The Chase Field has been selected as the home for the 2019 Royal Rumble, marking the first time that the Rumble will be hosted in a MLB field. The Chase Field is the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks and opened in 1998.
Costing $354 million at the time, the stadium took just two-and-a-half years to be completed after breaking ground in November 1995. It is the first stadium built in the United States with a retractable roof over a natural-grass playing surface. It also houses the fifth largest HD screen in Major League Baseball: 46 feet high and 136 wide for a cool cost of $14 million.
The Chase Field holds around 49,000 people and its record attendance is 49,826, a record that stands since June 2007. It is a record that WWE obviously plans on breaking. The last time that WWE held a big pay-per-view in a baseball field was in 2003 for WrestleMania XIX and had an announced attendance of 54,097.
Located in downtown Phoenix, the Chase Field is just a 5-minute walk from the Talking Stick Resort Arena.
WWE will be appointing a General Manager for 205 Live next week and the first order of business will be addressing the status of the WWE Cruiserweight title.
Smackdown GM Daniel Bryan announced yesterday that the Cruiserweight title is vacant after it was abdicated by Enzo Amore. Bryan added that Amore would no longer be part of 205 Live.
Cedric Alexander was the number one contender for the Cruiserweight title and his title match was supposed to be this Sunday at the Royal Rumble. Due to the release of Amore, the title match has been scrapped off the Rumble card and things will get rebooted on Tuesday.
The Royal Rumble will get a stadium host next year as WWE announced the Chase Field as the location for the 2019 Rumble pay-per-view. The date will be January 27.
It’s not very often that the Rumble is hosted in a large stadium and in 31 years so far, the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, is the only stadium location that hosted the Rumble twice, in 1997 and 2017.
NXT Takeover, Monday Night Raw, and Smackdown Live will take place at the Talking Stick Resort Arena.
The announcement of the Rumble coming to Phoenix came via an article on The Arizona Republic newspaper.
“We have an incredibly rich history and heritage of presenting WWE events in the Valley of the Sun,” said John Saboor, WWE executive vice president of special events. “In many respects, this serves as an exciting opportunity to work with longstanding and new partners in Phoenix to create four nights of memories.”
The attorney representing Enzo Amore in the rape allegation case released a statement yesterday evening, the only public comments that will be released until the investigation is complete.
“Over the last two days, Philomena Sheahan has made multiple public accusations against Eric Arndt (also known as Enzo Amore with the WWE), including allegations of sexual misconduct concerning an October 2017 incident in Phoenix. Mr. Arndt fully and unequivocally denies those accusations. He is cooperating with the authorities in this matter and looks forward to having it resolved in a timely manner. Neither Mr. Arndt nor his counsel will be making any further public comments on this matter,” the statement reads.
The former WWE Cruiserweight champion is represented by Timothy J. Eckstein from the firm Osborn Maledon.
The 25th anniversary episode of Monday Night Raw drew an average of 4,530,000 viewers, the most-watched Raw since the March 30, 2015 episode. There was an increase of 1,280,000 viewers over last week’s broadcast.
The night started with a whopping 4,803,000 viewers, then went down to 4,641,000 viewers in the second hour, before closing the night with 4,147,000 viewers. Raw lost 656,000 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 the most-watched show on cable television. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Following the conclusion of Monday Night Raw from the Manhattan Center, Triple H addressed the crowd which earlier in the broadcast voiced their displeasure over how they were treated when it comes to live action.
Standing in the ring alongside with Seth Rollins, Shawn Michaels, Billy Gun, The Road Dogg, Scott Hall, X-Pac, Finn Balor, Karl Anderson, and Luke Gallows, Triple H talked about how special it is for them to share this moment with the crowd.
“A lot of messing around goes on, a lot of business gets done, a lot of things happen, but I know for everybody in this ring, this is a special moment for all of us,” Triple H said as the crowd cheered on.
“At this stage of the game, to stand here with your buddies, to do this, to stand in front of you in the place where it started 25 years after, and to be able to have all of this and share it with all of you, I think I can speak for everybody in this ring, from the bottom of our heart, thank you very much,” Triple H continued.
As everyone left, Seth Rollins and Finn Balor stayed at ringside to greet fans and take selfies with those who wanted. Triple H then held up Finn Balor’s hand to close the festivities.
After the chaos of the 25th episode of Monday Night Raw, things will return to normal tonight for Smackdown Live and the last stop before the Royal Rumble this Sunday.
