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WWE’s two week battle with TNA Wrestling and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is over and Monday Night RAW held strong in the cable ratings. RAW went head-to-head on consecutive weeks with special programming on SpikeTV.

Last week (1/4), Bret Hart’s reutrn to WWE RAW helped RAW earn a 3.6 cable rating against TNA’s 1.5 (1.3 for the final 2 hours that challenged RAW).

On Monday (1/11), WWE RAW featuring the return of Mike Tyson saw increased viewership from the previous week, doing a 3.7 rating with 5.5 million viewers. “UFC Fight Night 20” on Spike TV earned a 1.2 rating with an average of 1.7 million viewers.The show peaked with 2 million viewers for the Gray Maynard vs. Nate Diaz main event.

In the end, it looks like good news for all parties involved. WWE RAW did above-average viewership both weeks – while at the same time, TNA and UFC both drew healthy audiences.

** Vince McMaon’s Reaction To JEFF HARDY Joining TNA (Hint: He’s Pissed)

— A post-mortem has confirmed that former WWE performer Tony Halme (a/k/a Ludvig Borga) took his own life via pistol.

Police discovered his body on Jan. 10 in his Helsinki, Finland, apartment. (source: The Post and Courier)

— One week from today, TrishStratus.com will be holding a video drawing where one lucky winner will have the chance to own a vintage worn Trish Stratus outfit from her “closet of costume”. The item will also be personally signed by the multi-time WWE Women’s Champion.

To enter, simply donate a minimum of $10 to Carmelina’s Home, a holistic program in the treatment and recovery of addictions, substance abuse and/or emotional issues for women. Your name will then be automatically added into the drawing. You can increase your chances of winning by raising your donation amount.

The winner of the raffle will have the option of choosing one of four worn Trish Stratus outfits, including the purple costume she wore when she won the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania XIX in Seattle.

— Similarly, former WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia is auctioning off the dress she wore at WrestleMania 21, which saw her open the show with her rendition of “America the Beautiful.” You can view the auction at the following link.

Check out video of Mickie James singing ->

Image: AEW

Despite coverage of Joe Biden’s presidential Inauguration dominating the cable news charts, AEW Dynamite and WWE NXT ratings both rebounded this week.

Wednesday’s Dynamite averaged 854,000 viewers on TNT. That’s up 12.1 percent from last week. NXT averaged 659,000 viewers on the USA Network, an increase of 19.6 percent over last week. 

The combined Wednesday wrestling audience was 1.513 million viewers, the highest its been in three weeks. It’s also slightly above the 10-week average. 

In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite was 33rd on cable with a 0.36 rating. Dynamite ranked third on cable in the demo among non-news programming. The rating was up 20 percent from last week.

NXT drew a 0.15 rating in the 18-49 demo, up 7.1 percent from last week. NXT finished 67th on the cable charts and was 17th among non-news shows. 

Dynamite’s best category was in men 18-49, where the show drew a 0.49 rating. That trailed only an NBA game on ESPN among non-news shows on cable. 

Year-over-year, Dynamite was up 2.9 percent in the 18-49 demo but down 2 percent in total viewers. NXT was down 14.3 percent in viewership year-over-year and down 37.5 percent in the demo. 

Here’s a look at the last 10 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for both Dynamite and NXT:

Royal Rumble Winner Edge Headed to Melbourne for Meet and Greet at FCW Wrestling

Melbourne, Fl – February 2, 2010

Florida Championship Wrestling makes its Melbourne debut Friday February 12, 2010 when the ‘Broken Hearts Tour’ hits the Melbourne Auditorium.

The highlight of the show will be a rare meet and greet autograph session with WWE Superstar EDGE from 5:30 – 8:30 pm. The Rated-R Superstar from Smackdown is coming off his impressive win at the Royal Rumble this past Sunday on PPV and is headed to Wrestlemania XXVI for a Heavyweight Title Match.

“As president of FCW Wrestling it is an honor to have Edge, the winner of the Royal Rumble at our live event in Melbourne, Fl,” says Steve Keirn. “Also knowing that he is going to be the main event in Wrestlemania XXVI makes it that much more special. This is definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity for Wrestling fans in Melbourne to get up close to one of the biggest Superstars in WWE history,” added Keirn.

The action packed wrestling card will feature a Florida Heavyweight Title Match, a Florida Tag Team Title match, the FCW Divas in action and much more. Scheduled to appear are Superstars from FCW, RAW, Smackdown and ECW.

Doors open at 5:30pm with bell time at 7:30pm. Tickets in advance, are $10 for Kids and $20 for Adults. A limited number of Gold Circle Ringside tickets are available for $30 and include, reserved ringside seat in rows 1-3, VIP reception with WWE Superstar EDGE and a free personalized picture. The VIP reception in the Gold Room runs from 5:30 – 6:30 pm. Tickets are now available online at www.fcwwrestling.com and will also be available at Buddy’s Home Furnishings in West Melbourne 3034 New Haven Ave (321) 369-9000, in Cocoa at 801 Dixon Blvd. (321) 635-1960, and Titusville at 710 Cheney Ave. (321) 383-2492.

