Not much is known about tonight’s NXT as the majority of the show had to be re-written because of yet another COVID-19 outbreak within the black and gold brand.
The only match being advertised is Dexter Lumis against Austin Theory, with the other matches which were previously advertised now no longer there. LA Knight is also supposed to have his debut match tonight but it’s unclear if that plan is still on.
Jordan Devlin, one of the two current NXT Cruiserweight champions, will be making his first NXT appearance since the pandemic started and the road to Takeover: Stand & Deliver will continue.
Starting on March 18, WWE Network is available on Peacock for just $4.99 in the United States, with the regular WWE Network service running till April 4.
The WWE Network/Peacock deal was announced on January 25 and is reportedly worth over a whopping $1 billion over five years. The guaranteed fixed income of around $200 million per year is way more than the $135 million per year that WWE is currently doing right now with the current subscribers. The WWE Network will “sign off” with around 1,130,000 subscribers in the United States, and they will join the 33 million approximate subscribers – both free and paid – that Peacock currently boasts.
With the move to Peacock, a lot of questions remain, so here we will try to answer the most common questions.
HOW DO I SIGN UP?
Your WWE Network account is not porting to Peacock as originally reported. So you will have to go and manually sign up. The $4.99 price includes commercials for the whole Peacock streaming service, not just the WWE Network. A $9.99 subscription, just like your original WWE Network subscription, will get rid of the ads. But if you’re new to Peacock, you can get four months of Peacock Premium for a single, one-time payment of $9.99. When the 4-month period expires, the service will auto-renew on a monthly basis at $4.99 until you cancel at any time. You can use the promo code PEACOCKMANIA to sign up and offer expires on April 9.
BUT I JUST PAID FOR A MONTH! WHAT HAPPENS NOW?
WWE has got you covered. If your subscription started recently, you will be credited on a pro-rata basis. If you paid with a three-month gift card, you will be offered an exchange where you will have the credit assigned to 300+ gift cards you can choose from. If you paid by credit card, debit card or PayPal, credit will be applied to the same payment method that was billed. If you subscribed through Apple or Roku, credit will applied back to your Apple or Roku account.
WHAT’S INCLUDED?
As stated above, with your $4.99 subscription you will not only get the WWE Network, but the whole Peacock catalog and live sports that comes with it. There’s more than 20,000 hours of content available right now on Peacock without the WWE Network, and once the full WWE Network is available, those 20,000 hours will nearly double.
WAIT, SO NOT EVERYTHING WILL BE AVAILABLE?
Not on March 18, no. The whole WWE Network consists of over 17,000 hours of footage so it will take some time before everything is ported. But on day one, you will have every live WWE pay-per-view plus every WWE, WCW and ECW pay-per-view in history, thousands of hours of on-demand programming including original series, groundbreaking documentaries and your favorite shows from the WWE Archives, every episode of Raw and Smackdown, with current full episode replays 30 days after air, and every episode of NXT, including full episode replays available the next day. The rest will all come by SummerSlam in August, or at least that’s the plan.
WHAT ABOUT THE FREE VERSION OF THE WWE NETWORK?
That will remain, but still on Peacock. Peacock has its own free version with limited content and the free version of the WWE Network will be part of that. You will need to pay $4.99 to unlock the rest of the WWE Network and other Peacock content.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER APRIL 4?
That is when Peacock gains the exclusive rights to the WWE Network in the United States. After April 4, anyone registered with a U.S. address on the WWE Network will not be able to access the app or the website and all traffic will be redirected to Peacock. Nothing changes for the rest of the world. All content from today up until April 4 will remain accessible on your usual WWE Network app, including the Fastlane pay-per-view, which will stream on both the legacy WWE Network app and Peacock. WrestleMania will be the first one exclusively on Peacock in the United States.
SO I DON’T HAVE TO PAY MORE FOR PAY-PER-VIEWS?
No, WWE decided not to take the UFC route and charge extra for pay-per-views. So basically, with $4.99 you still get the monthly pay-per-views included in your subscription.
I HAVE WWE NETWORK GIFT CARDS…WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN?
In some good news for those who purchased the 3-month gift cards in advance, WWE will be offering refunds for unused gift cards. WWE has partnered with InComm Incentives to issue you a credit which can be redeemed for gift cards from hundreds of top-name brands — including retailers and restaurants — or a general-use card from American Express or Visa. This program will be available shortly and more info will be available on the WWE Network help site.
