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Saturday, March 21 2020 Issue #5882
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Nothing to say today, back tomorrow.


========================================================


//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

RUMORS OF TAPED WRESTLEMANIA CONTINUE AS ORANGE COUNTY IMPLEMENTS CURFEW

- There are several rumors floating around that WrestleMania will be pre-recorded from the different locations and the show will not be airing live come April 4 and 5. In fact, WWE has so far limited to say "streaming on the WWE Network," omitting the word live. While most graphics promoting the show still say live, any text accompanying new WrestleMania-related articles don't mention it at all. With matches taking place behind a closed set, it will be easier to contain leaks of results and having the option to pre-record will allow WWE to edit shots as necessary, presenting the best possible product to fans. And with WrestleMania tending to go way over time, WWE has now been presented with another problem that will make filming the show before the ideal scenario. Orange County and Osceola County leaders have decided to implement a curfew for those living and operating within their counties. The curfew, which kicked off yesterday, requires everyone to be at home from 11PM to 5AM. While WWE could certainly get a waiver for this curfew, it would be in the interest of everyone to abide by the new order since the PC will still have a large amount of people inside to help with production.

ORIGINAL WRESTLEMANIA 36 LOCATION TURNED INTO A CORONAVIRUS TESTING SITE

- Raymond James Stadium, the original site of WrestleMania 36, has gone from hosting over 70,000 fans for the biggest show of the year to being transformed into a large-scale, drive-through coronavirus testing site. Hillsborough County Administrator Mike Merrill announced two days ago that the NFL stadium will join the Florida State Fairgrounds as testing sites in Hillsborough County as the state continues to deal with the pandemic like everyone else. WWE pulled WrestleMania from the stadium earlier this week and moved it to the WWE Performance Center. City officials were ready to pull the plug on the show if WWE didn't do so themselves. To minimize the risk of having too many people on location, WWE is also spreading WrestleMania over two nights and multiple locations, although no location has been announced yet apart from the Performance Center.

SMACKDOWN RATING

- Friday Night Smackdown on FOX did 2,562,000 viewers this week, slightly down by just 24,000 viewers from last week's broadcast. The show did 2,637,000 viewers in the first hour and 2,488,000 viewers in the second hour. It topped the 18-49 demo but as always trailed all other major networks in terms of viewers. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

SMACKDOWN WOMEN'S TITLE MATCH ADDED TO WRESTLEMANIA

- The Smackdown Women's title will be on the line at WrestleMania as current champion Bayley will have to wrestle five other WWE Superstars in a bid to retain the title. Bayley will be taking on her friend Sasha Banks, Naomi, Lacey Evans, Tamina, and Dana Brooke in a six-pack challenge elimination match. The match was announced by former Smackdown General Manager and Divas champion Paige when she showed up on Smackdown via a Skype video call. Notable misses from the match are obviously Carmella, Nikki Cross, and Alexa Bliss. With this match added, WrestleMania so far has nine matches, six of which are title matches. Since this will be a two-day event, more matches are expected to be added.

TOTAL BELLAS SEASON FIVE TO PREMIERE A WEEK EARLIER

- E! has pushed up the season five premiere of Total Bellas by a week and will now be kicking off on Thursday, April 2 rather than April 9. The show will air at 9PM ET weekly. The new season will see the twins act on reconnecting with their father, Nikki’s boyfriend removal from Dancing with the Stars, Artem proposing to Nikki in Paris and finding out she’s pregnant, Brie and Bryan finding a compromise in their relationship, the news that she’s also pregnant, and more. Television networks are scrambling to fill up their slots as production on practically every television series and lots of studio shows have come to a screeching halt due to the coronavirus pandemic.

THE MAIN EVENT ARRIVES ON NETFLIX ON APRIL 10

- The WWE Studios movie for Netflix The Main Event will be available on the streaming media giant on April 10. The synopsis for The Main Event reads, "When 11-year-old Leo Thompson (Seth Carr) discovers a magical wrestling mask that grants him super strength, he uses it to enter a WWE competition. With the support of his grandmother (Tichina Arnold), Leo will do whatever it takes to achieve his dream of becoming a WWE Superstar. Can one kid win it all, in the face of epic challengers in the ring?" The movie is directed by Jay Karas off an original screenplay by Larry Postel. The Main Event co-stars Adam Pally, Ken Marino, and features WWE superstars Kofi Kingston, Mike “The Miz” Mizanin, Sheamus, and Babatunde Aiyegbusi. The Main Event will be available in all Netflix markets.

AEW POSTPONES THE BLOOD & GUTS MATCH TO A FUTURE DATE

- Despite originally saying that they will go ahead with their plan, All Elite Wrestling has cancelled the Blood & Guts match which was set for next week's Dynamite featuring The Inner Circle vs The Elite. In a statement issued on social media, AEW President Tony Khan said that their goal every week is to produce great shows for their fans and felt especially more motivated to serve their audience this past Wednesday given the circumstances. "We plan to continue answering that calling with live weekly shows every Wednesday night on TNT, but the time and circumstances aren’t right for the card we had planned next week for Blood and Guts," Khan wrote, instead promising the first face-to-face encounter between Chris Jericho and Matt Hardy and a "tremendous night of wrestling action." Khan said that everyone at AEW is proud and humbled by the response they got from their fans and partners around the world following this week's Dynamite. "In the meantime, until AEW Dynamite this Wednesday night, please follow us via social media and please be safe and smart so we can get back to seeing you all on the road as soon as possible. Thank you for making this all possible for everyone here at AEW, it’s a dream come true to be able to do these shows for all of you," Khan concluded.


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|_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\


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Friday, March 20 2020 Issue #5881
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Happy Friday! With most places on lockdown, not sure if it's going to be a "happy weekend" but hey, we better get used to it for now! Save that money that you typically spend going out and once this is all over, go on holiday! That's what I plan to do!


========================================================


//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

DYNAMITE RATING

- Dynamite scored a big win in the ratings going up against a video package-only NXT but failed to cross the one million mark despite the unveiling of The Exalted One and the debut of Matt Hardy. Dynamite did 932,000 viewers which was up 166,000 viewers from last week's broadcast. The show did a 0.35 in the 18-49 demographic, good for #20 in the top 50 cable chart. This was their best number since the January 15 episode. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

ESPN AIRING ENCORE PRESENTATIONS OF THREE WRESTLEMANIAS

- ESPN today announced that it will be airing encore presentations of three previous WrestleManias over the next three Sundays on ESPN and streaming via the ESPN App. The special content initiative begins this Sunday, March 22 at 7PM ET with the airing of WrestleMania XXX from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. On Sunday, March 29 at 7PM ET, ESPN will air WrestleMania 32 with a record-breaking crowd from the AT&T Stadium in Dallas Texas, and on Sunday, April 5 at 3PM ET, WrestleMania 35 from the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey will serve as the lead to night two of WrestleMania 36. “This unique opportunity is a byproduct of the terrific working relationship we’ve enjoyed with WWE over the years and the unprecedented circumstances we all find ourselves in,” said Burke Magnus, executive vice president, programming, ESPN. “WrestleMania is one of the most popular global events in sports and entertainment and the spectacular content it provides will be a treat for fans.” “It is a privilege for us to deliver historic WrestleMania content to our world-class partners at ESPN and provide more premium programming to our fans; putting smiles on their faces particularly during this trying time,” said Stephanie McMahon, Chief Brand Officer, WWE. “We look forward to celebrating WrestleMania history with ESPN as we head into our two-night pop culture extravaganza on April 4 and 5.”

WWE TO PRE-TAPE UPCOMING SHOWS

- John Pollock of PostWrestling.com is reporting that WWE will be pre-recording their Monday Night Raw and Smackdown television shows heading into WrestleMania. The idea is to minimize the risk of the spread of the coronavirus and if they can knock out a few shows in a day or two, that would decrease the amount of people going in and out of the WWE Performance Center, leaving it as clean as possible for WrestleMania. Just one individual testing positive would throw everything into a big chaos with the risk of shutting down operations at that location. PWInsider.com adds that while tonight's Smackdown will be live, next week's Smackdown is being taped tomorrow and Raw on Monday will have additional footage taped for the following week. Additional tapings will be forthcoming as well. Just like with every other business, the COVID-19 spread has pretty much altered the way businesses operate and professional wrestling companies aren't different.

NXT RATING

- NXT, with a studio show filled with just old footage, interviews, and highlights, did just 542,000 viewers. That is down 155,000 viewers from last week's broadcast and the least-watched episode of NXT on USA Network since it started. The show had a 0.16 rating in the 18-49 demographic and placed #81 in the top 50 cable chart. The difference between the two shows was of 390,000 viewers, up from the 69,000 viewers difference they had last week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

ROB GRONKOWSKI LIVE ON SMACKDOWN ON FOX TONIGHT

- WWE's newest signee and former NFL player Rob Gronkowski will be live on Smackdown on FOX tonight from the empty WWE Performance Center. Gronk, a huge wrestling fan and a big friend of Mojo Rawley, signed a WWE contract and his first appearance as a WWE employee comes tonight. Gronk will be the host of the two-night WrestleMania 36 next month. Also set for tonight is Roman Reigns and Bill Goldberg signing their contract for the Universal title. No matches or other segments have been announced yet.

THE BIG SHOW SHOW SEASON ONE DROPS ON NETFLIX ON APRIL 6

- Season one of the The Big Show Show on Netflix will drop on April 6. The half-hour, multi-cam comedy series will have 10 episodes for the first seasons and WWE Superstar The Big Show is the leading man in the series. The synopsis for the show reads, "When the teenage daughter of The Big Show, a retired world-famous WWE Superstar comes to live with him, his wife and two other daughters, he quickly becomes outnumbered and outsmarted. Despite being 7 feet tall and weighing 400 pounds, he is no longer the center of attention." The series also features Allison Munn, Reylynn Caster, Juliet Donenfeld, and Lily Brooks O'Briant. Josh Bycel and Jason Berger serve as executive producers and showrunners. Susan Levison and Richard Lowell also serve as executive producers for WWE Studios. Production on the 10-episode series will kicked off last August in Los Angeles, California.

ENTIRE SEASON ONE OF DARK SIDE OF THE RING AVAILABLE FOR FREE

- The entire season one of the highly-acclaimed Dark Side Of The Ring is now available to stream for free on ViceTV.com. The first season tackled six controversial professional wrestling stories: The Match Made In Heaven (Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth), The Montreal Screwjob, The Killing of Bruiser Brody, The Last of the Von Erichs, The Mysterious Death of Gorgeous Gino, and The Fabulous Moolah. Season one was narrated all by Dutch Mantel with the exception of the Bruiser Brody episode which was narrated by Mick Foley. Season two starts next week with episodes on Chris Benoit, Owen Hart, New Jack, David Schultz, Jimmy Snuka, The Road Warriors, Dino Bravo, Herb Abrams, and The Brawl For All. Season two is narrated by Chris Jericho. The episodes are geo-locked, meaning only those in North America can access them. You can stream them at .


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ADVERTISING:
(C) Copyright 1996-2020 Wrestling-Online.com
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Watch WrestleMania 36 free on the WWE Network!
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_ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___
\ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __|
\ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ |
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| .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| /
|_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\


====================================================
Thursday, March 19 2020 Issue #5880
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

How's everyone holding up? I still have another week to go here and should be returning to work next Friday. In the meantime, teleworking is currently working out better than I expected. Who would've thought!?


========================================================


//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

WRESTLEMANIA TO TAKE PLACE OVER TWO NIGHTS AND MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

- In an unprecedented move, WWE announced that WrestleMania 36 will be set over two nights, to minimize to risk of the coronavirus spread as it hosts the show inside the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, and other multiple locations behind a closed set. WrestleMania will now take place on Saturday, April 4, and Sunday, April 5, with both shows starting at 7PM ET live on the WWE Network, and the show will be hosted by former New England Patriot Rob Gronkowski. WWE has not revealed yet where the other locations will be. WWE has never hosted WrestleMania over more than one night but did host WrestleMania 2 in three different locations across the United States. More details will be provided on Smackdown tomorrow.

WWE HOLDING MEDICAL SCREENINGS BEFORE PERFORMANCE CENTER ENTRY

- Having shows at the WWE Performance Center even though it's a closed set still requires a ton of people to be on location. There's a lot of behind-the-scenes people that participate in putting up a show like Raw, Smackdown, NXT, or even a big PPV like WrestleMania and social distancing can only go so much anyway even though you're not at full crew. So how is WWE protecting its staff from the coronavirus pandemic? One individual who would test positive would pretty much be catastrophic for the promotion and put all planned shows in jeopardy. In a statement issued to Sports Illustrated, WWE said that they are holding medical screenings before any employee enters the WWE Performance Center to make sure the PC remains clean and free of any virus. “In consultation with WWE Medical Director Dr. Maroon, WWE Associate Medical Director Dr. Dugas and ringside physician Dr. Westerfield, as a best practice and precautionary measure all WWE performers and staff are required to participate in medical screenings prior to entering WWE’s training center, which is now operating as a closed set,” WWE told SI. The story also adds that the company has established a series of protocols based on guidelines set by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to minimize risks and protect its performers and staff.

DANIEL BRYAN TO TAKE SIX WEEKS PATERNITY LEAVE AND THEN...

- Daniel Bryan will be taking six weeks of paternity leave when his wife Brie gives birth. Brie is expected to give birth to their second child sometime in August. On the latest episode of the Bella Twins podcast, Bryan said that there are not a lot of companies in the United States who would do that and put over WWE for allowing him to be with his newborn for a month and a half. Bryan also said that once his current WWE contract expires, he will be done as a full-time professional wrestler. His deal will run out "shortly" after he is back from the six-week paternity leave. The former WWE champion and leader of the Yes! movement added that while he still expects to wrestle, he will be more a father than a wrestler once baby number two comes around. Bryan did not indicate if he would be re-signing with WWE or looking for a different opportunity elsewhere.

WWE SHOW AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN RESCHEDULED

- The WWE non-televised live event at Madison Square Garden originally set for this Sunday, March 22, has been postponed to Saturday, June 27. All tickets which were purchased for the March 22 event will be honored for the new date. Ticketmaster.com had a ton of tickets left for this non-televised show and for an MSG show, this event was not selling particularly good even though there was supposed to be a DX reunion. There were several unfounded rumors that WWE would be holding WrestleMania on June 7 at Madison Square Garden in front of a live crowd instead of the WWE Performance Center but that ended up being just a rumor. The issue is that even these rescheduled dates are pretty much temporary right now as no one knows exactly when this pandemic will slow down, allowing sports events and other shows to resume as normal.

