WWE is moving forward with plans to have a new episode of SmackDown this coming Friday night.
It’s been well documented that WWE taped several episodes of RAW, NXT, SmackDown, and WrestleMania 36 last week at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida.
These tapings will include Monday’s episode of RAW and Wednesday’s NXT episode. However, there were no matches taped for Friday Night SmackDown this week.
Original plans called for WWE to tape SmackDown from the Performance Center. However, those plans will have to be changed due to a statewide lockdown that went into effect last Friday and expires on April 30 after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis made the order.
Dave Meltzer noted on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio episode that WWE is still planning to tape SmackDown sometime this week.
In fact, WWE is trying to keep the location of the tapings secret but the belief is that it will take place in a shutdown state.
Vince McMahon was on a conference call that took place on Saturday along with other commissioners of sports leagues.
This is where President Donald Trump told the commissioners that he expects arenas and stadiums to be able to welcome fans by August or September.
The WWE Network released the WWE 24: Edge – The Second Mountain episode on Sunday that looked at the journey of Edge returning to in-ring action.
During the documentary, Edge looked back on his road to competition after retiring from a career-ending neck injury. This is where he confirmed that another promotion had reached out and showed interest in signing him.
If you recall, last October, it was reported that Edge used AEW as leverage while negotiating with WWE for a new deal, which was reached. Edge talked about after he hit a spear to Elias at SummerSlam, it prompted \”another company\” to offer him a contract.
\”Summerslam happens, and then from there another company within the industry contacted me,\” Edge said. \”They said they were interested and wanted to know if I could wrestle and at this point, I didn\’t know if I could. So before I did anything, I decided I needed to go find out.\”
Edge would discuss how he had discussions with WWE after this segment but he wanted to talk with Vince McMahon about the deal in person because Vince McMahon did right by him in his career. He praised McMahon for giving him his chance and trusted him to pull things off and be a pillar for his shows.
Edge talked about the ongoing discussions he had with McMahon and why he wanted to come back with WWE rather than any other company.
\”So, I went and sat down with him and I told him everything. It wasn\’t like trying to get a bidding war going or anything, WWE didn\’t even know whether this was possible, I didn\’t know if it was possible. He said \’Well, it needs to happen here. Let\’s get you out to our doctors, you can take your impact testing and go through all of the testing.\”
Edge is slated to take on Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing Match at WrestleMania 36.
AJ Styles vs. The Undertaker is in the books. The Undertaker was able to beat Styles in a Boneyard Match at the WWE WrestleMania 36 pay-per-view event. The Undertaker brought back the biker gimmick.
It took place in a graveyard and featured The Undertaker fighting off Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, and some druids. The match ended when Taker put him in a hole and placed dirt on him.
Undertaker\’s Feud with AJ Styles & The OC
The feud started after Styles took some shots at him on Monday Night RAW through promos. Then The Undertaker made an appearance at the WWE Super ShowDown event during the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy Gauntlet Match that saw Andrade, Bobby Lashley, Erick Rowan, AJ Styles, R-Truth, and Rey Mysterio compete.
Once The OC took out Mysterio backstage, we saw footage of Taker laying out Karl Anderson and Gallows before heading out to the ring.
Taker attacked Styles by hitting a chokeslam then pinned him. Fast forward, Taker also cost Styles his No DQ Match against Aleister Black when Taker made the save for Black at the Elimination Chamber event.
WWE confirmed the WrestleMania match on March 16th episode of RAW when the two stars signed a contract for the contest. WWE later changed the contest from a singles bout to a Boneyard Match.
Goldberg’s reign as WWE Universal Champion will not continue as despite not defending it against his original opponent in Roman Reigns but rather Braun Strowman.
“The Monster Among Men” toppled WWE Hall of Famer in less than three minutes to win the Universal Title in a top match on the WrestleMania 36 card in Orlando, Florida.
