Wrestling: Probs mostly about AEW TNT debut and Smackdown on Fox

[Ja'moke]

What a time to be alive, folks.

Can't help but feel bad for Drew McIntyre who worked so hard to get the Mania main event, and it's gone from a sold-out stadium to a closed set in front of no one.

Yeah, gutted for Drew, who has managed to stay over with the crowd as a babyface that people actually want to see win the title. And he's likely to become the first ever British world champ in an empty building.

[up_the_hampipe]

Edge having his big return singles match there too. Oof. Going to be bizarre but certainly historic.

[peanutbutter]

And there we have it, WM to take place at the performance center with no live crowd: https://www.prowrestlingsheet.com/wrestlemania-tampa-bay-cancelled-relocated-wwe-performance-center/#.XnAF55NKjOQ

man, I hope it runs the usual 5+ hours again too, I hope they fill the venue up with the stage.

[Ja'moke]

I mean, I guess there isn't much else they could do, other than cancelling all shows for the foreseeable future, which Vince would never do. But with most sports leagues saying that July is the EARLIEST they'll return, WWE couldn't really postpone and drag out the Mania build for that long.

EDIT: PWInsider.com reached out to WWE to inquire about the status of the 2020 WWE Hall of Fame ceremony and the 4/4 WWE NXT: Tampa Bay event.  We received the following response:

"The WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony and NXT TakeOver will not take place as previously scheduled. We will share further details as they become available."

[up_the_hampipe]

The HOF in a small venue for an intimate audience could be really good. Although things might be too restricted for a gathering even of that size.

[Ja'moke]

They're replaying the entire men's Rumble match on Raw.

[up_the_hampipe]

I liked Edge's promo, but the bit about Randy Orton being jealous that he got handed everything from the beginning while Edge worked hard and clawed his way to the top seemed weird to me. Why would he be jealous about having a better career?

[peanutbutter]

I liked Edge's promo, but the bit about Randy Orton being jealous that he got handed everything from the beginning while Edge worked hard and clawed his way to the top seemed weird to me. Why would he be jealous about having a better career?

The idea being guys like Daniel Bryan have to absolutely destroy their bodies to get to the top level whilst Randy Orton was guaranteed a world title the first day Vince laid eyes on him.


Edge doing that speech is a rewriting history a bit though, he was someone they were trying to find a bigger role for for years and years. Probably never imagined he would be THE top heel for a solid 4 years but he was always set to be near the top of the card from what I saw.

[up_the_hampipe]

The idea being guys like Daniel Bryan have to absolutely destroy their bodies to get to the top level whilst Randy Orton was guaranteed a world title the first day Vince laid eyes on him.

Right, but why would Randy Orton be jealous of those guys? Seems like it would be the other way round.

[peanutbutter]

oh, I misread... hmm, I guess it could be pretty good bit of heel work, telling himself that his extreme fortune was a hardship he had to overcome?

[Mobius]

Wow they are actually doing Mania at the PC with no crowd.

Admittedly it's unique times and not much they could do but fuck me that is going to suck so hard. Congrats Drew on your big moment...

[rjd2]

Wow they are actually doing Mania at the PC with no crowd.

Admittedly it's unique times and not much they could do but fuck me that is going to suck so hard. Congrats Drew on your big moment...

And it will still be 7 hours long.

[BeardFaceMan]

And it will still be 7 hours long.

That's probably the one thing that will help them with a closed set, the audience won't be getting tired after cheering hours and hours.

This is going to be appalling isn't it? I mean, performing in front of no crowd goes against the whole point of wrestling. The wrestlers feed off the crowd, they base their performance on the reactions, if they're not getting those reactions then they have no idea how the match is going or if what they're intending to do is going over. Live wrestling is all about the interaction, what about all the call and response bits? I can't see how they can sustain this for an entire PPV, they're already replaying old footage on Raw and Smackdown, how are they going to do 7 hours of wrestlers performing to silence? The guys at Botchamania are going to have a field day with the Everybody Talks Too Much segment. I was going to skip WM this year but this has actually got me intrigued - just how bad a show can WWE actually put on?

[peanutbutter]

This is Vince buying into his own bullshit about the 9/11 Smackdown, isnt it? He thinks this is going to come across as a brave stand against a virus and we'll have to hear about how it was actually really inspiration and not just a bit shite until the end of time

[Ja'moke]

Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but I don't actually think WM will run to 7 hours now. Some matches are bound to be cut (both battle royals surely can't happen now as that's a mass gathering) and others cut short. Not to mention the far shorter entrances.

By the way, that Austin segment on Raw made me cringe so bad.

[Timothy]

Mania is probably gonna be 4.5 - 5 hours.

Its probably gonna be an awkward show but in a way I'm happy that it is gonna be on. Maybe they can find a way to make it an unique and fun show. At least it's a new wrestling show to watch while quarantined.

[Ja'moke]

There's talk of airing TakeOver Tampa on a Wednesday against Dynamite, and filming the HOF segments to air during upcoming Raw and Smackdowns, which is probably a good idea to fill time.

I'm intrigued to see how AEW handle this situation on Wednesday night. They're still advertising the reveal of the Exalted One plus all the matches they promoted last week.

[Paul Calf]

You know it's not real, don't you?

[Osmium]

That's a new one.

[Ja'moke]

You know it's not real, don't you?

Wait, it isn't?

Next you're going to tell me nobody really died in Game of Thrones!

[Ja'moke]

Meltzer: Confirmed, no live matches on NXT tomorrow. Studio setting, interviews, personality profiles, old footage.

Apparently Vince wasn't a fan of the empty arena matches on last week's Smackdown, hence why we only had one new match on Raw last night.

[weekender]

Thought Byron Saxton was utterly brilliant on RAW against Stone Cold.

[weekender]

Don't want an entire Mania of crowdless matches of course, but let's give credit where it's due.

[chveik]

You know it's not real, don't you?

whuuuuuuut

[peanutbutter]

Apparently Vince wasn't a fan of the empty arena matches on last week's Smackdown, hence why we only had one new match on Raw last night.

...what's his plan for performance center wrestlemania?


These empty audience things make me think constantly about the pink room of doom

AWA filmed in a pink room so they could green screen in an audience only to discover it looked so bad that it was better to air the weekly show with the bare pink walls.

[madhair60]

You know it's not real, don't you?

Ashbury

[Ja'moke]

Mania is going to be held over two nights (and hosted by The Gronk) - https://twitter.com/RobGronkowski/status/1240412675307376642?s=20

[sevendaughters]

lot of people pestering DAVE for not thinking Randy Orton is in the conversation for greatest of all time. Like, Orton isn't even in the top 200 of all time. He isn't in the top 50 today. WWE marks, man.

[Ja'moke]

I don't quite know how, but I think AEW put on its best episode of Dynamite yet, and arguably one of the best wrestling TV episodes I've ever seen. Which given the circumstances is incredible.

[Timothy]

lot of people pestering DAVE for not thinking Randy Orton is in the conversation for greatest of all time. Like, Orton isn't even in the top 200 of all time. He isn't in the top 50 today.

He absolutely is.