Both WWE house shows scheduled for this weekend have been canceled in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, Canada released the following statement: “The WWE Live Road to WrestleMania SuperShow event scheduled for this Saturday, March 14 at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto has been cancelled. Refunds are available at all points of purchase.”
The Covelli Centre, which was scheduled to run the Sunday house show in Youngstown, posted the following statement on their Facebook page: “In accordance with the proclamation issued by Governor DeWine, the WWE live event scheduled for this Sunday, March 15 in Youngstown, Ohio has been canceled. Refunds are available at all points of purchase.”
Mike DeWine, governor of Ohio, has issued an order requiring there to be no spectators at indoor events. A UFC event scheduled for Columbus on March 28 is currently in question.
The spread of the coronavirus has had a huge effect on the pro wrestling and MMA industries, with most major shows being pulled. SmackDown, which was scheduled to take place tomorrow in Detroit, Michigan will instead be held at the WWE Performance Center in Florida with no audience. Paige and John Cena were originally advertised for the show.
PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.
(Search “wade keller” to subscribe in podcast app or CLICK HERE to subscribe in Apple Podcasts.)
WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW PRIMER
BOSTON, MASS. AT THE TD GARDEN
NOVEMBER 18, 2019
AIRS ON USA NETWORK, 8 P.M. EST
BY FRANK PETEANI (@FrankPeteani), PWTORCH CONTRIBUTOR
Announcers: Vic Joseph, Jerry “The King” Lawler, Dio Maddin
Arena, Top 10 Moments from Last Week, and Items Advertised by WWE
WWE returns to a familiar destination in the TD Garden in Boston, Mass. for tonight’s Raw. The show appeared in March of this year in the run-up to WrestleMania. The arena opened in 1995 and has been a frequent host to both WCW and WWE events. From 2011-2017 there was one PPV per year including the 2014 Money in the Bank where Seth Rollins procured the contract with the help of Kane.
Here is the YouTube clip of the top 10 moments of last week’s show:
This will be the final show from the Raw side before Survivor Series, as we get ready for the 33rd version of that event coming next Sunday as well as NXT: Takeover coming this Saturday. Here is what’s lined up for tonight:
Seth Rollins to wager his Survivor Series berth against Andrade
Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair to compete in tag team action
Rey Mysterio to appear live before challenging Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series
Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins to challenge Raw Tag Team Champions the Viking Raiders
Natalya to battle WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion Asuka
Matches & Segments:
Team Raw Captain Spot: Seth Rollins vs. Andrade
Last week it was announced that Seth Rollins would captain team Raw in the Survivor Series triple threat match against team Smackdown and team NXT. He will line up alongside Ricochet, Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre, and Kevin Owens. He had an impromptu match last week against NXT UK Champion Walter which lead to the Imperium (Walter, Fabian Aichner, Alexander Wolfe, and Marcel Barthel) taking on Rollins, Owens, and the Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins). Rollins stomped Wolfe to pick up the win.
Back to Survivor Series, Zelina Vega and Andrade had something to say about Rollins being team captain. Rollins responded via Instagram:
I can’t wait to see Team #RAW prevail at #SurvivorSeries but why isn’t @AndradeCienWWE leading the team? Andrade is the BEST in-ring performer of this generation. Shouldn’t HE be at the forefront of this team? Thoughts, @WWERollins?
— Zelina Vega (@Zelina_VegaWWE) November 15, 2019
@WWERollins es el consentido de casa pero no el mejor!!’ Tendré que trabajar al triple para ganarme un lugar en el universo de @WWE #FutureOfWWE https://t.co/R6miZvFq5J
— “EL IDOLO” ANDRADE (@AndradeCienWWE) November 15, 2019
“Your move @andradealmas!”- @wwerollins issues the challenge to @andradealmas for the captain spot of #TeamRaw this Monday Night! #WWERegensburg
A post shared by WWE (@wwe) on
The captain spot for team Raw is on the line tonight as Rollins puts up his spot against Andrade. Andrade did not partake in last year’s festivities. Rollins was the Intercontinental Champion and defeated then-U.S. Champion Shinsuke Nakamura. Unrelated to this topic, Nakamura ironically walks into this year’s event as the IC Champ.
