Here is your news for April 14 2020
We’re starting off today with some good news for WWE, as Orange County Mayor
Jerry Demings has deemed the Vince’s company an essential business.
Speaking in a press conference on Monday, Mayor Demings said:
Originally, they were not deemed an essential business. With some
conversation with the governor's office regarding the governor's
order, they were deemed an essential business
Demings, who acknowledged the recent ************** in WWE, described the
company as “like a small family,” and the company will join essential business
from Florida including health- care, finances, food, communications and
transportation as allowed to remain open.
According to Marc Raimondi of ESPN, an April 9th memo at the governer’s office
added quote “employees at a professional sports and media production with a
national audience” as an essential service, but only if the location is closed to the
general public.
This news comes after Vince McMahon made the decision to resume live tapings
last Friday, after it was originally planned for content to be filmed in advance.
Defending this decision, WWE said:
"We believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a
diversion from these hard times. We are producing content on a closed set
with only essential personnel in attendance following appropriate guidelines
while taking additional precautions to ensure the health and wellness of our
performers and staff. As a brand that has been woven into the fabric of
society, WWE and its Super stars bring families together and deliver a
sense of hope, determination, and perseverance."
Whether fans agree with the decision or not, it’s clear that WWE will still be able
to film content from their Performance Center in Orange County, and provide a
much-need distraction during these difficult times.
Now, with the ongoing situation, everyone is being told to ***** ******* and keep
clean, and this weekend saw WWE give a public service announcement of their own.
In a video featuring Drew McIntyre, Charlotte Flair and Kofi Kingston, fans were
advised the best ways to avoid being infected, but this video has been blasted as
hypocritical by fans.
Online, several fans pointed out that WWE was advising people to **************,
whilst also forcing talent to travel each week for live shows, ever since Vince
McMahon shut down tapings and declared they were going live.
Many fans called on WWE to cancel their weekly programming, whilst others
suggested Superstars walk out, and though it doesn’t seem like either option will
be happening, time will tell whether fans still watch the live product in the coming
weeks and months.
We’re going back in time to October last year now, as when WWE 2K20 was
released, it was fill of mistakes, that even multiple patches couldn’t clear up.
Now, 2K may not get a chance to learn from their mistakes, as Justin Leeper, a
former writer of the SmackDown Vs. Raw Road to WrestleMania mode, has
reported that there won’t be any game this year, saying:
“I have heard from reliable sources and I truly believe that WWE 2K21 has been
cancelled. There will be no game this year.”
In the past, Leeper provided a ton on insider information about why 2K20 was
such a mess, and though WrestleMania season usually brings some kind of game
announcement or commercial, that didn’t happen this year.
Leeper went on to say that having no 2K21 is a good thing, and it’s true that taking
a year off might give the developers more time to make something better, which
could even be the live service with updates instead of a new game, that Leeper
once pitched.
As of this video, 2K Games haven’t commented on or confirmed the rumoured
cancellation, but given Leeper’s history in WWE games, and his sources inside the
company, he’s certainly been accurate with these kind of stories in the past.
We’ve got even more bad news for Vince McMahon, as one week after the XFL
informed league employees it was cancelling it’s first season, the alternative brand
of football has filed for Bankruptcy.
Sources told TMZ that in addition to employees being paid up until April 12th, the
recent shutdown cost Vince McMahon’s company Alpha Entertainment tens of
millions in revenue, and gave the following statement to TMZ:
We have filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S.
Bankruptcy Code. This is a heartbreaking time for many, including our
passionate fans, players and staff, and we are thankful to them, our
television partners, and the many Americans who rallied to the XFL for the
love of football. The XFL quickly captured the hearts and imaginations of
millions of people who love football. Unfortunately, as a new enterprise, we
were not insulated from the harsh economic impacts and uncertainties
caused by the ongoing global situation . Accordingly, we have filed a
voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code
After Fightful tracked down the documents filed with the Delaware Bankruptcy
Court, it was proven that, despite Vince McMahon’s claims of the WWE and the
XFL being two separate entities, the wrestling promotion did own 23.5% of the
class B interests in Alpha Entertainment.
