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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5902

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Sunday, April 12 2020			Issue #5902
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Happy Easter to all those who celebrate it! 


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


ON-SCREEN TALENT IS FIRST WWE EMPLOYEE POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS- Ryan Satin of ProWrestlingSheet.com revealed that WWE reported its first case of coronavirus among its talent. The person infected is not a member of the roster but an on-screen talent according to Satin. The name of the person was not revealed. WWE confirmed the news and issued a statement saying, “A WWE employee has tested positive for COVID-19. We believe this matter is low risk to WWE talent and staff, as the individual and a roommate became symptomatic in the days following exposure to two people working in acute health care on the evening of March 26, after WWE’s TV production on a closed set was already complete,” the statement said. “The employee had no contact with anyone from WWE since being exposed to those two individuals, is doing well, and made a complete recovery.” All talent went home for 14 days following the conclusion of the WrestleMania tapings. The company taped Smackdown on Friday, the first tapings since WrestleMania 36 was recorded over two weeks ago. WWE resumes live broadcasts from tomorrow.


WWE DEFENDS DECISION TO RESUME LIVE BROADCASTS- Following the first COVID-19 positive case within WWE, the company issued a statement to ESPN defending their decision to resume live television broadcasts from tomorrow night at the WWE Performance Center. "We believe it is now more important than ever to provide people with a diversion from these hard times. We are producing content on a closed set with only essential personnel in attendance following appropriate guidelines while taking additional precautions to ensure the health and wellness of our performers and staff," the statement said. "As a brand that has been woven into the fabric of society, WWE and its Superstars bring families together and deliver a sense of hope, determination and perseverance." The individual who tested positive for the coronavirus is an on-screen talent but the company did not specify who it was. The person got infected after he hung out with two other people who work in the health sector after WrestleMania tapings. WWE did not hold any tapings for two weeks after WrestleMania so the individual was not in contact with anyone in the promotion. WWE has said that the person has fully recovered. How WWE is being allowed to continue to operate in Florida when the state remains under lockdown remains a mystery as well. ESPN reached out to the office of Governor DeSantis but a request for comment was not immediately returned.


GOLDBERG PUTS OVER ROMAN REIGNS AND DISCUSSES WRESTLEMANIA CHANGE- In the latest episode of the CarCast podcast with Adam Carolla, Matt D'Andria, and Goldberg, the former Universal champion wondered why WWE even considered Reigns as his opponent fully knowing the situation with him and the risk it carried due to the coronavirus outbreak. Goldberg put over Reigns for willing to go ahead with the plan despite the risks but that went all down the drain when someone showed up at the Performance Center sick. That someone was eventually outed to be The Miz. “I think what happened was somebody was sick and Roman heard about it. They didn’t have the virus, they just had the flu. But just the fact that someone was sick in those circumstances...at the end of the day he just couldn’t do it," Goldberg said, giving him props for still wanting to get it done until this incident happened. "But you’ve got to love the guy because up to the 11th hour, he was still willing to do it.” The former champ said that "literally until the 23rd hour," it was still a possibility that they were going to wrestle but as it often happens in the wrestling business, plans change in the last minute. Goldberg also said that after he and Strowman filmed the match there was still a possibility for him to do the match with Reigns before WrestleMania aired but plans for that fell through. Goldberg revealed that he had a two-match contract with WWE, one against Wyatt and one against Reigns, which turned out to be against Strowman, so he's done with WWE for the time being until they request him back.


ROUSEY CONTINUES TAUNTING AS JAX VOWS TO "KNOCK HER THE F*CK OUT"- Ronda Rousey has doubled down on her comments that sparked outrage among wrestling fans and women in the business and said that anyone who is mad that she called pro wrestling "fake fights for fun" has never been in a real fight. "While you all are tip toeing around bruising some pro wrestlers' huge soft egos -- no one is thinking about all the REAL fighters you're insulting when pretending pro wrestling is somehow on the same level of realism," Rousey said. The former UFC and Raw Women's champion admitted that wrestling 300 days for years on end is incredibly tough on the body and a difficult profession but asked what would happen if you got in 300 real fights a year. "You would be dead," Rousey concluded while also using the hashtag #kayfabekiller. She then uploaded another tweet with a video saying goodnight to "jabronie marks without a life that don't know it a work when you work a work and work yourself into a shoot, marks!" Meanwhile, Nia Jax also responded to Rousey's comments and said she cannot wait for Ronda to return to WWE. "Even if WWE orders me to make Ronda look good in the ring, which is the ONLY way for Ronda 2 look good in the ring w/me. I’ll risk my job 2 go down in history as the one from this biz that knocked her the F**K out," Jax said, adding her own hashtag #TestMeBitch. Jax is not one of Ronda's fans and she reported her to management when Bliss was getting injured everyday when wrestling Ronda during the Summer of 2018. So far, only one person has jumped to Ronda's defense, and that's fellow Four Horsewomen member Shayna Baszler. "How dare Ronda care more about her family than pleasing fans that are never happy?" the former NXT Women's champ tweeted.


TOTAL BELLAS RATING- Episode two of season five of Total Bellas, titled The Book of Bella, did a total of 454,000 viewers, down 109,000 viewers from last week's episode. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)


NXT CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE TOURNAMENT RULES AND PARTICIPANTS ANNOUNCED- WWE has revealed the format and participants of the upcoming tournament that will crown an interim NXT Cruiserweight champion. The news was announced last week by William Regal due to the current champion, Jordan Devlin, being stuck in Ireland and unable to defend the title. The eight-man tournament will be split in two groups of four with Superstars competing against each of the three other members of their group. The one with the best record in each group will advance to the championship match and any ties will be broken by head-to-head record. The winner of group A will then face the winner of group B to determine the new interim NXT Cruiserweight champion. Those in group A include Kushida, Drake Maverick, Tony Nese, and Jake Atlas while those in group B are Isaiah "Swerve" Scott, El Hijo del Fantasma, Akira Tozawa, and Gentleman Jack Gallagher. The tournament begins this Wednesday live on NXT on USA Network.


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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5901

#91

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Saturday, April 11 2020			Issue #5901
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Have a great weekend folks, stay safe.


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


SMACKDOWN RATING- Friday Night Smackdown on FOX this week drew 2,348,000 viewers, down 24,000 viewers from last week and the lowest number of 2020 so far. That is off 2,372,000 viewers in the first hour and 2,325,000 in the second hour. The show did 0.6 in the 18-49 demographic and trailed a bunch of shows. Smackdown usually tops that rating on Friday nights. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)


NXT EPISODES ON WWE NETWORK TO HAVE A WEEK DELAY FOR THOSE IN THE UK- All NXT on USA Network episodes will now be uploaded on the WWE Network seven days after their original air date in the UK. Up until last week, the shows were being uploaded the next day, making it easier to skip the live broadcast and catch it on-demand the next day. But the show is now on a week delay on the Network, most likely due to TV rights issues with BT Sport. The latest NXT shows up for non-UK subscribers, meaning that WWE is using geo-targeting to limit what shows go up depending which country you are in. The week-long delay before being available on the WWE Network was confirmed by the company's support team on Twitter. "Please be advised that NXT will be available on WWE Network on demand 7 days after it’s original airing date," said a tweet to a user who questioned why this week's episode was not online yet.


WWE TO RESUME LIVE TV BROADCASTS NEXT WEEK- Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that WWE will be resuming live broadcasts of their weekly television shows Raw, NXT, and Smackdown starting from next week. Last night's Smackdown was taped but was a regular episode with minimum replays of old footage and followed the usual format, with Michael Cole also regaining his broadcast partner Corey Graves. Meltzer says that WWE's television deal with NBCUniversal and FOX only allows them to do a certain number of taped shows, with the rest contracted to be live. The report says that there were fears that if WWE continues to tape shows during this pandemic rather than be live, the television networks would be in a position to withhold money or pay less money due to a violation of contract. WWE television ratings, while they were in decline before, has suffered greatly since going taped and in front of an empty arena. The constant replaying of old footage, such as long WrestleMania matches, was also a turn off for many fans as they occupied a huge chunk of the broadcast when factoring in commercials. The decision to go live was taken yesterday afternoon according to Meltzer and this will require all WWE Superstars to fly in to Orlando every single week unless they find temporary housing in the area. Florida remains under lockdown but WWE has been allowed to operate within the closed set for the time being.


MITB QUALIFYING MATCHES TO KICK OFF NEXT WEEK- While the Money In The Bank pay-per-view will not take place from Baltimore's Royal Farms Arena, the show will go on as scheduled on May 10 and qualifying matches from Smackdown's side will start from next week's show. Two qualifying matches were announced last night with Daniel Bryan vs Cesaro and Naomi vs Dana Brooke. The winners of these matches will advance to their respective MITB ladder match which usually features eight WWE Superstars - four from Raw and four from Smackdown. Last year, Bayley and Brock Lesnar won the MITB ladder matches, with Bayley successfully cashing in her briefcase just an hour later against Charlotte Flair.


SMACKDOWN TO CELEBRATE 25 YEARS OF TRIPLE H- In two weeks, Smackdown will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Triple H in the WWE with a special broadcast. A teaser ran yesterday during Smackdown on FOX announcing the broadcast. Triple H, as the Connecticut Blueblood Hunter Hearst Helmsley, made his WWE debut on April 30, 1995 during an episode of Wrestling Challenge, defeating Buck Zumhofe. It wasn't until 1997 that his career took off in WWE when he joined D-Generation X and as they say, the rest is history. The Game had a total of 24 title reigns in 25 years, including nine times as WWE champion and five times as World Heavyweight champion. It will be interesting to see how WWE tackles this special tribute episode...hopefully with not a lot of old replays! You can see the teaser at 


ROUSEY BLASTS "UNGRATEFUL" FANS DURING HER WWE RUN- Former Raw Women's champion Ronda Rousey has said that if she returns to WWE, it will not be a full-time affair and blamed the "ungrateful" wrestling fans for that. Appearing on the Steve-O podcast Wild Ride, Rousey admitted that she loved WWE and all the women in the locker room and she had a great time in the year that she was there leading up to WrestleMania 35. “Running out there and having fake fights for fun is just the best thing! I love choreography...love acting. I love theater...live theater and some of the last forms of live theater," Rousey explained. But while she enjoyed all of that, she didn't enjoy the time away from her family and claimed she was only home a day and a half every week when she was working. "It was just not worth it for my family because we were eliminating all of our expenses and living this lifestyle...we didn’t need it...we didn’t need the money,” Ronda said. And then came the dig to the fans. WWE fans, while most accepted Ronda, there were still many who did not appreciate her crossover from MMA and those fans were very, very vocal about it. Ronda questioned why was she doing wrestling and not being able to spend time with her family when in return she's entertaining those fans. "What am I doing it for if I’m not being able to spend my time and energy on my family, but instead spending my time and my energy on a bunch of f*cking ungrateful fans that don’t even appreciate me?" Ronda added. "I love performing. I love the girls. I love being out there...but, at the end of the day, I was just like, ‘F*ck these fans, dude.’ My family loves me and they appreciate me and I want all my energy to go into them. So that was my decision at the end of the day," the former champ concluded. Ronda has not been seen on WWE television ever since main eventing WrestleMania 35 with Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. She was recently pictured at the WWE Headquarters with Cain Velasquez. Ronda took time away from her WWE deal to concentrate on starting a family. (Credit to ProWrestlingSheet.com for quote transcripts."


TWO FEMALE SUPERSTARS RESPOND TO ROUSEY'S "FAKE FIGHT" COMMENT- Two WWE female Superstars didn't react nicely to Ronda Rousey's latest interview where she said she loves fake fighting and the theatrics that come with professional wrestling. Lana said she has "no words" for Rousey's audacity to say WWE is fake fighting and questioned why Paige and Tyson Kidd couldn't wrestle anymore if it's fake. She also questioned why Edge couldn't wrestle for nine years if this was fake. "This is a contact sport where REAL things happen," Lana said. WWE Women's Tag Team title holder Alexa Bliss also took issue with the comment, saying, "Hm. Was out for almost a year. Must have been 'fake.'" It is safe to say that Rousey wasn't the most popular woman backstage when she was around and got along mostly with Natalya and The Riott Squad. In a recent chat, Nia Jax also said she went to complain to management when Bliss was getting thrown around like a rag doll and getting injured every day by a particular person and requested that she take her place and see what happens instead. Jax was referring to Rousey, who had a string of matches with Alexa Bliss in the Summer of 2018.


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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5900

#90

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Friday, April 10 2020			Issue #5900
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

A little bit earlier than usual today. We're 100 issues away from hitting the big 6,000!

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


XFL SUSPENDS ALL OPERATIONS AND TERMINATES EMPLOYEES- ESPN's Field Yates reported today that during a conference call with XFL employees, the league's COO Jeffery Pollock notified them that they are suspending operations and all employees are being terminated. Vince McMahon announced the return of the XFL two years ago and the league started in February after McMahon pumped over $100 million of his own money into it. Just like all other sports, the XFL had to stop mid-season due to the coronavirus pandemic and it looks like it will not be revived for a second season, with the new XFL suffering the same fate of the first one. XFL promised to be back for a second season when the league stopped but that is now completely out of the window and there are no plans for a restart. The league has also opted to pay all its employees and players the money they're owed for what was remaining for the 2020 season. While they were airing on FOX, FS1, FS2, ABC, ESPN, and ESPN 2, the league did not get any money from television rights. Viewership for the first week averaged 3.1 million, but by the fourth week the average dropped to 1.4 million.


THE REVIVAL RELEASED FROM WWE- Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder of The Revival have been released from their WWE contracts effective today, Friday, April 10. A short statement on WWE.COM said, "Effective today, Friday April 10, 2020, WWE and The Revival have agreed on their immediate release from WWE. We wish them all the best in their future endeavors." The two have asked for their release a couple of times in the past but were always denied. Their last known request was in February of this year. Addressing the reaction from the fans when news broke that they have once again requested to be let go, Dawson wrote, “If we settle, you guys say we’re lazy & complacent. If we try to be better, you guys say we’re whining & complaining. Make up your mind.” In January, Dawson and Wilder applied for a trademark for the name Shatter Machine, presumably the name of their tag team in their post-WWE life. Their deal was going to run out later this year and there were no intentions for the two to renew. The two have been tag teaming in WWE since 2014, first under the name The Mechanics and then The Revival. They won the NXT Tag Team titles twice, the Raw Tag Team titles twice, and the Smackdown Tag Team titles once. At the 2016 NXT Year-End Awards, they were voted the Tag Team of the Year and also won the Match of the Year against DIY in a two-out-of-three falls match at Takeover: Toronto.


THE MAIN EVENT OUT ON NETFLIX- Netflix today released The Main Event, a movie produced with WWE Studios about an 11-year-old who discovers a magical wrestling mask that grants him super strength and uses that to enter a WWE competition to achieve his dream of becoming a WWE Superstar. Running for 1 hour and 43 minutes, The Main Event is available in all Netflix regions worldwide. Seth Carr, Tichina Arnold, Adam Pally, and Ken Marino are the leading stars in the movie. Several WWE Superstars are in the movie including Keith Lee, Otis, The Miz, Sheamus, Babatunde, Kofi Kingston, Mia Yim, Corey Graves, and Renee Young. Reviews so far has been positive for this family movie. This is the first movie collaboration between WWE Studios and Netflix. The two companies also produced The Big Show Show which is currently also available on the streaming service.