THE EXALTED ONE IS UNVEILED AS BRODIE LEE

- Brodie Lee, the artist formerly known as Luke Harper in WWE, has been unveiled as The Exalted One and the leader of The Dark Order, as AEW threw a nice swerve from having Matt Hardy as the leader. Lee's involvement came after Christopher Daniels, flanked by Frankie Kazarian, confronted Evil Uno and Stu Grayson, telling fans at home that The Dark Order was lying and there is no Exalted One. Daniels said that all they did was waste their time and now they're sick of them. But a video interrupted Daniels on the big screen and The Exalted One came out as the narration said that if he wants something, he'll just take it and Daniels is not the first one to underestimate him, but he will be the last one. Lee then unveiled himself in the video. "My name is Brodie Lee, and I'm The Exalted One," he said. With the lights out in the empty arena, Lee positioned himself in the ring next to Evil Uno and Grayson and when the lights were brought up, The Dark Order attacked SCU. The segment ended with all of The Dark Order posing. Harper was released from WWE in December of last year and his 90-day no-compete clause expired, enabling him to make his AEW debut. He has not appeared on television ever since the Crown Jewel pay-per-view on October 31. A month later, he trademarked his old independent wrestling name Brodie Lee. The Exalted One's arrival can be seen at .

MATT HARDY DEBUTS ON DYNAMITE

- Matt Hardy made his All Elite Wrestling debut last night on Dynamite, coming to the aide of The Elite who were one man down. With The Inner Circle winning the advantage for the Blood & Guts match, Jericho taunted The Elite and said that he'd like to ban all the "dip shit" fans from arenas moving forward as he doesn't want to hear anyone chanting for The Elite. As Jericho continued to hype up his faction and the numerical advantage they have from the top of the stage, the Vanguard 1 drone showed up and hovered over The Inner Circle. Matt Jackson then took the mic and said The Elite isn't outnumbered, it's not just four of them, in fact he made a phone call to a friend who owed him a favor. The camera then panned over to the stands where Broken Matt Hardy stood tall with his hands spread wide open as Jericho's facial expression changed to that of seeing a ghost. Hardy did the Delete hand signal as the show faded to black. Hardy will get in the ring for the first time for AEW next week in the Blood & Guts match, joining The Elite to take on The Inner Circle. You can see his debut at .

HARDY READY TO "CHANGE THE WORLD" WITH CODY AND AEW

- Matt Hardy's arrival in All Elite Wrestling has got the fans buzzing after his debut last night, aligning himself with The Elite against The Inner Circle. After Cody welcomed Matt in a message on Twitter, Hardy thanked Cody, saying he was very honored and proud to join All Elite Wrestling, "a company that takes great pride in listening & respecting their loyal audience." He also told Cody that he's excited to "change the world" with him. Meanwhile, fans are already spending their hard earned money on Matt's new AEW merchandise and in a few hours, his two new t-shirts quickly made the top selling list, beating out everything else at ShopAEW.com. Hardy's involvement with All Elite Wrestling had been expected for months after the former multi-time tag team title holder said that he would not be signing a new WWE deal.


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(C) Copyright 1996-2020 Wrestling-Online.com
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_ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___
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\ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ |
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| .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| /
|_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\


====================================================
Wednesday, March 18 2020 Issue #5879
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Saw the Bret Hart interview with Steve Austin on the Network yesterday night. It was great. Bret dives deep in the events leading up to and surrounding the Montreal Screwjob and listening to Bret and Steve dissect their WrestleMania 13 match was simply phenomenal. It's an hour long, but I'm sure most of you have time to watch now LOL! Check it out, you won't be disappointed.


========================================================


//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

NEW JERICHO AND CODY SHIRTS WITH PROFITS GOING TO VIRUS RESPONSE FUND

- All Elite Wrestling has released two shirts with all profits being donated to the World Health Organization COVID-19 Response Fund. These two shirts feature former AEW World champion Chris Jericho and EVP Cody. The Jericho one is pretty funny, having "Wash your hands, cover your mouth, shut your ass!" printed on the front in AEW colors while the Cody shirt has the Nightmare Family logo on a red shirt. Both shirts are $24.99 and available at ProWrestlingTees.com right now.

NO LIVE MATCHES EXPECTED ON NXT TONIGHT

- NXT on USA Network tonight is expected to be different according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, and not because it will take place inside a closed Performance Center. No live matches will be taking place tonight on NXT as the show will feature interviews, a studio setting, and past footage that already aired. Raw on Monday only featured one match in a three hour broadcast and it looks like Smackdown this Friday will have a similar tone to it. NXT last week was the first one to air from the Performance Center due to Full Sail University being already booked on that day. The PC will become the home of all three WWE shows for the next several weeks, or months, as the world continues its battle against the coronavirus.

RAW RATING

- Monday Night Raw pulled in 2,335,000 average viewers this week for the show from the Performance Center with Taker, Edge, and Austin all appearing. That is up 173,000 viewers from last week and the best number in a month. Hour one started strong with 2,412,000 viewers, then went up to 2,486,000 viewers in the second hour, before suffering a big drop to 2,108,000 for the third and final hour for Austin's appearance. Raw was #1, #2, and #3 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic but #14 in overall viewership for the night on cable which was dominated by news shows. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

JOHN CENA BRIGHTENS THE DAY OF RETIRED VETERAN

- 16-time world champ John Cena made the day of a retired veteran after on Monday he covertly paid his grocery bill. Charles “Bud” Phillips was grocery shopping at a Publix supermarket in Land O' Lakes, Florida, sporting his SeaBees hat. When it was time to checkout, Charles was behind Cena in the line and they chatted, with Cena thanking him for his service according to Charles' daughter Stefanie who recounted what went down to ET. “John secretly paid for all of his groceries. My dad didn’t even know until he was being checked out and the cashier said, ‘John paid for your groceries.’ The bill was around $100,” his daughter Stefanie said. $100 might be nothing for Cena, but it's certainly a lot for many people. Cena then posed for a selfie with Charles, a photo which was posted on Reddit and made the rounds online. “My dad is a retired Vietnam veteran [and] a widow. We lost my mom five years ago unexpectedly [after] they were married almost 50 years. So, as you can imagine, not too much these days make him smile as big as he did in that picture,” she shared. “That’s what so special about this moment. A simple act of kindness brightened his day. Along with his family seeing that smile on his face!”

THE EXALTED ONE TO BE REVEALED TONIGHT

- The wait is over as AEW will be unveiling who The Exalted One is tonight live on Dynamite. The leader of The Dark Order has been teased for weeks and the leading candidate for the spot is obviously Broken Matt Hardy. The hints have been pretty obvious and today Hardy tweeted, "Dominant, Extraordinary, Tenacious, Limitless, Almighty, Xaroncharoo, Everlasting" with each word on its own line. Reading each first letter backwards spells Exalted. Three matches scheduled for tonight include The Inner Circle vs The Elite in a six-man tag team match with the winners getting the advantage for next week's Blood & Guts match, The Lucha Bros vs Best Friends, and The Butcher and The Blade vs Jurassic Express.

IMPACT USES WWE FOOTAGE FOR KEN SHAMROCK'S HALL OF FAME ANNOUNCEMENT

- Impact Wrestling used several footage from WWE's video library in their promo for Ken Shamrock's Hall of Fame announcement. With "courtesy of World Wrestling Entertainment" written across every time WWE footage appeared, Shamrock is described as a "pioneer in the era of attitude" with his WWE accolades shown: winning the Intercontinental title, the Tag Team titles, and tapping out The Rock to win the King Of The Ring. WWE has used old Impact footage for WWE Network broadcasts in the past with the two companies reaching an agreement to use each other's footage when needed. WWE promotes the Impact Plus streaming service when they use any of their footage. The 55-year-old joins Sting, Kurt Angle, Jeff Jarrett, Team 3D, Earl Hebner, Gail Kim, and Abyss in the Impact Hall of Fame. The company did not induct anyone during the 2019 Bound For Glory weekend.


========================================================
ADVERTISING:
(C) Copyright 1996-2020 Wrestling-Online.com
========================================================

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=====================================================================
Watch WrestleMania 36 free on the WWE Network!
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_ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___
\ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __|
\ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ |
\_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___|
___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___
/ _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __|
| (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _|
\___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___|
_ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___
| \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \
| .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| /
|_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\


====================================================
Tuesday, March 17 2020 Issue #5878
====================================================
Visit our website at
====================================================


//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

I don't really like that they moved WrestleMania to an empty Performance Center. I would have waited and held it later. No fans is going to suck. But, just like the majority, I will still watch.

========================================================


//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

WRESTLEMANIA 36 MOVED TO THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER

- WWE announced yesterday that WrestleMania 36 will not be taking place in Tampa Bay, Florida, and will instead be airing live from the WWE Performance Center in a closed set, meaning no fans at all. "In coordination with local partners and government officials, WrestleMania and all related events in Tampa Bay will not take place. However, WrestleMania will still stream live on Sunday, April 5 at 7 pm ET on WWE Network and be available on pay-per-view. Only essential personnel will be on the closed set at WWE’s training facility in Orlando, Florida to produce WrestleMania." The news comes after weeks of speculations on what will happen to the show due the coronavirus pandemic. "Our community has waited 36 years to host WrestleMania, and while we are saddened that this unforeseen situation has led us to today’s announcement, this is totally the right call for the safety and security of everyone involved. A huge thank-you to all of our local leaders and our friends at the WWE, as we collectively worked through the unprecedented fluidity of the last few weeks. The Team Tampa Bay-WWE partnership has never been stronger," the Tampa Bay local organizing committee said in a statement afterward. This will be the first time in 36 years that WrestleMania will be held without fans and in the smallest arena possible.

THREE MATCHES ADDED TO WRESTLEMANIA

- Three additional matches were made official yesterday on Raw for WrestleMania 36, which has moved from one of the biggest stadiums in Florida to one of the smallest places in the state! Edge opened the show to address Randy Orton. He said that years ago, he pulled Randy out of a hole and now Orton is returning the favor...taking Edge out of a hole. He then proceeded to challenge Orton to a last man standing match at WrestleMania and vowed that this story wouldn't be a tragic one, but a story of redemption. The Undertaker vs AJ Styles contract signing took place last night after Styles taunted "Mark" from backstage. Styles signed the deal but then gave the contract to Gallows and Anderson to hand deliver to Taker who was pacing in the ring. Well, that didn't turn out well for The O.C. who got their asses handed to them by The Undertaker. The third match confirmed was Kevin Owens vs Seth Rollins. Owens said that he will have the home advantage with WrestleMania taking place at the Performance Center as Rollins never spent time there. Owens added that come WrestleMania, he will make new memories in the same location he earned his place in this company.

HALL OF FAME CEREMONY POSTPONED

- Georgia Smith, the daughter of the late British Bulldog, revealed on Twitter that WWE is postponing the Hall of Fame induction ceremony and will not be holding it next month. "Just a heads up! I have spoken with @WWE and they are postponing the Hall of Fame for a later date, and are hoping to do it for Summerslam (which would be appropriate for my dad) thanks again for all your support! Let’s all stay safe out there," Smith wrote. With the the coronavirus spread, putting a bunch of people in a closed space for the Hall of Fame was not going to be a very good idea, even if it was going to be held at the Performance Center. The nWo, The Bella Twins, Batista, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, The British Bulldog, and Jushin "Thunder" Liger are the ones who will be inducted in the 2020 class.

WRESTLEMANIA REFUNDS COMING YOUR WAY

- If you were going to WrestleMania, you are entitled to get a full refund of your WrestleMania ticket and even the WWE travel package you purchased. For those who purchased a ticket to any of the WWE events - Axxess, Hall of Fame, Smackdown, Takeover, WrestleMania, and Raw - refunds are now available at all original points of purchase. Ticketmaster will be refunding everyone's tickets within the next 30 days while those who purchased tickets in person at the Amalie Arena box office, refunds will be made available once the box office reopens. Meanwhile, WWE has already started contacting people who purchased the very expensive WrestleMania travel packages and full refunds are going to be processed soon as well.

AUSTIN REFLECTS ON EMPTY PERFORMANCE CENTER RAW APPEARANCE

- Stone Cold Steve Austin admitted that it was strange to be on Monday Night Raw in an arena with no people at all, but despite the lack of fan interaction, the Rattlesnake said it was really cool to be able to participate nonetheless. "To be here in front of an empty crowd, it was interesting...very strange feeling," Austin said backstage in a video interview at the Performance Center after Raw. "I worked in front of small crowds back when I first started, and I'm used to a lot people being here...it's a little bit different," he continued, as he recounted how when train, you train to get a response from the fans and obviously there was none of that yesterday. Austin also said it was cool to finally see the WWE Performance Center and see where the next generation of WWE Superstars train and get ready to step in the ring. "I'm glad to be here, and everybody out there...hang in there," Austin concluded.

TRAILER FOR DARK SIDE OF THE RING CHRIS BENOIT PREMIERE

- VICE has released the trailer of the Chris Benoit episode that will kick off season two of Dark Side Of The Ring. The one-minute clip has Nancy Benoit's sister Sandra, Vickie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, and Chris' son David Benoit featured as some of Benoit's career highlights are recreated in the same fashion we saw in season one of the highly-acclaimed series. "People need to understand that...that was not him. He was my hero," David says of his father. "I need to talk about this, if you're going to say I'm glorifying a murderer, stop listening now," added Jericho. This will be the series' first double-episode and pretty much explains the whole Benoit story from those who knew him. Season two kicks off on March 24 at 9PM ET on Viceland. You can see the trailer at .

IMPACT CANCELS ONE NIGHT ONLY TNA SHOW

- The one night only TNA return at WrestleCon has been cancelled by Impact Wrestling. The event was scheduled to take place at The Ritz Ybor City on Friday, April 3. "After consultation with representatives of Wrestlecon, all events associated with Wrestlecon have been cancelled, including TNA – There’s No Place Like Home. All refunds will be sent out in the next 7 days," a statement from Impact Wrestling read. The event is not being rescheduled. Several former Impact Wrestling talent including Ken Anderson, D'Lo Brown, Chris Sabin, Chris Harris, Petey Williams, Amazing Red, and others were scheduled to return for the show.


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Monday, March 16 2020 Issue #5877
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-


Two inappropriate notifications were sent to iOS and Android devices which have the W-O News app installed this morning. We have identified where it came from and took necessary precautions and disabled notifications on the app for the time being until OneSignal can help in restoring our API key. No user information was compromised, just a bot managed to get into our OneSignal account and sent the notification. The app will continue to work normally, just without the service of push notifications. We apologize for the inconvenience.

