Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide will be running a show at Madison Square Garden on September 15, becoming the second non-WWE promotion to run The Garden this year.
WWE’s lock on MSG for the past six decades came to a grinding halt after ROH and NJPW secured the venue for this Saturday’s G1 Supercard on the eve of WrestleMania. While both Impact Wrestling and All Elite Wrestling have a working relationship with AAA, their involvement in this event remains unknown so far.
Speaking of Impact Wrestling, Ed Nordholm and Scott D’Amore were both in attendance for the AAA press conference announcing this event so it is looking likely that Impact will somehow piggyback on this event to get some of its talent on the show.
Tickets for the AAA show go on sale on May 4 on Ticketmaster.com.
Hulk Hogan will be at the WWE Hall of Fame induction ceremony to induct his friend Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake in the class of 2019.
The two share a very long history together with Beefcake, real name Ed Leslie, beginning his career at Hogan’s side in 1977. Beefcake and Hogan teamed up in 1989 to main event SummerSlam against Macho Man Randy Savage and Zeus on the heels of the movie No Holds Barred. They teamed up four years later as The Mega Maniacs as they went after Money Inc’s Tag Team titles at WrestleMania IX in Las Vegas.
But their relationship turned sour in 2017 when Beefcake was writing his biography book and told Hogan to “Hold onto your bandana Brother it’s about to get real!” Hogan eventually replied telling him that his bandana was glued on and to get a good lawyer. A year later, the two patched things up and buried the hatchet.
Hogan is the only one so far announced for the ceremony as those who will induct the remaining individuals have yet to be announced.
Several WWE Superstars showed up on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon last night to promote WrestleMania and do promos written beforehand by kids!
Braun Strowman, Carmella, Drew McIntyre, Alexa Bliss, Kofi Kingston and Seth Rollins all were present on stage as one by one they came out to their theme song to read taunts submitted by kids to see how “terrifying” – and funny – they would sound read by a WWE Superstar.
Before they cut to commercial following the segment which ended with a plug for WrestleMania on the WWE Network, all six Superstars turned their smiles into serious faces and surrounded Fallon.
The WrestleMania 35 go-home episode of Smackdown did 2,141,000 viewers on Tuesday, down 252,000 viewers from last week’s show. This was the least-watched episode of Smackdown since the February 12 episode, which isn’t great news with just days away from WrestleMania.
Smackdown was #2 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic and #9 in overall viewership for the night on cable. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Lights, cameras, and action are three of the most important factors in a WWE show but things would be really different if there wasn’t music as the fourth factor.
Every year, NXT Takeover and WrestleMania have a couple of songs named as official theme songs for the shows and this year is obviously no different.
For NXT Takeover: New York, a song by Disturbed and another by Billie Eilish will serve as the official songs for the event. The song by Disturbed is called Are You Ready, their first single off of their 2018 album Evolution. The song reached the #1 spot on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart and #5 on Billboard’s Rock Digital Songs Sales chart. The other song is You Should See Me In A Crown by Eilish. It was released in July 2018 and reached #7 in the Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart.
WrestleMania also has two songs which are being promoted as official theme songs. The song Work, released this year by hip-hop artist Chris Classic, is being used in the countdown videos while Love Runs Out by OneRepublic and released in 2014, is the other song being used. The song reached the #15 spot in the Billboard Hot 100.
A&E Network is partnering up with WWE Studios to produce five original two-hour documentaries under the award-winning “Biography” banner showcasing some of the most iconic WWE Superstars of all time, including Macho Man Randy Savage, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Booker T, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels.
“We are thrilled for the tremendous opportunity to partner with WWE Studios to produce these special films that honor some of the most impactful personalities who have left a lasting imprint on pop culture,” said Elaine Frontain Bryant, Executive Vice President and Head of Programming, A&E Network.
Susan Levison, Senior Vice President & Head of WWE Studios said that this project further solidifies WWE Studios’ commitment to deliver new programming across genres and platforms.
The first three films, currently in pre-production and slated to air in Spring 2020 and will tackle Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, and Booker T.
