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FS1 to air the 2020 Royal Rumble in full on Tuesday

By
Colin Vassallo
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This coming Tuesday, FOX Sports 1 will be airing an encore presentation of the 2020 Royal Rumble starting at 7PM ET.

With television networks scrambling for content since most productions are halted due to the pandemic, WWE looks to be making the most out of it by already having past WrestleManias air on ESPN and now the Rumble on FS1.

ESPN will be airing WrestleMania 32 tomorrow, their second WrestleMania following the airing of WrestleMania XXX last Sunday. ESPN will also air WrestleMania 35 next Sunday head-to-head with WrestleMania 36.

Additional changes made to the WrestleMania 36 card

By
Colin Vassallo
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WrestleMania underwent more changes and additions as the coronavirus pandemic continued to affect operations.

Two matches were added to the card last night on Smackdown, including Daniel Bryan vs Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental title and Otis vs Dolph Ziggler with Mandy Rose in his corner.

The John Cena vs The Fiend match will be a Firefly Fun House match after Wyatt challenged Cena to the gimmick match last night on Smackdown. Cena will be on Smackdown next Friday to respond to the challenge.

Also, The Miz and Murphy were both ill and were not allowed to participate during the show. Miz was set to team up with Morrison to defend the Smackdown Tag Team titles but that didn’t happen and Murphy was supposed to be in the corner of Seth Rollins and was also not allowed at ringside.

Andrade not cleared to compete at WrestleMania due to injury

By
Colin Vassallo
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The reigning United States champion Andrade was not cleared to compete at WrestleMania due to an injury he suffered this past Monday on Raw according to PWInsider.com.

Andrade was supposed to tag team with Angel Garza to take on The Street Profits for the Raw Tag Team titles. The match will still take place though and Garza will be teaming up with another WWE Superstar on the pay-per-view.

The picture will be clearer on Monday when WWE explains the situation on Raw. Andrade is the third WWE Superstar known so far to be pulled from the WrestleMania card after Roman Reigns requested not to work due to his health and Dana Brooke was also taken out due to illness.

Road to WrestleMania continues on taped Smackdown tonight on FOX

By
Colin Vassallo
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Three matches have been announced for tonight’s Smackdown which unlike last week is not live as it was taped during the past weekend.

Scheduled for the show are Alexa Bliss vs Asuka, The New Day vs The Usos, and Drew Gulak vs Shinsuke Nakamura with the stipulation being that if Gulak wins, Daniel Bryan gets an IC shot against Sami Zayn at WrestleMania. Bray Wyatt will also be on the show with a new installment of The Firefly Funhouse.

With Roman Reigns off the WrestleMania card as well it will be interesting to see if WWE will address that situation tonight somehow.

Trailer for The Main Event Netflix/WWE Studios movie released

By
Colin Vassallo
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The trailer for the Netflix/WWE Studios movie The Main Event was released.

Landing on Netflix worldwide on April 10, The Main Event is about an 11-year-old who discovers a magical wrestling mask that grants him super strength and uses that to enter a WWE competition to achieve his dream of becoming a WWE Superstar.

Several WWE Superstars are in the movie including Keith Lee, Otis, The Miz, Sheamus, Babatunde, Kofi Kingston, Mia Yim, Corey Graves, and Renee Young.

Seth Carr, Tichina Arnold, Adam Pally, and Ken Marino are the leading stars in the movie.

You can see the trailer below.

Meet NXT’s newest tag team from India

By
Colin Vassallo
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The newest NXT tag team led by Malcolm Bivens, the man formerly known as Stokely Hathaway, is composed of Rinku Singh and Saurav Gurjar, and the two made their presence felt on Wednesday when they attacked Matt Riddle.

Singh, 31, and Gurjar, 35, are both from India and both have been signed to a WWE deal since January 2018 where they have been training at the Performance Center.

