NEWS

The gold is back. One of the most surprising stories from late 2019 was the resurgence of the NWA. While the promotion did not reach any spectacular heights, it was a lot better than sitting around collecting dust and trying to remind people that they still exist. Their weekly Powerrr series gained a nice audience but it was shut down due to Coronavirus concerns. That put the brakes on the promotion but it is far from dead, and now we know where things are going next.
Earlier this month, news broke that the NWA would be teaming with the United Wrestling Network for a series of weekly pay per view events. The shows would include NWA champions, such as NWA World Champion Nick Aldis, but there were not many details beyond that. Now we know a good bit more, including when Aldis will be putting the title on the line.
According to PWInsider.com, the first edition of the Primetime Live series will take place on Tuesday September 15 and will feature an NWA World Title match with Aldis defend..

There’s always time for one more. Payback is coming up on us in a hurry and WWE did not exactly have a lot of time to set things up in the first place. That has made the build unlike any other in WWE history and that is going to cause some issues for everyone involved. You can’t do that much in such a short amount of time but that hasn’t stopped WWE, who is trying to make it as normal of a show as possible.
One of the biggest stories in WWE over the last few months has been the women’s divisions, which have been dominated by Bayley and Sasha Banks. Until last Sunday, they held all of the Women’s Titles, including the Tag Team Titles. Those belts will be on the line this Sunday, but they are going to need some more challengers after the match is over. We might find those out soon.
WWE has announced that the IIconics will face the Riott Squad during the Payback Kickoff Show. The two teams have fought extensively in recent weeks, including both in singles matches and tag matches. Bayley..

The calendar needs a switch. We are in a weird period for the WWE and that is the kind of thing that couldn’t be predicted. The Coronavirus has changed almost everything about the wrestling world and that is going to be the case for the time being. This includes some changes to the WWE’s schedule and we will be seeing another change to it as we move into the fall.
Titles are probably the easiest storytelling device in all of wrestling. You have a title that says you’re the best and someone else wants it. How much more basic of a story can you tell than that? It should make for an easy match and WWE is smart enough to realize that. It is why there is a pay per view dedicated entirely titles but we are going to have to wait on it a little bit longer.
According to PWInsider.com, WWE has moved Clash of Champions back from September 20 to September 27. There is no word on why WWE made such a change. This lines up with the lease agreement that WWE has with the Amway Center, which included ..

I’d call it a bargain. One of the biggest stories from over the weekend was WWE moving into the Amway Center in Orlando, Florida. The arena is being dubbed the Thunderdome and offers WWE a way out of the Performance Center, where they had been stuck for five months thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic. It is quite the upgrade but it does come with some additional costs.
Moving into the Amway Center immediately made WWE feel like a much bigger deal all over again. At the end of the day, the Performance Center is a small arena and not something that seems to fit the image of the biggest wrestling company in the world. The move was very necessary and something that was overdue. It is a good thing that WWE got to make the change, and there are some more details that make it seem like a better deal.
Spectrum News 13 in Orlando, Florida has tweeted out an image of the WWE’s lease with the Amway Center which reveals some additional details. The agreement runs through October 31 but both sides..

On the cutting room floor. Monday Night Raw is the biggest wrestling show in the world and with that comes a lot of pressure. While it is certainly a big show, it is also not always the best show and as a result, WWE tries to shake things up from time to time. Some of these changes are better than others but this week there was a chance to one of the bigger changes.
Last month, WWE debuted a new concept called Raw Underground, which is basically an underground fight club with WWE wrestlers and extras in worked shoot fights in a back room. Shane McMahon serves as host every week and wrestlers such as Dolph Ziggler, the Viking Raiders and the Hurt Business have made regular appearances. Those are just some of the names, but even those who participated this week didn’t all make it to air.
According to Fightful Select, WWE filmed several additional Raw Underground segments for this week’s show, including one involving Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke winning a fight each. Also planned was..

Are you really surprised? Vince McMahon is the undisputed king of all things professional wrestling and has been for a very long time now. Whether you like him or not, there is no denying that he is the ultimate power in the sport and can do just about anything he wants. If he makes a decision there isn’t much that can be done to change his mind and that was the case again this week.
There are a lot of problems with the current WWE system and they have been around for a very long time. Above all else, the television show is not always the most coherent or air tight and a lot of that comes from the massive rewrites that tend to take place. Most of these are ordered by McMahon and that was the case again this week, though it was a little worse than usual.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, McMahon made several changes to the show throughout the day over the phone and then made even more upon arriving at the Amway Center for the broadcast. McMahon made it to the arena at around 7:00..

