26 competitors were added to the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, joining Braun Strowman and SNL’s Colin Jost and Michael Che who were already announced.
Matt Hardy, who won last year’s battle royal, is back in it while Jeff Hardy, who missed last year’s WrestleMania due to injury, is also part of the battle royal.
The new additions consist of Ali, Andrade, Apollo Crews, Bo Dallas, Bobby Roode, Chad Gable, Curtis Axel, EC3, Gran Metalik, Heath Slater, Jeff Hardy, Jinder Mahal, Kalisto, Karl Anderson, Konnor, Lince Dorado, Luke Gallows, Matt Hardy, No Way Jose, Otis, Rhyno, Shelton Benjamin, Titus O’Neil, Tucker, Tyler Breeze, and Viktor.
This is the sixth annual of the battle royal, created to honor the memory of WWE Hall of Famer Andre The Giant. Previous winners include Cesaro, Big Show, Baron Corbin, Mojo Rawley, and Matt Hardy.
The WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal was officially announced today with just over a week to go for the event.
13 Superstars have been confirmed for this match so far, including Liv Morgan, Mickie James, Nikki Cross, Sonya Deville, Zelina Vega, Dana Brooke, Carmella, Lana, Naomi, Ruby Riott, Asuka, Mandy Rose, and Sarah Logan.
The women’s battle royal was added to the WrestleMania card last year and was originally titled the Fabulous Moolah Battle Royal, just like the men have the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. But after thousands of complaints due to Moolah not having the best history, WWE opted to drop the name and not tie it to a former star.
Naomi was the inaugural winner of this battle royal and has a chance to defend that trophy this year as well.
This is the 14th match on the WrestleMania 35 card and the third match involving the women. The Smackdown Women’s title will not be defended this year since Charlotte is already in the main event for the Raw Women’s title.
WWE and Atresmedia today announced an agreement to air Raw and SmackDown in Spain. Every week beginning Saturday, April 6, Mega will air a two-hour version of Raw at 1PM on Saturdays and SmackDown at 1PM on Sundays, both with Castilian Spanish commentary.
“We are truly pleased to continue our successful association with WWE. With this expanded line-up of content and programs, we confirm our commitment to being the best home in Spain for one of the biggest entertainment brands in the world, WWE,” stated Luis León Luri, head of themed channel programming for Atresmedia Televisión.
“Atresmedia shares our vision and passion for engaging and entertaining our fans, and we are proud to have a best-in-class TV partner in Spain,” said Stefan Kastenmüller, WWE SVP & Group General Manager EMEA. “This agreement enables us to expand our reach in Spain and continue to deliver action-packed, family-friendly entertainment to our fans.“
In addition, This Week in WWE and Total Divas, Seasons 1-4, will be available for viewing on demand on ATRESplayer.
MARCH 29, 2019 – BROOKLYN, NY: VICELAND will premiere a new docu-series set in the world of professional wrestling – DARK SIDE OF THE RING – on Wednesday, April 10 at 9 PM ET.
The six-episode series will examine the collision of fantasy and reality in the singular universe of professional wrestling – the only sport whose stars’ larger-than-life characters exist in and often out of the ring, telling some of the dark and untold stories around some of the sport’s all-time greats — stories that obsess hardcore wrestling fans and will compel new viewers alike.
From backstage controversies to mysterious deaths and unsolved homicides, this series explores the darkest stories from the golden age of professional wrestling – with each episode centered on a professional wrestling icon, including the tragic love story of Randy “Macho Man” Savage and Miss Elizabeth, the infamous “Montreal Screwjob” which stripped Bret Hart of his title, the locker room altercation that led to the death of Bruiser Brody, as well as the dark history of the Von Erich wrestling dynasty, the controversial death of “Gorgeous” Gino Hernandez and a look at the intense allegations against legendary female star The Fabulous Moolah.
Guiding viewers through the stories is narrator Dutch Mantell, a leading authority on the sport and a retired manager, booker and wrestler with over 40 years in the game.
DARK SIDE OF THE RING is from VICE CANADA and produced by Evan Husney and directed by Jason Eisener (“Hobo with a Shotgun”). Ed Hatton is series producer and VICELAND’s Chris Grosso executive produced.