Singh is a former professional baseball player who was recruited by the Pittsburgh Pirates. His story, along with that of another Indian baseball player, was the basis of a Walt Disney Picture film titled Million Dollar Arm.

Gurjar is a national kickboxing gold medalist in his country and was also an actor. He appeared in the Ring Ka King promotion which was headed up by Jeff Jarrett and TNA back in 2011 but that was his only wrestling exposure.

NXT rating for 03/25/2020

By
Colin Vassallo
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NXT pulled in 669,000 viewers this week, up 127,000 viewers from last week’s video package-only show. It did 0.20 rating in the 18-49 demo and placed #56 in the chart. The difference between the two shows this week was of 150,000 viewers, which is down by 240,000 viewers compared to the previous week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

Dynamite rating for 03/25/2020

By
Colin Vassallo
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Dynamite this week drew 819,000 viewers, down 113,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast but still comfortably winning the Wednesday night war against NXT. The show did a 0.34 in the 18-49 demo and placed #23 in the top 50 cable chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

Roman Reigns reportedly off the WrestleMania card due to health concerns

By
Colin Vassallo
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WrestleMania 36 lost one of its main events as Ryan Satin of ProWrestlingSheet.com is reporting that Roman Reigns was not taking part in the show due to his bout with leukemia.

Satin, who occasionally appears on WWE Backstage, said that it was Reigns who expressed his wish not to be part of any more upcoming shows as long as this pandemic remains because his immune system is weaker than those of regular people and if he gets the virus, it would put his life in danger. WWE had no problem with Reigns’ request and took him out of the card.

The WWE Universal title will still be defended at WrestleMania but the opponent remains under wraps.

There are also rumors that some other matches were changed as well as some WWE Superstars showed up with a fever according to Dave Meltzer of the Observer and were not allowed in the Performance Center. All employees are screened before entering the facility to try and keep the place as clean as possible.

WrestleMania 36 was taped on Wednesday and Thursday although it’s not clear if additional tapings or re-shoots will be done at the Performance Center.

Ciampa/Gargano feud to climax on April 8 episode of NXT

By
Colin Vassallo
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Gargano and Ciampa will be wrestling each other one last time, or at least for the time being, on the April 8 episode of NXT as their recently-restarted feud comes to a close.

Last night on NXT, Triple H came out and said that he will give the two an empty arena somewhere with a ring in the middle of it and a referee and while two men will enter, only one will be standing tall at the end of the match. From what Triple H said it looks like this match will not be taped from the WWE Performance Center.

Triple H also made a stipulation that if any of them gets involved with each other again after this April 8 final match, they will be gone from NXT.

Gargano and Ciampa have been feuding for a couple of years and headlined a few NXT Takeovers together in the process.

NXT UK Takeover: Dublin postponed to October

By
Colin Vassallo
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The NXT UK Takeover: Dublin has been postponed and rescheduled for later in the year.

WWE announced that the fourth UK Takeover would not be taking place due to the coronavirus outbreak and has set a date for Sunday, October 25 also at the 3Arena.

The company had all television tapings running through the Takeover show in late April already recorded.

All tickets purchased will remain valid for the new date but if you cannot make it you can get a refund from the point of purchase.

Killer Kross video interrupts HHH/Gargano/Ciampa segment on NXT

By
Colin Vassallo
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Killer Kross is coming to NXT and last night a video interrupted the Triple H/Gargano/Ciampa segment which featured Kross and a bunch of images showing destruction.

The former Impact Wrestling star joined WWE in February of this year and reported to the Performance Center immediately. His real-life girlfriend Scarlett Bordeaux is also signed to a WWE deal. Kross wrestled for Lucha Underground, Lucha Libre AAA, and most recently Impact Wrestling. He was released from Impact Wrestling months after he refused to blade in his first blood match against Eddie Edwards at Slammiversary XVII, citing the lack of a doctor on hand and no blood testing beforehand. He was given the release he requested in December.

