Here is your news for February 17, 2020.
We’re kicking off today with some huge news for WrestleMania 36, as John Cena’s
opponent for the show of shows may have been revealed.
According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Cena will be
facing Elias on April 5th in Tampa, with the plan being that the match will help
elevate the musical Superstar, despite the likelihood that he will lose.
Cena and Elias are no stranger to each other at the showcase of the Immortals, as
the pair have had confrontations at the past two WrestleManias, with Big Match
John getting the upper hand on the former 24/7 Champion both times.
There have also been reports that Cena could be in line to compete for his 17th
WWE World Championship at the show, either against Goldberg or Bray Wyatt,
depending on who leaves Super Showdown with the Universal title.
Cena has been announced for the February 28th edition of SmackDown, the first
event after the show in Saudi Arabia, so hopefully we’ll have a better plan then of
what the company has planned for him.
From SmackDown to RAW now, as one Superstar who has been receiving a mini-
push since joining the red brand is Erick Rowan, who has been flattening his opponents.
As part of his push, the former Bludgeon Brother has been seen carrying a
mysterious pen with him wherever he goes and has been vicious in his attacks on
anyone who has tried to see what he’s been carrying.
According to Brad Shepard, fans may finally get the answer as to what the former
SmackDown Tag Team Champion, as he claims that the plan is for the pen to
contain a spider.
In his tweet, Shepard added that there was no rhyme or reason behind Rowan
carrying a spider all this time, and that this plan could change before the reveal.
Over the years, there have been plenty of stars who have brought animals to the
ring, from Jake Roberts to Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat, and it looks like Rowan
will be the next to join that list, with his alleged spider.
From WWE to AEW now, as the new company has done a lot of big things since
their debut in January last year, but there are some places that don’t want to be
affiliated with the upstart promotion.
In a report by Fightful Select, the Heritage Bank Center, formerly known as the
U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati Ohio, is refusing to host any All Elite Wrestling
events, due to their existing relationship with WWE.
This is certainly bad news for Cincinnati native Jon Moxley, who has been pushing
AEW to run a show in the arena, according to the report.
The last time the WWE used the Center was for a live event in December last year,
though the arena has also played host to Cyber Sunday 2006, as well as WWE
Starrcade 2018.
Time will tell whether more arenas follow suit, but it’s interesting to see that
despite all the success AEW has had so far, they still have a long way to go to
compete with WWE.
We’re going back in time now to last year now, as Eric Bischoff’s tenure as the
Executive Director of Smack Down didn’t exactly last long.
After three months of the former WCW magnate reportedly doing very little,
Bischoff was let go from the company, and on his podcast this week, Bischoff gave
his thoughts on RAW’s Executive Director Paul Heyman.
Whilst Heyman has been praised by fans for his treatment of the red brand and
it’s Superstars, Bishoff claimed that the former ECW owner doesn’t actually have
much power. He said:
Paul Heyman doesn't have creative control. And anybody who thinks he
does is kidding themselves. I know Paul doesn't and neither does anybody
else," Bischoff said. "One guy has creative control, and we all know who
that is. When I said, 'while I was there, I didn't have creative control,' I was
being honest. I didn't because one man did. Paul Heyman doesn't. Eric Bischoff
didn't. Nobody who follows in my steps including Bruce Pritchard,
you know how much I love Bruce, or Paul Heyman have creative control."
There’s always a chance that Bischoff is a bit resentful at WWE for how his last
tenure went, but according to Easy E himself, he’s happy with his his career has gone.
Speaking of interesting careers, SmackDown Superstar Sasha Banks has had a
unique 12 months to say the least, as whilst there was a time when the Boss was
reportedly ready to walk out of the company, it seems Banks is here to stay.
Now though, the former RAW Women’s and WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion
has shown off her acting talents, as the Boss has reportedly filmed scenes for
Season 2 of the Disney+ hit show ‘The Mandalorian’.
This news was first reported by Mat Men Pro Wrestling and later confirmed by Pro
Wrestling Sheet’s Ryan Satin, who has appeared several times on FS1’s WWE Backstage.
Set in the Star Wars Universe following the collapse of the Galactic Empire, the
show has been a hit with fans of the films, though there are currently no details
known about Banks’ role on the show, or how prominently she will be featured.
The Boss has been off WWE TV for over a month now, to supposedly heal up from
an ankle injury, though if this injury isn’t legitimate, she will have had ample time
to film her scenes for the show.
Fans will have to wait until October 2020 for the show’s second season, and with
Disney boss Robert Iger teasing that there may be Mandalorian spinoff shows
after this second season, Banks may not be the only WWE Superstar to make the
trip to a galaxy far far away.
Back to the ring now, we all know that WWE is looking for the next generation of
Superstars, and this week, the company announced their largest talent tryout in
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The four-day open talent tryout in Riyadh will feature up to 50 wrestlers trying out
to impress WWE officials, and this will be the second tryout in Saudi Arabia, after
the first in April 2018 led to NXT Superstar Mansoor being signed to the company.
In a statement by WWE COO Triple H, the Game said he was excited for the
tryouts, and gave his own advice to anyone thinking of applying. He said:
“I have a message for every athlete and performer in Saudi Arabia who has a
dream of becoming a WWE Superstar: WWE is coming to Riyadh to help you
make that happen. This is your chance to take an opportunity and one day you
could be walking down the ramp as a WWE Superstar while thousands of fans
chant your name.”