HOW CAN I WATCH PEACOCK?
Peacock works on all the major web browsers, iOS and Android mobile and tablet devices, Android TV, Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, Xbox, PlayStation, and LG and Vizio smart televisions. If you have an Amazon device, like the Fire Stick, you’re currently out of luck as Peacock is not yet available on any Amazon device.
Episode four of season one of Young Rock, titled Check Your Head, drew 2,888,000 viewers yesterday on NBC, the lowest-rated of the series so far. It was down 229,000 viewers from episode three of two weeks ago. Young Rock was #2 in 18-34, #3 in 18-49, and #4 in 25-54 with 0.3, 0.6, and 0.8 ratings respectively. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
AEW will present a St. Patrick’s-themed episode of Dynamite tonight titled St. Patrick’s Day Slam and for the first time in the history of the show, Dynamite will be headlined by a women’s match.
Dr. Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa will go one-on-one in an unsanctioned lights out match to close the show, bringing their long feud to a climax tonight. Also set for the broadcast, which was taped last week, are Rey Fenix vs Angelico, Jon Moxley and Eddie Kingston vs The Good Brothers, Cody Rhodes vs Penta El Zero Miedo, Jurassic Express and Bear Country vs Matt Hardy, Private Party, and The Butcher and The Blade in a 10-man tag team match, and Jade Cargill will be in action too.
Plus, we will also get the usual Sting segment and AEW’s newest signee Christian Cage will be in the house as well.
Tickets for WrestleMania 37 will now go on sale this Friday, March 19 at 10AM ET on Ticketmaster.com. A pre-sale will start tomorrow morning also at 10AM ET and fans can register at wrestlemania.com/presale to receive the code.
Single-day tickets for April 10 and April 11 as well as a two-day ticket for both nights will be available. Ticket prices will range from $35 to $2,500 plus additional fees.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, WWE will run the Raymond James Stadium at the 36% capacity and will have approximately 25,000 seats for each night. It was believed that the company would up the seat capacity to 45,000 but it was now confirmed that it will be 25,000. The Raymond James Stadium would have been able to hold 70,000 fans for WrestleMania including floor seating.
The Super Bowl last month was held at 38% capacity in the same location but included 7,500 health care workers who were given free seats.
Tickets were supposed to go on sale yesterday but WWE delayed the on-sale date because plans were still being finalized.
AEW announced that three Dynamite shows in Philadelphia, Boston, and Rochester, which were rescheduled already due to the coronavirus pandemic, have been moved again to late 2021.
The April 7 show at the Liacouras Center in Philly is now rescheduled for October 6. The Boston Dynamite at the Agganis Arena on April 21 is now taking place on September 8, while the Dynamite at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester set for June 16 is now taking place on September 29.
Fans who already purchased tickets for all three shows can keep their original tickets and they will be valid for admission to the rescheduled dates. If you cannot attend the shows on the new dates, you can request a refund via the point of purchase.
In celebration of Steve Austin Week and yesterday’s 3/16 day, A&E revealed an extended sneak peak of the upcoming two-hour special Biography: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin.
Premiering on Sunday, April 18 at 8PM ET on A&E, the two-hour biography provides an intimate look at the stories behind the former WWE Superstar and is part of a 10-week programming partnership between A&E and WWE. Biography: “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is directed by Jake Rogal and Executive Produced by Jason Hehir.
Subjects of the Biography WWE series will also include “Macho Man” Randy Savage, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Booker T, Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Mick Foley and Ultimate Warrior. The specials are helmed by some of the industry’s top directors and storytellers to chronicle the success of these WWE Legends and their lasting mark on both sports entertainment and popular culture.
Monday Night Raw this week drew 1,843,000 viewers, down 53,000 viewers from last week’s show.
The first hour of Raw drew 1,874,000 viewers, then went down slightly to 1,873,000 viewers for the second hour, and then finished the night with 1,782,000 viewers in the third and final hour.
Raw was #1, #2, and #3 on the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic with 0.59, 0.56, and 0.53 ratings respectively. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Amanda Huber, the wife of the late Brodie Lee, posted an Instagram story responding to comments about AEW still using little Brodie, affectionately known as -1 of The Dark Order.
Amanda was annoyed at the word “exploitation,” which was used to describe AEW’s use of Brodie and felt the need to clear the air.