After the show, Kross replied to the NXT tweet which promoted Triple H’s appearance on the broadcast by posting a GIF of a television on fire.

Io Shirai returns on NXT, qualifies for ladder match

By
Colin Vassallo
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Two more women qualified for the number one contender’s ladder match for the NXT Women’s title yesterday on NXT on USA Network.

Xia Li and Aliyah was supposed to be one of the qualifying matches yesterday but Li was attacked backstage, ruling her out of the planned match. Instead, the returning Io Shirai took her place and beat Aliyah to qualify. Shirai has been out of action for two months after she suffered a knee injury in late January.

Candice LaRae was the second one who qualified after beating Kayden Carter in the second qualifying match of the night.

Shirai and LaRae now join Chelsea Green, Mia Yim, and Tegan Nox who are already part of the match.

The last spot in the match will be decided next week in a gauntlet match as Shotzi Blackheart, Deonna Purrazzo, Dakota Kai, Kayden Carter, Xia Li, and Aliyah go against each other.

Benoit episode of Dark Side Of The Ring breaks series record, watch now!

By
Colin Vassallo
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The season two premiere of Dark Side Of The Ring featuring the two-hour Chris Benoit story did 320,000 viewers on Vice.

That figure, much to no surprise, represents the most-watched episode of the whole series so far. The Von Erichs episode last year was the most watched episode viewed to-date with 234,000 viewers.

The Benoit double episode was as striking as you could expect, with fantastic visual storytelling and commentary from Chris Jericho, Chavo Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Jim Ross, Vickie Guerrero, Chris’ son David, and Nancy’s sister Sandra.

While what happened on that weekend is widely available on the Internet, hearing new, first-hand accounts from those who experienced it is rather shocking to say the least.

You can watch the two-hour episode for free below. A U.S. IP address is required as the videos are geo-locked.

https://youtu.be/XkUsAztC4Xc

https://youtu.be/xEtP3vMElcQ

NXT returns with new matches and content tonight on USA Network

By
Colin Vassallo
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NXT will resume “regular” – sort of – business tonight with a broadcast featuring matches and not just video packages and old content.

In total, four matches have been announced for tonight’s USA Network episode including Matt Riddle taking on Roderick Strong, Tyler Breeze vs Austin Theory, and two matches from the ladder match qualifiers with Candice LaRae vs Kayden Carter and Xia Li vs Aliyah.

The winners of the women matches will advance to join Chelsea Green, Mia Yim, and Tegan Nox in the ladder match that will air sometime in April on NXT.

Meanwhile, NXT champion Adam Cole will be delivering a special message on the heels of surpassing Fin Balor’s 292 days as NXT champion, becoming the longest reigning men’s NXT champ in history.

Hardy and Jericho come face-to-face tonight on Dynamite

By
Colin Vassallo
-

Dynamite returns from the Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida tonight behind a closed set for more live action. AEW has chosen to keep doing a live broadcast instead of taping like WWE, risking to get eventually shut down and caught without any future content.

Two matches have been announced so far including Cody taking on Jimmy Havoc and Kenny Omega defending his AAA Mega title against Sammy Guevara. The Exalted One Brodie Lee will also make his in-ring debut but no opponent was named. Former champion Chris Jericho will also get face-to-face with Matt Hardy following last week’s debut where Hardy joined forces with The Elite in their war against The Inner Circle.

Cody will also be doing commentary with Tony Schiavone during tonight’s broadcast.

Additional details revealed from the upcoming TNA one night special on AXS TV

By
Colin Vassallo
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AXS TV will present a one night only TNA special on Tuesday, March 31 starting at 10PM ET following the conclusion of Impact Wrestling.

“For years, the loyal fans of TNA have asked us to bring back some of their favorite wrestlers of the past,” said D’Amore, “and after the incredible response we received from the now-postponed ‘TNA: There’s No Place Like Home’ iPPV, we thought an AXS TV special would be the perfect opportunity to celebrate our history.”