With that said, we're living in pretty surreal situations at the moment. Hollywood has been warning us for years LOL! Having recently returned from abroad, I'm working from home for the next two weeks to make sure I'm not carrying any unwanted presents. I'm pretty sure this will grow old after day three. But with countries going on lockdown, I guess I was going to end up in this situation anyway sooner or later. Take care of each other!


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

#316DAY RAW LIVE FROM THE PERFORMANCE CENTER TONIGHT

- Monday Night Raw tonight will be airing live from the WWE Performance Center in front of empty chairs as no audience will be present due to the coronavirus spread. It will be a loaded Raw nonetheless with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Edge, and The Undertaker all scheduled to be part of the broadcast. The Rattlesnake will be there to celebrate #316Day although with no audience in place, it will be interesting how Stone Cold adjusts to the environment. The Undertaker will be part of the contract signing with AJ Styles as the two are set to meet at WrestleMania...whenever that might happen. And following last week's appearance in DC, Edge will make it two weeks in a row as his storyline with Randy Orton continues. No matches have been announced.

JUSHIN "THUNDER" LIGER JOINS THE WWE HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2020

- WWE has announced another name entering its Hall of Fame class of 2020 and that is the recently-retired Jushin "Thunder" Liger. Liger joins Batista, John "Bradshaw" Layfield, The British Bulldog, The nWo, and The Bella Twins in this year's class. In an interview with Tokyo Sports, Liger said that he's glad he's being recognized by WWE but emphasized that this wouldn't have happened without the support of many others. Born Keiichi Yamada in 1964, he was given the gimmick in 1989, a character based on the anime television series of the same name. Having participated in over 4,000 matches throughout his 36-year career, Liger is one of the most recognizable names in the history of professional wrestling and an icon in his homeland of Japan. Liger wrestled for multiple promotions throughout his career including All Star Wrestling, Stampede Wrestling, WWE, WCW, Ring of Honor, TNA, and other independent promotions, but remained loyal to New Japan Pro Wrestling where he was the longest-serving employee. In WWE, he only had one match and that came under the NXT banner in 2015 where he wrestled Tyler Breeze at the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event. In WCW, he had a few more matches than that, wrestling for the Atlanta-based promotion between 1991 and 1992 and then 1995 and 1999. Liger also had a few matches under TNA/Impact Wrestling, making his debut for them at the Bound For Glory 2005 pay-per-view losing to Samoa Joe and then went on to have a few more PPV matches during the following year. With a career spanning over three decades, the world of professional wrestling said goodbye to Jushin Thunder Liger on January 6, 2020 in his last appearance at NJPW’s New Year Dash. Liger had his final match the day before at Wrestle Kingdom 14. Liger’s title reigns are too many to count, including 22 which came in New Japan Pro Wrestling. He won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title a total of 11 times and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team title six times with six different partners. He is regarded as one of the best high-flyers this industry has ever seen.

WWE STOCKS CRASH TO NEW TWO-YEAR LOW

- WWE stocks tanked today with the rest of the market, plunging a further 15% to a low of $30 at time of this writing. This is the lowest that WWE stocks traded since December 2017 and down from the $100 high from September 2018. While stocks were already volatile over the past two quarters, the coronavirus hit was another nail in the proverbial coffin. With live event attendance dwindling, Network subscriptions falling, events taking place in empty arenas, and the possibility of WrestleMania not taking place as scheduled, it's the perfect unwanted storm. But while the company is financially sound and they can ride this, Wall Street is very, very unforgiving.

HOGAN BEACH PARTY AT HARD ROCK HOTEL CANCELLED

- The Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tampa has postponed all shows and pool parties until mid-April, and that also includes the Hulk Hogan beach party which was set for April 6. "While we have been looking forward to an amazing party at The Hard Rock Pool on 4/6/20, given recent events, for the health and safety of our guests, we have made the difficult decision to postpone Hogan’s Beach Party. Stay tuned for new dates," a tweet from Hulk Hogan read yesterday. The party is obviously dependent on WrestleMania taking place and as things stand, it's not likely to happen. Those who purchased tickets to a postponed event are encouraged to hold on to their tickets for a new date to be announced. For those unable to attend a future postponed show, refunds will be available at original point of purchase.

SEASON FOUR OF TOTAL BELLAS NOW ON WWE NETWORK

- The fourth season of Total Bellas was uploaded in full on the WWE Network this weekend. Season four of the E! reality show contains 10 episodes in total and features Nikki, her boyfriend Artem, Brie, Daniel Bryan, and the rest of the Bella clan. The season averaged around 436,000 viewers per episode when it aired last year, a big drop from the 582,000 average it did in season three. Despite the drop in viewers, E! has signed up Total Bellas for another season, a season which starts airing on April 9.

APRIL 15 DYNAMITE FROM BOSTON RESCHEDULED

- All Elite Wrestling announced today that the upcoming Dynamite in Boston originally set for April 15 has been moved. The new Boston date is now August 5 at the same place, The Agganis Arena. Fans who have already purchased tickets to the Boston show will be offered a refund via the point of purchase, or have their original ticket valid for admission to the August 5 show. "We appreciate your understanding as the safety and well-being of our fans and talent is always our top priority. We will continue to closely monitor this evolving situation related to COVID-19 and be guided by government officials, health organizations and venue management," AEW said in a statement. The next two AEW shows - on March 18 and 25 - are being advertised with no location yet although this week's show will take place without an audience at Daily's Place in Jacksonville.

IMPACT'S LOCKDOWN SHOW POSTPONED

- Impact Wrestling's aptly-named Lockdown show set for March 28 has been postponed after St. Clair College in Windsor has cancelled all non-essential on and off campus events due to the coronavirus. The university is also shutting down classes starting from next Monday and moving everything online. The Impact Plus event was in conjunction with Border City Wrestling. Lockdown is an old pay-per-view name that the company used in the past where all matches were held in a cage. The event name has not been used since 2016. The 2020 Lockdown was announced by Impact in January.

HARDY MISSES FSW SHOW IN VEGAS DUE TO TRAVEL ISSUES

- Matt Hardy was supposed to be part of the Future Stars of Wrestling show yesterday in Las Vegas but the recent free agent had to cancel due to travel issues and chaos at airports thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. In a video he posted on social media, Hardy said he had a very "early, long, taxing, frustrating day at the airport" and said it was beyond his or FSW's control that he couldn't be part of the Mecca VI show. Hardy said he was heartbroken more than anyone as he was looking forward to go back to Vegas and return to FSW but he promised to make up for missing tonight's show by showing up at the June show which happens to be the promotion's 11th anniversary event.

PRODUCTION PAUSED ON DWAYNE JOHNSON'S NETFLIX MOVIE RED NOTICE

- As the world continues to slowly come at a standstill, movie productions are also being halted for a few weeks to assess the current situation with the coronavirus. Yesterday, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson announced that production on his Netflix movie Red Notice is "pressing pause" on all of its production effective tomorrow for the next two weeks. "It’s my privilege to speak eye to eye with our entire crew to help give a little clarity and guidance, as the most important thing right now is for us to get everyone home to their concerned families. Gotta protect our babies, spouses, loved ones and elderly," Johnson said. "We’ll continue to monitor and assess this situation closely to make the best decisions for our families first and then our businesses. We’re a resilient nation who ultimately, will always rise to the occasion to be accountable and work together to overcome whatever hardship lies in front of us." Johnson said that the United States will do its job and the rest of the world will do theirs and urged everyone to stay healthy, vigilant, and safe. "We’re all in this - together." Red Notice is the largest ever production by Netflix and also features Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds alongside with the former WWE champion.


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Saturday, March 14 2020 Issue #5876
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Happy weekend folks! Back tomorrow.


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

TAMPA BAY READY TO PULL THE PLUG ON WRESTLEMANIA

- Hillsborough County Commissioner Les Miller has said that the city is ready to pull the plug on WrestleMania but hopes that WWE makes the call themselves. WWE is standing firm on the decision to go ahead with WrestleMania most likely due to contractual issues. If WWE announces the postponement or cancelation of WrestleMania before the city or state imposes a ban, they would be on the hook financially, whereas if they are forced to cancel it, then the legal status changes. “I’m hoping that Vince McMahon and WrestleMania and WWE make the call themselves but a week from now, if they've not done that and we’re still in the situation we're in, we'll probably have to pull the plug on that,” Miller told FOX 13. Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister is hoping that WWE follows other sports who canceled or postponed their events. "I don’t ever want to see people put profit over public safety,” Chronister said. Tampa Bay officials will meet again next week to make the decision for WWE if the company fails to cancel WrestleMania.

NO WRESTLEMANIA FOR UK AND IRISH FANS

- If WrestleMania happens somehow, someway, fans in the United Kingdom and Ireland are now banned too from entering the United States after the Trump administration extended the travel ban to include the UK and Ireland following the announcement of a blanket travel ban for European countries in the Schengen Area. The ban comes into effect on Monday. Thousands of European fans already had to cancel their plans earlier in the week as the ban will run past the WrestleMania date. As things stand, WrestleMania is most likely getting canned by Tampa Bay city officials and WWE would have to reschedule or go to their contingency plan, whatever that might be. Last year, fans from 68 different countries attended the show, contributing to the $17 million gate and $165 million in economic impact generated in the New York and New Jersey area.

PAIGE MISSES SMACKDOWN DUE TO TRAVEL ISSUES

- Paige's appearance on Smackdown last night did not happen as the former Smackdown General Manager and Divas champion didn't make it to Orlando due to travel issues related to the coronavirus. "Sorry guys travel made it very hard for me to get there for #SmackDownLIVE with everything that’s going on. Completely out of my control. very sorry.. But at least @itsBayleyWWE is keeping you entertained," she tweeted during the show. Paige was supposed to confront the Smackdown Women's champion Bayley on the show but instead Bayley teamed up with Sasha Banks to take on Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross in the empty Performance Center.

FULL SAIL CLOSES DOWN FOR GROUP EVENTS, NXT TO MOVE TO WWE PC

- Full Sail University is closing its doors for group events through the end of April, meaning NXT will not be taped from that location for the next month and a half. Thankfully for WWE, the WWE Performance Center has been a God send in more ways than one and can utilize their own building to hold live events as they have already done with this week's NXT and Smackdown. While the audience and look of the show isn't as good, the WWE PC at least provides an alternative for WWE to keep their show going, even though it means no fans in attendance. Unlike this week, WWE is presumably working with the idea that NXT TV shows will be "empty arena" ones and no fans will be allowed inside with only the required personnel in attendance to make the show work.

SMACKDOWN RATING

- Yesterday's Smackdown from an empty WWE Performance Center on FOX did 2,588,000 viewers, with 2,673,000 viewers tuning in the first hour and 2,503,000 viewers in the second. That was up 136,000 viewers from last week's broadcast and the second most-watched Smackdown of 2020! The show did a 0.7 in the 18-49 demo, matching the other top shows. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

TWO MORE DYNAMITE SHOWS TO BE RELOCATED

- Two more AEW Dynamite shows will have to be relocated due to the current situation and the April 1 and 8 shows are moving from Milwaukee and St. Louis respectively. The company has rescheduled to have the St. Louis show on October 7 at the Chaifetz Arena and the Milwaukee show on October 28 at the UWM Panther Arena. Fans can keep their tickets for the rescheduled shows or else ask for a refund at the point of purchase. AEW has not announced where these shows will take place but it is likely that they will be from Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida. Speaking of Daily's Place, while AEW has previously announced that their next week's show will have "restricted attendance policy," it looks now like there will be no one at all in attendance and just like Smackdown last night and Raw on Monday, this will be an empty arena show with only essential personnel there. The Mayor of Jacksonville yesterday ordered all city-owned event venues to remain closed until further notice and Daily's Place is owned by the city.


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Friday, March 11 2020 Issue #5875
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Well, the world just keep getting crazier I guess. To make things easier to keep up-to-date with the latest coronavirus wrestling-related news, we put up a page solely with that topic at . It automatically updates when there's new information posted.

Also, today I wrote a rather-long piece about how over 70 non-WWE shows are in jeopardy during Mania weekend. The intro and a link to the article can be found in the first news item below.


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: OVER 70 NON-WWE SHOWS IN JEOPARDY AT MANIA WEEK

- The coronavirus pandemic has created an unprecedented situation for a lot of events worldwide and that includes WWE's biggest event of the year, WrestleMania. But WrestleMania week is not strictly WWE as tons of other independent wrestling promotions take advantage of the several thousands of people who come to town for a few days, giving fans a wide variety of shows to attend to. But with WrestleMania in limbo due to the coronavirus, these independent shows and events are taking the hit too. The majority, if not all, of them are dependent on WrestleMania taking place. If WWE cancels WrestleMania, these event promoters will be losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. You can read the rest of the article at .

WWE STATEMENT ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF WRESTLEMANIA

- WrestleMania from Tampa Bay remains up in the air with the meeting yesterday between Tampa Bay officials giving WWE an extra week to decide what to do since the show is in the first week of April. "While we remain committed to hosting WrestleMania at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, April 5, we are putting contingency plans in place in the event that it is cancelled by government officials, civil authorities and/or local venues," a WWE statement said. "The health and safety of our fans, performers and employees are our top priorities and we are monitoring the situation closely with our partners and government officials in Tampa Bay." The statement didn't do much to help fans who are planning to fly to Tampa and attend the show with a final decision likely to come next week. The Commissioner yesterday said that the group will reconvene next week to take the decision for WWE if WWE doesn't take one for them. What does contingency plans are remain to be seen. It's not been a good week for Vince McMahon as the XFL also announced it will halt all games for the rest of the season, meaning there will be no winner for the first season. XFL said that they will pay the teams and everyone involved all the money they are due for the remainder of the season regardless.

SMACKDOWN MOVES TO THE WWE PERFORMANCE CENTER

- Tonight's Smackdown is off from Detroit, Michigan and will be moving to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. WWE finally announced the decision late last night in a statement which read, "Friday Night SmackDown on March 13 will air live as regularly scheduled and emanate from WWE’s training facility in Orlando, Florida with only essential personnel in attendance. The event was originally scheduled in Detroit, Michigan.” The Little Caesars Arena was nearly full for tonight's show and refunds are available at the point of purchase for those who bought tickets to the event. There are no matches announced yet for tonight's live broadcast but three segments are already known: the return of Jeff Hardy, John Cena returns to continue his program with The Fiend, and Paige will be making an appearance and confronting Smackdown Women's champion Bayley.

