WWE: Duke Hudson Confirms WWE Release, Viewership for WWE Royal Rumble 2025 on Netflix, Joe Hendry on Potential Future Match with John Cena & Backstage Talk with Cena

Feb 4, 2025

Duke Hudson Confirms His Release from WWE

As noted before, WWE had released NXT brand talent Duke Hudson from the company this past January.

Hudson provided an update earlier today on Twitter posting a video featuring him interviewing himself on a mock talk-show called “Wrestling with Identity.”

During the mock interview, Hudson confirmed that he had been released from WWE.

Duke Hudson in black clothing – “Welcome to Wrestling with Identity. Do we have a name for you, or us yet?”
Other Duke Hudson in white clothing – “I don’t know.”
Hudson – “Alright, well let’s get straight to the point. You’ve been fired, which might be breaking news to a lot of the people here. I don’t think I’ve seen anything online. You weren’t part of a group with a ‘budget cuts’, right, so this really was more of a ‘we hate you.’”
Other Hudson – “Yeah.”
Hudson – “That’s probably why you look so rough, but I’m pulling it off. Now that the cat’s out of the bag, how do you feel about wasting six years of your life in that building?”
Other Hudson – “I wouldn’t say it was a waste.”
Hudson – “Come on. Think of everything that happened in your time there. You and Bronnie [Bronson Reed], for example. You started at the same time, you came up in Australia together. Now he’s jumping off the top of cages at Survivor Series, and you’re being written off TV again. Rhea [Ripley], for example. She is a megastar. She grew up watching you wrestle in Australia. You love telling people that story. Well, they overtook you. Your time was wasted.”
Other Hudson – “I can be happy for my friends and be disappointed in my own shortcomings at the same time.”
Hudson – “Come on. You’re free now, you can say whatever you want to say. Don’t just stick to what you learn in media training. Tell me what you want to say.”
Other Hudson – “I don’t know.”
Hudson – “I’m not done with you. We’ll be right back.”

On to the next chapter. pic.twitter.com/NR2XbUJg1C
— Duke Hudson (@sixftfiiiiive) February 4, 2025

Viewership for WWE Royal Rumble 2025 on Netflix

Netflix announced that this past Saturday’s WWE Royal Rumble 2025 event drew around 2,100,000 total global viewers on their service for this past week.

It drew 9,600,000 total hours viewed globally.

The current viewership numbers for WWE’s event only covered the dates of February 1-2 for this past week’s tracking by Netflix.

It was ranked #9 on Netflix’s Top 10 Global English shows for the week.

In regards to specific breakdowns, Royal Rumble 2025 was ranked #7 in Canada and #2 in the United Kingdom for Netflix’s regional rankings. It did not rank in the United States due to the event aired on Peacock instead.

Source: Netflix

Joe Hendry on Potential Future Match with John Cena & His Backstage Talk with Cena at WWE Royal Rumble 2025

A recent episode of The Ariel Helwani Show featured current TNA World Champion Joe Hendry as the guest. One of the topics discussed included Hendry’s thoughts about a backstage conversation he had with John Cena during this past Saturday’s WWE Royal Rumble 2025 event.

“As soon as I won this championship, the next day, I’m calling out John Cena. The same way I believed I would be in the Royal Rumble, I believe that I will wrestle John Cena this year. There is no doubt. I had the opportunity to tell John Cena that. We had a one-on-one conversation.”

Hendry also gave his thoughts about how the conversation between him and Cena went.

“It was awesome. He is the greatest. Basically, what he did say is the fortune favors the gold. What he made clear is that, if I want that match to happen, it’s on my shoulders. I have to make it happen and I have to generate the interest to make it happen. It was almost like a challenge. Aside from that, he gave me some great advice. With all the chaos of the Rumble going on, John Cena sat down with me and had a long meaningful conversation where he could have used that time to think about what he was doing. Instead, he invested the time to talk to me. I think he may see something in me, but I have to prove myself. I have to put myself in a position where me vs. John Cena is one of the most compelling matchups in professional wrestling.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com