Here is your news for March 25 2020
We’re starting today with news from WrestleMania, as several matches for the
showcase of the immortals have been changed.
On RAW this week, it was announced that the Street Profits will defend their RAW
Tag Team Titles against Angel Garza and United States Champion Andrade, but
this wasn’t the original plan.
According to Dave Meltzer on the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, the
original plan was for Andrade to defend the title against Rey Mysterio, but this has
changed as the former 8888 Champion is unavailable. Meltzer said:
“There were a lot of different ideas, multiple different ideas for U.S. Title matches.
From last week, the main idea was probably going to be Andrade and Rey. Rey is in
888888888 so he’s off the show. You got to be safe rather than sorry for sure.”
As for the Street Profits, Meltzer said that the pair were expected to defend their
titles against the AOP, but that match was nixed after Rezar tore his bicep.
Yesterday, we reported that Dana Brooke had been removed from the
SmackDown Women's Championship 6-pack challenge at WrestleMania, and now
Meltzer has explained why the fitness enthusiast won't be competing. He said:
"She’s in 888888888 right now. They don’t want to take any chances. They pulled
her from the match because she’s 8888. They are concerned, so there you go. She’s
in 888888888.”
Needless to say, this year's WrestleMania will be much different than the one fans
expected just a few months ago, and whilst it'll go down in history, it probably
won't be for the reasons WWE want.
Though WrestleMania 36 has been 8888888by what is happening in the 8888
right now, the showcase of the Immortals is just one show out of a huge week of
WWE content that has also been moved.
Before these changes, the original plan was for NXT TakeOver: Tampa Bay to take
place on April 4th at the Amalie Arena, but this has been cancelled due to 8888
888888888 to avoid large 888888888.
Prior to the cancellation, the only match confirmed for the show was a 6-woman
number-one contender ladder match, and just because the show is off, that
doesn't mean this match won't take place.
Justin Barasso of Sports Illustrated reported that all matches planned for
TakeOver: Tampa Bay, will now air over April, and this was later confirmed on
social media by WWE them selves, who also promoted an appearance by Triple H
for tonight’s show.
Barrasso also noted that these TakeOver matches will start from the April 1st
episode of NXT, and with rumoured bouts Johnny Gargano Vs. Tommaso
Ciampa and NXT Champion Adam Cole Vs. Velveteen Dream, there'll be plenty of
reasons for fans to tune in to the USA Network.
One Superstar fans won’t see at the NXT episodes or WrestleMania 36, is Ember
Moon, as the self-professed War Goddess has been out of action since the
September 23rd edition of RAW with an Achilles injury.
This week, the former NXT Women’s Champion took to Twitter to update fans
about her condition, revealing that the 888888888 center she has been visiting has
been closed down indefinitely, leaving Moon to perform her own Achilles 888888888
sessions at home.
Hopefully this won’t cause the return of the War Goddess to be delayed, as Ember
remains one of the most talented stars in the company’s women’s division,
despite some questionable booking since her main roster call-up.
We’re sticking with WWE’s women’s division now, as at WrestleMania, RAW
Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will put her title on the line, against Shayna Baszler.
Given how vicious both women have been in recent weeks, the feud has
unsurprisngly been prominent featured on the red brand and according to reports,
The Man may be prepping for her second consecutive WrestleMania main event.
On Twitter, Wrestle Votes said that a source told them that it wouldn’t be
surprising if The Man and the Queen of Spades headlined the first night of
WrestleMania on April 4th, and that both the Saturday and Sunday shows are
expected to have eight matches each.
As of right now, there’s 13 matches confirmed for the Mania card, and with the
show of shows still a week and a half away, there’s not much time for more
matches to make it to the biggest show of the year.
Speaking of the WrestleMania card, there may be not much time for more
matches to be added to the show, but that may all change this Friday.
On this week’s SmackDown, Drew Gulak will meet Shinsuke Nakamura in singles
action, with the stipulation being that if Gulak wins, Daniel Bryan will receive an
Intercontinental title match at WrestleMania, against Sami Zayn.
This is certainly an interesting stipulation for the show, and it looks like it may be a
matter of time until the Eco- Warrior regains the title he was forced to vacate in 2015.
Now, we all know that this year’s WrestleMania isn’t what the company had
planned mere months ago, but that hasn’t stopped the WWE from trying to make
an event to remember.
Whilst peaking on the latest edition of PW Insider Elite Audio, Mike Johnson gave
a hint at what other matches could be added, as he said.
“I was told to expect more matches to WrestleMania, believe it or not. I was told
to expect some random sorta zany matches announced. That’s what I was told
earlier today.”
With the show just days away, there is currently no match announced for the
SmackDown Tag Team Championships, so maybe Miz and Morrison will get to
have the weekend off, on April 4th and April 5th.