#316DAY RAW MOVED FROM PITTSBURGH TO EMPTY PERFORMANCE CENTER

- Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto banned all public gatherings of more than 250 people after declaring a state of emergency in the city. The ban goes into effect at 9AM on Monday...the same day that #316Day Raw was supposed to take place. The special Raw with Stone Cold Steve Austin in attendance was pretty full with only a few hundred tickets in the bleachers remaining. After the announcement from the Mayor came, WWE issued a statement saying, "This Monday night, Raw will air live as regularly scheduled and emanate from WWE’s training facility in Orlando, Florida with only essential personnel in attendance. The event was originally scheduled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." Whatever the plan is moving forward for this particularly-themed Raw, 3:16 day will be celebrated with no fans in attendance!

NO WWE BACKSTAGE NEXT WEEK AS FOX SPORTS SHUTS DOWN ALL PRODUCTION

- There will be no WWE Backstage on FS1 next week as FOX Sports announced that it will be suspending production for their live FS1 daily studio shows through at least Friday, March 20. "Our top priority is the health and safety of our employees. We will continue to monitor the situation and adjust accordingly," the statement said. FOX Sports decided to ditch the shows "out of an abundance of caution." With this time frame, only one Backstage would be getting canned unless the suspension is extended. CM Punk was expected back on the panel next week and Rhea Ripley was the in-studio guest.

REZAR OF THE AOP SUFFERS TORN RIGHT BICEPS

- Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that Rezar of The Authors of Pain tore his right biceps during the eight-man tag team match on Raw this past Monday. The 25-year-old could face a long spell out if surgery is required which could also be bad news for his tag team partner. Torn biceps usually take up to nine months to recover following surgery. Rezar, who was injured after he was on the receiving end of a crossbody from Montez Ford, soldiered on and finished the match practically with one arm. The two have just been reintroduced on WWE television a few months ago after spending nearly a year out after Akam suffered a leg injury.

WWE SUPERSTARS TAKE ON CARPOOL KARAOKE

- A bunch of WWE Superstars are featured in another round of Apple's Carpool Karaoke, an episode which is available to watch for free starting today if you have an iOS device. The WWE Superstars singing this time around are Seth Rollins, Becky Lynch, Roman Reigns, The Bella Twins, Daniel Bryan, Ronda Rousey, Shayna Baszler, Jessamyn Duke, Marina Shafir, The Miz, and Maryse. In late 2018, WWE did an episode of Carpool Karaoke which had Stephanie McMahon, Triple H, Becky Lynch, The New Day, Alexa Bliss, Braun Strowman, Natalya, Nia Jax, Naomi and Charlotte Flair all doing their best to sing. You can check out the preview at .

NXT RATING

- NXT from the WWE Performance Center did 697,000 viewers this week, down 21,000 viewers from last week's show. NXT was #42 on the top 50 cable chart in the 18-49 demo with a 0.21 rating. The difference between the two shows this week was of 69,000 viewers, which is down from the 188,000 difference of last week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

DYNAMITE RATING

- AEW Dynamite this week won the ratings again but suffered a massive drop in viewers, getting 766,000 viewers, down 140,000 from last week's broadcast. With a 0.26 in the 18-49 demo, Dynamite placed #25 in the top 50 chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

AEW RELOCATING MARCH 18 AND 25 DYNAMITE SHOWS

- With the March 18 and 25 Dynamite shows taking place in two states that have banned mass gatherings, the shows will be moving to new locations. AEW announced that next week's show will take place from the Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida, while the March 25 episode is still being worked on. "As a precautionary measure against COVID-19, we are relocating next week’s AEW DYNAMITE show on March 18 from Rochester, NY, to Jacksonville, FL. This show will be televised live on TNT from Daily’s Place, and be managed under a restricted attendance policy. The DYNAMITE show in Rochester will be rescheduled for Wednesday, July 8, at Blue Cross Arena. Fans who have already purchased tickets to the Rochester show will be offered a refund via the point of purchase, or have their original ticket valid for admission to the event on July 8. Additional details will be forthcoming," the statement regarding the New York show said. "In addition, the DYNAMITE show on March 25 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, will be relocated to a new venue, which will be announced shortly. This show will be televised live on TNT on March 25, and be managed under a restricted attendance policy. The DYNAMITE show in Newark will be rescheduled for Wednesday, July 22, at the Prudential Center. Fans who have already purchased tickets to the Newark show will be offered a refund via the point of purchase, or have their original ticket valid for admission to the event on July 22. Additional details will be forthcoming." The March 25 episode was supposed to feature the Blood & Guts match and that was possible by holding the show in a larger arena. It remains to be seen if the match will still go on in the new location.


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Thursday, March 10 2020 Issue #5874
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Finally back home and avoided all the travel bans and extra BS that's going on right now. Phew! Just in the nick of time.

Lots of news today so let's get to it.

========================================================


//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

TAMPA BAY OFFICIALS STILL WITH NO DECISION ON WRESTLEMANIA

- Tampa Bay city officials did not take a permanent decision when it comes to WrestleMania, with the commissioner saying that since the show is a few weeks way, they don't want to make that decision now. The meeting was held today at 1:30PM ET and was streamed live on Facebook. WWE officials, who are also currently in Tampa, had a meeting today as well to see what could be the way forward since the coronavirus looks like it's getting worse every day. The Commissioner added that if WWE doesn't take the decision themselves, they would reconvene the panel to make the decision for them in a week or so. WWE has made no public announcement yet on what the outcome of their meeting was and what is the contingency plan if Tampa Bay city officials pull the plug on the show.

FLORIDA GOVERNOR WANTS ALL MAJOR EVENTS CANCELED OR POSTPONED

- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced that cities and counties in his state should postpone or cancel any mass gathering over the next 30 days as the coronavirus pandemic keeps getting bigger every day. DeSantis added that if the event is not canceled, event organizers should have screening measures in place to prevent people who have been exposed to the virus from entering. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the Governor said he did not have the authority to ban mass gatherings outright but is encouraging sports leagues and other organizers to host events without fans with the ability to watch them online.

EUROPEAN TRAVEL BAN ENDS MANIA HOLIDAY FOR THOUSANDS OF FANS

- A European travel ban announced last night by President Donald Trump will affect thousands of European wrestling fans who were heading to Tampa for WrestleMania next month. The travel ban begins tomorrow, Friday at Midnight, effectively ending their WrestleMania plans. The 30-day ban covers foreign nationals coming from the 26 Schengen countries which are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. British citizens have been spared - for now - as the Trump administration did not name the United Kingdom as part of the ban. It's unclear how WWE will handle any refunds - if they do - for fans already booked for WrestleMania who were coming from any of the 26 countries.

WWE DENIES SMACKDOWN FROM DETROIT IS CANCELED

- After local FOX affiliate in Detroit reported that this Friday's Smackdown from Little Caesars Arena was canceled, WWE issued a statement saying that the show has not been canceled and it will go ahead as planned, at least for now. "WWE has not cancelled Friday Night SmackDown in Detroit, however, based on the current situation, we are putting contingency plans in place in the event that upcoming WWE shows are cancelled by government officials, civil authorities and/or local venues," the statement read. The arena is almost sold out with thousands of fans expected. The arena website and social media accounts make no mention of the event being canceled. The backup plan is to have the show at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, where NXT was held yesterday night. John Cena, Jeff Hardy, and Paige are all scheduled to be part of Smackdown tomorrow.

NEW YORK GOVERNOR BANS MASS GATHERING EVENTS, WWE MSG SHOW OFF

- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has banned gatherings of more than 500 people in the state of New York, affecting all concerts, sporting events, Broadway, and other events. WWE has a non-televised live event at Madison Square Garden on March 22 at 3PM, an event which now has to be canceled. Thousands of tickets remained unsold and despite WWE pushing a DX reunion, tickets didn't move as expected. The company has not announced yet what they will do but refunds will certainly be issued for those who purchased tickets.

THE BRITISH BULLDOG TO JOIN THE WWE HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2020

- WWE today announced that the late British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2020. There have been petitions and several calls for the company to induct the former Intercontinental champion for the past several years. Making his debut in 1978, Smith wrestled first for ITV's World of Sport when he was just 15 years old and was then recruited by Bruce Hart who took him to Canada to train at his father's Dungeon, joining the Stampede Wrestling promotion in the process. In 1984, Smith joined the WWE with his cousin The Dynamite Kid, and now brothers-in-law Bret Hart and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. Smith and Kid wrestled as The British Bulldogs and won their first titles at WrestleMania 2 before losing them to the Hart Foundation nine months later. After walking out from WWE, the British Bulldogs worked for Stampede Wrestling and All Japan For Wrestling before Smith returned to the WWE in 1990 on his own. In 1992, Smith's biggest wrestling moment came at SummerSlam from London, England where he defeated his brother-in-law Bret "Hit Man" Hart in the main event of the show. But things didn't last long and he was released along with the Ultimate Warrior for allegedly using HGH. The following year, Smith joined WCW and formed an alliance with Sting. Again, problems followed Smith and he was released that same year after he was involved in a fight in a bar. In 1994, WWE hired Smith back and had a three-year run, forming the Allied Powers with Lex Luger, Camp Cornette with Owen Hart, and reuniting the Hart Foundation in 1997. After the Montreal Screwjob happened, Smith quit WWE along with Bret and Jim Neidhart. He followed Bret to WCW in 1997 and Neidhart joined as well but injuries dented his career there. A bump on a trap door in the ring was the cause of a major spinal infection, an injury which left him nearly paralyzed and required him to be hospitalized for six months. WCW released him and Smith became addicted to morphine and painkilling drugs. In 1999 he made his third and final return to WWE following the death of his brother-in-law Owen Hart. His run was short again and he left WWE eight months after his return. Smith died on May 18, 2002 after suffering a heart attack while on holiday in Invermere, British Columbia. At the time he was dating Bruce Hart's estranged wife Andrea Redding. He had two children with his ex-wife Diana, Harry, and Georgia. Harry later went on to become Davey Boy Smith Jr. In his WWE run, he won the Intercontinental title once, the European title twice, the Hardcore title twice, and the Tag Team titles twice.

ROB GRONKOWSKI SIGNS WWE DEAL

- Rob Gronkowski has signed his WWE deal and will be appearing on the March 20 episode of Friday Night Smackdown on FOX. On Backstage on FS1 this week, Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet said that the deal is close to being finalized but other non-wrestling journalists have confirmed that Gronkowski has signed on the dotted line already. It is believed that the deal will include being a performer in the ring and PWInsider.com adds to the story that he will be used similar to the way Ronda Rousey was during her year there. Gronk is also expected to be part of WrestleMania in some way. The three-time Super Bowl winner is a massive WWE fan and a personal friend of Mojo Rawley. He currently works with FOX Sports as an analyst.

NEXT WEEK'S DYNAMITE TO GET NEW LOCATION

- WWE wasn't the only one hit with the ban on events in New York as AEW also had a Dynamite scheduled for next week in Rochester with the big unveiling of The Exalted One. AEW has now rescheduled their debut in Rochester to Wednesday, July 8. It remains to be seen what happens next week for Dynamite as most likely they will not run in a market where the event would probably be postponed again. PWInsider.com added to the story that the company still wants to hold a live Dynamite somewhere, although no hints were given as to where. All Elite Wrestling has not publicly addressed the change yet.

NEWARK MAYOR BANS ALL MASS GATHERING EVENTS, DYNAMITE AFFECTED

- Newark Mayor Ras Baraka today announced that all non-essential public gatherings in Newark, including sporting events, should be canceled for 30 days due to the coronavirus. The 30 days would put AEW Dynamite, set for March 25, in that timeframe and would mean that the show which will be headlined by Blood & Guts be postponed. AEW will be running the massive Prudential Center for their New Jersey debut, already selling thousands of tickets for the show. All Elite Wrestling has not yet addressed the situation. The Mayor's advisory came out after New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy recommended that any event with more than 250 people in attendance including concerts, sports events, parades, and others should be canceled.

BLOOD & GUTS RULES EXPLAINED

- All Elite Wrestling announced the rules for the Blood & Guts match that was supposed to take place on the March 25 episode of Dynamite live from Newark, New Jersey. Based exactly on the WarGames concept, the rules for Blood & Guts are also pretty much the same as the original WarGames. The first two men will wrestle for five minutes and additional bodies will enter at two minute intervals. Once all five members of each team are in the cage, the match officially begins and the only way to win is to make your opponent submit or they quit. Unlike WWE's version of WarGames, the Blood & Guts cage will be covered. The Inner Circle and The Elite will be the first two factions to be part of this match. Representing The Inner Circle will be former AEW champion Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Santana, Ortiz, and Sammy Guevara. The Elite will have Cody, the AEW Tag Team champions Kenny Omega and Hangman Page, and The Young Bucks.

LANCE ARCHER DEBUTS WITH JAKE ROBERTS ON DYNAMITE

- Jake Roberts' client has arrived, and his name is Lance Archer. Archer, who recently inked a deal with All Elite Wrestling, made his AEW debut last night and was accompanied by Jake "The Snake" Roberts at the start of the show. The WWE Hall of Famer and his client sat in the crowd as they watched Cody wrestle Ortiz but the duo departed before the match was over. Last week, Roberts made a surprise appearance on Dynamite interrupting Cody's promo, warning him that his client is coming and he's there to take Cody's share of the pie. Archer, 42, has wrestled for Impact Wrestling, WWE, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and several other indie promotions throughout his career after making his debut 20 years ago.

MORE NAMES JOIN THE STEPHEN AMELL-LED HEELS TV SERIES

- Deadline.com is reporting that Chris Bauer, Allen Maldonado, and James Harrison have signed up to be series regulars in the upcoming Starz wrestling series Heels. Heels, led by wrestling fan and The Arrow star Stephen Amell, is an eight-episode hourlong drama set around the men and women who chase their dreams in the world of small town professional wrestling. Apart from Amell, Alexander Ludwig, Kelli Berglund, and Alison Luff were also announced part of the cast. According to Deadline, Bauer will play Wild Bill Hancock, a larger-than-life former wrestling star who is now a high-level pro wrestling scout. Maldonado portrays Rooster Robbins, one of the best wrestlers in the circuit who always has something to prove, and always backs it up. Harrison is Apocalypse, a been-around-the-block journeyman wrestler who’s been at it for decades and has no illusions of fame or glory. Heels is produced by Lionsgate TV in association with Paramount TV Studios.


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_ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___
| \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \
| .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| /
|_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\


====================================================
Wednesday, March 9 2020 Issue #5873
====================================================
Visit our website at
====================================================


//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Newsletter will resume its regular time schedule starting from tomorrow. Heading back home in around two hours after almost two weeks here in Washington. Hopefully not carrying any coronavirus LOL!


