Here is the lineup for tonight’s WWE NXT ‘Heatwave’ in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center on the USA Network:
WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the Centre Videotron in Quebec City, Quebec Canada.
John Cena is slated to make his return to WWE television next month.
The last time the former WWE Champion competed, he went up against Austin Theory for the United States Championship but fell short in April at WrestleMania 39 on the opening night of the event.
The last time Cena appeared in front of fans was at the Money in the Bank PLE in London last month. During his promo segment, he encouraged WWE to bring WrestleMania to Europe. When Grayson Waller interrupted him, Cena laid him out.
Cena sent in a pre-recorded video to talk about his feud with Edge, who celebrated his career with the company last week on SmackDown.
Ryan Satin of FOX Sports reports Cena is set to appear on the September 1st episode of SmackDown from The Giant Center in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He’s also set to travel to India with the company for the upcoming WWE Superstar Spectacle show at the GMC Balayogi Indoor Stadium on Friday, September 8th.
Source: eWn
WWE touted WrestleMania 40, breaking its all-time gate record in just one day of selling tickets. WWE issued the following:
WrestleMania 40 Breaks WWE® All-Time Gate Record in One Day
WrestleMania 40 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia Sells More than 90,000 Tickets and Surpasses the WrestleMania 39 Total Gross of $21.6 Million
STAMFORD, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– WWE® (NYSE: WWE) today announced that WrestleMania 40 broke the company’s all-time gate record in one day. The previous total gross record – $21.6 million – was set earlier this year at WrestleMania 39 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
WrestleMania 40, which takes place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7, sold more than 90,000 tickets when it went on sale last Friday.
The record gate comes on the heels of unprecedented ticket sales demand for WWE in 2023, which to date has produced the highest-grossing gates of all-time for premium live events such as SummerSlam, Royal Rumble and Money In The Bank. SummerSlam, which emanated from Ford Field in Detroit earlier this month, generated a record gate of $8.5 million, the largest gate for any non-WrestleMania event ever.
Additionally, On Location has sold more fan experience packages for WrestleMania 40 than all of WrestleMania 39 and broke the all-time revenue record for a single WWE event in this area.
Limited tickets for WrestleMania 40 are still available via https://www.ticketmaster.com/. In addition, limited exclusive ticket packages are available for WrestleMania 40 via On Location. WrestleMania 40 Priority Passes offer the WWE Universe the chance to be ringside for every exhilarating moment, including premium seating, pre-show hospitality with WWE Superstar appearances, ringside photo opportunities, exclusive merchandise and more.
About WWE
WWE, a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The Company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family-friendly entertainment on its television programming, premium live events, digital media and publishing platforms. WWE’s TV-PG programming can be seen in more than 1 billion homes worldwide in 25 languages through world-class distribution partners including NBCUniversal, FOX, BT Sport, Sony India and Rogers. The award-winning WWE Network includes all premium live events, scheduled programming and a massive video-on-demand library and is currently available in more than 180 countries. In the United States, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, is the exclusive home to WWE Network.
Additional information on WWE can be found at wwe.com and corporate.wwe.com.
Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward looking statements include statements regarding our outlook regarding future financial results, the impact of recent changes to management and our board of directors (the “Board”): the timing and outcome of the Company’s media and other rights negotiations including major domestic programming licenses before their expirations through 2024: the Company’s pending business combination with UFC, our plans to remediate identified material weaknesses in our disclosure control and procedures and our internal control over financial reporting, and regulatory, investigative or enforcement inquiries, subpoenas or demands arising from, related to, or in connection with these matters. The words “may,” “will,” ·could,” ·anticipate,” “plan,” “continue,” “project,” “intend,” ·”estimate,” “believe,” ·expect,” ·outlook,” “target.” “goal,” ·”guidance” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such words. These statements relate to future possible events, as well as our plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and are not historical facts and accordingly involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results or the performance by us to be materially different from expected future results or performance expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are subject to uncertainties relating to, without limitation, the consummation of the pending business combination with UFC in the expected timeline or at all; diversion of management’s time and attention due to the pending business combination with UFC: the availability of sufficient cash at the close of our transaction with UFC to distribute to shareholders of the new public company in line with current expectations; possible disruptions in our content delivery and online operations and our those of our business partners; privacy norms and regulations; our need to continue to develop creative and entertaining programs and events; our need to retain and continue to recruit key performers; the possibility of a decline in the popularity of our brand of sports entertainment: possible adverse changes in the regulatory atmosphere and related private sector initiatives: the highly competitive. rapidly changing and increasingly fragmented nature of the markets in which we operate and/or our inability to compete effectively, especially against competitors with greater financial resources or marketplace presence; uncertainties associated with international markets including possible disruptions and reputational risks; our difficulty or inability to promote and conduct our live events and/or other businesses if we do not comply with applicable regulations; our dependence on our intellectual property rights, our need to protect those rights, and the risks of our infringement of others’ intellectual property rights; potential substantial liability in the event of accidents or injuries occurring during our physically demanding events; large public events as well as travel to and from such events; our expansion into new or complementary businesses, strategic investments and/or acquisitions; our accounts receivable; the construction and move to our new leased corporate and media production headquarters; litigation and other actions, investigations or proceedings; a change in the tax laws of key jurisdictions; inflationary pressures and interest rate changes; our indebtedness including our convertible notes; our potential failure to meet market expectations for our financial performance; our share repurchase program; the impact of actions by Mr. McMahon (our controlling shareholder, whose interests could conflict with those of our Class A common stockholders); the substantial number of shares are eligible for sale by the McMahons and the sale, or the perception of possible sales, of those shares could cause our stock price to decline; and the volatility in trading prices of our Class A common stock. In addition. our dividend and share repurchases are dependent on a number of factors, including. among other things, our liquidity and historical and projected cash flow, strategic plan (including alternative uses of capital, our financial results and condition. contractual and legal restrictions, general economic and competitive conditions and such other factors as our Board may consider relevant.
Forward-looking statements made by the Company speak only as of the date made and are subject to change without any obligation on the part of the Company to update or revise them. Undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. For more information about risks and uncertainties associated with the Company’s business. please refer to any documents filed, or to be filed, by the Company with the SEC, including, but not limited to, the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections of our annual reports on Form 10‑K and 10‑K/A and quarterly reports on Form 10‑Q/A and Form 10‑Q.
WWE fans still don’t have a concrete answer as to whether the “Rated R Superstar” is officially retired from the company, but Edge cut a promo to the “WWE SmackDown” live crowd after the broadcast went off the air following his match with Sheamus — a match many believe could be the star’s final match with the company — shedding at least a little bit of light on the situation.
In a video posted to Twitter by a user named Dylan Melanson, Edge is seen speaking in the middle of the ring following his victory. “What I can say, is this is my last time in front of y’all,” he said, to a chorus of boos from his hometown crowd of Toronto. “I don’t think I could make it a full… to get here again for another match. I’m just being honest with you.”
Edge also instructed the crowd to “not let that be a downer,” because the fans gave him an amazing experience. He said he will never forget it.
“And when I’m 84-years-old and don’t remember much, you’re damn sure I’m going to remember this,” he said before thanking the crowd and walking out of the ring to his theme music.
Later, WWE’s official Twitter account would post a snippet of the speech, in which Edge says he doesn’t know what the future holds and needs to ask his family, who were sitting ringside, what they want him to do.
Before the match, Edge addressed the retirement rumors, saying “SmackDown” was the final match on his current WWE deal. As of this writing, neither the star nor WWE have commented on any official retirement.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Tonight’s WWE SmackDown Live on FOX from the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, ON.
Tonight’s episode of “WWE SmackDown” might be Edge’s final match in the company he’s been part of since 1998. “The Rated R Superstar” claims that he doesn’t know if it’ll be his last outing.
According to the “Wrestling Observer Newsletter,” Edge’s trainer and friend, Ron Hutchison, reportedly claimed that the WWE Hall of Famer is pretty sure that he’ll hang up his boots after “SmackDown.” Edge hasn’t expressed this viewpoint publicly in the lead-up to the show, but he has given fans some information about where his mind is at.