She said that AEW helped them pick up the pieces and the company has been behind her every step of the way, letting Brodie feel “like he’s a part of something.” She noted that there are no storylines involving him, but just him being connected to a huge part of him that is missing.
“What everyone doesn’t see on the other side of social media is a kid who is carrying so much grief yet so much joy. A kid who is excelling in his therapy. A kid who despite the worst few months of his life got 10-As and 3-B’s on his report card last week,” she wrote. “On days we go to AEW you are all missing him doing his school work from a hotel room because going to AEW is a privilege.”
Amanda told fans that her Instagram “isn’t grief porn” and it’s never going to be a place where she wants people to go and feel sorry for her. “It’s photos of my journey. So come join me. Just know I didn’t die the day my husband did, I’m very much alive and full of fight,” she wrote.
Amanda, who is very active on Instagram, also shares friendship with many WWE Superstars as well, often uploading images of her kids playing at TJ and Nattie’s house and Brodie training in a ring with TJ Wilson.
Deadline.com is reporting that former Women’s champion Charlotte Flair will be starring as the lead in an upcoming remake of the movie Walking Tall for USA Network.
The two-hour TV movie is hoped to serve as a pilot for future installments or even as a series for USA.
The Walking Tall remake is being written and produced by David Eick and Flair will play a Tucson cop who finds herself caught in a web of fraud, exploitation and murder, and is forced to go full vigilante to protect her home town from falling victim to modern corruption.
The original 1973 movie was rebooted in 2004 with another former WWE champion – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – in the leading role. WWE Studios will be helping in production as well.
The Fastlane pay-per-view card just got a little bit interesting with the addition of an unusual match – an inter gender one-on-one match featuring Randy Orton and Alexa Bliss!
Bliss has been messing up with Orton ever since he set The Fiend on fire in December of last year and it was Little Miss Bliss who challenged Orton for the match during Raw, telling Orton that the only way he’s going to get rid of her is by accepting the match. Orton accepted the challenge later on in the show.
Shane McMahon will also be getting back in the ring to take on Braun Strowman at Fastlane. McMahon apologized to Strowman last night, somewhat, and then continued to mock the former Universal champion. A match was set on Raw but McMahon used some heel tactics to stall and then hit Strowman with a camera, placed him on the announce table, and hit a flying elbow from the top rope. Adding insult to injury, Shane then poured green slime on Strowman.
Another match added to Fastlane is Drew McIntyre vs Sheamus in a rematch from last week’s hard-hitting bout.
Today was supposed to be the on-sale date of WrestleMania 37 tickets but WWE has decided to postpone the date with no new date announced.
An announcement on Raw, followed by a tweet on the @WrestleMania Twitter account said, “WrestleMania on-sale will be moved as plans for the two-night event are still being finalized. We expect a new on-sale date within the next week.”
Reports suggested that WWE would be putting 45,000 seats up for sale for each night, up from the initial 30,000 planned. Seats will be sold in pods of one to six, with no one allowed to mingle between pods or resell portions of those pods. Masks will be mandatory for the event.
Already late when it comes to selling a large amount of tickets in a short time, WWE will have less than 20 days to sell 90,000 tickets if they want to sell out both nights.
Grammy Award winner Bad Bunny gave back the WWE 24/7 title to R-Truth last night on Raw, ending his 28-day reign as champion.
Bunny, fresh from his Grammy Award appearance on Saturday night, was in a backstage segment along with Damien Priest, Miz, Morrison, and R-Truth, who tried to sneak up on Bunny but got caught.
Seeing that this is Steve Austin Week, Truth gave Bad Bunny several Steve Austin merchandise, including a replica Steve Austin championship title and an Austin lunch box. Truth told Bunny that he could even store his Grammy in the lunch box!
Bunny asked Truth what he wants in return, and Truth said he wants his title back. “You know what, I respect you, man. I respect this business, and hm, you deserve this more than me,” Bunny said as he handed over the title to an excited Truth.
Before the duo left, Priest did have one question for Truth though. “What’s his name?” Priest asked. “His name is Bad Bunny,” Truth responded, finally getting his name right!
Bad Bunny showed up on Saturday Night Live a few weeks ago and performed one song with the WWE 24/7 title.
Two more WrestleMania matches were announced yesterday, including the WWE championship title and Raw Tag Team title bouts.
