Total Pageviews

Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Cornavirus-related wrestling updates, new WWE book, assorted wrestling press, Dynamite to have title match, WWE roster change, HoFer needs knee surgery, indie names working Dark, Network library free, new WM36 matches, legend has health issue, Dynamite guest commentator, and Questions on Bret on Austin's podcast, Minnesota Mania, AEW being affected by COVID-19, Impact showing WWE footage, and if Mania was postponed

Coronavirus-related wrestling updates:
- NJPW has canceled its March 31 and April 11 events.

- AEW has rescheduled the following Dynamites:
-- The April 22 Pennsylvania episode will now be on July 29.

-- The April 29 Texas episode will now be on November 4.

-- The May 6 Louisiana episode will now be on December 2.

-- The May 13 New Mexico episode will now be on December 30.

- WWE taped footage at Full Sail University for future episodes of NXT.

"WWE Beyond Extreme," a book featuring covering gimmick matches and stunts, has been released.

ROH's Ian Riccaboni has launched a toy podcast.

Dynamite this week will feature Kenny Omega vs. Sammy Guevara for the AAA Mega Championship. The previously announced lumberjack match and parking lot brawl have been shelved.

"The Bump" hosts will be doing content on Instagram Live this week.

Kayla Braxton is on Isaiah Scott's latest podcast.

Mojo Rawley has been moved to Smackdown on an official basis. That's not a surprise.

WWE is only using producers from Florida at this week's tapings since they're using the Performance Center. Shawn Michaels is assisting Road Dogg, Adam Pearce, and Jamie Noble in those duties.

Koko B. Ware has a GoFundMe for knee replacement surgery. That's rough.

AEW Dark is a double episode this week and will feature a number of independent wrestlers who are otherwise not working. Joe Alonzo, Jon Cruz, Matt Sells, Suge D (Sugar Dunkerton), Corey Hollis, Mike Reed, and Robert Anthony will all be in action.

WWE Network is putting up a lot of free content for a limited time to promote WrestleMania. I don't expect the Network to continue in its current form for much longer. They might as well prepare to make the whole thing permanently free at this rate.

WrestleMania 36 has added:
- Street Profits vs. Andrade and Angel Garza for the Raw Tag Team Championship
- Aleister Black vs. Bobby Lashley
- The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles in a Boneyard match

Ricky Morton recently had a bout of Bell's Palsy.

Cody will do commentary on Dynamite this week. I'm curious what that means for the normal broadcast team.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. Honestly? That's just Bret. While the other guests have continued to have careers and maintain relevancy, Bret doesn't really have anything to discuss from the past 15+ years. He's largely been defined as the Montreal Screwjob guy who took the business too seriously and who stopped mattering once WCW closed down, if not before, and I think his attitude reflects that he and his contributions have really been passed by.

2. They've been in the running, but ultimately other host cities have made WWE better offers. Honestly it could also be a weather thing, as well. WWE doesn't want WrestleMania to be in too cold of a place.

3. I expect them to be fine. TNT understands the situation and isn't going to cancel them so soon after renewal. Tony Khan's dedicated to supporting the company long-term, too.

4. WWE and Impact are on professional terms in the sense that both sides are open to licensing footage to the other for the right price. At this point WWE doesn't even really consider them competition at the level of AEW or NJPW.

5. I don't dislike the idea of the June Madison Square Garden show "replacing" WrestleMania and just resuming the build when they're able to. Vince McMahon has his reasons for wanting the show in April, though. Vince beat God in 2006, and he's determined to beat the coronavirus now.

More wrestling tomorrow.

No comments:

Post a Comment