The tradition of the singing of ‘America The Beautiful’ will continue at WrestleMania 35 with Grammy Award-winning gospel singer Yolanda Adams tasked to belt out the song in New Jersey this year.
“I am so honored to be one of the people performing next week for WrestleMania. I’m following the footsteps of the great Aretha Franklin and will be singing America the Beautiful,” she said in a video post on Instagram.
The 57-year-old from Houston has sold 4.5 million albums in the United States, and nearly 8 million albums worldwide according to SoundScan. Adams is known as the “Queen of Contemporary Gospel Music” and the “First Lady of Modern Gospel.” She has also won five Grammy Awards.
Last year, Chloe x Halle performed the song before the pay-per-view kicked off.
Politico.com is reporting that Linda McMahon is resigning from her position as the Administrator of the Small Business Administration and the announcement could come as soon as today.
McMahon was appointed the head of the SBA immediately after Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. Politico adds that McMahon is expected to rejoin the private sector although the exact plans are unclear. One source said that McMahon will be playing a fundraising role for President Donald Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign. She is scheduled to join the President at his Mar-a-Lago private Florida club this weekend.
For the large part, Linda has kept out of the spotlight and is one of the most-behaved Cabinet members on Trump’s team. “Inside the White House, she’s seen as a loyal foot soldier. She regularly travels around the country to promote the president’s agenda, including recent trips to promote the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal,” the report from Politico.com states.
Vince and Linda McMahon are major donors to the Trump Foundation and Trump is a big family friend.
Today, March 29, marks the last day that Jim Ross will be on the WWE books as from tomorrow, the Hall of Famer will be a free agent.
Ross confirmed earlier this month that he spoke to WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and mutually agreed to part ways once his current deal is up. Ross signed a two year contract in 2017 after his wife passed away but last year he was only used twice and he feels that he still has a lot to give and needs to get out of the house and be around people more often.
During his Ross Report podcast this week, Ross added that some sort of a deal with AEW will be finalized in the next few days and said that “life is good” at the moment. Ross was highly expected to join the brand new promotion a few months ago but he only confirmed his negotiations with them in an appearance on ESPN last week.
JR concluded that he can contribute in more ways than one to All Elite Wrestling, by either doing play-by-play, or even in a behind-the-scenes role but admitted that those details are still being discussed.
Ross spent a total of 26 years working during various stints with the company.
The first Smackdown Live on FOX will take place from the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California on Friday, October 4.
LA is a hot market for WWE so it made sense to have one of the most important nights in WWE history held in a WWE-friendly arena. The company is expected to load up that particular show since it is on a new channel and back on network television.
The date was revealed in a court document filed by WWE which relates to counterfeit merchandise that is usually sold during WrestleMania weekends by unauthorized vendors.
WWE will also do Monday Night Raw and Smackdown Live from Madison Square Garden on September 9 and 10, a rare occurrence nowadays as The Barclays Center is usually hosting TV from Brooklyn. WWE moved away from doing TV at The Garden due to a lot of union restrictions and costs.
While the May event in Saudi Arabia is not listed, a November 1 event in Jeddah in the same location of Crown Jewel is part of the calendar as well.
Smackdown Tag Team title holder Jimmy Uso will not be facing more legal punishment in his disorderly conduct case stemming from a police stop in Detroit on February 13 according to TMZ.COM.
Uso was arrested that night after police stopped the car which his wife Naomi was driving wrong way down a one-way street. While the stop targeted Naomi as the driver, Jimmy got angry and got out of the car after he was told to stay put. He eventually removed his shirt and was ready to fight before he was arrested and booked for disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice. Naomi was never arrested or charged with anything.
TMZ says that Uso and his lawyer, John Freeman, struck a deal with prosecutors in which he agreed to plead no contest to interfering and in exchange, he was ordered to pay $450 in fines. He was facing jail time if convicted.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that All Elite Wrestling’s All In 2 pay-per-view will be held on August 31 at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
All In is the highly-successful indie show that broke some records of its own, including becoming the first independent show in the United States to sell-out a 10,000+ arena for a pay-per-view event. It took place in September in the same arena were the sequel will happen later this Summer.
