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They’re doing this in a hurry. We are rapidly approaching Payback and things are moving in a hurry because the show is only a week after Summerslam. That isn’t much time to set up the pay per view card and as a result, WWE is throwing matches out there as fast as they can. That is certainly the case with Monday Night Raw as they have set up multiple matches this week, including a match with some first time ever challengers.
The WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles are some of the most oddly booked titles in recent memory. The titles were rarely defended in their first year of existence but are at least settling down a little bit now that the titles are a little more established. This includes somewhat regular pay per view title defenses, including at the upcoming Payback. Now we know who will be getting the title shot.
This week on Monday Night Raw, Nia Jax and Shayna Baszler were named as the #1 contenders to the Women’s Tag Team Titles and will receive their shot at the titles on Sunday at ..

The card is building in a hurry. Summerslam is less than a day old and yet we are already less than a week away from WWE’s next pay per view with Payback. WWE is rushing through its pay per view calendar like never before and that means they do not have a lot of time to set things up for the next show. They are setting things up in a hurry and that includes announcing a SmackDown match on Monday Night Raw.
The big story coming out of Summerslam was the return of Roman Reigns, who attacked the new Universal Champion the Fiend and former champion Braun Strowman to end the show. This was Reigns’ first appearance in over five months and came after he went to the sidelines while still #1 contender to the Universal Title. This leads us to Payback and I think you know what is coming.
This week on Monday Night Raw, a triple threat, no holds barred match for the Universal Title was announced for Payback, with the Fiend defending against both Reigns and Strowman. There will be a contract signi..

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 24, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, Samoa Joe
It’s a triple threat tonight, but mainly because of WWE’s weird scheduling. Tonight is the Raw debut of the Thunderdome, the fallout show from Summerslam and the go home show for Payback. Since we have less than six days to get ready for the pay per view, expect a lot of matches to be announced in a hurry. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Here’s what’s coming on the show.
Commentary talks about Roman Reigns’ return. At Payback, it’s Reigns vs. Strowman vs. the Fiend in a No Holds Barred triple threat match for the title.
Here’s WWE Champion Drew McIntyre for a chat. After a long video on his successful title defense over Randy Orton last night, Drew asks for a thumbs up from all of the fans in the Thunderdome. McIntyre thinks that’s cool and says retaining the title was cool too. He knows what it’s like to have to climb up to the top of the mountain..

What’s on your list? There are a lot of people on every WWE roster and that can be a good or bad thing. With so much talent, you can see a lot of outstanding matches and angles based on the wrestlers alone. At the same time though, it can make for some frustrating moments when a wrestler you like doesn’t get the biggest chance. WWE has its own mindset on these things and now we have a better idea of how that looks.
SmackDown may not be the top show on the WWE pyramid, but it certainly has a lot to offer. This includes a host of top level stars, including a variety of legends and newcomers. That can allow for some very big matches on the blue show and as luck would have it, we are seeing some of those matches play out. That is an effective way of seeing who is the best around, but what does WWE think coming into those matches?
According to Fightful, a backstage depth chart shows the top three babyfaces on the SmackDown roster. Braun Strowman is listed as the top face, followed by Jeff..

It would certainly be different. There are a lot of criticisms about modern WWE and one of the biggest is that it is too PG. Several fans are not pleased with what is considered a more family friendly version of the company, which has been in place for a very long time now. While you will see flashes of different kinds of programming, it is rare to see WWE offering more mature, adult style stories. That might be changing, at least for the short term.
Some of these complaints make a lot of sense, but at the same time the PG model makes sense for families. If younger people are watching the show, they might not be able to get to a show on their own. That means coming with their parents, which means two (or even three) tickets sold, plus more concessions and possibly merchandise. Throw in better advertising opportunities and it is a fairly easy concept to follow. However, that philosophy was not the case this week.
According to Wrestlingnews.co, this week’s SmackDown was rated TV-14 ins..

It’s a classic. WWE has been around for a very long time and has produced more television than any wrestling company in history. That is the kind of thing that can create a lot of history over the years, which can make for some rather interesting looks back through time. Monday Night Raw and SmackDown are their two most famous shows, but we might be seeing one of the other big ones making a return.
One of the most important changes in the history of WWE is the introduction of Saturday Night’s Main Event. The company’s television moved from the smaller arenas without the best lighting to big sports arenas with top level production values and graphics. It changed the way the company looked and ushered in a new era. The show became a staple of the 1980s and made a brief comeback in 2006. Now, we might be seeing the same thing all over again.
According to Wrestlinginc.com, WWE has filed a trademark application for Saturday Night’s Main Event. There is no word on any official plans to run..