========================================================


//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

NXT PREVIEW

- Tonight's NXT will be taking place from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, as the state-of-the-art facility is turned into an arena. WWE had to move out of Full Sail for this week due to an event which was already booked and couldn't be relocated. Two title matches will take place tonight with Keith Lee defending his North American title against Cameron Grimes and The BroserWeights versus The Undisputed Era for the Tag Team titles. Mia Yim and Dakota Kai will also face each other for a spot in the #1 contender's ladder match at the upcoming Takeover. Other feuds that will certainly continue on the broadcast are Adam Cole's reaction to last week's ass whopping by Velveteen Dream and the next chapter in the Gargano/Ciampa story.

TAMPA OFFICIALS MEETING TOMORROW TO TALK ABOUT LARGE EVENTS

- City of Tampa officials will be meeting with Mayor Jane Castor tomorrow to discuss the possibilities of either canceling or postponing major events due to the coronavirus. One major, and probably the biggest, event coming to Tampa over the course of the next few weeks is obviously WrestleMania. Taking place at the Ray James Stadium with week-long activities around the city, WrestleMania is expected to bring in some 80,000 fans from all around the world descending upon the city for shows, meet and greets, and all kinds of other fun. If the show goes ahead as planned, there will be new guidelines for meet and greets. WWE already implemented a no-touching policy so no one will be shaking hands or giving hugs. WWE is not the only game in town that weekend as several other independent promotions will be holding several shows as part of WrestleCon. Over the past 24 hours, Tampa Bay registered three new coronavirus patients, with two in Pinellas county and one in Pasco county. Florida as
a state had five additional cases.

ROB GRONKOWSKI HEADING TO WWE

- Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet revealed last night on WWE Backstage that former New England Patriots player and huge WWE fan Rob Gronkowski is close to signing a deal with WWE. It was not revealed in what way Gronkowski would be used once he signs on the dotted line but the three-time Super Bowl winner who recently retired works as an analyst for FOX Sports right now so a similar role wouldn't be far fetched. Satin suggested that the first time that Gronk could show up as a WWE employee is on the March 20 episode of Smackdown. Gronkowski is big friends with Mojo Rawley and made an appearance at WrestleMania 33 when he helped Rawley win the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. He recently hosted Triple H and Stephanie McMahon at his Super Bowl party. The 30-year-old spent nine years in the NFL and was the Patriots' tight end receiver. Apart from three championship rings, he was a four-time first team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowl. He was also nominated in the NFL 100th Anniver
sary All-Time team. Gronk retired due to injuries he suffered on the football field saying that all the injuries during his career had taken a toll on his mental health.

THE YOUNG BUCKS BURY MATT HARDY ON LATEST FREE THE DELETE

- "Today is the day it ends. Today is the day it begins." That was a tweet that Matt Hardy sent this morning as once again Wednesday is upon us. In the newest episode of Free The Delete released at Noon, which also featured The Young Bucks, Matt Hardy is buried in a coffin. "You two are the only ones who can disconnect Zenith. Please, save us!" Hardy says as Matt and Nick Jackson question his option to get buried. They then proceed to each super kick him but Hardy comes back up, saying that they couldn't bury anyone, calling them "vice pussies." At that point, Matt and Nick deliver a double super kick and knock Hardy out. "I guess that's why they call him Fat Hardy," Matt Jackson says as they lift him up to place him in the coffin. Hardy's son Maxel also makes an appearance. In one of the outtakes, published by Reby Hardy, Maxel comes up to the Young Bucks and asks them if Randy Orton is with them as they both burst out laughing. You can watch the insanity at .
Meanwhile, Hardy will be appearing at WrestleCon during WrestleMania weekend on Friday, April 3 and Saturday, April 4. Both his appearances will be at the George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa starting at 11AM. Prices are $50 for a photo or $60 for a printed photo. Tickets can be purchased at . A WrestleCon admission ticket is required on top of those prices.

DYNAMITE PREVIEW

- Dynamite rolls into Wrest Valley City, Utah tonight with a show from the Maverik Center as the anticipation for The Exalted One and leader of the Dark Order continues. So far, only three matches have been announced for the broadcast including Hangman Page and a mystery partner taking on Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara, The Death Triangle versus Joey Janela and Private Party, and Jurassic Express taking on The Butcher, The Blade, and MJF. Tickets remain available for tonight's broadcast and are available at AEWTix.com.


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(C) Copyright 1996-2020 Wrestling-Online.com
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Watch WrestleMania 36 free on the WWE Network!
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_ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___
\ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __|
\ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ |
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___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___
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_ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___
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| .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| /
|_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\


====================================================
Tuesday, March 8 2020 Issue #5872
====================================================
Visit our website at
====================================================


//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Last full day here Stateside. Tomorrow journey back home. We should be sending an issue sometime before wheels up.


========================================================


//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

RAW RATING

- Heading into the WrestleMania stretch and coming off the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Monday Night Raw not only did not get the usual post-PPV bump but actually registered the lowest number since January 13, with an average of 2,162,000 viewers, down 94,000 viewers from last week. The first hour started with 2,157,000 viewers, then went up slightly to 2,222,000 viewers, before falling to 2,109,000 viewers in the third and final hour. This was one of the least-watched Raws with no sports competition head-to-head in over two decades. Raw was #1, #2, and #3 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic but was #10 in overall viewership for the night on cable. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

TRIPLE H GETS NEW CORPORATE TITLE

- In a letter sent to WWE shareholders ahead of the 2020 Annual Meeting of Stockholders in April, it was revealed that Paul "Triple H" Levesque received a new title within the company. As of February of this year, Levesque now serves as the Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development. Prior to that, he had been the Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events & Creative since August 2011. In his current role, he oversees WWE’s talent relations and talent development departments in addition to playing an integral role in the company’s creative process, helping shape the creative direction and storylines of WWE’s programming. The annual meeting will seek to re-elect all 10 members of the WWE Board of Directors.

JEFF HARDY AND PAIGE ADVERTISED FOR SMACKDOWN

- Both Jeff Hardy and Paige are being advertised to appear on Friday Night Smackdown on FOX later this week. The announcement came during the Raw broadcast. The former WWE champion was cleared to wrestle a couple of weeks ago and has been backstage at Smackdown over the past two weeks. Hardy gave the news that he has the green light during an appearance on WWE Backstage last week and said that he's just waiting for the right moment to jump back into action. Jeff has been out for nine months and hasn't been in a WWE ring on TV since then. Meanwhile, the former Smackdown General Manager will be on the broadcast to confront the current Smackdown champion Bayley. Paige underwent emergency surgery last week to remove an ovarian cyst. The WWE.COM article hyping up her appearance notes that she'll be on the show to "set the Smackdown Women's champion straight." Paige has been working as a panelist on WWE Backstage ever since the show started on FS1.

STATE OF FLORIDA ISSUES STRICT CORONAVIRUS ADVISORY...THEN RETRACTS IT

- The state of Florida issued a strict advisory on people coming back into the state due to the coronavirus but hours later retracted the statement. Under the original policy, anyone returning to Florida from abroad was to self-isolate for 14 days, a stricter rule than what the federal government imposed. Had the ban not been overturned, any fans coming into town for WrestleMania next month would have basically missed all the festivities unless they were rolling in at least 14 days before. But the announcement was soon changed when the Florida Department of Health rewrote its advisory, putting the ban only on people who traveled to China, Italy, Iran and South Korea. Things, however, could quickly change depending on how fast this COVID-19 virus spreads. So far, 14 people in Florida were infected and a few have already died. WWE remains steadfast that it will not cancel WrestleMania but the decision ultimately remains in the hands of the state. If Florida, or federal government, imposes certain bans on mass events, there's no way WrestleMania will take place.

AEW SAYS ALL EVENTS WILL GO AHEAD AS PLANNED

- Just like WWE, All Elite Wrestling has no plans to cancel any of their upcoming live events due to the coronavirus. The company issued a statement today as COVID-19 continues to dominate the news and spreads across other states. "All AEW events are currently moving forward as scheduled. Of course, the safety and well-being of AEW fans, partners and talent is always our top priority, so we will continue to closely monitor the rapidly evolving situation related to COVID-19 and be guided by government officials, health organizations and venue management," the statement read. "AEW will update ticket purchasers if there are any changes to the event schedule, and we encourage everyone in the AEW family to be good to themselves – and each other – by taking preventative actions as recommended by the CDC and WHO." As more major events get canceled across the United States and the rest of the world, it looks like it might be a matter of time before AEW or WWE shows get nixed too until the situation calms down.

AEW TO DEBUT IN LOUISIANA AND NEW MEXICO

- All Elite Wrestling will be heading to Louisiana and New Mexico over the next few months for Dynamite, two new markets that they haven't been to yet. The New Orleans show will be on May 6 at the Lakefront Arena, a 10,000-seater arena located on the campus of the University of New Orleans. The May 13 episode will then move west to the Santa Ana Star Center, a 7,000-seater facility in Rio Rancho, close to Albuquerque. Tickets for both shows will go on sale this coming Friday, March 13 on AEWTix.com. Tickets start from $25.


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ADVERTISING:
(C) Copyright 1996-2020 Wrestling-Online.com
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TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:[email protected]
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Watch WrestleMania 36 free on the WWE Network!
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_ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___
\ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __|
\ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ |
\_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___|
___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___
/ _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __|
| (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _|
\___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___|
_ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___
| \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \
| .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| /
|_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\


====================================================
Monday, March 8 2020 Issue #5871
====================================================
Visit our website at
====================================================


//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

A bit earlier today. Heading to Capital One Arena for Monday Night Raw. This is my first wrestling event since the Smackdown following WrestleMania 34!


========================================================


//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

ELIMINATION CHAMBER PPV RESULTS

- Here are the results from the Elimination Chamber 2020 pay-per-view which took place from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A total of 14,853 fans were in attendance. The Viking Raiders defeated Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins in the Kickoff match; Daniel Bryan defeated Drew Gulak; Andrade defeated Humberto Carrillo to retain the United States title; The Miz and John Morrison defeated The Usos, The New Day, Heavy Machinery, Robert Roode and Dolph Ziggler, and Lucha House Party in an Elimination Chamber to retain the Smackdown Tag Team titles; Aleister Black defeated AJ Styles in a no disqualification match; The Street Profits defeated Seth Rollins and Murphy to retain the Raw Tag Team titles; Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Cesaro defeated Braun Strowman in a handicap match with Sami Zayn become the new Intercontinental champion; Shayna Baszler defeated Asuka, Liv Morgan, Natalya, Ruby Riott, and Sarah Logan in an Elimination Chamber match to become the new #1 contender for the Raw Women's title.

THE UNDERTAKER ATTACKS THE O.C. AT THE ELIMINATION CHAMBER

- The Undertaker made his presence felt last night at the Elimination Chamber and attacked The O.C., helping Aleister Black beat AJ Styles in the no disqualification match. Towards the end of the match, Gallows and Anderson interfered and were holding up Black as Styles was about to hit the flying forearm. But before Styles took flight, the lights went out, the iconic gong played, and when the lights came back up, it was The Undertaker holding both Gallows and Anderson by the throat. Styles decided to fly anyway but went right into a chokeslam. The house lights were turned off again, enabling Taker to escape, and by the time they were up again, Taker was gone and Black hit a nasty looking Black Mass on Styles for the pin. Styles taunted Taker during the match and was also going for a tombstone piledriver.

LANA JOINS THE CAST OF BRUCE WILLIS MOVIE COSMIC SIN

- Deadline.com is reporting that WWE Superstar Lana is joining the upcoming Bruce Willis sci-fi action movie titled Cosmic Sin. Lana, real name CJ Perry, will have the role of the character Sol, a character which was originally written for a male. The character is described as "the best sniper in the galaxy and lead assassin fighting for the human race against an alien invasion." The plot of Cosmic Sin follows a group of warriors and scientists who must fight to protect and save their race when a hostile alien species with the power to infect and take over human hosts sets its sights on a futuristic human society. Filming is currently taking place in Atlanta and that's the reason why Lana has not been on WWE television since the Saudi show.

SNICKERS TO BE THE PRESENTING SPONSOR OF WRESTLEMANIA FOR 5TH YEAR IN A ROW

- Mars and WWE today announced an expansion of their long-standing partnership for 2020 in which Snickers will once again serve as the exclusive presenting partner of WrestleMania. The partnership marks the brand’s fifth consecutive year as presenting sponsor of WrestleMania. The expanded partnership will include three pieces of custom creative, featuring WWE Superstars promoting the new Snickers “Fix the World” campaign. In the videos, the Superstars find their unique daily annoyances are solved after Snickers has fixed the world. The spots will air on WWE TV beginning March 23 during Monday Night Raw on USA Network and March 27 during Friday Night SmackDown on FOX. The third spot will air during WrestleMania on WWE Network. “Our partnership has historically shown the power of Snickers to satisfy when WWE Superstars are hungry, and now we’re taking it to the next level by fixing things in their daily lives that are out of sorts,” said Josh Olken, Brand Director, Snickers. “We’re excited to be back for the fifth year as the presenting sponsor of WrestleMania as we find new and relevant ways to provide satisfaction to the WWE’s passionate fan base.” “We are proud to partner with Mars Wrigley for the fifth consecutive year and incorporate WWE Superstars’ larger-than-life personalities into the next evolution of the popular Snickers campaign,” said John Brody, WWE Executive Vice President, Global Head of Sales & Partnerships. “Our long-term partnership illustrates WWE’s unique ability to connect with fans across our global platforms and deliver valuable exposure for blue-chip brands.” The partnership includes Snickers brand presence at WrestleMania Axxess, plus custom digital and social content sponsorships on WWE.com and WWE’s YouTube channel. Snickers will also serve as a promotional partner of WWE’s Extreme Rules pay-per-view event in July 2020, and for the third consecutive year will be supported by a nationwide retail program available at all Dollar General stores to support the sale of co-branded WWE Snickers bars. The bars will be available mid-March through mid-April, while supplies last. WWE’s expanded partnership with Mars will also highlight Skittles as the presenting partner of WWE’s Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event in October 2020. Skittles will be prominently featured as part of cross-platform media assets promoting WWE Hell in a Cell and will collaborate with WWE on production of a co-branded custom integration that will air in the telecast. Additional partnership activations will be unveiled in the coming months.

HULK HOGAN BEACH PARTY SET FOR HARD ROCK HOTEL IN TAMPA DURING MANIA WEEK

- Tampa Bay Daylife will be organizing a party at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino with Hulk Hogan on Monday, April 6, titled Hogan's Beach Party. Apart from Hulk Hogan, the party will feature a DJ set by Lil Jon. Hogan's son Nick will be on hand as well and other wrestling stars are scheduled to appear, although no names are being advertised for now. The poolside party will start at 11AM and will go through 4PM and will take place rain or shine. You must be 21 or over to attend. Tickets are available for $30 which will get you access to the party but food or drinks are extra. Tickets are available now on Ticketmaster.com or at the Rock Shop on location.