Austin Karp of Sports Business Daily says that the league is for sale as part of the
bankruptcy process, and the Hollywood Reporter is also reporting that the league
is seeking a buyer for its assets, in order to pay creditors.
Those creditors include head coaches such as Bob Stoops, who is owed over a
million dollars, Mark Trestman who is owed over three- quarters of a million, as
well as Johnathon Hayes and Winston Moss, who are both owed over half a million dollars.
but given the ongoing situation, we doubt anyone will be lining up to buy the
league which lasted even less time than it’s previous incarnation.
Back in the ring now, and on this week’s edition of RAW, MVP appeared in the VIP
lounge to announce three matches for next week’s show.
Not only will these matches be the first-ever-matches between these stars, but
they will also be Money in the Bank qualifiers, as Rey Mysterio will face Murphy,
Austin Theory will take on Aleister Black, and Apollo Crews will face MVP, who
described himself as a ladder match legend.
This week’s edition of RAW saw three Superstars qualify for the Women’s Money
in the Bank ladder match, as Asuka defeated Ruby Riott, Shayna Baszler topped
Sarah Logan and Nia Jax defeated Kairi Sane to qualify.
In addition to this, this week’s SmackDown will see Daniel Bryan face Cesaro for a
spot in the Men’s match, and Dana Brooke vs. Naomi for a spot in the women’s, as
the company builds to Money in the Bank on May 10th, at the Performance Center.
This announcement from MVP wasn’t the only blockbuster moment from RAW, as
the company made reference to the recent comments by Ronda Rousey on Steve-
O’s podcast.
The former RAW Women’s Champion made headlines when she said that she
wasn’t ready to return for ungrateful fans, and before Shayna Baszler faced Sarah
Logan on RAW, Sarah Schreiber asked the Queen of Spades about Rousey’s comments.
Though Bazler didn’t say anything, her mere presence and stare made Schriber
feel intimidated, and it’s very interesting that the WWE would reference Rousey’s
comments, after she described pro wrestling as fake fighting.
After her harsh words about wrestling and the fans, Rousey was backed up on
social media by the former NXT Women’s Champion, though this wasn’t all that
Baszler had to say online.
After defeating Logan, Shayna tweeted “You think you know what REAL is?
#Reality #F***Kayfabe, though quickly deleted her post.
Whether these comments by both women are a work or a shoot is unclear, but
WWE is at least going along with it, as they recently uploaded the RAW Women’s
Title match from Money in the Bank 2018, that saw Rousey face then-Champion
Nia Jax, on their YouTube channel
Though WWE often puts out matches for free ahead of Pay Per Views, this is still
very interesting, as Nia Jax said that she plans on knocking Rousey
out, if ever they get in the ring together again.
Like we said, this could be a work, it could be a shoot, but all we know, is that fans
who don’t have the Network got a free match out of it.
Nia Jax and the Superstars of today weren’t the only ones to comment on
Rousey’s comments this week, as Hulk Hogan also weighed in on the situation.
After Rousey sent out another antagonising post on social media, where she
borrowed a line from the Hulkster about people working themselves into a shoot,
Hogan replied, saying:
Wow that’s how I need to wake up every morning instead of coffee, marks always
work themselves into a shoot especially when they are in the ring ,truer words have
never been spoken, yo Travis love u guys. HH
It seems like Hogan gets whatever it is Rousey is going for, though in the video,
the Baddest Woman on the Planet can be seen beating up a doll of the Hulkster.
This isn’t the first time Rousey has had heat, as during her last run in WWE, the
then-RAW Women’s Champion got really into her character, including posting a
scathing video about WWE which got mainstream coverage.
It’s been reported that Rousey is expected back in WWE for 2021, in time for
WrestleMania 37, and it seems the Hot Rod is having plenty of fun antagonising
people along the way.