While not technically performed under the All Elite Wrestling banner, All In was financed by Cody Rhodes and The Young Bucks and featured some of the best indie wrestlers on the show as well as a few surprises along the way.
So far, AEW has three events scheduled for his year including Double or Nothing in May from Las Vegas, and Fight for the Fallen in July from Jacksonville.
WWE will live stream over seven hours of 20 of the greatest WrestleMania modern-day matches tomorrow, Friday, March 29.
The live stream will kick off at Noon ET and will air exclusively on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Matches from WrestleMania XIX to WrestleMania 34 will be gracing your computer screens as WrestleMania fever kicks into high gear with just over one more week to go.
This will not air on the WWE Network and is solely for WWE’s social media channels.
Worlds Collide will return for this year’s WrestleMania Axxess but this time it will be Raw vs Smackdown vs NXT vs NXT UK vs 205 Live.
All the matches will take place during Axxess at the Pier 12 in Brooklyn. They will be taped as a WWE Network special to air at a later date. The shows will run from Thursday to Monday.
On Thursday, April 4, there will be Roderick Strong vs Tyler Breeze, Dominik Dijakovic vs Luke Harper, SAnitY vs Undisputed Era, and Kassius Ohno vs Aiden English. This will be titled NXT vs NXT Alumni.
On Friday, April 5 it’s Cruiserweights Collide featuring Tyler Bate vs Brian Kendrick, Akira Tozawa vs Jordan Devlin, Flash Morgan Webster and Mark Andrews vs Ariya Daivari and Mike Kanellis, and Albert Hardie Jr. vs Gran Metalik.
Saturday will be dedicated solely to NXT UK television tapings while on Sunday, April 7, there will be the battle between the brands along with a 20-man and 20-woman battle royal from NXT, NXT UK, and 205 Live.
Then on Monday, it’s time for the women to take over with Women Collide featuring Io Shirai vs Sonya Deville, Toni Storm vs Nikki Cross vs Bianca Belair, Piper Niven vs Zelina Vega, and Candice LeRae vs Kay Lee Ray.
The team of Aleister Black and Ricochet won the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament and earned themselves an NXT Tag Team title shot.
Black and Ricochet defeated The Forgotten Sons in the finals yesterday on NXT TV after earlier in the tournament they defeated Fabian Aichner and Marcel Barthel in the first round, and DIY in the second round.
The Forgotten Sons went through Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch in round one and Moustache Mountain in the second round before reaching the finals.
Black and Ricochet now face War Raiders for the NXT Tag Team titles at the upcoming NXT Takeover: New York.
Smackdown last night did 2,393,000 viewers, up 185,000 viewers from last week’s show. The interest was certainly there to see if Kofi is going to WrestleMania as the show pulled the biggest number of 2019 so far and was the most-watched episode of Smackdown since the October 16 show.
Smackdown was #2 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic and #7 in overall viewership for the night on cable. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
It’s been a while since we have seen Raw ring announcer JoJo in a WWE ring but today, the former Total Divas star came out with the news that she’s pregnant!
JoJo, who is dating Bray Wyatt, is three months out from giving birth as she’s due in June. The news was announced by JoJo in a post on Instagram and later also posted by Wyatt himself. “I’m so excited to announce baby Knash, coming this June! This has been the most beautiful, incredible experience of my life so far. I am so happy that I was able to use this time to enjoy this privately but now I’m ready to share it with you all,” JoJo wrote in the post.
She added that this has been the biggest blessing and words can’t explain how ready and excited the duo are to meet their baby boy. “Oh and WWE universe WE will be back when the time is right,” she concluded.
In an 8-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission today, it was revealed that WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon unloaded 3,204,427 of WWE’s Class A common stock to continue funding his Alpha Entertainment LLC for the XFL.
WWE stocks closed the day at $84.87 so McMahon walked out with over $271 million. The shares sold by McMahon represent approximately 4.1% of the Company’s total outstanding shares of Class A and Class B common stock.
After the sale, McMahon beneficially owns 28,682,948 shares of the Company’s Class B common stock, which represents approximately 80.1% of the Company’s total voting power and approximately 36.8% of the Company’s total outstanding shares of common stock.
