LA Knight was absent from Friday’s SmackDown due to testing positive for COVID-19.
According to Dave Meltzer, Knight was not at tonight’s SmackDown at the Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona due to contracting COVID-19. Fightful reported that Knight left the arena shortly before SmackDown began.
Fightful also reported on Friday that LA Knight was slated to be involved in the show’s main event segment featuring John Cena, Solo Sikoa, and Jimmy Uso. The show instead ended with a 2 on 1 assault, with Cena taking multiple top rope splashes from Uso.
The show-long storyline had Cena and AJ Styles look to face Uso and Sikoa in a tag match. When Adam Pearce brought the match idea to Paul Heyman, he agreed to it as long as it wasn’t tonight. Uso said they would sign the contract in the ring for Fastlane next month. That led to a trap where Styles was jumped backstage by Sikoa and Uso, with Sikoa leaping off a platform and splashing on top of Styles, sending him out in an ambulance. That led to Cena confronting Sikoa and Uso in the final segment.
WWE is ordering all of its employees to return to their offices.
PWInsider reported Tuesday evening that CEO Nick Khan sent a letter to all employees instructing them to return to the office full-time starting on May 1.
Khan’s letter, according to PWInsider, reads as follows:
We are all fortunate to be three years, one month and fourteen days removed from the moment where stay at home orders were put in place, businesses shuttered (some permanently) and sports seasons canceled. Of course, at WWE and thanks to all of you, we continued to move forward, never missing a week of production in the safest way possible.
As I have had the good fortune of meeting with so many of you over the last few months, it has become apparent to me that our business thrives on creativity and an unparalleled work ethic. All of us physically together is a part of that. As such, we will be going back to what has always been the case prior to COVID, which is a return to five days a week in office.
Nothing replaces our ability to interact with one another as we collectively continue to build and represent our company. We will all connect better and be better.
Monday, May 1, 2023, will be the start of our full time return to office.
For those based in Stamford, our first group has moved to our new HQ and the rest of us will be there shortly. We thank you for your patience with this process. If you have not yet seen it, it is a spectacular work space that we believe you will all be quite proud of.
Thank you for all,
Nick
WWE had continued to use a hybrid home/office work environment last year as cases of COVID-19 went down. WWE has been moving employees to its new world headquarters in Stanford, Connecticut earlier this month.
Also earlier this month, WWE announced that they were acquired by Endeavor and will merge with the UFC to form a new company that has yet to be named. That deal is set to be finalized later this year.
NJPW has announced that Trent Beretta has tested positive for COVID-19, forcing changes to three matches for Saturday’s Capital Collision pay-per-view.
Beretta had been scheduled to team with IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada against Jay White and Hikuleo at Capital Collision in the semi-main event. Rocky Romero will take Beretta’s place in that match.
Romero had been set for a 10-man tag in the second match on the main card, and will be replaced by The DKC. DKC had been scheduled to wrestle Kevin Knight in a dark match for the live crowd, and will be replaced in that bout by AEW’s Nick Comoroto.
This week’s Dynamite and Rampage episodes both had to be written due to AEW World Champion Hangman Page testing positive for COVID-19.
Page announced on Wednesday morning that COVID-19 would prevent him from appearing on Dynamite this week. Though Page wasn’t present at the show, his AEW World Championship defense against CM Punk was still made official for AEW’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view on Sunday, May 29.
Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that some plans for Wednesday’s Dynamite and the tapings for this Friday’s Rampage episode had to be changed due to Page having COVID.
“Adam Page and his family are okay. He’s pretty much said he was okay. And he expects he will be on TV next week. They had to rewrite some of the TV. I heard Rampage had to be rewritten more than Dynamite, but Dynamite had to be rewritten and a few things were changed,” Meltzer said.
“Obviously there was going to be a big angle with Punk and Adam Page that would lead to the announcement of the match, and instead they just announced the match as the main event for Double or Nothing. So whatever that was probably will take place next week if he is able to be there next week, which, as I said, he believes that he will be there next week.”
Next Wednesday’s Dynamite is being held at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore.
New Japan Pro Wrestling announced this morning new changes to their Golden Series tour due to COVID-19 protocols and injuries.
NJPW announced that Jeff Cobb is currently recovering from a left patellar tendon tear and a muscle strain in his left leg following his match against Tetsuya Naito on January 5. As a result, he will not be on the Golden Series tour. Young Lion Yuto Nakashima is also out of action after suffering a blow to the head on February 7 and will be out up to February 13. Additionally, YOSHI-HASHI and Taiji Ishimori have been pulled from the February 11 event in Sendai due to COVID protocols.
Cobb was originally set to team with Great-O-Khan on February 11 against Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan. Instead, Great-O-Khan will face Kojima in a singles match and will continue to wrestle in singles matches for the rest of the tour, including the February 13 event in Osaka where he will face Togi Makabe.