Frank’s Analysis: I don’t necessarily rule it out, but I doubt they take Rollins off the team in favor of Andrade. I could see a feud developing between the two, and down the line it may involved Vega and Becky Lynch although I don’t know if they want to draw attention to Becky and Rollins being a couple as they did earlier in the year. I don’t think that did either one of them any favors. If you watch the Instagram video, it’s funny to hear Rollins talk about “whether they love or hate me.” We heard that for years with John Cena and even a little with Roman Reigns. We never heard that with Daniel Bryan or C.M. Punk that I recall. (Okay, let’s not go down this rabbit hole.)
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair in a Tag Team Match
Last week, Charlotte Flair and Natalya were to challenge to Kabuki Warriors (Kairi Sane & Asuka) for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship. Natalya couldn’t be there and was replaced by Charlotte’s long time (I don’t know anymore) Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch. Becky was working on her finishing sequence when NXT Champion Shayna Baszler got involved and then Smackdown Women’s Champion Bayley jumped in and went after Baszler. Becky who had been distracted by everything going on got rolled up by Asuka to allow the Warriors to retain.
Winning the titles would have made Charlotte the second women’s grand slam champion after Bayley, holding every women’s singles title (NXT, Smackdown, Raw) and the tag titles. Becky would have been “Becky Two Belts” again (sort of, I guess). Tonight, Becky and Charlotte team up again against an unknown team.
Frank’s Analysis: Let me get this out of the way. I’m sick of Becky and Charlotte being within 100 yards of each other. Also, why couldn’t they just wait until tonight to have Charlotte & Natalya challenge for the titles? Why can’t they just do it tonight? Whatever, anyway, I get the sense Survivor Series will be wrapped into this. They haven’t named the women’s team yet, but I don’t see anyone besides Charlotte being the captain, right? Now since there’s a Trump wall between Smackdown and Raw but not between NXT, I could see a couple of the NXT women show up. Rhea Ripley, Tegan Nox, Dakota Kai, and Mia Yim were on Smackdown Friday taking on Nikki Cross, Dana Brooke, Carmella and Sasha Banks.
Rey Mysterio to Appear
Rey Mysterio is set to challenge Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series. Two weeks ago, on Raw, Lesnar officially moved from Smackdown to Raw and began looking for Mysterio. He attacked several backstage people and eventually commentator Dio Maddin. As a side note, Maddin was not on last week’s show. Nonetheless after the attack Mysterio showed up and attacked Lesnar, striking him on his knee.
Neither gentleman was on last week’s show. Rey appears tonight ahead of his challenge to Lesnar at Survivor Series. Here was a tweet from Rey a few weeks ago after the attack:
Son @35_Dominik that one was for you! #LoveYpu https://t.co/YuGSRUQMRg
— ♛Rey Mysterio❔ (@reymysterio) November 5, 2019
Frank’s Analysis: WWE.com says in its preview that “there’s always the possibility that Lesnar isn’t far behind.” It’s pretty fair to expect him and Heyman to show up. I look forward to this, but I’m also a mark for Mysterio. He’s on my roster any day of the week if I’m starting a wrestling company.
Raw Tag Team Championship: Viking Raiders (champs) vs. Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins
Former Raw Tag Team Champions Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins earned a shot at the titles via winning a triple threat tag team match over the O.C. (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) and the Street Profits at a house show in Mannheim, Germany. Here’s a post from WWE’s Instagram account:
View this post on Instagram
At #WWEMannheim, @zryder85 and @thecurthawkins earned a Tag-Team Championship match on Monday Night Raw against #TheVikingRaiders
A post shared by WWE (@wwe) on
Hawkins and Ryder last won the Raw titles at WrestleMania this year and had a two-month reign ended by the Revival (Scott Dawson & Dash Wilder). Last week on Raw, the Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar) defeated Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews in a non-title match. At Survivor Series, the Viking Raiders take on NXT Tag Team Champions Undisputed Era (Bobby Fish & Kyle O’Reilly) and Smackdown Tag Team Champions New Day (Kofi Kingston & Big E) in a triple threat match.
