Author: John Bass

MLW Announces Upcoming Event Is Postponed

Like many other wrestling promotions around the world, Major League Wrestling has announced changes it its schedule due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The upcoming April 18 event in Chicago has been moved to June 12 at Circero Stadium.

They have also suspended promoting live events for the next 45 days.

Below is MLW’s full statement:

Major League Wrestling has suspended promoting live events for 45 days, effective immediately, as the league continues to assess the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.At the appropriate time, the league will communicate plans for promoting live events outside of the 45-day temporary hiatus and update the status of league events.

MLW programming will continue to air Saturday nights on beIN SPORTS, MLW’s YouTube channel and with partners around the world during this period.

As a result of the temporary suspension of promoting live events, MLW’s April 18th event in Chicago has been rescheduled for Friday night June 12 at Cicero Stadium. All tickets purchased for the originally scheduled date will be honored at this time.

The MLW family would like to extend our appreciation and well wishes to all doctors, nurses, emergency services staff, first responders and medical professionals on the front line working to address the public health crisis in our nation and around the world.

Learn more about the coronavirus pandemic (CDC website).

https://twitter.com/MLW/status/1239253354364239877

Source: Wrestling Inc.

XFL Will Allow Players To Join The NFL Or CFL

A few days ago, the XFL announced it would be halting the remainder of its relaunched season after five weeks. This was due to the Coronavirus, which has affected the entire world. It joined the NBA, MLB, NHL, NCAA, golf and a number of other sports that halted action due to the epidemic.

“Currently, the XFL will not be playing its regular-season games,” the XFL stated in a release. “However, all players will be paid their base pay and benefits for the 2020 regular season. All XFL ticket holders will be issued refunds or credit toward future games. The XFL is committed to playing a full season in 2021 and future years.”

While the XFL will look to continue next season, will it be with some of its original players? It was initially announced that the contracts of XFL players are only for one year. The XFL previously stated that players couldn’t sign with the NFL until after the XFL playoffs. That may change now that the season ended early.

According to ProFootballTalk, a player can be signed by the NFL or CFL, as long as there is a “credible contractual offer” made. A player could be invited to a workout, but they would need to sign a waiver while remaining under contract with the XFL.

Additionally, NFL.com is stating that once physicals are complete, players can sign where they please. A number of players have gotten interest from the NFL, including Houston Roughnecks QB P.J. Walker, who the Seahawks have looked into.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

MLW Fusion Preview 3/14/20 – Tom Lawlor vs. Killer Kross

What happens when WWE’s newest signee Killer Kross invades Major League Wrestling looking for a fight with 10-year UFC veteran and former MLW World Champion “Filthy” Tom Lawlor? Tick tock… viewers are about to find out on this week’s FUSION.

Tom Lawlor has been on a tear in 2020. Now he clashes with Killer Kross in a bout that has become an inter-promotional dream match.  With high stakes, Lawlor vs. Kross promises to be a historic fight and main event that you don’t want to miss.

Where is CIMA? What has CONTRA Unit done with the decorated wrestler? There’s chatter that CONTRA will release a video that will shock the wrestling world while hopefully providing critical information on CIMA’s whereabouts. Tune in to learn more!

The World Middleweight Championship will be contested as the reigning and self-proclaimed “GOAT” Myron Reed looks to continue his outspoken and unrivaled run as he faces off against the Laredo Kid in a highly anticipated title fight.

Reed, who was unofficially pinned by the popular AAA luchador after a tag team bout a few weeks back, looks for revenge against the man who embarrassed him.

Laredo Kid’s quest for MLW gold comes under the watchful eye of AAA co-founder Konnan, who has had his own problematic run-ins with the outspoken trio known as Injustice.

Weeks after his Uncle Moonman was attacked by Dynasty, Mance Warner gets his hands on one of their members for the first time in a one-on-one fight, as he faces off against Gino Medina.

Will the Southern Fried fighter be able to stifle the Dynasty’s newest edition, or will the numbers game come into play and put Ole Mancer out of commission?

Back in Hawaii, Kevin Von Erich drops some knowledge on his sons as they ready for their continued war against Team Filthy.

PLUS! Pro Wrestling Illustrated honors Brian Pillman Jr.

Join Rich Bocchini, AJ Kirsch and Alicia Atout from Philadelphia for a night of top ranked action.

Matches:

  • Interpromotional Fight: Killer Kross vs. “Filthy” Tom Lawlor
  • MLW World Middleweight Title Fight: Myron Reed (c) vs. Laredo Kid
  • Mance Warner vs. “El Intocable” Gino Medina

WWE To Air Monday’s RAW Special “3:16 Day” From The Performance Center?

It looks like Monday’s special “3:16 Day” edition of WWE RAW will be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The episode, featuring WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin celebrating 3:16 Day, is still scheduled for the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA as of this writing, but an official update is expected some time today. @Wrestlevotes reports that RAW will likely air from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando on Monday, instead of Pittsburgh.