NXT RATING- NXT delivered 693,000 viewers this week on USA Network, up 103,000 viewers from last week’s show. The show did 0.19 in the 18-49 demo and finished #51 in the top cable chart. NXT beat AEW in total viewership this week, the first time this has happened since the December 18, 2019 episode and only the second time that NXT got more viewers than Dynamite. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)


MONEY IN THE BANK NOT TAKING PLACE IN BALTIMORE ANYMORE- The Royal Farms Arena, the planned host of this year's Money In The Bank pay-per-view, announced that the show will not be happening at their arena due to the coronavirus pandemic. "The WWE Money in the Bank event originally scheduled for Sunday, May 10 in Baltimore has been cancelled. Refunds are available at all points of purchase," a statement from the arena said. Tickets purchased through Ticketmaster will be automatically refunded. If WWE intends to still go ahead with the pay-per-view, the WWE Performance Center will be the one hosting the show as surely venues will not open to host fans over the next month or so.


WWE RESCHEDULES MAY TOUR, CANCELS NXT UK TV TAPINGS- WWE has pushed back its UK tour from May to October of this year with other dates in other European countries set to be announced shortly. The company embarks on a two-week hectic European tour every May and usually they visit the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, etc but obviously due to the pandemic, none of that will be happening especially since Europe is also a hotspot for the virus right now. WWE has rescheduled the shows from Glasgow, Birmingham, Cardiff, Sheffield, and London to early October with Newcastle getting their turn in April 2021. The UK tour wasn't the only one canned as the company also officially cancelled the NXT UK television tapings they had set for May 1 and 2 in Bournemouth. NXT's participation in the Download Festival where they were set to do additional tapings was also dropped. Unlike other WWE shows, WWE has not taped any additional NXT UK television shows since most of the major players behind the scenes are in the U.S. and cannot travel.


DYNAMITE RATING- Dynamite did 682,000 viewers on TNT yesterday, down 3,000 viewers from last week’s episode. With a 0.26 in the 18-49 demo, Dynamite placed #31 in the top 50 cable chart. While they placed higher than NXT in the chart, AEW lost by 1,000 viewers this week against NXT. The difference in viewers last week was of 95,000 viewers in favor of AEW. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)


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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5899

#89

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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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Thursday, April 9 2020			Issue #5899
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Two solid matches on NXT yesterday. Enjoyed the Ciampa/Gargano fight more than the Edge/Orton one at WrestleMania. Both similar in a way, but so much different.

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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
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MALE WWE SUPERSTARS DO THEIR OWN #DONTRUSHCHALLENGE VIDEO- Not to be outdone by their female counterparts, the male WWE Superstars did their own #dontrushchallenge, the latest trend that has taken TikTok by storm. Participating in this video are R-Truth, Titus O'Neil, Otis, Matt Riddle, No Way Jose, Adam Cole, Aiden English, Shinsuke Nakamura, Mojo Rawley, Kalisto, Lince Dorado, and the new Universal champion Braun Strowman. It's not as good as the women's version of the challenge but it's still a great effort from the men. You can see it at .

UFC PRESIDENT DANA WHITE PRAISES VINCE MCMAHON- UFC President Dana White praised WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon for not being afraid of this pandemic and marching on with his business despite everyone else closing down. White, who is securing a private island to host UFC shows for international fighters and a hotel on tribal land somewhere on the West Coast to do shows for the next two months, said that he's ready to get back to work. "I think a lot of other people are ready to get back. First of all, everybody’s afraid to be first. Realistically the only guy right now who isn’t afraid is me and Vince McMahon," White told ESPN. "Vince McMahon hasn’t skipped a beat. What he did was he found solutions. He found ways, get rid of the crowd, and I’m sure he’s doing everything in his power, too, to make sure his guys are safe. Everybody else is afraid to be first.” Both White and McMahon were on a call with President Donald Trump last Saturday along with other leaders of sports leagues to see what the plan is to reopen sports for fans.

WWE BACKSTAGE RATING- WWE Backstage this week did 140,000 viewers, up 6,000 viewers from last week's broadcast. The show has certainly benefited from the WWE programming on FOX Sports 1 that is serving as a lead-in on Tuesdays. CM Punk will be returning to the show next week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

WWE STEPPING UP EFFORTS TO KEEP EVERYONE SAFE DURING TV TAPINGS- In an e-mail WWE sent to its performers and seen by TMZ, the company is now advising everyone who will be participating in the upcoming television tapings to wear a mask when they're in the WWE Performance Center until it's time to get in front of the camera. WWE will use the same techniques they implemented for WrestleMania tapings with a medical team screening everyone before making their way inside what it turned out to be one of WWE's biggest investment - the Performance Center. WWE encouraged everyone to arrive earlier than usual due to the added medical screenings they will be doing. The company also sent in tips how to create a face mask by sewing fabric, wearing a bandanna or ripping off an old t-shirt sleeve and it looks like they will not be providing their own masks to the performers. The CDC is now encouraging everyone to wear a face cloth mask to help slow the spread of COVID-19. WWE will be resuming television tapings tomorrow, starting with Friday Night Smackdown which will air later in the day on FOX. 

CIAMPA AND GARGANO END THEIR NXT FEUD- In a segment that took the whole second hour of NXT on USA Network, Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano ended their rivalry in a stripped-down building. Triple H, waiting for the two in a ring, greeted them as they entered the building. "This is where it ends right? Right here. It starts in this ring, it ends in this ring," Triple H told them. "I don't care what you guys do to each other, but when it's done here, it's done." He then introduced NXT referee Drake Wuertz. "What he says goes...he's just here to decide the winner, nothing more. So you guys have at it. When I walk through that door, it's on." As soon as Triple H exited the warehouse, Ciampa and Gargano beat the hell out of each other for the following 40 minutes or so. The filming of the match was different than what you usually see on NXT and it was shot more like a fight scene in a movie, although not at the extent of the boneyard match. The surprise ending came when Candice LaRae came to the ring to plead with both men to stop. Ciampa refused to finish Gargano so LaRae decided to finish Gargano herself with a low blow. Ciampa, surprised, had a soft moment and said sorry to his former partner and did not pin him. As he stood up, LaRae returned to the ring and kicked Ciampa in the nuts. Gargano, smiling, revealed he had a cup so this was all a show to trick Ciampa. Gargano then hit the Jay Driller on Ciampa on the exposed ring and covered him to end the feud once and for all.

IO SHIRAI SETS UP MATCH AGAINST CHARLOTTE FLAIR- Io Shirai will challenge Charlotte Flair for the NXT Women's title after she won a six-way ladder match on last night's NXT which was taped from Full Sail University. Candice LaRae, Tegan Nox, Chelsea Green, Dakota Kai, and Mia Yim were the other five competitors who took part in this ladder match. Raquel Gonzales and Robert Stone also made their presence felt on their clients' behalf but were wiped out by their challengers. Shirai had a few opportunities to get the NXT Women's title last year but always came up short against Shayna Baszler, eventually turning heel in the process as well after she turned on Candice LaRae. WWE did not specify when Flair vs Shirai will go down.

THE ELITE DELETION COMING TO THE HARDY COMPOUND- It looks like Matt Hardy will be resurrecting the Hardy compound for another one of his classic matches as the former WWE Tag Team title holder challenged Chris Jericho to The Elite Deletion. Hardy had some words to say to The Inner Circle before challenging the former AEW champion to come to his property for The Elite Deletion. The two have been feuding ever since Matt arrived in AEW a few weeks ago and took The Elite's side in their war against The Inner Circle. Back when he was employed by Impact Wrestling, Matt used his compound for three matches: The Final Deletion, Delete or Decay, and Total Nonstop Deletion. WWE also used the compound once for The Ultimate Deletion match against Bray Wyatt. AEW did not announce when this match will happen.

JAKE ROBERTS IN QUARANTINE IN A HOTEL FOLLOWING AEW TAPINGS- Speaking to WrestlingInc.com in an interview, AEW's Jake "The Snake" Roberts said that he's currently in quarantine in an Atlanta area hotel for next several weeks after finishing AEW tapings. Roberts said that he was living with Diamond Dallas Page when AEW called and told him to come for tapings. Page, who locked up his house due to the coronavirus, advised Roberts that if he leaves he's not coming back due to the pandemic. "He had a baby in the house and nobody needs to be sick around a baby. He took the hard line and said, 'Dude, if you leave, you can't come back.' I had to do it for AEW as I wanna help these guys. Now I'm paying for it brother," Roberts said in the interview. The WWE Hall of Famer also believes that wrestling should take a break during these times and everyone should pull it together to help eliminate this virus as quickly as possible. "It really chaps my ass to see people not paying attention to what they're asking us to do and they're doing the same old thing they always do. It shows you how selfish some people can be," he said. "They're gonna cause this thing to last longer than it should if we just do the right thing now. People like that should be arrested and put in jail." Jake's full interview on The Wrestling Inc. Daily can be heard at .

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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5898

#88

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Wednesday, April 8 2020			Issue #5898
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Hope all of you are staying safe at home. Man, I'm telling you, the first wrestling show to have fans should be a massive party. Never underestimating a live crowd ever again.


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


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


TWO BIG TAKEOVER MATCHES ON MASSIVE NXT ON USA EPISODE TONIGHT- Tonight's NXT on USA Network will feature two matches which were originally scheduled to take part at NXT Takeover: Tampa Bay during WrestleMania weekend. The first match is a six-way ladder match where the winner will be named as the number one contender for the NXT Women's title. Those who will be participating in this match are Candice LaRae, Mia Yim, Io Shirai, Tegan Nox, Chelsea Green, and Dakota Kai. All of them had to go through a qualifying match and in Kai's case, she also went through a second chance match after originally losing her qualifying match. The other match is being marketed as "One Final Beat" with Blackheart vs Rebel Heart - Tommaso Ciampa vs Johnny Gargano - in their final NXT match against each other. The two will be banned from getting physical with each other after tonight and if they do they will get both fired from NXT.


TOURNAMENT TO CROWN INTERIM CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMP- WWE will hold a tournament to crown the NXT Cruiserweight interim champion since the current champ, Jordan Devlin, is in Ireland and cannot defend the title. Regal made the announcement during today's episode of The Bump on the WWE Network. Regal said that more information will be given over the next few days on NXT's social media accounts. Asked about the NXT Tag Team titles since Pete Dunne is also stuck in the United Kingdom, Regal said that a decision is still to be made over those titles and hopefully they'll reach a decision next week. Those who are not currently in the United States are not allowed to enter due to the travel ban imposed because of the coronavirus.


WWE WOMEN TAKE ON THE #DONTRUSHCHALLENGE- The WWE women have teamed up to film the #dontrushchallenge which is taking social media, especially TikTok, by storm lately. The video starts with Sasha Banks in bed getting a call on her cell phone with the caller ID displaying "Vince." She covers her face and then when she removes her hand, she's all dolled up in her WWE outfit. The phone is then thrown to the next person who's also in her regular clothes. A rub on the camera lens later...and she's also transformed into a WWE Superstar. The female Superstars who participated in this video are Sasha Banks, Naomi, Nia Jax, Zelina Vega, Tamina, Bayley, Liv Morgan, Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, Carmella, Natalya, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Sonya Deville, Mandy Rose, Bianca Belair, and Lana. The video is performed with the Don’t Rush song by U.K. rap duo Young T and Bugsey in the background. You can check it out at .


WRESTLEMANIA 36 SETS NEW RECORDS- This year, WWE couldn't brag about setting new attendance records for WrestleMania but they did find something else to tout - viewership and consumption milestones. WWE set WrestleMania Week viewership records with more than 967 million video views across all of WWE's digital and social media platforms, an increase of 20% year-over-year. Additionally, a record 46 million hours of content were consumed during WrestleMania Week, an increase of 28% year-over-year. WrestleMania was the most social event in WWE history with more than 13.8 million total social media interactions on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, a 57% increase over last year’s WrestleMania, according to Nielsen Social.


RAW RATING- The post-WrestleMania episode of Monday Night Raw did 2,100,000 viewers, up 177,000 from last week's record low. Hour one started with 2,311,000 viewers, then dropped to 2,063,000 viewers for the second hour, before finishing the night with just 1,925,000 viewers. It was the least-watched post-Mania Raw in history, something which was expected as fans seem to have enough of the empty arena shows and countless replays of old footage. Raw was #1, #4, and #6 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic and #28 in overall viewership for the night on cable as news programs continue to dominate the daily chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)


IMPACT TO HOLD TV TAPINGS THIS WEEK- Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that Impact Wrestling will be tapings several weeks worth of TV shows over the course of three days this week. Impact has set up shop at their old stomping grounds in Nashville, Tennessee to continue doing business as they are running out of shows to air on AXS TV. Meltzer also adds that most of the talent will be missing from the tapings as they couldn't make it to Nashville so it will be interesting to see how Impact works around that with minimum talent available. The tapings in Nashville will of course be without fans as Impact now joins WWE and AEW in filming in empty arenas due to the coronavirus spread.  Tennessee is also under lockdown with essential businesses only allowed to operate in the state. How Impact Wrestling got around that, just like WWE in Florida, remains a mystery.


TNT CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT STARTS TONIGHT ON DYNAMITE- Three matches have already been announced for tonight's Dynamite on TNT which was taped from QT Marshall's gym in Norcross, Georgia. These matches are Cody vs Shawn Spears in the first match of the TNT Championship tournament, Kenny Omega and Michael Nakazawa vs Best Friends, and Hikura Shida vs Britt Baker. Brodie Lee, the leader of The Dark Order, will also be in action against an unnamed opponent. Tonight's commentary will be taken care of by Tony Schiavone and former AEW champion Chris Jericho.


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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5897

#87

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Tuesday, April 7 2020			Issue #5897
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Nothing to say today, back tomorrow.

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

NIA JAX RETURNS- The post-WrestleMania Raw yielded one surprise – the return of former Raw Women’s champion Nia Jax. Jax showed up and defeated NXT’s Deonna Purrazzo and used Paige’s old RamPaige finisher to secure her quick and decisive victory. On Twitter, Paige admitted that she gave Jax permission to use her finisher. “You never use another persons finishing move unless it is given to you. I gave it to @NiaJaxWWE and she just killed it. I have chills. Proud moment,” Paige said. The two are very close friends. Jax has been out of action for a year as she underwent surgery on both her ACLs and faced a long recovery. She last wrestled at WrestleMania 35.

WWE TO RESUME TELEVISION TAPINGS AT THE PC THIS FRIDAY- Sean Sapp of Fightful Wrestling is reporting that WWE will resume television tapings this coming Friday and will film continuously for a week. The first order of business will be to get tapings done for Smackdown which would air later in the day on FOX. WWE plans to tape six episodes combined of Raw and Smackdown during the week while also doing multiple episodes of NXT at the nearby Full Sail University in Winter Park. With major sports events clearly not returning in front of an audience over the next couple of months, taping empty arena shows remains the only option to keep business going. Tomorrow's NXT, featuring Gargano vs Ciampa and the women's ladder match, was already filmed. Florida remains under lockdown and WWE is not deemed as an essential business but the company has obviously obtained some kind of permission to go ahead with tapings over the next week.

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE 8-HOUR WWE BONEYARD MATCH FILMING- WhatCulture.com has some exclusive details on the filming of the boneyard match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles that aired as the main event of night one of WrestleMania 36. According to WhatCulture, WWE found a location in Florida and contracted a production unit to assemble the set that was used for the match. It took five days for construction workers to assemble it according to WWE's specifications. Filming of the match was done on March 25 and took eight hours in total to complete. The work started at 9PM and then wrapped up at 5AM the following morning under the guidance of Triple H and Michael PS Hayes. Shawn Michaels and Jeremy Borash were also on location to help. WhatCulture adds that after production wrapped up, it took a full week of clean-up for the location to be returned to its original state. The people who were in charge of constructing the set were all locals and sources said that WWE pretty much "paid their rent for April" as the company had no work due to everything shutting down because of the coronavirus. It said that WWE and everyone on site including the main ones - Undertaker and AJ Styles - showed their appreciation to the crew and treated everyone with their utmost respect. The report also state that WWE wanted to use a different scene for Taker's arrival on his bike that would have required him to drive through an abandoned ditch and bridge. Production crew told WWE though that the property was the city's and they did not have any paperwork or permit to shoot there. To refrain from going through legal hoops, those in charge on site then decided to film solely on the property they were originally allowed to. And as for the constant trash talking during the fight, that wasn't originally part of the plan but the two competitors expressed their view and Triple H gave them the go ahead to do whatever they wanted. The boneyard match received a lot of praise online from critics, fans, and fellow WWE Superstars.

