WWE announced recently that WrestleMania this year will be a two-night event which will be taped from multiple locations to minimize the risks amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Though this is not the only precaution the company is taking to tackle the effects of the epidemic and latest reports reveal that they have cancelled two of the planned matches for the Show Of Shows. According to Pro Wrestling Sheet, WWE has made the decision to nix Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal and Women’s Battle Royal from WrestleMania this year to comply with the CDC recommendations as much as possible.
This is not the only step the company is taking and in response to a query, they had previously revealed that they have a team of physicians testing everyone entering the Performance Center.
Only the essential personnel are brought in for tapings at the Performance Center and they have also been cycling big-name talents instead of bringing them in all at once.
The decision to shoot WrestleMania from multiple locations will also help the promotion as it will prevent the need to bring all the stars under one roof at the same time.
The company has also recently revealed the match schedules for both nights of WrestleMania which you can check out at this link.
AEW had been teasing the reveal of the Exalted One on their programming for a while and many believed that Matt Hardy will be revealed as the leader of the cult.
However, it didn’t turn out to be the case and former WWE
star Brodie Lee was revealed as the leader of the group on the latest episode
of Dynamite instead
PWinsider provides some update on the situation. They confirm that Lee was always planned to be revealed as the Exalted One, once the company confirmed that he was free of his contract and will be signing with them.
The officials leaned into the speculations of Hardy being
revealed as the leader of the Dark Order to help mask the former Luke Harper’s
debut on AEW TV.
The site also notes that everyone who worked this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite did so voluntarily. Tony Khan had already addressed the roster last week and told talents that they can sit out the upcoming shows if they want, without any repercussions.
Everyone who was present at the show including the production staff made the decision to work on the episode themselves and anyone who might have sat out would still be paid as if they worked the tapings.
The current hope within the company is to continue airing shows live every week but it’s not guaranteed in the current situations. The officials also acknowledge the situation and they have worked precautions into this week’s episode of the show.
This week’s episode of AEW Dynamite saw two big debuts and one of them was the debut of former WWE Intercontinental Champion Luke Harper, now known as Brodie Lee.
The former WWE star made his debut during a segment on the show and to the surprise of many, he was revealed as the Exalted One of the Dark Order, a role many expected Matt Hardy to assume.
Bray Wyatt reacted to Brodie Lee’s debut on their rival promotion on Twitter recently. He posted a gif of a child mentioning how he and Rowan are the only ones left now:
Luke Harper originally debuted on WWE TV as part of the
Wyatt Family led by the former Universal Champion and he remained closely
associated with Bray Wyatt throughout his WWE career.
He had been unhappy with his position in WWE from the last few years and Lee had even asked for his release from the company, only for his request to be denied by the officials.
The company finally released Brodie Lee from his contract in
December last year and he made his AEW debut shortly after his non compete
clause expired.
You can check out the debut of the newest AEW star in the video below:
WWE continues to not only make changes to their weekly television shows but also its next pay-per-view event, WrestleMania 36.
On Thursday evening, John Pollock of POST Wrestling reported that the company is planning an “ambitious” taping schedule for Monday Night RAW and Friday Night SmackDown that would see all episodes be in the can.
This schedule could also mean WrestleMania just weeks before its scheduled dates.
Per the report, WWE plans to pre-tape the March 23rd and March 30th editions of RAW and the March 27th and April 3rd editions of SmackDown over the next week. These episodes will include the go-home shows for each brand.
Also, one source told him both nights of WrestleMania could also be pre-taped, while another source was unsure if that was the plan.
This is all being done due to the uncertainty of the outbreak of the coronavirus in the United States, which has forced WWE to cancel shows and air all episodes of their weekly programs from their training facility, Performance Center.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on the format of these weekly shows and whether WWE plans to air a mix of recent archived content with a handful of new matches.
With the recommendations of how many people can be part of large public gatherings decreasing by the week, if just one talent or crew tests positive after working a show then it could shut down any efforts at producing live content at any time.
Thus, the plans mentioned above are being talked about.
Viewership data is in for this week’s battle in the WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite Wednesday Night War. AEW won in total viewers. NXT didn’t crack the top 50 shows for the night.
Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
WWE NXT Viewership
NXT on the USA Network averaged 542,000 viewers, which is down from 697,000 last week. In the 18-49 demo, they drew a 0.16 rating, down from the 0.21 rating that the show did last week.
The episode featured three video packages that covered the Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano feud, NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair, and former NXT Champion Finn Balor. Triple H and Tom Phillips hosted the show.
