WWE: Bayley on Wanting Mercedes Mone Back in WWE, Konnan, More on NXT June 27, 2023 Viewership

WWE

Jul 1, 2023

Bayley Comments on Wanting Mercedes Mone to Return to WWE in the Future

Gorilla Position held a recent interview with Bayley. One of the topics discussed included Bayley’s thoughts on her current desire for Mercedes Mone to return to WWE in the future.

“I beg her every day. I beg her every chance…you know what, it doesn’t matter where it is. It doesn’t matter how it happens. I would love to one day step back in the ring with her. Whether it’s teaming with her, whether it’s against her. But right now, I just want whatever happiness she needs to feel, whatever she needs to accomplish her dreams, accomplish her goals. I’m just happy to see her happy.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com

Konnan Comments on Talks with WWE for Future Appearances & Goal to Work with Dominik Mysterio

Inside The Ropes held a recent interview with Konnan. One of the topics discussed included Konnan’s thoughts on his recent talks with WWE for potential appearances in the future and his goal of wanting to work with Dominik Mysterio in the company.

“Oh, well, definitely. I think right now, the storyline would be you know — I have many ideas for this, just join the LWO because a lot of people don’t know this, because a lot of people don’t follow Lucha. But Fantasma (Santos Escobar, actually El Hijo del Fantasma) was a guy that I’ve known him since he was a little kid. And I remember his dad used to tell him, because he used to follow me a lot, and his dad would tell him, ‘if you eat all your spinach, you’ll get big like Konnan,’ you know, so that’s how long I’ve known him. And so he was in Arena Mexico, just kind of wallowing in mediocrity. They had him in the mid-card, they weren’t doing anything with him. And his dad called me up and he said, ‘Hey, man, can you help my son?’ And I did. I remember the first time he got to AAA, since CMLL doesn’t really do promos. I go, ‘I want you to cut a promo. And this is what I want you to do.’ And he was absolutely terrible. Then he got great to the point where he was my number one heel, you know, and we worked together because we were in the same — I was leading this this group called La Sociedad, ‘The Society’ and he was part of that group. And then I kind of gave him the mic, just like I did with LAX, you know, I’m very proud of Fantasma, what I’ve done with him..
Originally, and a lot of people don’t know this either. The leader of LWO was going to be me, but at around the same time I joined the Wolfpac. I remember telling them, bro, ‘you should use Eddy ’ you know, and Eddy exploded from there.”

Transcript h/t: Wrestling Observer Newsletter

More on NXT Week 194 Viewership – June 27, 2023

The June 27th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a very large drop in overall viewership and a large drop in key demographic ratings. This week’s show was notable for being the Gold Rush Week 2 special.

NXT drew 622,000 viewers and a 0.17 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking for that night was 2nd place.

Detailed viewership and key demographic breakdowns were not available in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Dave Meltzer reported that the main reasons for NXT’s declines this week was due to their large declines in all of their demographic viewership groups with Teenagers viewership down 28.6%, younger key demographic viewership down 23.5%, older key demographic viewership down 31.9%, and Over 50 viewership down 16.2% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of head-to-head competition, the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup game of Guatemala vs. Cuba drew 297,000 viewers on TUDN, the MLB game of Minnesota Twins vs. Atlanta Braves drew 351,000 viewers on TBS, the MLB simulcast games of New York Yankees vs. Oakland and Chicago White Sox vs. Los Angeles Angels drew 195,000 viewers on MLB Network, Love & Hip Hop Atlanta drew 432,000 viewers on MTV, Secret Skinwalker Ranch drew 1,689,000 viewers on History Channel, Deadliest Catch drew 805,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, and Chopped drew 482,000 viewers on Food Network.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 220,000 viewers. NXT’s Males 18-34 had 72,000 viewers, Females 18-34 had 22,000 viewers, Males 35-49 had 145,000 viewers, and Females 35-49 had 53,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that the male/female viewership split was 145,000 male viewers (down 31.9%) and 75,000 female viewers (down 19.6%) for a split of 65.9% in favor of males.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 9.1% in overall viewership and up 47.7% in key demographic viewership. Meltzer reported that NXT’s 18-34 viewership was up 160% compared to the same week last year.