On the latest episode of Jim Ross’ podcast “Grillin’ JR,” he acknowledges that AEW founder and president Tony Khan saved his life by hiring for AEW while he was going through a rough time. For those unaware Ross’ wife, Jan tragically died after suffering serious head injuries in a road accident in 2017. Ross said on the episode:

“At this stage in my life where you’re an empty nester, and you lost your best friend, she’s no longer there I need to stay busy.”

“I love to travel. Tony Khan saved my life, I believe that. Because I like getting up now and going somewhere. Every Tuesday morning I’m up at 4 or 5 o’clock at the latest to catch a plane, first flight out, boom I’m going to the city to have our production meeting on Tuesday night and then our show on Wednesday. So I got a direction now and a destination.”

WWE really let him down by putting him out to pasture. It’s great he now has AEW and his podcast to focus on and keep himself occupied.

When details started to come out about the delayed flight from Saudi Arabia the Twittersphere was going crazy, especially when it came out that Vince McMahon had got on his private plane and left the wrestlers seemingly stranded behind.

Corey Graves on his “After The Bell” podcast would defend McMahon leaving, explaining that Vince McMahon leaves every city as soon as possible, so being in Saudi Arabia made no difference.

“What really got to me was when the rumors started coming out. The first one being Mr. McMahon — that Vince left everybody in Saudi Arabia. That’s not true and I’m gonna tell you why. If you work here you know that every week no matter where on the planet we are as soon as the final bell rings, as soon as it is made sure that all of the talent is okay — whoever’s in the last match — Vince gets on his jet and the guy goes home or to the next city because he’s busy running WWE.”

“So it might be a sexy headline — Oh Vince left everybody — everybody was stuck except for Vince and Brock and whoever else had private chartered flights. When you’re Brock Lesnar you get certain perks. When you’re Tyson Fury and you’re the biggest star on earth you get your own jet. When you’re Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair — you’ve earned that, okay? So it wasn’t like he said to hell with the talent, to hell with the crew. Vince did exactly as he has done every week without fail.”

“I’ve been lucky enough to be on the jet with him sometimes. That’s how business is done. It wasn’t a ‘gotta get the hell out of the country, there’s something crazy going on. It was exactly how it works. So I hate to break it to you guys. I hate to put a damper on your party, but that’s how things operate every week and this was no different.”

Last week both shows were hit by Game 7 of the World Series, so increases were expected, but Dynamite didn’t bounce back as much as AEW would have hoped.

AEW Dynamite increased from 759,000 average viewers to 822,000 average viewers last night. NXT increased from 580,000 viewers to 813,000.

AEW Dynamite featured Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara beating Kenny Omega and Hangman Page.

NXT was built around The O.C. invading, leading to the main event of AJ Styles, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows vs. Tommaso Ciampa, Matt Riddle and Keith Lee. It ended in a no contest.

So while AEW Dynamite’s is now 6-0 in the Wednesday Night Wars, the gap has decreased to now only 9,000 viewers. You can see the difference in viewership week by week below.

Week 1 – 518k
Week 2 – 350k
Week 3 – 318k
Week 4 – 265k
Week 5 – 179k
Week 6 – 9k

If things continue like this then NXT will get their first win next week, although AEW Dynamite has the advantage of coming off the Full Gear PPV.

Over the weekend Ringside Collectibles, the best known online retailer for wrestling figure collectibles held it’s annual Ringside Fest event. It is for fans to see the latest and prototype action figures and meet wrestlers and get autographs.

The big talking point was the first-ever The Fiend action figure which is still in the development stage being shown off.

The attention to detail is incredible, especially on the hair and mask. The only thing that could make it better would be a Rambling Rabbit accessory.

No release date has been announced, but hopefully, Mattel is manufacturing plenty because this is going to be a huge seller.

Joey Ryan rejoined IMPACT last month, participating in the Bound for Gold gauntlet match at Bound for Glory. He would then appear at their AXS TV tapings starting a feud with MMA legend Ken Shamrock.

The pair’s first match aired last night with Shamrock winning by submission, but surprisingly Ken Shamrock took one of the most contentious moves in all of wrestling during it, the Dick Flip. IMPACT share this moment on their Twitter account.

The World's Most Dangerous Dong just FLIPPED @ShamrockKen! #IMPACTonAXSTV @JoeyRyanOnline pic.twitter.com/SbydcQBKAm

— IMPACT (@IMPACTWRESTLING) November 6, 2019

Shamrock has now joined the list of renowned wrestlers to have taken the move that includes Mick Foley, Cody Rhodes, and Billy Gunn.

Despite Vince McMahon originally being reluctant to sign Randy Orton in 2001, he will end up spending at least 23-years with WWE by the time his newly signed contract expires.

Orton had been teasing going to AEW recently by posting a photo on Instagram that he tagged Cody Rhodes and Chris Jericho in, plus mentioning on a Twitch stream that he thought AEW was cool and he wanted to wrestle Sammy Guevara. That appears to have just been Orton teasing fans, or possibly getting leverage in contract negotiations with WWE.

The below Tweet confirms Orton’s deal.