The Savage biography is directed by Billy Corben. Piper’s bio is helmed by Emmy and Peabody Award winner Joe Lavine, while Booker T’s bio is directed by Emmy and Peabody Award winner George Roy
Directors for Biography: Stone Cold Steve Austin and Biography: Shawn Michaels will be announced at a later date. These films are slated to air in 2021.
The celebrated ‘Biography’ brand continues to highlight newsworthy personalities and events with compelling and surprising points-of-view and remains the defining source for true stories from some of the most accomplished non-fiction storytellers of our time. Extensive on-air and branded digital content, including short form, will roll-out on all platforms, including Biography.com, the home to hundreds of profiles of notable cultural figures and influencers.
As it’s the case every year, thousands of tickets for NXT, Hall of Fame, WrestleMania, Raw, and Smackdown are resold on secondary-market ticket websites, and most of the time, these tickets are usually sold for much more than their face value.
NXT Takeover seats in the 200 Level, which is the upper part of the arena, are going for at least $170 and some ringside seats selling for over $600. The Hall of Fame ceremony looks to be a money-losing exercise for ticket scalpers with tickets going as cheap as $26 and just over $200 for floor seats. It’s also the event with the most listings for the weekend.
For WrestleMania, seats in the rafters are selling for over $150, more than three times as much as they are face value. Tickets in the 100 Level which have a face value of a minimum of $250 are selling for over $500 each while some ringside seats are selling for as much as $8,000.
Upper level seats for Raw are over $100 and lower level seats priced at over $200. Ringside seats range from $250 to over $2,000. Smackdown is slightly cheaper with $40 seats in the upper level and mid $100s for lower level seats. Ringside seats are going from $200 to $600.
Buying tickets from certain websites is a risk and there have been several problems in the past with fake tickets so be careful if you are going to go this route to get your tickets for the weekend.
This year’s WWE Superstars for Hope campaign will benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of America with several auctions running until Tuesday, April 9 at charitybuzz.com/wwe.
“WWE is dedicated to using the power of our brand and platforms to leave a lasting, positive impression on our youth,” said Stephanie McMahon, WWE Chief Brand Officer. “We are proud to once again partner with Boys & Girls Clubs of America during the Superstars for Hope campaign to continue their efforts to help put young people on the path to great futures.”
Jim Clark, President & CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of America, added, “WWE continues to provide memorable experiences for our kids and teens while teaching them to be kind and have respect for others,” says “The Superstars for Hope Fundraiser has become very beneficial for our youth. With WWE’s support, kids and teens will have the tools and skills to eradicate bullying in their communities.”
The online auction highlights include a meet & greet with Mr. McMahon before a WWE event, Becky Lynch taking over your Twitter account for a day, tour of WWE Headquarters hosted by Stephanie McMahon, a meeting with Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart in Tampa plus two tickets to WrestleMania 36, lunch with WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair and Charlotte Flair, a meeting with Ronda Rousey before Raw, and much more.
If you’re in town for WrestleMania, chances are you will buy some kind of merchandise. In the case of a lot of people, there will be a lot of spending on t-shirts, replica titles, hats, and whatever WWE puts out as wearables.
This year, the WrestleMania Superstore returns at the site of Axxess. The store opens today and will stay open until Monday, April 8. No ticket is required to enter the store. Today, the store is open from Noon to 11PM, on Friday from 10AM to 11PM, on Saturday from 8AM to 11PM, on Sunday from 8AM to 1PM, and on Monday from 10AM to 5PM.
On Thursday, Friday, and Monday there will be WWE Superstars holding autograph signings at the store. Due to high demand, the signing at the Superstore will be limited to 300 people. Wristbands will be given out beginning at 9AM in front of the Superstore entrance, so get there early to secure your place.
The Usos will be there on Thursday between 1PM and 3PM, Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins will appear on Friday between 11AM and 1PM, and Adam Cole will do Monday between 11AM and 1PM.
