Tag: wrestlemania 36

WWE WrestleMania 36 Saturday live results: The two-night event begins

Posted on by Dave Bath

Preview by Josh Nason

Due to circumstances caused by the coronavirus pandemic, WWE’s 36th edition of WrestleMania will be its most unique yet.

Instead of Sunday in sunny Tampa, Florida, in front of 70,000 fans, we find ourselves at the doorstep of a two-night WrestleMania, filmed more than a week ago in front of a closed set at the Performance Center in Orlando, in addition to various other locations for gimmick matches.

WrestleMania 36 will air across tonight and tomorrow, with the pre-shows for both nights starting at 6 p.m. Eastern time and the main cards starting an hour later.

WWE hasn’t confirmed what matches will be on what night. What we do know is that, either on Saturday or Sunday, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar will face Drew McIntyre, Universal Champion Goldberg will defend against Braun Strowman, Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will defend against Shayna Baszler, Edge will battle Randy Orton in a last man standing match, The Undertaker will take on AJ Styles in a boneyard match, John Cena will return to action against The Fiend in a Firefly Fun House match, and NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley will face Charlotte Flair, among other matches.

WrestleMania, for better or worse, is an event like no other. That is indisputably the case this year. 

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Pre-Show

Corey Graves and Pete Rosenberg opened up WrestleMania from the studio. Rosenberg noted the last few weeks have been tough for everyone. They briefly talked about the host Rob Gronkowski and ran down the card for tonight.

Tonight’s line up features:

  • Universal Champion Goldberg vs. Braun Strowman
  • Undertaker vs. AJ Styles in a Boneyard Match
  • Raw Women’s Champion Beck Lynch vs. Shayna Bazer
  • Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn vs. Daniel Bryan
  • Ladder match: SmackDown Tag Team Champion John Morrison vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jimmy Uso
  • King Corbin vs. Elias
  • Women’s Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross
  • Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens

Graves and Rosenberg looked at each match in tonight’s line up. They discussed Goldberg vs. Braun Strowman and briefly talked about Roman Reigns. They didn’t explain the change in the match. 

Graves and Rosenberg also noted that The Miz is out of the ladder match, but it’s still for the tag team title. They then aired a Miz and John Morrison rap video. 

Cesaro defeated Drew Gulak 

Gulak had the early advantage, but Cesaro took over with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Gulak recovered and worked over Cesaro’s arm. Cesaro powered out and gave Gulak a powerbomb. 

Gulak locked on the cross face, but Cesaro made the ropes. Gulak dumped Cesaro to the floor and hit a clothesline off the apron. Gulak continued to work over Cesaro’s arm. Gulak tossed Cesaro into the ring steps shoulder-first. Gulak attempted a move off the top, but Cesaro rocked him with an uppercut for a near fall. 

Gulak recovered and went back to the arm. He then rolled up Cesaro for a near fall. Cesaro fought back and pushed Gulak into the referee. Gulak stopped himself, but Cesaro hit another uppercut.

Cesaro couldn’t do the neutralizer because of his injured arm. Instead, he placed Gulak on his shoulder’s and gave him a no hands airplane spin for the win. They had a good match considering the situation. 

Back in the studio, Corey Graves and Pete Rosenberg ran down the line up for tomorrow night. 

Kayla Braxton interviewed King Corbin. Braxton noted Corbin takes on Elias tonight, but that match is in question. They recapped Corbin injuring Elias on SmackDown two weeks ago. 

Corbin noted he ended Kurt Angle’s career last year, and this year he ended Elias’ career. Corbin pulled out a harmonica and sang a song about Elias. 

Renee Young, Booker T and Mark Henry of WWE Backstage discussed Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler. 

Main Show

In the studio, Stephanie McMahon noted tonight and tomorrow’s show would be different than past years. She pointed out that WrestleMania takes place without fans from the WWE Performance Center and other locations. She said they hope to offer a distraction from world events. 

Stephanie then welcomed everyone to WrestleMania. They aired clips of celebs performing America The Beautiful at past WrestleMania including Aretha Franklin, John Legend, Boyz II Men, Ray Charles, Aloe Blacc, Little Richard, Gladys Knight, Nichole Scherzinger, and Willie Nelson. 

WrestleMania host Rob Gronkowski welcomed everyone to the show. He said tonight he’s The Gronk and introduced his good friend Mojo Rawley. Rawley’s hyped up and demanded Gronk give him some chops. 

The SmackDown commentators for tonight are Michael Cole and JBL. The Raw commentators are Tom Philips and Byron Saxton. 

Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross defeated The Kabuki Warriors To Win The Women’s Tag Team Championship

Asuka teased starting the match and mocked Bliss. Asuka tagged in Kariri Sane to start the match instead. Bliss had the early advantage and mocked Asuka. 

The heels briefly took over, but Bliss made the blind tag. Bliss rocked Asuka with a sliding dropkick, and Cross leaped off the apron onto Sane. The Kabuki Warriors regained control and isolated Cross. Asuka hit a bulldog on Cross, and Sane followed up with a basement dropkick. 

Bliss was briefly in control. She missed a charge in the corner and the heels trapped her in the tree of woe. Sane than hit a double foot stomp off the top for a close near fall. The heels isolated Bliss on their side of the ring and cut her off from Cross.

Asuka slowed the pace down and worked over Bliss’s arm. Bliss tried to fight back, but Asuka rocked her with a knee to the face. Cross got the hot tag and ran wild. She hit a crossbody for a near fall. Asuka made the blind tag, but Cross fought back. Cross pinned Asuka, but Sane hit the insane elbow to break up the pin. 