Two matches have been announced for tonight’s show, including Naomi vs Liv Morgan and a six-man tag team match featuring The New Day (two of them) teaming up with Bobby Roode to take on Jinder Mahal, Rusev, and Aiden English.
Mixed Match Challenge on Facebook Watch will start immediately following Smackdown with The Miz and Asuka taking on Big E and Carmella.
Just one day after he was suspended by the company, WWE Cruiserweight champion Enzo Amore was released following allegations by Twitter user Philomena Sheahan that he raped her in his hotel room back in October.
In a statement issued yesterday, WWE said that the company has zero tolerance against sexual harassment or assault and he would be suspended pending the outcome of the case.
But just 24 hours later, a very short and sweet statement followed, announcing his departure. “WWE has come to terms on the release of Eric Arndt (Enzo Amore),” a WWE.COM post said.
Amore is the current – or was – Cruiserweight champion. WWE has not announced the plans of what will happen to the title.
One of the individuals who is implicated as an accomplice to the Enzo Amore alleged rape has lashed out at the alleged victim, Philomena Sheahan, accusing her of lying.
Layla ‘Too Poor’ Shapiro has said that she’s been framed and she’s innocent. “I’m sick of being seen as the bad guy. Lying, manipulating and deceiving people is sick,” she wrote on Twitter.
Sheahan accused Shapiro, Enzo, and the other third person who was with them, Tyler Grosso, of doing meth, cocaine, and weed, and Shapiro said she’s never done meth in her life. “I don’t even know what it looks like and i wouldn’t associate with anyone who does that either.”
Shapiro added that she respects anyone strong enough to speak up about assault…only if it’s true. “Clinging on to famous people and lying about a case for a check is sick and illegal and the truth always come to the light. Put me under a lie detector right now,” ‘Too Poor’ wrote.
Meanwhile, the alleged victim’s story is being called into question when her Twitter timeline showed a lot of activity during the 45 days she said she was in a mental hospital following the alleged rape.
Sheahan responded to the questions by saying that she starting using her roommate’s phone on day 20 and then checked out of the center against medical advice six days later, for a total stay of 26 days rather than 45.
The alleged victim was also called out for a video she uploaded two years ago where she faked a pregnancy. “When I faked the pregnancy, I was off all my medicine. I’ve been on all my medicine for six months, and I haven’t done anything crazy since probably a year ago,” Sheahan told Fightful.com.
Sheahan added in the interview with Fightful that she’s been on depression medicine since she was 14 and suffers from anxiety and bipolar disorder. “After the incident, they diagnosed me with borderline personality disorder. They said that it can develop from traumatic incidents and that it’s very possible the incident triggered that,” she said.
Regardless of her checkered past and Twitter timeline, Sheahan is standing by her story and wants not only WWE Superstar Enzo Amore, but also Tyler Grosso and Layla Shapiro to get prosecuted for being accomplices to the crime.
The alleged rape occurred on October 19 in Phoenix following a concert which Amore was present for. Amore is friends with both Grosso and Shapiro.
Phoenix Police Department are investigating the case and confirmed responding to a hospital call for sexual assault four days after the alleged incident.
Roman Reigns lost the Intercontinental title last night on Monday Night Raw as The Miz starts his eighth reign as champion.
There was quite a lot of interference from Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas which eventually got them ejected from ringside. Reigns survived the Skull Crushing Finale but then The Miz drove Reigns in an exposed turnbuckle and delivered his second Skull Crushing Finale for the pin and the win.
The Miz is now one reign behind Chris Jericho in terms of total reigns with the Intercontinental Title. He is also 17 days away from climbing to the second place in the combined days as champion, trailing Don Muraco and Pedro Morales who sits in first place with 619 days.
Fans at the Manhattan Center who were present for the Raw 25 episode were not happy at all and voiced their opinions pretty loudly.
Only a couple of segments were filmed from the Manhattan Center, including The Undertaker’s interview, Bray Wyatt vs Matt Hardy, the DX segment, and Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows vs Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson.
During two commercial breaks, there were two dark matches featuring the WWE cruiserweights of 205 Live, with Mustafa Ali defeating Lince Dorado and Hideo Itami and Akira Tozawa versus Tony Nese and Drew Gulak. The tag match ended up in a brawl backstage and during a third commercial break, all four Superstars came back out to continue brawling and finish the match.
The fans, obviously annoyed at the lack of action coming their way, chanted for a refund and even chanted “bullshit.”
