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Friday, March 20, 2020

Coronavirus-related wrestling updates, AEW injury note, Exalted One plans, Interviews with Corbin/Billy Gunn/Meij/Eddie Kingston/Sonya, assorted wrestling notes, former WWE champion doesn't expect to re-sign, AEW EVPs seek feedback, Dynamite+NXT audiences, new Rebellion match, Stardom lawsuit, former WWE Champion teases return, more WWE lawsuits, Revival update, WWE goes after indie company, and Questions on empty arena matches, Ribera's Steakhouse, Amazing Red in WWE, and Impact pushing Kazarian

Coronavirus-related wrestling updates:
- WWE has postponed their South African tour to September 10 through September 12.

- Rob Schamberger is launching a virtual convention. That's clever!

- Game Changer Wrestling is running an Acid Cup to get its performers work.

- Smackdown's March 27 episode will be taped tomorrow at the WWE Performance Center.

- WWE will pre-tape content in the days ahead for Raw and Smackdown to lead up to WrestleMania. It's possible that event itself will be pre-taped, as amazing as that sounds.

- Brock Lesnar may or may not be able to appear, since he lives in Saskatchewan. That would obviously greatly change plans.

- The WWE Performance Center has suspended training and working activities during the outbreak.

- WWE talent and staff are being told they don't have to attend shows if they aren't comfortable doing so. That should show just how grave things are.

- NJPW has canceled its April 2 Florida show.

- OVW has canceled TV tapings until April 7. It has also suspended training.

- WWE canceled a major tryout's in-ring aspect. Talents instead just cut promos. I hope they're able to return.

Nick Jackson's injury angle is for family leave, as his wife is expecting to deliver soon.

Brodie Lee was always planned as the Exalted One. AEW teased other directions as red herrings. They did a good job of keeping fans guessing.

King Corbin is on the latest "After The Bell"

Matt Hardy's Dynamite music was performed by Reby.

Billy Gunn is on the latest "Unrestricted."

"The Main Event" is coming to Netflix April 10.

Daniel Bryan has indicated he isn't likely to sign another big wrestling deal when his current contract ends later this year. He intends to take six weeks off when Brie Bella gives birth again, which will likely be near the end of his current deal. He didn't rule out occasional matches after 2020, but his focus will be on his family. That's really not a surprise given previous statements. He's made money and had big moments. He's ready to move to another chapter of his life.

NXT's interviews were filmed Tuesday at the WWE Performance Center. Triple H and Tom Phillips' segments were filmed at WWE headquarters.

Paige and Renee Young were part of a special FS1 broadcast watching past women's matches. This was kind of a make good for no Backstage this week.

Cody and the Young Bucks have set up phone numbers for fan feedback. That's very, very personalized, and I hope they don't regret opening themselves up like that.

AEW staff and talent were medically evaluated before Dynamite. Glad they're taking it seriously.

Dynamite drew 932,000 viewers this week. That's very impressive given the circumstances.

NXT drew 542,000 viewers this week, the lowest audience in the show's history. Obviously not having any new matches was the key factor there. I expect some usual NXT viewers watched TNT this week, which gives AEW an opportunity to turn them into more regular fans.

New Day will appear on "All That" this weekend. That's perfect!

Rebellion has added Sami Callihan vs. Ken Shamrock. That makes sense following this week's Impact. I'm curious where both of them go from there, since as a top heel Sami will almost inevitably match up with Eddie Edwards and Tessa Blanchard yet again.

NJPW President Harold Meij spoke to Sports Illustrated:
- They've got their work cut out for them filling MSG without Jericho, Moxley, and The Elite.

- Wow. Doing an annual MSG event is a very tall order!

- Reading between the lines, it sounds like NJPW doesn't want to work with one of ROH's competitors, and they could be shading The Elite for leaving.

Eddie Kingston spoke to Chris Van Vliet. I'm glad he's still active.

Stardom, its owner, and two competitors are being sued by the former managers of those two competitors. The wrestlers in question are Tam Nakano and Itsuki Hoshino, and the lawsuit claims those two are still under contract to the manager. There is also an allegation that Nakano's contract was breached because she was promised a major title win that didn't occur. Nakano and Hoshino are said to be happy in Stardom and not wanting anything to do with these figures anymore. I hope this doesn't hurt Stardom or those wrestlers at a time when they can really grow.

Japan's Yoshiaku Yatsu is returning to the ring after a leg amputation during DDT's June 7 event. That should be notable.

The former TNA Asylum has been torn down.

Alberto El Patron has claimed he has spoken to WWE about a return. I'm curious how that would go.

ROH filmed material for TV while talent were in town for the 18th anniversary weekend events that didn't occur. It's going to be tough to fill TV time during the outbreak, but I suspect they might still have shows featuring past material.

WWE is facing further class action lawsuits over their stock price falling. This is why lawyers have such bad reputations.

The Revival are expected to be benched for the remaining months of their contracts.

WWE sent an Illinois independent promotion cease and desist letters for looking to run shows as "In Your Warehouse," a take on WWE's old "In Your House" PPVs. As such, the shows will now be called "Warehouse Wars."

Sonya Deville discussed representation in wrestling and more. We'll see if WWE goes ahead with any LGBTQ+ elements.

For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. There aren't a ton to pull from, but the MCMG/Bucks match was hardly one I'd put in the category as the others. It didn't feel particularly meaningful.

2. It's really become iconic.

3. Honestly I think he'd be more likely to come in as a trainer or coach given his experience there. They've got plenty of younger fliers.

4. Honestly, no. Having a great match with people who have great matches with everyone isn't really indicative of much. I like Kazarian but he wasn't someone I'd have pushed as a top name at that time. He was better as a tag team guy.

5. Nothing to add to 5.

More wrestling tomorrow.

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