Coronavirus-related wrestling updates:
- Takeover:Tampa Bay matches will take place on NXT TV beginning April 1. That's a good move.
- Rey Mysterio and Dana Brooke have been pulled from WrestleMania due to being in quarantine. While Rey Mysterio was not announced for a match, Dana Brooke is no longer part of the Smackdown Women's Championship match.
- Dustin Rhodes has an exclusive shirt to benefit a local food bank.
- Rusev is giving $20,000 to WWE staff who aren't getting paid. That's very generous.
- Impact has canceled their April 17 Impact Plus event, as well as their April 24 and April 25 TV tapings. They also confirmed Rebellion is canceled. I'm very curious what they're going to do for content in a few weeks.
- Fozzy has postponed their April and May dates. Their tour will now go from July through September. No Wednesday dates are scheduled, so Chris Jericho has again arranged not to miss Dynamite.
ESPN's WrestleMania 30 airing drew 839,000 viewers.
Fight Network has named a new general manager. Ariel Shnerer had previously held a number of other roles there, including helping Impact Plus launch.
Charly Caruso teased competing at WrestleMania. Honestly I think she'd be able to have a passable match.
Drew McIntyre promoted WrestleMania in interviews with TalkSport (Part 1 Part 2), Sports Illustrated, and Metro.
Pro Wrestling Tees is auctioning signed action figures to recoup losses from WrestleCon.
WWE Network is no longer available in Saudi Arabia. I'm curious what's going on on that front.
"The Big Show Show" trailer released. I'll mark out if he turns heel and face multiple times during the season.
Raw drew 2.01 million viewers this week. I think this has to be considered a special circumstance like a holiday show. That said, overall the show's audience has really declined from years back with no signs of that turning around.
Nick Aldis did a fan Q&A.
NWA has uploaded their 2019 "pop-up" event.
Vince McMahon has sold approximately 3.5 million shares of WWE stock, effective March 2024, in a move to raise $80 million for the company. That's around 15% of what he owns, and shows a major dedication to the crisis.
Chris Jericho promoted "Dark Side of the Ring" with UpRoxx and Newsweek.
Chavo Guerrero and Tommy Dreamer appeared on the "Dark Side of the Ring" post-show.
NXT has added:
- Candice LeRae vs. Kayden Carter in a qualifying match for the NXT Women's Championship contendership ladder match
- Xia Li vs. Aliyah in a qualifying match for the NXT Women's Championship contendership ladder match
- Matt Riddle vs. Roderick Strong
- Austin Theory vs. Tyler Breeze
XFL's P.J. Walker has been signed in the NFL, making him the first XFL player to get an NFL contract. We'll see who is and isn't able to return for a second season.
For my take on yesterday's PWInsider.com questions:
1. If that was a reason, it wasn't the main one.
2. I have a feeling we're going to see something like that with The Undertaker and/or The Fiend at that event.
3. It's possible. Some of that will depend on what else is set up for after WrestleMania before the event airs.
4. It will be seen as an anomaly, a bit like WrestleMania 2. I don't expect it to be considered an all-time great show given the circumstances, but it will be memorable for other reasons.
5. They could do that if they wanted to. I hope they take advantage of the opportunity to do something special for the show.
More wrestling tomorrow.
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