Jerry “The King” Lawler and Jim Ross, who also did not have a lot of work to do, were also caught taking a nap in between segments.
After the show was over, The Miz made a surprise appearance inside the Grand Ballroom and so did Seth Rollins, who beat him up while DX and the Balor Club looked on.
The show from the Barclays Center was shown inside the Manhattan Center on the big screens.
Stone Cold Steve Austin returned on WWE television last night at Raw 25, his first appearance since his cameo at WrestleMania 32 in Dallas, Texas.
Austin was part of the first segment and reignited his feud with his former boss Vince McMahon. McMahon was introduced by Shane and Stephanie and received a big babyface pop…until he turned on the crowd. He said after 25 years of Monday Night Raw, there’s only one person who really needs to be thanked, and that is himself.
The WWE Hall of Famer made his entrance to a thunderous pop from the Brooklyn crowd and then gave a Stunner to Shane McMahon. The fans chanted for one more Stunner, to which Vince McMahon said that he doesn’t think Shane can take one more of those. After a beer and a hug to the Rattlesnake, McMahon received a Stunner for old time’s sake! Shane McMahon did have another Stunner in him as when he made it up to his feet he got the second Stunner much to delight of the fans.
WWE has suspended Cruiserweight champion Enzo Amore following allegations by Twitter user Philomena Sheahan that he raped her in his hotel room back in October.
“WWE has zero tolerance for matters involving sexual harassment or sexual assault. Until this matter is resolved, Eric Arndt (aka Enzo Amore) has been suspended,” the WWE statement said. If the incident turns out to be true, Amore will be fired from WWE due to their zero tolerance policy regarding this matter.
The incident, which allegedly occurred on October 19, is being investigated by the Phoenix Police Department after a police report was filed. According to the Wrestling Observer, the Phoenix Police Department’s Media Relations unit said that they responded to a hospital call on October 23 for a sexual assault that happened a few days earlier.
Amore is the second WWE cruiserweight to be suspended following Rich Swann’s arrest on domestic violence. Swann remains suspended.
During an appearance on ESPN SportsCenter, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels said that there will be a lot of “big, new, and exciting stuff” coming out of tonight’s 25th anniversary of Monday Night Raw.
HBK alluded that we might see some surprises and considering what a monumental show this will be, it’s safe to say that WWE did not reveal everything – or everyone – that will be part of the broadcast.
“I would imagine that, if I know the WWE like I think I do, we’re going to have a lot of huge, major announcements and things that are certainly going to be preparing us for I don’t know, the Royal Rumble going forward, WrestleMania which is around the corner…”
Shawn Michaels was part of the first-ever Monday Night Raw that took place at the Manhattan Center on January 11, 1993 and wrestled a 10-minute match against Max Moon to defend the Intercontinental title. The main event featured The Undertaker taking on Damien Demento.
A Twitter user that goes by the username @missgucciwitch is accusing WWE Cruiserweight champion Enzo Amore of rape.
She said that she was raped in mid-October by the WWE Superstar and lists Tyler Grosso and Layla ‘Too Poor’ Shapiro as accomplices for letting it happen.
“I was in a mental hospital for 45 days after it. They ARE NOT good people,” she wrote in a tweet.
The @missgucciwitch user explained how Grosso and Shapiro invited her to hang out with Enzo in his hotel room and got her “f*cked up” by doing coke, meth, and weed. She says that Enzo told them that he was going to rape her and after they tried to persuade him not to, they gave up and left her there with him.
“It was such a brutal rape like I’m still so f*cked up from it I haven’t had sex since October. I’m in the process of pressing charges,” she wrote.
In another message, she explained how Shapiro asked her if she would suck Enzo’s dick and if she didn’t want to, they would all just hang out. She said that she was passed out on the couch when Enzo starting to come at her and she allegedly told him that she wants to get to know him first before doing anything.
“He replied, ‘Bitch I have 1 million followers on Instagram…you should be begging for this dick,'” she wrote, adding that he then proceeded to restrain her and raped her.
“I remember bits and pieces and I have constant flashbacks…my mental issues have been the worst ever and I suffer from major PTSD from it,” she continued.
The story is unconfirmed and we’re only publishing what the Twitter user, who lists her name as Philomena Sheahan, is alleging that Enzo did to her.