Cross rolled up Asuka, but Asuka reversed into the Asuka lock. Suddenly, Bliss hit Twisted Bliss to break the hold, but Sane caught Bliss with a spear. Asuka hit the codebreaker, and Sane set up for the insane elbow. 

Cross recovered and fought with Sane and Asuka on the top. Asuka and Sane hit a powerbomb/clothesline combo on Cross for a near fall. Asuka missed a charge in the corner and went shoulder-first into the ring post. 

Sane missed a spinning back fist, and Cross hit the neck breaker. Bliss then hit twisted Bliss to win the Women’s Tag Team Championship. 

In the back, Kayla Braxton interviewed Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Cesaro. Zayn bragged about having a plan and promised to walk out of WrestleMania as the Intercontinental Champion.

In the locker room, Shayna Baszler gets ready for her match against Becky Lynch later tonight. 

Elias defeated King Corbin

Corbin grabbed the mic and noted he’s at WrestleMania, but Elias isn’t. They recapped Corbin, injuring Elias again. Corbin laughed about hurting Elias and demanded the referee raise his hand. 

Elias came out and smashed his guitar over Corbin’s back before the match started. 

Elias jumped Corbin when the bell rang and scored a near fall. Elias was firmly in control until Corbin dumped him to the floor. Corbin took over and sent Elias shoulder-first into the ring post. Corbin rocked Elias with a series of elbows. Elias tried fighting back, but Corbin sent Elias into the ring post again. 

Elias recovered and backed Corbin into the corner. Elias missed a top rope move, and Corbin hit deep six for a very close near fall. Elias fought back and rocked Corbin with a knee for another near fall.

Corbin caught Elias with a shot to the throat and rolled him up using the ropes. The referee caught Corbin, and they argued. Elias then rolled up Corbin with the tights to score the win. They would have had a tough time in front of fans, but it was even tougher without a crowd. 

Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defeated Shayna Baszler To Retain The Title 

Lynch arrived outside of the WWE Performance Center in her semi-trailer truck. 

Lynch and Baszler got the special ring introductions for their match. 

They traded hard strikes in the middle of the ring to start the match. Baszler got the kirifuda clutch, but Lynch broke free. They brawled around ringside, and Lynch gained control. She followed up with a missile dropkick. 

Lynch backed Baszler in the corner and rocked her with a series of strikes. Baszler caught Lynch with a hard knee to take over. Lynch attempted the dis-arm-her, but Baszler reversed into the kirifuda clutch. Lynch rolled through for a near fall. 

They fought on the apron trading hard strikes. Lynch hit a uranage on the apron for a near fall. Baszler took over and used an armbar. She transitioned into the dis-arm-her, but Lynch broke free. Baszler rocked Lynch with a knee for a near fall.

Baszler bashed Lynch into the side of the announce desk. Lynch attempted the dis-arm-her, but Baszler locked on the kirifuda clutch. Lynch rolled through and pinned Baszler to retain the title. 

Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn (w/Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro) defeated Daniel Bryan (w/Drew Gulak) To Retain The Title 

The Gronk and Mojo Rawley did the Yes chant from the perch as Bryan and Gulak entered. 

Zayn stalled outside of the ring and refused to get in. Bryan chased Zayn around ringside, but Cesaro stepped in the way. 

Zayn jumped in the ring, and Bryan chased him around ringside again, but Nakamura stepped in the way this time. Bryan almost got Zayn, but Cesaro and Nakamura both got in the way. Gulak leaped onto Cesaro and Nakamura. He beat them down and tossed them over the barricade. 

Zayn tried to leave, but Gulak stopped him. Bryan told Gulak to let Zayn go, but he chased him up the ramp. Bryan threw Zayn in the ring and rocked him with kicks. Bryan followed up with a suicide dive. He then hit the Yes kicks and a missile dropkick. Bryan rocked Zayn with hard slaps in the corner and a series of knees. 

Zayn recovered and hit a huge clothesline to take over. Bryan fired up and rocked Zayn with the Yes kicks again. Nakamura and Cesaro recovered and attacked Gulak at ringside. Bryan then took out Nakamura and Cesaro with a suicide dive. 

Bryan leaped off the top turnbuckle, but Zayn caught Bryan with the helluva kick to retain the title. 

Ladder Match: SmackDown Tag Team Champion John Morrison defeated Kofi Kingston and Jimmy Uso To Retain The Titles

The winner of this match wins the titles for their respective team. 

Uso hit a monkey flip on Kingston, but he landed on his feet. Kingston then gave Morrison a monkey flip, but he landed on his feet.

All three jumped out of the ring, and each brought in a ladder. 

Morrison’s ladder was shorter than the other two. All three fought on the top of the ladders. Morrison pushed Uso off the ladder, and he crashed hard on the mat. Uso had a bad landing and seemed to hurt his leg. Kingston hit a crossbody onto Uso. 

Kingston and Uso climbed to the top. Kingston pushed Uso down, but Morrison cut him off. Morrison and Uso traded strikes in the middle of the ring. Kingston springboarded through the ladder, but Morrison and Uso caught him. They tossed Kingston out of the ring. 

Morrison took down all the ladders and wedged one in the corner. Morrison attacked Usos leg with the ladder. 

Morrison placed Uso on the ladder, wedged in the corner, and hit a twisting senton. Morrison slowly climbed up the ladder, but Kingston caught him with a springboard hurricanrana off the ladder. Kingston then hit a dive over the top rope to the floor. 