A store at the MetLife Stadium will also open on Saturday from 11AM to 4PM and Sunday from 11AM to 2PM. Store will reopen at 3:30PM to WrestleMania ticket holders only. A pop-up shop will also be setup at the Barclays Center that will sell merchandise. Opening hours are 2PM to 4PM on Thursday, 10AM to 11PM on Friday, 10AM to 11PM on Saturday, 10AM to 2PM on Sunday, 2PM to 11PM on Monday, and 2PM to 8PM on Tuesday.
Alternatively, you can order your WWE merchandise online and get them shipped to your hotel room. WWEShop will have special discounts that are not applicable at the Superstore. You can order online at http://w-o.it/wweshopcom.
WrestleMania Axxess kicks off today at the Brooklyn Pier 12 in Brooklyn, New York, bringing five days of meet and greets, matches, and memorabilia to the thousands of fans who have traveled for WrestleMania.
There is one session set for today which starts at 6PM and will run till 10PM. All three members of The New Day will be the VIP guests today at 6PM while Charlotte Flair will be the Premium VIP Superstar at 8PM. Only VIP and Premium VIP ticket holders will be able to meet them.
General admission ticket sessions will have meet and greets by Ember Moon, Ali, Samoa Joe, Bobby Lashley, Mandy Rose, Baron Corbin, Alexa Bliss, Aleister Black, Jinder Mahal, Shelton Benjamin and WWE Legends.
The main ring will also have four matches as part of the Worlds Collide WWE Network special. Today it will be current NXT stars taking on NXT Alumni and the matches are Roderick Strong vs Tyler Breeze, Dominik Dijakovic vs Luke Harper, SAnitY vs Undisputed Era, and Kassius Ohno vs Aiden English.
General admission tickets for WrestleMania Axxess can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com for $55 or at the door.
PWInsider.com is reporting that The Usos have signed a new deal with WWE, a few weeks before their current deal was set to expire at the end of this month.
Ryan Satin from ProWrestlingSheet.com adds to the story that the twin brothers inked a five-year contract after WWE managed to fend off interest from All Elite Wrestling. The new deal also comes with what really matters at the end of the day – a pay raise!
The 33-year-old brothers started their wrestling career with WWE in 2009, first in Florida Championship Wrestling and then moving to the main roster in 2010.
The Usos got themselves a match on the WrestleMania card on Tuesday although it remains to be seen if the match will be sent to the Kickoff show or not. It was only last year, after several years as part of the Kickoff shows, that The Usos made their WrestleMania main card debut.
Episode seven of season one of Miz & Mrs, titled Baby’s First SummerSlam, did 997,000 viewers, which is down 164,000 viewers from the last episode which aired last year as the mid-season finale. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Former World Heavyweight champion Rey Mysterio wrote in a post on social media that he suffered an injury on his right ankle this past Monday on Raw while wrestling Baron Corbin.
Mysterio also uploaded a slow-mo video, which apparently is used by WWE medical to assess injuries as it has a “Property of WWE” watermark, closely showing the nasty landing and impact on his ankle.
“Praying to be ready for Mania this Sunday,” Mysterio added. He is set to take on Samoa Joe for the United States title and now is in a race against time to get the all clear for the show.
Rob Van Dam has signed a new deal with Impact Wrestling and will be a regular in the company moving forward starting this month. The news was reported by SportingNews.com earlier today.
His first match back with the company is tomorrow at their iPPV United We Stand. He will team up with his former ECW team mate Sabu to take on the Impact Tag Team champions The Lucha Bros.
Speaking about the new deal, RVD told Sporting News that, “We have an agreement to where I will be sticking after the show on Thursday. It does have a beginning and an end, but they can extend, so this is something to start us off.” He will be at the upcoming television tapings on April 29 and at shows following that as a regular member of the roster.
“We will see how it goes. It’s a pretty friendly schedule, which has always been important to me. I want to be home more and on the road less,” the former WWE, ECW, and Impact champion continued.
RVD, now 48 years of age, wrestled for TNA between 2010 and 2013 so this is his second stint with the company. He is also a former TNA X Division champion.
Monday Night Raw drew an average of 2,639,000 viewers this week for the WrestleMania go-home episode, up 50,000 viewers from last week’s show.