Goldberg became the champion when he won the title from Bray Wyatt, portraying The Fiend, at the WWE Super ShowDown pay-per-view event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He was scheduled to defend the gold against Roman Reigns, but it was not meant to be. The match was made official on the February 28th episode of SmackDown. Then-champion Goldberg came out for a promo and asked Who\’s Next? \’The Big Dog\’ came out to the ring and accepted the challenge.
With just days until WrestleMania 36, Reigns announced his decision to pull out of the event due to health concerns. As a leukemia survivor, his immune system is weakened and he is at greater risk if he were to contract the Coronavirus.
Brown Strowman was announced as Goldberg\’s opponent on Friday\’s SmackDown. The nonchalant nature of this announcement just 24 hours before te pay-per-view left fans stunned.
The title reign of Sami Zayn as WWE Intercontinental Champion continues as he was not dethroned by Daniel Bryan.
Zayn did so when he beat the former WWE Champion to retain the championship at Saturday’s (April 5, 2020) WWE WrestleMania 36 pay-per-view event in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center on the WWE Network.
This championship bout was set up last month when WWE booked an interesting match on Friday Night SmackDown on FOX. This saw a contest between Drew Gulak and Shinsuke Nakamura.
The stipulation of the contest was that if Gulak beat Nakamura then Bryan would get an Intercontinental Title match.
Gulak ended up beating Nakamura on the show. As a result, Bryan earned the right to challenge Zayn for the strap at WrestleMania 36.
At the WWE Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event last month in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Wells Fargo Center, Braun Strowman Strowman defended the title against Cesaro, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Zayn in a 3-On-1 Handicap Match.
This contest served as the co-main event and saw Strowman get pinned by Zayn in the match earning him the title.
Time will tell whether WWE continues this feud or goes into a different direction in the next few weeks.
What are your thoughts on Daniel Bryan not winning the WWE Intercontinental Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
After months of build-up, Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler took place.
Lynch successfully retained the WWE RAW Women’s Championship over the former NXT Women’s Champion at the WWE WrestleMania 36 pay-per-view event in Orlando, Florida.
The feud kicked off in February when Baszler attacked Lynch after she defended RAW Women’s Championship against Asuka. The segment ended when Baszler bit the back of the neck of Lynch.
Fans thought that this was a segment to book the match at WrestleMania right away. However, WWE went in a different direction.
WWE booked a Women’s Elimination Chamber Match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Wells Fargo Center last month.
This contest saw WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Asuka vs. Shayna Baszler vs. Ruby Riott vs. Sarah Logan vs. Liv Morgan, vs. Natalya with the winner becoming the new #1 contender for the RAW Women’s Title.
As seen in the contest, Bazler won the match and earned the opportunity to challenge for the strap at WrestleMania 36.
Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross are the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions.
Bliss and Cross stepped into the squared circle against The Kabuki Warriors in the opening contest of the WrestleMania 36 – Night 1 pay-per-view event in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center on the WWE Network.
At the show, Bliss and Cross dethroned Asuka and Kairi Sane to win the titles.
It turns out that Sane and Asuka beat Cross and Bliss to win the titles at the WWE Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event in Sacramento, California at the Golden 1 Center last year.
This was a last-minute match addition as the company only announced it a few hours before the show went live on WWE’s streaming service.
As of this writing, there’s no word yet on when Sane and Asuka will get their rematch for the titles. This marks the second reign as the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles for Bliss and Cross together.
Your winners and the first-ever 2-time @WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, @AlexaBliss_WWE & @NikkiCrossWWE!
What are your thoughts on Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross winning the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.
DDP made some interesting comments to talkSPORTS’s Alex McCarthy, who shared a message from the WWE Hall of Famer.
Diamond Dallas Page told the media outlet that because he helped out Cody Rhodes with AEW, WWE won’t work with him. DDP also brought up how he gives credit to Cody’s father, the legendary Dusty Rhodes, for his success in WCW.
It should also be noted that DDP has been friends with the Rhodes family for decades. You can see the tweet here:
DDP tells #talkWRESTLING that WWE won't work with him at the moment because 'I helped out Cody'.