Uso ran along the top of the barricade, but Kingston tossed a ladder at him. Kingston wedged a ladder between the apron and barricade. Kingston placed Uso on the ladder, but Morrison climbed to the top turnbuckle. Kingston cut him off and climbed to the opposite turnbuckle. In a crazy spot, Morrison did a tight rope walk to Kingston’s corner and hit a Spanish fly into the ring. Uso followed up with a splash. 

Uso tried climbing up the ladder, but Kingston climbed up inside the ladder and knocked him off. Kingston and Morrison fought on the top of the ladder, but Kingston knocked him off. Kingston hit a standing double foot stomp off the ladder on to Morrison. 

They wedged a ladder between a ladder in the ring and the ropes. Morrison leaped off the ladder, but Uso rocked him with a superkick. Uso set up a second ladder and climbed to the top, but Morrison shoved him off the ladder to the floor. 

Morrison climbed to the top and seemed to have the watch won, but Kingston cut him off. Kingston and Morrison fought on the top of the ladder. Uso recovered and brought in a second ladder. 

All three fought on the top of the ladders. They all pulled down the titles, but Morrison fell and pulled the titles down with him to retain. They had a good ladder match, considering the situation. It featured a lot of spectacular and innovative spots, but having no crowd hurt the match. 

Kevin Owens defeated Seth Rollins 

Owens and Rollins brawled around ringside to start the match. Owens hit a hard clothesline and senton. Owens followed up with a second senton and attempted the cannonball, but Rollins rolled out of the ring. 

Owens threw Rollins into the barricade at ringside. Owens attempted a piledriver on the apron, but Rollins countered with a backdrop. Rollins then hit a falcon arrow on the apron. He followed up with two suicide dives. Rollins attempted a third suicide dive, but Owens caught him with a right hand. 

Rollins fought back and hit the sling blade. He went for the stomp, but Owens rolled him up. Rollins attempted the stomp again, but Owens hit a DDT. Owens hit a superkick and followed up with the cannonball in the corner. Owens hit a senton for a very close near fall. 

Rollins avoided a stunner and hit a kick to the head. Owens bounced off the ropes and rocked Rollins with a clothesline. Owens attempted a superplex, but Rollins poked him in the eyes. 

Rollins hit a buckle bomb and followed up with two superkicks. Rollins attempted the stomp, but Owens countered into a pop-up powerbomb for a close near fall. Rollins ran outside to get away from Owens. Rollins grabbed the ring bell and hit Owens for the disqualification. 

Owens grabbed the mic and demanded Rollins get back in the ring to finish it. Owens wanted no disqualification and no rules. Rollins agreed, and the referee ordered the match to restart. 

The match restarted, and Rollins caught Owens with a knee. He threw Owens into the barricade and pointed out he can do whatever he wants. Rollins picked up the steps and nailed Owens in the head. Rollins grabbed a chair and beat down Owens. 

Rollins cleared the announce table, but Owens rocked him with the ring bell. Owens then left the ringside area and climbed to the top of the WrestleMania sign. Owens leaped off the sign and landed on Rollins. 

In the ring, Rollins begged off, but Owens hit the stunner for the win. 

The Gronk and Mojo Rawley talked about WrestleMania when the 24/7 Champion R-Truth interrupted. He asked them to hide him. The Gronk and Rawley attacked Truth. Gronk tried to pin Truth, but Rawley pulled him off and pinned Truth to win the title. 

In the back, Paul Heyman interrupted Kayla Braxton. She noted he scared her, but Heyman said the only person that should be scared is Drew McIntyre. Heyman promised that Brock Lesnar would defeat McIntyre tomorrow night.

Tom Phillips and Byron Saxton ran down the line up for night two tomorrow. 

Braun Strowman defeated Goldberg To Win The Universal Championship 

Goldberg and Strowman got the special ring introductions for their match. 

Goldberg and Strowman had a staredown in the middle of the ring. Strowman attempted a power slam, but Goldberg hit the spear. He followed up with two more spears but only scored a near fall. 

Goldberg hit a fourth spear and attempted the jackhammer, but Strowman countered into a power slam. He followed up with two more power slams. Strowman then hit a running power slam to win the Universal title. 

Boneyard Match: The Undertaker defeated AJ Styles 

The match took place at a graveyard without commentary. The match started interesting but went a bit long. It was similar to the old Broken Matt Hardy matches from TNA.

There were shots of various tombstones. The Undertaker’s music played as a hearse pulled into the graveyard. Two druids pulled out a casket, but AJ Styles was in the casket. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Styles called for The Undertaker to show up.

Undertaker drove into the graveyard on his motorcycle. 

Styles tried to hit Undertaker with a rock, but Taker cut him off. Styles tried to get away as Undertaker called him Allen. Taker smashed Styles into the casket repeatedly. 

Undertaker missed Styles, and his hand went through the window of the hearse. Styles fought back, but Taker recovered and dropped him on the windshield off the hearse.

Styles climbed to the top of the hearse, but Undertaker continued the beat down. He warned Styles never to mention his wife Michelle McCool again. 

Styles threw dirt in Taker’s eyes and took over. He followed up with a low blow.

They traded hard shots with Taker getting the better of Styles. He dropped Styles into the grave when Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows showed up. 

Taker walked towards Gallows and Anderson when a bunch of druids appeared. The druids surrounded him, and he quickly fought them off. Anderson and Gallows jumped Taker and beat him down. Undertaker fought back and beat them down with a shovel. 