Nakashima was originally set to team in the kickoff match on February 13. That match has been changed to Ryohei Oiwa, Kojima, and Tenzan facing Kosei Fujita, Tomoaki Honma, and Yuji Nagata.
A six-man tag that YOSHI-HASHI was scheduled to be in will now have Hiroyoshi Tenzan take his place as he teams with Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii to face EVIL, Dick Togo, and Yujiro Takahashi. Gedo will replace Ishimori in a singles match against Tiger Mask.
NJPW has announced that four wrestlers are off Sunday’s event in Chiba and Monday’s Korakuen Hall show due to medical protocols.
Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Taiji Ishimori, and Jado have been removed from the shows either because they presented with fevers, or had close contact with someone who presented with a fever.
Two tag matches on each event have been modified due to the protocols.
Monday’s show is set to air on NJPW World. Here is the lineup:
NJPW New Year’s Golden Series, Monday, February 7, 4:30 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Togi Makabe vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Shingo Takagi
Tomohiro Ishii & YOH vs. EVIL & SHO
Toru Yano, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata vs. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI
Tiger Mask & Tomoaki Honma vs. Gedo & Yujiro Takahashi
Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita
New Japan Pro Wrestling has canceled the remainder of their events for January due to COVID-19 medical protocols.
The company announced on their website this morning that due to wrestlers “presenting elevated temperatures or being in close contact with same”, the company will cancel the remainder of their tour this month and will resume with live touring on February 6 in Chiba. All ticketholders for these events will be refunded.
Dates affected by these cancelations include the January 25 show in Fukushima, January 29 at Korakuen Hall, and January 30 in Ibaraki. The January 28 show that was scheduled to take place in Aichi has been postponed to April 18, and tickets for the January 28 show will be valid for April 18.
The cancelations take place after six NJPW wrestlers missed three consecutive dates during the Golden Series tour that started this week. Toru Yano, Tomoaki Honma, Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, Taka Michinoku, and Satoshi Kojima were among those pulled from the shows. NJPW last held an event on January 22 in Gunma.
For the third consecutive day, NJPW has pulled six wrestlers off a show due to COVID-19 protocols.
Toru Yano, Tomoaki Honma, Satoshi Kojima, Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, and TAKA Michinoku will miss their third consecutive New Year’s Golden Series event on Sunday after one of the six presented with a fever prior to Friday’s show.
Sunday’s untelevised event in Tochigi will proceed with six matches rather than the planned seven.
The promotion has not announced which of the six wrestlers had the fever.
NJPW is four days into the 32-day, 20-event New Year’s Golden Series, although the key matches on the tour do not take place until February 19 and February 20.
The next broadcast show will be on Saturday, January 29, with that event at Korakuen Hall being available on demand the next day.
The next live broadcast on NJPW World will be on Monday, February 7, again from Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
For the second consecutive day, COVID-19 protocols have forced changes to NJPW’s New Year’s Golden Series tour.
Toru Yano, Satoshi Kojima, Tomoaki Honma, Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, and TAKA Michinoku will miss their second straight show on Saturday, after one of the six presented with a fever prior to Friday’s event at Korakuen Hall.
The match card for Saturday’s show has been reduced from seven matches to six following the announcement, and four matches have had the participants changed.
Saturday’s event is essentially a house show in Gunma with no broadcast on NJPW World. Thursday’s tour opener aired live, while Friday’s event will be available on demand sometime Saturday.
New Year’s Golden series is a 19-show tour. The tour is scheduled to conclude with three title bouts on Sunday, February 20, including a Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match.
The tour’s penultimate night on February 19 will also feature three title matches, headlined by a Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship bout.
NJPW pulled six wrestlers from today’s New Year’s Golden Series event after one of them had a high temperature.
The promotion did not announce which of the six wrestlers had the fever, but all six participants from Thursday’s Toru Yano, Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma vs. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi and TAKA Michinoku tag match were removed from Friday’s event due to contact tracing protocols.
One match was removed from Friday’s show and three other matches were switched around as a result.
The New Year’s Golden Series kicked off yesterday with a show at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. The tour is set to run through February 20, culminating with Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Tetsuya Naito, a KOPW 2022 match, and a NEVER Six-Man Tag title match on the final night.
The tour will also feature Hiroshi Tanahashi defending the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against SANADA on the penultimate night of the Series.
WWE’s Carmella has revealed that she recently tested positive for COVID-19.
On her Bare With Us podcast with fiancé Corey Graves, Carmella stated that their podcast recording schedule had been thrown off by COVID.
“You guys, I got the ‘VID. I did. I got it. It got me. I got COVID. I got got,” she said. “About, what, a week and a half ago? Two weeks ago? I woke up super, just not feeling well. Really tired, run down. I took some tests, and I tested positive.”