He says without Dusty Rhodes there is no DDP, so it was a no brainer for him.
DDP made his promotional debut with AEW back at Double or Nothing last year at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The legendary pro wrestler made another appearance on the October 23, 2019 episode of Dynamite where he helped Cody, Adam Page, and Dustin Rhodes brawl with the Inner Circle in the arena after Jericho interrupted Cody’s promo to build their program heading into Full Gear.
In fact, DDP came out of retirement to work another match. He did so back on the January 15th Dynamite episode, themed Bash at the Beach, on TNT in Miami, FL at the Watsco Center.
He teamed up with Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall to take on MJF and The Butcher & The Blade in an eight-man tag team match that saw the heels go over.
The final betting odds for all of the matches that will take place at the WWE WrestleMania 36 pay-per-view event have been released.
The card for the show that takes place tonight (Saturday, April 4, 2020) as well as tomorrow from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center has not been finalized.
WWE WrestleMania 36 Betting Odds
Make sure to join us tonight for match recaps and our takeaways from this latest pay-per-view event held by WWE.
The favorites to win are listed as – while the underdogs are listed with +. Odds call for all three titles to change. Here are the final betting odds courtesy of BetOnline:
Shayna Baszler -180 (5/9) vs. WWE RAW Women’s Champion Becky Lynch +140 (7/5)
Drew McIntyre -350 (2/7) vs. WWE Champion Brock Lesnar +225 (9/4)
WWE NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley -180 (5/9) vs. Charlotte Flair +140 (7/5)
WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley (c) 5/4 vs. Sasha Banks 1/1 vs. Lacey Evans 4/1 vs. Naomi 13/2 vs. Tamina 33/1 – Five Pack Challenge
WWE Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn -200 (1/2) vs. Daniel Bryan +150 (3/2)
Edge -500 (1/5) vs. Randy Orton +300 (3/1) – Last Man Standing Match
Kevin Owens -220 (5/111) vs. Seth Rollins +150 (3/2)
Bray Wyatt -500 (1/5) vs. John Cena +300 (3/1) – Firefly Fun House Match
The Undertaker -400 (1/4) vs. AJ Styles +250 (3/2) – Boneyard Match
Aleister Black -700 (1/7) vs. Bobby Lashley +400 (4/1)
Heading into Friday’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, most fans knew of the changes that had to be made to title matches taking place at WrestleMania 36.
The first expected change was Roman Reigns, who was slated to challenge Universal Champion Goldberg at this event, not competing.
Since the show was taped last week, Reigns decided to pull out of the contest due to his concerns about the coronavirus as he has a weakened immune system with his leukemia battle.
WWE confirmed on SmackDown that Braun Strowman will replace Reigns in the contest to challenge the WWE Hall of Famer for the Universal Title. Despite Triple H stated that WWE would make the match change in a unique manner, WWE had Michael Cole announce the news in a quick segment.
WWE had originally announced face-off for Friday\’s SmackDown with Goldberg and Reigns, where it was expected that the change would be explained. Clearly, that didn\’t happen.
The other change was to the originally announced contest that would’ve seen John Morrison and The Miz defending the SmackDown Tag Team Titles against The Usos and The New Day at WrestleMania 36.
The Miz was pulled from the match due to him being ill and not able to work the show. However, WWE didn\’t announce that change during the broadcast.
WWE presents the WrestleMania 36 pay-per-view event as a two-night event on Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5 in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center.
A new report has surfaced online regarding WWE having serious talks with ESPN that dates back to last year involving WrestleMania 35.
Sports Illustrated reports that ESPN wanted to up their coverage of WrestleMania 35 and the network was in a \”deep discussion\” to have a desk at WrestleMania, and to air WrestleMania SportsCenter breaks all weekend.
However, as WrestleMania week approached, the talks died the week before. The reason for it not happening was due to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon not wanting to reveal the behind-the-scenes aspects of WWE. This would include moments after the show ended.