Styles recovered and broke a headstone over Taker’s back. Styles mounted Taker and rocked him with punches, but Styles broke his fingers. Styles charged at Taker, and they crashed threw a wall. Styles taunted Taker, so he flipped off Styles. Styles rocked him with another right hand. 

Styles broke a shovel over Taker’s back, and he fell into the grave. Styles got into the forklift to bury Taker, but he appeared behind Styles somehow. Undertaker took back over and beat down Styles. 

Styles ran and climbed up a ladder to get to the top of a building. Taker raised his arms, and flames appeared. Taker beat down all three members of The O.C. He threw Gallows off the building and gave Anderson the Tombstone. 

Styles tried fighting back, but Taker choke slammed him off the top of the building. Menacing music played as Taker approached a fallen Styles. He asked Styles if he remembered his wife’s name or if he’s too old. He told Styles to hold on because they’re just getting started. 

Undertaker picked up Styles and carried him to the grave. He noted Styles is a lot tougher than he thought. Styles tried apologizing and begged Taker not to bury him. Taker teased walking away, but he kicked Styles into the grave instead. Taker got in the forklift and buried Styles in the grave to win the match.

Undertaker walked pass the grave to reveal Styles headstone. Styles’ hand was sticking out of the grave. Taker put his bandana back on and sat on his motorcycle. Taker raised his hand, and the flames appeared again. Taker then drove off on his bike to end night one of WrestleMania 36. 

WOL: WWE needs a strong post-WrestleMania 36 plan

Posted on by Jim Valley

Image: WWE.com

On the first-ever WrestleMania Saturday, it’s time for Wrestling Observer Live.

On this edition of the show:

– I preview of all of the matches even though we still don’t know the rundown for either night.

– After being told last week that we would know more about the story that put Braun Strowman into the WWE Universal title match with Goldberg, all we got on Friday Night Smackdown was a simple announcement from Michael Cole. We discuss.

– I give a monologue on how we are all trying to function in extenuating circumstances, but that WWE audience sympathy will only last so long. With so much uncertainty everywhere right now, WWE needs something major coming out of WrestleMania 36. It needs a creative plan and, most importantly, it needs vision and discipline to stick to the plan. 

Get all that and more on the Saturday WOL.

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Pre-show matches announced for WWE WrestleMania 36

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has announced two matches that will be airing across tonight and tomorrow’s pre-shows for WrestleMania 36.

Drew Gulak vs. Cesaro and Natalya vs. Liv Morgan are the pre-show matches for this year’s WrestleMania. There’s a pre-show for each night of the event, with both of them starting at 6 p.m. Eastern time. The main cards will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern.

Gulak defeated Shinsuke Nakamura on SmackDown last week to earn Daniel Bryan an Intercontinental title shot against Sami Zayn at WrestleMania. Cesaro is aligned with Zayn and Nakamura.

Natalya vs. Morgan is the fifth women’s match announced for WrestleMania 36. Becky Lynch is defending her Raw Women’s Championship against Shayna Baszler, Bayley is defending the SmackDown Women’s Championship against Naomi, Lacey Evans, Tamina, and Sasha Banks in a five-way elimination match, Charlotte is challenging Rhea Ripley for the NXT Women’s Championship, and Asuka & Kairi Sane are defending their Women’s Tag Team titles against Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross.

In addition to the WWE Network and WWE’s social media accounts, the pre-shows for both nights of WrestleMania 36 are airing on FS1.

WWE confirms Goldberg vs. Braun Strowman for WrestleMania 36

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has publicly revealed Goldberg’s new challenger for WrestleMania 36.

It was officially announced on tonight’s SmackDown that Braun Strowman is challenging Goldberg for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36. The show is airing on the WWE Network across two nights tomorrow and Sunday. WWE hasn’t announced which night Goldberg vs. Strowman will be airing on.

It had been known since March 26 that Roman Reigns — who was originally scheduled to challenge Goldberg — wasn’t wrestling at WrestleMania, but WWE didn’t make the official announcement until tonight. In an Instagram video earlier this week, Reigns addressed why he pulled out of the show.

Neither Goldberg nor Strowman appeared on SmackDown tonight. The announcement of Strowman being Goldberg’s new challenger was made by Michael Cole, with Reigns not being mentioned.

Goldberg has been Universal Champion since defeating “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt for the title at Super ShowDown on February 27.

Strowman lost the Intercontinental title to Sami Zayn when he faced Zayn, Shinsuke Nakamura & Cesaro in a handicap match at Elimination Chamber last month.

April 6, 2020 Observer Newsletter: Florida lockdown, WrestleMania preview

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

With UFC, WWE and AEW as being among the last events still trying to run in the U.S., the last vestiges of doing empty arena matches may have been shut down.

On 4/1, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ordered a 30-day stay-at-home order except for essential businesses. That would in theory eliminate the planned 4/18 UFC 249 show that was targeted for the state, and also eliminate both WWE and AEW from taping at least in April in the state.

AEW had just moved out of Jacksonville and into Norcross, GA, just outside of Atlanta, a decision made on 3/27. WWE was planning on doing Smackdown live at the Performance Center on 4/10, and now they would have to find either a new location or do studio wrap-arounds of old matches.

However that isn’t so simple either because Connecticut, where the WWE studios are, also has a stay-at-home order for non-essential businesses.

Current subscribers click here to continue reading.

Fite TV added as PPV option for WWE WrestleMania 36

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE and Fite TV are partnering together for another pay-per-view option for WrestleMania 36.

It was announced today that both nights of this year’s WrestleMania will be available via Fite TV in the United States and select international territories. That’s in addition to WrestleMania being included with a WWE Network subscription, available on traditional PPV, and available on PPV through the FOX Sports App and FOX Sports’ website.