Hawkins and Ryder challenge the Raiders for the Raw straps tonight.
Frank’s Analysis: As much as I have a partiality towards Hawkins & Ryder with them being from Long Island, I don’t see how this is anything other than a quick match. I’m sure the NXT guys will get involved building up the Survivor Series match.
Natalya vs. Woman’s Tag Team Champion Asuka
Two weeks ago, on Raw, Natalya and Charlotte Flair defeated Women’s Tag Team Champions the Kabuki Warriors in a non-title match. Natalya tapped Asuka out to her Sharpshooter. As I wrote earlier, they were to challenge for the titles, but Natalya couldn’t be there and was replaced by Becky Lynch.
Tonight, Natalya goes one-on-one with Asuka. I couldn’t find any history of a singles match between these two.
Frank’s Analysis: See my notes on Becky and Charlotte teaming up earlier.
Other Match Results and Notable Segments from Last Week
Drew McIntyre defeated Sin Cara. Sin Cara has asked for his release from WWE.
The 24/7 Championship was defended. I forgot if Truth was the champion or one of the Singh Brothers. Who cares.
Vic Joseph called the fans “finicky” when Seth Rollins got a mixed reaction upon his entrance. Is that a graduation, a demotion, or a lateral move from “fickle?”
Andrade defeated Cedric Alexander.
Aleister Black asked somebody to knock on his door for the 6,738th time.
Lana lied about being pregnant. Bobby Lashley beat up Rusev. The story still sucks.
Erick Rowan won a squash match and debuted something in a cage. Remember Jake “The Snake” Roberts’ snake Damien? It’s his son. No wait, it’s Koko B. Ware’s bird Frankie’s son. I don’t know.
Randy Orton & Ricochet & Humberto Carrillo defeated the O.C. Throughout the show tension was teased between Orton and Ricochet. Orton warned Ricochet not to let him get in his head. It appears Orton is turning babyface?
Summary & Closing Thoughts
Overall, it wasn’t a terrible Raw last week from a wrestling standpoint. The problem, at least for me, is this Lashley-Lana-Rusev story drags the show down. It’s doing none of them any favors. It’s not putting good heat on Lana and Lashley. Rusev looks like a big doofis. It really ruins the whole show. If somebody thinks that’s good TV, that’s your business. The ratings continue to drop, and wrestlers keep asking for their release. Now you’re seeing Oney Lorcan wanting to leave. Storylines are not consistent week to week. You’re made a fool to pay attention because one week they’ll do one thing and the next week another (example is the Becky-Charlotte-Natalya situation with the Kabuki Warriors). I’m hoping once this Lana-Rusev story ends and we get past Survivor Series, we can get back to some semblance of normal, whatever that may be.
CATCH UP… HEYDORN’S WWE RAW REPORT 11/11: Alt Perspective coverage of the live show including Lana’s big announcement, Becky Lynch addresses Survivor Series opponents, women’s tag team title match, and more
Follow Frank on Twitter @FrankPeteani. Questions and discussion are welcome! Thank you for reading.
After being revealed as The Exalted One last Wednesday, Brodie Lee is set to make his AEW in-ring debut.
In an advertisement that AEW posted for tonight’s Dynamite episode, it was announced that Lee will have his first match for AEW on the show. AEW didn’t reveal who Lee will be facing.
Lee and The Dark Order attacked SCU’s Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian last week after Lee was revealed as The Exalted One. Daniels — who had been claiming that The Exalted One didn’t actually exist — was laid out by a discus lariat from Lee.
Tonight’s Dynamite was originally set to be headlined by the Blood and Guts match between The Inner Circle and The Elite & Matt Hardy, but AEW announced that the time and circumstances aren’t right for the card they had planned for Blood and Guts and the show will instead happen when the time is right.
Chris Jericho and Hardy will instead have a confrontation on tonight’s Dynamite. Kenny Omega will defend his AAA Mega Championship against Sammy Guevara, and Cody will take on Jimmy Havoc. Cody will also be joining Tony Schiavone on commentary tonight.
PWTorch editor Wade Keller presents a special Thursday Flagship edition of the Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast featuring a WrestleMania 36 Preview with ex-WWE Creative Team member and professional stand-up comedian Matt McCarthy.