This is interesting considering that WWE shows this type of footage on various programs such as Total Bellas, Total Divas, WWE 24 and WWE Chronicle.
Per the report, this type of footage could have been acquired by ESPN for a significant price. However, this footage is far more valuable to WWE than it would be to ESPN.
Fast forward a year later, it’s been reported that WWE was in talks with ESPN to air the pay-per-view on the ESPN+ pay-per-view service. This type of deal didn’t happen when the coronavirus pandemic started in the United States.
ESPN did not want to spend such a high price on any event that was surrounded by uncertainty.
WWE executives questioned whether this type of deal would\’ve led to a mass decrease of WWE Network subscribers. Finally, FOX and the USA Network were \”less than enthused\” with WWE making a deal to air replays of past WrestleMania events including from 2014, 2016, and 2019.
The broadcast of WrestleMania 35 will serve as a lead-in for Night Two of WrestleMania 36, which FOX was especially not thrilled with.
Originally, FOX hoped that some of the WrestleMania encore presentations would air on FS1, but WWE made the decision to air them on ESPN because that network draws significantly more viewers.
On a weekly basis, WWE has to deal with spoilers from leaking and WrestleMania 36 was no different.
The company taped episodes of RAW, NXT, and SmackDown in addition to both nights of WrestleMania 36 last week. These tapings were different, according to a new report from Sports Illustrated.
WWE had to move WrestleMania 36 from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay to the empty WWE Performance Center. This was done due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Per the report, leaking WWE information is a fireable offense. With WrestleMania being WWE’s biggest event of the year, WWE wanted to present it in the best way possible despite it being a taped show.
It was noted that the tapings for WrestleMania 36 ran overnight from 11pm until 5am.
Also, there were only a limited number of people present for the set of WWE TV and pay-per-view tapings held last week. People like WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, Paul Heyman, and Bruce Prichard were in attendance.
Also, the majority of the producers or agents were not present for the matches. The agents that helped put the matches together were the likes of Adam Pearce, and WWE Hall of Famers Shawn Michaels, and \”Road Dogg\” Brian James.
These producers are considered to be the unlikeliest of candidates to leak spoilers. So far, no leaks regarding the outcome of the matches taped have been revealed.
AJ Styles recently did an interview with Newsweek where he spoke about a wide range of topics including WWE’s decision to split WrestleMania 36 into a two-night event.
The first night will take place on Saturday and the second night the following day. He was asked if WWE should make the event a two-night show going forward.
“I think we’ve got to do something, as a company. There are a lot of matches in one night, too many if you ask me. Either we cut down on the matches or have two nights. Either way is fine with me.
At the end of the day, it’s up to the fans and whether they are willing to show up. And at the same time, maybe give someone a chance who can’t afford two days they can see one day or pick the night and the matches they want to see. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. Next year, we’ll see what happens.”
Since the launch of WWE’s streaming service, WWE Network, the length of these pay-per-view events have been extended.
The big four shows – Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, Survivor Series, and SummerSlam – can last anywhere from four to six hours long.
This year’s WrestleMania is expected to have a four-hour main card with a one-hour pre-show.
CM Punk recently did an interview with No Sports Report where he talked about WWE’s decision to push forward with WrestleMania 36.
WWE had to make the change to the location of the event due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, which has been impacting their event schedule. It was moved to the Performance Center and held in front of no fans. It’ll also be a two-night event.
“Even from a business standpoint, a fan standpoint, you gotta push the date, reschedule, have it in June/July. What is the silver lining in that? Maybe you can have it in an open-air arena in the midwest when it’s warm.
Punk says the situation is almost as if WrestleMania is cancelled, but they\’re moving forward anyways. He also revealed that there\’s buzz behind the scenes that certain performers are sick.
\”Yeah, I think it\’s completely strange. You know, I hear all the rumors of who\’s sick.\”
– CM Punk
Then you\’ve got all these guys that are whether the culture there has changed or not, are going to be job scared so they\’re going to show up and then they get somebody else sick. Obviously, that\’s how the virus works.”