Both nights of WrestleMania are priced at $34.99 when purchased individually on Fite TV. It’s $59.99 for the weekend package with both nights included.

WrestleMania 36 will air on Saturday (April 4) and Sunday (April 5). The main cards for both shows will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern time, and there will be pre-shows on both nights starting at 6 p.m. Eastern.

Fite TV’s full announcement is available below:

NEW YORK: March 31, 2020: FITE, leading digital sports platform offering prestige boxing, pro wrestling, MMA and martial arts programming, announced the Pay Per View carriage of WWE’s annual pop culture extravaganza, WrestleMania. FITE will offer the special event in the U.S. as well as select international territories.

WrestleMania, for the first time ever, will be held as a two-night event airing this Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5 at 7 pm ET.

The event, “Too Big For Just One Night” will be hosted by three-time Super Bowl Champion Rob Gronkowski. As WWE previously announced, only essential personnel will be on closed sets at multiple locations, including WWE’s training facility in Orlando, during the production of WrestleMania.

Confirmed matches can be found here: https://www.wwe.com/shows/wrestlemania.

FITE will offer the event on PPV via a beautiful HD digital stream, in English and Spanish, along with its custom live chat, so viewers from across the world can enjoy the live discussion of the event, together.

Customers will have the option to purchase the Saturday, April 4 event and/or the Sunday, April 5 event or buy the Weekend Package for additional savings over individual buys. Pay Per View purchases on FITE will include replays, DVR functionality and can be viewed online, PC, mobile devices, Smart TV or their favorite OTT device. Order the event on FITE: https://www.fite.tv/watch/wrestlemania-36-weekend-pass/2p6sr/

Place your PPV order on FITE today to watch and chat with your friends: https://www.fite.tv/watch/wrestlemania-36-weekend-pass/2p6sr/

Watch FITE Events on any device: https://www.fite.tv/p/how-to-watch/

Fox to offer WrestleMania PPV non-exclusively, more WWE/FS1 content

Posted on by Josh Nason

With days to go before their first-ever fully taped WrestleMania, WWE and Fox Sports have signed a deal that will see this year’s big event available via their pay-per-view outlets in addition to more WWE content coming to FS1.

The news was first broken by Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand and was announced by Fox as well.

Both FoxSports.com and their Fox Sports/Fox Now apps will offer a WWE PPV for the first time as WrestleMania will come with a $59.99 price tag which includes both nights. FS1 will also produce a WrestleMania pre-show for both nights.

WrestleMania will still be available on WWE network and other PPV providers where available.

Additionally, FS1 will air 22 hours of archived and new WWE programming which begins Tuesday with the 2020 Royal Rumble. Additional one hour shows include WrestleMania 31, 33, and 34, and episodes of WWE 24 and Ruthless Aggression.

As part of that 22 hours, Fox announced a new one-hour show called ‘Best of WWE’ that will feature Steve Austin, HHH, John Cena, Ric Flair, Brock Lesnar, Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch, Shawn Michaels, Roman Reigns, and the Undertaker.

WWE Backstage also remains on the schedule and will return live in its current remote format Tuesday.

Austin Theory replacing Andrade at WWE WrestleMania 36

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Andrade’s replacement for WrestleMania 36 was officially confirmed on tonight’s Raw.

It was announced on Raw that a six-man tag match with Andrade, Angel Garza & Seth Rollins facing The Street Profits & Kevin Owens would be taking place later in the show, but Austin Theory replaced Andrade in the match. It was later made official that Theory is also replacing Andrade at WrestleMania, with Garza & Theory challenging The Street Profits for the Raw Tag Team titles.

Owens pinned Garza to win tonight’s match but was immediately given a stomp by Rollins after.

When Garza made his entrance for the six-man tag, Zelina Vega announced that Andrade wasn’t cleared to compete due to a rib injury. Vega said she has access to the hottest young talent in WWE, then introduced Theory. She called him a 22-year-old sensation and said he’s the hottest free agent no more.

Theory signing with WWE was announced in August 2019. He’s a former EVOLVE Champion.

Theory was in action on NXT last week and lost to Tyler Breeze.

WrestleMania 36 is airing on the WWE Network on Saturday (April 4) and Sunday (April 5). The two-night event was taped last week.

WWE confirms Women’s Tag Team title match for WrestleMania 36

Posted on by Joseph Currier

WWE has confirmed the Women’s Tag Team Championship match for WrestleMania 36.

Asuka & Kairi Sane defending their Women’s Tag Team titles against Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross will air on WrestleMania. The match was officially announced prior to Asuka defeating NXT’s Kayden Carter on tonight’s Raw.

On SmackDown last Friday, Bliss defeated Asuka in a singles match. Bliss & Cross had been calling out Asuka & Sane for a Women’s Tag Team title shot, which led to Asuka appearing on the March 13 episode of SmackDown and attacking Bliss.

Asuka & Sane defending their titles against Bliss & Cross and Beth Phoenix & Natalya in a triple threat match at WrestleMania 36 had been the plan at one point.

Asuka & Sane are the fourth team to hold the Women’s Tag Team titles since they were introduced. They won the titles from Bliss & Cross at Hell in a Cell in October 2019.

WrestleMania 36 was taped last week and will air on the WWE Network on Saturday (April 4) and Sunday (April 5).

Roman Reigns addresses pulling out of WWE WrestleMania 36

Posted on by Joseph Currier

On Instagram today, Roman Reigns addressed his decision to not wrestle at WrestleMania 36.