That being said, there’s still two editions of the blue brand before WrestleMania
weekend, so fans can expect at least one tag team to step up to the Dirt sheet
champions in the coming weeks.
We’re looking back at this week’s RAW now, as though the WWE is trying to
provide content during this unpredictable time, the fans didn’t tune in this week.
According to Showbuzz Daily, this week’s episode drew an average 2 million
viewers, the lowest number for Monday Night RAW in 2020.
For comparison, last week’s show brought in 2.34 million, which not only was the
first RAW to take place with out the audience, but was also a significant increase
on the week prior, which averaged 2.16 million.
It’s hardly surprising that the ratings are struggling given the 88888888888999 which
is happening right now, and hopefully the viewing figures will increase, once
things get back to normal.
Whilst RAW failed to get the fans to tune in this week, the same can’t be said for
ESPN which did very well with their own WWE content this week.
With ESPN airing classic WrestleMania events for the next three weeks, this past
Sunday’s airing of Wrestle Mania 30 drew 839,000 viewers according to
F4WOnline, the highest rated programme on ESPN for the entire weekend.
Fans will remember that the 2014 show saw Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan and The
Rock share the ring, Daniel Bryan finally defeat the Authority, as well as The
Undertaker’s streak being conquered by Brock Lesnar, so it’s hardly surprising that
fans tuned in to relive the truly historic event.
Back to WrestleMania 36 now, as for the first time ever, this year’s show will be
taped in advance.
Whilst the company is allowed to continue producing content at their
Performance Center, this rule could always change in these unpredictable times,
so it makes sense for the WWE to film their biggest show of the year, ahead of time.
Of course, filing shows ahead of schedule increases the chance of spoilers, though
it seems like the WWE are taking precautions against any results being leaked.
During PW Insider Elite Audio, Mike Johnson explained how WWE plans on
limiting spoilers, as he said:
“They’re using such a small crew that I pretty much believe that those who are
there on-site will probably be too paranoid to want to really go into detail about
what’s going on.”
Even though this year’s show isn’t what WWE had hoped for, WrestleMania 36
will still be a huge weekend for the company, so hopefully the WWE will be able to
avoid spoilers leaking online when they film the show of shows this week.
We’re taking a break from WWE to look at All Elite Wrestling now, as on last
week’s edition of Dynamite, Matt Hardy made his long- rumored debut for the company.
It didn’t take long after Matt’s huge debut, for AEW Merchandise to appear under
his name, and the new All DELETE Wrestling shirt is doing particularly well.
On Twitter, Hardy confirmed that the shirt was the highest selling shirt on Pro
Wrestling Tees last week, as fans are clearly behind the former ECW 8888
Champion, in his new home in AEW.
Time will tell just how far Hardy’s career goes in the new promotion, but after
months of being used as either a jobber or Randy Orton’s punching bag in WWE,
things can only get better for the Woken One, in his new home.
Back to WWE now, and given everything that’s happened in the 8888 lately, the
company could possibly be facing some worrying financial times.
After all, the company is set to lose a lot of money by not having WrestleMania at
its original venue in Tampa, Florida, and this Pay Per view could be the first of
many that the company may have to hold without a live crowd.
Fortunately, this week the company has filed a Form 8-K with the Securities and
Exchange commission, which should keep the company in the money during this
stressful period.
Whilst the form has a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo, the gist of it is that the WWE will
now be able to perform with more liquidity, whilst being able to keep investors
more up to date with how the business is doing.
Vince McMahon himself has entered into a variable prepaid contract, and whilst
everyone hopes this 888888 situation will be over soon, the WWE’s CEO is certainly
taking serious measures to protect his company.
We’re moving from wrestling to the 8888 of football now, as the revamped XFL
has had its first season called off, in accordance with public health 888888888.
Though the season didn’t last as long as Vince Mc Mahon due to factors out of his
control, several players were able to impress viewers, with two major players
being signed to NFL teams.
Jordan Ta’amu, who played as the quarterback for the St. Louis Battle hawks has
signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, whilst the Carolina Panthers has signed a
reported two-year deal with Houston Roughnecks Quarterback PJ Walker.
In the announcmenet where the XFL called off their first season, the new
alternative to the NFL has promised they will be back next year, but it appears
their roster will be quite a bit lighter when they do make a return to TV screens.
And finally today we’re ending with some much- needed positivity, as one person
who is trying to make the 8888 a better place right now is Rusev.
On Instagram, the Bulgarian Brute quoted a saying from his homeland that reads
“it’s not a lot but it’s from the heart,” and revealed that he has pledged $20,000 to
any WWE staff who are struggling right now.
This includes any production staff or security who are currently unable to work, in
what is a truly selfless act by the three-time former United States Champion.
It’s been a while since fans have seen Rusev on WWE TV, as the Bulgarian
continues to negotiate a new contract with the company, but it’s clear that Rusev
is trying his hardest to help out the WWE staff, during this worrying time.