WWE AND DAZN TEAM UP FOR NEW TV DEAL- WWE and DAZN announced a new multi-year agreement which will see the company's weekly flagship programming becoming available live and on-demand with original U.S. commentary on the DAZN streaming platform in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Starting this week, DAZN will air Raw and SmackDown exclusively, live 52 weeks a year. WWE fans can also access Raw and SmackDown via video-on-demand on DAZN along with a two-hour version of Raw, a one-hour version of Raw, a one-hour version of SmackDown and WWE’s two weekly recap series Bottom Line and Afterburn. “We are thrilled to be embarking on a new chapter for WWE in Germany as we bring our unique blend of action-packed, family-friendly sports entertainment to DAZN’s robust portfolio of premium sports content,” said Stefan Kastenmüller, WWE’s senior VP and group general manager. Thomas de Buhr, executive VP of DAZN DACH, added, “We are expanding our portfolio to add an absolutely premium sports entertainment brand that delights many fans in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We are very pleased to make WWE’s two biggest weekly shows available to all fans live and on-demand.”

WRESTLEMANIA 36 KICKOFF SHOWS RATING ON FOX SPORTS 1- The WrestleMania 36 Kickoff show on Saturday night did a total of 106,000 viewers on FOX Sports 1 while night two Kickoff did another 112,000. The Kickoff shows aired on FOX Sports for the first time since the WWE/FOX partnership started and FOX even offered WrestleMania on traditional pay-per-view through their apps. Just like ESPN, FOX is relying on some WWE content to fill up their void on their sports channel and will be airing 22 hours of WWE footage throughout spring every Tuesday that will serve as a lead-in to WWE Backstage. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

WRESTLEMANIA 35 RATING ON ESPN- The WrestleMania 35 encore presentation on ESPN on Sunday afternoon did 421,000 viewers, which is way down from what WrestleMania XXX and 32 did the previous two weeks. Those two shows were on at prime time though and this one aired at 3PM ET. WrestleMania XXX did 839,000 viewers two weeks ago and WrestleMania 32 last week did 720,000 viewers. ESPN aired these three WrestleManias to fill up the void on their network since all major sports are on hiatus due to the coronavirus. ESPN’s Director of Programming and Acquisitions Brent Colborne said in an interview that WWE’s addition to the network has “added excitement” and the company knew they had to act fast to put some content on their network. Colborne also did not shoot down the idea of having WrestleMania air on ESPN in the future rather than on PPV but they are focusing on short-term ideas for now. 

ANDRE THE GIANT BIOGRAPHY TO BE RELEASED ON APRIL 14 BY ECW PRESS- ECW Press announced the publication of the definitive and exhaustive biography of André the Giant, The Eighth Wonder of the World. The book will be officially released on April 14, 2020. This comprehensive biography addresses the burning questions, outrageous stories, and common misconceptions about his height, his weight, his drawing power as a superstar, and his seemingly unparalleled capacity for food and alcohol. The Eighth Wonder of the World: The True Story of André the Giant transports readers beyond the smoke and mirrors of professional wrestling into the life of a real man. The book is written by Pat Laprade and Bertrand Hébert. Laprade has been involved in pro wrestling for more than 15 years and was a field producer for HBO's critically acclaimed documentary André the Giant. Involved in wrestling for more than 25 years, Hébert also co-wrote Pat Patterson's biography, Accepted. The hardcover book contains 440 pages and is selling for $26.95 on Amazon.com. A Kindle version is available for $16.18. It's available for pre-ordering now.

ANNA JAY SIGNS WITH ALL ELITE WRESTLING- All Elite Wrestling announced yesterday the signing of Anna Jay who made her in-ring debut for the promotion last week in a losing effort to Hikaru Shida. Jay, real name Anna Marie Jernigan, is from Brunswick, Georgia, and is 26 years old. She was trained by Ray Lloyd, better known to wrestling fans as Glacier from WCW. Jay is also a student at QT Marshall's gym, the AEW star who let the company use his premises to film several weeks worth of television shows over the past week. She is pretty new to the wrestling business and has mainly worked for Georgia Premier Wrestling under the name of Anna Jayy and the moniker of "The Star of the Show."

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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5896

#86

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Monday, April 6 2020			Issue #5896
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

And there goes another WrestleMania. Yeah, it wasn't like anything before, but I am not going to complain. I was entertained for the most part and certainly appreciate the effort and work everyone put in to make it happen. I preferred night one over night two and thought the first night flowed better and went by quicker. That Firefly Fun House match was something else! Count me in the "loved it" group because once you get all the hints, you will appreciate the creative behind it.

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

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

WRESTLEMANIA 36 NIGHT TWO PAY-PER-VIEW RESULTS- Here are the results from night two of WrestleMania 36 which took place from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Liv Morgan defeated Natalya in the Kickoff show; Charlotte Flair defeated Rhea Ripley to become the new NXT Women's champion; Aliester Black defeated Bobby Lashley; Otis defeated Dolph Ziggler; Edge defeated Randy Orton in a last man standing match; The Street Profits defeated Austin Theory and Angel Garza to retain the Raw Tag Team titles; Bayley defeated Lacey Evans, Sasha Banks, Naomi, and Tamina to retain the Smackdown Women's title; The Fiend Bray Wyatt defeated John Cena in a Firefly Fun House match; Drew McIntyre defeated Brock Lesnar to win the WWE title.

THE FIEND FORCES JOHN CENA TO FACE HIS PAST IN WEIRDLY ENTERTAINING FIREFLY FUN HOUSE MATCH- After the cinematic experience of the boneyard match on Saturday, no one knew what to expect from the Firefly Fun House match between The Fiend and John Cena on Sunday night. Needless to say, after the match ended, no one could have ever imagined that we would get that type of experience. While the match was going to start normally with Cena making his entrance, it quickly turned sideways with Cena finding himself in the Fun House and confronted to face his past. As Wyatt stepped in Kurt Angle's place and recreated the Ruthless Aggression Cena debut, Cena came out in similar attire from that era and tried to take multiple swings and Wyatt but always missed. Cena then came out as the Dr. of Thuganomics and rapped to Wyatt, who did not appreciate the lyrics. Wyatt then transformed into Easy E, Eric Bischoff, and introduced Cena as the latest member of the nWo, complete with the Nitro set, nWo WCW title, black and white images and showing everyone what if...Cena ever turned heel. A throwback to their 2014 feud which led to a WrestleMania XXX match also played out. That night, Cena won, but this time, Wyatt in his Wyatt Family setting, reigned supreme as he continued to mess with Cena's - and everyone's - sanity. The unusual and weird match ended with The Fiend applying the Mandible Claw to Cena after which Cena's body disappeared from the ring. Fans and even Superstars online reacted in disbelief over what they just saw, with the feedback highly positive and some even wondered how such a presentation even managed to make it on the card, let alone at a WrestleMania. 

ERIC BISCHOFF AND KEVIN NASH COMMENT ON nWo BEING PART OF FIREFLY FUN HOUSE MATCH- The Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania brought back the iconic nWo and the Nitro set to the show as Cena recreated a what if moment...what if he turned heel and what if he had joined such a faction. Bray Wyatt, dressed as Eric Bischoff, introduced Cena as the latest member of the nWo and Cena came out through the WCW Nitro set in nWo gear with the nWo spray-painted WCW title acting like, well, a cocky member of the nWo. Actual footage of Bischoff from his nWo days were also shown to compare to Wyatt's recreation. Perhaps no one was more surprised than former WCW President Eric Bischoff who quickly uploaded a video as soon as the match was over. "Okay, that was bizarre. Really bizarre," Bischoff said as he watched WrestleMania from his home. "I mean, I was fired in October and now in the main of WrestleMania in April? Wow, bet you nobody's ever done that!" Bischoff was hired last year to serve as the Executive Producer of Smackdown but his stint did not last long and was fired in October just after less than three months on the job. Meanwhile, fellow nWo member Kevin Nash also had props for WWE for WrestleMania and thanked Cena and Wyatt for the nWo love. "Made a 60 year old man smile. If we had those two gentlemen wearing the colors I might be heading back to the ring in some capacity," Nash said. The WWE Hall of Famer also jumped to WWE's defense for those who were criticizing the company for going ahead with WrestleMania during these difficult times. "The company is called World Wrestling Entertainment. I was entertained. @StephMcMahon said we're bringing this to you to take you away from where we are. I was immersed and not watching the news. Thank you @WWE for going beyond what every other product has. Delivered," he added.

THREE MORE TITLE CHANGES ON NIGHT TWO OF WRESTLEMANIA 36- Charlotte Flair was the first one to force a title change on night two of WrestleMania as she tapped out Rhea Ripley to the Figure 8. It was an excellent match that gave Flair her second NXT Women's title and her impressive 11th overall. The 24/7 title also swapped hands with newly-signed Rob Gronkowski walking out of the Performance Center with the green and gold belt. Mojo, who walked in night two as the 24/7 champ, came out to ringside as he was chased by a bunch of people but Gronk jumped on everyone from the high platform and pinned Rawley to win his first title in WWE. And the night ended with another title change as Drew McIntyre finally became the WWE champion, beating Brock Lesnar in another fairly short match. McIntyre had to deliver four Claymore Kicks to keep the beast down but it paid off as the Royal Rumble winner pinned Lesnar clean. Lesnar remained laying flat on his back throughout the the time Drew celebrating in the ring selling the kicks. This WrestleMania had a total of six title changes when adding the previous three changes from night one. Taking out the 24/7 swaps, only the Women's Tag Team, Universal, NXT Women's, and WWE title switched hands. Becky Lynch, Sami Zayn, The Miz and John Morrison, The Street Profits, and Bayley all kept their respective gold.

TYSON FURY AND DREW MCINTYRE CHALLENGE EACH OTHER TO A WRESTLING MATCH- Tyson Fury is getting his wrestling bug again as he and McIntyre have been going back and forth since yesterday's airing of WrestleMania. Fury predicted that McIntyre would beat Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania and then started talking some trash, typical of Fury! When questioned by BT Sport in the UK, the new WWE champion said he's ready to take on Fury too. "Yep, I'm ready. When everything is back to normal, set up, maybe we can do it at Hampden (in Glasgow), or Wembley (in London), he can pick the ground, he started this," McIntyre said as he recounted how it all started. "So alright mate, let's do this thing, let's have the super fight, let's do it in the UK," McIntyre added, noting that Brock got four Claymore Kicks and he has eight in store for Fury. The undefeated boxing champion congratulated McIntyre on his victory and then accepted his challenge. "I accept his challenge, anytime any place, anywhere," Fury wrote on social media. Tyson Fury is a huge WWE fan and has one match under his belt already - against Braun Strowman in Saudi Arabia - a match which he won via count-out.

SCOTS RULING THE WWE UNIVERSE- There's a wave of Scottish WWE Superstars who are ruling the company at the moment with five in total carrying a WWE or NXT UK championship. Markus Coffey and Wolfgang - both from Glasgow - are the NXT UK Tag Team champions while Kay Lee Ray - born in Paisley - is the NXT UK Women's champion. After this past weekend, Nikki Cross - also from Glasgow - joined them as WWE Women's Tag Team title holder and Drew McIntyre - born in Ayr - won the big one from Brock Lesnar and became the WWE champion. The five champs, all proudly flying the Scottish flag, represent the biggest non-North American block of champs at the same time in WWE history. Drew McIntyre also became the first British wrestler to win the WWE title. 

WITH RAW AND NXT ALREADY TAPED, SMACKDOWN REMAINS IN LIMBO DUE TO LOCKDOWN- WWE has Monday Night Raw and NXT already taped for this week but no tapings have been done for Friday Night Smackdown. The company managed to squeeze in the post-Mania Raw and the much-anticipated NXT episode tapings before the state of Florida went into lockdown. It's unclear if WWE has applied for a waiver or if they will be allowed to hold any tapings at the Performance Center but the plan is to tape Smackdown from somewhere on Friday, the day of the show. WWE can move tapings to its world headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut if need be but the state of Connecticut is also under partial lockdown with non-essential businesses forced to close. The company might have a bit more pull in that state since it's headquartered there but with such close proximity to New York and New Jersey where the virus is spreading like wildfire, it might not be the best option either. Pretty much every WWE Superstar who participated at the Mania tapings has been at home for the past week and a half and they would have spent two weeks inside if recalled for tapings on Friday.

BIANCA BELAIR GETS HER WRESTLEMANIA MOMENT- Bianca Belair, the wife of Raw Tag Team title holder Montez Ford, got her first WrestleMania moment last night after she came to the rescue of The Street Profits. After Ford and Dawkins successfully defended the Raw Tag Team titles against Angel Garza and Austin Theory, the heels quickly jumped on the champs following the match and were assisted by their business manager Zelina Vega. Vega attacked Ford but that did not last long as the NXT star rushed to the rescue and whooped Vega's ass, delivering her finishing move. As Belair celebrated in the ring, her husband slid into the ring and hilariously admired his wife and then he and Dawkins lifted Belair on their shoulders to end the segment. Belair was the third person from NXT, along with Rhea Ripley and Austin Theory, to be part of this year's WrestleMania.

THE BIG SHOW SHOW SEASON ONE NOW ON NETFLIX- The Big Show Show season one is now available to watch in full on Netflix. The comedy series is available in all Netflix regions worldwide. The eight, 30-minute episodes of the first season features the former champion Big Show as he enters into retirement and faces his toughest challenge yet: raising three daughters with his wife in Florida. 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. Netflix already has clips from season two suggesting that more episodes have been filmed that will be marked as a second season.

AEW'S KIP SABIAN AND PENELOPE FORD GET ENGAGED- All Elite Wrestling's Kip Sabian and Penelope Ford, both 27, got engaged this weekend which was a surprise for Ford as she had no idea about it. In a post on Instagram, Sabian said he tricked his girlfriend into taking a family photo for his parents at his favorite place and set the camera on video and on a timer to capture the whole thing. "I was so confused why he was on his knee when we were taking a picture for his parents to frame," Ford added in her own Instagram post. "This has been the happiest moment in my life and we had our puppy there with us. I’m still so shocked!"

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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5895

#85

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Sunday, April 5 2020			Issue #5895
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Visit our website at 
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Okay, WrestleMania wasn't the spectacle that we're used to see, but I was thoroughly entertained, especially by the main event. I thought all matches were solid, well, maybe except the Corbin/Elias one, but considering the circumstances, everyone gave it their all. The main event boneyard match was something else. It was fantastic and pleasantly surprised how it was produced. 

We'll be back on Twitter tonight for round two!

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


WRESTLEMANIA 36 NIGHT TWO ON WWE NETWORK TONIGHT- WWE will be presenting night two of WrestleMania tonight and airing on the WWE Network and other streaming providers as well as on traditional pay-per-view. The show is recorded from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. The card for night two is: Brock Lesnar vs Drew McIntyre for the WWE title; Bayley vs Sasha Banks vs Lacey Evans vs Tamina vs Naomi in a fatal 5-way match for the Smackdown Women's title; Rhea Ripley vs Charlotte Flair for the NXT Women's title; The Street Profits vs Austin Theory and Angel Garza for the Raw Tag Team titles; John Cena vs The Fiend Bray Wyatt in a Firefly Fun House match; Edge vs Randy Orton in a last man standing match; Aleister Black vs Bobby Lashley; Otis vs Dolph Ziggler; and Liv Morgan vs Natalya in the Kickoff match. The WrestleMania Kickoff show will start at 6PM ET and will air on the WWE Network, YouTube, Facebook, FOX Sports 1, and FITE TV. WrestleMania is FREE to watch if you are a first-time subscriber to the WWE Network. Simply go to  to subscribe and get your 30-day trial.