Reigns discussed staying positive during the coronavirus pandemic, treating each other well, and that carrying over to how we treat people online. He then talked about his situation: 

You already know what’s going on. It’s all over the news, the dirt sheets — whatever you want to call them — that I pulled out of WrestleMania. And it’s funny because, for years now, man — years — people were like, ‘Don’t show up to WrestleMania, we don’t want you in it.’ You know what I mean? There’s like a nice handful of dudes and haters that didn’t want me there, but the moment I make a choice for me and my family, I’m a coward, I’m a sissy, a lot of different things that I am now. But you don’t know the whole story. 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. And just take this time to better yourself, be present, and make the most out of this. Because if we can’t grow in a time like this, I don’t think we have a chance.

Reigns said he isn’t perfect and admitted to being a hater too sometimes. He challenged everyone to use this time to not just develop better hygiene habits but improve who they are on the inside as well.

Reigns also apologized to his fans for not getting to compete at WrestleMania:

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. 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.

Reigns had been set to challenge Goldberg for the Universal Championship at WrestleMania 36. WWE has yet to officially announce that Reigns is off the show or publicly reveal Goldberg’s new challenger, though that may be addressed on Friday’s SmackDown.

WrestleMania 36 was taped last week and will air on the WWE Network on Saturday (April 4) and Sunday (April 5).

VIDEO: Triple H appears on ESPN’s SportsCenter

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Ahead of WrestleMania 36 airing on the WWE Network this coming Saturday and Sunday, Paul “Triple H” Levesque made an appearance on SportsCenter last night:

ESPN’s John Anderson asked Triple H about Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania having to be altered. Triple H said he didn’t want to get into the specifics of WrestleMania because it’s a must-watch event, but working the show is voluntary and any talent or crew who think there’s a risk to themselves or someone around them don’t have to be there and nothing will be held against them. He said WWE doesn’t want to take chances in this situation.

Triple H also brought up Reigns having a pre-existing condition that would make him more susceptible to something and said it’s understandable that he wouldn’t wrestle at WrestleMania.

WWE has yet to officially announce that Goldberg vs. Reigns is off the show or reveal Goldberg’s new opponent. The tapings for WrestleMania took place last week.

Triple H said they’ve had very few talent who have had issues or chosen not to be there.

During the interview, Triple H also discussed the precautions WWE has taken due to the coronavirus pandemic, the difficulty of wrestling without a live audience, and WWE wanting to continue entertaining people during this time.

Triple H’s appearance on SportsCenter took place after WrestleMania 32 aired on ESPN last night. WrestleMania 35 will air on the channel at 3 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday (April 5).

Daily Update: Coronavirus notes, NOAH, WrestleMania

Posted on by Dave Meltzer

DAILY UPDATE

Latest News:

Latest Audio:

Are you interested in attending our annual F4W/WON convention? We will hold it during AEW Double or Nothing weekend. For more information, check this post for activities and prices.

WON NEWSLETTER: March 30, 2020 Observer Newsletter: WrestleMania continues to change

An update on pro wrestling around the world, where almost everything is canceled, update on WrestleMania, and how every company is handling the situation is the lead story in this week’s issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Why WWE had to tape WrestleMania in advance, update on the card, update on the changes, some of the early changes, what matches were changed from last week and why, many different matches that were talked about as recently as a week ago, PPV price, NXT big matches and the NXT UK next major show.

The new issue also covers: 

The massive stock sale of Vince McMahon, the questions regarding why he would do it, how much of the company he still owns, the television deal with ESPN, and how it compares with airing of big fights from the UFC and boxing on ESPN this week.  We also look at the latest WWE Network free offer and what it entails, how long AEW will be going without fans at shows, why the original plans for last week had to be scrapped, who is iced for now from appearing on AEW TV, how hard it has been to put shows together ad new dates.

Dana White’s comments regarding UFC 249, what he said about testing and what the doctors have said about doing shows right now.  We also look at White’s plans to make up for missed shows, Impact canceling its PPV, the Japanese sports scene, the Governor of Tokyo talks shutting down the city, the difference in stats between Tokyo and New York, and what Korakuen Hall management has decided.

Shows in Japan this past week and decisions made by companies for this coming week.  We look in particular at how New Japan is handling this as compared with other companies.  We look at problems for Americans getting to Japan, when the next possible New Japan show is and what content New Japan has been producing.

The arrest of Jon Jones this past week, details of the arrest and a look back at Jones’ arrests and drug test failures.

The best of the 10s, who were the Best of the Decade as far as the Thesz/Flair Award, MMA Most Valuable, Most Outstanding Wrestler of Fighter, Biggest Box Office Draw, Best Tag Team, Best on Interviews, Most Charismatic, Best Technical, Best Brawler, Best Flyer, Best Promotion, Who had the best matches over the past decade, Best Non-Wrestler and Best Television announcer.

Daniel Bryan also talks his future after his current contract expires, WWE stars make marketing donations, WWE renews major TV deal, U.K. ratings for WWE and AEW, how WWE contract work and how that pressures some wrestlers into signing new deals, behind what Braun Strowman said that caused so much controversy, key exec stock sales, Arn Anderson on what Vince McMahon wanted said about Sting, new WWE movie coming to Netflix, Injury updates, and most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network.

A feature on the death of Branko Cikatic, the first K-1 champion and a pioneer on major MMA shows in Japan.  We look at his gigantic career, what star was made in Japan by beating him, the first K-1 World Grand Prix and early Pride shows.

