WWE going to dual-brand PPV
WWE sent out an email to fans on Monday who bought tickets to the Backlash PPV in May saying that the show will feature superstars from both Raw and Smackdown.
Usually, only the 鈥淏ig Four鈥� 鈥� WWE PPV蘑菇视频 of the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, SummerSlam and Survivor Series 鈥� feature wrestlers from both shows, and it was announced last month that Money in the Bank would be a fifth.
But is WWE going that route with all shows now?
To add fuel to the fire, Dave Meltzer mentioned the topic on his Wrestling Observer Radio show saying that speculation is WWE will do it moving forward from Backlash.
If this happens, WWE will have no choice but to make every PPV four hours plus have the preshow or there will never be room for midcard guys on the shows.
If WWE makes all PPV蘑菇视频 dual brand shows and leaves them at three hours, there would only be three to four matches each for Raw and Smackdown.
Rousey news
It appears that WWE is having Ronda Rousey蘑菇视频 鈥渃ontract signing鈥� at Elimination Chamber because WWE is having trouble selling tickets to the show, so it is hoping to bump ticket sales by having her there.
WWE has only sold 8,000 tickets and the venue holds near 18,000.
Look for Rousey蘑菇视频 Mania angle to start taking place at the Chamber show or the next night on Raw.
All signs point to a mixed tag match, as previously reported in this column, with Rousey and a partner taking on Triple H and Stephanie McMahon.
The Rock is WWE蘑菇视频 first choice, but his availability is likely nonexistent so Kurt Angle may be the next choice.
Three other names mentioned include Seth Rollins, Braun Strowman and Shane McMahon.
Taker v. Cena build underway?
鈥淲restleMania brings legends back from the dead.鈥�
This past Monday on Raw, John Cena spoke those words and it was an obvious tease for a match with The Undertaker at Mania.
The match has been rumored for almost two months now, and if it is going to take place, look for the build to start either at the Elimination Chamber PPV or the next night on Raw.
Big Cass on the mend
Mike Johnson at www.pwinsiderelite.com stated on Wednesday that Big Cass, who has been out since having reconstructive ACL surgery in August, is working out at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando.
The recovery process was said to take up to six months, so Cass may be back in time for Mania.
WWE releases 205 wrestler
Rich Swann and WWE came to a mutual release Thursday. He had not been on WWE TV since he getting into some legal issues, but they were dropped and he still had not been used.
Pro wrestling fund-raiser at Brownsville HS
RYSE, the Independent pro wrestling organization based out of Lemont Furnace, is doing a fundraiser on Saturday, March 3, at Brownsville High School.
The event will raise money for the girls softball team and it starts at 7 p.m. Ringside tickets are $15 and general admission seats are $10.
For information on the show and on RYSE, go to www.rysewrestling.com.
Mixed Tag Team Challenge continues Tuesday
Week 6 of the WWE Mixed Tag Team Challenge takes place Tuesday with the last first round match which pits Apollo Crews and Nia Jax against Bobby Roode and Charlotte Flair.
The winning team will advance to take on Rusev and Lana, who defeated Elias and Bayley this past Tuesday.
Samoa Joe out until after Mania?
Last weekend, WWE pulled Samoa Joe off of all appearances through WrestleMania. Joe was injured on the Jan. 8 episode of Raw and has not been cleared.
Now, the question is whether Joe will still be out that long or if WWE is planning a surprise return and is trying to throw fans off.
On this date:
The main event of the first WrestleMania in 1985 was set at 鈥淭he War To Settle The Score鈥� show from Madison Square Garden that aired live on MTV.
Hulk Hogan, with pop star Cyndi Lauper in his corner, faced 鈥淩owdy鈥� Roddy Piper. The referee was knocked out and Paul Orndorff joined Piper in attacking Hogan.
Lauper was on the apron calling for help when Piper and Orndorff closed in on her.
Mr. T, who was sitting in the crowd, made the save and both he and Hogan fought off Piper and Orndorff setting up their tag team main event six weeks later.
This week蘑菇视频 question:
When will Jeff Hardy be back? Ryan, Connellsville.
Hardy is nearing the end of rehabbing his shoulder injury so he will be back shortly.