AEW Dynamite Viewership
AEW Dynamite on TNT was watched by 932,000 viewers, up from the 766,000 viewers last week. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite pulled in a 0.35 rating, up from the 0.26 rating that the show did last week.
AEW Dynamite featured such as The Inner Circle vs. The Elite the main event, Luchasaurus and Jungle Boy vs. The Butcher and The Blade, Lucha Bros vs. Best Friends, the debut of Matt Hardy, Brodie Lee’s reveal as the Exalted One, and Hikaru Shida vs. Kris Statlander vs. Penelope Ford vs. Riho.
Former WCW President and co-host of the 83 Weeks podcast Eric Bischoff recently discussed the announcement that WrestleMania 36 will be taking place over two nights. For the first time ever, WWE’s biggest show of the year will take place without any fans in attendance. This is of course due to the current COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak that has completely changed the state of live entertainment and sports over the past few weeks.
Eric Bischoff on WrestleMania
Bischoff talked about the lack of audience for the show on After 83 Weeks with Christy Olson. “Oftentimes I’m asked how important the audience is to the show itself” Bischoff would begin. “One of the things that I’ve said over the last three decades, and when I got that question was; someone told me once that, and I don’t know if this is true, someone told me once that Elvis Presley said that the most important part of any of his shows was the audience.”
“the audience is like the third or the fourth person in the ring”
Eric Bischoff
Eric Bischoff elaborated further, saying “that always stuck with me. Whenever I could keep the audience alive, with the Nitro girls etc. All those decisions were probably born out of the fact that it made a lot of sense to me. That the audience is like the third or the fourth person in the ring. You’ve got the two combatants, if it’s a singles match, you’ve got the referee, and then you’ve got the audience. So there’s really five characters, you know, or four characters on the show to draw an analogy, or to draw a kind of example.”
Unprecedented WrestleMania
Bischoff finished by saying “I would say just imagine, just close your eyes, use your imagination. Take the best WrestleMania match you can you can imagine, whatever you think your favourite WrestleMania matches are. Now have that match in a high school gym in front of no people. I’ve used that analogy over and over and over again over the last 10-20 years. I never would have imagined that we’d be sitting here, you know, discussing the fact that this WrestleMania is going to take place.”
Baron Corbin is regularly featured on WWE TV and the former US Champion is presented as one of the top heels of the company on the regular programming.
However, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of room for advancement in his current role within the company and it appears that the Lone Wolf is frustrated with this situation.
Baron Corbin recently appeared on the After The Bell podcast where he said that he wants the spot in the company where top guys like Brock Lesnar and The Rock would want to work with him and discussed how he is frustrated in his current situation:
“I want that spot [with Lesnar and The Rock]. That’s why it’s a double-edged sword for me because you [WWE] put me up there at the top but you’re not handing me the ball.
Give me the ball, so now I’m frustrated going, ‘What do I got to do to take that?’ And then I’ve finished with Roman, so I have to cycle back through, so now I’ve got to scratch and claw to get back to that top spot.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Corbin mentioned how he has spent the last 18 months headlining live events against the likes of Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns but he still doesn’t feel like the company has “handed him the ball” to become one of their top guys.
With WWE having split WrestleMania 36 across two days, fans have been naturally wondering what matches will be taking place on what day. WWE.com has now revealed when fans can expect specific matches to take place. At the time of writing, each WrestleMania 36 match preview on WWE’s official website stated the date.
As it stands, the WWE Universe can expect Brock Lesnar’s WWE Championship defense against Drew McIntyre to close Saturday, April 4. The WWE Universal Championship match between Goldberg and Roman Reigns will round out the weekend on Sunday, April 5.
WrestleMania Schedule
The current card, per WWE.com, looks like this:
Saturday, April 4th, 2020
WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Drew McIntyre
NXT Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Charlotte Flair
The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles
Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins
Sunday, April 5th, 2020
WWE Universal Championship: Bill Goldberg (c) vs. Roman Reigns
RAW Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Shayna Baszler
John Cena vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt
It’s worth noting that, although each match is listed as taking place at the WWE Performance Center, WWE intends to broadcast WrestleMania from multiple locations.
WrestleMania 36 was initially intended to take place at Raymond James Stadium on April 5. It will now take place on April 4 and April 5. The decision to relocate was made due to the current coronavirus pandemic.
While WWE has scaled back its operations significantly, the company is still producing shows which means that a number of WWE personnel still have to travel and come in contact with other staff members.
This has made many wonder what precautions the company is
taking and whether the staff members are tested in any way before entering the
facility for the shows.