Punk continued by noting that he thought the decision was just so obtuse and the wrong decision. He stated that he wouldn’t have made a two-night event. He then brought up how they pre-taped segments and questioned the insanity of watching it come Sunday if there are spoilers.
Punk also talked about how it must suck for the performers to work in front of no fans under these conditions.
It is not entirely surprising that CM Punk is outspoken about WWE\’s practices. He is known for speaking his mind almost as much as his ring work. He is also not on very good terms with WWE, despite occasional appearances on the FS1 Backstage show.
A new episode of WWE Friday Night SmackDown is here and it’s slated to be an important show.
The reason for that is due to it serving as the final show before WrestleMania 36. With just hours until bell time, it’s time to look ahead starting with tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
Despite the known changes, WWE is still hyping up John Morrison and The Miz defending the SmackDown Tag Team Titles against The Usos and The New Day at WrestleMania 36.
In fact, the company is hyping that all three teams will be on Miz TV. WWE will have to announce the changes to this match due to one of the stars not being able to work the contest.
As usual, fans should expect more matches and segments to be revealed this afternoon for SmackDown.
WWE holds this show from Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. WWE is advertising the following items for tonight’s broadcast:
John Cena will appear to respond to Bray Wyatt’s challenge for a Firefly Funhouse match
The Usos and The New Day stop by “Miz TV” ahead of WrestleMania championship showdown
WWE to address Roman Reigns vs. WWE Universal Champion Goldberg at WrestleMania
WrestleMania 36 match order to be revealed
Final WrestleMania 36 build
Join us here later tonight for our post-show WWE SmackDown Results and Takeaways feature.
Viewership data is in for this week’s battle in the WWE NXT vs. AEW Dynamite Wednesday Night War. AEW won in total viewers. Both shows were down from last week.
Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
WWE NXT Viewership
NXT on the USA Network averaged 590,000 viewers, which is down from 669,000 last week. In the 18-49 demo, they drew a 0.15 rating, down from the 0.20 rating that the show did last week.
The episode featured a Second Chance Gauntlet Match to qualify for #1 contender Ladder Match, Dexter Lumis vs. Jake Atlas, Kushida vs. Joaquin Wilde, The Velveteen Dream vs. Bobby Fish, and NXT North American Champion Keith Lee vs. Damian Priest vs. Dominik Dijakovic.
AEW Dynamite on TNT was watched by 685,000 viewers, down from the 819,000 viewers last week. In the 18-49 demo, Dynamite pulled in a 0.25 rating, down from the 0.34 rating that the show did last week.
AEW Dynamite featured such as Kenny Omega vs. Trent, Lance Archer’s in-ring debut, Cody and Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara and Shawn Spears. There was also a segment with Chris Jericho at his home where he tried to get Vanguard 1 to join the Innercircle by offering him a t-shirt.
With WrestleMania 36 still being days away, the company has yet to release the match order for both nights of the show.
This has caused fans to wonder as to what’s the hold up with the match order. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio shed some light on the situation.
It turns out that WWE officials are still deciding which matches will air on which nights. However, the belief is that the decision should be finalized by Friday, which is the day before the first night.
WWE filmed each match individually last week and there wasn’t an order in which those matches were taped.
Now, WWE is taking the time to edit the footage, add special effects, and then put it in an order based on the star power they have on their rosters. This is being done to put on the most exciting matches for each night.
WWE presents the WrestleMania 36 pay-per-view event as a two-night event on Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5 in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. Both nights start at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT will air on the WWE Network.
There will be no fans in attendance due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. WWE will be announcing more matches for this show in the coming days.
Triple H Discusses WWE Adapting To Changes Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
The April 1, 2020 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from the Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University.
The show was headlined by a Triple Threat Match for the NXT North American Title with Keith Lee defending against Damian Priest and Dominik Dijakovic.
