Month: March 2020

WWE Denies Friday’s SmackDown Is Being Moved To Performance Center Due To Coronavirus, The Latest On The Virus, Pro Wrestling

WWE issued a statement denying that Friday’s SmackDown has been moved from the Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, Michigan to the WWE Performance Center due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

It was reported on Wednesday night, that Friday’s WWE TV tapings were being nixed due to the coronavirus pandemic. In an update, WWE issued a statement late tonight and denied that SmackDown in Detroit was being cancelled. They did say that they are putting contingency plans in place for upcoming shows.

The following statement was issued to ESPN:

“WWE has not cancelled Friday Night SmackDown in Detroit, however, based on the current situation, we are putting contingency plans in place in the event that upcoming WWE shows are cancelled by government officials, civil authorities and/or local venues.”

Stay tuned for updates on the situation. You can click here for news on President Trump’s 30-day travel ban that will impact WrestleMania 36 visitors, and click here for news on a potential major WrestleMania 36 coronavirus announcement that could come on Thursday afternoon. You can also click here to see what Sheamus and Sasha Banks had to say about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Below is information about the Coronavirus pandemic and the status of pro wrestling and MMA shows across the world from Wrestling Observer Radio

Exalted One To Be Revealed On Next Week’s AEW Dynamite

The Dark Order’s Exalted One will be revealed on next week’s AEW Dynamite, which takes place from the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, New York.

Over the past several weeks speculation has led to numerous possible names for the group’s leader: Christopher Daniels, Matt Hardy, Lance Archer, Raven, and Luke Harper/Brodie Lee (also a Rochester native). We’ll find out next week who is the head of the stable.

Lance Archer Arrives In AEW As Client Of Jake “The Snake” Roberts

Lance Archer made his AEW debut Wednesday night as the client of Jake “The Snake” Roberts.

It all went down during the opening match on Dynamite when Archer and Roberts walked out as Cody wrestled against Ortiz.

The duo then sat in the front row and watched on as the two wrestlers went at it in the ring. Archer teased jumping over the railing at one point in the match, but Jake stopped him from doing it and they instead left before the match was over.

The former WWE, Impact and NJPW wrestler’s signing was announced by All Elite Wrestling last month.

Watch his entrance on Dynamite below.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

AEW Dynamite Preview 3/11/20

Tonight’s AEW Dynamite will air live from the Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah.

* Ortiz (with Santana) vs. Cody (with Arn Anderson)

* Death Triangle (PAC, Pentagon Jr., and Fenix) vs. Private Party and Joey Janela

* Jurassic Express vs. MJF, The Butcher, and The Blade (with Wardlow and The Bunny)

* Blood and Guts Match rules announcement

* AEW Tag Team Champion Hangman Page and a mystery partner vs. Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara (Non-Title Match)

WWE NXT Preview 3/11/20

Tonight’s WWE NXT will be a special edition, airing on the USA Network from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.

Tonight’s show is airing from the Performance Center due to Full Sail University using the Full Sail Live venue (the NXT Arena) for an event that is related to their annual Hall of Fame Week. Triple H recently stated that they knew about the Full Sail event for a long time. There’s no word yet on what the set up will be for tonight’s show inside the Performance Center, but it will be interesting to see. WWE billed tonight’s event as a Fan Appreciation Night and put up a limited number of free tickets after the February 26 episode at Full Sail, but they were gone in less than 10 seconds.

  • Keith Lee defends the NXT North American Championship against Cameron Grimes
  • The BroserWeights defend the NXT Tag Team Titles against Undisputed ERA
  • How will Adam Cole react to The Velveteen Dream’s actions?
  • What does Johnny Gargano have planned for Tommaso Ciampa?

Matt Hardy Says Today Is The Day It Ends & Begins, Matt On Jeff Hardy’s Return To WWE SmackDown

The speculation on Matt Hardy’s post-WWE future continues.