If you would like to see this show in full, you can watch it right here:

Dark
Date: August 25, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Taz, Tony Schiavone, Veda Scott
I’m not sure what to expect from this show as it might be the last show without fans, but at the same time it is a thirteen match card that lasts an hour and fifty eight minutes. Yes I mention the time and the amount of matches every week, but given how this show goes, what else am I supposed to talk about on a show made of squash matches? Let’s get to it.
Announcers’ welcome.
Storm Thomas/Demitri Jackson vs. Best Friends Orange Cassidy is here too. Chuck headlocks Thomas to start and drops him with a sunset flip. It’s off to Jackson, who is chopped in the corner by Trent. A Meteora drops Jackson again and a hanging northern lights suplex makes it worse. Chuck comes back in but gets kicked in the back so Jackson can take him into the corner. A knee out of the corner allows Chuck to get over ..

205 Live
Date: August 21, 2020
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Drew Gulak, Vic Joseph
What does it mean when 205 Live comes to the Thunderdome? Probably not all that much as last week’s show was pretty much nothing. That’s what happens when you fall back on the same wrestlers who didn’t work in the first place and still don’t now that more time has passed. Maybe they can go with some of the good stuff this time so let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Drake Maverick vs. Tehuti Miles Hold on though as Miles wants to make sure that his shiny fanny pack is placed in the corner before heading outside. After taking his time combing his hair, Miles comes back in for a lockup so he can take Drake down. Maverick goes after him in the corner so Miles hides in the ropes and stops to comb his hair. That earns him a dropkick to the floor and the beating is on, with Gulak suggesting that his former boss get him.
Miles manages to send Maverick back first into the post for two..

The familiar sounds. There are certain wrestling songs which are forever linked to some wrestlers. You know who is coming out if you hear glass shattering. You know who the Real American is. You know what that gong means. Those are the kind of songs that are going to be linked with a wrestler forever and while some others might not be as iconic, it can be annoying to see them changed up for less than satisfactory reasons.
Over the last several years, a majority of WWE’s music has been handled by CFO$, a band which has produced some pretty good entrance themes for the current generation of WWE stars. You know them when you hear them and the songs are pretty catchy. They offer a lot of recognizable theme songs but a decision outside of WWE’s hands is going to change a lot of them.
According to Fightful Select, WWE is trying to get its wrestlers to move away from theme songs produced by CFO$ as the group is no longer affiliated with WWE. Several wrestlers have declined to make the chang..

It’s better than nothing. With so many people on the WWE roster, it can be difficult for everyone to get some kind of television time. This can prove very frustrating both for the wrestlers and the fans, as they both want to see people on TV but it doesn’t always work that way. There are some alternatives to getting in the ring though and two WWE wrestlers are doing just that.
You might not have watched it all that much, but 205 Live has produced some of the better action in WWE over the last few years. There was a stretch where it was possibly the best show the company had from an in-ring perspective with one high flying match after another. A big reason for that was a group of wrestlers they had, all of whom are now on bigger shows. They are reuniting in a way though, even if it isn’t in the ring.
This is a unique one. Check out a new commercial featuring WWE stars:
https://media.wrestlingrumors.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/25215750/Mustafa-Ali-Cedric-Alexander.mp4 WWE stars Mus..

That’s a good explanation. A turn in wrestling can be both surprising and beneficial. Sometimes you need to see something switched for the sake of freshening their career up in both the short and long term. Some of these are more effective than others of course, but that does not make them any less exciting. We saw one such change this week and now we know a little more background.
This week on Monday Night Raw, Aleister Black made his return after about a month away to appear as a guest on the Kevin Owens Show. After looking at a clip of the injury which put him out of action in the first place, Black fell to the ground in pain but then popped up to hit Black Mass on Owens, turning heel for the first time in his WWE career. There was a reason for that and it is actually pretty simple.
According to Wrestling Observer Radio, Black was turned heel for the sake of giving Owens someone to feud against. Owens was originally penciled in to feud with Seth Rollins, but with Rey Mysterio re-s..

Main Event
Date: August 20, 2020
Location: WWE Performance Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton
It’s the final show of any series in the Performance Center despite this being the show that needs to be in the place. I would say that I don’t know is going on here but you can pretty much guarantee what you’re going to be seeing. It helps that this is the go home show for Summerslam so they’re going to have a focus at least. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Bianca Belair vs. Billie Kay Peyton Royce is here with Kay. Belair drives her into the corner for an early clean break before taking it to the mat with no real effort. Kay can’t get a single leg as Belair blocks her with straight power and the hiptoss connects. Belair bounces around a bit but Peyton’s distraction lets Kay connect with Shades of Kay for two. We hit the seated abdominal stretch but Belair powers up and takes her into the corner. Belair hits a dropkick into a nip up and she heads up top. A..