WRESTLEMANIA 36 NIGHT ONE RESULTS- Here are the results from night one of WrestleMania 36 which took place from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Cesaro defeated Drew Gulak in the Kickoff show; Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross defeated Asuka and Kairi Sane to become the new WWE Women's Tag Team champions; Elias defeated King Corbin; Becky Lynch defeated Shayna Baszler to retain the Raw Women's title; Sami Zayn defeated Daniel Bryan to retain the Intercontinental title; John Morrison defeated Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso in a triple threat ladder match to retain the Smackdown Tag Team titles; Kevin Owens defeated Seth Rollins; Braun Strowman defeated Goldberg to win the Universal title; The Undertaker defeated AJ Styles in a boneyard match.


A FANTASTIC CINEMATIC ENDING TO THE FIRST NIGHT OF WRESTLEMANIA 36 - Night one of WrestleMania 36 had one of the most memorable main events ever, if not the most memorable one in the history of the show. With all matches pre-recorded, WWE had a chance to think outside the box for some of its gimmick matches and did just that for the boneyard match between The Undertaker and AJ Styles. This was no ordinary match, there wasn't even a ring or a referee, just two future Hall of Famers beating the crap out of each other in the dirt. And WWE gave it a cinematic look to make it stand out above the rest with its own score, presenting it more like a movie rather than a regular wrestling match. Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson also got involved during the fight along with a bunch of other druids, all of whom got their asses whopped by The Undertaker who brought back his American Badass persona, even riding in with a motorbike to Metallica's Now That We're Dead music. The fight ended after The Undertaker put AJ in a grave and dumped the dirt from a tractor on him. A shot showed AJ Styles' hand and glove trying to reach out from the dirt but the former WWE champion was buried alive. Taker then unveiled a headstone which showed Styles' name and the year he was born and died. This was similar to one of Matt Hardy's matches at his compound but with production value ramped up 1,000 times more. It was a fitting way to end the first night of a weird WrestleMania with no fans. Judging by the reaction online, fans and critics loved the boneyard match and the production aspect of it and how it was presented. WWE Superstars were tweeting about it during the match and were just as surprised as everyone else. Even Metallica tweeted about the match saying that Taker came out to their song. You can see some clips from the match at .


THREE TITLES CHANGE HANDS DURING NIGHT ONE OF WRESTLEMANIA 36- WrestleMania 36 part one ended the night with three new champions as the Women's Tag Team championship, the 24/7 championship, and the Universal championship all changed hands during the three-hour broadcast. Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross were the first ones to become new champions on the show, having participated in the opening match of the night. Bliss and Cross, who had been teaming up for the past several months, regained the WWE Women's Tag Team titles from The Kabuki Warriors after the two lost it to them back in August of last year during an episode of Monday Night Raw. This makes Bliss and Cross the only two-time champs after ending the 181-day reign of Asuka and Sane. The 24/7 title also switched hands with Mojo Rawley becoming the new champ. R-Truth was getting interviewed by host Rob Gronkowski and Rawley when all of a sudden Gronk hit Truth and went for the pin. But Rawley didn't let that happen and broke the pin and then went for the pin himself, preventing his best friend from winning his first title in WWE. And the third title to change hands was the Universal title with Braun Strowman beating Goldberg fairly quickly in the second-to-last match on the broadcast. Goldberg hit several spears on Strowman but the monster among men recovered quickly and hit four powerslams on the champion for the clean pinfall. The match did not even last three minutes. Reigns' exit from the storyline was never explained despite Triple H saying it would play out to be satisfying for everyone. "It’s real. The #UniversalTitle is in these hands. Thank you @Goldberg and the @WWE Universe who’ve always supported," Strowman tweeted after the match. 


TRUMP MEETS WITH SPORTS LEADERS INCLUDING VINCE MCMAHON OVER CONFERENCE CALL- United States President Donald Trump held a conference call yesterday with leaders of all major sports leagues in the United States which also included WWE Chairman and CEO Vince McMahon and UFC President Dana White. The conference call took place at Noon. WWE and the UFC are the only ones which are still going ahead with shows although the UFC have had less luck in finding locations where to hold their next pay-per-view event after having cancelled a few shows over the past few weeks due to the coronavirus. WWE has used their own Performance Center for multiple recordings, including WrestleMania, but with Florida under lockdown, WWE has to move to continue tapings unless a special waiver is granted. Adam Schefter from ESPN reported that other individuals invited to the conference call included Adam Silver from the NBA, Cathy Engelbert from the WNBA, Rob Manfred from the MLB, Roger Goodell from the NFL, Gary Bettman from the NHL, Jay Monahan from PGA Tour, John Middlebrook from NASCAR and Don Garber from MLS. 


TRIPLE H SAYS "NEW NORMAL" WILL FORCE WWE TO DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY IN FUTURE- WWE executive Triple H believes that the way WWE will do business will change forever because the world will have to adjust to a "new normal" even after this coronavirus pandemic is over. Speaking to TV Guide, Triple H said, "I think that it will get back to some normalcy, but the new normal will be what is normal. It's not going to be what it was before. How people do business, how people interact with each other... I think all of that will change." He added that for WWE, the opportunity of doing these shows without fans and doing WrestleMania with off-site shoots will open their eyes to different ways of doing things that they as a company maybe didn't see before and "will change the product probably for the better in the long run."


EDGE SAYS HE HOPES FANS "GET LOST IN WHAT WE LOVE TO DO" THIS WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND- In a post on Twitter, the recently-returned Edge hoped that this two-night WrestleMania would help "get people lost" in what they love to do and get their minds off the sucky situation that the world finds itself in at the moment. "Whether you agree or disagree. The could haves or should haves, we're here. It's done," Edge said of the mixed reaction of having WrestleMania in front of no crowd at the tiny Performance Center. "Speaking as a performer who didn't have this for 9 years I realize what a privilege it is to do this for a living and WrestleMania is the pinnacle of that." Edge said that it wasn't the same without a crowd as the crowd helps making the show and everyone missed them but he went with the mindset of thinking that people would enjoy his performance. "And, maybe, wishful thinking, just for a few hours this weekend, you get lost in what we love to do. Perform for you. To forget and just try to have fun. Cheer. Boo. Laugh. Cry," he said. The Rated-R Superstar also thanked the whole crew and everyone behind the scenes who helped "bring this beast to life" in the the safest and most responsible way.


UNDERTAKER: LAST RIDE LIMITED SERIES EVENT COMING TO WWE NETWORK- The WWE Network will have a limited series event focusing on The Undertaker and a preview will air tonight immediately following the conclusion of WrestleMania 36 night two. Titled Undertaker: The Last Ride, the documentary focuses on what might soon be the end of Taker's long wrestling career. The quick 50-second preview featured brand-new sit-down interviews with Stone Cold Steve Austin, Edge, Shawn Michaels, Big Show, Michelle McCool, and an emotional-looking Vince McMahon specifically filmed for this series. Footage of The Undertaker in hospital, training, and discussing his career were also shown. "I gotta go out with a match befitting The Undertaker. That's what separates being good and great and being a legend," Taker is shown saying.


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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5894

#84

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Saturday, April 4 2020			Issue #5894
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Well, here we go! It's WrestleMania weekend. Don't forget we'll be tweeting live tonight during the show. Join us on Twitter @wrestlingonline. Enjoy the show!

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

WRESTLEMANIA 36 NIGHT ONE ON WWE NETWORK TONIGHT- WWE will be presenting a two-night WrestleMania weekend starting tonight and airing on the WWE Network and other streaming providers as well as on traditional pay-per-view. The show is recorded from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. WWE has not announced which matches will be on night one or night two yet so here's the full card for this year's WrestleMania. Brock Lesnar vs Drew McIntyre for the WWE title; Goldberg vs Braun Strowman for the Universal title; Becky Lynch vs Shayna Baszler for the Raw Women's title; Bayley vs Sasha Banks vs Lacey Evans vs Tamina vs Naomi in a fatal 5-way match for the Smackdown Women's title; Rhea Ripley vs Charlotte Flair for the NXT Women's title; Sami Zayn vs Daniel Bryan for the Intercontinental title; The Street Profits vs Austin Theory and Angel Garza for the Raw Tag Team titles; The Miz and John Morrison vs The Usos vs The New Day in a triple threat ladder match for the Smackdown Tag Team titles; The Kabuki Warriors vs Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross for the WWE Women's Tag Team titles; The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles in a boneyard match; John Cena vs The Fiend Bray Wyatt in a Firefly Fun House match; Edge vs Randy Orton in a last man standing match; Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins; Aleister Black vs Bobby Lashley; Elias vs King Corbin; Otis vs Dolph Ziggler. The WrestleMania Kickoff show will start at 6PM ET and will air on the WWE Network, YouTube, Facebook, FOX Sports 1, and FITE TV. WrestleMania is FREE to watch if you are a first-time subscriber to the WWE Network. Simply go to  to subscribe and get your 30-day trial.

TWO ADDITIONAL KICKOFF MATCHES FOR WRESTLEMANIA ANNOUNCED- Apart from the 16 matches on the WrestleMania main card, WWE has just added two more matches for the Kickoff shows. This year's Kickoff shows are one hour each and will take place on each WrestleMania night. The two matches are Liv Morgan vs Natalya and Cesaro vs Drew Gulak. WWE did not specify which match is airing on what night but if you go with the order in which the matches were listed, the women's match was mentioned first. WWE has not announced who will be hosting the Kickoff shows and who will form part of the panel. Papa Johns is listed as the presenting sponsor for the two Kickoff shows.

BRAUN STROWMAN REPLACES ROMAN REIGNS IN UNIVERSAL TITLE MATCH- With Roman Reigns out of WrestleMania, Braun Strowman stepped in to take his place and will now be facing Goldberg for the Universal title this weekend. The former Intercontinental champion was not even slated to be on the card and had no match at Mania. Last year he was also left out from a singles match and thrown in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal which he won. That match was on the Kickoff show. Strowman and Goldberg both were missing from the Smackdown broadcast last night and no angle was played out to write Reigns off. Smackdown announcer Michael Cole simply announced the match without any backstory given. Triple H has said in an interview this week that the way Reigns' exit will play out will be satisfying for everyone but unless they're keeping it for the WrestleMania pay-per-view, nothing was satisfying about how they announced the replacement. The man also known as the monster among men had several Universal title shots over the past few years but he came up short every time. He even won the Money in the Bank match but failed to cash-in against Seth Rollins.

TRIPLE H TO MISS SECOND WRESTLEMANIA IN 25 YEARS- This weekend's WrestleMania will have no fans, most likely few to no pyro either due to the location, and something else will be missing from the card: Triple H. Since his first WrestleMania in 1996 against the Ultimate Warrior, Triple H only missed one - in 2007 when he was injured - and competed in 23 of them in total. This year, the man who usually has an elaborate entrance at every Mania held in a stadium, will be sitting backstage helping directing traffic and producing the show along with his father-in-law Vince McMahon. “Last year, it was questionable whether I was going to do anything at WrestleMania, and the Batista match came up," Triple H told Sports Illustrated in an interview. "This year, it was never really discussed, and I never brought it up.” The former champ and WWE Hall of Famer admitted that as every year has passed, he's been busier and busier with added responsibilities so it's not always that he can lace up his boots and step inside the squared circle. Triple H has a horrible record at WrestleMania, losing 13 out of the 23 matches he has competed in. His last win came last year against Batista. 

SMACKDOWN RATING- The WrestleMania go-home episode of Friday Night Smackdown on FOX did 2,374,000 viewers, which is the identical audience that it did last week. Hour one did 2,407,000 viewers and hour two dipped slightly to 2,342,000 viewers. In the 18-49 demo, Smackdown did just a 0.6 which is lower than usual. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

SCREEN "GLITCHES" ON WWE TV CATCH UP WITH SONYA'S ANTICS- The screen "glitches" that had been appearing every week on WWE television had some sort of closure yesterday as it was revealed on Smackdown that a hacker was behind them all - and exposed a "mystery" that was bad news for Sonya Deville. With "The Truth Will Be Heard" flashing on TV after Tucker and Dolph Ziggler wrestled, a mysterious figure was shown from the back in front of several computer monitors. The person wore a hoodie and his voice was altered to conceal the identity. After pressing a button, footage played of Sonya Deville sending a text message to Otis from Mandy's phone saying that she would be late for their Valentine's Day date. She then deleted the evidence unbeknownst to Mandy. Another clip was played with Sonya being in cahoots with Dolph Ziggler, saying that whatever they want, they get. The revelation seems to have pissed off Mandy Rose who wanted nothing to do with Sonya throughout the rest of the night despite repeated attempts to apologize.

TOTAL BELLAS RATING- The season five premiere of Total Bellas with an episode titled Brave New Bellas did a total of 563,000 viewers, up from the 448,000 the season four finale did last year. This was the most-watched episode of Total Bellas since episode 12 of season three which did 665,000 viewers. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

REPORT SAYS AEW HAS ENOUGH FOOTAGE TO LAST NEARLY TWO MONTHS- Wade Keller of the Pro Wrestling Torch is reporting that All Elite Wrestling filmed enough footage over the course of the past week that with some creativity they can stretch the episodes of Dynamite and Dark up until the Double or Nothing pay-per-view in late May. While the company did manage to film additional material at the Daily's Place in Jacksonville before they were booted, AEW crew had to move to Georgia and went full speed ahead with filming several matches but had to stop after the lockdown enforcement in the state came down. Keller added that the wrestlers who were part of the match tapings this week in Georgia will be the ones who will be appearing on TV over the next several weeks as no additional wrestlers were brought in. AEW is believed to be using footage shot by their talent to fill in the gaps as they cannot do like WWE and air old matches since their tape library is fairly new. The Hager vs Moxley match which is set for the April 15 episode of Dynamite was apparently already filmed in Jacksonville so at least for that match AEW will "switch" locations during the pre-recorded Dynamite.

DWAYNE JOHNSON'S JUNGLE CRUISE MOVIE PUSHED BACK BY A YEAR- With no signs of the coronavirus spread slowing down, major movie studios are delaying many of their releases and Dwayne Johnson's Jungle Cruise suffered the same fate. Disney announced yesterday that the highly-anticipated movie will now be released on July 30, 2021, a full year after its original schedule. "Our @disneystudios JUNGLE CRUISE is officially pushed by one year to be released JULY 30, 2021. I feel great and bullish about this date as it gives us time for Disney to be fully operational in all their businesses - theme parks, hotels, cruise ships, but more importantly, it gives the world time to bounce back to living confidently, productively and joyously once again," Johnson wrote in a message on social media. "Thank you, Disney leadership team. And thank you to all the fans worldwide. The movie will be worth the wait. Stay healthy, my friends. D" Joining Johnson in the leading role for the big-budget flick are Emily Blunt, Edgar Ramirez, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons, and Paul Giamatti. It's directed by Jaume Collet-Serra off a screenplay by Michael Green, Glenn Ficarra, and John Requa.

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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5893

#83

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Watch WrestleMania 36 free on the WWE Network! 
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Friday, April 3 2020			Issue #5893
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

We'll be live tweeting during WrestleMania this weekend from our @wrestlingonline Twitter account. Follow us and feel free to interact. It's not the same buzz as your typical WrestleMania, but yeah, I will still watch it when it airs.