When asked about the same, the company released the following statement to Sports Illustrated, revealing that all staff members are required to participate in medical screenings prior to entering the Performance Center:
“In consultation with WWE Medical Director Dr. Maroon, WWE Associate Medical Director Dr. Dugas and ringside physician Dr. Westerfield, as a best practice and precautionary measure all WWE performers and staff are required to participate in medical screenings prior to entering WWE’s training center, which is now operating as a closed set,”
The site also notes that the company has established a
series of protocols to minimize the risks and protect its staff. The protocols
are based on guidelines set by the World Health Organization and the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention.
Though due to the lack of testing for people who are in
need, the sources say that WWE is not testing people who are not showing
symptoms of the infection.
Fans who were excited for WrestleMania will unfortunately not be able to attend the show this year because it has been moved to Performance Center and it appears that the former Women’s Champion Sasha Banks understands their disappointment.
The Boss recently made an Instagram post where she addressed the WWE Universe. The former Champion said that it hurts to know that fans who planned to go to the Show Of Shows whole year won’t be able to attend the PPV.
However, she explained that the priority right now is
everyone’s health and Sasha Banks claimed that they will do their best to put
on a show which is worthy of the fans:
“It breaks my heart to know that fans won’t be able to attend #WrestleMania They aren’t just there to watch the show, they’re a part of it! But priority #1 is everyone’s health. So on April 5th we will do our very best to put on a show worthy of our fans. Its what you deserve.”
Sasha Banks has not been announced for WrestleMania so far but she, alongside her partner Bayley, has been involved in a rivalry with the Women’s Tag Team Champions, The Kabuki Warriors in recent times.
While not confirmed, it’s believed that the two will be challenging the team of Asuka and Kairi Sane for the titles at the Grandest Stage Of Them All, which has been announced to be a 2 night event this year.
Former WWE Superstar Ryback has slammed Vince McMahon during a recent episode of Shooting Blanks Wrestling Report Podcast with Raj Giri. Reacting to McMahon’s decision to continue with WrestleMania 36 despite the coronavirus pandemic, Ryback claimed how the WWE Chairman doesn’t care about anyone or anything except his bank account.
“At the end of the day, and this is just this is my personal opinion, Vince doesn’t give a f*ck about anyone except for his bank account” Ryback began. “That is me being there and talking to a lot of other people in different generations, at different times, that have worked there [WWE]. And just personally? Seeing how things operate and looking him in his eyes on many many occasions; and just instinctually knowing that I never want anything to do with this type of human being.”
Ryback’s Opinion
Ryback stressed that this was just his opinion. He noted how the coronavirus is a “real-life experience” that humanity is collectively going through. He then reiterated his feelings, noting that Vince McMahon will at least “pretend” to care.
“I think he will…he’ll pretend that he cares but I don’t see it,” Ryback said. “The fact that they haven’t seen the other sporting organisations step up and say ‘we’re going to take care of this?’ They’re trying to figure out ways to run everything still. So that should tell you all that you need to know.”
WrestleMania 36 will now take place in multiple locations on April 4 and April 5. The decision was made to relocate from Raymond James Stadium in the wake of current coronavirus concerns.
H/T to WrestlingNews for the transcription.
Posted March 19th, 2020 in News, WWE. Tagged: Ryback.
Eric Bischoff has praised the chemistry that existed between Steve Austin and Brian Pillman during their time as The Hollywood Blonds. The two tagged together during in WCW. Bischoff opened up about working with the duo during a recent episode of his podcast, 83 Weeks.
“I had the opportunities to kind of watch Brian and Steve backstage, not so much watching them in the ring. Which, is always fun to watch don’t get be wrong, but it was also fun watching them together backstage” Bischoff said. “They really enjoyed working together, the chemistry was great. Again, you know, similar personalities, different interests I’m sure but similar personalities in there.”
Eric Bischoff On Austin/Pillman’s Relationship
Eric Bischoff opened up about how Pillman could be “moody” from time to time. He explained, “It goes with the territory but for the most part, you know when you see these two guys together? They were cutting up. they were having a blast. You could tell the chemistry was there.”
He noted how the two weren’t merely “tolerating” each other. Instead, he could see how much they truly enjoyed hanging out and spending time together. Not only with their professional in-ring work but in travelling together and just hanging out. “It was great, great chemistry with amazing talent, which is why it stood out as much as it did.”
Teaming together as The Hollywood Blonds, Austin and Pillman won the WCW World Tag Team Championships and the NWA World Tag Team Championships.
While many people consider Baron Corbin to be a boring wrestler, it appears that the former World Champion and WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle believes different.