Besides Austin’s special appearance, Monday’s loaded RAW also has a WrestleMania 36 contract signing between AJ Styles and The Undertaker scheduled, plus an appearance by WWE Hall of Famer Edge.

Tonight’s SmackDown on FOX episode will also air from the WWE Performance Center due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The show was originally scheduled for the Little Caesar’s Arena in Detroit, MI.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage News On Rob Gronkowski Signing With WWE

As noted earlier this week,  The Wrap reported that former NFL player Rob Gronkowski has signed with WWE. Gronk is reportedly making his SmackDown on FOX debut during the March 20 episode from New Orleans, then will appear at WrestleMania 36 to begin a storyline that will lead to a match.

In an update, the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that Gronk’s WrestleMania 36 role is still being decided, and that an appearance is not a lock at this point.

Gronk is expected to wrestle at least a few matches under his WWE contract. It’s likely that he will wrestle at the SummerSlam pay-per-view in Boston from the TD Garden, which should get him a good pop as he played his entire NFL career with the Patriots.

It will be interesting to see if WWE has Gronk work with his good friend Mojo Rawley. Gronk, a noted pro wrestling fan, made his WWE debut at WrestleMania 33 back in 2017, to help Mojo win the 4th Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Confirms They Have WrestleMania 36 Contingency Plan

WWE has confirmed that they have WrestleMania 36 contingency plans in place due to the coronavirus pandemic.

WWE issued a statement this evening that said they will have the back-up plans in place if WrestleMania ends up cancelled by local officials. They also said they are closely monitoring the situation.

“While we remain committed to hosting WrestleMania at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, April 5, we are putting contingency plans in place in the event that it is cancelled by government officials, civil authorities and/or local venues. The health and safety of our fans, performers and employees are our top priorities and we are monitoring the situation closely with our partners and government officials in Tampa Bay,” WWE’s statement reads.

As we’ve noted, top local officials and WWE officials, including WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon, met in Tampa Bay, Florida earlier today to discuss the status of the big event, and the potential schedule change. There had been some speculation on WrestleMania being pushed back until the summer due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but the city has decided not to cancel WrestleMania, at least for now.

There’s no word yet on what WWE’s contingency plans for WrestleMania 36 consist of, but we will keep you updated.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Live Event Nixed Due To Coronavirus, Update On WWE’s Return To MSG, Monday’s RAW Note

Sunday’s WWE live event scheduled for the Covelli Centre in Youngstown, Ohio has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The arena issued an e-mail to ticket holders earlier today and said the WWE live event scheduled for Sunday, March 15 was canceled due to the new order from Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, which bans gatherings with more than 250 people expected. The statement was also tweeted, as seen below. The arena is offering refunds to people who already purchased tickets, but no makeup date has been announced.

In an update on a possible change for the WWE live event scheduled for Sunday, March 22 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, that event will not be taking place. New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio declared a State of Emergency today due to the COVID-19 outbreak and there’s a ban on events or gatherings with 500 or more people expected. DeBlasio told media at the press conference that the State of Emergency could go on for months.

MSG has not commented on the WWE live event and the date remains on both calendars, but the legendary venue did issue the following statement in support of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and the restrictions announced today:

“The Madison Square Garden Company supports Governor Cuomo’s decision regarding New York venues. We encourage you to check back to this site, which will be your source for further details about our future events, which we will update regularly as more information becomes available.”

An official update on the MSG show should be released soon, and we will keep you updated. This is the MSG live event that was scheduled to feature a special appearance by WWE Hall of Famers DX.

There are still two WWE NXT live events scheduled for this weekend – Friday in Venice, Florida and Saturday in Daytona Beach, FL. Monday’s RAW from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA is still on as of this writing. WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin, WWE Hall of Famer Edge, The Undertaker and others are scheduled for Austin’s special “3:16 Day” edition of RAW. The PPG Paints Arena still has RAW listed, and has not commented on any potential changes. They were still plugging The Undertaker’s appearance as of yesterday.

 

The WWE Supershow live event scheduled for this Saturday, March 14 at the Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada has been cancelled.

The arena announced today that the “Road to WrestleMania 36” Supershow live event was nixed and that refunds are available at all points of purchase. There was no makeup date announced.

The arena’s Twitter announcement, seen below, did not blame the cancellation on the coronavirus pandemic, but they announced other schedule changes earlier today with the COVID-19 outbreak as the reason.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

ROH Cancels Tonight’s 18th Anniversary PPV And Past vs Present Show Due To Coronavirus/Covid-19

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on the world of professional wrestling and now the first pay-per-view event has been canceled due to the outbreak.

Ring of Honor announced today that their 18th Anniversary pay-per-view scheduled for Friday in Las Vegas, and their Past vs. Present event on Saturday, also at Sam’s Town Live in Vegas, has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

ROH noted that additional details on the schedule changes will be released soon, including details on refunds and potential re-scheduling.