EDITOR’S NOTE: The original story included two sentences that some have misinterpreted as discrediting the alleged victim because of her other activities advertised on her Twitter. This is certainly not the case and we believe the story was fair and accurate and no secrets were exposed. We absolutely do not condone any kind of sexual violence no matter what. You are free to check out her Twitter and the timeline and make up your own judgment. The two sentences have been deleted from the story to remove any doubt in our reporting.
The WWE Cruiserweight division had its first two stand alone non-televised live events over the weekend, with one show in Lowell, Massachusetts, and the other one in Poughkeepsie, New York. A third event which was set for Rhode Island was canceled around two weeks ago.
Judging from online feedback, both shows were considered to be a lot of fun, showcasing the talent of the cruiserweights with some little help from Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt. Hardy and Wyatt were added to the tour to make up for several top cruiserweights who are missing due to injuries. Also on the tour was Nia Jax who served as the referee of the main events which involved the Cruiserweight champion Enzo Amore.
The attendance for the Lowell event was pretty good and the one in Poughkeepsie at the Hudson Civic Center was pretty much full.
Adam Pearce, who worked as one of the agents at both events, thanked the fans for making the tour a success. “Gratitude to all that made the inaugural #205Live tour one hell of a ride. Thank you,” he wrote on Twitter.
WWE has launched its official Reddit page at reddit.com/user/RealWWE which will include content exclusively for Reddit and tons of news, photos and videos to share from their digital and social channels.
The company will post previously unseen and rare photos and memorabilia, sneak peeks at what it’s like to work inside WWE Headquarters, deleted scenes from original video series, and funniest WWE GIFs from the official GIPHY channel.
Since the announcement, over 60,000 fans subscribed to the channel. Reddit’s most popular wrestling group is called SquaredCircle with over 314,000 subscribers.
The Empire State Building will be saluting WWE tonight as the lights on the top part of the tower will be shining red for the 25th anniversary of Monday Night Raw.
Triple H, Stephanie McMahon, and WWE Ambassador Dana Warrior were on hand for the ceremony to light the Empire State Building up Raw red this morning.
Meanwhile, WWE champion AJ Styles, Intercontinental champion Roman Reigns, Smackdown and Raw Women’s champions Charlotte and Alexa Bliss took a trip to the New York Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell this morning as well.
Several WWE Superstars are doing media in the city leading up to tonight’s historic broadcast.
WWE will celebrate 25 years of Monday Night Raw tonight live from two different locations: the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the Manhattan Center in New York City.
The broadcast will be a live simulcast with Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Booker T calling the action from the Barclays Center and Jim Ross and Jerry “The King” Lawler doing commentary from the Manhattan Center. The exact format of the show has been kept under wraps.
WWE Raw made its premiere on USA Network on January 11, 1993 and has been a staple on cable television ever since. Tonight’s Raw will be the 1,288th episode.
Raw spent its first seven years on USA Network before moving to TNN – later renamed Spike TV – in September 2000. After five years on Spike TV, WWE returned home on USA Network and it is now in its 13th consecutive year on the property owned by NBCUniversal. The show has been a 3-hour broadcast since July 2012, a move which became permanent on the 1000th episode of Raw.
In its 25-year history, Raw has undergone 13 theme song changes, ranging from in-house production to themes performed by Papa Roach, Nickelback, The Union Underground, and the current one from Shinedown.
While Raw’s viewership is down by over 50% compared to the height of the Attitude Era, the show continues to be a ratings powerhouse on Monday nights on cable television especially in the all-important 18-49 male demographic.
35 WWE Legends and Hall of Famers are scheduled to appear at tonight’s 25th anniversary episode of Monday Night Raw.
It has been a while since the WWE locker room has seen so many individuals, especially these individuals who have since retired and have not been part of the company on a regular basis since they have left.
Those appearing in alphabetical order are Brother Love, Boogeyman, Chris Jericho, Christian, Eric Bischoff, Harvey Wippleman, Howard Finkel, Jacqueline, JBL, Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross, John Laurinaitis, Jonathan Coachman, Kelly Kelly, Lilian Garcia, Maria Kanellis, Michelle McCool, MVP, Ric Flair, Ron Simmons, Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, Teddy Long, Terri Runnels, The Bella Twins, The Brooklyn Brawler, The Dudley Boyz, The Godfather, The Million Dollar Man, The New Age Outlaws, The Undertaker, Torrie Wilson, Trish Stratus, and William Regal.
Notably missing from the list who had a big impact on Monday Night Raw during the Attitude Era is The Rock, who might be kept as a surprise. Hulk Hogan is also not booked for the show with WWE saying that their position on him still stands.