The Olympic Gold Medalist held another Q&A session from his official Facebook page recently where he answered questions like the best vacation place and more.
A fan asked which era was his favourite era of wrestling. Replying to it, Kurt Angle claimed that the Attitude Era was his favourite because it was very special and the wrestlers, fans and storylines of it were unparalleled.
Interestingly, when asked who is the best heel in the
business right now, he took the name of The Lone Wolf: “Baron Corbin is a
great heel. He is genuinely hated by fans.”
Apart from this, Kurt Angle revealed which three things he will take with him if he had to go to a deserted island and answered a question about preparing for a moonsault off the cage. You can check out his post below:
The former WWE star had also discussed Cody Rhodes’ Evolution and revealed which weapon he thinks is the worst to be hit by in another Q&A which you can check out here.
What do you think about Kurt Angle’s remarks about Baron
Corbin being the best heel in the business right now? Let us know your thoughts
in the comment section below.
WWE Hall of Famer and current RAW commentator Jerry “The King” Lawler opened up about working in front of zero fans during an interview with USA Today’s Commercial Appeal. He also broached the idea of WWE piping in crowd noise to help create some atmosphere.
Lawler admitted that performing in front of empty arenas is WWE’s biggest obstacle right now. He pointed at how fan reaction helped let Superstars know whether they are doing a good job or not.
“That’s our obstacle [now],” Lawler said. “How do you entertain when you don’t have a live audience? That’s how you judge whether you’re being entertaining or not — the crowd response. When nobody’s there, you can’t tell.”
Jerry Lawler On Crowd Noise
Regarding WWE utilizing crowd noise to create a sense of atmosphere, Jerry Lawler believes it might benefit the current television product. He reflected on a past empty arena matchup between himself and Terry Funk. He shared how they wrestled at about 1 in the afternoon and, during the middle of the match, he couldn’t help but feel stupid.
“When I go back and think about it, I do remember, right in the middle of the match, I thought, ‘This feels stupid.’ He’s throwing me into empty chairs and those sorts of things. There’s no fans screaming, no background noise at all. It just made you feel kind of dumb.”
Lawler continued, “I’ve been to [football] training camps where the players go through their practice sessions with loud music or crowd noise piped in. I don’t think it would hurt anything at all if they piped in some crowd noise behind the matches. And even explain it to the fans. It’ll make the matches more entertaining and it’ll make it easier for the performers themselves.”
WrestleMania 36 now takes place across two days on April 4 and April 5 from multiple locations. The decision was made to relocate from Raymond James Stadium due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
SmackDown Superstar Sonya Deville recently spoke to With Spandexwhere she discussed entertaining people during the coronavirus pandemic. Deville has yet to participate in an empty arena matchup. That hasn’t changed how she would approach such a challenge, however. She observed how wrestling in front of zero people is a testament to the Superstars’ talent and charisma.
“I think it’s just really a testament to everyone’s talent and charisma, that they’re able to perform literally in front of nobody,” Deville said. “And that’s what wrestling and WWE is based off of. It’s based off of fan and crowd interaction, we feel your guys’ energy every single weekend.”
She continued, “That’s what drives us to do a lot of what we do. And so now it’s a completely different game. And just watching the superstars adjust and make that adjustment so smooth and still be entertaining is mind blowing to me. It’s awesome.”
Sonya Deville On Facing Becky Lynch
Sonya Deville also addressed her dream opponent, current RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch. She reflected on the promo she cut about being a rising star on WWE’s The Bump, admitting she didn’t expect the reaction it garnered.
“So I cut that little promo after she said that I was a rising star on The Bump, and so I took it and ran with it and I didn’t expect it to go as viral as it did. And I was like, “Wow, okay. Maybe there’s something here. Maybe people want to see me versus Becky.” So maybe we’ll give people what they want one day.”
At the time of writing, Sonya Deville has yet to be scheduled a matchup at WrestleMania 36. The event now takes place across two days on April 4 and April 5 from multiple locations.
WWE Superstar and former WWE 24/7 Champion R-Truth has explained how WWE is one of the most “forgiving” places to work. Speaking with the NotSam Wrestling Podcast, R-Truth reflected how, during his first run in WWE as K-Kwik, he was possibly too outspoken. Upon leaving in 2002, he was worried he had done irreparable damage between himself and the company.
“I thought I broke that bridge” R-Truth revealed. “One thing about this company [WWE] they give you. They let you go mature.”
He continued, “[…] this is one of the most forgiving places where. I probably thought I would never, ever have a chance to come back. But they [WWE], they know you make mistakes. They know you sometimes have to mature.”