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


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


ESPN DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMMING TALKS WWE PARTNERSHIP AND WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS- Over the past few weeks, there has been several WWE programming on ESPN as the leader in sports tries to fill the void on their network due to the unprecedented situation caused by the coronavirus where all sports have been shut down. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, ESPN's Director of Programming and Acquisitions Brent Colborne said WWE's addition to the network has "added excitement" and the company knew they had to act fast to put some content on their network. "The collaboration between both entities came together in a quick and timely fashion,” Colborne told Sports Illustrated. “March 12 was the first day of all the events falling off the calendar, and it was pretty quickly thereafter, in discussion and communication with WWE, that the idea came up for ESPN to acquire some really incredible content in three WrestleManias for three consecutive Sundays.” ESPN has aired two previous WrestleManias already, will air another one on Sunday, along with a Brock Lesnar marathon, and other WWE programming in between. Asked if there will ever be a time when WrestleMania airs live on ESPN instead of pay-per-view, Colborne admitted that it's a great question and they're open to discussing ideas but the focus right now is short-term. “We felt like this was a really good content opportunity for us to show these three encores, and a really good promotional opportunity for WWE to help utilize our reach and our brand to create more excitement for WrestleMania this upcoming weekend,” Colbrone added.


NXT RATING- NXT failed to crack the 600,000 viewer mark this week as the show dipped to 590,000, losing 79,000 viewers from last week's broadcast. The show did just a 0.15 in the 18-49 demo, putting NXT in #74 on the chart and way out of the top 50 list. The difference between the two shows was of 95,000 viewers, down from the 150,000 from last week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com) 


DISCOUNTED REPLICA TITLES AND NEW MANIA MERCHANDISE ON OFFER THIS MANIA WEEKEND- The WWE Shop has got some more exclusive WrestleMania merchandise and a few special offers available to celebrate WrestleMania weekend. The offers available this weekend include a buy one t-shirt and get another one for $1 and up to 50% off on replica title belts. No codes are needed to take advantage of these offers and these prices will expire on April 7 at 2:59AM ET. Replica titles on offer include the Winged Eagle WWE title, 24/7 title, Daniel Bryan's Eco-Friendly wood WWE title, Women's Tag Team title, NXT Women's and North American titles, classic Intercontinental title, NXT UK title, and much more including the replica side plates. New WrestleMania merchandise include the commemorative chair, a new WrestleMania "In Your House" shirt, and many match t-shirts. You can shop by going to .


AEW MOVES TAPINGS TO GEORGIA, STATE GOES ON LOCKDOWN- All Elite Wrestling held this week's Dynamite and recorded future shows from a location in the state of Georgia after they were forced to move out of Daily's Place in Jacksonville. The company did several recordings during the course of the week. While the state of Florida already ordered a lockdown just a few days ago, AEW are now in WWE's same boat as the Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, announced yesterday that all people living in the state should stay at home with the exception of essential personnel. The lockdown will last at least through April 13, forcing 10.6 million residents inside due to the wide and fast spread of the coronavirus. WrestlingInc.com later reported that the location where Dynamite took place was QT Marshall's gym in Norcross and yesterday, state officials tried to shut down the operation but proper paperwork prevailed and the company was allowed to finish tapings while officials stuck around to make sure all proper precautions are being followed.


DYNAMITE RATING- AEW Dynamite took a substantial hit in viewership this week but still managed to win another round of ratings battle against NXT. Dynamite pulled in 685,000 viewers this week which is down 134,000 viewers from the previous week. With a 0.25 rating in the 18-49 demo, Dynamite placed #37 on the top 50 cable chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)


JERICHO ON LIFE IN AEW, RELATIONSHIP WITH MCMAHON, THE HALL OF FAME, AND MORE- In an interview published by the Tampa Bay Times, former AEW champion Chris Jericho discussed his relationship with former boss Vince McMahon, if he thinks a Hall of Fame induction would be on the way in the near future, joining All Elite Wrestling, the creative freedom he enjoys, Fozzy, and much more. It's an in-depth look at Jericho's current life in AEW and how the multiple-time wrestling champ has managed to reinvent himself over the past several years to stay current in an industry where sometimes even top stars find it hard to stay at the top of the mountain. Jericho said that he's had good talks with Vince McMahon ever since he left and the Chairman and CEO even offered to counter his deal with AEW but Jericho said that he's keeping some doors "shut" as long as he works for the Khan family and All Elite Wrestling. Asked if he sees himself being asked to enter the WWE Hall of Fame, he said he thinks he's already Hall of Fame material and if he doesn't get inducted, he's okay with that. “If I continue to work for the Khan family for the rest of my life, I’ll never go into the WWE Hall of Fame,” he said. “Does that bother me? No. I mean, the Sex Pistols didn’t show up for theirs. I always kind of liked that. I’m a hall of famer in the minds of the people who want me to be in the Hall of Fame,” he adds. “I’m a hall of famer in my mind. That’s all that matters.” You can read the full article at 


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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5892

#82

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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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Thursday, April 2 2020			Issue #5892
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Nothing to say today, back tomorrow.


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//->> NEWS FROM THE WRESTLING-ONLINE NEWSWIRE
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TRIPLE H ON ROMAN'S EXIT FROM WRESTLEMANIA AND WHY GO AHEAD WITH THE SHOW- WWE has been getting a lot of flak for still advertising Roman Reigns taking part in WrestleMania when in fact he did not and actually addressed the issue publicly already. But the company is still promoting Reigns vs Goldberg for the Universal title with Reigns appearing on many of the promotional material for WrestleMania. That match never happened and it looks like finally WWE will address this tomorrow on Smackdown. Speaking with ESPN's Ariel Helwani, Triple H said that Reigns' removal from the show will play out in a "unique matter" from a storyline standpoint. "I don't want to give away the ending of the movie before the movie takes place," HHH told Helwani during the video interview. "Everybody just has to watch and see how this unfolds. It will unfold in a unique way and I think it will be meaningful for everybody." Reigns pulled out of WrestleMania due to being a high risk health-wise since he just recovered from a second bout with leukemia and the coronavirus attacks more those who have a weaker immune system. Meanwhile, in the same interview, Triple H also said that all options were considered for WrestleMania including cancelling the event altogether. At one point the plan was to have fans inside the Performance Center but then that quickly changed. Triple H said that now they filmed WrestleMania from a "Hollywood standpoint" and controlled it in a way that "really nobody else can." HHH added that while not holding the event was considered, they all felt an obligation to the fans to do it regardless of the situation. "Our fans have been there for us for years and years and years and we want to be there for them in this time where everybody is just doing the best to get through this...stuck home and the world needs entertainment right now. We feel an obligation to give them that," he said. Triple H admitted that WrestleMania might not be the version that the fans or the company wanted it to be, but they still made it a spectacle that it needs to be.


DAKOTA KAI QUALIFIES FOR NXT LADDER MATCH- Dakota Kai won the second chance gauntlet match last night on NXT on USA Network and has now earned the last spot in the Women's title number one contender's ladder match which will take place next week. Shotzi Blackheart was the star of the gauntlet match and ran through Deonna Purrazzo, Xia Li, Aliyah, and Kayden Carter before Kai came in last. Raquel Gonzalez also played her part in helping Kai defeating Blackheart. The winner of this ladder match will then meet whoever is the NXT Women's champion post-WrestleMania. The current champion, Rhea Ripley, will be defending her gold against former NXT Women's champion Charlotte Flair this weekend. No specific date was given as to when the new number one contender will get her shot.


ESPN WITH A FIVE-HOUR BROCK LESNAR MARATHON ON SUNDAY- ESPN will be airing a five-hour Brock Lesnar marathon on WrestleMania Sunday, starting at 6AM and going up until 11AM. The marathon, which is mostly UFC-related, will air on ESPN2. The schedule will start with Lesnar vs Alistair Overeem at 6AM, then Lesnar vs Shane Carwin at 7AM, Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez at 7:30AM, and Lesnar vs Randy Couture at 8AM. At 9AM, ESPN2 will air the 2000 NCAA Wrestling Championship which Lesnar won. ESPN's E:60 ??feature on Brock Lesnar from 2009 will also re-air as part of Sunday morning’s SportsCenter. Then at 3PM, ESPN will air an encore presentation of WrestleMania 35 which featured the first-ever women's main event at a WrestleMania. This is the third and final WrestleMania that ESPN will air having previously aired WrestleMania XXX and 32. All telecasts will stream via the ESPN App as well.


WWE BACKSTAGE RATING- After a string of bad numbers, WWE Backstage rebounded with 134,000 viewers for this week's remote-edition of the show. The last time Backstage aired on March 10 it drew just 35,000 viewers. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)


WWE ICE CREAM BARS ARE BACK!- Good Humor has teamed up with WWE to finally release the WWE Superstar sandwich ice cream bars, officially titled WWE Superstars Cookie Sandwich. The ice cream sandwiches feature the prints of Roman Reigns, John Cena, Becky Lynch, and WWE Hall of Famer Macho Man Randy Savage. "Rich, creamy and just 150 calories each, these frozen snacks are a delicious way to indulge and the perfect pick-me-up to keep in the freezer," Good Humor says of the product. Good Humor WWE Superstars Cookie Sandwiches are currently available for a suggested retail price of $3.00 to $5.29 in major retailers nationwide. The WWE ice cream bars returned to the spotlight when CM Punk referenced to them during a promo on Raw years ago, demanding that they should resume production. "I want everything with my face on it...the number one thing being, I want you to bring back the WWE ice cream bars," Punk said in 2011. Unfortunately for Punk, there's no WWE ice cream bars with his face on it...yet. In the late 80s and early 90s, WWE had the ice cream bars on a stick with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Macho Man, Jim Duggan, Big Boss Man and others. A variation of those bars were sold in late 2000 as well but they were stopped in 2009.


TOTAL BELLAS SEASON FIVE PREMIERES TONIGHT- Total Bellas returns on E! tonight with the season five premiere titled Brave New Bellas. The show was originally set to premiere next week but E! brought it forward. Season five will pick up where season four left off with this season covering the pregnancy of the twins, Artem’s romantic proposal to Nikki in Paris, Nikki and Brie reconnecting with their estranged father while writing their memoirs, and more. Nikki and Brie serve as Executive Producers of the series with Gil Goldschein, Russell Jay and Farnaz Farjam Chazan serving as Executive Producers for Bunim/Murray Productions and Kevin Dunn and Chris Kaiser serving as Executive Producers for WWE. Total Bellas airs on E! starting at 9PM ET.


REMAINING WRESTLERS IN TNT CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT REVEALED- The remaining four wrestlers who will be part of the TNT Championship tournament were revealed on Dynamite last night. The right side of the bracket will now have Kip Sabian taking on Dustin Rhodes and Lance Archer versus Colt Cabana. The winners of those two matches meet in the semi final match. The tournament will start next week with Shawn Spears vs Cody on Dynamite and is slated to end at Double or Nothing on pay-per-view with the winner crowned the inaugural TNT champion.


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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5891

#81

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Wednesday, April 1 2020			Issue #5891
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Well, good thing WWE taped WrestleMania already because Florida is going on lockdown tonight! At least we have something to watch this weekend! Hah!

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


FLORIDA UNDER LOCKDOWN- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has issued a statewide stay-at-home order that will take effect at midnight tonight, effectively putting all those living in the state of Florida under lockdown unless they are providing essential services or performing essential activities. The order will affect both WWE and AEW who film Raw, NXT, Smackdown, and Dynamite in the state of Florida. Up until last week, AEW was filming in Jacksonville but now they have moved to a different location within the state while WWE films in Orlando at the Performance Center. The stay-at-home order means that 99% both promotions will have to shut down operations at least for the next 30 days. WWE has enough filming to last them till next week's shows but AEW's status is unclear. WWE decided to go ahead and pre-record WrestleMania last week fearing that such order was forthcoming which would have essentially killed the pay-per-view if the company went ahead and held it live this weekend instead. Florida has a total of 6,741 cases reported and 85 deaths so far from the coronavirus, most of which are in the Miami-Dade County. Orange County, which Orlando falls under, has nearly 400 cases and four deaths.


NXT NORTH AMERICAN TRIPLE THREAT TITLE MATCH HEADLINES NXT TONIGHT- Three matches have been announced for tonight's NXT including a match which was supposed to be part of Takeover: Tampa Bay. Keith Lee will be defending the NXT North American title against Dominik Dijakovic and Damien Priest as the main event on the show tonight. This was originally slated to be part of Takeover, an event which has been cancelled. The last member of the number one contender's ladder match for the NXT Women's title will be decided tonight in a second chance gauntlet match. Xia Li, Shotzi Blackheart, Kayden Carter, Aliyah, and Deonna Purrazzo will be part of this match and the winner will join Io Shirai, Candice LaRae, Tegan Nox, Mia Yim, and Chelsea Green in the ladder match which will take place next week. And the other match announced is The Velveteen Dream taking on Bobby Fish as Dream continues to go through The Undisputed Era to get to the NXT title.


RAW RATING- Monday Night Raw had the lowest number in modern-day history for its WrestleMania go-home show with an average of 1,923,000 viewers. Hour one started with 2,139,000 viewers, then dropped to 1,986,000 in the second hour before crashing to 1,646,000 viewers in the third and final hour. It is pretty clear that putting a lot of video packages and re-airing old matches is not working when it comes to retaining viewers during these difficult times. Raw was #3, #4, and #7 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic and all the way down to #31 in overall viewership for the night on cable. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com) 


AEW FORCED OUT OF DAILY'S PLACE, TAPING DYNAMITE FROM DIFFERENT LOCATION- Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that AEW has been forced out of the Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida as the city is taking over the location as a COVID-19 testing center. The arena is owned by the city of Jacksonville and the move was bound to happen sooner or later after the city closed all locations they own. AEW is now taping at an undisclosed location and are actually recording a lot of footage for both Dark and Dynamite for this week and weeks to come so Dynamite will not be live for the time being. AEW had the edge over NXT over the past couple of weeks as they continued "business as usual" with new matches and angles progressing while NXT resorted to video package shows and a lot of fillers in between new content which only returned last week. 


FIRST FOUR PARTICIPANTS IN THE TNT CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT- The first four participants of the eight-man tournament to determine the new TNT champion were revealed by All Elite Wrestling yesterday during their Dark YouTube series. The left side of the bracket includes Shawn Spears vs Cody and Sammy Guevara vs Darby Allin. The winners of those two matches will then meet each other in the semi final. The other four participants will be revealed tonight during Dynamite on TNT. The tournament will kick off on April 8 on Dynamite and will conclude with the final match at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view, currently scheduled to take place in Las Vegas on May 23. This is the fourth title in All Elite Wrestling and the TNT Championship will join the AEW World, Tag Team, and Women's titles.


LANCE ARCHER MAKING IN-RING DYNAMITE DEBUT TONIGHT ON TNT- There's only one match which has been advertised so far for tonight's Dynamite which is Cody teaming up with Darby Allin to take on Sammy Guevara and Shawn Spears. These four individuals will all take part in the TNT Championship tournament as well. Lance Archer is also making his Dynamite debut tonight but no opponent has been named so far and the new tag team of Dustin Rhodes and QT Marshall, now known as The Natural Nightmares, will be in action as well against opponents still to be announced. Dynamite was taped from an unknown location after being forced out of the Daily's Place in Jacksonville. 


KYLIE RAE SIGNS WITH IMPACT WRESTLING- Impact Wrestling announced that Kylie Rae has signed a long-term deal with the company and revealed the news after Rae made an appearance on Impact last night, defeating Cassandra Golden. Rae signed with All Elite Wrestling last year but was gone a few months later for reasons still unknown. AEW President Tony Khan had announced during the post All Out pay-per-view media scrum that Rae requested her release and it was granted to her. “I don’t know many rumors and honestly try to stay away from everything, obviously. But here: nobody made me leave. AEW took my career to new levels and I’m beyond grateful for every opportunity and experience that has come along the way and wish nothing but the best,” Rae wrote in a social media post in November of last year. The 27-year-old wrestled at an Impact Wrestling event which aired on Twitch in October and was rumored to be heading to Impact.