Now, we’ve already mentioned that Cesaro has a big night ahead of him this
Friday when he faces Daniel Bryan, and this Money in the Bank qualifier is the
latest chapter in a lengthy career in WWE.
Working in FCW and NXT before the main roster, Cesaro has done a lot in the
company, and that includes saving Tyler Breeze’s job.
Appearing on the New Day’s Feel the Power podcast, the Swiss Superman spoke
to the trio about Prince Pretty, and Big E gave a story, as he said:
“To this day, he’s just really good. I feel like [he’s] underrated. This was the the
‘Dalton’ days where I just think he didn’t have anyone who was in his corner. No
one really liked him or thought much of him. But I believe if I recall correctly, he
was very close to being fired. People were so impressed with the way he took that
bump that you Cesaro saved his job. Legitimately saved his job with that bump,
and he’s still here today.”
When he says the Dalton days, Cesaro is referring to Mike Dalton, Breeze’s name
before he became Prince Pretty, and Cesaro at first didn’t even realise what he did
for Breeze during the match, as it was Prince Pretty who chose to sell one of the
Swiss Cyborg’s uppercuts like a champ.
Though he had an underwhelming time on the main roster, Breeze seems to be
doing a bit better back in NXT, and at least he has a paycheck still coming in from
the biggest wrestling promotion in the world, thanks to Cesaro.
We’re heading back to WrestleMania now, as though the WWE tried to have zero
fans in attendance for the show due to the ongoing situation, one fan did make it
in, and now that fan has merchandise.
After members of the WWE Universe spotted a ceiling fan during the two-day
event, many joked that this was WrestleMania’s Biggest Fan, as it was literally the
only fan allowed in the venue for the showcase of the immortals.
Whilst the joke may be corny, that hasn’t stopped WWE for profiting off it, as fans,
the human kind that is, can now buy shirts with Wrestle Mania’s biggest fan on it.
This isn’t the only shirt to poke fun at this year’s WrestleMania, as members of the
WWE Universe can also buy “I Wasn’t There” t-shirts, and its good to see the
company being able to have some fun in the current situation, despite these
unpredictable times.
Speaking of AEW, the upstart promotion is doing relatively well during this
ongoing situation, and this week received some major props from a certain
People’s Champ.
During a recent Instagram live session, The Rock was asked about whether he
watches AEW, and told his viewers:
“Do I watch AEW? Yeah I watch AEW, of course I do I’m very happy for the success
of that company because that’s always a good thing and it creates a hunger which is good.”
Speaking on WWE and Wrestling in general, he added:
“I have a lot of love and respect for all the men and the women who continue to
put their bodies on the line and by the way, it’s crazy that they’re continuing to put
their bodies on the line through this global situation. They’re just working hard and
just wrestling, and sweating on each other, and just doing all this, but all in the
name of entertaining the fans, which I think is always cool, because wrestling has
always had this adaptability to it, that was always very cool. So, I do… thanks for
asking me about that.”
Though the Great One probably won’t be on Dynamite anytime soon, it’s still good
to know that he’s watching, as even though he is kept plenty busy with his movie
schedule, it’s nice to know that Rock hasn’t left the wrestling world behind.
And finally today we’re ending with news from RAW, as NXT Superstar Austin
Theory has seemingly moved to the red brand full time.
On last night’s show, Theory took on Akira Tozawa, with the stable of himself,
Andrade, Angel Garza and Zelina Vega receiving a lot of focus, appearing several
times in the show, including the main event between Andrade and Drew McIntyre.
Given that Theory will be in a Money in the Bank qualifier next week, WWE
doesn’t usually give NXT stars a shot at that historic ladder match, and Theory was
also given a RAW Tag Title match at WrestleMania, something that is reserved for
stars of the red brand.
Though his WWE.com profile still has him in NXT, fans can expect that to change,
as given the ongoing situation, WWE can hardly be blamed for being a bit slow
with this change.
It’s interesting that Theory was called up before WrestleMania, as the NXT call-ups
usually come after the show, but its clear that he is here to stay on RAW.