R-Truth’s Departure And Return
R-Truth was used sporadically during his time with WWE in the early 2000s. He was in a tag team with Road Dogg and also participated in WWE’s Hardcore division of the time.
After leaving WWE, he joined Total Nonstop-Action Wrestling (TNA) where he would win multiple championships. During his time there, he won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and NWA World Tag Team Championships. R-Truth would eventually re-sign with WWE in 2008.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) was one of the first wrestling companies to cancel a major event in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The outbreak began as NJPW were gearing up for their annual New Japan Cup tournament.
New Japan’s Kota Ibushi recently sat down for an interview with njpw1972.com. During their conversation, Ibushi addressed the coronavirus and shared his thoughts on wrestling in front of empty venues in the way AEW and WWE have been doing.
“There’s a lot of different ways of thinking about it, but [in complete honestly,] I’m not a fan of empty arenas,” Ibushi admitted. “There’s, of course, a lot of merit to watching video, and you can get a closer sense of the action in the ring perhaps.”
“The thing is though, I’m not really about showing off what moves I can do. I want to be engaging a live crowd. In that sense, I really don’t see the point of running events if there aren’t going to be any people there.”
Kota Ibushi shared how he had previously wrestled in an empty arena during his time with Japanese promotion DDT. He joked how the empty arena wasn’t “by design” and that the show had started without any fans turning up.
WWE Superstar Randy Orton is preparing to face off against his former-Rated RKO tag team partner Edge at WrestleMania 36. Fans may not know it, however, looking at the recent posters advertising the event.
WrestleMania 36 will now take place across two nights. WWE shared an image to their social media, hyping the news. Newly announced Host of WrestleMania, Rob Gronkowski, is presented front and center. Randy Orton, however, is missing. Other Superstars featured include John Cena, Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre. RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and the WWE Champion, Brock Lesnar are also present.
Taking to his Instagram account, Orton shared his thoughts on being overlooked, writing: “Well ain’t that some bullshit. #letmecounttheways”
This past week on Monday Night RAW, Edge challenged Randy Orton to a Last Man Standing matchup. Despite being planned to continue without an audience, the two are expected to clash on the “Grandest Stage of them All.”
Originally meant to emanate from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, WrestleMania 36 will now take place across April 4 and April 5 from multiple locations. The WWE Performance Center has already been confirmed as being one of the sites.
This decision was made due to the current coronavirus pandemic, which has affected events, conventions and sports worldwide.
The Rock faced Hulk Hogan in one of the biggest dream matches of all time at WrestleMania 18 where the Great One defeated the Immortal in a one on one bout.
During a recent Q&A session on his official Instagram page, the Hollywood star reflected on his match with Hogan and revealed how the bout came about.
The former World Champion revealed that Vince McMahon had reached him out to take The Rock’s opinion on bringing Hulk back into the company. This is when he first mentioned about the match between the two legends:
“About six months before the match happened, Vince McMahon came to me and said, ‘How do you feel about bringing Hulk Hogan back?'” recalled the Rock. “I think Hogan had left WWE on not so great terms. He asked, ‘How do you feel about bringing Hogan back?’
I said, ‘How does the locker room feel?’ He said, ‘I talked to a few locker room leaders and it’s mixed.’ I said, ‘I love it. I think having him back is intriguing and very selfishly, I would like to wrestle him.’ He said, ‘Funny you say that. I have a match in mind. You vs. Hogan at WrestleMania.'”
According to the Rock, he loved the idea of having the match with the former face of WWE and he immediately started seeing the build-up and the intrigue for the fans in his mind.
The People’s Champion then asked McMahon about possibly bringing back the other nWo members in Scott Hall and Kevin Nash too and Vince McMahon said that he was going to bring them back as well.
CM Punk had recently said that he would consider a wrestling return against the right opponent and one of the names he mentioned as a potential rival he has never faced was the current NJPW star Will Ospreay.
The former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion responded to these comments from the former WWE Champion recently. He challenged Punk with the following tweet, while also taking a shot at his current WWE backstage gig:
Will Ospreay recently defeated Zack Sabre Jr to win the British Heavyweight Championship and announced moving to the heavyweight division of NJPW after spending almost 4 years in the junior heavyweight division.
When discussing opponents he never faced during his pro wrestling career, the former Champion had named Will Ospreay as one of the people he would like to wrestle with:
“For people I haven’t ever wrestled before, I think Will
Ospreay, I would listen to your idea. There’s a lot of moving parts. I’m busy
doing other stuff and nobody has found the right combination of ways to
approach me”
With Ospreay making his mark on NJPW, and CM Punk working on WWE Backstage, a face-off between the two in near future looks very unlikely. Though it’s still possible if Ospreay joins WWE in future and Punk makes his return to the company.
