‘Enemies on day one’ – New WWE star sparks backstage anger with on air-decision as 8 million watch debut
Penta has finally landed in WWE and is proving a major hit despite ruffling a few feathers on his first night in the job. The luchador sensation debuted on Monday Night Raw on Netflix as the first new star arrival of the streaming era. Former AEW star Penta has already proved a hit in WWE His appearance has been highly anticipated for weeks, WWE airing teaser promos across the last few weeks of programming and even launching a sale of Penta merchandise in advance of his first showing on the red brand. Commentator Michael Cole hailed it as ‘the worst kept secret in the business’ as Penta finally arrived to answer Chad Gable’s challenge, emphatically seeing off the grappling great with his Penta Driver finishing move. The 39-year-old then took to the microphone during an emotional post-match interview in which he thanked his family and declared the Netflix era in WWE to actually be the ‘Penta New Era.’ His maiden WWE appearance has proved a smash hit on social media. By 10am on Tuesday and with Raw having been off the air just matter of hours, Instagram Reels of the debut had racked up an eye-watering 8.5 million views. A backstage report suggests WWE bosses have been delighted with the reaction to their new arrival, even if not everyone backstage at Raw felt the same way. PWInsider reports that the Penta-Gable match, combined with his in-ring promo afterwards, took up 13 minutes of airtime on Netflix – decidedly more than had originally been allotted. Penta deciding to run a little longer than scheduled resulted in the natural consequence of other segments on Raw being cut short – something that’s not gone down well. Noted writer Mike Jonson commented: “We did confirm that between the 13-minute match and his post-match promo, Penta went way longer than he was initially planned to go, which led to time being trimmed from other segments later in the show.“There were some talents obviously not thrilled about that, as you can imagine.” Some fans were wary of the star and any early controversy, one saying: “The Penta debut was overrated [but] Gable shined,” another adding: “Backstage politics never end.” Another warned: “Making enemies on day one isn’t great for morale,” but another balance the debate by saying of the overrun on his segment: “That’s OK, his segment got him over [popular with the audience] in one night. Penta worked with accomplished wrestler Chad Gable on Monday’s Netflix RawWWE “His performance was on another level,” echoed another comment.” As for WWE management, Johnson added: “We are told management was happy with the debut and with Penta’s reaction live. “WWE already has a ton of new merchandise for Penta on sale. We are told internally, they were happy with the early merch numbers as well.” Penta has been a renowned global performer for much of the last two decades and had most recently been wrestling for Tony Khan’s All Elite Wrestling. His AEW contract reportedly came to an end late last year to close out a five-year stay with the company. While WWE rosters are generally quite flexible, it’s expected his debut on Netflix will mean a home for him on Monday Night Raw going forward.
Penta has finally landed in WWE and is proving a major hit despite ruffling a few feathers on his first night in the job.
The luchador sensation debuted on Monday Night Raw on Netflix as the first new star arrival of the streaming era.
His appearance has been highly anticipated for weeks, WWE airing teaser promos across the last few weeks of programming and even launching a sale of Penta merchandise in advance of his first showing on the red brand.
Commentator Michael Cole hailed it as ‘the worst kept secret in the business’ as Penta finally arrived to answer Chad Gable’s challenge, emphatically seeing off the grappling great with his Penta Driver finishing move.
The 39-year-old then took to the microphone during an emotional post-match interview in which he thanked his family and declared the Netflix era in WWE to actually be the ‘Penta New Era.’
His maiden WWE appearance has proved a smash hit on social media. By 10am on Tuesday and with Raw having been off the air just matter of hours, Instagram Reels of the debut had racked up an eye-watering 8.5 million views.
A backstage report suggests WWE bosses have been delighted with the reaction to their new arrival, even if not everyone backstage at Raw felt the same way.
PWInsider reports that the Penta-Gable match, combined with his in-ring promo afterwards, took up 13 minutes of airtime on Netflix – decidedly more than had originally been allotted.
Penta deciding to run a little longer than scheduled resulted in the natural consequence of other segments on Raw being cut short – something that’s not gone down well.
Noted writer Mike Jonson commented: “We did confirm that between the 13-minute match and his post-match promo, Penta went way longer than he was initially planned to go, which led to time being trimmed from other segments later in the show.
“There were some talents obviously not thrilled about that, as you can imagine.”
Some fans were wary of the star and any early controversy, one saying: “The Penta debut was overrated [but] Gable shined,” another adding: “Backstage politics never end.”
Another warned: “Making enemies on day one isn’t great for morale,” but another balance the debate by saying of the overrun on his segment: “That’s OK, his segment got him over [popular with the audience] in one night.
“His performance was on another level,” echoed another comment.”
As for WWE management, Johnson added: “We are told management was happy with the debut and with Penta’s reaction live.
“WWE already has a ton of new merchandise for Penta on sale. We are told internally, they were happy with the early merch numbers as well.”
Penta has been a renowned global performer for much of the last two decades and had most recently been wrestling for Tony Khan’s All Elite Wrestling.
His AEW contract reportedly came to an end late last year to close out a five-year stay with the company.
While WWE rosters are generally quite flexible, it’s expected his debut on Netflix will mean a home for him on Monday Night Raw going forward.
