Below are a couple of top AEW & WWE news stories of the day, featuring Mark Henry and The Rock.
• WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry recently left AEW. During an interview with Teddy Long and Mac Davis on Road Trip After Hours, Henry talked about what All Elite Wrestling needs to fix.
Here’s what the World’s Strongest Man said:
“In some capacity, the newer companies have people that don’t want to be overshadowed by people that came in and that’s just backwards thinking. Hopefully, they’ll get that rectified, but that starts at the top. If they don’t get it together, I feel like they’re not going to do as good as they can.
I wish them well. I don’t want them to go away because it will hurt the boys. I want the boys to have leverage, so I pray for AEW’s success for the simple fact that I want all these guys to realize that we’re all working for each other and the companies are just who pays us.
Your loyalty should be to the person that life is in your hand, so every step I take in the ring, that’s who I work for. I work for the guy. That mentality needs to come back.”
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• WWE is planning a major expansion for the RAW brand through a new partnership with Netflix in 2025, which is expected to bring in significant revenue and include uncensored programming.
John Cena has confirmed his involvement, announcing it during Money In The Bank in Toronto along with his surprise retirement.
According to the Wrestling Observer, The Rock is also expected to be part of the launch, with reports suggesting he may be involved for the first few months of the deal. So expect The Final Boss to return to WWE programming in January. The first episode of RAW on Netflix will be on January 6, 2025.
During the TKO earnings call, TKO President Mark Shapiro talked about how the deal with Netflix will benefit WWE:
“Don’t underestimate the Netflix play. In the sense that, the Netflix deal for WWE is all about discovery. New audiences, new viewership, casual viewers. You’re going to go to that front page and WWE is going to be right there being promoted and marketed. That’s a whole new audience for us.
The folks who are already fans of WWE, they will follow. It will be an appointment. Netflix will serve to be a real discovery platform with us. Specifically, that will help us when it comes to site fees and sponsorship.”
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