AXS TV today announced it will premiere a two-part special from the sold-out G1 SUPERCARD, a co-promotion between Ring of Honor and NJPW at Madison Square Garden, on Friday, April 12 and Friday, April 19 at 8PM ET.
The G1 SUPERCARD, which takes place on April 6, features many of NJPW’s biggest stars including IWGP Heavyweight Champion Jay White in his first career defense of the title against 2019 New Japan Cup winner and four-time champion Kazuchika Okada. Also scheduled for the event, IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito takes on Kota Ibushi, ROH World Champion Jay Lethal puts his title on the line in a three-way match with Matt Taven and Marty Scurll.
“This is a historic day for professional wrestling at Madison Square Garden and we are excited to bring it to our viewers on AXS TV,” said AXS TV Fights CEO Andrew Simon. “Thank you to the great team at ROH for working with us to bring milestone event to all the fans that watch NJPW weekly on AXS TV.”
“G1 Supercard will be an epic event for Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling and we are thrilled that wrestling fans across America will get to experience it on AXS TV,” said Joe Koff. Chief Operating Officer Ring of Honor Wrestling.
The season finale of Total Bellas continues right where the previous episode left off. Nikki Bella had just finished being the main event star at the first ever all women’s pay-per-view, Evolution, and celebrated with her family and friends at a post pay-per-view cocktail hour.
Next, Nikki and her sister headed to Napa Valley California to witness and participate in the harvesting of the grapes that go into the creation of their wine brand. The sisters have said that they wanted to be involved in every aspect of their business, and true to their word they harvested grapes right along with the pickers. I’m not sure, though if this is strictly for business purposes or because it would make good TV viewing.
Following Brie’s announcement that she would be retiring after Evolution, the family began to wonder if her twin sister, Nicole, would be the next one to hang up her wrestling boots. However, Nicole and Brie’s mom, Kathy, pointed out that far from contemplating retirement Nicole had to leave the family’s Napa vacation early in order to go on the WWE’s European tour.
First, however, the Bella sisters set out to prove that they were indeed as knowledgeable about wine as they claim to be. They performed their own taste test, which of course, turned into a competition to decide which sister was the most knowledgeable about wine. In true Bella brother fashion, their brother, JJ, had to put tequila and Coke in two of the glasses just to mess with his sisters. Thankfully, however, neither twin believed that either beverage was wine.
In the midst of celebrating their first grape harvest the Bella twins had yet another milestone to celebrate; their 35th birthday. However, their ideas of celebrating deferred. Nicole wanted to throw a huge LA blowout, while Brie wanted more of a sedate family gathering.
In the midst of discussing both ideas the girls settled on a particular theme one based on the Shakespeare play a Midsummer’s night dream. Apparently, centaurs are heavily featured in the play, so, Nikki thought that it would be a good idea to hire actors to dress up as the mythical creatures and serve drinks. But no one could correctly pronounce the name of the creature. In the end, the twins ended up celebrating their birthday in Napa with their entire family and one actor dressed as a centaur.
An even bigger milestone for both twins occurred shortly after however, for the first time, the twins would be living apart. As announced in a previous episode Brie and her husband, Brian, gave up the rental house in San Diego, and relocated to Phoenix once again. Newly single Nicole opted for the busy streets of LA. The bigger news, however, is that Nicole has decided to join her sister in retirement.
Apparently, the European tour made Nicole realize that she just can’t handle the intense travel schedule of the WWE superstar. So, for the first time in over a decade, the ring will be Bella-free. There has been no word as of yet on how this will effect their television careers, but, I’m sure that news will come shortly. For now though, is safe to say that the WWE universe owes a debt of gratitude to two women who defined a decade of women’s wrestling.
Congratulations to the Bella twins on their retirement. I for one can’t wait to see if we are in fact in for another season of the drama on Total Bellas.
Monday Night Raw this week drew 2,589,000 viewers, down 106,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast.
Hour one started with 2,700,000 viewers, then it went slightly down to 2,665,000 viewers, before it finished the night with 2,402,000 for the third and final hour.
Raw was #2, #3, and #5 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic and #7 in overall viewership for the night on cable. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