“And it was like a cold, like a little bit worse than a cold,” she continued. “I was down and out for, like, three, four days, just not doing much. But, on the up-and-up. Feeling better now.”
Carmella said that despite living with Graves, Graves never contracted COVID and was bragging about his immune system. Both said that they had been vaccinated against COVID.
Carmella returned to WWE Raw this week after not appearing on the January 10 episode. She last wrestled on the January 3 Raw, where she and Queen Zelina retained the Women’s Tag Team Championships in a win over Rhea Ripley and Nikki A.S.H.
Chase Owens announced today that he has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss some upcoming bookings.
Unfortunately I’m going to have to cancel off @KfwTn and @innovatepw this weekend as I just tested positive for Covid. I felt horrible wed and Thursday and tested negative. Feeling great since Saturday but just tested positive today. Sorry everyone
Owens tweeted that after feeling poorly last week, he had tested negative for COVID. He said he is now symptom-free, but tested positive today and will be forced to pull out of this weekend’s bookings.
I appreciate people saying hope you feel better or get well soon, but im completely fine now. No symptoms at all
Owens had been scheduled for a match against Toby Farley at a Kross Fire Wrestling event in Tennessee on Friday, and had been set to face Kerry Morton on Saturday at an Innovate Wrestling show in Tennessee. Innovate also announced that Owens’ travel partner, Yuya Uemura, will also not be a part of that show due to contact tracing. Uemura is currently on his international excursion to the United States after completing his NJPW Dojo training in Japan.
A member of NJPW’s Bullet Club faction, Owens is coming off his biggest year with the promotion. He held the provisional KOPW 2021 trophy from July to September 2021, and also scored a pinfall victory over the legendary Hiroshi Tanahashi in the G1 Climax 31 tournament in October.
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FRIDAY NEWS UPDATE
Garrett Gonzalez and I will be talking about the Observer Hall of Fame voting and the latest news for Wrestling Observer Radio later today. Bryan and I will be talking about UFC and the weekend wrestling shows tomorrow night.
The Hall of Fame issue of the Observer, one of the biggest of the year, is now out. We have a huge story on the balloting, including how many votes everyone got this year and last, all the first ballot Hall of Famers in history, the highest voting percentages in history, as well as how the candidates did with historians, reporters, wrestlers and retired wrestlers and industry professionals. We also have the most detailed look at the MLW lawsuit against WWE against WWE. We also look at the plans for WrestleMania and how they have changed, New Japan vs. NOAH, lots of AEW contract updates, the most four-star matches in 2021 and of all-time, a feature on Shozo “Strong” Kobayashi, one of the biggest stars in Japan of the 70s, Is there a WWE succession plan, injury updates and ticket sales.
The 2/19 PPV from Saudi Arabia will be the Elimination Chamber. They have been batting around ideas regarding changing the name. Elimination Chamber and Saudi Arabia kind of opens things up to potential ridicule and at one point today the plan was to call the match WrestleMania Chamber. At this point the name is “The Annual Elimination Chamber.”
Pro Wrestling NOAH announced Kaito Kiyomiya, Yoshinari Ogawa, Junta Miyawaki, Yoshiki Inamura, Kinya Okada, Yasutaka Yano, Super Crazy, Tadasuke, Daiki Inaba and Masato Tanaka are off Sunday’s show in Sendai. The reasons are either having tested positive or being in close contact with someone who did. Kiyomiya said that he tested positive. Tanaka didn’t test positive but was feeling very sick. The Sunday show airs on Wrestle Universe at 1 a.m. Eastern headlined by Katsuhiko Nakajima defending the GHC title against Masa Kitamiya
Smackdown tonight is from Omaha. They have better ticket sales than most shows in recent weeks. Announced is Sami Zayn doing his own stunt show to prove he can do things better than Johnny Knoxville. There will be a Seth Rollins-Roman Reigns face-to-face. Aliyah returns to face Natalya. Lita also returns to television on tonight’s show.
AEW Rampage tonight has Adam Cole vs. Trent Barreta, Andrew Everett vs . Shawn Spears, Leyla Hirsch & Red Velvet & Kris Statlander vs Penelope Ford & The Bunny & Nyla Rose, and Luchasaurus & Jungle Boy defend the tag titles against John Silver & Alex Reynolds. We were told this was great, better than anything on Dynamite.