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Elimination Chamber free on the WWE Network!
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\ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ |
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| .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| /
|_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\


====================================================
Sunday, March 8 2020 Issue #5870
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Enjoy Elimination Chamber tonight. Looks like it will be a "different" show with the usual suspects not being involved at all.

========================================================


//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

ELIMINATION CHAMBER LIVE ON WWE NETWORK TONIGHT

- Live tonight from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, WWE presents Elimination Chamber 2020 on pay-per-view and WWE Network. The full card is as follows: Natalya vs Liv Morgan vs Shayna Baszler vs Asuka vs Ruby Riott vs Sarah Logan in an Elimination Chamber match to determine the #1 contender for the Raw Women's title; The Miz and John Morrison vs The New Day vs The Usos vs Heavy Machinery vs Lucha House Party vs Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode in an Elimination Chamber match for the Smackdown Tag Team titles; Braun Strowman vs Shinsuke Nakamura, Cesaro, and Sami Zayn in a 3-on-1 handicap match for the Intercontinental title; Andrade vs Humberto Carrillo for the United States title; The Street Profits vs Seth Rollins and Murphy for the Raw Tag Team titles; Aleister Black vs AJ Styles in a no DQ match; Daniel Bryan vs Drew Gulak; and The Viking Raiders vs Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins in the Kickoff match. Elimination Chamber is free for first-time subscribers to the WWE Network. Subscribing today will also get you all the WrestleMania week activities free as it would fall within your 30-day trial. To start your free subscription go to .

THE BUMP CAST TO ANCHOR CHAMBER WATCH ALONG

- Tonight's Elimination Chamber Watch Along will be anchored by the popular cast of The Bump, featuring Kayla Braxton, McKenzie Mitchell, Evan T. Mack, Dan Vollmayer, Matt Camp and Ryan Pappolla. Guests who are expected to drop by to talk about Elimination Chamber while the show is going on are Mandy Rose, Tyson Kidd, Drew Gulak, and Philadelphia Eagles defensive end Vinny Curry. Watch Along will air on WWE's YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter and is usually a source of laughter, surprise expressions, and a lot of wrestling talk.

BLOOD & GUTS MATCH PARTICIPANTS ANNOUNCED

- The Inner Circle and The Elite will be taking on each other in AEW's first-ever Blood & Guts match on Wednesday, March 25 when Dynamite rolls into Newark, New Jersey. The Blood & Guts match is pretty much the same as WarGames, with two rings and a huge cage that covers both rings. The rules of the match will be announced this coming Wednesday night on Dynamite on TNT. AEW cannot use the WarGames name because WWE holds the rights for it and Tony Khan said during a press meeting that WarGames will not be referenced at all. Representing the Inner Circle will be Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Ortiz, and Santana while The Elite will consist of Cody, Hangman Page, Kenny Omega, and The Young Bucks.

MATT HARDY SAYS HE IS "NOT SURE" WHERE HE'S GOING NEXT

- In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Matt Hardy claimed that he has not signed a deal with All Elite Wrestling yet although he is speaking with them and is very close with The Young Bucks. “We’ve been great friends for a long time. They understand this business and know how to break the fourth wall and have fun with all of this. They really are special," Hardy said of the brothers. He also revealed that he has spoke with Impact Wrestling and the NWA and "had great conversations just this week with Triple H about NXT." Hardy was reportedly offered a spot with the NXT brand in a bid to get him to re-sign with the company. But despite the gazillion hints by AEW that he's the leader of The Dark Order, Hardy keeps saying that he's not sure where he is going to go yet. "From a character perspective, I want to go to an Arcadia. That’s where I can take the second coming of ‘Broken Matt’ and build upon it. I need a canvas where I can paint and collaborate." Matt said that he gave WWE everything he had to offer but Vince McMahon wasn't on the same page with him in terms of his Broken character. He said that coming back at WrestleMania 33 was the Hardy's redemption story and both hated the way they left the first time around. Matt added that Vince never grasped the idea of the Broken character and "don't think Vince fully comprehended" what the character entails. You can read the interesting interview at

STEINER STILL IN HOSPITAL BUT EXPECTED TO MAKE FULL RECOVERY

- Scott Steiner is expected to make a full recovery and is responding well while at a hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. The former champion collapsed backstage at Impact tapings and was rushed to the hospital after EMTs managed to get him up following a suspected heart attack. PWInsider.com reports that Steiner is lucky to have been close to paramedics when he collapsed as with any cardiac issues, quick action is paramount to survival. Steiner underwent surgery yesterday. Steiner's wife thanked Impact Wrestling for taking care of her husband, mentioning Scott D'Amore, Tommy Dreamer, Johnny Swinger, and Joey Ryan who stayed with him. She also thanked the Cobb County EMTs for keeping him alive. "We appreciate all the well wishes, thoughts & prayers. He will make a 100% recovery," she wrote.


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(C) Copyright 1996-2020 Wrestling-Online.com
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TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:[email protected]
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Elimination Chamber free on the WWE Network!
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_ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___
\ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __|
\ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ |
\_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___|
___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___
/ _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __|
| (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _|
\___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___|
_ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___
| \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \
| .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| /
|_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\


====================================================
Saturday, March 7 2020 Issue #5869
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Hola! My time in DC is drawing to an end, a few more days to go before heading home. But it will be great watching the PPV at a decent hour tomorrow and on Monday I get to watch Raw live here in the capital. Will be live tweeting during the Elimination Chamber so if you don't follow us already, add @wrestlingonline to your Twitter feed! Thanks.


========================================================


//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

AEW SPELLS OUT MATT HARDY AS DARK ORDER LEADER...LITERALLY!

- AEW pretty much confirmed Matt Hardy as the leader of The Dark Order in a clever tweet sent out early in the morning. The tweet is spread over nine lines. Line one has "Made from the void of hopelessness." Line two has "And from time spent away with the shadows," line three has "This is what it took for me to arrive," and line four has "The calling..." Then a blank space and the next line has "Hello?" with sixth saying "Are you there?" Seventh has "Ready & waiting," eighth has "Dark Order welcomes me," and ninth has "You are here." The spacing of each line allows for the first letter of each line to read...Matt Hardy.

SCOTT STEINER COLLAPSES DURING IMPACT TAPINGS, RUSHED TO HOSPITAL

- Former WCW champion Scott Steiner collapsed backstage during the latest Impact Wrestling tapings and was rushed to a hospital according to Sean Sapp of Fightful Wrestling. Steiner was doing pre-tapes backstage in Atlanta for a TNA-themed episode of Impact when the incident happened. Tommy Dreamer wrote on Twitter that he accompanied Steiner to the hospital with Scott D'Amore and Joey Ryan. "Scott Steiner is doing well. And under great care. Say a prayer for Big Poppa Pump. Holla if ya hear me," Dreamer wrote. D'Amore later took to Twitter himself to let everyone know that Steiner was doing "okay" in hospital and said his family is grateful for everyone's concern and support. Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet also added to the story that EMTs worked on Steiner on scene before he was transported to an ER, sounding like it might have been a heart attack.

SMACKDOWN RATING

- Yesterday's episode of Smackdown on FOX did a total of 2,452,000 viewers, off 2,579,000 viewers in the first hour and 2,326,000 viewers in the second hour. That was down 371,000 viewers from last week which had appearances from Goldberg and John Cena. This was the least-watched Smackdown since January 31. While usually topping demos, Smackdown actually trailed Shark Tank on ABC this time around while matching all the others. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

THE BELLA TWINS PULLED OUT OF AXXESS SIGNING

- The Bella Twins WrestleMania Axxess Premium+ autograph signing has been canceled and WWE will be announcing a replacement soon. Tickets for the autograph signing were supposed to go on sale yesterday morning but WWE announced the cancelation at 10AM in a post on social media. Nikki and Brie were set for the Saturday 1PM session before they were pulled from the show. "Sorry about this #BellaArmy we love you," Nikki wrote replying to the announcement. It's unknown why their appearance was nixed from Axxess although both being pregnant combined with the coronavirus fears, it's understandable if they were pulled because of that.

WWE CONFIRMS EDGE FOR RAW IN DC

- WWE has confirmed that WWE Hall of Famer Edge will be appearing live on Monday Night Raw from Washington, DC. This will be Edge's first appearance since the Raw after the Royal Rumble where he was viciously attacked by Randy Orton. Since then, Orton has attacked and ended Matt Hardy's WWE run and also took out Edge's wife Beth Phoenix. Phoenix was on the receiving end of an RKO during Raw earlier this week. Edge and Orton, the former tag team known as Rated RKO, will be taking on each other at WrestleMania, a match which is expected to be made official on Monday. The Capital One Arena actually spoiled Edge's appearance on the show last week when it promoted him on social media.

DK PUBLISHING ANNOUNCES NEW WWE BOOK

- DK Publishing announced the upcoming release of WWE Beyond Extreme, which features some of the most exciting, over-the-top matches and moments from WWE history. Fans can relive Big Show and Brock Lesnar’s epic battle that collapsed the ring during a SmackDown episode in 2003, WWE Hall of Famers “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Booker T’s iconic supermarket clash in an episode of Smackdown in 2001, Shane McMahon’s unforgettable leap from a 20-foot steel cage during his Hell in a Cell match against Kevin Owens in 2017 and more. The book is written by Dean Miller, the former Director of Home Entertainment and Books at WWE. He is the author of DK’s The WWE Book of Top 10s and a co-author of WWE Absolutely Everything You Need to Know and WWE RAW: The First 25 Years. WWE Beyond Extreme will be released on March 17, 2020 on paperback for a RRP of $12.99.


========================================================
ADVERTISING:
(C) Copyright 1996-2020 Wrestling-Online.com
========================================================

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TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:[email protected]
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Elimination Chamber free on the WWE Network!
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_ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___
\ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __|
\ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ |
\_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___|
___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___
/ _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __|
| (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _|
\___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___|
_ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___
| \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \
| .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| /
|_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\


====================================================
Friday, March 6 2020 Issue #5868
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Happy Friday folks!


========================================================


//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

GOLDBERG TO GUEST STAR ON NCIS: LOS ANGELES ON SUNDAY

- WWE Universal champion Goldberg will be appearing as a guest star on this Sunday's NCIS: Los Angeles, reprising his role of DOJ Agent Lance Hamilton. This will be Goldberg's fourth appearance on the popular CBS show, having previously appeared in episodes One Of Us (season 10), Searching (season 10), Decoy (season 11), and now this one titled Watch Over Me. The episode also guest stars former boxing champion Evander Holyfield as NCIS Special Agent Sutherland. Shane McMahon also appeared on the show twice, playing the role of Steve Evans in episodes titled Searching (season 10) and Answers (season 11).

2-FOR-1 SPECIAL FOR WWE SHOW AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN

- In a bid to boost attendance, Madison Square Garden is offering a two-for-one ticket offer for the WWE non-televised live event on Sunday, March 22 at 3PM. The show will be headlined by Drew McIntyre vs Randy Orton, with other matches including Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair vs Kabuki Warriors, Kevin Owens, Aleister Black, and Viking Raiders vs Seth Rollins, Murphy, and AOP, and Ricochet and The Street Profits vs The OC already announced. Madison Square Garden will also welcome back D-Generation X with Triple H, Shawn Michaels, X-Pac, and Road Dogg appearing together in The Garden for the first time in over a decade. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com with the offer ending on Sunday, March 8 at 11PM. The code WWERTW is required to activate the promo.

PAIGE UNDERGOES EMERGENCY SURGERY

- Ronnie Radke, the lead singer of the band Escape the Fate and the boyfriend of WWE Superstar Paige, posted on Twitter that the former Divas champion had to go under emergency surgery yesterday in Sacramento, California. Radke revealed that Paige went under the knife to remove an ovarian cyst and is now recovering in hospital. He canceled the concert in Sacramento after his drummer fell ill to food poisoning but then wrote that even if his drummer wasn't stick, he still would have canceled the show to be next to his girlfriend. "So if you’re mad.. don’t buy another ticket to my show again," he bluntly wrote. Paige was on WWE Backstage this past Tuesday and looked fine so something must have happened over the next two days.

PETER ROSENBERG RETURNS TO WWE

- Radio host and ESPN's Peter Rosenberg is rejoining WWE, a year and a half after he departed the company. In a press release issued today, WWE said that Rosenberg will be joining as an analyst for its monthly pay-per-view kickoff shows beginning this Sunday, March 8 at Elimination Chamber. In his new role, Rosenberg will also serve as a special correspondent for various WWE Network shows and upcoming specials. “To quote Vince McMahon at WrestleMania XII, working with WWE is the boyhood dream come true,” said Rosenberg. “I am beyond thrilled to rejoin the WWE Universe.” Rosenberg last worked for WWE in September 2018, citing personal issues for his departure. He also didn't like it when WrestleMania came to New York and they didn't invite him over, with WWE telling him they have no space. "They couldn’t even squeeze me on that Watch Along show with 80 people talking at the same time. Still didn’t have room for me there. Couldn’t put me anywhere,” Rosenberg said last year.

SMACKDOWN PREVIEW

- Smackdown rolls into Buffalo, New York tonight for the final stop before this Sunday's Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. Two matches being promoted are Lacey Evans and Naomi vs Bayley and Sasha Banks, and all six tag teams in the Elimination Chamber match going against each other with the winners earning the right to enter last in the Chamber match. Apart from those two matches, Bray Wyatt's Firefly Fun House returns tonight a week after The Fiend challenged John Cena to a match at WrestleMania and the nWo will be the guests of Alexa Bliss on her segment A Moment of Bliss.


========================================================
ADVERTISING:
(C) Copyright 1996-2020 Wrestling-Online.com
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TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:[email protected]
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Elimination Chamber free on the WWE Network!
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_ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___
\ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __|
\ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ |
\_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___|
___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___
/ _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __|
| (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _|
\___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___|
_ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___
| \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \
| .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| /
|_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\


====================================================
Thursday, March 5 2020 Issue #5867
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Nothing to say today, back tomorrow!


