Welcome to the Daily Drop for Thursday, April 18, 2024. AEW brought a packed episode of Dynamite last night, the go-home episode before Dynasty, as they prepared for Swerve Strickland’s AEW World Title shot against Samoa Joe.
Before we get going, new details about Vince McMahon’s life after WWE were revealed. McMahon has stayed in contact with The Rock and John Cena during his retirement. He has also done a lot of traveling and bought cats.
Let’s get into today’s Daily Drop!
WWE:
– WrestleMania 41 Location: Nick Khan stated that WWE is looking at Las Vegas for WrestleMania 41′s host city. People in Minneapolis may not be thrilled about that.
– WWE Moving PLEs: The WWE CEO also stated that the company will continue promoting the big four premium live events in the United States, but the plan is to shop all other PLEs, around seven a year, to markets outside America. So, overseas premium live events may become a very common thing from this point on.
– Piper Inspires: Piper Niven has spoken about how she wants to be a role model and inspiration for bigger girls.
– Drew McIntyre Gets Heat: McIntyre had a lot of fun trolling CM Punk, and the fans, in Birmingham.
Whole arena just chanted CM Punk at Drew McIntyre, so he grabbed a mic and said:
“Even if he was healthy, which is never, he’d never make the trip to the UK”
— WrestlePurists (@WrestlePurists) April 17, 2024
– Drew Was On Fire: During that same match in Birmingham, McIntyre grabbed the microphone a second time. Drew McIntyre interrupted his match to demand respect, noting he’s a Great British Hero and unlike Wade Barrett and British Bulldog, he has won a world title.
Drew McIntyre just grabbed the mic again mid-match and said the crowd should be showing him, a Great British Hero, some respect because Wade Barrett, British Bulldog and all the others never won a world title like he did lol#WWEBirmingham
— WrestlePurists (@WrestlePurists) April 17, 2024
– Roman’s Acting Career: Roman Reigns will be in a new movie called ‘Good Fortune’ With Keanu Reeves, Keke Palmer.
– Erick Redbeard Situation: After pulling out of an indie wrestling event, it is the general belief that the former Erick Rowan is on his way back to WWE. The idea is that he may be a part of Bo Dallas’ rumored Uncle Howdy stable. Stay tuned…
Solve the QR Code message and this is what it leads to. #WWERAW #UncleHowdy pic.twitter.com/VgOyRT30Ux
— ?????? (@WrestlingCovers) April 16, 2024
– WWE NXT Viewership: The April 16 episode of NXT drew 625,000 viewers, slightly down from 647,000 on April 9. The April 9 episode’s 18-49 demographic rating was 0.17, a slight decrease from 0.19. NXT faced competition from an NBA Play-In Tournament game between the Lakers and Pelicans, which attracted 1.9 million viewers and a 1.46 rating on TNT.
AEW:
– Nyla Rose Ban: The state of Oklahoma has declared that Nyla Rose is not allowed to wrestle cis-gendered females anymore. This controversy sparked a huge response, and the Native Beast responded to her supporters on Twitter/X during AEW Dynamite.
Hey… ummmm i’m busy at work right now, but I just wanted to let you all know I see the love, and I feel the love and I appreciate all of you… except of course serpentico. #AEWDynamite is on right now. Please watch it.??
— Nyla The Rizzanator? (@NylaRoseBeast) April 18, 2024
– WWE to AEW: Longtime WWE Spanish language commentator Carlos Cabrera has signed with AEW. He started on Dynamite this week.
– Ruby Pregnant: Ruby Soho announced during the AEW Rampage taping this week that she is pregnant. This doesn’t seem to a storyline.
– Forbidden Door Plans: Bodyslam.net reported that AEW is planning to have Joshi star AZM back for Forbidden Door.
– Goodbye Bay-Bay: Adam Cole is off the road with AEW. The travel was getting in the way of his recovery progress, so he’s taking time off to focus on his ankle injury. That is terrible news for The Devil storyline.
Upcoming Major Pro Wrestling Pay-Per-View Events:
- AEW is coming to St. Louis, MO with AEW: Dynasty LIVE on PPV on Sunday, April 21st at Chaifetz Arena
- Backlash France is scheduled for May 4th at LDLC Arena in Décines-Charpieu, France.
- WWE NXT Battleground is booked for May 26th at Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia, exclusively available on the WWE Network and Peacock.
- WWE Money in the Bank will be held on July 6th at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, followed by WWE NXT Heatwave on July 7th at the same venue.
- WWE Bash In Berlin is marked for August 31st at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany.