Sep 10, 2017 By Bill Hughes for The 5 min read

It was announced Monday night on Raw that WWE would be running the show live on both Christmas and New Year’s.

Unfortunately for the talent and their families, that is not a typo.

One of my friends who works for WWE reached out prior to the public announcement and told me of the move.

The talent will not publicly complain as it could affect their jobs, it did not stop a few wives of wrestlers from complaining on social media.

While companies ran shows on holidays frequently until the late-eighties, is there really a need for this?

The talent was told that WWE is too big now to be taped and aired at a later date.

I’m not buying that and neither should anyone else as ratings have been super low, and now that Monday Night Football is about to begin, Raw’s ratings will be even lower.

I told this friend that I was so frustrated for him, after all he has young kids, but his response will probably end up accurate.

When I said that I hope not one fan shows up, he simply said, “the show will probably sell out.”

He is more than likely right, but it still doesn’t make it right to make the talent work on Christmas.

Ratings are always low during the holidays whether the shows are live or pre-taped, so why not let the wrestlers spend the holidays with their families?

For the wrestlers with small kids, they only get so many times to see the reactions from their kids when Santa comes.

Now, it is one less time.

Graves expands role

Pittsburgh native Corey Graves, known on the local wrestling sense in the early 2000s as Sterling James Keenan, has been serving as a color commentator on Raw for over a year now.

This past week, he picked up Smackdown Live as he is replacing JBL.

A former WWE champion, JBL is stepping back to focus on his charities.

Pro wrestling class coming to local college

There is still time to register for a pro wrestling class being taught at CCAC’s North Campus for two weeks in October.

Tom Leturgey, a respected pro wrestling historian, will teach the class on Oct. 18 and 25.

The classes will be three hours each and begin at 6:30 p.m.

A reporter in Pittsburgh for more than 20 years, Leturgey currently serves as ring announcer for the Keystone State Wrestling Alliance (KSWA) and is also an editor for several pro wrestling websites.

Most notably, Leturgey has contributed to www.1wrestling.com, World of Wrestling online, the Pittsburgh Sporting News, and The Patch among other sites.

For more information on the class or to register, visit www.ccac.edu/community-education or call (412) 788-7507.

Tom, a longtime friend of mine, can be reached at tom.leturgey@gmail.com for more information.

Mae Young Classic big draw

WWE has to be extremely happy with how well the Mae Young Classic is doing on the WWE Network.

This past week, the eight episodes were the eight highest-rated watched episodes on the Network outdrawing NXT and 205 Live.

Does WWE have its next “draw” for its network special?

Maybe a tag tournament?

Time will tell.

Rousey en route to WWE

On the Red Carpet for the Mae Young Classic this Tuesday on Facebook at 6 p.m., look for a storyline to start between former UFC star Ronda Rousey and her group, known as the “Four Horsewomen,” and WWE’s “Four Horsewomen,” which consists of Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch and Bayley.

The word is that the four-on-four match will take place at Survivor Series in November.

Then, Rousey is rumored to be facing either Charlotte Flair or Stephanie McMahon at WrestleMania.

On this date…

In 1980, Harley Race won his fifth NWA world title by defeating Giant Baba in Ohtsu, Japan, to end Baba’s third, and final, NWA championship reign.

Baba’s third reign lasted five days, and his three reigns only lasted a combined 19 days.

Race is considered one of the toughest competitors in wrestling history, and the NWA sent him to Japan to make sure business was done right whereas other wrestlers were not tough enough not make sure things were taken care of.

This week’s question: Who is, or was, more dominant in their prime: The Big Show or Braun Strowman? Donnie Tylka.

This is a tough one to answer because Strowman is nowhere near his prime.

If Strowman can be, in the future, what Show was in his prime for WWE, then the company will have a major star on its hands.

But whereas Show was comedic at times, Stroman seems destined to be a monster for years to come and I don’t see them turning him into a joke like WWE did for stretches with Show.

Email questions/comments to Bill at powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to me @BillHughes_III