========================================================


//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

DYNAMITE RATING

- Coming off the Revolution pay-per-view and the rumors of Hardy appearing, Dynamite did 906,000 viewers this week, the best number since the January 15 episode. That is up 41,000 viewers from last week's show. Dynamite did a 0.35 in the 18-49 demographic, good for #5 in the top 50 cable chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

JAKE "THE SNAKE" ROBERTS DEBUTS ON DYNAMITE

- Jake "The Snake" Roberts made his first live appearance for AEW during Dynamite, interrupting a Cody Rhodes promo. Roberts, who had one side of his head shaved, said he came out because he was tired of hearing Cody cry about his loss to MJF. "The only reason I'm here is because I have a client. The dark side will be coming to AEW," Roberts said, as Cody looked confused. He told him he can bring his "one-trick pony" Arn Anderson with him too because it won't matter. "I'm not in AEW to take the whole pie. Just your share," Roberts said. Jake added that once, a wise man told him not to turn his back on someone he respects or is afraid of...and then he did exactly that to Cody, showing that he doesn't respect him nor he is afraid of him.

THE EXALTED ONE REMAINS A MYSTERY...FOR NOW

- The Dark Order's Exalted One remains a mystery, at least for now. After rampant speculations and an appearance by The Young Bucks on Matt Hardy's final episode of Free The Delete, Dynamite came and gone without any appearance from the mystery leader of The Dark Order. "Bucks of Youth, I knew you'd come," Hardy said as the brothers stepped out of their SUV as they pulled in front of the Hardy compound in Cameron, North Carolina. There have been several hints throughout Free The Delete and even on Being The Elite that Hardy and the Bucks were in communication, with the payoff being in episode 10 released yesterday at Noon. Matt is now a free agent and up until yesterday, several insiders reported that he still has not signed an AEW contract. His appearance on last night's Dynamite was wildly expected but fizzled a little bit after The Dark Order's eight-man tag team match was the second segment on the show. The Dark Order lost the match and Evil Uno then cut a promo afterward saying that The Exalted One will be furious. During Dynamite, Matt Hardy tweeted that his Free The Delete episode was currently the #2 trending video on YouTube worldwide. "The CHAOS is only beginning," Hardy wrote.

MJF FLIPPING OFF SEVEN-YEAR-OLD FAN GETS SOME MEDIA ATTENTION

- MJF flipping off a seven-year-old kid in Chicago during this past weekend made it on TMZ and is getting some media attention. MJF plays his heel part to perfection and it doesn't matter who it is as he wears his gimmick to the full especially during meet and greets. After posing for the photo with the kid and his father, MJF flipped the bird to the kid who is clearly seen taken aback a little bit. His father laughed...but then complained about it to Cody Rhodes, writing that he tried to laugh it off because he knows MJF's character but it really upset his kid and he doesn't understand since he's seven years old. Cody responded by saying they will have some free tickets next time they are in the area and he would come by and say hello during the show but noted that he as a father should have known what was coming. "Talent have freedom of expression so please don't think anybody is going to act any different than they do on TV," Cody wrote. The father wants AEW to rope in their talent for meet and greets and not act like jerks to kids, a tweet which didn't get over very well. In fact, the father has now also changed his Twitter feed to limited view due to the replies he was getting. "DISCLAIMER: If you have a meet/greet or inquire media wise for MJF, you'll get MJF," Cody added, saying that this was a paid meet and greet where the individual was specifically chosen by the paying customer.

STEVE AUSTIN RETURNING TO RAW ON MARCH 16

- The March 16 episode of Monday Night Raw will have a live special appearance from none other than Stone Cold Steve Austin. It's appropriate for Austin to show up on that particular Raw as the show carries the 3/16 date. "AUSTIN 3:16 SAYS I WILL BE LIVE ON MONDAY NIGHT RAW on 3/16!! OH HELL YEAH!!! #316DAY," Austin wrote on Twitter. The WWE Hall of Famer is back on the WWE Network with a new episode of Broken Skull Sessions as well that day with an in-depth interview with fellow Hall of Famer Bret "Hit Man" Hart. To celebrate #316Day, WWEShop.com will also release exclusive Austin 3:16 merchandise, including a special Topps Austin 3:16 digital card set, and custom content across WWE’s global and social media platforms celebrating Austin’s legendary career.

NO PLANS TO CANCEL WRESTLEMANIA

- WWE has announced that there are zero plans to cancel WrestleMania even after news came that the coronavirus has reached Tampa Bay. "The health and safety of our fans, performers and employees are our top priorities and we are monitoring the situation closely with our partners and government officials in Tampa Bay. We remain committed to hosting WrestleMania at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, April 5, and like other entertainment properties in the U.S., there are currently no plans to cancel or postpone our upcoming events," a WWE statement said. Sporting events and major conferences around the world were either canceled or postponed and when it comes to sporting events, some games were played with no fans in stadiums. The panic that has hit in other countries has not hit the United States yet and no events have been canceled Stateside. The major problem will be those fans who are from countries who are banned from entering the United States due to the virus and those fans who visited these banned countries over the past few weeks who will also not be allowed to enter.

THE nWo ON SMACKDOWN TOMORROW

- The nWo will be appearing on Smackdown tomorrow night and will be part of Alexa Bliss' Moment of Bliss segment to talk the Hall of Fame induction. Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, and Sean Waltman will be the three appearing and Hulk Hogan is not being advertised at all for tomorrow. Hogan will be joining the group for the Hall of Fame come April. This will make all four members of the group two-time Hall of Famers. The nWo, the Bella Twins, Batista, and John "Bradshaw" Layfield make up the 2020 class of the WWE Hall of Fame so far with The British Bulldog also expected to be announced over the next couple of weeks.

NXT RATING

- NXT was easily beaten this week in the ratings, getting 718,000 viewers for a show with two steel cage matches to take on the post-PPV Dynamite. That was only up 1,000 viewers from last week's show. NXT placed #20 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demo with a 0.23 rating. The difference between the two shows was of 188,000 viewers, an increase of 40,000 viewers from the prior week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)


========================================================
ADVERTISING:
(C) Copyright 1996-2020 Wrestling-Online.com
========================================================

=====================================================================
TO UNSUBSCRIBE : mailto:[email protected]
=====================================================================
Elimination Chamber free on the WWE Network!
=====================================================================

_ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___
\ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __|
\ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ |
\_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___|
___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___
/ _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __|
| (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _|
\___/|_|\_|____|___|_|\_|___|
_ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___
| \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \
| .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| /
|_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\


====================================================
Wednesday, March 4 2020 Issue #5866
====================================================
Visit our website at
====================================================


//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

It is going to be one interesting night of wrasslin on television tonight! I'll be watching!


========================================================


//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

THE YOUNG BUCKS SHOW UP IN FREE THE DELETE FINAL EPISODE

- In the last episode of Matt Hardy’s Free The Delete, The Young Bucks made an appearance towards the end of the quick, two-minute episode, showing up in an SUV at the Hardy compound. “What’s up Matt?” Matt Jackson says as he and his brother exit from both sides of the car. “Bucks of Youth, I knew you’d come,” Hardy says, as the video ends. In episode 10 of Free The Delete, Hardy is seen getting off the wheelchair, removing the neck brace following the attack by Randy Orton, and building a wooden cross. In the beginning of the video, Matt is also seen packing his bag, hanging up his phone after a phone call with “Future” and walking out of the compound with his luggage. You can see the episode at .

DYNAMITE PREVIEW

- AEW Dynamite is live from Broomfield, Colorado tonight at the 1STBANK Center for the fallout from the excellent Revolution pay-per-view. Matches announced so far include Jon Moxley and Darby Allin vs Chris Jericho and Sammy Guevara, Jake Hager vs QT Marshall, Pac vs Chuck Taylor, Big Swole vs Leva Bates, and Colt Cabana and SCU vs The Dark Order. Matt Hardy tweeted this morning that “Today is gonna be a DELIGHTFUL day” with the final episode of Free The Delete YouTube series most likely leading up to his AEW debut tonight. The 1STBANK Center is far from being sold out and this could be one of the lowest attendances ever for a Dynamite show. Plenty of tickets remain available at Ticketmaster.com.

JEFF HARDY RETURN TO RETURN TO THE RING

- Former WWE champion Jeff Hardy appeared on WWE Backstage on FS1 last night and announced that he has been cleared to compete. Hardy has not been seen on WWE television since April of last year when he and his brother Matt had to surrender the Tag Team titles due to a knee injury he suffered. Hardy said he's now just waiting for the right moment to step back in and confirmed that he will be part of the Smackdown brand moving forward. Jeff got his knee operation in May at Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center in Birmingham, Alabama and his right knee had extensive damage. He was scheduled to be out for nine months from the beginning. His recovery away from WWE also had some problems for Jeff as he was arrested twice, once in Myrtle Beach in July and once in Moore County in October. Both arrests were alcohol related.

NXT PREVIEW

- Two steel cage matches will headline NXT tonight as WWE tries to lure some viewers back although it will be a hard task to do considering Dynamite is coming off Revolution and the rumors of Matt Hardy making his debut. Velveteen Dream vs Roderick Strong and Tegan Nox vs Dakota Kai will be both steel cage matches as their intense feuds continue. The only other match announced is Danny Burch and Oney Lorcan vs Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly. The WWE.COM preview of NXT also pushes the latest in the Gargano/Ciampa story and Imperium targeting Finn Balor.

JBL JOINS THE WWE HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2020

- John Bradshaw Layfield was announced as the latest inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2020 last night on WWE Backstage on FS1. The 53-year-old Texan from Sweetwater had a long wrestling career which started in 1992 working for the Global Wrestling Federation. In 1995 he joined the WWE which is where he cemented his name into this business. JBL started with WWE as Justin "Hawk" Bradshaw but didn't have much success to begin with. In 1997, he was repackaged and aligned with Barry Windham to form The New Blackjacks, a gimmick which once again didn't last long. But in 1998 he struck gold when he teamed up with Ron Simmons to form the APA - Acolytes Protection Agency. The two joined the Corporate Ministry, winning their first WWE Tag Team titles. When the Corporate Ministry disbanded, the APA turned faces and transformed into brawlers for hire, often smoking, drinking and playing cards in backstage vignettes in an imaginary office with a framed door in front of them as they wait for clients. In 2002, the brand extension split the APA and JBL and Simmons went their separate ways. In 2004, JBL completely changed his gimmick to resemble that of JR Ewing from the TV show Dallas and started his legendary main event career. With feuds against Eddie Guerrero, John Cena, Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, The Undertaker, Booker T, and many others, JBL became one of Smackdown's leaders. He was recognized as the longest WWE champion in a decade, lasting 280 days back then, only to lose the title to John Cena at WrestleMania 21. After his wrestling career wrapped up in 2009, JBL moved to the commentary desk and provided commentary for Smackdown. He still makes sporadic appearances for WWE. JBL is also the one who came up with the Tributes to the Troops concept, an event which is still being held to this day every year in December. His WWE career led him to win the WWE, Intercontinental, United States, and European title once, the Tag Team title three times, and the Hardcore title 18 times. He is a triple crown and grand slam champion as well. Congratulations to JBL!

AXS TV TO AIR TNA SPECIAL HEADING AHEAD OF ONE NIGHT ONLY PPV

- Impact Wrestling will present an hour-long showcase reliving the glory years of TNA Wrestling with a one-night special on AXS TV premiering Tuesday, March 31 at 10PM ET immediately following Impact. Complete with classic branding from the TNA era of IMPACT Wrestling (2002-2017), the show will highlight TNA talent as they march toward the Friday, April 3 TNA: There’s No Place Like Home pay-per-view special exclusively on FITE.TV. This special marks the first time AXS TV has premiered Impact Wrestling programming during the Tuesday night 10 pm hour.


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Tuesday, March 3 2020 Issue #5865
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

I thought that was a decent episode of Raw, with a great opening angle and an even stronger main event. Lesnar put over McIntyre big time yesterday which automatically made the Scot an even bigger star.


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

NEWEST WWE HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE TO BE REVEALED TONIGHT

- The next WWE Hall of Fame inductee will be revealed tonight live on WWE Backstage on FS1 with an in-studio appearance. On Twitter, the WWEonFOX put out a tweet promoting the news and fans tried to guess who it might be. Someone wrote The British Bulldog, a tweet which had a reply of, "Not sure how we'd get him live on set." Needless to say, that tweet was swiftly deleted to avoid any problems of being insensitive. The British Bulldog is also rumored to be part of the 2020 class and is expected to be announced soon. Also joining the panel in studio tonight will be Jeff Hardy, who is close to be able to return to the ring after nearly a year out. While Jeff's contract was supposed to expire with Matt, his was extended to reflect his long time out due to injuries.

RAW RATING

- Monday Night Raw this week drew an average of 2,256,000 viewers, up just 46,000 viewers from last week's broadcast. Hour one drew 2,358,000 viewers, followed by 2,297,000 viewers in the second hour, and then 2,115,000 viewers in the third and final hour. Looks like many didn't want stick around to see what was going to happen with Phoenix and Orton which was the main event of the show. Raw was #1, #2, and #3 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic and #11 in overall viewership for the night on cable. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

CORONAVIRUS REACHES TAMPA BAY

- The coronavirus has reached Tampa Bay, Florida, the site of WrestleMania, and the news was confirmed yesterday with two Bay Area patients testing positive. Yesterday morning, the Governor held a press conference to give details on the state's preparations and how to deal with those who test positive for the COVID-19 according to FOX 13. With WrestleMania just a month away, it will be interesting to see how WWE and city officials will be tackling this ever-growing problem. Around 80,000 fans from all around the world are expected to descend upon Tampa Bay for WrestleMania week and with many conventions going on, there will be a lot of hand shakes and contact. Last week WWE said they are monitoring the situation and working with Tampa officials to see how to move forward and what implementations should be done to ensure the safety of everyone coming to the city. While many big events have been canceled by major corporations, as of today, there are no plans to cancel WrestleMania.

RANDY ORTON HITS THE RKO ON BETH PHOENIX

- Randy Orton took everyone to promo school last night on Raw, delivering on of his best promos of his career during the main event when he confronted Beth Phoenix. Phoenix was in town to give an update on the condition of her husband but she didn't get much chance to do that as Orton interrupted quickly. He told her that he owes her an explanation on why he attacked Edge the night after the Royal Rumble. Orton went over the history of the two together, explaining how he met Edge when he was 19 years old as a fan backstage, and then went on the wrestle him around the world for the Intercontinental title, and then together as Rated RKO. During his worst moments in his life, it was Edge who pulled him out of the hole he was in and learned to be a great father thanks to him. Randy continued saying that after the Rumble, he was worried that Edge would end up in a wheelchair if he continued wrestling so he had to do what he had to do so Edge at least could have a normal life with his daughters. Orton said he loved Edge, loved Beth, and loved their two daughters. He then flipped the script and blamed Beth for everything that happened, calling her an enabler. He said she should have seen it coming and should have stopped him from going beyond the Royal Rumble. Phoenix then slapped Orton and then Orton decided to call Beth a bitch, although not on the live mic. At that point, Beth kicked him but Orton responded by giving her an RKO, leaving her laying on the floor. Orton quickly exited the ring and several WWE Superstars and producers came out to help Phoenix. This was an incredible segment that will lead to Edge's return next week on Raw in Washington, DC.