The 3 most dangerous letters in sports entertainment- #RKO
just re-signed with the 3 most dominant letters in sports entertainment- #WWE
Looking forward to pi$$ing off the #WWEUNIVERSE for at least 5 more years #WWEBACKSTAGE @FS1 @WWE

— Randy Orton (@RandyOrton) November 6, 2019

Orton originally started in WWE’s developmental system which was part of Ohio Valley Wrestling before going on to become the youngest World Heavyweight Champion at the age of 24. He has since become a 13-time world champion, 2-time tag team champion, the Intercontinental champion, the U.S. champion, two time Royal Rumble winner, and Money In The Bank winner.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that following all the rumor and speculation about issues with WWE’s deal with Saudia Arabia there was a talent meeting with Vince McMahon before last night’s Raw.

Meltzer would report that Seth Rollins gave the lockerroom a rah-rah speech and told them to keep some things off of social media to avoid the kind of speculation that has been on running rampant all weekend.

Seth Rollins would later post on Twitter calling this report into doubt, indicating he didn’t make such a speech.

Meltzer would comment on the tweet during his post-Raw Wrestling Observer Radio show. You can listen below to the excerpt.

Meltzer addresses the Seth Rollins "rahrah" speech and his tweet at Dave. https://t.co/axRAk92z75 pic.twitter.com/CliMhUB6cS

— Meltzer Said What? (@MeltzerSaidWhat) November 5, 2019

This past Saturday night, The Rock was in attendance (as was Donald Trump) at Madison Square Garden for UFC 244. He was there to present the “Baddest MotherFucker” belt to the winner of Nate Diaz vs. Jorge Masvidal.

The BMF name came from Diaz after his win over Anthony Pettis when he suggested a match between Masvidal and himself should be for the “Baddest MotherFucker” title. The idea caught on and UFC President Dana White had it made, featuring “BMF” on the center plate, on 500 on one side to represent the show being the 500th in UFC history, and on the other 244 for the event’s number.

You can watch the Rock wrap the belt around Masvidal’s waist below as he was victorious in controversial style. The doctor had ended the fight between rounds three and four due to an eye cut.

The general conscious was the fight wouldn’t have been stopped if it wasn’t being held in New York and fans and fans booed and chanted “bullshit,” so a rematch is inevitable.

Following on from her fiancé Seth Rollins toping the male “PWI 500”, Becky Lynch has topped the women’s equivalent the “PWI Women’s 100” by Pro Wrestling Illustrated magazine. She has had a fantastic year including winning the main event of WrestleMania so for a kayfabe list, it was to be expected.

WIJ reader Robert Miqueli sent us the the top ten which was 1. Becky Lynch, 2. Charlotte Flair, 3. Ronda Rousey, 4 Shayna Baszler, 5 Tessa Blanchard, 6 Bayley, 7 Natalya, 8 Io Shirai, 9 Mercedes Martinez, 10 Nicole Savoy. To get the full list you’ll need to visit PWI-Online.com and order a print or digital copy.

Embarrassingly though for PWI they forgot to include Kairi Sane in the list. PWI did though own this mistake and acknowledged on Twitter she should have been #16. Kairi Sane thankfully didn’t seem too upset.

Don't worry about it🙆🏻‍♀️

— Kairi Sane (@KAIRI_official) November 2, 2019

This does mean that independent Kris Statlander who came in at #100 would lose her spot on the list as everyone’s position is adjusted downward.

Last week SmackDown recorded its lowest viewership ever with an average of 888,000 viewers. Despite the show having moved for one-week only to FS1 due to the World Series, it was a total disaster of a number and caught everyone off-guard.

Thanks to returning to FOX and increased interest in the show due to many of the rosters being delayed in Saudi Arabia, the show had an average of 2.543 million viewers.

The show featured Brock Lesnar quitting SmackDown so he could move to Raw and get revenge on Rey Mysterio for his chairshot attack at Crown Jewel.

Also, NXT talent such as Adam Cole, Shayna Baszler, Tommaso Ciampa, Matt Riddle, Keith Lee, and Matt Riddle would appear on the show, with Cole defending the NXT Championship against Daniel Bryan in the main event.

We posted last night that WWE was facing a race against time to get to New York for Friday night SmackDown, and it seems the worst has happened.

The wrestlers and production crew were boarded on the plane and waiting to depart when told for an unknown reason, the flight couldn’t leave.

Vince McMahon had already left on his private jet but was able to arrange another flight but only for 12 people. Presumably, they are the main stars needed for SmackDown and should arrive with a few hours to spare. Brock Lesnar was also able to depart Saudi Arabia on his own private plane.

Previously advertised for the show has been Reigns vs. Corbin, The Revival vs. New, a 6 woman tag match, and Miz TV with Bray Wyatt. With the majority of the female wrestlers, and Miz not traveling to Saudia Arabia, it is likely Reigns, Corbin, Dawson, Wilder, Big E, Kingston, and Wyatt are amongst the 12.

There is no danger of SmackDown being canceled because along with the wrestlers traveling back, Daniel Bryan, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, The Miz, and the majority of the women’s roster will be available.

WWE will likely be reviewing their scheduling of international shows going forward, and I’m sure Vince McMahon is re-writing the show for the umpteenth time.

Have some sympathy for WWE’s wrestlers and production crew who are currently flying from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Buffalo, New York, where Friday Night Smackdown is being held.

Depending on who you ask, and the weather conditions, the 6621-mile flight will take between 14 and 19 hours. WWE has chartered a private plane, but nevertheless, it is an arduous travel schedule.

Corey Graves mentioned this on his “After The Bell” podcast, saying:

Saying it’s a little bit daunting would be an understatement. We travel like nobody else on the planet, but I’m excited for it just to be able to tell the tale. I’ve told a few people what the schedule looks like already, people outside the business, and they go, “Oh my God, that’s insane.”