Scheduled to appear are Rhino, Madman Fulton, Scott Steiner, Hernandez from LAX, Chase Stevens from The Naturals, Kid Bash, Johnny Swinger, Suicide, Manik, and others.

Former TNA Wrestling announcer David Penzer and current Impact Wrestling EVP Scott D’Amore will be calling the action from the broadcast booth.

“Right now we’re dealing with unprecedented circumstances, so here’s a great reason to stay home, turn everything off and enjoy the excitement that is Total Nonstop Action wrestling,” added D’Amore.

Orange County, Florida shutting down non-essential businesses from tomorrow

By
Colin Vassallo
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The mayor of Orange County, Florida, Jerry L. Demings, has signed an executive order putting the county on a near-lockdown effective tomorrow, Thursday 11PM and will continue for two weeks until April 9 at 11PM.

With this lockdown, residents cannot go to work unless they are providing essential services as defined by the order, meaning that most likely WWE will have to close operations at the Performance Center since its business is not deemed as essential. Any business which doesn’t meet the criteria of the 35 essential business points listed in the order are ordered to shut down. People who violate the order could receive $50 citations or up to 50 days in jail.

WWE will have night two of WrestleMania taped tomorrow at the Performance Center but will most likely not be able to do any tapings for post-Mania shows now, at least not until April 10.

The WWE Performance Center has proved to be one of WWE’s best investments, having their own building transformed into an arena where shows could be taped.

WWE to start taping WrestleMania 36 from the Performance Center today

By
Colin Vassallo
-

WrestleMania 36 will be taped today and tomorrow at the WWE Performance Center with additional tapings being done at other unknown locations.

All WWE Superstars and crew have been in a local area hotel in preparation for these two days of intense filming. It’s unclear how the tapings will proceed considering they’re trying to limit how many people are on set at the same time to avoid any spread of the virus.

This will be the first time that a WrestleMania will be recorded ahead of time but due to the ongoing situation, WWE is taking no chances of waiting to do it on April 4 and 5 as things could rapidly change that could force a complete shutdown, preventing them from holding any sort of tapings.

Over the past few days, WWE recorded all shows leading up to WrestleMania with post-Mania tapings schedule still up in the air.

WWE has not revealed which matches will make part of night one and two and which matches will main event each night.

Wrestling-Online.com will not be revealing any spoilers from WrestleMania tapings whatsoever.

Vince McMahon enters in a variable prepaid forward contract to secure liquidity to WWE

By
Colin Vassallo
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In the latest 8-K filing with the Security and Exchange Commission yesterday, it was revealed that Vince McMahon entered into a variable prepaid forward contract with an unaffiliated bank covering approximately 3.5 million shares of the Company’s Class B common stock.

Variable prepaid forward contracts are investment strategies that allow a shareholder, in this case McMahon, to generate liquidity for a number of issues, including risk management purposes. The move was done to make sure WWE has enough liquidity to go through this whole coronavirus pandemic.

The variable prepaid forward contract is scheduled to settle on specified dates in March 2024, at which time the actual number of shares of the Company’s Class A common stock to be delivered by Mr. McMahon will be determined based on the price of the Company’s Class A common stock. Subject to certain conditions, Mr. McMahon can also elect to settle the variable prepaid forward contract in cash and thereby retain full ownership of the pledged shares.

Mr. McMahon entered into the variable prepaid forward contract to provide current liquidity while allowing him to maintain voting and ordinary dividend rights in the stock, as well as the ability to participate in future stock price appreciation, during the term of the contract and thereafter if Mr. McMahon settles the variable prepaid forward contract in cash.

The shares covered by the variable prepaid forward contract represent approximately 4.5% of the Company’s total outstanding shares of Class A and Class B common stock. The variable prepaid forward contract contains a 60-day lock-up restricting Mr. McMahon’s ability to sell or transfer additional shares of the Company’s common stock during such period without the Bank’s prior approval.

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