The first 500 fans receive a free pack of FCW trading cards,

FCW is the only Official Developmental territory of World Wrestling Entertainment.

TELEVISION: Florida Championship Wrestling airs every Sunday on Brighthouse channel 47 from 6-7 p.m.

ABOUT FCW: For nearly half a century, Florida Championship Wrestling has been the Sunshine State’s primary wrestling promotion. Now officially sanctioned and recently reorganized by WWE, FCW has also become the training ground for future WWE Superstars.

Under the tutelage and leadership of Florida wrestling legend Steve Keirn, FCW’s goal for the fans is simple: To give them a glimpse at the potential Superstars of tomorrow, while providing exciting ring action that leaves the entire family with smiles on their faces.

The key objective within Florida Championship Wrestling is to train the next generation of WWE Superstars. FCW takes enormous pride in its live events all over the southeast, and in promoting tryouts at the organization’s Tampa location to showcase young men and women interested in a career as a sports-entertainer.

Current WWE Superstars that have come from the FCW include WWE Champion Sheamus, Inter Continental Champion Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger, Dolph Ziggler, Kofi Kingston Ted DiBiase, Primo Colon, DH Smith, Tyson Kidd, Ezekiel Jackson, The Bella Twins Gabriel, Evan Bourne, Tiffany, Tyler Reks, Abraham Washington, Alicia Fox, Eric Escobar, Vance Archer, Trent Berretta, Caylen Croft, Savannah, Courtney Taylor, Rosa Mendes, Yoshi-Tatsu and many more

EDGE STATS:
Height: 6 foot 5
Weight: 250 pounds
From: Toronto
Signature Move: Spear
Career Highlights: 2010 Royal Rumble Winner, WWE Champion; World Heavyweight Champion; World Tag Team Champion; WWE Tag Team Champion; Intercontinental Champion; WCW U.S. Champion; 2001 King of the Ring; winner of the first-ever Money in the Bank Ladder Match

See photo of Chris Jericho’s black eye ->

source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

— Regarding the future of ECW talent stemming from WWE’s decision to pull the entire roster from Tuesday nights in support of the new NXT series, the feeling is that most of the wrestlers will find its way onto other brands rather than be released. As the storyline goes, ECW talent will become “free agents” once NXT debuts and can choose to join either Raw or SmackDown.

While roster changes have not yet been finalized, the plan at last word was to keep key partnerships such as Zack Ryder & Rosa Mendes and William Regal & Ezekiel Jackson together when sending them to Raw or SmackDown.

At least in the short-term, most of the ECW talent will be used on WWE Superstars rather than Raw or Smackdown.

— WWE The Music: A New Day sold 5,988 units in its first week of release, reaching No. 94 on Billboard. However, it should be noted that WWE’s latest compilation album was primarily pushed for downloading on Amazon.com rather than CD purchase.

— Last week’s episode of WWE Superstars drew a 0.97 cable rating with 1.05 million viewers, setting the show’s all-time audience record.

See photos of one of NXT’s big stars ->

I’ll cover the PPV with a link to my preview at the end of this column. Also some thoughts on the people released during “spring cleaning” at the end as well. Since one of them was a favorite of mine it’s been tough to deal with, so to be honest this recap might not be my best work. It’s been a rough couple of days. And no, I’m not talking about Funaki. Or Mike Knox. Or Slam Master J.

Taped from Uncasville, Connecticut let’s talk some smack…

Jack Swagger cut a promo. I liked his other promos a lot better than this one. This felt like the Ultimate Warrior circa 1989 or something. It was just weird. It’s like he knew what he had to say, but it didn’t seem to come out the right way. That’s why I hate scripted promos. It doesn’t sound like him. It sounds like a writer.

John Morrison d. Jack Swagger (**1/2)
How do you build up your World Champion going into his first PPV title defense? By having him lose clean on free TV for two consecutive shows. Yeah! Nice booking. I’m glad that they got 12 minutes, they worked hard and it was a competitive match. However, losing clean to somebody that’s not even on the PPV where the champion is in the second biggest match is pretty lame. I like Morrison. I’m all for a push for him. The problem is this will be forgotten by Monday, so what was the point of it? Also, I still don’t like the Starship Pain as a finisher. What did he hit Swagger with to keep him down? His wrist? He nearly missed him entirely. It should be a setup move for something, but not a finish. I’m picking Orton on Sunday, but this is WWE where they book people to lose a lot before winning a big match. It’s “booking logic” apparently.

CM Punk talked with Teddy Long. He was bitching about his hair being cut on Raw. Long set up a tag match between Rey & Kane (remember that awful feud) against Punk & Gallows.