Regarding the Wednesday numbers, we’ve got full details, demos that each side won, how every segment did and what match ended up as the difference maker. 

Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.

In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.

Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week. 

ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].

Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.

In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.

For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.

If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.

SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE

Bryan and I did our weekend show last night covering all the latest news, from Roman Reigns, to Dana White, to Smackdown and WrestleMania. I also did an in-depth show on Roman Reigns and other subjects with Jim Valley on Friday.

Some notes from Dr. Alex Patel on the coronavirus:

  • It would appear Italy is levelling off – based on that data anticipated week is about 2-3 weeks,
  • Clearly in the US (esp in NYC) we are getting reports of the large spread hospital overrun. The increase the US and doubling time is much higher than most places.
  • He noted that often 50% percent of the people with the virus don’t have a fever. “We are seeing people with a headache that swab positive – it can have very mild presentations.”
  • I believe UFC was going to swab them which is more accurate than using temp. However there are false negatives and the swabs are not well validated for asymptomatic people so it’s not perfect. I also think with the way MMA works there is more exchange of droplets than wrestling by face (fake vs real and ability to minimize it if it’s fake) so I agree it seems weird they are pushing it so much.
  • Anyone at higher risk (Diabetes, HTN, on immunosuppressives) needs to be more cautious. Talk to your doctor if you are on immunosuppressants if the best option is to reduce them or not. Avoid NSAIDS and stick to Tylenol. In terms of how long it’s hard to say – even if rates fall there is a concern about a bump from South America having cases later and coming over. I would definitely avoid travel for a while. If cases start to fall then I would increase social activity in a ramp fashion – lowest risk (ie – small groups of people you know are well) first before going full blown.
  • If rates fall in 2-3 weeks then it might take a month or so putting us on that initial June or so timeline before we see easing off.
  • Mass gatherings are definitely still risky as are airports and travel. The bump in South America coming a little later needs to be watched and we have to weary it doesn’t make its way back over here.

A lot of the cable companies are getting their acts together on the WrestleMania pricing after having no idea how to handle it. Verizon has changed it to $29.99 per night. DirecTV is listing it as $34.95 per night sold separately. Comcast has changed to $34.95 per night as well. (thanks to Leon Peters, Arya Witner and B Faherty)

There has been a ton of talk today regarding the Go Shiozaki vs. Kazuyuki Fujita GHC title match that took place at Korakuen Hall earlier today. People were raving about it, saying it was absolutely brutal, with Shiozaki taking an incredible beating before coming back to win. The match went 57:47 which sounds insane in an empty arena, and the two never touched until the 31:00 mark.  Yet people are calling it a fantastic match and say don’t skip over the first part. Anyway, I haven’t seen it yet. Shiozaki retained the title. Regarding Korakuen Hall. it has shot down for spectators but is allowing empty arena events. (thanks to Matt Harrigan). 

KIRO TV in Seattle covered the death of Dean Silverstone on its news. Dean was one of the nicest and most giving and hardworking guys in the business. I don’t know anyone who didn’t like or respect him and he was a seemingly indispensible person in the Cauliflower Alley Club for 30 years.  He is a giant loss to that part of the business. 

 WWE

  • BT Sports put together this great piece on Drew McIntyre getting ready for Brock Lesnar. Hopefully this airs on Raw Monday.
  • Becky Lynch did an interview on ESPN where she indicated that her match with Shayna Baszler would be on the first night of WrestleMania.
  • Brock Lesnar, Edge, Undertaker and Becky Lynch are all advertised for Raw tomorrow.  The Raw show was taped this past Tuesday on a closed set so no matches or results are out.
  • WrestleMania 32 airs at 7 p.m. Eastern tonight on ESPN.  The key matches are Roman Reigns winning the WWE title from HHH, the same match that aired Friday on Smackdown, plus Brock Lesnar vs. Dean Ambrose, notable this week since it’s current WWE champion vs. current AEW champion in almost a squash, Undertaker vs. Shane McMahon Hell in a Cell, Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs Sasha Banks for the old Divas title, Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn vs. Stardust (Cody) vs. Miz vs. Dolph Ziggler vs Zack Ryder vs. Sin Cara in a ladder match and Chris Jericho vs. A.J. Styles, plus an appearance by The Rock.
  • The company is doing Instagram live promotions for WrestleMania all week.  Zack Ryder and Charlotte Flair are doing a watch along for tonight’s ESPN coverage of WrestleMania. Rhea Ripley will be on at 1:30 tomorrow.  Mandy Rose will be on Noon Tuesday. Rhea Ripley will be on Noon Thursday. Bianca Belair will be on at 1:30 p.m. Friday.

UFC

  • Sportsbegging.ag has odds of where UFC 249 will take place:
    Florida +225
    Russia +300
    United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi) +300
    Mexico +500
    Saudi Arabia +800
    South Africa +1000
    Nevada +1400
  • They also have odds on whether Jon Jones fights before December 31:
    Yes +300
    No -500

AEW

  • Chris Jericho is going to do weekly Q&A segments, singalongs and otherwise make an attempt to entertain wrestling fans every Saturday night going forward.  He did his first show last night and had about 150,000 views before the end of the night and it’s topped 360,000 as of today. 

