marko Stunt) defeats Adam Priest and KC Navarro – 01:42
Diamante defeats Vipress – 03:00
Hobbs, Starks, Cage defeat Jake St. Patrick, Sage Scott, and Chandler Hopkins – 04:56
Big Swole, Red Velvet, Kilynn King defeats Ashley Vox, Delmi Exo, Vertvixen – 07:43
Michael Nakazawa defeats Mike Magnum – 04:09
Miro and Kip Sabian defeat Baron Black and John Skyler – 02:34
Max Caster defeats Alex Reynolds – 08:25

AEW Dark Results Elevation Results from 3/29

Orange Cassidy and Chuck Taylor defeat Ryan Nemeth and JD Drake – 07:02
Jon Moxley defeats Bill Collier – 05:20
Penelope Ford defeats Leila Grey – 03:41
Gunn Club v. Rex Lawless, Randy Summers, Brandon Watts – 04:54
Diamante challenged Thunder Rosa to a match.
Joey Janela defeats Chandler Hopkins – 07:15
Thunder Rosa defeats Alex Gracia – 05:01
Legit Leyla Hirsch defeats Vipress – 03:30
Frankie Kazarian defeats Danny Limelight – 08:38
Ethan Page defeats Fuego del Sol – 05:23
Hikaru Shida and Tay Conti defeat Jazmin Allure and Tesha Price – 02:12
Jungle Boy defeats Jack Evans – 08:16
QT Marshall and Lee Johnson defeat Adam Priest and Aaron Frye – 02:48
Ryo Mizunami defeats KiLynn King – 09:31
Alan Angels and Preston Vance defeat D3 and Vary Morales – 03:56
Private Party defeats Bear Country – 08:06

Introducing the Daily Wrestling News Show

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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!

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Jon Moxley by My Ill Gotten Brain

New Japan General News

New Japan unveiled their new IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Belt earlier this week. The internet has had a lot of fun poking at the design comparing the new belt to Cody Rhodes’ tattoo and the old WWE Butterfly Divas belt. It’s unfortunate for New Japan as they put a lot of thought into the overall design in hopes of paying homage to the belt’s lineage.

New Japan Cup USA Tournament Bracket Revealed

New Japan held the final qualifying matches for the New Japan Cup USA tournament on last week’s episode of New Japan Strong.
The tournament is set to begin on 4/9. The overall winner of this tournament will receive a future IWGP United States Championship Match.
Jon Moxley is the current IWGP United States Champion. He last defended the title against Kenta.

Upcoming on New Japan Strong on 4/2

The matches mostly preview the New Japan Cup USA Tournament that begins on 4/9.
Matches
- Rocky Romero v. Kevin Knight
- Misterioso and Jordan Clearwater v. Alex Coughlin and TJP
- JR Kratos, Chris Dickinson, Tom Lawlor v. Logan Riegel, Steven Riegel, Brody King

Sakura Genesis – 4/4

The next major New Japan show takes place on April 4th. The following matches have been announced for the show:

Taichi, Sabre, Douki v. G.O.D. and Jado
Yano, Okada, Goto, Ishii, Yoshi-Hashi v. Evil, Kenta, Yujiro, Ishimori, Togo
Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, Sanada v. Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan, and a mystery partner
Tanahashi and Kojima v. Fale and White
Yoh and Sho v. El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru – IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship Match
Will Ospreay v. Kota Ibushi (c) – IWGP World Championship

Results –

New Japan Strong Results from 3/26

Clark Connors defeats TJP to Qualify for the New Japan Cup USA – 09:27
Chris Dickinson defeats Blake Christian to qualify for the New Japan Cup USA – 08:53
David Finlay and Karl Fredericks defeat Danny Limelight and Tom Lawlor

Tommy Dreamer by My Ill Gotten Brain

General Impact News

Eric Young tore his ACL at the most recent Impact Wrestling Taping. Young called this the first true injury of his 24 year career. He will be out for 6-9 months
Chris Harris made a return on Impact Wrestling this week. He cornered his former Tag Team partner James Storm in Storm’s 1,000th match. No announcement has been made about Harris signing a contract with Impact.
The build for a split between Havok and Nevaeh finally paid off on this week’s episode of Impact Wrestling. Nevaeh blames Havok for their recent bad luck.

