WWE trucks have moved from the WWE Performance Center, where they have been parked since March, and have arrived at the Amway Center for yet another residency, which is expected to last for months.
Spectrum News 13 from Orlando filmed the trucks arriving at the Amway Center at around 11:30AM where they will start unloading and setting up for SummerSlam.
The Twitter account @WrestleVotes, which broke the original story yesterday of WWE moving to Amway, added today that as part of the move, WWE will introduce a new interactive experience with over 2,500 square feet of LED display boards where fans will appear live on the broadcast in the stands.
An application process will be available starting next week where fans can apply to be on the show.
WWE is set to take over the Amway Center for the foreseeable future. The arena has no other events scheduled for 2020 as it closed up shop due to COVID-19.
AEW allowed a select number of fans inside the Daily’s Place this week for Dynamite.
Jessi Davin, who was part of those fans in attendance for the show, wrote on Twitter that parties were grouped together and social distancing was practiced in between each group who were in the stands.
AEW crew roamed around during the whole night to monitor fans to make sure everyone is obeying the rules and that masks were properly worn. AEW performed temperature checks on fans before admitting them inside but they were not swabbed for coronavirus.
Davin thanked AEW and Daily’s Place for the incredible safety measures they put in place. “They worked their asses off to keep us safe and deserve recognition,” she wrote.
It’s unclear if this will be a common practice moving forward but both AEW and WWE are actively working on having fans in the stands every week at their television shows.
The Deadly Draw women’s tag team final match will be taking place on Dynamite next week.
The promotion received flack for putting women’s matches on YouTube rather than on their flagship show but now the final match of the tournament will instead air on Dynamite on Saturday, August 22. TNT is pre-empting Dynamite on Wednesday next week and will instead air during the weekend.
The two semi final matches which air on Monday on YouTube are The Nightmare Sisters vs Big Swole and Lil Swole and Anna Jay and Tay Conti vs Ivelisse and Diamante. The winners of those two matches will then clash on Dynamite in the final match of the tournament.
All Elite Wrestling has released the first three wrestlers according to the Wrestling Observer. These are Jimmy Havoc, Bea Priestley, and Sadie Gibbs.
Havoc has been suspended since mid-June due to the several allegations against him which came out during the #SpeakingOut movement. Havoc was sent to rehab for a variety of problems but it looks like AEW did not want to be associated with him anymore.
Priestley and Gibbs were part of the AEW women’s division but did not feature much on Dynamite or Dark. Gibbs did not feature at all in any matches this year.
WWE is scheduled to hold live Raw and Smackdown from the Amway Center moving forward after SummerSlam, moving out from the WWE Performance Center for the first time since mid-March.
Jon Alba from Spectrum News 13 said that this consistent booking for the arena will probably get some people at the Amway back to work even though there won’t be any fans in the building. The Amway Center remains closed for other bookings through the end of the year.
WWE saved millions of dollars by holding TV in the same location at the Performance Center over the past several months and apart from the rent of the arena, the company can have the ring, lighting rig, Gorilla position, and all the basics remain in place while only changing the set from Raw to Smackdown.
Moving weekly TV out of the PC will allow WWE to return the PC to its original look and use. NXT is expected to keep taping at Full Sail University.
An official announcement should be coming out shortly.
For the second year in a row, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has topped Hollywood’s highest-paid actors list.
Johnson got to the #1 spot with a total of $87.5 million, largely thanks to a $23.5 million payment from Netflix for his upcoming movie Red Notice. Last year he topped the list with $89.4 million.
His last movie, Jumanji: The Next Level, pulled in $796,575,993 worldwide. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, his new movie Jungle Cruise from Disney has been pushed back to Summer 2021.
Elsewhere on the list, Ryan Reynolds took second place with $71.5 million, Mark Wahlberg had $58 million for third place, Ben Affleck was fourth with $55 million, and Vin Diesel wrapped up the top five with $54 million.
NXT on USA Network drew 619,000 viewers on Wednesday, dropping a total of 134,000 viewers from last week’s episode. With a 0.16 rating in the 18-49 demographic, NXT was out of the top 50 cable chart and placed #65. The difference between NXT and Dynamite was of 173,000 viewers, up from the 148,000 difference of last week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
AEW Dynamite had a total of 792,000 viewers on Wednesday, down 109,000 viewers from the previous week. It did 0.32 in the 18-49 demographic, placing the show in #9 in the top 50 cable chart. This was another blowout win for AEW in the weekly ratings war against NXT. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
WWE is close to securing the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida to host this year’s SummerSlam pay-per-view.