Hour one started with 2,788,000 viewers, followed by 2,754,000 viewers in the second hour, and then down to 2,374,000 in the third and final hour. Raw lost 414,000 viewers from hour one to hour three.
Raw was #1, #2, and #3 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic and #3 in overall viewership for the night on cable. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross has signed a deal with All Elite Wrestling. The news came during the episode 10 of The Road to Double or Nothing on YouTube as Cody and the rest of the AEW staff tries to build the broadcast team for their pay-per-view.
In the video, Cody showed up at JR’s house for an interview. JR goes over the tragedy of his wife and how he needed to get back in the game because he still has things to offer.
“Every time I had these heartbreak situations. Every time I have been down, the wrestling fans would pick me up. For whatever reason, we, meaning myself and the fanbase, have connected. In the wrestling business, the fans become your family,” Ross said.
Ross said there’s nothing in his life that will make him happier than what he’s about to do. He said he wants to be a role model to the roster and the opportunity to do something new, representing something new with fresh ideas, was something he couldn’t pass up.
“I wasn’t ready to throw my hat away. I wanna play,” JR continued.
Cody finished up the video with the producer asking him why is he so set on Jim Ross. “Because he’s Jim f***ing Ross,” Cody bluntly answers.
In the press release that followed, It’s stated that Ross signed a three-year deal with AEW in the role of Senior Advisor. “Effective immediately, Ross will take on the role as Senior Advisor in what is the most lucrative deal in pro wrestling commentary history,” the PR said.
WWE will be taking over the New York and New Jersey area this week with dozens of events leading up to WrestleMania.
Today, EC3, Lacey Evans, Ember Moon, and Johnny Gargano will visit the Hackensack Children’s Hospital while WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Sasha Banks and Bayley, Steve Cutler, Wesley Blake and Jaxson Ryker will visit the Brooklyn Children’s Hospital. Also, a Special Olympics Unified Basketball game will be held at the Patterson Boys & Girls Club with Renee Young hosting the event. The Big Show, Ricochet, Kacy Catanzaro and Dana Warrior will serve as honorary coaches.
On Thursday, Carmella, Titus O’Neil, Mojo Rawley and Dana Warrior will lead a Zumba class at Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City to support the Susan G. Komen campaign. Scheduled for Thursday as well is a New York Jets Uniform Reveal with Nia Jax, Braun Strowman and Dana Brooke at Gotham Hall.
On Friday, Stephanie McMahon, Renee Young, Roman Reigns, Daniel Bryan, Elias, Nia Jax, and Dana Warrior will host pediatric patients from Hackensack Children’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital at Montefiore at the Hard Roc Cafe for the Connor’s Cure Kid Superstar Reveal event. Charlotte Flair, Rey Mysterio and Titus O’Neil will ring the NYSE closing bell on Friday as well while Daniel Bryan, Becky Lynch and Bobby Lashley will participate in the Empire State Building lighting ceremony sporting WrestleMania colors. The last community event on Friday is the Superstars for Hope reception with Stephanie McMahon, Ric Flair, Roman Reigns, The Bella Twins, Seth Rollins and more will walk the red carpet at ASPIRE at the One World Observatory.
On Saturday, Finn Balor, Sasha Banks, Bayley and Sin Cara will host 30 Wish kids and their families at the National Geographic Encounter with Greg Hamilton hosting the event. A Girl Up Leadership Summit will be held on Saturday at the USTA National Tennis Center with Stephanie McMahon and WWE Superstars appearing. The New York Mets will welcome Curt Hawkins, Mickie James, Drew McIntyre, and Corey Graves at Citi Field for the New York Mets vs. Washington Nationals game.
On Monday, Dana Warrior, Dasha Fuentes, Ali, Shelton Benjamin, Billie Kay and Peyton Royce will speak at the Be a STAR bullying prevention rally at the Brooklyn Navy Yard Boys & Girls Club. Lacey Evans and Titus O’Neil will head up the Hire Heroes USA Veteran Transition event where they will guide veterans on a shopping spree at Men’s Wearhouse followed by a trip to WWE’s New York City office to meet with Hire Heroes USA and WWE staff.