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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5890

#80

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Tuesday, March 31 2020			Issue #5890
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

I know it's April Fool's tomorrow but we will not have any "fake" news on the site as a joke. The situation we're in already seems like a joke so that's enough to handle LOL!


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


WWE AND FOX SPORTS EXPAND TV PARTNERSHIP- FOX Sports is teaming up with WWE this WrestleMania week including the availability of the pay-per-view itself for $59.99 on the FOX Sports and FOX NOW apps. The WrestleMania Kickoff shows on both nights will also be airing on FS1 and FOX Deportes on Saturday and Sunday starting at 6PM ET. Also, FOX Sports will be presenting 22 hours of WWE content this spring with shows ranging from old pay-per-views to the Ruthless Aggression series, and the new Best Of WWE series. “We’re pleased to offer this new slate of WWE programming for viewers during these challenging times,” said Mark Silverman, President, National Networks, FOX Sports. “We hope this lineup of sports entertainment programming serves as a much-needed relief for fans. We appreciate the hard work and creativity of the teams on both sides of our long-term partnership with WWE.” A full programming schedule including all events and specials will follow at a later date. In the meantime, tonight starting at 7PM ET, FS1 will air the Royal Rumble and will be followed by a modified remote format of WWE Backstage at 11PM ET with Renee Young, Booker T, Paige, and Mark Henry as they join from their own home to discuss the latest news ahead of WrestleMania. “Six months after our historic partnership brought Smackdown to its new home on FOX, we are thrilled to deliver even more premium programming, including WrestleMania, across the entire FOX Sports portfolio,” said Stephanie McMahon, WWE Chief Brand Officer. “In partnership with FOX Sports, it’s a privilege to be able to entertain our fans each week and put smiles on their faces particularly during a time when they need it the most.”


FITE TV TO CARRY WRESTLEMANIA 36 FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER- In another bid to expand the number of outlets carrying WrestleMania, WWE has struck a deal with FITE TV which will see the service offer WrestleMania in the United States and select international territories. In the United States, if you buy each WrestleMania night separately it will cost you $34.99 but if you get the weekend pack you get it for $59.99 which is the regular price being charged by most pay-per-view providers. For non-U.S. countries, the weekend pack is listed at $14.99 and with unlimited replays until May 5. The two Kickoff shows are also listed as airing on FITE for free. This is the first time that a WWE show is being broadcast by FITE which is a competitor of the WWE Network. WrestleMania is available for free for first-time subscribers to the WWE Network. To start your 30-day free trial go to .


WWE EXTENDS TV DEAL IN INDIA FOR FIVE MORE YEARS- Sony Pictures Networks India Private Limited and WWE today announced a five-year extension with an expanded broadcast agreement that will deliver WWE’s weekly flagship programming and localized content in India and the Indian subcontinent, making SPN the exclusive home to WWE in-ring content across its television and digital platforms. As part of the agreement, SPN will have the rights to air Raw, SmackDown, NXT as well as WWE pay-per-view specials live on its sports and digital platforms in English, Hindi and regional languages. The expanded partnership also provides SPN the rights to WWE Network which hosts thousands of hours of content to be made available to audiences in India exclusively through SonyLIV, SPN’s OTT platform. In addition and for the first time, SPN will curate content from WWE’s extensive video library which includes live events, iconic matches, interviews with Legends, reality shows, documentaries and more, on its own platforms. WWE will also return to India with even bigger live events and Superstars will visit the region for promotional tours to engage with fans. Rajesh Kaul, Head Sports and Chief Revenue Officer Distribution, Sony Pictures Networks India, said, “WWE has been consistently ranking in the top three properties across all sports networks in India, dominating the sports entertainment space. We are delighted to extend our partnership with WWE in a first of its kind deal that will give us an increased exposure to valuable content and reach out to a broader viewer base across India on multiple platforms.” James Rosenstock, WWE Executive Vice-President, International, added, "India is a strategically important market for WWE and Sony Pictures Networks has been an extraordinary partner in helping to grow our fanbase in the region making it one of the most-watched sports properties. The expanded partnership gives our passionate fans new opportunities to engage with the WWE brand.”


ROMAN REIGNS DISCUSSES WHY HE PULLED FROM WRESTLEMANIA 36- In a video post on social media, Roman Reigns discussed why he had to pull out of WrestleMania and noted the irony that when he always showed up, fans didn't want him there and now that he's not there, he's being called a coward. "All you know is what you think. 'Oh, well, his health and this and that.' But you don’t know what else is going on in my life. You don’t know if I have newborns, you don’t know if I have family in my household...older family. So, yeah, just like the old saying, man. Go and flip that cover open and read a few pages, get into a few chapters before you really start running your mouth," Reigns explained. He said that everyone should take this time to better themselves and make the most out of this bad situation because if we people can't grow in a time like this, then the rest of the world doesn't have stand a chance. "For all my fans, I’m sorry I didn’t get to compete this year and put on a show and entertain, but sometimes things are more important and I had to make a choice for me and my family. But no matter what, you already know the deal, man. I showed up. I made the town, I made it to Orlando, and I had to make a decision for me," Roman added. "But it doesn’t take anything away from what I’ve done and what I’m going to do. I still love this game, I still love pro wrestling, sports entertainment. I love being in the ring, it’s a little weird being in the ring when nobody’s watching, nobody in the arena. But man, I’m ready to get back to work. And I’m just taking these times, this little bit of time we have, to build up the outside and come as close as possible to perfecting the inside."


WOMEN TAG TEAM TITLES ON THE LINE AT WRESTLEMANIA- The WWE Women's Tag Team titles will be on the line at WrestleMania this weekend as The Kabuki Warriors will be taking on Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross. The four women have been going at it for the past few weeks on Smackdown and last week Alexa Bliss even defeated Asuka clean with a DDT. Asuka and Kairi Sane won their titles from Bliss and Cross on an episode of Raw in August last year. In other Mania news, former EVOLVE champion and current NXT star Austin Theory will be replacing Andrade at WrestleMania and tagging with Angel Garza to take on The Street Profits for the Raw Tag Team titles. Theory was introduced last night on Raw by Zelina Vega as Andrade's replacement since her main client has a rib injury and was not cleared to compete. Theory is one of the youngest, brightest stars out there right now and just recently signed a WWE deal.


WRESTLEMANIA 32 ON ESPN RATING- The WrestleMania 32 encore presentation on ESPN on Sunday night drew 720,000 viewers and a 0.25 rating in the 18-49 demo. That is down from the WrestleMania XXX show the previous week which did 839,000 viewers. ESPN will air WrestleMania 35 this Sunday head-to-head with WrestleMania 36 night two. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)


AEW TO INTRODUCE NEW TITLE- All Elite Wrestling is introducing its fourth main title named the TNT Championship in honor of their television home TNT. To determine the new champion, an eight-man, single-elimination tournament will take place and matches will start on Wednesday, April 8 with the final match scheduled to take place so far at Double or Nothing in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 23. If that event takes place in Vegas remains to be seen. Tonight on AEW Dark, the company will reveal half of the bracket while the rest of the bracket will be revealed tomorrow on Dynamite. “It’s been a privilege working with Kevin Reilly and TNT to bring fans the best live wrestling show week after week on AEW: DYNAMITE, especially during these tumultuous times,” AEW President Tony Khan said. “I’m glad we’re now able to announce the TNT CHAMPIONSHIP. The first ever titleholder will be determined by an unforgettable tournament that fans will not want to miss, and that our wrestlers will be desperate to win. I’m excited for the announcement of the full bracket live on Dynamite this week. And, it’s only fitting that the champion and the title belt will carry the logo of the globally-respected TNT brand, and that they’ll represent not only AEW but also the great quality programming, massive reach, and storied history in the wrestling business that are all associated with TNT.”


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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5889

#79

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Watch WrestleMania 36 free on the WWE Network! 
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Monday, March 30 2020			Issue #5889
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Here we go...WrestleMania week! Can you hear...crickets!


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


IT'S WRESTLEMANIA WEEK...BUT...- It's WrestleMania week...but unlike any other WrestleMania week, there won't be any community outreach, no fan Axxess, no glamour of the Hall of Fame, no Takeover, no meet and greets throughout the host city, no day-long media appearances...and hell, not even a live WrestleMania. What is usually a week filled with over 70,000 fans coming from all corners of the world, this will be a pretty subdued occasion, so subdued that WWE has already taped WrestleMania a week-and-a-half in advance. It is safe to say that the coronavirus outbreak has pretty much altered the way we lived for the past month or so and who knows for how many more to come. This WrestleMania will certainly go down in history not just because it's spread over two nights, but because it is held in one of the smallest buildings with no fans in attendance. None. Zero. There won't be any record attendance announced this year and WWE won't be able to gloat about the economic impact that WrestleMania left in the host city. 
 Tampa Bay has been trying to get a hold of WrestleMania for a few years and finally managed to win the bid but as luck would have it, a virus outbreak took that away from them too. Dozens of hotels, many of which were charging over $300 a night during Mania week, ended up with no guests at all and restaurants that would have been buzzing with clients are now temporarily closed. Tons of independent shows and events surrounding WrestleMania had to cancel as well because let's face it, without the WWE fans in town, there was no way they would have sold out on their own. The idea of postponing WrestleMania to a later date was floated around but in the end, the powers that be chose to go ahead and still hold it at the Performance Center in front of nobody and to minimize the risk, pre-record it as well. Was it a good idea to go ahead with the show? Who knows...we'll find out in a few more days. But one thing is for sure, the buzz that accompanies WrestleMania week is definitely not there
  this time around.


THE BUMP THE ONLY LIVE BROADCAST ON WWE NETWORK DURING MANIA WEEK- As crazy as it may sound, The Bump show will be the only program streaming live during WrestleMania week as all broadcasts, including Raw, NXT, Smackdown, and WrestleMania have already been pre-recorded. In a release issued today, WWE announced the full list of WWE Network programs that will complement WrestleMania this week and the Saturday and Sunday episodes of The Bump are the only ones listed as live. The Bump will start streaming on the WWE Network and YouTube at 1PM ET on both days. The Bump is hosted by Kayla Braxton along with Matt Camp, Dan Vollymayer, Ryan Pappolla, and Evan T. Mack. WWE also announced that there will be a Kickoff show for each night of WrestleMania but these will be one hour each and not two as in the past. The description is listed as "WWE experts join the Kickoff panel to break down the biggest matches of WrestleMania 36."


TRIPLE H SAYS NO ONE IS BEING FORCED TO WORK PERFORMANCE CENTER SHOWS- In an interview with SportsCenter, Triple H said that all the talent and crew who are working these WWE Performance Center shows are there because they want to and not because anyone is forcing them to do it. He did acknowledge that some chose not to be there because either they felt it could be a risk towards their health or someone close to them and did mention that Roman Reigns was one of them. WWE has so far not mentioned anything officially that Roman Reigns is out of WrestleMania and continues to promote a match that in reality was never taped and it's not happening with just days to go to the show. Triple H said he didn't want to get into the specifics of WrestleMania because it's a "must watch and see show" when quizzed about the altered plans for Goldberg/Reigns. A handful of WWE Superstars were not allowed to participate on the show also because they were ill including Dana Brooke, Rey Mysterio, The Miz, Murphy, and Andrade wasn't cleared to compete because he had a rib i
 njury.


EDGE DETAILS HIS COMEBACK STORY IN ESPN INTERVIEW- WWE Hall of Famer Edge will be getting his first one-on-one match in a WWE ring in nine years this weekend when he faces Randy Orton in a last man standing match at WrestleMania. But how did his comeback started? Speaking to ESPN ahead of WrestleMania, Edge said that it all started when he was riding a mountain bike competing with Sheamus and hit one jump and wiped out at 25mph. After feeling pretty good despite the nasty bump, Edge went to see a doctor to check on his spine and was told that everything looks perfect. The former WWE champion then went to Birmingham, Alabama for a check-up with the folks at Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center and then followed it with WWE's chief medical doctor Dr. Joseph Maroon in Pittsburgh who gave him the go ahead to return to the ring. Edge explained how he couldn't go to the WWE Performance Center to train since it would blow the surprise so WWE sent him a ring and he rented a warehouse where he trained in Asheville, North Carolina, w
 ith both The Revival dropping in to help him get back in shape. You can read the full story at 


CHRIS JERICHO EXPLAINS HOW THE HARDY TELEPORTATION SEGMENT WAS FILMED- During a live chat with fans, Chris Jericho explained some behind the scenes stuff that went down when the crew was ready to tape the Matt Hardy teleportation for last Wednesday's Dynamite. In case you didn't know, Hardy teleported himself to various sections of the arena on Wednesday before he entered the ring for his face-to-face with Chris Jericho. "If you liked it, that's all on me. If you don't like it, that's still all on me because it was my idea," the former AEW champion explained. Jericho said that they filmed a version of it the night before but he wasn't there and when he saw it on Wednesday he didn't really like it as it wasn't exactly what he envisioned the segment would be. The crew then decided to film it before AEW Dynamite went live on TNT however there was a problem. As this segment was airing later in the night, the sun was still setting down before 8PM so they couldn't do it considering there would be different lighting during the segment. Jericho added that the
  Darby Allin vs Kip Sabian match was the only thing not live on Wednesday so they decided to air that first and during the time that the match was going on, they went out and filmed the teleportation tidbit at 8:15PM and only had 15 minutes to complete it. After they were done at 8:30PM, they got in the truck with all the footage 10 minutes later and the editing was done by 9PM with the segment ready to roll at 9:30PM. Jericho admitted that it wasn't perfect and in fact the editing of the segment was far from that but they did the best they could do considering the circumstances. "If it seemed strange ad odd, it's because it was," Jericho concluded.


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ADVERTISING: 
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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5888

#78

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Watch WrestleMania 36 free on the WWE Network! 
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Saturday, March 28 2020			Issue #5888
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Noting to say today, have a good one!

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


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


MORE CHANGES TO THE WRESTLEMANIA CARD- WrestleMania underwent more changes and additions as the coronavirus pandemic continued to affect operations. Two matches were added to the card last night on Smackdown, including Daniel Bryan vs Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental title and Otis vs Dolph Ziggler with Mandy Rose in his corner. The John Cena vs The Fiend match will be a Firefly Fun House match after Wyatt challenged Cena to the gimmick match last night on Smackdown. Cena will be on Smackdown next Friday to respond to the challenge. Also, The Miz and Murphy were both ill and were not allowed to participate during the show. Miz was set to team up with Morrison to defend the Smackdown Tag Team titles but that didn't happen and Murphy was supposed to be in the corner of Seth Rollins and was also not allowed at ringside.


DIFFERENT WAYS, AND PRICES, ON HOW TO WATCH WRESTLEMANIA 36- For the first time ever, WrestleMania will be on two consecutive nights and while usually that takes place on the "grandest stage of them all," the 36th installment of WWE's biggest show will be held on the smallest stage of them all this year with the show coming from the Performance Center and a couple of other unknown locations. What still remains "grand" though this year is the traditional pay-per-view price. While WrestleMania is available for free for first time subscribers to the WWE Network or $10 as part of your current subscription, those who do not have the Network and still want to get WrestleMania on television will have to shell out a little bit more than $10. But what's the price since this is split over two nights? Dish Network is selling both nights for $59.99 and no option to purchase them separately. AT&T U-Verse is splitting the nights and selling the show for $34.95 each, which comes to $69.90 if you want to watch both night one and two. DirecTV is also taking 
 the same approach with each night available separately for $34.95. Verizon Fios is a little bit cheaper, with each night available for $29.99 but ultimately it will still cost $60 to see both nights just like Dish. Fans can sign up now to get their free 30-day trial to the WWE Network which also includes WrestleMania for free at . The recent free view offer of the Network where WWE unlocked thousands of hours for a limited time does not include WrestleMania 36.