WWE NXT Results (4/1)
The Velveteen Dream def. Bobby Fish
Dexter Lumis def. Jake Atlas
Dakota Kai def. Shotzi Blackheart, Deonna Purrazzo, Xia Li, Aliyah and Kayden Carter
KUSHIDA def. Joaquin Wilde
NXT North American Champion Keith Lee def. Damian Priest & Dominik Dijakovic
Here are the 4 takeaways from this week’s NXT show:
Second Chance Gauntlet Match
Dakota Kai
WWE held a Second Chance Gauntlet Match in order to determine who will get the final spot for the six-woman Ladder Match.
The Gauntlet featured Aliyah, Kayden Carter, Deonna Purrazzo, Shotzi Blackheart, Dakota Kai, and Xia Li. As seen in the contest, Kai ended up going over.
Other competitors in the Ladder Match include Io Shirai, Candice LeRae, Chelsea Green, Mia Yim, and Tegan Nox. The winner of the match will become the new #1 contender to the NXT Women\’s Championship, which is currently held by Rhea Ripley.
The new #1 contender will earn a future title shot in a match that will take place after WrestleMania 36 due to Ripley defending the title against Charlotte Flair at this show.
Dexter Lumis, formerly known as Samuel Shaw, took on Jake Atlas in a singles match which marked the second contest of the night.
Lumis went over in the contest. This marked the television debut for Atlas.
Lumis was under contract with TNA (now known as Impact Wrestling) from 2010 – 2015 where he won the Gut Check competition.
He was announced as part of the Performance Center recruits by the WWE that started training at the facility in Orlando, Florida back in March 2019.
Trevor Lee, 3.0, Elliott Sexton, Nick Comoroto, Rachael Ellering, Karen Q, Jonah Rock, Ricardo Miller and Omari Palmer were also part of this class.
This comes a week after a vignette aired promoting Lumis\’ return was aired on the program.
Lumis competed in a tournament named NXT Breakout Tournament last July. This marked his TV debut but he lost in the first round of the tournament to Bronson Reed.
The Velveteen Dream vs. Bobby Fish in a singles match is in the books as the match took place on this show.
It was a fine match but not as good as Dream’s bout with Roderick Strong that also took place on NXT TV. Dream went over in the contest.
Since Dream came back from being on the shelf with an injury, he hasn’t found his groove that he was in regarding his in-ring work for whatever reason. Perhaps, he’s not 100%.
Either way, he makes up for that with his character and promo work, which has always been fanatic.
Clearly, WWE is building up to Dream challenging NXT Champion Adam Cole for the strap. When that exactly happens is up in the air due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
A Triple Threat for the NXT North American Title with Keith Lee defending against Damian Priest and Dominik Dijakovic took place. This was the biggest match on the show.
As seen in the match, Lee went over in his latest successful title defense. This was the right call.
Not only due to Lee still having somewhat of a short reign thus far but no titles should change hands in front of no fans in attendance.
WWE has been building up this match involving these stars for a few months now. Lee has had his good share of matches with both stars within this time. Also, Priest and Dijakovic have battled as well.
Perhaps, WWE will move forward with Lee feuding with someone else following this match considering that they don’t have anything to back up as to why they should get another crack at the men’s secondary title on the NXT brand.
As expected, Jon Moxley vs. Jake Hager has been confirmed by All Elite Wrestling.
The promotion announced on Wednesday night that Moxley will make his next title defense as the AEW World Heavyweight Champion against Hager on the April 15th episode of Dynamite on TNT.
News of this contest was first broken by WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross while doing an interview with Dave Meltzer and Jim Valley on Wrestling Observer Radio earlier this week.
Also, the promotion has confirmed that this contest will be an Empty Arena No Holds Barred Match. The bout was taped last week.
This was expected to happen not only due to Ross’ comments but also because Hager has been climbing up the men’s rankings.