MISCELLANEOUS

  • Guiherme Cruz has a great story on fighters preparing for UFC 250 with all gyms shut down in Brazil. This focuses on some of the same issues we’ve been talking about, about putting people in fights who simply can’t do fight camp training and preparation at this time.
  • If you are looking for current wrestling, MLW has enough shows in the can for several more weeks. MLW goes under the radar just because there is so much product out there, but they combine all kinds of styles and it’s logically booked week-to-week with good wrestlers. This week’s show is built around the idea of a real fight with King Mo managed by Dan Lambert, and they promote ATT hard, against Low Ki billed as a battle of knockout artists.
  • The Wrestle-1 promotion will be running its 4/1 final event at Korakuen Hall without a  crowd. The promotion, founded by Keiji Muto, was going out of business on that date not having anything to do with the coronavirus, and was continuing to run shows. 
  • Stardom ended up canceling yesterday’s show in Shizuoka that was still on as late as Friday.  There have been smaller companies running events, some with fans, in Japan, but the crowds have been small. Nothing like last week. 
  • Also in Japan, Pure J and Tokyo Joshi Pro canceled events in Tokyo and Marvelous canceled its show tomorrow.  Sendai Girls did run yesterday in Miyagi.
  • Two boxing names passed away this week from the coronavirus. Nelson Cuevas, a cutman from New York, passed away Friday.  He was a fixture on the New York boxing scene since 1959, working the corners after first being a boxer and later a trainer. Former fighter and trainer Ron Ross passed away in Boca Raton, FL, best known for his biographies on Emile Griffith and Bummy Davis. (thanks to Nick Mahmood)
  • CWE did a three match live stream from Winnipeg on Friday:  Johnny Malibu b Kevin Cannon, Adrien Burton b Dragneel, Danny Duggan b AJ Sanchez.  Mentallo issued a challenge to Duggan for the 11th anniversary show on 5/22 in Winnipeg.   The event is on the CWE Facebook page.
  • CWE on 4/30 in Prince Albert, Alberta at the East Hills Community Club with Shane Douglas vs. Robin Lekime.
  • A story going around about a teenage wrestler who stopped a kidnapping.
  •  Bill Apter put up a 2005 interview with AJ Styles.
  • Evolve put up a free Velveteen Dream & Street Profits vs. Eddie Kingston, Joe Gacy & Isaiah Scott match.

Daily Pro Wrestling History: WWF WrestleMania III

CONTACT INFORMATION

Zayn vs. Bryan, Otis vs. Ziggler set for WWE WrestleMania 36

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daniel Bryan challenging for the Intercontinental title is officially part of the WrestleMania 36 card.

As a stipulation of Drew Gulak defeating Shinsuke Nakamura on SmackDown tonight, Bryan is challenging Sami Zayn for the Intercontinental title at WrestleMania. The show was taped earlier this week and will air on the WWE Network on Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5.

Gulak pinned Nakamura in their match on SmackDown after Bryan pulled Gulak away from a Kinshasa.

Zayn won the Intercontinental title earlier this month when he teamed with Nakamura & Cesaro and defeated Braun Strowman in a three-on-one handicap match.

Otis vs. Dolph Ziggler was also officially set up for WrestleMania 36 on SmackDown tonight. Otis tried to confront Ziggler backstage but was held back. Ziggler challenged Otis to face him at WrestleMania — with Mandy Rose in Ziggler’s corner. Otis then accepted the challenge.

There was another segment later tonight where Ziggler and Rose spoke backstage. Rose said she supports the match, but she refuses to let Ziggler and Otis fight over her like she’s some sort of prize.

Wyatt challenges Cena to Firefly Fun House match at WrestleMania 36

Posted on by Joseph Currier

John Cena vs. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 36 won’t be a regular wrestling match.

On tonight’s SmackDown, Wyatt hosted a Firefly Fun House segment and challenged Cena to make their match at WrestleMania a Firefly Fun House match. WWE has announced that Cena will respond to the challenge on SmackDown next week.

WrestleMania 36 was taped this week and will air on the WWE Network on Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5. The show was filmed at multiple closed set locations in addition to the WWE Performance Center.

It was also announced on this Monday’s Raw that The Undertaker vs. AJ Styles at WrestleMania is now a boneyard match.

The Fiend vs. John Cena was made official for WrestleMania when Cena appeared on the February 28 episode of SmackDown and accepted a challenge from The Fiend. Cena and Wyatt then both appeared at the Performance Center two weeks ago for a face-to-face segment.

Wyatt’s loss to Cena from WrestleMania 30 has played into the storyline for their match this year, with it being portrayed as the start of a downward spiral for Wyatt.

SmackDown Tag Team Champion The Miz out of WWE WrestleMania 36

Posted on by Joseph Currier

When WrestleMania 36 was filmed this week, The Miz wasn’t in action.

After first reporting The Miz was sick this week, Dave Meltzer has confirmed that one half of the SmackDown tag team champions didn’t wrestle at WWE’s tapings for WrestleMania because of it.

The news of him being out of his scheduled match was first reported by PWinsider.

Miz & John Morrison were to defend their titles against either The New Day or The Usos at WrestleMania. How WWE handled the match with Miz not working the show hasn’t been revealed and Meltzer didn’t know if the match was off completely.

The New Day facing The Usos to determine which team will challenge for the titles at WrestleMania has been announced for tonight’s SmackDown and is still being advertised by WWE.

Miz & Morrison have appeared at the Performance Center for SmackDown each of the past two weeks. They did promo segments on both shows and faced Heavy Machinery in a non-title match last week, with Miz & Morrison winning by disqualification when Otis snapped after being taunted by Dolph Ziggler.

On last night’s Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said Roman Reigns not wrestling at WrestleMania had to do in some form with Miz being sick and The Usos not being happy about it.

WrestleMania 36 is airing on the WWE Network on Saturday, April 4 and Sunday, April 5.