(Search “wade keller” to subscribe in podcast app or CLICK HERE to subscribe in Apple Podcasts.)
WWE Monday Night Raw (2/24) drew a 1.58 rating, bringing the February ratings average down to 1.62. That’s below January’s average of 1.63. The average for February 2019 was 1.88. The average for February 2018 was 2.18.
Viewership was more steady throughout, starting lower and ending higher than last week’s episode. The first hour drew 2.246 million, then grew to 2.278, then dropped to 2.106. The first-to-third hour drop-off was 140,000, well below the 371,000 average for 2020 so far. Raw built toward a Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens main event.
Although Raw is well below year-ago numbers, each hour drew enough viewers in the 18-49 demographic to finish in the first three spots in the cable rankings on Monday night, beating “Love & Hip Hop” episodes on VH1 handily. Raw drew 18-49 demo ratings of 0.73, 0.71, and 0.68 compared to 0.58 and 0.42 “Love & Hip Hop.” Fox News programs drew more than 3 million total viewers, and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC also outdrew Raw in total viewership.
RELATED: AEW outdraws NXT again, both shows increase viewership up against highly rated Democratic Debate, key metrics and 2020 averages so far
Everybody plays… Trentino wins. That could be the shortest possible description of the final game of his year’s CEV Champions League.
After winning in 2009 in Prague and last year in Lodz, guys of coach Radostin Stoychev once again managed to defend their title and remain the best volleyball club in Europe for the next 365 days. Well, how to describe their victory? Powerful, energetic, inspiring… or maybe players from Trentino are playing at the outer space level while other teams are still grounded on Earth? Their convincing victory over Zenit Kazan brought fans of the Italian team to the true volleyball heaven.
Even those spectators, who are slightly bored with lack of the thrilling matches during this year’s Final Four tournament must admit that instead of horror on the court we have a great piece of art. True volleyball masterpiece. That’s why we all love this sport and the reason for getting excited about such events. All I can guess for now it will be a long, or probably rather short night for all those happy volleyball fans gathered in Bolzano.
In the battle for bronze medal also there was no surprise. The favorite, Russian Dynamo Moscow claimed an easy victory over Jastrzębski Węgiel 3-1 and in this way didn’t leave Bolzano without another trophy to collect. Players from Silesia did their best and showed their spirit and will to fight but sometimes it is not enough. But the experience they got by advancing to the Final Four for sure will help them to overcome problems in the national league and become an even stronger and better team next season. So it’s easy to see that this time all the teams are winners, with Trentino the biggest winner from all of them!
The Greek championship is starting with the game between Aris–Iraklis on Friday. Iraklis had taken the certificate to participate in the volleyball league on Wednesday.
On Saturday four matches are scheduled. These games are Olympiakos – Apollon Kalamaria, Lamia – Pamvochaikos, EAPatras – PAOK, Kifissia – Ethnikos Alexandroupolis. The first round is closing on Monday with the battle between Panathinaikos – Finikas Syrou.
Trying to continue the previous our presentation we will analyze the roster there teams Panathinaikos, EAPatron and PAOK.
Nikos Boutsouris will coach the team of Panathinaikos who had also agreed with the libero Theologos Daridis (from Milonas), the middle blockers Nikos Zoupanis and Ioannis Maroudas, the setter Nikos Agelopoulos from Panahaiki, the outside hitters Milos Stojikoviv (SRB), Gianluca Saraceni (ITA), Giorgos Koltsianos, Iraklis Papadopoulos (from Kalamaria) and the Poland diagonal Tomasz Jozefacki. Thanasis Psaras, Sotiris Pantaleon , Stathis Donas will stay for one more year in the team. On the other hand Illias Lappas, Giorgos Petreas, Vasilis Minoudis, Michalis Kovats, Axileas Papadimitriou and all the foreign players from previous team choose to continue their careers in other teams. It will be a tough year for Panathinaikos team which will not fight to win the Greek championship after many years.