Harcore Justice – 2 Matches Announced – 4/10

The next Impact Plus special will take place on April 10th at 3PM. Two matches have been announced so far:
- Jazz v. Deonna Purrazzo (c) – Career v. Knockouts Championship Match
- Knockouts Scramble Match – All Weapons legal

Impact Rebellion – 4/25

Matches Announced:
- Kenny Omega v. Rich Swann – AEW Title for Impact Title
- FinJuice (c) v. The Good Brothers – Impact World Tag Team Champions
- Knockouts Champion v. Winner of Knockouts Scramble

Upcoming on Impact Wrestling on 4/8

Kenny Omega and Good Brothers v. Rich Swann, Willie Mack, Eddie Edwards
Possibly: Sami Callihan and Trey v. XXXL – Impact shot an angle for this, but did not announce the match.

Impact Results from 3/30

Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz defeat Havok and Nevaeh – 07:18
Sami Callihan defeats Larry D – 09:14 – Acey Romero attacks Sami afterward.
Brian Myers defeats Suicide – 02:59
Ace Austin and Madman Fulton defeat TJP and Josh Alexander – 09:13
James Storm defeats Eric Young – 15:41

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This Week’s Lineup

NXT TakeOver got Stacked
We heard from Kenny Omega on Impact
Gary Mehaffy discusses the Hard Hitting No DQ Match between Dragunov and Gradwell
Ryan Joy reviews the 19th Anniversary Show put on by ROH
Al reveals #3 on his Top 30 Favorite WM Matches as we continue to count down to WrestleMania 37
The team makes their picks for all of this week’s shows
We Main Event with AEW and last week’s TNT Championship Match

Upcoming up on April 7th

Classic Episode of MLW

Upcoming up on April 14th

Richard Holliday (c) v. Gino Medina – Caribbean Championship
Alexander Hammerstone v. Mil Muertes – National Openweight Championship

MLW Fusion Results from 3/30

Jordan Oliver defeats Simon Gotch – 09:14
Myron Reed defeats Daivari – 08:05
Jacob Fatu defeats Calvin Tankman – MLW World Championship – 10:44

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ROH News

Maria Kanellis announced that ROH will hold a Women’s Tournament this Summer to crown a new ROH Women’s Champion.
- Maria announces that Angelina Love will have a match against Quinn McKay. If Love wins, she’ll get a buy in the first round. The match will occur on ROH TV.
Dalton Castle signed a new contract with Ring of Honor

Upcoming on ROH TV

Eli Isom v. LSG
Brian Johnson v. Danhausen

19th Anniversary Show Results – 3/26

Danhausen v. Eli Isom v. Brian Johnson v. LSG – Four Corner Survival Match – 10:55
Shane Taylor Promotions (c) defeats Mexisquad – World Six Man Tag Team – 07:48
Tracy Williams defeats Kenny King (c) – ROH World Television Championship – 07:17 – New Champion
Flip Gordan defeats Mark Briscoe – 07:46
Dalton Castle defeats Josh Woods – 10:21
Jay Briscoe defeats EC3 – Grudge Match – 21:02
Bandido defeats Rey Horus and Flamita – 10:49
Jonathan Gresham (c) defeats Dak Draper – Pure Championship Match – 20:29
Tracy Williams and Rhett Titus defeat Kenny King and Bestia Del Ring (c) – 09:45 – New Champions.
Rush (c) defeats Jay Lethal – ROH World Championship Match – 18:30

ROH TV Results

Mike Bennett defeats The Bruiser by DQ
Pure Gauntlet Match
- Will Ferrara defeats Dante Caballero – 5:56.
- World Famous CB defeats Will Ferrara – 04:15
- World Famous CB defeats Eric Martin – 06:03
- Wheeler Yuta defeats World Famous CB – 03:08
- Fred Yehi defeats Wheel Yuta to win the Gauntlet – 06:24

NWA

NWA Powerr Results – 3/30

Slice Boogie defeats Jeremiah Plunkett – 04:44
Tyrus defeats Matthew Mims – 03:53
Thunder Rosa and Alex Gracia defeat Skyle Blue and Jennacide by DQ – 06:48
Chris Adonis defeats Trevor Murdoch – 04:43 – Adonis is the new NWA National Champion

Coastal Championship Wrestling (South Florida)

CCW’s Bash at the Brew 3 takes place on April 3 at Unbranded Brewery in Hialeah, FL.
- Minutes To Bell Time broke the news that Marina Tucker will defend the CCW Women’s Championship against Christi Jaynes on this show.
CCW announced Bulldog Unleashed for April 24th in Port Saint Lucie. Davey Boy Smith Jr. will make his debut at the show.

Ignite Wrestling (Vero Beach, Florida)

Ignite previously announced their “Fierce” show will take place on May 15th at Walking Tree Brewery.
Leon the Terrible (Ignite Champion) will face “Mr. Everything” Victor Andrews
The show will also include a “Women’s Tag Team Tournament” to crown new champions.
Kelsey Raegan, Chelsea Durden, Dale Springs, and Storm Thomas have all been announced for the show