Would you like to see a match between the current British Heavyweight Champion and the Best In The World? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
D-Von Dudley reflected on the impact of the TLC matchup between the Dudleyz, The Hardyz and Edge and Christian during a recent interview. Speaking with The Outlaws Radio Show, D-Von noted how they were treated like “rock stars” following the match up.
“We really couldn’t go anywhere without having to shut things down. My 15 minutes of fame I’m happy to say that it was worth it with all the abuse that I took over the years from ECW, the WWE and of course unfortunately I’d like to say sometimes TNA…Aces and Eights, that was greatest thing that came out of that, but for the most part, we had fun.”
He continued, “We did what we did and we had fun. We created history and if wasn’t for us, Edge & Christian, The Hardyz and The Dudleyz there would be no PPV called TLC and if it wasn’t for ECW and what we did, there would be no Attitude Era.”
D-Von On Changing The Business Forever
D-Von explained how their TLC match led to a resurgence in tag team wrestling. He also noted how tag team wrestling is “somewhat of a lost art nowadays” on WWE’s product. He argued how WWE has always been a “singles man competition” before listing notable teams throughout the decades. D-Von stated how teams had to fight to earn a position in WWE and get respect.
“You had to be somebody and I think when the Hogan and Andre era was gone, I think people thought that tag team wrestling was really a lost art until six guys that were unknown came in and changed the face of tag team wrestling and that’s exactly what we did.”
The first-ever TLC matchup took place at SummerSlam back in 2000. Edge and Christian would emerge victorious after their famous Triple Threat match with The Hardyz and Dudleyz.
However, the show was broadcasted without any fans in
attendance due to coronavirus threats and one thing the fans noted was that
throughout the episode, the graphics for future matches were listed as ‘next
dynamite’ instead of ‘next week’.
This made many fans wonder if the show was going on a hiatus but. As of this writing, AEW is still scheduled to be broadcasted live on TNT next week. The production team wanted to get through this week’s episode of the show and “not be so arrogant as to assume” that they will be back live on TV next week. Things are changing rapidly due to the Coronavirus outbreak. As a result, nothing is guaranteed.
The company officials, including president Tony Khan believes that the situation should not be taken for granted. They did not want to come across as if anything was guaranteed and so the decision was made to list everything for the ‘next dynamite’.
The current plan is to go forward with the show as planned if they can broadcast Dynamite next week. In case the show is postponed, the company plans to pick things up where they left off as soon as they are allowed to do so.
WWE made the interesting announcement recently that WrestleMania 36 will be broadcasted in two parts on Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5, from multiple locations.
The broadcast from multiple locations will actually make the production easier for WWE. The company has been very careful about having only a limited number of personnel for tapings at the performance center. This the reason why big-name talents like Edge and Randy Orton are being cycled on the show instead of making same night appearances.
WWE has taken the CDC’s social distancing edicts very seriously and they have only brought in a restricted number of talents for the shows despite the fact that many of them live locally in the Tampa and Orlando area.
Broadcasting WrestleMania from a singular location in one
day would cause a lot of production issues for the company in terms of managing
so many talents, producers and staff members who would have to gather at the
same place for the show.
The multiple locations will also allow the company to switch
places during the broadcast and keep the show from looking and feeling
‘monotonous’.
This can also allow the company to pre-tape segments and even matches for WrestleMania since a closed set would make it easier for them to stop the spoilers from leaking.
There is no word yet on what other locations the company could use but Titan Tower and WWE HQ in Stamford, and the 3-D suite in the Performance Center are some of the locations they control and could film the show in.
They can also lean on their relationships with Fox Network or NBC Universal for assistance in finding places and possibly set material outdoors, allowing them to use pyro the fans have come to expect from the show of the caliber of WrestleMania.
Hardy made an appearance on their weekly television show, Dynamite, on Wednesday after the main event that saw The Inner Circle beat The Elite in a six-man tag team match.
This has been speculated for quite some time. Matt Jackson noted that someone owed him a favor, which led to Hardy being shown in the crowd. With Nick Jackson being at home to be with his family, Hardy will join The Elite to take on The Inner Circle next week in the Blood & Guts Match.
Matt Hardy already has two new t-shirts available at ShopAEW.com.
You can watch Matt Hardy’s AEW debut below:
Matt Hardy’s Road to AEW
On March 2nd, it was teased during the latest episode of Being The Elite that Hardy could be going to AEW. The episode featured Matt Jackson getting a call from a 910 area code. This is the code for North Carolina, which is where Hardy lives.