ROH 18TH ANNIVERSARY AND PAST VS. PRESENT SHOWS CANCELLATION

Dear ROH Family,

After much consideration and consultation with local officials regarding COVID-19, ROH has decided to cancel this weekend’s 18th Anniversary (Friday, March 13th) and Past vs Present (Saturday, March 14th) shows at Sam’s Town Live in Las Vegas.

This extremely difficult decision was made in conjunction with the most recent developments surrounding COVID-19, known as the Coronavirus.

While the marquee “18th Anniversary” and the very special “Past v Present” events were ready to show the world why Ring of Honor is truly the “Best Professional Wrestling on the Planet,” the safety and health of our fans, talents and staff are always our utmost priority.

Additional Information will be provided as soon as possible regarding refunds and potential rescheduling of the events that were set to transpire this weekend.

Once again, thank you for understanding and we truly appreciate your continued patronage and support.

Below was the card for the 18th Anniversary Show:

ROH World Championship: Rush (c) vs. Mark Haskins

ROH World TV Championship: Dragon Lee (c) vs. Bandido

ROH World Tag Team Championship: Jay Lethal and Jonathan Gresham (c) vs. Villain Enterprises (Marty Scurll and Flip Gordon)

Dealer’s Choice Match: Kenny King vs. Shane Taylor vs. Dan Maff vs. Tyler Bateman
Winner earns future shot at any title.

The Briscoes vs. Dalton Castle and Joe Hendry

Jeff Cobb vs. Slex

Nicole Savoy vs. Session Moth Martina

Villain Enterprises (Brody King and PCO) vs. Alex Zayne and Rey Horus

XFL Cancels Rest Of Season Due To Coronavirus/COVID-19

The relaunched XFL did not get a chance to finish its season. Despite ratings declining, that was not what did it in.

The league joined much of the sports world as it suspended play after five weeks. This is due to the coronavirus that is currently spreading around the world. Several states have banned more than 250 people from showing up to arenas around the country.

The XFL provided a statement that assured that players will be paid their base salary, while also including benefits. All XFL ticket holders will be issued refunds or credit towards future games. The league added that they planned to return in 2021.

“Currently, the XFL will not be playing its regular-season games,” this statement reaffirming. “However, all players will be paid their base pay and benefits for the 2020 regular season. All XFL ticket holders will be issued refunds or credit toward future games. The XFL is committed to playing a full season in 2021 and future years.”

Prior to everything shutting down, the Seattle Dragons were going to be playing inside an empty stadium against the Los Angeles Wildcats.

Since then, MLB, NHL, NCAA (including the NCAA Tournament), boxing and MMA have all decided to cancel, move or hold events without fans. WWE has been forced to move SmacklDown to the Performance Center, while Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling and AEW, among others, have had to alter their schedule to accommodate what is going on.

According to the la test from CNN, the coronavirus has infected over 124,518 people, with 4,607 deaths confirmed.

 

Source: Wrestling Inc.

AEW Relocates Next Two Episodes Of Dynamite Due To The Coronavirus Pandemic

All Elite Wrestling has confirmed the next two episodes of Dynamite have been relocated due to the coronavirus pandemic.

AEW released a statement saying:

As a precautionary measure against COVID-19, we are relocating next week’s AEW DYNAMITE show on March 18 from Rochester, NY, to Jacksonville, FL.  This show will be televised live on TNT from Daily’s Place, and be managed under a restricted attendance policy. The DYNAMITE show in Rochester will be rescheduled for Wednesday, July 8, at Blue Cross Arena.

Fans who have already purchased tickets to the Rochester show will be offered a refund via the point of purchase, or have their original ticket valid for admission to the event on July 8. Additional details will be forthcoming.

In addition, the DYNAMITE show on March 25 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, will be relocated to a new venue, which will be announced shortly. This show will be televised live on TNT on March 25, and be managed under a restricted attendance policy. The DYNAMITE show in Newark will be rescheduled for Wednesday, July 22, at the Prudential Center.

Fans who have already purchased tickets to the Newark show will be offered a refund via the point of purchase, or have their original ticket valid for admission to the event on July 22. Additional details will be forthcoming.

We appreciate your understanding as the safety and well-being of our fans and talent is always our top priority. We will continue to closely monitor this evolving situation related to COVID-19 and be guided by government officials, health organizations and venue management.

This means the highly-anticipated Blood and Guts match on March 25 will have a limited live audience, if any. AEW had also advertised the reveal of The Exalted One for next week’s show.

Regarding next week’s Dynamite episode from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, AEW announced today that doors will open to a “restricted audience” of fans at 6pm ET. The show will begin at 7pm with pre-show happenings and AEW Dark tapings, and then Dynamite will go live on TNT at 8pm ET.

“Thank you again during this short notice change of venue/show dates. We want you all to be updated as more information comes in,” AEW ended their statement with.