Hardy took to Twitter today and said today is the day, for something.

“Today is the day it ends. Today is the day it begins,” he wrote.

There’s still no word yet on if Matt will end up with AEW or some other promotion now that he’s a free agent from WWE, but we may have a better idea after he releases part 2 of the “Free The Delete” series finale later this afternoon. There’s already speculation on his latest tweet being related to a possible debut on tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode.

https://twitter.com/MATTHARDYBRAND/status/1237733799485677569

 

https://twitter.com/MATTHARDYBRAND/status/1237409952748224513

Below are Matt’s comments on brother Jeff Hardy’s return to SmackDown on FOX this Friday, along with a teaser and outtake from today’s episode, and promotional tweets on some of Matt’s upcoming post-WWE appearances, including his “Broken Tailgate Party” at WrestleCon during WrestleMania 36 Weekend:

https://twitter.com/MATTHARDYBRAND/status/1237248265889943553

https://twitter.com/RebyHardy/status/1237558670679920640

https://twitter.com/wrestlecon/status/1237500286953979905

https://twitter.com/fswvegas/status/1236722854554550272

https://twitter.com/PPSCLV/status/1237176031154278400

 

 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

XFL Television Ratings Hit New Low

XFL television ratings hit a new low in Week 5.

Both Sunday games dropped below one million viewers for the first time, despite the late game airing on ESPN as opposed to the weaker ESPN 2 the prior week. The first game on Sunday airing on FS1 between the St. Louis BattleHawks and DC Defenders averaged 767,000 viewers, the smallest audience for an XFL game yet. The ESPN game on Sunday evening between the Tampa Bay Vipers and the Los Angeles Wildcats averaged 833,000 viewers.

Total attendance for the weekend was the lowest so far this season with 64,246 fans, down 8.5% from last week.

The first game on ABC on Saturday fared much better, as the audience was only down 1% from the week prior to 1.547 million viewers. However, the following game on FOX, which faced competition from NCAA basketball, was down 17% to 1.497 million viewers.

The four games averaged 1.16 million viewers, down 16% from Week 4.

Below are details ratings and attendance numbers for the first five weeks, courtesy of Showbuzz Daily:

Week 1 (Feb 8 & 9):
Sat. Game 1 – ABC, Seattle at DC (17,163 fans): 3.302 million viewers, 1.1 (18-49)
Sat. Game 2 – FOX, L.A. at Houston (17,815): 3.29 million, 1.1
Sun. Game 1 – ABC, Tampa Bay at New York (17,634): 3.39 million, 1.0
Sun. Game 2 – FOX, St. Louis at Dallas (17,206): 2.5 million, 0.93
Total Attendance: 69,818
Average: 3.12 million viewers

Week 2 (Feb 15 & 16):
Sat. Game 1 – ABC, New York at D.C. (15,031): 2.146 million, 0.6 (18-49)
Sat. Game 2 – FOX, Tampa Bay at Seattle (29,172): 2.324 million, 0.6
Sun. Game 1 – ESPN, Dallas at L.A. (14,979): 2.397 million, 0.6
Sun. Game 2 – FS1, St. Louis at Houston (17,103): 1.359 million viewers, 0.51
Total Attendance: 76,285 (+9.3%)
Average: 2.06 million viewers (-35.9%)

Week 3 (Feb 23 & 24):
Sat. Game 1 – ABC, Houston at Tampa Bay (18,117): 1.914 million (-10.8%), 0.6 (no change)
Sat. Game 2 – FOX, Dallas at Seattle (22,060): 2.051 million (-11.8%), 0.5 (-16.7%)
Sun. Game 1 – ESPN, New York at St. Louis (29,554): 1.473 million (-38.54%), 0.47 (-21.7%)
Sun. Game 2 – FS1, D.C. at L.A. (12,211): 1.004 million (-26.12%), 0.37 (-27.5%)
Total Attendance: 81,942 (+7.4%)
Average: 1.61 million viewers (-21.8%)