Fast forward to the tenth episode of Free The Delete, The Young Bucks drove to Hardy’s house with Hardy stating that he knew they would come. They later helped bury Hardy.
Hardy’s contract with WWE expired on March 1st, which is when he became a free agent. It was reported before he hit the market that the major hurdle between the two sides is how he would be used going forward, not money. Thus, the reason why he hadn’t signed a new deal.
WWE has been throwing out big money offers to re-sign its talent to longer deals than in previous years with most current deals seeing a star stay under contract for five years.
AEW Dynamite aired live from Jacksonville tonight at Daily’s Place. The Exalted One was revealed during tonight’s episode.
Dynamite Results (3/18)
Lucha Bros def Best Friends
Hikaru Shida def. Penelope Ford, Riho, and Kris Statlander
Jurassic Express def. Butcher & Blade
Brodie Lee is the Exalted One
Inner Circle def. The Elite
Here are 6 takeaways from this week’s show:
Cody Asked The Elite To Put Their Differences Aside
Cody Rhodes
Cody kicked off the show by speaking to the audience at home. Cody said that us as human beings need to stand together and for many of us that will mean standing at a distance. He stated that he refuses to live in fear because that is not living at all.
He claimed that Matt Jackson’s anger towards Hangman Adam Page was misplaced and he needs him at his best at Blood & Guts. Cody added that he is tired of putting over Hangman Page and challenged him to be the difference maker at Blood & Guts.
Cody said that he needs the real Kenny Omega, the best bout machine. He stated that he needs The Elite to be elite. Matt Jackson and Kenny Omega joined Cody in the ring. Omega claimed that they don’t know if they will even had a Dynamite next week but he would want to go out how they came in, as The Elite.
Matt wondered where Hangman was and looked around the empty arena. Page showed up with a glass of whiskey on the ramp and Matt asked Hangman if he will stand with them tonight and at Blood & Guts. Page raised his glass and said “yep” before heading backstage. Hangman shouted to hit the pyro and Dynamite began.
Lucha Bros battled Best Friends tonight on Dynamite. Orange Cassidy joined commentary for the match. Several wrestlers were in the crowd as MJF and Spears were shown gambling on the action.
Match Recap: MJF started up a “lets go bad guys!” chant as Fenix beat down Trent to start things off. Trent battled back and hit Double Knees and followed it up with a boot to the back of Ray’s head. Chuck tagged in and slammed Ray Fenix to the canvas.
Fenix finally battled back and hit Trent with a few chops to the chest. Pentagon tagged in and hit Trent with a Superkick. Lucha Bros connected Trent with stereo kicks to the face for a near fall. MJF and Spears enjoyed some wine as Fenix booted Chuck off the apron.
Orange Cassidy stood up and distracted Lucha Bros. Trent took out Pentagon with a Suicide Dive as Chuck leveled Fenix with a Clothesline. Back in the ring, Trent connected with a Tornado DDT and tagged Chuck back in. Chuck planted Fenix with a Backbreaker. Best Friends opted not to hug and rubbed elbows instead. Lucha Bros leveled them with a couple of Superkicks as Orange Cassidy left the announce desk.
Orange Cassidy put his hands in his pockets and hit Lucha Bros with a Crossbody. Chuck hit Pentagon with a Piledriver for a two count. Pentagon pinned Trent after a low blow to pick up the win and MJF won his bet against Spears.
After the match, Tony interviewed Best Friends on the stage. Best Friends told Death Triangle to meet them in the parking lot next week for a Street Fight.
HikaruShida Remains The Top Contender For The AEW Women’s Championship
Penelope Ford, Riho, Kris Statlander, Hikaru Shida competed in a 4-Way match tonight on Dynamite.
Match Recap: Penelope went right after Riho start it off and sent her flying out of the ring. Kip Sabian dragged Shida and Statlander out of the ring and they responded with a couple punches to the face. Riho climbed to the top rope and took everyone out with a Crossbody. Statlander planted Riho with a Backbreaker and set her up on the turnbuckle. Shida then Suplexed Statlander onto Riho. Kris battled back with a massive Clothesline. Penelope went for a Hurricanrana and completely missed.
Ford and Riho teamed up for a second to hit Shida with a Suplex. Riho launched off Penelope and hit Kip with a knee to the face. Kris lifted Riho up in the Electric Chair and slammed her onto Shida. Penelope planted Statlander and knocked her out of the ring. Shida planted Penelope with the Falcon Arrow for a near fall. Shida followed it up with a running knee to the face.After the match, Colt Cabana was interviewed ringside. He dissed Kip and Sabian got in his face. Colt slapped him and Kip retreated with Penelope Ford.
