Wrestling Roundup: January 17, 2020

The Wrestling Roundup is here to bring you all the news and rumors you need to know in one place.

NXT UK Results

The fallout from NXT UK TakeOver Blackpool II and the build for Worlds Collide combined in this week’s NXT UK episode. Will any NXT stars show up for the build? Full results from this week’s show below:

• Joseph Connors def. A-Kid
• Dave Mastiff def. Kassius Ohno

While the show only had two matches, it did have some announcements for future Worlds Collide matches. Angel Garza is going to defend the NXT Cruiserweight Championship against three others. Isaiah “Swerve” Scott is the first, and two NXT UK matches will name the other two: Jordan Devlin vs Ligero, and Travis Banks vs Brian Kendrick

Taz Joins AEW Commentary Team

“The Human Suplex Machine” is joining the AEW announce desk. Taz will be joining AEW, as announced by AEW on their Twitter (h/t WrestlingInc). He had made a few appearances on the AEW commentary desk before, and now appears to be a permanent fixture. Whether he is replacing someone in the current booth remains to be seen, but he could be a fixture on AEW Dark.

Yesterday #AEWDynamite was extended to 2023 by @tntdrama and Today we are happy to announce that @OfficialTAZ has signed a multiple year agreement with #AEW pic.twitter.com/dX99wxdfvR

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) January 16, 2020

AEW Dark Coming to TNT

Yesterday we talked about AEW’s extension on TNT. More news is coming out now about the deal, and AEW Dark will move to TNT from Youtube (h/t WrestlingInc). Turner President Kevin Reilly talked about changing the format of AEW Dark a bit:

“We’re going to embellish [AEW Dark] and put some additional material, kind of behind the scenes, kind of docu-follow stuff, if you will, about the athletes and the stories”

The report also mentioned that Dark will not air all 52 weeks, as it may be replaced by other TNT programming.

AEW vs NXT Numbers

Just because we know you’re curious:

AEW: 940,000
NXT: 700,000

— Bryan Alvarez (@bryanalvarez) January 16, 2020

One for the Road:

Tessa Blanchard has commented on her recent controversy and reports of her using a racial slur. In it, she denies using the slur. The full comment is below, and it is a statement that has not sat well with many wrestling fans. 

I hope everyone will take a moment to read this. pic.twitter.com/gRPUlCYd6a

— Tessa Blanchard (@Tess_Blanchard) January 17, 2020