Hectic Mania Week starting early
WrestleMania week is usually full with nonstop appearances and shows through Raw the night after Mania.
However, things are a little different this year as WWE is pre-taping several shows due to it having to move the Thunderdome out of Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg as the Tampa Rays are preparing to open their home schedule.
As far as this coming week, Raw will air live Monday night and then the April 5 episode will be taped Tuesday, as will the first half of the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.
After taking Wednesday off, the second half of the Hall ceremony will take place Thursday with the April 2nd and April 9th editions of Smackdown being taped on April 1st and the 2nd.
New Thunderdome location
Speaking of the Thunderdome, the WWE announced Wednesday that it will be moving from 鈥渢he Trop鈥� to the Yuengling Center on the campus of the University of South Florida.
The first show to emanate from there will be Raw on April 12, the night after WrestleMania.
Teardown from 鈥渢he Trop鈥� will take place on April 3rd for the move.
Matches announced for each night of Mania
WWE has started to release information on which matches will air on which day for the two nights of Mania.
Announced so far for Saturday, April 10 are Bobby Lashley defending the WWE championship against Drew McIntyre, Sasha Banks defending her Smackdown championship against Bianca Belair and The Miz taking on Bad Bunny.
Announced so far for Sunday are Roman Reigns defending the Universal championship against Edge, Asuka defending her Raw championship against Rhea Ripley and The Fiend against Randy Orton.
If it wasn鈥檛 announced Friday on Smackdown, look for Daniel Bryan to be added into the Universal championship match.
The belief is that every match for each night will be announced in advance.
Hulk Hogan and Titus O鈥橬eil are the co-hosts for Mania.
New WWE Hall of Famers
On Wednesday, WWE announced that both Kane and the Great Khali would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
Kane was informed on WWE蘑菇视频 show The Bump on the WWE Network on Wednesday and he was informed as a surprise by The Undertaker.
It was quite a special moment for Kane, and he was so honored that Taker broke the news to him that Kane became choked up and showed emotions.
While Khali is quite the controversial induction, the guess here is that it is being done because of WWE looking to expand in the India market.
While Khali is considered one of the worst in-ring performers in WWE history, he is a legendary figure in his native India.
Andrade granted release
Sunday night after Fastlane ended, WWE announced it had released Andrade and granted him his immediate freedom without the normal 90-day no-compete clause.
The hunch here is that since Andrade is engaged to Charlotte Flair, WWE did not want to upset her by making Andrade sit for another 90 days after not using him for almost five months.
Reason for Ripley蘑菇视频 quick title shot
Speaking of Charlotte, she had been taken off the Mania advertising and many thought it was because maybe she was leaving with Andrade.
The reason is that she tested positive for COVID-19 and WWE was not sure if she would be able to wrestle at the show.
Charlotte was rumored to show up on Smackdown two days ago, but this column was turned in Friday afternoon prior to the episode.
The positive test result explains why Ripley was quickly inserted into the Raw women蘑菇视频 championship match against Asuka.
Peacock editing WWE footage
Earlier this week, word broke that the Peacock is editing out questionable content from older WWE events.
This has upset many people, but Peacock is not looking to have people complain about certain moments that are not looked back on fondly and that could cause problems.
WWE has also removed the segments or matches on the WWE Network as to align with NBC蘑菇视频 standards and practices.
New AEW show on TNT
For years, WWE has had reality TV shows on different channels.
Now it is AEW蘑菇视频 turn to join the party.
TNT has ordered an 鈥渦nscripted鈥� show titled Rhodes to the Top with the show focusing on Cody and Brandi Rhodes.
Impact moving to Thursday
Impact Wrestling announced that it is moving its weekly TV show back to Thursdays starting April 8.
Part of the reasoning is that NXT is rumored to be moving to Tuesday nights, although Impact will not say it publicly.
This Day in History
In 1980, Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan battle to a double count out in Binghamton, NY.
In 1981, Andre the Giant defeated Hulk Hogan in Old Saybrook, CT.
In 1999, Steve Austin defeated The Rock to win the WWF championship at WrestleMania XV.
This week蘑菇视频 question
Do you think WWE will turn the Bad Bunny and The Miz match into a tag match by adding Damian Priest and John Morrison? Craig from Charleroi.
As soon as Bad Bunny had gotten involved at the Royal Rumble, I predicted in this column that it would be Bunny and Priest against Miz and Morrison, so I will stick with the prediction.
Does that mean it will happen? No, but I would think WWE would look to protect Bunny by having a tag partner in the match.
Email questions/comments to powerhousehughes@gmail.com or tweet them to @BillHughes_III.