WWE: Raquel Rordirguez Suffered MCSA Flare Up at Elimination Chamber, Drew McIntyre Contract Update, John Cena, More on NXT Feb. 20, 2024 Viewership

Feb 24, 2024

Raquel Rodriguez Reveals She Competed at Elimination Chamber In Spite of MCSA Flare Up

As noted before, Raquel Rodriguez made her return to WWE at this past Monday’s RAW show following her absence since this past December due to her suffering from mast cell activation syndrome.

Rodriguez provided an update on Instagram stating that she competed at today’s WWE Elimination Chamber 2024 event in Perth, Australia despite dealing with a flare up of her mast cell activation syndrome illness.

“If you had told me that on the long flight to Perth Australia for the first time it was gonna blow my face up and turn me the same color as my pink satin pillow case (might have been the makeup on Monday too) I would have still jumped on that flight! Maybe my trip didn’t go as planned but I’m still learning this new body of mine. A big part of being a female Wrestler for WWE is getting to sit in that makeup chair with our amazing makeup team who I love so much and getting to get dolled up. It’s part of being a girl. It’s part of feeling fully the part. At the end of the night, I’m proud I went out there Alicia Keys style. Even if this trip didn’t go as planned I am still grateful that I was blessed to be in Elimination Chamber in Perth Australia with 5 other talented women! And I got to hug a koala bear so it was a win for me — thank you so much to the lovely Vanessa of @lymphaticmassageperth for seeing me last minute 3 times to help me feel my best for the chamber. Your grace, kindness and knowledge was a Godsend —-
Thank you to @westozwildlife for the hugs and animal love! A big thank you to the entire WWE medical team! And so much love to my family & friends for the late and early phone calls, prayers and constantly checking on me —- los amo! On to a long flight home —-
Hair @bfabulous1 @madeupbymegaen @vc_makeupartist”

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Drew McIntyre WWE Contract Status Update

As noted before, Drew McIntyre’s contract with WWE is currently expected to expire beyond this April’s WrestleMania 40 event. McIntyre’s contract was originally set to expire by the event but WWE officials had recently added injury and inactivity time to extend the expiration date to cover for time McIntyre was away from the company.

Dave Meltzer reported in this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter that his sources stated that McIntyre still has yet to sign a new deal with WWE. Meltzer reported that the current expectation is that McIntyre will eventually sign a new deal and stay in WWE based on his current big push and WWE’s long term plans for him once CM Punk returns from his injury.

John Cena Comments on Level of Creative Freedom He Had for His Character in WWE

A recent episode of the Howard Stern Show featured John Cena as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Cena’s thoughts about his transition into a Hollywood acting career and the level of creative freedom he had for his wrestling career in WWE.

“I think it was two-fold. One, my body was like, ‘You say you can do this forever. I’m going to give you another five years, max.’ That was me saying, ‘If I super take care of myself, I can stretch it to ten.’ For me, ten years is like, ‘I’m going to live forever.’ That’s a blink of an eye in WWE. You’re on the road so much, you blink, a decade goes by. I realized it’s something that I can’t do forever, combined with the fact that I didn’t have a lot of wild creative freedom in WWE. I had complete creative freedom over how I could curate my character, but I couldn’t turn bad. That limits what you’re capable of. Playing the same character over and over again for 15 years, every week, without an offseason, I still love it, and I still do, that’s why I go back. Then, someone gives you an opportunity like, ‘You want to be this weird, awkward, naked guy?’ ‘Fuck yeah, that sounds great, let’s do it.”

Cena also gave his thoughts about his workout routine and claimed that he has never taken PEDs in his life.

Howard Stern – “You always say you were all natural, which is unusual.”
John Cena – “Still.”
Stern – “Still all-natural?”
Cena – “Yeah, still. Still.”
Stern – “You didn’t want to put any of that shit in your body. Imagine how jacked you would have been and you didn’t want to use any of that stuff.”
Cena – “There’s risk-reward there. If you hit the gas pedal too early, you can get a lot of bad stuff happen long-term. I love to workout. I love to. It’s kind of like my meditation.”
Stern – “Did you ever have an agent or someone in the profession of wrestling who said, ‘You know what, if you jacked up on some juice….’ You did as well as can do in WWE. When you first started they probably said, ‘Listen, the bigger you are, the more noticed you’d be.'”
Cena – “Not really. I’ve been 225 pounds since I was 17 years old. I always filled out my frame okay. I started lifted when I was 13. I guess that’s why. I never needed it. I’m not ruling that out. There will come a time. Time is undefeated. I get my bloodwork done three times a year. My testosterone is fantastic.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com 1 & 2

More on NXT Viewership for February 20, 2024

The February 20th episode of WWE NXT saw NXT suffer a small decline in overall viewership but gained a small increase in key demographic rankings and a slight increase in key demographic ratings. This week’s show was notable for being a taped and not live show.

NXT drew 616,000 viewers and a 0.18 key demographic rating on USA Network. NXT’s key demographic ranking was 4th place.

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

Dave Meltzer reported that the main reasons for NXT’s mixed results this week was due to the declines from their Over 50 viewership group, which its percentage was not given. This reportedly mostly offset the gains from their key demographic viewership, which was up 8.2% compared to last week’s show.

In terms of notable head-to-head competition, the College basketball game of UCONN vs. Creighton drew 709,000 viewers on FS1, the College basketball game of Arkansas vs. Texas A&M drew 501,000 viewers on ESPN, the College basketball game of Baylor vs. BYU drew 570,000 viewers on ESPN, Vanderpump Rules drew 970,000 viewers on BRAVO, Watch What Happens Live drew 629,000 viewers on BRAVO, Moonshiners drew 780,000 viewers on Discovery Channel, Curse of Oak Island drew 2,482,000 viewers on History Channel, and Love & Hip Hop Atlanta drew 353,000 viewers on MTV.

In terms of key demographic viewership, NXT had 237,000 viewers. NXT’s Males 18-34 was 82,000 viewers, Females 18-34 was 25,000 viewers, Males 35-49 was 75,000 viewers, and Females 35-49 was 55,000 viewers. Meltzer reported that NXT’s male/female viewership split was 157,000 male viewers and 80,000 female viewers for a split of 66.2% in favor of males.

In terms of peak viewership, NXT’s peak overall viewership reportedly was at 648,000 viewers for the quarter hour featuring the Bron Breakker, Baron Corbin, Andre Chase, Duke Hudson, Axiom, Nathan Frazer & Ava promo segment. NXT peak key demographic viewership reportedly was at 252,000 viewers for their eighth quarter featuring the NXT Women’s Championship match of Shotzi vs. Lyra Valkyria (c). NXT’s overrun reportedly drew 627,000 overall viewers and 258,000 key demographic viewers.

In terms of yearly comparisons, NXT was up 4.6% in overall viewership and up 30.2% in key demographic viewership.