The new WWE champion Bobby Lashley will be defending the title against former two-time champion Drew McIntyre. Lashley was the cause of McIntyre losing the title against The Miz when the enforcer of The Hurt Business attacked McIntyre after the Elimination Chamber match, enabling The Miz to cash in his Money In The Bank briefcase.
Meanwhile, Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods take on AJ Styles and his bodyguard Omos for the Raw Tag Team titles. The New Day won the titles again last night on Raw after they beat Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin. This will be Omos’ in-ring debut. The 7’3″ Nigerian has been signed to WWE since late 2018 and wrestled during non-televised house shows for NXT but never on television.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Select is reporting that there’s another coronavirus outbreak within the NXT brand and it’s bad enough to require some heavy changes to this Wednesday’s show.
The outbreak happened on Thursday of last week after there was an event where WWE PC talent and NXT stars were required to attend, with many of them not obeying the basic rules and not taking proper precautions. Due to the outbreak, a number of stars were pulled from this week’s television tapings and others were told to quarantine due to being close to those who tested positive.
Dave Meltzer from the Observer added that “a lot” of positive results came back although the exact number or who tested positive were not revealed.
This is the fourth or fifth time that there has been a COVID-19 outbreak within NXT. WWE opted to separate NXT and main roster from the ThunderDome due to situations like this and that is why the company spent millions of dollars to create the Capitol Wrestling Center within the Performance Center.
NXT will start its build towards Takeover: Stand & Deliver, which will be a two-night event on April 7 and 8. If any of those individuals quarantined for two weeks were supposed to be part of Takeover, it means that they will return on the March 31 episode of NXT, giving them just one episode to wrap up before the big show.
One of the biggest questions of the WWE Network merger with Peacock for the next five years was the fate of unused WWE Network gift cards.
WWE Network gift cards were sold in the United States and are not redeemable in accounts with addresses registered overseas, so anyone who bought gift cards was not able to resell them either.
Asked on Twitter about what WWE will do for those who are in possession of the three-month gift cards which sold at retailers for $29.97, the Ask WWE Network account provided some good news.
“We are currently working out the details to issue a credit for any unredeemed WWE Network gift cards purchased in the U.S.,” the official Twitter account replied, urging fans to check their help site periodically as they work through the specific details.
All WWE Network accounts with a United States address have an expiry date of April 4, which is when NBCUniversal’s Peacock takes over the exclusive rights of the Network in the U.S.
Fans are encouraged to sign up now to Peacock as the WWE Network moves there on March 18 for just $4.99 a month. As a special offer, fans can take advantage of a $2.99 price per month for four months by going to peacocktv.com/wwe.
One of the greatest feelings the audience gets when watching wrestling is when an underdog wins a fight most people thought they couldn’t win. It is one of the reasons why people love wrestling. There is something about how we are hardwired that makes us want the underdog to win.
If we look around, we start to notice that these David-Goaliath types of battles are happening all around us. One example of such a battle is the fight to keep kratom legal in America.
Before we get into that fight, though, let’s cover some background information on kratom.
What is Kratom?
Kratom hails from the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia. It is an evergreen tree in the coffee family that thrives in hot and humid climates. Also known as mitragyna speciosa, this plant can grow up to 20 feet tall.
The ancient cultures of this area thought this plant to have medicinal properties. Some modern governments do not believe in these properties and only see kratom as a drug-adjacent botanical that can be abused.
While that is the attitude of some lawmakers, millions of citizens in western societies like the United States believe these ancient people were onto something.
There are many different strains of kratom, such as Maeng Da, Malay, and Borneo, to name a few. Each strain, as well as the time each strain is harvested, reflects a unique alkaloid profile. Most strain names reflect the place it was grown. Borneo kratom is grown in Boreno, for example. Maeng Da kratom is unique in that the name refers to quality. It is a slang term in Thailand for “pimp grade”, meaning it is supposedly high quality. You can learn more about Maeng Da here.
Alkaloids are chemicals that affect the opioid receptors in the brain. This is how alkaloids create opioid-like effects in the body. It is extremely important to understand that alkaloids, and by extension kratom, are NOT opioids.
Opioids are either derived from opium or synthesized to mimic and intensify the effects of natural opium.
Many people who are against kratom unfairly link it with the pharmaceuticals that have wrecked the lives of so many people. The reality is many of these addicts have told stories of how kratom has helped them with opioid addiction. The FDA and DEA attitude towards kratom keeps vendors from marketing their products as helpful for addicts, though, or any other kind of medical condition.
