Former XFL commissioner Oliver Luck filed a lawsuit against Vince McMahon.
Luck cites wrongful termination after the league ceased operations and filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. Luck seeks unspecified damages, judggment on fulfilling terms of his deal. Luck’s deal is reportedly worth around $20 million over its lifespan.
McMahon’s lawyer says luck’s “allegations will be disputed”.
Tonight’s WWE RAW will air on the USA Network from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
WWE has not issued the official preview for tonight’s show but they are advertising that WWE Champion Drew McIntyre will respond to last week’s attack by Seth Rollins.
WWE has also announced the following Money In the Bank qualifying matches for tonight’s show:
* Aleister Black vs. Austin Theory
* MVP vs. Apollo Crews
* Rey Mysterio vs. Murphy
Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that WWE is making a big adjustment to their filming schedule in an effort to increase the level of safety for performers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
As you’ll recall, WWE returned to live television shows from the Performance Center this week after the Governor of Florida allowed sports and entertainment properties to resume producing events in the state as long as there are no fans in attendance.
Now, however, the company is making another change to how things will be filmed for the next few months at the WWE Performance Center.
We’ve learned that in an effort to have performers traveling as little as possible, the WWE filming schedule going forward will be as follows:
According to sources, the health and safety measures being utilized at the Performance Center for shows has continued to evolve as we learn more about the coronavirus as a society. This includes everyone wearing face masks, good hygiene/handwashing for appropriate amount of time, medical screenings prior to entering any closed set, matches done in waves, only essential personnel on-site, adhering to social distancing outside of performances, ‘pandemic-level cleaning’ and more.
Our sources say that despite some outside criticism, WWE is putting a lot of effort into mitigating risks and doing the best they can to protect people’s health and safety while still keeping the business afloat amidst the current pandemic.
A rep for WWE confirmed the scheduling information when reached for comment.
“We believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times,” the company said in a previous statement. “We are producing content on a closed set with only essential personnel in attendance following appropriate guidelines while taking additional precautions to ensure the health and wellness of our performers and staff. As a brand that has been woven into the fabric of society, WWE and its Superstars bring families together and deliver a sense of hope, determination and perseverance.”
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown on FOX will air live from the closed-set WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
* Another unique Triple Threat Match will see SmackDown Tag Team Titles on the line
* Sasha Banks and Tamina to clash in a match with championship implications
* Daniel Bryan to face Cesaro in Men’s Money in the Bank Qualifying Match
* Sonya Deville out to clear the air with Mandy Rose
* Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match spot on the line when Naomi meets Dana Brooke
WWE announced a host of business related changes due to the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic during a business call with company talent. Among the changes announced during the call was that WWE will furlough some employees they hope to bring back when the crisis is over, along with some permanent roster cuts. The company will reportedly save $703,000 a month from the talent cuts.
Among those released include twenty-two wrestlers, ten producers, three coaches and six other members of talent or creative. Here is a rundown of those released along with some background information on each.
Wrestlers Released
Producers Furloughed
Coaches
Announcers
Referees
Creative
Other On-Air Talent
Josiah Williams is better known as the rapper Wrestle & Flow, the name he posted WWE theme remixes under on YouTube.
Jon Quasto
Source: Wrestling Inc.
WWE has confirmed legendary announcer Howard Finkel passed away at the age of 69.
The wrestling promotion made the unfortunate announcement Thursday morning. Finkel’s cause of death was not mentioned in the article, but the announcer had struggled with his health in recent years after suffering a stroke
For anyone who might be unfamiliar … Finkel was also WWE’s longest tenured employee after starting with the company under Vince Sr. in 1975.
“In what has already been a tough week for our @WWE family, today we lost our 1st ever employee and WWE Hall of Famer, [Howard Finkel]. Howard’s voice is iconic & recognized by generations of fans. He will be missed. #RIPHowardFinkel Thank you for everything,” Stephanie McMahon wrote.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Vince McMahon held a call with this afternoon to address WWE employees. This is breaking, but here are some quick highlights:
* Up to 40% of employees will be furloughed. Vince said that he hopes to have them back when the situation is resolved, but there is no timeline. Furloughed employees will receive a text message from WWE HR immediately.
* Permanent talent cuts will be coming, and there could be announcements today.
* Construction of WWE Headquarters in Stamford, CT has been delayed six months.
* Third party consulting contracts have been cancelled as well.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s AEW Dynamite episode airs on TNT and was taped in Norcross, Georgia.
* Sammy Guevara vs. Sugar D
* Kip Sabian vs. Chuck Taylor
* Britt Baker will be in action
* Shawn Spears will be in action
* Lance Archer vs. Colt Cabana (First Round TNT Championship Tournament Match)
* Jon Moxley (c) vs. Jake Hager (Empty Arena No Holds Barred Championship Match)
Tonight’s WWE NXT episode on the USA Network will reportedly be the return to live TV for the brand, airing from the NXT Arena at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL.
Impact Wrestling announced that the Rebellion event will continue as a two-night event on AXS TV, airing on Tuesday, April 21 and Tuesday, April 28.
Rebellion was originally scheduled as a pay-per-view from New York City on Sunday, April 19. It will now air for free on AXS TV, Twitch and The Fight Network, along with Impact’s other international broadcast partners. The event will be held on a closed-set with essential personnel only due to the coronavirus pandemic.
IMPACT: Rebellion Update
In light of the restrictions placed upon live events as a result of the coronavirus, IMPACT Wrestling will hold its next major spectacular—IMPACT: Rebellion—on a closed set with only essential personnel in attendance, as per the guidelines put in place by the CDC.
Originally planned as a pay-per-view special, Rebellion will now expand into a two-part television event airing April 21 and April 28 as part of the weekly flagship series IMPACT!
Rebellion will air for free on AXS TV and Twitch in the U.S. and Fight Network in Canada, along with international IMPACT! broadcast partners.
The safety of IMPACT’s wrestlers, personnel, and fans is of the utmost importance, and while it is with some disappointment that we must scale back our original plans for the event, we are proud to have the opportunity to provide our loyal and passionate audience with some much-needed entertainment during this time. We look forward to producing a proper pay-per-view event once this crisis has passed.
Night One (April 21st)
Kiera Hogan vs. Kylie Rae
Rhino & Tommy Dreamer vs. oVe
X-Division Championship
Ace Austin (c) vs. Willie Mack
Main Event
Sami Callihan vs. Ken Shamrock
Additionally, Impact advertised a four-way match that will take place on night two (April 28). That match will be:
Chris Bey vs. Trey vs. Suicide vs. Rohit Raju
The triple threat main event between Tessa Blanchard (c), Eddie Edwards and Michael Elgin for the Impact World Championship is still up in the air as of this writing.