It'll be interesting to see which wrestlers impress the WWE enough to get
through to the WWE’s Performance Center, as the company’s global talent
initiative shows no signs of slowing down.
From some new stars of the company to arguably the biggest star of all time, as
Hulk Hogan appeared on Smack Down this week via satellite, helping to hype up
the Universal title match between Bray Wyatt and Goldberg at Super Showdown.
Unfortunately, the Hulkster’s return didn’t mean a rise in the company’s viewing
figures, as the show averaged 2.48 million viewers, down from the week prior,
which did 2.53 million.
According to Showbuzz Daily, this week’s SmackDown also saw a dip in the
coveted 18-49 year old demographic from 0.8 to 0.7, but the blue brand still tied
for first place on the night.
After promoting the Universal title match at Super Showdown, Hogan was
interrupted by Wyatt, and the Hulkster saying he would see the Fiend in Tampa
for the Hall of Fame, where Hogan will receive his second induction for his work as
part of the New World Order.
Hopefully next week’s Smack Down will see a rise in viewers, as in addition to
being the first SmackDown after Super Showdown, the show will also feature the
return of John Cena, giving fans plenty of reasons to tune in.
Back to RAW now, and though MVP has claimed to have wrestled his final WWE
match, it doesn’t seem like fans have seen the last of the former United States Champion.
Following a return to the red brand where he hosted the VIP Lounge with his guest
Drew McIntyre, the PW Insider is reporting that MVP is also scheduled to be at
RAW tonight, though didn’t reveal what his role will be.
Appearing on Booker T’s pod cast this week, MVP confirmed that he’ll be joining
the company as a backstage producer, meaning that there will be plenty of
opportunities for the former Champion to appear on TV, if he and the company
choose for him to appear.
Time will tell whether he makes any more appearances on- screen for the
company, but given his talent on the microphone, there are plenty of
opportunities for him on Television, outside of being an in-ring Superstar.
We’re looking ahead to WrestleMania 36 now, and though there are only a
couple of matches announced for the show, there has been plenty of speculation
on future matches.
According to rumours, one huge match that is expected to be added will see AJ
Styles take on The Undertaker, who hasn’t wrestled since teaming with Roman
Reigns last year to defeat Drew McIntyre and Shane McMahon at Extreme Rules.
On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said he couldn’t
understand the reasoning for the Cena-Elias match, but did understand the Styles-
Taker match. He said:
“At least in some ways I can understand that match. At least #1 AJ Styles is a heel.
#2 AJ Styles can lose to Undertaker and it ain’t gonna hurt him at all. #3 If you’re
gonna have Undertaker in match you might as well have it against one of your
best guys so it doesn’t suck, you know what I mean?”
Meltzer went on to explain that losing to the Phenom won’t be a detriment to
Styles, as it seems the Phenomenal One will be having yet another high-profile
opponent, after facing stars like Chris Jericho, Randy Orton and Shane McMahon
in previous years.
We mentioned that last year’s edition of Extreme Rules featured a huge tag team
match featuring the Demon of Death Valley, but it seems like the company isn’t so
hopeful for this year’s show.
According to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the WWE is reportedly not
setting up very many seats for the event, and it was a quote “scary low number.”
If the Observer’s report is correct, then WWE appears to be only selling seats that
will be seen on camera, though if these sections sell out, then it’s logical to
assume other areas of the arena will be opened up.
This year’s Extreme Rules Pay Per View will take place on San Jose, California on
July 19th, and will be the final main roster Pay Per View on the road to
Summerslam, which will take place on August 23rd in Boston, Massachusetts.
And finally today we’re ending with news from NXT Take Over Portland, as the
show certainly left fans with a lot to talk about.
After Rhea Ripley successfully defended her NXT Women’s Championship against
Bianca Belair, the Australian Superstar was attacked by Charlotte Flair, who
revealed that she is using her 2020 Women’s Royal Rumble win to challenge
Ripley for the title at WrestleMania 36.
With this announcement, the Queen is set to compete in her 5th straight title
match at WrestleMania, where she hopes to regain the championship she last
held in early 2015.
This will mark the first time the NXT Women’s title will be defended at
WrestleMania, but this wasn’t the only bit of huge news from the show.
Also at TakeOver Porland, the unlikely pairing of Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne kept
their momentum going, as they followed up winning the Dusty Tag Team Classic
by winning the NXT Tag Team titles from the Undisputed Era.
Speaking of the group, NXT Champion Adam Cole fared much better than his
cohorts, as he was able to retain his title against Tommaso Ciampa, but didn’t do it alone
Though there were times when it seemed Ciampa had the match won, it was a
heel turn by Johnny Gargano, who betrayed his friend that caused Cole’s
impressive title reign to continue.
Gargano and Ciampa are no strangers to sharing the ring, either as partners or
opponents, and it seems like the pair are ready to write the next chapter in their
lengthy history
There was also big news for the NXT UK brand, as their fourth TakeOver event has
been confirmed.
On Sunday April 26th, NXT UK TakeOver Dublin will take place in the Irish capital,
and this follows on from two specials in Blackpool, England, and one in Cardiff, Wales.
With everything that happened at TakeOver, there’s certainly plenty for fans to
tune in for next week, as the gold brand will hope to defeat AEW Dynamite in the
Wednesday Night Wars.