Drew McIntyre & Dolph Ziggler d. R-Truth & Matt Hardy (*1/2)
The story was that Hardy was still concussed from over the last couple of weeks. On Raw he lost after being pulled off the middle rope and hitting his head. In this match, McIntyre took a cheap shot on Hardy, stomped on his head out on the steel steps and that led to the end of the match. They kept beating on Matt until the ref threw the match out because he had the wide eyes. After it ended Drew told him this is the last time he wanted to see him. Maybe Matt will get future endeavored. Probably not. I guess the feud continues.

Chris Jericho came out with NXT rookie Wade “I don’t put my arms in the sleeves of my jacket” Barrett to cut a promo in the cage. Chris really tried hard to put the violence of the cage over, but the problem is with no blood it’s hard for anybody to believe that. Edge came out, he talked about how even though his foot is hurt (he sells injuries unlike Cena) he’s able to work through the pain because of all the injuries he’s had in his life. Jericho hasn’t had the injuries, so he’s less capable of working through pain. I guess that’s a way to say it. Edge attacked, Jericho bailed, left Barrett alone and Edge gently pushed his head into the cage PG style while finishing him off with a spear. Edge wins at the PPV. For sure.

We got the MacGruber trailer. Looks as painful as Raw was.

JTG d. Mike Knox (1/2*)
Shad was on commentary. He wears suits now. I love how whenever somebody turns heel they wear a suit as if to say wearing a suit is EVIL~! JTG won with his neckbreaker thing that doesn’t look good on a guy like Knox since it was tough for him to sell it believably. Knox got fired after this. Post match, Shad attacked JTG with a strap to promote their strap match at the PPV.

Extreme Rules preview. Mine is up here.

Michelle & Layla d. Beth & Mickie (*)
Last match for Mickie James-Canton. Man, it’s painful writing that. They worked over Beth, she gave a hot tag to Mickie and she lost to Layla of all people. Then she got tossed aside. At least commentary didn’t bury her. I like Layla just fine, but if you watch the Thesz Press Mickie delivered Layla didn’t even take the move well. But hey, she doesn’t have a CD coming out that the company itself promoted on its own website, so she keeps her job. Having a good match is irrelevant. It should be noted that during the match it apparently took Layla a couple of minutes to get the ironing board out. That got edited out. Post match, the heels put lipstick on Beth’s face. What a bunch of meanies. Did they take her lunch money too?

Man, seeing Kane and Rey talk strategy before their match was an unintentionally hilarious sight.

CM Punk & Luke Gallows d. Rey Mysterio & Kane (**)
Punk had the chair out saying he was going to save somebody tonight. Match got about ten minutes. Of course that didn’t happen. Typical booking with Rey getting beat up, hot tag to Kane, they got the momentum and Rey hit a nice splash off Kane’s shoulders. That got broken up, so Kane fought Gallows (the former fake Kane by the way) through the crowd while Rey and Mysterio went at it. They had a good counter sequence that ended with Punk scoring the pinfall by sitting down during a hurricanrana attempt. Nice win for Punk. Post match, Rey went to give him the 619, Punk bailed and Rey threatened to shave his head. Serena saved Punk from that happening. They ended the show with Rey The Barber Beefcake threatening Punk with the dreaded razor.

In my preview I picked Punk to win at the PPV, but I’m not sure about it now. It seems like a Rey win is likely with Punk having his head shaved to end that feud. I think Rey stays on SD while Punk/Gallows/Serena get drafted to Raw.

Three Stars of the Show
1. CM Punk
2. John Morrison
3. Drew McIntyre

7 out of 10
Last week: 8

The opener and the last match were good. The Jericho/Edge promo was okay, but not epic or anything. This was the last show for this Smackdown brand that provided us with a lot of good stuff in the last twelve months. I’ll definitely miss watching this group. After Monday it’ll get changed. Who knows what we’ll get on SD going forward?

————

I wrote a preview of Extreme Rules along with my buddy Dave exclusively for my blog on Friday. We did it in a conversational style, so it’s a quick read that covers everything fairly well. Plus, I make fun of him for watching that Batista movie. Good times.

Regarding the releases, obviously I’m very shocked that Mickie James got released. I got asked to write something about her from my friends at diva-dirt.com, so I did that for them. You can read that here. I really don’t have more to add than what I said there. I’m not happy about what happened to her. She will bounce back. And to those that hate when I talk about her I guess you’ll be happy now. Congrats on that.

As for the others, it seems as though WWE never really wanted to push Shelton Benjamin that hard for whatever reason. They certainly tried. It just didn’t seem like it was going to happen. With his contract up soon it made sense to release him. I think he’ll be in TNA for sure. The rest of the people that got released were barely used. It makes sense to see them go.

Lastly, I’m not going to be writing up live Extreme Rules thoughts at thejohnreport.net although my buddy Andrew Johnson is. I have plans for Sunday night and I wasn’t going to be home for the PPV anyway. I plan on writing the Raw Deal live this Monday for the 3 hour Draft. Bookmark the site if you haven’t already and check it out.

Thanks for reading. Have a great weekend.

John Canton – [email protected]
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