Week 4 (Feb 29 & Mar 1):
Sat. Game 1 – ABC, L.A. at New York (12,116): 1.558 million (-24%), 0.4 (-33%)
Sat. Game 2 – FOX, Seattle at St. Louis (27,527): 1.802 million (-5.85%), 0.5 (no change)
Sun. Game 1 – FS1, Houston at Dallas (18,332): 1.113 million (+10.86%), 0.38 (-19%)
Sun. Game 2 – ESPN 2, D.C. at Tampa Bay (12,249): 1.030 million (2.59%), 0.34 (-8.1%)
Total Attendance: 70,224 (-14%)
Average: 1.38 million viewers (-14%)

Week 5 (Mar 7 & 8):
Sat. Game 1 – ABC, Seattle at Houston (19,773): 1.547 million (-0.7%)
Sat. Game 2 – FOX, New York at Dallas (15,950): 1.497 million (-17%)
Sun. Game 1 – FS1, St. Louis at D.C. (16,342): 767,000 (-31%)
Sun. Game 2 – ESPN, Tampa Bay at L.A. (12,181): 833,000 (-19%)
Total Attendance: 64,246 (-8.5%)
Average: 1.16 million viewers (-16%)

 

 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Tampa Officials To Discuss Canceling Or Postponing Major Events On Thursday

The City of Tampa and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor will be meeting on Thursday to discuss canceling or postponing major events due to the coronavirus. CBS Tampa’s Ryan Bass tweeted the news tonight.

His full tweet was, “@CityofTampa and @JaneCastor will meet on Thursday to discuss canceling or postponing “major” events due to #Coronavirus. This weekend’s River O’Green fest isn’t likely to be canceled.”

WrestleMania 36 will most definitely be one of the events to be discussed on Thursday. As noted the event is scheduled to be in Tampa on April 5 at the Raymond James Stadium.

Due to the virus, several large popular events like Coachella and South by Southwest have been canceled or postponed.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Nia Jax WWE Return Update

Nia Jax is reportedly expected to return to WWE at any point now, according to PWInsider.

She’s been medically cleared for in-ring action, it’s simply up to WWE to work her back into a storyline.

Jax underwent double knee surgery last April, and in December, got back to training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.

Her last match on WWE TV was at WrestleMania 35 where The IIconics won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship in a Fatal 4-Way Match against Bayley & Sasha Banks, Beth Phoenix & Natalya, and Tamina & Jax.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Rob Gronkowski Signs With WWE, Will Debut On SmackDown And Appear At WrestleMania 36

Gronk is reportedly headed to WrestleMania 36.

Former NFL player and WWE celebrity friend Rob Gronkowski has signed with WWE and is set to appear at WrestleMania 36 next month, according to The Wrap.

The former New England Patriots tight end has now signed a contract with WWE, and will make his official debut during the March 20 episode of SmackDown on FOX from New Orleans.

Gronk is also scheduled to appear at WrestleMania 36. It was noted that current plans for the WrestleMania 36 appearance will lead to a future match for the three-time Super Bowl champion. Gronk is not scheduled to wrestle on The Grandest Stage of Them All this year, but that appearance will lead to the match they have in mind.

The 30 year old Gronk, who retired from the NFL one year ago, signed with FOX Sports as an analyst back in October. The Wrap reached out to FOX Sports for comments on if the new WWE deal will impact Gronk’s NFL work, but there’s no word yet.

It was reported last night on WWE Backstage by Pro Wrestling Sheet‘s Ryan Satin that Gronk and WWE were close to finalizing a deal. That deal has been officially signed, according to the new report from The Wrap.

Gronk, a noted pro wrestling fan and good friend to Mojo Rawley, made his WWE debut at WrestleMania 33 back in 2017, to help Mojo win the 4th Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

There’s no word yet on the terms of Rob’s deal with WWE.

Source: Wrestling Inc.