The state of Yucatan in Mexico announced new restrictions including no massive public events until 2/15. Not sure what that means for the 1/30 tapings in Merida which was to feature FTR defending the AAA tag titles against somebody. It was originally Penta & Fenix but Fenix is injured. The local promoters has said they’ve been told they can still run the show saying the restrictions don’t apply to pro sports events. Penta tabbed it as 99 percent that Fenix won’t be able to wrestle by 1/30. All those in attendance have to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test. A KDNA promotion show in Monterrey tonight was canceled.(thanks to TheCubsFan)
We’re looking for reports this weekend from tonight’s Smackdown tapings in Omaha, tomorrow’s show in Fargo, ND and Sunday in Sioux Falls,SD to [email protected]
Demonic Flamita in his social media indicated he tested positive for COVID.
WWE
WWE will open Raw on Monday with a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. set to John Legend’s “Never Break.”
The Houston Chronicle has a story on independent wrestler Ninja Mack.
A story on J Robinson, the famed University of Minnesota wrestling coach who had Brock Lesnar, Shelton Benjamin and others on his teams over the years. He was also a college roommate of future pro wrestling star Gerald Brisco.
ISPW tonight in Totowa, NJ at the Totowa PAL with Danny Morrison, managed by Maven, against Bull James, plus Jimmy Hart, Matt Sydal, Crowbar, LSG and Cheeseburger appear.
IWA from Saturday night at the Sawtell, Australia RSL Club: Donnie Mako b Kai Drake, Party Juan b Jude London, Kingsley b Jessica Troy, Tree Hugger Luchi & Sam Osborne & Will Kiedis b Larry Kelly & Matt Call way & Phil Woods in an elimination match (thanks to Kirk Beat tie)
NFC on Saturday at 7 p.m. at The District in Atlanta with Shamel Findley vs. Romondo Scott.
Biff Busick, the former Oney Lorcan, returns to Beyond Wrestling on 2/4 at Fete Music in Providence, RI.
Matt Cardona appears for AIW Wrestling on 2/11 at the Odeon Concert Club in Cleveland, OH.
West Coast Pro streams live tonight on IWTV at 10 p.m. Eastern from South San Francisco:
Homicide vs. Jacob Fatu
Nicole Savoy vs. Masha Slamovich
Mike Bailey vs. Aramis vs. Rey Horus
Davey Richards vs.;Kevin Blackwood
AJ Gray vs. Juicy Finau
Bryan Keith vs. Vinnie Massaro
Titus Alexander vs. Adrian Quest vs. Kenny King vs. TJP
COVID-19 has forced tonight’s WWE Day 1 pay-per-view to undergo a significant shakeup.
Universal Champion Roman Reigns, who was scheduled to defend his title against Brock Lesnar tonight, is off Day 1 due to testing positive for COVID-19. Lesnar has instead been added to the WWE Championship match at Day 1, making it a fatal five-way with Big E defending against Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Bobby Lashley, and Lesnar.
“I yearn to perform tonight at #WWEDay1 to defend my Universal Championship. However, unfortunately, earlier today I tested positive for COVID-19,” Reigns tweeted. “Due to the proper protocols I am unable to compete as originally scheduled. I look forward to returning to action as soon as possible.”
Reigns, who is a leukemia survivor, had been held off of WWE’s holiday tour house shows ahead of Day 1. Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE was taking every precaution possible with Reigns, Lesnar, and Paul Heyman:
In particular we were told that due to its effect in some form on WrestleMania plans and because it is considered a very big main event, that every precaution possible would be taken for Reigns, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman to perform at Day 1. It was also noted that in a weird way they considered it fortunate for that match that there were no Smackdown tapings on 12/24 or 12/31, lessening the need for the three to go on the road for television.
Day 1 is taking place at State Farm Arena in Atlanta tonight. Here’s the updated card for the show:
WWE Champion Big E defends against Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, Bobby Lashley, and Brock Lesnar in a fatal five-way match
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defends against Liv Morgan
SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso) defend against The New Day (Xavier Woods & Kofi Kingston)
Edge vs. The Miz
Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton & Riddle) defend against The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford)
Drew McIntyre vs. Madcap Moss
Hip-hop group Migos will make a special appearance
Cesaro & Ricochet vs. Sheamus & Ridge Holland (pre-show)
The effects of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19 led to a number of major changes and precautions in WWE.
Among the names advertised who didn’t appear on shows this week were Roman Reigns, Big E, Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, Bianca Belair, Bobby Lashley, Queen Zelina, Shinsuke Nakamura, and King Woods.
Omos worked on 12/26 in Madison Square Garden but didn’t work Raw where he was scheduled, advertised on the show, plugged during the show (although he had gone home), and pulled from the house show the next night. Omos was scheduled on Raw in a match with A.J. Styles which was awkward in the way it was handled since the match was advertised all night even though Omos wasn’t there. Liv Morgan, who is in the women’s title match on Saturday’s PPV show, meaning one would think she’d be on TV with a skeleton crew, was not on either show, although she was never advertised for MSG and wasn’t on the Raw house shows either.