AEW Men’s Division
World Champion: Jon Moxley (8-0)
Chris Jericho (0-1)
Jake Hager (4-0) (+2)
Cody Rhodes (5-1)
Kenny Omega (2-0) (+1)
Darby Allin (4-2) (previously unranked)
Hager made his AEW in-ring debut against Dustin Rhodes which saw the enforcing for the Inner Circle go over at the AEW Revolution pay-per-view event in Chicago, IL back in February.
As of this writing, no other matches have been announced for this show but that is expected to change as it gets closer.
AEW has announced the full bracket for the TNT Title tournament.
There will be 8 competitors in the tournament. Originally, AEW hyped that the single-elimination tournament would feature the biggest names in AEW all vying for the inaugural TNT championship belt and they lived up to the expectation set.
All Elite Wrestling previously announced on Tuesday evening that Cody vs. Shawn Spears and Darby Allin vs. Sammy Guevara would be on the left side of the tournament.
Fans have picked up on the fact that both of these matches are rematches from previous AEW pay-per-view event events. Darby Allin defeated Sammy Guevara at AEW Revolution in February while Cody defeated Shawn Spears at AEW All Out in August.
On Wednesday before the episode of Dynamite on TNT, the promotion confirmed Kip Sabian vs. Dustin Rhodes and Lance Archer vs. Colt Cabana for the right side of the bracket.
The finals of the tournament will take place at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view event on Saturday, May 23, in Las Vegas.
Whether this event actually takes place remains to be seen as the outbreak of the coronavirus continues. In fact, the venue is not currently running shows as a result.
Triple H did an interview with Pwinsider.com to talk about a wide range of topics including the decisions made by WWE regarding the coronavirus and running shows.
More specifically, NXT, which did take a week off in mid-March with no matches or in-ring talking segments but rather aired three video packages. Since then, WWE has taped several episodes of the weekly show on the USA Network.
“There is that intimacy with NXT, but no matter what brand it is, Smackdown, NXT, whether it’s WrestleMania or whether it’s Takeover. You’re working for that reaction, and that is really what the performance is about. I think the shifting of that in some way, it’s a totally different mindset working in an empty arena.”
Triple H continued by noting how performers have talked about their performance and they go bigger in this direction because of that reaction. In this situation, they don’t have that reaction from fans so they’re trying to pull their best feelings out, for what those reactions would be and timing of things.
Despite those challenges, he thinks the talent has done a phenomenal job in this situation as they’ve all stepped up together as a team and helped each other out. By seeing them looking out for each other and giving each other advice, it’s inspiring to see.
“I think we all believe right now, and nobody is being required to do any of this, the talent aren’t required to do this, if they have a problem, they don’t perform. And nothing is going to be held against them.”
Triple H stated that while everybody has their own feelings on this and for the most part, their talent, crew, and staff want to do this. He called seeing their talent wanting to perform despite the circumstances is inspiring.
While at these tapings, Triple H brought up seeing the people there and everybody is having fun.
“They’re all banding together, feeling like they’re in this together and they\’re in this challenging situation, but they’re all doing their best to make it work out.”
He brought up how it reminds him of when WWE used to go over to Iraq and Afghanistan under trying circumstances performing shows for the troops. He thinks it’s the same thing as there is a bond and a sense of camaraderie. He added that he’s all proud of them.
Seth Rollins spoke with Sports Illustrated to talk about a wide range of topics including WWE taping television from an empty Performance Center due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There has been much of a debate over WWE holding WrestleMania 36 despite the problems around the world with the virus. The majority of fans think WWE made the wrong call regarding this event and believe the company should’ve postponed it.
While Rollins isn’t sure as he’s not a medical expert, he is glad to give some entertainment for the fans.
\”Obviously the airports are still open. Should they close? I don\’t know. I wish I had answers. I\’m sure a lot of people do. Right now, I\’m just trying to stay as hygienic as possible, keep my distance from as many people as I can.
As of now, I feel great. Knock on wood, I\’ve been able to avoid this thing. I know a lot of families and people who have been affected by it. It\’s extremely contagious and it\’s very dangerous. I wish I had more answers. I wish I knew what was the right thing to do. After WrestleMania, we\’re gonna recollect and see where we\’re gonna go from here.”