Earlier this week, Edge addressed the retirement rumors by admitting that it’s the last match he’s contracted to compete in, and the fact it’s taking place in Toronto, Canada has led to speculation that it’ll be his farewell bout. However, while he admits that wrestling has become difficult for him, he’s still torn about retiring. WWE hasn’t advertised the match as Edge’s retirement either, presumably because the Superstar still doesn’t know if he’s going to hang up his boots when it’s all said and done.
The “Wrestling Observer Newsletter” report notes that Edge signed a three-year deal when he returned to WWE in 2020. However, that contract was supposed to have expired months ago, but it’s possible that he signed an extension. While Edge has openly stated that tonight’s bout is the last match on his current contract, it’s currently unknown if that means he’ll become a free agent afterward. WWE signs lots of retired Superstars to Legends deals, after all.
Lacey Evans is officially gone from WWE after her contract reportedly expired after August 15. During the latest “Wrestling Observer Radio,” Dave Meltzer weighed in with what possibly led to her departure.
“I remember when she was in ‘NXT’ and she was brought to the main roster, she had that giant push at first,” Meltzer recalled. “She got the real big push at first. Then she would get the weekly vignettes and not a push at all. It was the craziest thing ever. But a lot of her lack of exposure had to do with Vince being gone because Vince was her proponent.”
Ever since Vince McMahon stepped back from being the head of creative in July 2022, Evans’ television time has decreased. At the beginning of this year, Evans was repackaged with a military gimmick similar to that of Sgt. Slaughter, but it only resulted in her picking up a couple of squash wins. Evans lost her last three televised matches this year, with her final one airing on “WWE SmackDown” in June.
The 33-year-old first signed with “WWE NXT” in 2016 and took part in the 2017 Mae Young Classic. She transitioned to the main roster at the start of 2019 and entered at number one in that year’s women’s Royal Rumble match. Her biggest feud came later that spring against Becky Lynch for the “Raw” Women’s Championship. Evans also made history alongside Natalya that year when they took part in the first WWE women’s match at a Saudi Arabia event. Her last high-profile feud took place in early 2020 when she turned babyface and challenged Bayley for the “SmackDown” Women’s title.
Source: Wrestling Inc. credit to Wrestling Observer Radio
Lacey Evans is no longer with WWE, as Dave Meltzer reported today, that she is done with the company. No further details were given.
Evans first joined WWE in 2016 and trained at the Performance Center before being assigned to NXT for development. Three years later, Evans was brought up to the main roster where she had numerous start-and-stop pushes and character changes.
Her latest match was with Zelina Vega last month. Evans hasn’t been particularly involved in a storyline with her in recent months.
Fans began speculating that Evans was referring to her counting the days until her WWE contract expires when she shared a meme with the words “How Many Days Left” on social media.
Later, Evans changed her social handles to LimitlessMacey. Over the past 24 hours, she also started using her real name, Macey Estrella.
Tonight’s WWE NXT in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center on the USA Network:
Chelsea Green didn’t have to look too hard to find a new tag team partner to help her defend the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship after Sonya Deville suffered a torn ACL, leaving her out of action indefinitely. On Monday’s episode of “WWE Raw,” Piper Niven declared herself Green’s new partner and took one of the title belts off of Green’s shoulder, seemingly getting her first taste of championship gold (outside of the defunct 24/7 title) in WWE.
In a backstage segment, it looked as though Adam Pearce was going to strip Green of the championships due to Deville’s inability to compete. Green argued with Pearce, saying she had worked too hard for the titles to see them vacated. Pearce asked Green what she would do in his situation, and she said she would “hold auditions,” which she had been doing on social media throughout the day leading up to the show, calling the video segments “Chelsea’s Got Talent.” Green was confronted by Kayden Carter and Katana Chance who said they wanted a shot at the titles when Green received a new partner.
Auditions never got underway on “Raw,” however, as Niven burst in attacks Carter and Chance and declared herself Green’s new partner. Green said Niven should submit her name, number, and Instagram handle to be considered, but Niven simply grabbed the title belt and reiterated that she was Green’s new partner. It seems Green and Niven will now be partnering as Women’s Tag Team Champions moving forward on WWE programming — their first match together has not yet been set up, but Niven did attack Katana Chance and Kayden Carter during the segment.
Green and Deville won the championships from Liz Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez on an episode of “Raw” last month.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
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