PAOK will have Ioannis Melkas as the main coach for one more year. Thanos Papadimitriou, Dimitris Orologas, Vasilis Plikas and Rafael Lins will try to repeat the previous year’s performance and play in the finals for a second year in a row. The new players for Thessaloniki’s team are Ioannis Georgiadis (setter), Thanasis Dinas, Kostas Girtzikis and Ioannis Papaiakovou (middle blockers), Apostolos Armenakis (diagonal) and Serbian Ivan Bororvniak (diagonal). Agelos Agelis will be the libero of the team.
EAPatron is one of the teams that will a different role than usual. Economical problems forced the president of the team Manolis Rogdakis to reduce the budget. So EAPatron invest in Greek talented players such are the Liberos Patakiaras and Ioannis Ahileopoulos, the middle- blockers Sarakinis and George Papadopoulos. The main coach Georgios Xristopoulos stay for one more year and choose the setter Josef Janosik (SVK) the middle-blocker Milan Jurisic (SRB) and outside hitter Andrew Pink (UK). The younger Greek players Tasos Aspiotis, Ioannis Madekas, Makrygiannis, Panagiotis Papadopoulos and Ilias Patrinos will remain in the team.
In the 15th round of Plusliga Czestochowa met Rzeszow. Team of Marek Kardos couldn´t play his usual game and lost in three sets. Rzeszow was playing fantastic on serve.
The volleyball Road to London continues as European teams battle it out for a place at the Olympics on LAOLA1.tv. See Laola1.tv program information.
After the women fought it out in Ankara, Turkey, we are now in Sofia, Bulgaria for the men’s Olympic qualification tournament and it looks set to be extremely exciting with some of the best teams in Europe taking part. The magnificent Armeec Arena is the venue for the event with the action available via LIVE-Stream LIVE and FREE from 08.05..-13.05.2012.
This is a tournament which is bursting at the seams with world class teams and players. 2011 European Champions Serbia. Silver medalists Italy, as well as the impressive Bulgarians and efficient Germans and many more will be on court. What more could a volleyball fan want? These top European teams will take each other on in two groups over six days and LAOLA1.tv will follow all of the best action LIVE and FREE to ensure volleyball lovers across the world can experience the excitement.
LAOLA1.tv, the Internet Sports TV, and the Home of Volleyball on the Internet, will be following the teams along the Road to London by broadcasting 9 major Olympic qualification events LIVE and FREE via LIVE-Stream on www.laola1.tv!
LIVE Schedule CEV European Olympic Qualification Men on www.laola1.tv :
Date
Time and Fixture*
08.05.2012
09.05.2012
10.05.2012
11.05.2012
12.05.2012
13.05.2012
13:30 CET Germany – Slovakia
16:30 CET Finland – Italy
19:45 CET Bulgaria – Slovenia
13:30 CET Finland – Germany
16:30 CET Slovenia – Spain
19:45 CET Serbia – Bulgaria
13:30 CET Slovakia – Finland
16:30 CET Spain – Serbia
19:45 CET Italy – Germany
13:30 CET Slovenia – Serbia
16:30 CET Slovakia – Italy
19:45 CET Spain – Bulgaria
16:30 CET Semi-Final 1
19:45 CET Semi-Final 2
19:45 CET Final
Watch all matches LIVE and FREE as well as match highlights on demand and behind the scenes interviews and reports on the Internet’s Home of Volleyball: www.laola1.tv.
In first match in Pool C Japan gave no chance for Algeria. Match was without history. Algerians had only 9 spikes, while Japan 38. Girls from north Africa gave 26 points after their mistakes. The only one reliable Algerian scorer was opposite Mouni Abderrahim with 7 points. Japan today played with totally different line-up comparing with yesterday. The best player was definitely best opposite of V-League Miyu Nagaoka with 20 points.
Second match was quite jammed, what shows us result. Turkey should have won it easier, but with 26 errors by Turkish players it was impossible, while Thai had only 11. Difference made the spike (53-35 for Turkey) and Wing-Spikers. Neslihan Darnel (OPP) with 19 points, Seda Tokatioglu (OH/OPP) with 17 and Gozde Sonsirma (OH/OPP) with 11. In Thailand only Sittirak Onuma (OH/OPP) with 15 points.