SMACKDOWN RATING- Friday Night Smackdown on FOX did 2,374,000 viewers yesterday off 2,393,000 viewers in the first hour and 2,355,000 in the second hour. That is down 133,000 viewers from last week's show. Smackdown did a 0.7 in the 18-49 demo and got beat by Hawaii Five-O, Shark Tank, and Blue Bloods in the demo. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)


UNCENSORED EPISODES OF BROKEN SKULL SESSIONS COMING TO WWE NETWORK- The uncensored versions of Steve Austin's Broken Skull Sessions are coming to the WWE Network with all episodes available on Tuesday. These uncensored episodes will not be part of the live feed and will only be available on the On Demand section of the WWE Network. As you can imagine, there's a bit of swearing on every episode of Broken Skull Sessions and WWE muted all the bad words. But starting Tuesday, all the cussing will be available for your viewing, and hearing, pleasure with shows being marked TV MA. Broken Skull Sessions episodes include so far The Undertaker, Goldberg, Kane, Big Show, and Bret Hart. In other related Network news, the website WWENetworkNews.com is reporting that the next WWE 24 episode will feature the return of Edge and is titled Edge: The Second Mountain. This hour-long episode will premiere on the WWE Network immediately following the second night of WrestleMania 36 on Sunday, April 5th. This is the third WWE 24 episode of 2020 so far with the other two
  being R-Truth and WrestleMania 35.


BECKY LYNCH TALKS WITH ESPN'S ARIEL HELWANI AHEAD OF WRESTLEMANIA- Current Raw Women's champion Becky Lynch had a 20-minute interview with ESPN's MMA Ariel Helwani to promote next week's WrestleMania. The interview was done via video chat and Becky discussed a variety of subjects including what it meant to have her family at ringside last year when she main evented WrestleMania, hooking up with Seth Rollins, her match against Shayna Baszler, Ronda Rousey, her favorite Mania moments, and of course the current situation. Lynch said that that WWE is running a smooth operation at the Performance Center and they are staggering everything in terms of filming and if someone has no reason to be there then "they get the hell outta there." She said if you have a promo or a match, then you're brought in with the minimal crew possible to shoot whatever you need to shoot and then you're off. She added that doctors greet you at the Performance Center who take everyone's temperature, give you a questionnaire, you get tested and then off you go. She said she hope
 s WWE allows them to isolate themselves for a few weeks before they are allowed go back out into the world once things return to normal. Before ending, Becky told everyone everyone to stay hopeful and keep the faith because this is not going to last forever and we will get out of this better than ever before. You can check it out at .


FS1 TO AIR THE 2020 ROYAL RUMBLE ON TUESDAY- This coming Tuesday, FOX Sports 1 will be airing an encore presentation of the 2020 Royal Rumble starting at 7PM ET. With television networks scrambling for content since most productions are halted due to the pandemic, WWE looks to be making the most out of it by already having past WrestleManias air on ESPN and now the Rumble on FS1. ESPN will be airing WrestleMania 32 tomorrow, their second WrestleMania following the airing of WrestleMania XXX last Sunday. ESPN will also air WrestleMania 35 next Sunday head-to-head with WrestleMania 36.


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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5887

#77

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


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Friday, March 27 2020			Issue #5887
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Went back to the office today after a month and boy it felt weird. Getting used to teleworking! And it also felt like Monday. Thankfully, it's Friday! 


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


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


ROMAN REIGNS REMOVED FROM WRESTLEMANIA CARD- WrestleMania 36 lost one of its main events as Ryan Satin of ProWrestlingSheet.com is reporting that Roman Reigns was not taking part in the show due to his bout with leukemia. Satin, who occasionally appears on WWE Backstage, said that it was Reigns who expressed his wish not to be part of any more upcoming shows as long as this pandemic remains because his immune system is weaker than those of regular people and if he gets the virus, it would put his life in danger. WWE had no problem with Reigns’ request and took him out of the card. The WWE Universal title will still be defended at WrestleMania but the opponent remains under wraps. There are also rumors that some other matches were changed as well as some WWE Superstars showed up with a fever according to Dave Meltzer of the Observer and were not allowed in the Performance Center. All employees are screened before entering the facility to try and keep the place as clean as possible. WrestleMania 36 was taped on Wednesday and Thursday although it’s not clear if additional tapings or re-shoots will be done at the Performance Center.


THE ROAD TO WRESTLEMANIA CONTINUES TONIGHT ON SMACKDOWN- Three matches have been announced for tonight's Smackdown which unlike last week is not live as it was taped during the past weekend. Scheduled for the show are Alexa Bliss vs Asuka, The New Day vs The Usos, and Drew Gulak vs Shinsuke Nakamura with the stipulation being that if Gulak wins, Daniel Bryan gets an IC shot against Sami Zayn at WrestleMania. Bray Wyatt will also be on the show with a new installment of The Firefly Funhouse. With Roman Reigns off the WrestleMania card as well it will be interesting to see if WWE will address that situation tonight somehow.


ANDRADE INJURED, NOT CLEARED FOR WRESTLEMANIA- The reigning United States champion Andrade was not cleared to compete at WrestleMania due to an injury he suffered this past Monday on Raw. Andrade was supposed to tag team with Angel Garza to take on The Street Profits for the Raw Tag Team titles. The match will still take place though and Garza will be teaming up with another WWE Superstar on the pay-per-view. The picture will be clearer on Monday when WWE explains the situation on Raw. Andrade is the third WWE Superstar known so far to be pulled from the WrestleMania card after Roman Reigns requested not to work due to his health and Dana Brooke was also taken out due to illness.


NXT RATING- NXT pulled in 669,000 viewers this week, up 127,000 viewers from last week's video package-only show. It did 0.20 rating in the 18-49 demo and placed #56 in the chart. The difference between the two shows this week was of 150,000 viewers, which is down by 240,000 viewers compared to the previous week. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)


MEET NXT'S NEWEST TAG TEAM FROM INDIA- The newest NXT tag team led by Malcolm Bivens, the man formerly known as Stokely Hathaway, is composed of Rinku Singh and Saurav Gurjar, and the two made their presence felt on Wednesday when they attacked Matt Riddle. Singh, 31, and Gurjar, 35, are both from India and both have been signed to a WWE deal since January 2018 where they have been training at the Performance Center. Singh is a former professional baseball player who was recruited by the Pittsburgh Pirates. His story, along with that of another Indian baseball player, was the basis of a Walt Disney Picture film titled Million Dollar Arm. Gurjar is a national kickboxing gold medalist in his country and was also an actor. He appeared in the Ring Ka King promotion which was headed up by Jeff Jarrett and TNA back in 2011 but that was his only wrestling exposure.


THE MAIN EVENT NETFLIX/WWE MOVIE TRAILER- The trailer for the Netflix/WWE Studios movie The Main Event was released. Landing on Netflix worldwide on April 10, The Main Event is about an 11-year-old who discovers a magical wrestling mask that grants him super strength and uses that to enter a WWE competition to achieve his dream of becoming a WWE Superstar. Several WWE Superstars are in the movie including Keith Lee, Otis, The Miz, Sheamus, Babatunde, Kofi Kingston, Mia Yim, Corey Graves, and Renee Young. Seth Carr, Tichina Arnold, Adam Pally, and Ken Marino are the leading stars in the movie. You can see the trailer at .


DYNAMITE RATING- Dynamite this week drew 819,000 viewers, down 113,000 viewers from last week's broadcast but still comfortably winning the Wednesday night war against NXT. The show did a 0.34 in the 18-49 demo and placed #23 in the top 50 cable chart. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)


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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5886

#76

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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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Thursday, March 26 2020			Issue #5886
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

That Benoit episode of Dark Side Of The Ring was phenomenal. It's really heartbreaking watching Nancy's sister Sandra and Chris' son David recount the stories. The ending was terrific as well and while I don't want to spoil anything, it will at least leave you with a smile on your face.


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


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


DARK SIDE OF THE RING BENOIT EPISODE BREAKS SERIES RECORD- The season two premiere of Dark Side Of The Ring featuring the two-hour Chris Benoit story did 320,000 viewers on Vice. That figure, much to no surprise, represents the most-watched episode of the whole series so far. The Von Erichs episode last year was the most-watched episode viewed to date with 234,000 viewers. The Benoit double episode was as striking as you could expect, with fantastic visual storytelling and commentary from Chris Jericho, Chavo Guerrero, Dean Malenko, Jim Ross, Vickie Guerrero, Chris' son David, and Nancy's sister Sandra. While what happened on that weekend is widely available on the Internet, hearing first-hand accounts from those who experienced it is rather shocking to say the least. You can watch the two-hour episode for free at . A U.S. IP address is required as the videos are geo-locked.


GARGANO AND CIAMPA TO MEET ONE LAST TIME ON APRIL 8 EPISODE OF NXT- Gargano and Ciampa will be wrestling each other one last time, or at least for the time being, on the April 8 episode of NXT as their recently-restarted feud comes to a close. Last night on NXT, Triple H came out and said that he will give the two an empty arena somewhere with a ring in the middle of it and a referee and while two men will enter, only one will be standing tall at the end of the match. From what Triple H said it looks like this match will not be taped from the WWE Performance Center. Triple H also made a stipulation that if any of them gets involved with each other again after this April 8 final match, they will be gone from NXT. Gargano and Ciampa have been feuding for a couple of years and headlined a few NXT Takeovers together in the process.


KILLER KROSS VIDEO INTERRUPTS NXT'S MAIN EVENT- Killer Kross is coming to NXT and last night a video interrupted the Triple H/Gargano/Ciampa segment which featured Kross and a bunch of images showing destruction. The former Impact Wrestling star joined WWE in February of this year and reported to the Performance Center immediately. His real-life girlfriend Scarlett Bordeaux is also signed to a WWE deal. Kross wrestled for Lucha Underground, Lucha Libre AAA, and most recently Impact Wrestling. He was released from Impact Wrestling months after he refused to blade in his first blood match against Eddie Edwards at Slammiversary XVII, citing the lack of a doctor on hand and no blood testing beforehand. He was given the release he requested in December. After the show, Kross replied to the NXT tweet which promoted Triple H's appearance on the broadcast by posting a GIF of a television on fire.


NXT UK TAKEOVER: DUBLIN POSTPONED- The NXT UK Takeover: Dublin event has been postponed and rescheduled for later in the year. WWE announced that the fourth UK Takeover would not be taking place due to the coronavirus outbreak and has set a date for Sunday, October 25 also at the 3Arena. The company had all television tapings running through the Takeover show in late April already recorded. All tickets purchased will remain valid for the new date but if you cannot make it you can get a refund from the point of purchase.


IO SHIRAI RETURNS, QUALIFIES FOR LADDER MATCH- Two more women qualified for the number one contender's ladder match for the NXT Women's title yesterday on NXT on USA Network. Xia Li and Aliyah was supposed to be one of the qualifying matches but Li was attacked backstage, ruling her out of the planned match. Instead, the returning Io Shirai took her place and beat Aliyah to qualify. Shirai has been out of action for two months after she suffered a knee injury in late January. Candice LaRae was the second one who qualified after beating Kayden Carter in the second qualifying match of the night. Shirai and LaRae now join Chelsea Green, Mia Yim, and Tegan Nox who are already part of the match. The last spot in the match will be decided next week in a gauntlet match as Shotzi Blackheart, Deonna Purrazzo, Dakota Kai, Kayden Carter, Xia Li, and Aliyah go against each other.



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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5885

#75

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

====================================================
Tuesday, March 25 2020			Issue #5885
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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 

WRESTLEMANIA 36 STARTS TAPING TODAY- WrestleMania 36 will be taped today and tomorrow at the WWE Performance Center with additional tapings being done at other unknown locations. All WWE Superstars and crew have been in a local area hotel in preparation for these two days of intense filming. It's unclear how the tapings will proceed considering they're trying to limit how many people are on set at the same time to avoid any spread of the virus. This will be the first time that a WrestleMania will be recorded ahead of time but due to the ongoing situation, WWE is taking no chances of waiting to do it on April 4 and 5 as things could rapidly change that could force a complete shutdown, preventing them from holding any sort of tapings. Over the past few days, WWE recorded all shows leading up to WrestleMania with post-Mania tapings schedule still up in the air. WWE has not revealed which matches will make part of night one and two and which matches will main event each night. Wrestling-Online.com will not be revealing any spoilers from WrestleMania tapings whatsoever.

ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA SHUTTING DOWN NON-ESSENTIAL BUSINESSES TOMORROW- The mayor of Orange County, Florida, Jerry L. Demings, has signed an executive order putting the county on a near-lockdown effective tomorrow, Thursday 11PM and will continue for two weeks until April 9 at 11PM. With this lockdown, residents cannot go to work unless they are providing essential services as defined by the order, meaning that most likely WWE will have to close operations at the Performance Center since its business is not deemed as essential. Any business which doesn't meet the criteria of the 35 essential business points listed in the order are ordered to shut down. People who violate the order could receive $50 citations or up to 50 days in jail. WWE will have night two of WrestleMania taped tomorrow at the Performance Center but will most likely not be able to do any tapings for post-Mania shows now, at least not until April 10. The WWE Performance Center has proved to be one of WWE's best investments, having their own building transformed into an arena where shows could be taped. 

MCMAHON ENTERS IN A VARIABLE PREPAID FORWARD CONTRACT TO SECURE WWE LIQUIDITY- In the latest 8-K filing with the Security and Exchange Commission yesterday, it was revealed that Vince McMahon entered into a variable prepaid forward contract with an unaffiliated bank covering approximately 3.5 million shares of the Company’s Class B common stock. Variable prepaid forward contracts are investment strategies that allow a shareholder, in this case McMahon, to generate liquidity for a number of issues, including risk management purposes. The move was done to make sure WWE has enough liquidity to go through this whole coronavirus pandemic. The variable prepaid forward contract is scheduled to settle on specified dates in March 2024, at which time the actual number of shares of the Company’s Class A common stock to be delivered by Mr. McMahon will be determined based on the price of the Company’s Class A common stock. Subject to certain conditions, Mr. McMahon can also elect to settle the variable prepaid forward contract in cash and thereby retain full ownership of the pledged shares. Mr. McMahon entered into the variable prepaid forward contract to provide current liquidity while allowing him to maintain voting and ordinary dividend rights in the stock, as well as the ability to participate in future stock price appreciation, during the term of the contract and thereafter if Mr. McMahon settles the variable prepaid forward contract in cash. The shares covered by the variable prepaid forward contract represent approximately 4.5% of the Company’s total outstanding shares of Class A and Class B common stock. The variable prepaid forward contract contains a 60-day lock-up restricting Mr. McMahon’s ability to sell or transfer additional shares of the Company’s common stock during such period without the Bank’s prior approval.

NXT RETURNS WITH NEW MATCHES TONIGHT ON USA NETWORK- NXT will resume "regular" - sort of - business tonight with a broadcast featuring matches and not just video packages and old content. In total, four matches have been announced for tonight's USA Network episode including Matt Riddle taking on Roderick Strong, Tyler Breeze vs Austin Theory, and two matches from the ladder match qualifiers with Candice LaRae vs Kayden Carter and Xia Li vs Aliyah. The winners of the women matches will advance to join Chelsea Green, Mia Yim, and Tegan Nox in the ladder match that will air sometime in April on NXT. Meanwhile, NXT champion Adam Cole will be delivering a special message on the heels of surpassing Fin Balor's 292 days as NXT champion, becoming the longest reigning men's NXT champ in history.
 