The Butcher and The Blade squared off against Jurassic Express. MJF handed Butcher and Blade some cash and said “daddy needs a win”.
Match Recap: Jungle Boy hit Blade with an Arm Drag but Blade caught him with a knee to the midsection. Luchasaurus tagged in and slammed Blade to the canvas for a one count. Jungle Boy went for a Crossbody but Butcher & Blade caught him and threw him into the barricade.
Back in the ring, Butcher tagged in and hit Jungle Boy with a headbutt. Butcher followed it up with a massive chop and tagged Blade back in. Blade hit Jungle Boy with a Backbreaker and went for the cover for a two count. Luchasaurus finally got a tag and took out Butcher with a boot to the face. Luchasaurus went for a Moonsault and came up a bit short on Butcher outside the ring. Back in the ring, Jungle Boy hit Blade with a Cutter. Luchasaurus pinned Blade for the victory.
Dark Order came down to the ring and claimed that the Exalted One is near and will bring new life to the Dark Order. Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels interrupted and said that they were sick of Evil Uno’s lies.
Daniels stated that Uno hasn’t made anyone’s lives any better in Dark Order and has just been wasting everyone’s time. Daniels shouted that there is no Exalted One before music hit. The Exalted One spoke in an altered voice and said that Dark Order will do what they want when they want.
The Exalted One then took off his hood and it was revealed to be Brodie Lee. Brodie introduced himself to Christopher Daniels and announced himself as the Exalted One. Brodie then said to Daniels that he is not the first out of touch old man to not believe in him. Brodie then appeared and the ring and leveled Daniels with a big boot and a Clothesline.
Opinion: I loved this segment and Brodie’s shot at Vince McMahon was epic. The wrestlers serving as the crowd has added so much to show and hopefully WWE does something similar going forward.
Inner Circle (Jake Hager, Santana, and Ortiz) battled The Elite ( Cody, Hangman Adam Page, and Matt Jackson) in the main event tonight. Sammy Guevara and Kenny Omega were ringside for the match. Chris Jericho joined commentary as Sammy Guevara and MJF sang along to Judas. The winner of the match will get the advantage at Blood & Guts next week.
Match Recap: Cody planted Ortiz with a Suplex and tagged Matt in. Matt got in some offense before Hangman tagged himself in. Page leveled Santana with a Clothesline for a near fall. Cody tagged in and walked into a Clothesline from Santana. Ortiz slammed Cody into the apron as Dynamite went to a commercial break.
Hager had Cody in a Wrist Lock when AEW returned from commercial. Ortiz tagged and rolled up Cody for a near fall. Cody battled back with Cross Rhodes but couldn’t make the cover. Cody crawled towards the corner but Hager tagged in. Cody Clotheslined Hager to the outside as Santana knocked The Elite off the apron.
Hangman tagged in and hit Ortiz with a big boot and followed it up with a Clothesline. Hangman planted Santana with a Fallaway Slam and then hit a Crossbody on Hager outside the ring. Back in the ring, Hangman hit a Clothesline on Santana for a two count. Cody took out Ortiz with a Suicide Dive and threw him over the barricade and onto MJF.
Wardlow grabbed Cody’s throat and Arn Anderson hit Wardlow with his notepad. Back in the ring, Matt hit Santana with three Northern Lights Suplexes in a row. Page and Matt teamed up and planted Hager with a Northern Lights Suplex. They went for the Indie Taker but Hager tripped up Hangman. Santana then rolled up Matt for the victory.
After the match, Chris Jericho grabbed a microphone and started mocking The Elite. Jericho claimed that he is banning all fans from Dynamite until he says so. Jericho boasted about attacking Nick Jackson and flipped The Elite the bird. Hager did some pushups as Sammy was on his back. Chris added that Inner Circle hasn’t done anything besides win and dominate The Elite. Jericho asked Sammy to tell the world how sexy he is and Guevara started hitting on Brandi. A drone flew over the ring as Matt stated that The Elite isn’t outnumbered. The drone (Vanguard 1) landed in the ring and Matt said he made a call to a friend. Matt Hardy was then shown standing above the ring and made the delete motion to close the show.
Opinion: Dynamite was a WONDERFUL show tonight and it is great to see Brodie Lee & Matt Hardy in AEW. The entire show tonight was entertaining and I’m looking forward to the Blood & Guts match and the Street Fight next week as well.