There were rumors that the company was looking at Atlantic City, New Jersey as the possible location for the event but those plans have been scrapped and WWE is keeping things in Florida for the moment. The @WrestleVotes Twitter account was the first one to report the news.
Jon Alba, a reporter with Spectrum Sports 360 in the city, added that WWE is also negotiating with the arena to use it for other events as well and not just SummerSlam. The Amway Center remains closed until 2021 so WWE could technically sign some sort of a lease that would allow them to use the arena any time until it reopens.
Alba also noted that production trucks are scheduled to arrive tomorrow at the arena to start the transformation for SummerSlam which means that an official announcement should be coming shortly.
This will be the first WWE event outside the Performance Center since mid-March when WWE moved all production to the PC.
Shotzi Blackheart’s stolen vehicle, along with her wrestling gear and most importantly, her helmet, were recovered.
Blackheart uploaded a video as she was being driven to the location where the car was found by fellow NXT star Jake Atlas. Already in her wrestling gear and a toothbrush in her hand, Blackheart said she just had a call while she was brushing her teeth to let her know that the vehicle was found.
A couple of police cars from Orlando PD and Orange County Sheriff’s Department were on location when Blackheart arrived and she told them she doesn’t really care about the car but she does want her helmet!
“Moment of truth,” the police officer said as they opened the trunk of the car. Shotzi starting jumping up and down as she realized all her gear was still in the back and was reunited with her precious helmet. She then explained to the officer the meaning of the helmet.
The car was involved in a collision of some sort as the airbag was deployed and the front side was also a bit wrecked.
WWE Network will be showcasing promotions such as EVOLVE, Germany’s wXw, Scotland’s ICW and England’s PROGRESS starting from this weekend.
To begin this partnership, WWE Network will upload ICW Shug’s House Party 5 Night 2, PROGRESS Wrestling’s Chapter 92 and wXw Femme Fatales 2019 and Ambition 11 as well as Best of Drew McIntyre and Best of Keith Lee from EVOLVE.
WWE will be adding libraries and new content from these promotions on the WWE Network in the weeks and months to come.
The addition of footage from independent promotions which are “WWE friendly” has long been rumored to coming to the WWE Network. These will be part of the paid version of the WWE Network.
The finalized TNT championship was presented to Cody yesterday prior to the start of Dynamite, four months after it was initially introduced by All Elite Wrestling.
The title that has been used on television was unfinished, with the company blaming the COVID-19 pandemic for the delay in completing the title.
The finished design now has the words TNT in gold rather than black and the gold trims made a huge difference in how the belt looks.
Cody successfully retained the title last night after he beat Scorpio Sky in the latest open challenge.
You can see AEW referee Paul Turner present Cody with the new title backstage below.
Velveteen Dream returned to the ring last night after a near three-month absence and was part of the triple threat match to qualify for the NXT North American title ladder match.
Dream’s return did not have a dream ending though as it was Cameron Grimes who advanced to the ladder match. The ending came after Kushida had Dream locked in a submission move and Grimes came in to deliver his Cave In finisher on Kushida, pinning him for the win.
Following the win, Dream attacked Kushida but Finn Balor came out for a face-to-face, with the two wrestling next week in a one-on-one last chance to enter in the ladder match.
Dream’s last match was at Takeover: In Your House on May 27 where he wrestled Adam Cole for the NXT title in a Backlot Brawl. He had not been seen on WWE television since mid-June when several allegations surfaced of Dream grooming underage boys.
Veteran referee Mike Chioda made his All Elite Wrestling debut last night, officiating the TNT title match between Cody and Scorpio Sky and also the Jericho vs Cassidy match.
Chioda spent 31 years working for WWE, becoming the longest-tenured referee in company history before he was released along with over 50 other WWE Superstars and workers in the coronavirus cost-cutting exercise.
In a recent interview with Chris Jericho on his podcast, Chioda revealed that he had just signed a new WWE deal which also included a bump in the pay and was ready to return after undergoing surgery.
The NXT title match at Takeover: XXX is now official and will see champ Keith Lee defend against Karrion Kross.
Lee walked down to the ring after Kross took out Danny Burch in the opening match and said that he promised William Regal he would not touch Kross until their match if he signed. Lee called Kross a bitch and told him that his signature is there, Regal’s is there, and all it remains is “your punk ass name.”
Kross signed the contract and Scarlett sealed it with a kiss and slid the contract back in the ring for Lee. Lee opened the folder and was hit with a fireball in his face.