The time scale is shaping up. One of the biggest stories of the week was news of WWE finally getting their television out of the Performance Center. The facility has been rather useful for WWE during the Coronavirus pandemic but there comes a point where it is time to move on. That is going to be the case starting next week, and now we know some more important details.
There are several questions about WWE moving to the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, but one of the most important is how they will be able to bring in fans. That has been one of the major changes over the summer and it is not clear how long it will be before WWE can run full arenas again. We now know a little bit more about their situation in the Amway Center, including how long they might be around.
According to Jon Alba of MyNews13 in Orlando, WWE has an agreement in place with the city to have full use of the Amway Center, though they will not be allowed to have any fans in attendance through October 30. According..

They don’t have much time. We are just over a week away from Summerslam, which means we are just over two weeks away from Payback. WWE has decided to run two pay per views in back to back weeks, which is going to make for some interesting timing situations. That means they are going to need to set up the card in a hurry, and that is what they are already doing.
One of the bigger stories of the year so far has been that of Bayley and Sasha Banks, who have completely taken over the women’s divisions in recent months. That has included them winning all three main roster titles, which is both a blessing and a curse. While it is nice to have all of the gold, it also means having to defend the titles, which is where this is going.
During this week’s SmackDown, Banks and Bayley announced that they will be defending their Women’s Tag Team Titles at Payback. There were no opponents mentioned, but the titles are defended over all three brands, including NXT. Banks and Bayley are two time champ..

That’s what makes sense. Summerslam is coming up in just over a week and while most of the card is set in stone, there is still time to add a few things to the show here and there. Some of these changes will involve adjustments to matches that are already set and some of the changes are needed improvements. That is the case for one of the bigger matches from Monday Night Raw.
Over the last several months, Seth Rollins and Rey Mysterio have been involved in one of the biggest feuds on Monday Night Raw. Rollins has taken out Mysterio’s eye twice, putting him on the shelf multiple times. That is the kind of thing that is going to require some revenge, with Mysterio’s son Dominik swearing to take Rollins out for his father’s sake. He can do that at Summerslam, and now it might be a little easier.
WWE.com has officially announced that Rollins vs. Dominik will be a street fight. This is a change from Monday Night Raw, when the match’s stipulations only allowed for Dominik to use weapons. T..

You had to know something like this was coming. The wrestling world is still dealing with the fallout from the SpeakingOut Movement, which shook up the industry in a big way. There were almost no companies without wrestlers being mentioned, with WWE certainly being included. One of the more prominent wrestlers has since returned to television, and it has not been going well.
Earlier this week, the Velveteen Dream made his return to NXT in a surprise as the third entrant in a triple threat qualifying match for the Takeover: XXX North American Title ladder match. This was Dream’s first appearance since he was accused of sending sexual messages to underage people. While Dream was never charged with a crime, there was some rather convincing evidence against him. It was a big moment to have him come back, and fans are not pleased.
According to Fightful Select, Dream’s return was not revealed to the NXT roster until the night of the television taping. There has been no mention of any punish..

Nice to meet you….again. The wrestling world may involve a lot of different promotions, but you can often see some of the people involved working in different places. It can be interesting when you see someone make an appearance for a promotion other than where they are best known, especially if they are someone famous. That was the case this week for someone who is hard to miss.
While WWE has been the dominant promotion in professional wrestling for about the last twenty years, Impact Wrestling has carved out a nice niche for itself over the years. The company has done some nice things over the years and has its own group of wrestlers who are known for their work there. A lot of them have moved elsewhere, and one made his on-screen WWE debut this week.
During this week’s SmackDown, Joseph Park, better known as former Impact Wrestling World Champion Abyss made his on-screen debut. Park appeared as AJ Styles’ statistician and was later attacked by Jeff Hardy. Styles mentioned Park by ..

It’s the best that they can do. The Coronavirus has caused a lot of changes to the wrestling world with possibly the biggest being the lack of fans in the arenas. That is the kind of thing that you can’t plan for and really does change the way the wrestling shows feel. Other sports have had the same issue, but there is a unique solution that we might be seeing soon.
Fans in wrestling serve more purposes than just sitting in the stands and cheering. They can also show wrestlers what they like and don’t like, as you can see what is working for the fans who want to watch the show. WWE has been missing that kind of feedback as all they have at the moment is their NXT wrestlers serving as an audience. Soon though, we might be getting something else.
According to the WrestleVotes Twitter account, WWE will include a virtual audience for its upcoming television shows starting with next week’s SmackDown. WWE’s television will be moving to the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida and the arena wil..