The last community event is on Tuesday at the P.S. 212 Jackson Heights where Carmella and R-Truth will host the UNICEF Kid Power Challenge.
For the most part of the past 15 years, on the Wednesday before WrestleMania, I wake up earlier than usual to start my 16-hour trip across the world to kick off my WrestleMania week.
Now I have traveled a lot, and still do to this day, but WrestleMania week is the one I look forward to the most every year. I get to see a lot of people like me, fans who spend their hard-earned money and splash it all in a few days for the love of wrestling.
Unfortunately this year, I am staying put and will be watching from home during the stupid hours at night. At least, toilet breaks will be easier and getting something to drink will be quick. The last time I missed WrestleMania was in 2015. Santa Clara did not sound that exciting to me to be honest and I also had some other priorities, which like this year, prevented me from the pilgrimage. I guess I have to wait for next year for my 15th WrestleMania.
The previous 14 WrestleManias I attended, the first one being 18 in Toronto, were always busy and I never really got to enjoy it just as a fan. Running a website and attending a WrestleMania weekend in reality is a nightmare. I’ve been to all WrestleManias since 18 apart from 21, 23, and 31.
It’s the busiest time of the wrestling calendar year so there is a lot going on and at the same time, you want to be out there enjoying the sights and sounds of the city, having a good time with other wrestling fans who come from all over the world.
But running a website and actually being in the host city for WrestleMania is a lot of work, more than can you imagine. You often have to spend more hours than you want in your hotel room in front of your laptop doing the updates. Or when an event you are attending finishes, you have to rush back to write a report or any news rather than stay out late drinking and having fun. Unless, of course, you hate life even more and decide to write such reports (with a spelling mistake here and there) on your cell phone and post it while you’re still in the arena. Hey, guilty as charged.
Or, for example, when you decide to run a couple of buses to the WrestleMania stadium or host a Jim Ross show at the hotel…things get even messier then. Especially the bus. You always get those people who are late, or those who even when they pay, they don’t show up. You waste time trying to track a few people down while the other 45 or so fans are sitting patiently (or not) waiting for the bus to start its engine. Waiting for fans on the bus after WrestleMania is over is even worse. Some people take their sweet time rather than hustling to the parking lot to try and avoid some traffic. It takes almost two hours to get back to the hotel after a WrestleMania.
It’s stressful. But at the end of the day, totally worth it.
I have total respect for those who go to WrestleMania and keep their websites updated while in the city. We’re all “rivals” but in reality, we’re all fans doing what we love. Hopefully, one day, when this is all over, I get to go to a WrestleMania, at least once, and enjoy it as a fan without needing to rush to my room to get behind a keyboard!
Yet another match has been added to WrestleMania 35 with the Smackdown Tag Team titles on the line in a fatal 4-way match.
The Usos, the reigning tag team champions, will be defending their titles against The Bar, Nakamura and Rusev, and Aleister Black and Ricochet.
The NXT duo make history this week because they had a title shot for the Raw titles on Monday, will get to wrestle for the NXT Tag Team titles at Takeover this Friday, and the Smackdown belts on Sunday, making them the only tag team to get a shot at all three Tag Team titles in the same week.
There are now 15 matches on the WrestleMania card but some of them will be “relegated” to the Kickoff show. The Raw Tag Team titles are also expected to be up for grabs on the show but that has not been announced yet.
Even before the first episode of the second half of season one airs tonight, Deadline.com is reporting that USA Network has picked up Miz & Mrs for season two, set to premiere in 2020 with another 20-episode order. The second half of season one will consist of 14 more episodes in addition to the six already aired.
Miz & Mrs was the network’s top unscripted launch in more than seven years so it’s not a complete surprise that USA Network opted to renew it. With the network losing Smackdown come October, it made sense for a renewal and keep another wrestling hit on their network.
Gil Goldschein, Farnaz Farjam-Chazan and Russell Jay will serve as executive producers for Bunim/Murray Productions, and Kevin Dunn serves as executive producer for WWE. The Miz and Maryse are also executive producers.