Rollins continued by noting he’s very humble and grateful that he still has a job that still needs him. He understands that a lot of Americans are not in that boat and their futures are uncertain.
Thus, if providing them with some entertainment can help them out, then he feels like the company is being productive in doing something right.
WWE faces yet another hurdle due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.
On Wednesday, the governor of Florida announced a statewide stay-at-home order that goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on Friday, April 3 and will expire on April 30.
It could be extended by a subsequent order. The issue of the order is done to take all measures to limit the risk of exposure to the coronavirus for its citizens. Especially for senior citizens and those with underlying medical conditions.
This order also means that \”all persons in Florida shall limit their movements and personal interactions outside of their home to only those necessary to obtain or provide essential services or conduct essential activities.\”
We’ve noted on the site before that WWE has already taped this Friday\’s SmackDown, both nights of WrestleMania 36, and next Monday\’s Raw. Also, NXT taped multiple episodes on March 22.
This comes after Orange County, Florida had already put a stay-at-home order into effect from March 26 to April 9.
There’s no word yet on what WWE plans to do about next week’s episode of Smackdown and TV episodes of all programming going forward aside from the dates mentioned above.
WWE is back with a new episode of NXT for the second straight week. Thus, it’s time to look ahead starting with tonight’s episode of NXT.
The company is building up this show around the Second Chance Gauntlet Match featuring Aliyah, Kayden Carter, Deonna Purrazzo, Shotzi Blackheart, Dakota Kai, and Xia Li.
The winner of this contest will earn the final spot for the six-woman Ladder Match that will determine the new #1 contender for the NXT Women’s Title.
In the likely main event, Keith Lee makes his next title defense against Damian Priest vs. Dominik Dijakovic in a Triple Threat Match.
WWE holds this show in Winter Park, Florida at Full Sail University. WWE is advertising the following items for tonight’s broadcast:
The final spot for the six-woman Ladder Match will be filled with a Second Chance Gauntlet Match featuring Aliyah, Kayden Carter, Deonna Purrazzo, Shotzi Blackheart, Dakota Kai, and Xia Li.
The Velveteen Dream vs. Bobby Fish – Singles Match
NXT North American Champion Keith Lee vs. Damian Priest vs. Dominik Dijakovic – Triple Threat Match
Join us here later tonight for our WWE NXT Results and post-show Takeaways feature.
Viewership data is in for this week’s episodes of Friday Night SmackDown and Monday Night RAW.
Here is the breakdown of the live and same-night DVR viewership, courtesy of ShowbuzzDaily:
SmackDown Viewership
SmackDown averaged 2.367 million viewers on FOX in Orlando, Florida at the WWE Performance Center. This is down from the 2.569 viewers that the show did for the previous week’s episode of SmackDown.
The show averaged 2.374 million viewers in the fast nationals, which was down from the 2.563 million viewers a week ago. This number measured the top metered markets.
The first hour drew 2.393 million viewers while the second hour did 2.355 million viewers. For comparison, the first show of last week’s show did 2.637 million viewers while the second hour did 2.488 million viewers.
SmackDown pulled in a 0.70 rating in the 18-49 demos, down from the 0.80 rating as last week’s show.
Monday’s edition of WWE RAW averaged 1.923 million viewers, which is down from 2.006 million last week. This was the lowest viewership for 2020 thus far.
Here is the hourly viewership breakdown:
Hour 1: 2.139 million (2.289 Last Week), 0.63 Demo (0.72 Last Week)
Hour 2: 1.986 million (2.004 Last Week), 0.61 Demo (0.61 Last Week)
Hour 3: 1.646 million (1.726 Last Week), 0.51 Demo (0.51 Last Week)
RAW featured appearances by Brock Lesnar, Edge, The Undertaker, and Becky Lynch. This was the go-home edition of RAW for WrestleMania 36.
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