Why Do Some People Want Kratom Banned?
Lawmakers tend to air on the side of caution when it comes to botanicals they don’t understand. Since the alkaloids in kratom work on the opioid receptors of the brain, many take that information to mean they should see kratom as just as dangerous.
This misinformation is at the core of the fight against kratom. It is why many lawmakers, as well as the DEA, want it to be scheduled as a schedule 1 substance. This would mean it would be considered to have no medicinal value and would carry the harshest penalties for possession.
The closest the DEA has gotten to achieving this goal on the federal level was back in 2016. A handful of kratom companies sold some bunk product that was contaminated with salmonella.
Around the same time, there was an overdose death by a teen who was using other drugs besides kratom. While there was no way to prove kratom was to blame, the DEA still named it as the culprit.
The DEA seemed poised to win their fight, but then the underdog known as the American Kratom Association led the fight against these efforts.
Who is Fighting to Keep Kratom Legal?
The American Kratom Association was founded around the same time. They are the top advocacy organization within the kratom industry. Their mission is to provide scientific information to lawmakers so they can make informed and educated decisions on kratom legislation.
Their main policy initiative is to get the Kratom Consumer Protection Act passed at the federal level. This would legalize and regulate kratom. It would be regulated by the FDA as a dietary supplement, which means all vendors would have to comply with strict manufacturing protocols. Retailers would also have to comply with sales and marketing restrictions.
Their argument is that kratom itself is not harmful, but rather the fact that it is unregulated that causes the danger.
Under their policy there would be a mechanism in place to keep harmful kratom off of the market.
While they haven’t succeeded in getting the KCPA passed at the federal level, they did win the battle against the DEA in 2016 to keep kratom from being classified as a schedule 1 substance.
What is the Current Legal Status?
As of now, kratom occupies a legal grey area at the federal level. It is technically legal, but it is unregulated. A handful of states have passed the Kratom Consumer Protection Act. Unfortunately, some other states and municipalities have gone the other way and banned kratom entirely.
To make things even more complex, many states are currently in the process of deciding which way they want to go. You will have to do your own research into state and local laws to see if kratom is legal in your area.
The fight for kratom legality is long from over, but it will be one to watch over the coming months.
The Revolution pay-per-view broke AEW records with 125,000 buys last week, fueled by the exploding barbed wire death match, the Hall of Fame-worthy mystery surprise, and Sting’s first match since 2015.
In figures reported by Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics, Revolution had 87,500 domestic buys and 37,500 international buys for a total of $5,200,000 in gross revenue. AEW only takes a percentage of that and made a net revenue of just over $2 million from pay-per-view sales.
The show also had nearly $75,000 in ticket revenue and an additional $21,000 in venue merchandise from 1,150 fans in attendance.
The 125,000 buys exceeds the Double or Nothing 2020 show which did 105,000 buys in May.
AEW debuts their third program tonight as Dark: Elevation kicks off on YouTube starting at 7PM ET.
AEW Dark: Elevation will showcase the promotion’s established and rising stars, as well as the top independent wrestlers within the industry. AEW Dark: Elevation will also maintain continuity with Dynamite, Dark, pay-per-view shows and streaming events, with wins and losses factoring into each wrestler’s ranking in the company.
Doing commentary for Dark: Elevation will be Tony Schiavone along with newcomer Paul Wight.
A total of 12 matches will make up the premiere broadcast tonight which is headlined by a women’s match featuring Riho vs Maki Itoh.
The WWE Network will be celebrating Steve Austin week starting tomorrow, March 16, or better known as 3/16.
A new episode of the “Meeting” series airs on Tuesday titled Meeting Steve Austin as WWE Superstars and Legends recall their first impression of Austin with the likes of The Undertaker, Booker T, Ric Flair, and others recounting memories they shared with the Rattlesnake.
On Friday, Birth of the Stunner airs as fans will learn about the origin of Austin’s finishing move and how its legacy lives on through Kevin Owens.
The Best of Stone Cold Steve Austin airs on Saturday and this will also be available on the free version of the WWE Network. A collection of his greatest matches, including those against The Rock, Bret Hart, The Undertaker, and others will be featured.
And then on Sunday, it’s the Rattlesnake head-to-head with the Viper as Stone Cold welcomes Randy Orton on Broken Skull Sessions.
