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 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.
The Mayor of Orange County, Florida confirmed WWE has been deemed an “essential business” during the coronavirus pandemic.
Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings took part in a press conference on Monday where he was asked how WWE has continued to create content while other businesses are forced to close.
“Initially there was a review that was done and they were not initially deemed an essential business,” Demings replied. “With some conversations with the Governor’s office regarding the Governor’s order, they were deemed an essential business. So, therefore, they were allowed to remain open.”
As we previously reported, WWE shows reportedly will return to being filmed live starting this week.
The Mayor was also asked about WWE confirming an on-screen talent, who is not a member of the roster and has since recovered, testing positive for COVID-19.
“In terms of the specifics associated with the wrestling personality who tested positive, I don’t know any of the details of that obviously because of HIPAA laws,” he answered.
“But, that’s like a little family. A small family of professional athletes that wrestle. And if one of my family members tested positive in my house, that would be concerning to me. We would have to make some provisions in our house to make sure that the rest of us not get infected. So I would assume that, from a business perspective, the WWE is doing that type of analysis of its own family.”
Watch the press conference below.
Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet
Tonight’s WWE RAW on the USA Network will reportedly air live from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida with more fallout from WrestleMania 36.
WWE has not officially announced any matches for tonight’s show as of this writing.
It’s believed that tonight’s RAW will feature the first red brand Money In the Bank qualifying matches, but that hasn’t been confirmed.
It has been confirmed that WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler will return to commentary on tonight’s show.
WWE will return to airing live TV with WWE NXT, RAW and SmackDown this week, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. They will continue to air from closed sets with limited personnel at the empty WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida and the NXT Arena at Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL.
WWE returning to live TV reportedly has to do with their contracts with NBCUniversal and FOX, according to a new report from Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.
WWE had plans to tape several weeks of TV beginning on Friday. Meltzer reports that 5 weeks of each TV show was to be taped, along with 205 Live and Main Event episodes, but plans changed on Friday when WWE Chairman Vince McMahon made the call. Talents were ready to tape several episodes, go back home, and then return in early May, possibly for the May 10 Money In the Bank pay-per-view. They were then told on Friday that they would start going live this week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
It was noted that the reason for the return to live TV is the fear of being in violation of the WWE TV contracts, which state that WWE must go live for 49 of 52 weeks per year, and WWE doesn’t want any issues there. Meltzer speculated that NBCU and FOX could deny that they said anything to WWE about going live, and it’s possible that they did and the return to live TV is Vince’s reaction, but it’s also possible that Vince feels like he’s getting a step ahead before the networks ask him to return to live TV. However, the TV contracts are the reason for the return to live TV this week, according to the new report from WOR. It should be noted that there is no word on either network threatening WWE with a possible contract violation, and it seems likely they would understand that WWE is trying to operate during trying times.
It was believed by many that the workload would go down once the first positive coronavirus test came from within WWE. That positive test was confirmed last week and WWE actually increased the workload, returning to live TV. Meltzer noted that the positive test would have came on the second day of WrestleMania 36 tapings late last month, but in theory it was after the tapings, so no one working the tapings were affected. The report noted that it’s been confirmed a member of the WWE broadcast team was the one who tested positive, but it was not Corey Graves. His girlfriend Carmella has also been ruled out. As noted, WWE confirmed that the person is doing well and has already recovered.
Meltzer also noted that both AEW and WWE have violated state orders when it comes to how many people they have in the building for these closed-set tapings. Both companies have had more than 10 people present for the tapings, but AEW President Tony Khan has been the only person backstage in the “Gorilla Position” at AEW tapings. The Last Man Standing match at WrestleMania 36 between WWE Hall of Famer Edge and Randy Orton proved that WWE has had more people in the “Gorilla Position” but both companies have worked to do the best they can. Despite the efforts and the concern, people are still stunned at WWE going live this week, especially after the positive COVID-19 test. WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler is returning to RAW tonight and while he does want to work, there is some added concern there because his age puts him at a greater risk when it comes to the coronavirus. The same goes for talents like Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns, because of their health, who have not been confirmed for this week’s TV like Lawler has.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