RAW RATING- Monday Night Raw suffered one the worst non-holiday rating in over two decades, getting only 2,006,000 viewers for the three-hour broadcast from the WWE Performance Center. Hour one started with 2,289,000 viewers, then dropped to 2,004,000 viewers in the second hour, before dropping off to just 1,726,000 viewers in the third and final hour. Raw lost over half a million viewers from the first to the third hour. Raw was #3, #8, and #10 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic and was way down at the bottom of the list as far as total viewership for the night goes with news broadcasts dominating the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

HARDY AND JERICHO COME FACE-TO-FACE TONIGHT ON DYNAMITE- Dynamite returns from the Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida tonight behind a closed set for more live action. AEW has chosen to keep doing a live broadcast instead of taping like WWE, risking to get eventually shut down and caught without any future content. Two matches have been announced so far including Cody taking on Jimmy Havoc and Kenny Omega defending his AAA Mega title against Sammy Guevara. The Exalted One Brodie Lee will also make his in-ring debut but no opponent was named. Former champion Chris Jericho will also get face-to-face with Matt Hardy following last week's debut where Hardy joined forces with The Elite in their war against The Inner Circle. Cody will also be doing commentary with Tony Schiavone during tonight's broadcast.

JERICHO RESCHEDULES FOZZY U.S. TOUR- Chris Jericho has announced that his Fozzy tour which was set to start in a few days has been fully rescheduled for the Summer, except for one date which will take place on May 8. The Fozzy band will now tour the United States between July and September and all tickets purchased for the original scheduled shows will be honored on the new dates. If anyone cannot make it to the new dates, they can apply for a refund at the point of purchase. "In light of the pandemic that's gripping the world's attention, it's time to make the right move and postpone the April/May leg of ‘Save the World’ Tour for everyone's safety and well being," Jericho said in a statement. "However, we promise you, once the World is back on its axis and TRULY saved, Fozzy will be back to hold you in our loving arms and literally ROCK all your troubles away!! See everybody soon and in the meantime and between time, please stay healthy and safe. We will get through this together." All the dates announced do not include Tuesdays or Wednesdays so he will still be appearing regularly on AEW Dynamite.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS FROM THE UPCOMING TNA ONE NIGHT SPECIAL ON AXS TV- AXS TV will present a one night only TNA special on Tuesday, March 31 starting at 10PM ET following the conclusion of Impact Wrestling. “For years, the loyal fans of TNA have asked us to bring back some of their favorite wrestlers of the past,” said D’Amore, “and after the incredible response we received from the now-postponed ‘TNA: There’s No Place Like Home’ iPPV, we thought an AXS TV special would be the perfect opportunity to celebrate our history.” Scheduled to appear are Rhino, Madman Fulton, Scott Steiner, Hernandez from LAX, Chase Stevens from The Naturals, Kid Bash, Johnny Swinger, Suicide, Manik, and others. Former TNA Wrestling announcer David Penzer and current Impact Wrestling EVP Scott D'Amore will be calling the action from the broadcast booth. “Right now we’re dealing with unprecedented circumstances, so here’s a great reason to stay home, turn everything off and enjoy the excitement that is Total Nonstop Action wrestling,” added D'Amore.

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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5884

#74

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

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Monday, March 24 2020			Issue #5884
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

Eagerly awaiting the start of Dark Side Of The Ring tonight. I avoided watching the first hour of the first episode so I can watch it in full at once. Check it out tonight.

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

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

DARK SIDE OF THE RING SEASON TWO PREMIERES TONIGHT- Dark Side Of The Ring, the critically-acclaimed wrestling docu-series that revisits the most shocking events in the business will start season two tonight on Vice at 9PM ET. The two-hour season premiere will tackle the story of the Chris Benoit double-murder suicide which rocked the world of professional wrestling in 2007. Several of Benoit's former friends including Chris Jericho, Vickie Guerrero, Jim Ross, and many others along with Nancy Benoit's sister and Chris' oldest son David will be part of the documentary. The first hour was released on YouTube late last week and left viewers shocked with the details given as close friends opened up for the first time on what happened during that horrible weekend. Upcoming episodes include 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.

WWE UNLOCKS THOUSANDS OF HOURS OF WWE NETWORK CONTENT FOR FREE VIEWING- WWE announced that it is offering thousands of hours from the WWE Network for free for a limited time. Every WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, NXT TakeOver, NXT UK TakeOver, WWE 24, Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions, Ruthless Aggression, The Monday Night War series and tons of other episodes and shows are included in the free viewing offer. Recent episodes of Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown are available to watch as well. WrestleMania 36 is not included in the free offer and it will be available only to subscribers. WWE did not note how long this free offer will last but many streaming services are unlocking many content as the world copes with the coronavirus outbreak resulting in millions of people being locked inside their homes. You can head over to  to get your free account now.

WRESTLEMANIA XXX ON ESPN RATING- The WrestleMania XXX encore presentation on ESPN on Sunday night pulled in 839,000 viewers and a 0.31 rating in the 18-49 demographic, placing the show #30 in the top 50 cable chart. ESPN will air WrestleMania 32 from Dallas, Texas this coming Sunday. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)

TWO WWE SUPERSTARS IN QUARANTINE AND OFF THE WRESTLEMANIA CARD- Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that both Rey Mysterio and Dana Brooke will not be part of WrestleMania as they are both under quarantine. Under quarantine does not mean that any of them has been diagnosed with the coronavirus but even being in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with the virus can land you in quarantine. Dana Brooke was supposed to be part of the six pack challenge for the Smackdown Women's title along with Naomi, Tamina, Lacey Evans, Sasha Banks, and Bayley. Rey, on the other hand, was not yet advertised for any match on the show although chances are that he would have been involved somehow. Neither Superstar has so far publicly addressed the news.

MORE MATCHES ADDED TO WRESTLEMANIA- A few more matches were added to the WrestleMania card and one big match got a new stipulation added to it. The Undertaker vs AJ Styles match will now be a boneyard match, suggesting that this will not be part of the Performance Center tapings but will take place somewhere else. Styles referenced that he would be burying the Undertaker in the same plot that Michelle McCool picked to bury her husband's career. The Raw Tag Team titles will also be on the line as The Street Profits get their first WrestleMania match against the team of United States champion Andrade and Angel Garza, with their business manager Zelina Vega in their corner. Another match added is Aleister Black taking on Bobby Lashley while Randy Orton accepted Edge's challenge for a WrestleMania one-on-one encounter.

NXT TAKEOVER: TAMPA BAY MATCHES TO TAKE PLACE ON NXT ON USA NETWORK- The planned matches for NXT Takeover: Tampa Bay will be airing in the month of April during the regular NXT on USA Network broadcasts according to a story published today by Sports Illustrated. The Takeover for WrestleMania weekend has been cancelled and will not air as a standalone show with WWE opting to spread the matches that were scheduled over the course of the next month. Triple H will be appearing on NXT tomorrow to make the official announcement. Up until plans went sideways, only one match was officially announced for the show and that was the women's ladder match to determine the number one contender for the NXT Women's title. Three have already qualified to be part of this match - Chelsea Green, Mia Yim, and Tegan Nox - while the rest are still to be determined.

RUSEV PLEDGES $20,000 TO HELP WWE EMPLOYEES WHO ARE NOT GETTING PAID- WWE Superstar Rusev has pledged to donate $20,000 to his extended WWE family who he says are "sitting at home without an income." The tweet suggests that WWE has furloughed some employees due to the coronavirus outbreak. Those most likely affected include the individuals who are typically on the road and in charge of setting up and tearing down arenas since there's no live events taking place. "WE can’t do it without y’all. Production, security, etc. LOVE YALL," he wrote. WWE has been running TV from the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, as all non-televised live events for the next month or so have been cancelled.

CODY TO DO COMMENTARY TOMORROW ON DYNAMITE- Cody announced on Twitter that tomorrow night, he will be joining Tony Schiavone on commentary for Dynamite. From the looks of it, Jim Ross and Excalibur will not be in attendance as Cody only mentioned Schiavone, although that is not 100% confirmed. "I have a bad habit on commentary that I’ll be totally leaning into, and hopefully it turns into something fun for the fans watching at home," he added. Cody also has a match scheduled tomorrow against Jimmy Havoc. Dynamite will be coming to you live from Daily's Place in Jacksonville, Florida without a crowd for the second week in a row. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, AEW will be filming at that location behind a closed set for as long as they're allowed. The Blood & Guts match originally scheduled for tomorrow is not happening due to the strict rules of how many people you can have close together in a small space.

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Wrestling-Online Newsletter #5883

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Sunday, March 23 2020			Issue #5883
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//->> OPENING WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
Colin Vassallo -[mailto:editor@...]-

With WrestleMania being recorded this week, Wrestling-Online.com will not be publishing anything from the tapings whatsoever and there will be zero spoilers heading into the show. We want to be just as surprised when watching it and we're not here to spoil anyone's party.


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


WRESTLEMANIA TO BE TAPED THIS WEEK- For the first time in its 36-year history, WrestleMania will be recorded and not airing live on April 4 and April 5 as WWE took the decision to tape the Performance Center matches next week according to PWInsider.com. WWE recorded the March 27 and April 3 episodes of Smackdown on Saturday and yesterday they taped content for NXT. Tonight there's Raw tapings and then on Tuesday another set of Raw tapings for March 30. On Wednesday and Thursday, the content for the two-night WrestleMania will be pre-recorded and additional tapings will be done at the multiple locations that WWE has alluded to. Those locations have not been revealed yet. With the U.S. government likely to make stricter rules in the days and weeks to come, WWE is not risking anything as they could be caught off guard and not allowed to do any sort of tapings if this coronavirus spread gets even worse. The decision was taken in the best interest of everyone involved, to get it over with as quickly as possible and since there will be no fans in the stands, it made no sense to go live anyway. Recording WrestleMania will also give WWE the chance to make even more finishing touches on the show in post-production, presenting the best possible product to fans. WrestleMania tapings will be held in closed sets so that should help with the prevention of any leaks. Come Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5, those players involved in making the show will, for the first time ever in their career, be able to sit and enjoy watching the show from the comfort of their own home. 


DREW MCINTYRE PUTS OVER BROCK LESNAR FOR MAKING HIM LOOK GOOD- In an interview published today by UK-based TalkSport, Drew McIntyre put over Brock Lesnar for making him look as good as he possibly can in the buildup to their WrestleMania 36 match. Drew said that a few weeks ago, they ran him down as a number one contender because he required Ricochet's assist at the Rumble to eliminate Brock Lesnar. "Generally, Paul Heyman builds them up to sell the opponent for Brock’s match, but it was the opposite this time. Paul ran me down, almost like ‘wait a minute, are we worried about this guy?’" Drew said. But then everything changed once he came out and dropped Lesnar three times with his Claymore Kick. "I’m sure you probably noticed, one of those kicks wasn’t necessarily planned," McIntyre said, referring to the final kick which fans kept chanting "one more time." Drew said that Lesnar "went out of his way" and felt the crowd because that's how good he is. "There were no physical cues so we just kept going. And I was like, ‘Wow, this guy is unbelievable’ and I’m glad I’m at a level where I can read him at the same time. We’re working together here and he’s more than willing to go overboard to make me look as good as possible and make me," the number one contender added. Drew also noted that it was Lesnar who told him to pick up the belt after the third Claymore Kick and to hold it up. In fact, the camera was so close that the microphone picked up Lesnar saying "pick up the belt" from the floor and McIntyre quickly obeyed. "He [Brock] felt that in the moment and said ‘do it!’ The camera just picked it up, but that’s how much he’s invested in this. He made that call because he felt the crowd. Nobody one, sells like Brock Lesnar and two, feels a crowd like Brock Lesnar," he said.


R-TRUTH REGAINS 24/7 TITLE AFTER PINNING MOSS WHILE JOGGING- The 24/7 title shenanigans resumed yesterday with Riddick Moss losing the title to the greatest 24/7 champion ever, R-Truth. Moss was jogging around in his neighborhood when a car pulled up being driven by WWE referee Darrick Moore. Moss realized what was happening and asked Moore who is he with. At that point, Truth came out from the trunk of the car and rolled up Moss from behind for the three count. "You need to go back to football, Mr Randy Moss," Truth said as he got back in the driving seat of the car and sped away with the 24/7 title. Moss has been the longest-reigning 24/7 champion so far, holding on to the title for over a month. You can see the title change at 


GET YOUR WRESTLEMANIA "I WASN'T THERE" T-SHIRT!- Despite WrestleMania 36 not taking place in Tampa Bay anymore, WWE is still selling WrestleMania merchandise sporting Tampa Bay as the host city and actually did some clever marketing with at least one particular t-shirt. Usually, WWE sells these "I was there" merchandise for special occasions such as WrestleMania. Well, this year, there will be nobody in the stands but that didn't stop WWE from selling a similar shirt, only this time it says "I wasn't there." There are two variants of the this shirt, one which has the WrestleMania logo on the front and that text above and below and one which has the Superstars participating in WrestleMania in the front along with the logo and the text "I wasn't there" on the back. "WrestleMania 36 will be historic event in #WWE history, and you won't be there! Declare to the world that you did your part and stayed home with a new ‘I Wasn’t There’ tee at #WWEShop," a tweet from WWE said promoting the shirt. Rob Gronkowski merchandise is already up for sale including the GronkMania t-shirt that he sported on Friday Night Smackdown. WWE Shop currently has an offer of up to 50% off from select tees and select replica titles as well. No codes are necessary to take advantage of these offers. To start shopping go to .


AEW POSTPONES FOUR MORE DYNAMITE SHOWS- All Elite Wrestling has postponed their upcoming live events from Philadelphia, Houston, New Orleans, and Albuquerque to later in the year as precautionary measures against the coronavirus. The April 22 show from Philly is now set to take place on July 29 from the Liacouras Center. The Houston show which was set for April 29 will now be held on November 4 at the Fertitta Center. The May 6 New Orleans show is now set to December 2 from the University of New Orleans Lakefront Arena and the May 13 show from Albuquerque is now scheduled for December 30 at the Santa Ana Star Center. Fans who have already purchased tickets to all the above-mentioned shows will be offered a refund via the point of purchase, or have their original ticket valid for admission to the rescheduled event. Until further notice, live episodes of Dynamite will be produced at closed set locations with essential personnel only.


RICKY MORTON OF THE ROCK 'N' ROLL EXPRESS REVEALS BOUT WITH BELL'S PALSY- WWE Hall of Famer and multi-time NWA Tag Team champion Ricky Morton of The Rock 'N' Roll Express revealed that he has been diagnosed with Bell's palsy. On his latest podcast, Morton recounted how last week he noticed that after he went to grab a cup of coffee, he had coffee dripping on the side of his face and when he went to check in the mirror, his face looked disfigured. "I thought that I might be having a stroke, but I went to the hospital and they told me it was brought on by stress and everything...but I have a touch of Bell’s palsy," Morton said. The good news is that it's starting to clear up and he can shut his eyes and talk. "I just wanted to tell the wrestling world out there...if you see me...don’t run off. I’m doing good. Physically wise...I’m great." Bell's palsy is the same condition that fellow Hall of Famer and AEW commentator Jim Ross has. NXT UK star Piper Niven also suffers from Bell's palsy.


IMPACT'S REBELLION PPV CANCELLED- The Impact Wrestling Rebellion pay-per-view set for April 19 has been officially cancelled as well due to the coronavirus. The show was going to take place from Terminal 5 in New York City and with New York pretty much on lockdown, the situation will clearly not be normalized in a month, leaving no other option but to cancel the show completely. AXS has already marked the event as cancelled on their ticket page and those who purchased a ticket through the official outlet will be getting a refund within 30 business days. If you bought your ticket somewhere else, you will need to contact that location to get your money reimbursed. Impact already cancelled Lockdown (March 28), March Breakdown (March 29) and There's No Place Like Home (April 3).


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