Four matches have been announced for tonight’s NXT on USA Network so far.
The next contender in the NXT North American title ladder match will be decided tonight with Kushida taking on Cameron Grimes and an unnamed opponent in a triple threat match.
Two of those who already qualified for that ladder match – Bronson Reed and Damien Priest – will be going one-on-one tonight and Tyler Breeze takes on the Cruiserweight champion Santos Escobar. Karrion Kross will be in action as well as he takes on Danny Burch.
A segment with Johnny Gargano and his wife Candice LaRae from their home will also air and we will see the fallout from the Cole/McAfee segment from last week.
Tonight’s Tag Team Appreciation Night of Dynamite will feature the highly-anticipated rematch between the Demo God Chris Jericho against Orange Cassidy.
The two have been building up their match for the past several weeks and the $7,000 obligation match, as it’s being promoted by AEW, will have The Inner Circle and Best Friends banned from ringside.
The TNT title will also be on the line as Cody defends against Scorpio Sky. The other two matches announced are the tag team ones with Omega and Page vs Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus for the AEW World Tag Team titles and The Young Bucks vs Evil Uno and Stu Grayson of The Dark Order.
Sarah Bäckman is one of the very few Scandinavian professional wrestlers to have been signed by the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). She signed the contract in 2013 but effectively asked to be released from it in 2014, not being seen on the WWE scene ever since. In fact, she had a relatively low profile on the arm wrestling scene as well, reappearing recently at the Arm Wrestling Competition 2020 in June.
In fact, Sarah was mostly known for her arm wrestling prowess as opposed to her performance in the WWE. She began the sport when she was just 14 years old, quickly rising through the ranks.
Currently, she is an 8-time World Arm Wrestling Competition champion and 11-time Swedish Arm Wrestling Competition champion.
All of these titles seem very well deserved as she can be seen defeating opponents without even trying in the recent video showing her in the 2020 competition.
Her primary stage-name that she is known for is Shara, but it was very short-lived as her performance in the USA was cut short by issues on acquiring a visa. Finally, being able to perform in February 2014, she later requested severance of her contract in April of the same year.
Not many have researched why she decided to end her contract like that but, her subsequent marriage in 2015 seems to have given some clues that she wanted out of the sport.
Ushering a new era of female wrestlers
Although Sarah’s wrestling career was not as extensive as other female fighters, she is still regarded as the best Nordic female wrestler in the 21st century. The moment she signed up for the WWE she saw a developing interest from her home-country companies.
The most persistent industry to keep chasing her was undoubtedly the betting industry. Due to the fact that the majority of Nordic countries had a state-monopoly on betting, all the local betting brands had to move elsewhere.
Without having the restriction of location, some of the best Norwegian betting websites commonly referred to as beste odds sider quickly started to build a Wrestling-related betting page to cover this new market of fans.
Most of these sites knew that featuring Nordic fighters was not enough of a “kick” for local fans, so creating a female-only page was the next step to take.
According to remarks from Scandinavian fans, seeing Sarah have her own dedicated page on some of their favorite betting sites was what got them interested in her in the first place. This interest then soon grew into participation in the Arm Wrestling sport as well as fans migrated from sport to sport.
Although her WWE career was short-lived, Bäckman can say with confidence that she introduced a lot of new Swedish and Norwegian fans to the sport, thus giving her quite a lot of credit for the sport’s popularity in the Nordics.
Reacting to Monday’s beatdown from Randy Orton, two-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair said that he wanted it to go differently.
“What I would have said is I don’t know what would’ve happened if my son was in this business,” Flair said. “But I do know what Charlotte has done, and like you Randy, she is much better than I ever was, just like you have surpassed your father. That’s it,” Ric continued.
During Raw, Orton mentioned how he is the son Flair wished he wanted and called him a “junkie” who is past his time.
That was followed by a low blow and a punt to the head, seemingly ending Flair’s association with Orton.
In a radio interview last week, Flair said he’s trying to get WWE to agree to let him be in Orton’s corner at SummerSlam.
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help the family of James “Kamala” Harris cover funeral expenses following his death on Sunday.
The goal is to reach $25,000 and as of press time, over $25,000 were collected from over 400 different donors. Chris Jericho donated $5,000 again, similar to what he did in the last campaign for Kamala. Impact’s Scott D’Amore and Ryan Barkan of ProWrestlingTees.com each donated $2,500 and an anonymous donor donated $3,000.
This is not the first time that a GoFundMe campaign was set up for the Ugandan Giant as wrestling fans also gave a helping hand when Harris had several health issues throughout the past few years.