BEING THE ELITE EPISODE WITH ANOTHER HARDY HINT

- In the latest episode of Being The Elite on YouTube, The Young Bucks get a phone call from a 910 area code and Matt Jackson tells the other individual on the line that they were going to the airport anyway and they would see him soon. He then tells his brother that they're not going home after all. The 910 area code in the United States is North Carolina and the Matt Hardy compound happens to be in Cameron, North Carolina. In episode nine of Free The Delete, Matt Hardy ends the video by calling someone and asks if "he" is there with him right now and the video ends. In episode four, which aired back in November, Matt gets a call and the caller ID is shown as "Future or 2 others" and he answers by saying, "Hey fellow brothers, doing some business before leaving the territory." When Hardy was attacked by Orton, Matt Jackson left a "get well" note on Hardy's Instagram and Hardy thanked him by calling him a "fellow brother" as well. The final episode of Free The Delete happens to be arriving this Wednesday, which of course is the day that Dynamite airs on TNT. It will be titled The Preparation and debuts on Matt's YouTube channel at Noon.

IMPACT ANNOUNCES NEW TV DEAL IN INDIA

- Impact Wrestling today announced a new television distribution deal with Discovery India, expanding its audience reach in this important region of the world. As part of the agreement, Discovery will broadcast 12 monthly IMPACT Plus specials on DSPORT and DSPORT HD across the Indian subcontinent. The exclusive deal will include monthly specials from the Impact Plus service, including Sacrifice from February and Lockdown in March. "IMPACT Wrestling has always maintained a strong presence in India and the Indian sub-continent where our passionate fan base continues to grow," said Ed Nordholm, Chief Corporate Officer of Anthem Sports & Entertainment and president of IMPACT Wrestling. "With our volume of events increasing over the last two years, there has been more demand for exclusive and original IMPACT Wrestling content in the market. We are excited to be partnering with Discovery India to launch our monthly IMPACT Plus specials on DSPORT and look forward to continued international growth and expansion opportunities." Vijay Rajput, Senior Vice President, Affiliate Sales and Head of Sports Business – South Asia, Discovery, added, "We are delighted to partner with Impact Wrestling in our attempt to showcase the best possible professional wrestling action for discerning fans in India. Wrestling as a sport continues to show positive uptake in the country and we are eager to grow it as a focus area in our programming mix."


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_ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___
\ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __|
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| .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| /
|_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\


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Monday, March 2 2020 Issue #5864
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Being on this side of the world allows me to watch wrestling shows live for a change. The only bad thing about that is the fast forward button doesn't work! Will be giving my useless thoughts on Twitter during Raw tonight. Follow me @wrestlingonline.


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
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MATT HARDY OFFICIALLY A FREE AGENT

- Just after Midnight, Matt Hardy uploaded a video on YouTube where he announced that he is now a free agent and no longer under a WWE contract. Hardy thanked WWE for the way they treated him and his family and said that he would be back some day. "I love WWE. WWE is my home," he said, adding that he has nothing but good things to say about the company. He said that if it wasn't for Vince McMahon, he would not be able to obtain the quality of life he has now so he will always be grateful for that. Matt said it's just time for him to take a break and the reason he needed to leave WWE is because when it comes to creative stands and his creative outlook on himself, him and WWE are on different pages. He said that in the last three or four years of his in-ring career, he needs to cement his legacy and while he's 45 years old, he needs to be utilized in a certain way but he has a lot to offer still. He requires to have a creative input in his career but WWE was not allowing him to do that. You can see the full eight-minute video at .

AEW DROPS ANOTHER MATT HARDY HINT

- All Elite Wrestling has made another subtle hint at Matt Hardy joining the promotion by posting an image simply saying “The Exalted One is Near” on Twitter just after Midnight. However, upon zooming in on the photo, on the words E of Exalted and I of Is, there’s the words “Sitting in a dead tree” in very faint grey on the white text. In the video that Matt released also just after Midnight, he is seen sitting on a throne…made of wood. There have been several hints over the past few weeks of Matt Hardy joining AEW to be the leader of The Dark Order. Last week, Hardy addressed Orton in a video titled “Dear Dr RKO” which when you scramble the words they come out to Dark Order. Hardy announced that he is now a free agent after his deal expired on March 1 at Midnight.

WWE THANKS MATT HARDY FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS AND WISHES HIM THE BEST

- In what is certainly a sign of ending on a good note and not burning any bridges, WWE.COM today uploaded a story on Matt Hardy leaving the company, calling him a trailblazer. The short story lists his championship achievements and notes how he stole the show at WrestleMania on several occasions with his brother in TLC matches. It also puts over Hardy for the "uncanny connection" he has built with WWE fans through his several character changes. The statement, titled Matt Hardy's contract expires, ends with, "WWE thanks Matt Hardy for his contributions to sports-entertainment and the WWE Universe and wishes him the best in his future endeavors."

FIVE MATCHES ANNOUNCED FOR RAW

- Five matches have been announced so far for tonight's Monday Night Raw, the go-home episode for this Sunday's Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. Set for tonight are Kairi Sane vs Shayna Baszler, The Street Profits vs Seth Rollins and Murphy for the Raw Tag Team titles, AJ Styles vs Aleister Black, Rey Mysterio and Humberto Carrillo vs Andrade and Angel Garza, and a 24/7 title defense by Riddick Moss. Baszler was supposed to face Asuka but the former Smackdown Women's champion was replaced due to a sprained wrist. Apart from these matches, WWE Hall of Famer Beth Phoenix will appear live to address Edge's injury. Is an RKO by Orton on Phoenix on the horizon leading up to Edge's return next week?

MONEY IN THE BANK PPV TO TAKE PLACE FROM BALTIMORE

- Ticketmaster.com has an entry for the Money In The Bank pay-per-view listed as taking place from the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland on Sunday, May 10. Tickets go on sale to the general public on Friday, March 13 at 10AM ET while the pre-sale kicks off on Wednesday, March 11 at 10AM ET and ends the next day. Citi Cardmember pre-sale starts a day earlier on Tuesday, March 10 at 10AM ET. The official website of the Royal Farms Arena still has no entry for the pay-per-view on their calendar.

FORMER AJPW PRESIDENT JUN AKIYAMA TO GUEST COACH AT WWE PC

- Former All Japan Pro Wrestling President Jun Akiyama will be serving as a guest coach at the WWE Performance Center between May 12 and May 22. The announcement was made on the AJPW's official Twitter account. The 50-year-old from Osaka has spent all of his career wrestling with All Japan and Pro Wrestling Noah and was never part of a major promotion outside Japan. There are big rumors that NXT will open its Japan branch this year so his arrival at the Performance Center is certainly adding more fuel to that fire. Akiyama will also be meeting Triple H, with the two having met a couple of times last year as well when WWE toured Japan.

JAPANESE MEDIA PICKS UP RUMOR OF AJPW MERGING WITH WWE

- Tokyo Sports is covering the rumor of a possible merger between WWE and All Japan Pro Wrestling which would see AJPW being absorbed by WWE and possibly renamed to NXT Japan. WWE has been looking at the possibility of expanding the NXT brand to Japan after the successful launch of NXT UK and opening the third WWE Performance Center in the country. In comments to Yahoo! Japan, AJPW President Takeshi Fukada said that he’s glad to see that the company has a worldwide value but there’s no final decision yet on what will happen about a possible merger with WWE. He said that he hopes that the visit of Jun Akiyama to the WWE Performance Center in May will shed more light on the situation as Akiyama meets Triple H and other WWE officials. If WWE ends up absorbing All Japan Pro Wrestling it would mean that another major player has taken control of another wrestling promotion in Japan. Bushiroad owns New Japan Pro Wrestling and Stardom while Cyber Agent owns Pro Wrestling NOAH and DDT.

FORMER WWE AND IMPACT STARS LAUNCH AMBITIOUS KAYFABE TV SERIES

- Gail Kim, Christy Hemme, and Amy "Lita" Dumas are teaming up to create a new television show titled KAYfABE, a one hour show which is described as "50 percent story and 50 percent in ring action." The project was launched today on Kickstarter with a goal of $400,000 to be raised. "It is an edgy, racy, cinematic television series about a female led professional wrestling start up. This show is a dramatization and collection of female stories inspired by real life events," the description of the show reads. The show promises to take viewers behind the curtain, into the locker room and outside of the arena with drama, passion, humor, love, anger, frustration and real life challenges with real storylines of abuse of power, manipulation, injury, addiction, and inequality. The $400,000 budget is to get the pilot production, campaign rewards, platform fees and credit card processing, and operational costs. The trio hope to reach $4.8 million in funds to have an eight-episode season. Several rewards are being offered to those who contribute starting with $5. There are a few wrestling personalities attached to the show already including Tom Casiello, Jimmy Jacobs, Chavo Guerrero, and David Sahadi. Other names who will be part of the production team are Geordy Sincavage, Doug Lebow, Alisha Edwards, Curtis Blank, Bryan Edwards, Sebastian Sokolowski, Kevin Hooper, DS Shin, Shawn Zuzek, Javier Lovato, and Jeffrey Lamont Brown. A preview of the show and the Kickstarter page can be found at .


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_ _____ ___ ___ _____ _ ___ _ _ ___
\ \ / / _ \ __/ __|_ _| | |_ _| \| |/ __|
\ \/\/ /| / _|\__ \ | | | |__ | || .` | (_ |
\_/\_/ |_|_\___|___/ |_| |____|___|_|\_|\___|
___ _ _ _ ___ _ _ ___
/ _ \| \| | | |_ _| \| | __|
| (_) | .` | |__ | || .` | _|
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_ _ _____ _____ _ ___ _____ _____ ___ ___
| \| | __\ \ / / __| | | __|_ _|_ _| __| _ \
| .` | _| \ \/\/ /\__ \ |__| _| | | | | | _|| /
|_|\_|___| \_/\_/ |___/____|___| |_| |_| |___|_|_\


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Sunday, March 1 2020 Issue #5863
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Visit our website at
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Very sold AEW pay-per-view yesterday. I caught half of it live but then my body tapped out after 24 hours awake. Saw the rest this morning and I enjoyed it.

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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
Web version at

REVOLUTION 2020 PAY-PER-VIEW RESULTS

- Here are the results from last night's AEW Revolution pay-per-view which took place from the Wintrust Arena in Chicago, Illinois. The Dark Order defeated SCU during the Buy-In show; Jake Hager defeated Dustin Rhodes; Darby Allin defeated Sammy Guevara; Kenny Omega and Hangman Page defeated The Young Bucks to retain the AEW Tag Team titles; Nyla Rose defeated Kris Statlander to retain the AEW Women's title; MJF defeated Cody; Pac defeated Orange Cassidy; Jon Moxley defeated Chris Jericho to become the new AEW World champion.

JON MOXLEY WINS THE AEW WORLD TITLE

- The Moxley Era has arrived! Le Champion has lost his AEW World title after 182 days as Jon Moxley defeated Chris Jericho during Revolution to win his first title with the promotion. Before the match ended, Mox took off his eye patch to reveal that he could see and then hit the Paradigm Shift for the clean pin as the Chicago crowd came unglued to congratulate the new champ. Following the match and celebrations, Mox cut a promo in the middle of the ring as fans chanted for him. "I love this shit!" Mox said. "It has been one hell of a year for yours truly. One hell of a long road." He then put over the fans for sticking with him through thick and thin. "You are the energy that fuels AEW. A year ago we had this conversation saying we're bringing pro wrestling back to the people. And that's what we've done. This doesn't belong to me. It belongs to all the AEW fans," he continued. His wife, Renee Young who was present at the show, tweeted "GOOSEBUMPS!" following the win.

COLT CABANA SIGNS WITH AEW

- Chicago's own Colt Cabana made a surprise appearance at AEW Revolution yesterday, coming to the aid of SCU during the Buy-In show. In the post-show media scrum with reporters, AEW President Tony Khan said that Cabana has signed with the promotion and will be serving three roles - announcer, wrestler, and a coach. Khan also confirmed that Cabana will be allowed to work for other independent promotions while still signed to AEW. Cabana, 39, is a favorite on the indies, having spent most of his wrestling career there apart from a short stint with WWE in 2007. He is best known for his work with Ring of Honor. The former NWA champion was famously sued along with CM Punk by WWE doctor Christopher Amann for comments made during the November 2014 episode of his podcast The Art of Wrestling. Punk and Cabana teamed up to take on the WWE doc and won but the two fell apart with both of them suing each other alleging breach of contract and fraud.

AEW BRINGING THEIR OWN VERSION OF WARGAMES TO DYNAMITE

- It was announced during the Revolution pay-per-view that the March 25 episode of Dynamite on TNT will feature AEW's version of WarGames titled Blood and Guts. The match looks like it will be identical to the WarGames concept with two rings and one massive cage that covers both rings. WWE has the trademark for the WarGames name which is why AEW can't use it but in WWE's version - which NXT uses - the cage doesn't have a ceiling. The Blood and Guts quote was actually uttered by Vince McMahon during a conference call with reporters when he said that unlike the newcomers, they don't need to do a lot of blood and guts on television to gather attention. The March 25 episode will take place from the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. Tickets are available now.

MATT HARDY'S WWE CONTRACT EXPIRES TONIGHT

- Matt Hardy's WWE contract officially expires at Midnight tonight and on Twitter, Hardy mentioned "3220" which decoded would be March 2, 2020. "With 3220 rapidly approaching, I highly recommend watching & analyzing these videos... POSTHASTE," Hardy wrote, giving links to the Free The Delete series on his YouTube channel. Matt is wildly believed to be heading to All Elite Wrestling and be the leader of The Dark Order. Unless WWE made a mega offer and something to keep Matt creatively happy, the chances of him going to AEW are...wonderful! There were talks that Hardy was offered a spot also on the NXT brand. One thing's for sure, the anticipation of where Matt Hardy will go will be over soon.

TICKETS FOR NXT UK TAKEOVER: DUBLIN

- Tickets for the NXT UK Takeover: Dublin WWE Network event will go on sale tomorrow, Monday, March 2 at 9AM local time at Ticketmaster.ie. The show will be taking place from the 3Arena on Sunday, April 26 in a country that is actually not in the United Kingdom, but a country that has its fair share of WWE and NXT Superstars. Finn Balor, who is Irish, is scheduled to take part in the next set of NXT UK television tapings and will probably feature in the event as well.


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