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The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week 4/3: WrestleMania Weekend, AEW TNT Title, Tapings in Jeopardy, More

By Matthew Fowler • Published 3rd April 2020
TJR Wrestling

Welcome back TJR readers, were you too invested in what was happening to Joe Exotic to watch Smackdown? Perhaps you are such a big deal that the Federal Government deems you “essential” so you missed RAW. Well, worry not, for I have returned with another edition of The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week to catch you up.

10. WWE’s Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches Now Available Nationwide

WWE is now once again officially in the ice cream game. WWE along with Good Humor released their new Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches nationwide this week, with the sandwiches now being available in all major retailers, as well as online. These sandwiches are being called a “modern twist” on the WWF Ice Cream Bars that many older fans, like myself, remember fondly. Hopefully the twist isn’t that when we bite into one of these new sandwiches that we all start screaming for ice cream bars. (TJRWrestling)

9. WrestleMania 36 to Air on the Fox Sports App and FITE TV App

Are you the type of person who enjoys paying the most you can possibly pay for something? Perhaps you are trying to show your new girlfriend that you’re a “Real Baller” who just throws away money. If you don’t know the value of a dollar, then I have some amazing news for you. Instead of paying the measly sum of $9.99 to watch WrestleMania 36 on the WWE Network (or free as a new subscriber), you can now pay $59.99 and watch it on either the FITE TV App or the Fox Sports App. Of course you could also spend the excess money on one of the plethora of charities that are presently fighting the Coronavirus Pandemic or even scroll to the bottom of this page and support this site. Who am I to tell you how to spend your money though, you Baller. (TJRWrestling)

8. Jack Hager to Face Jon Moxley in an Empty Arena No Holds Barred Match

The next contender for the AEW Heavyweight Championship was announced this week on Dynamite. Jon Moxley will defend his championship in an Empty Arena No Holds Barred Match against Jack Hager on the April 15th episode of AEW: Dynamite. Along with this match, AEW will also likely have several Empty Arena “In a Ring” Matches as well. (TJRWrestling)

7. Austin Theory Replaces Andrade in Tag Title Match at WrestleMania 36

The WWE United States Champion Andrade and his partner Angel Garza were scheduled to compete for the RAW Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania 36. Andrade’s manager, Zelina Vega, came out on RAW this week and announced that Andrade had suffered a rib injury and is not cleared to compete at WrestleMania. Vega then introduced NXT Superstar Austin Theory, who will now be replacing Andrade in the WrestleMania match. Theory then made his main roster debut on RAW, teaming with Garza and Seth Rollins in a losing effort against The Street Profits and Kevin Owens. Despite his 0-1 record on the main roster, Theory will now go on to compete for the RAW Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania. With this addition, WrestleMania has officially transitioned from featuring part-timers to now featuring no-timers this year. (TJRWrestling)

6. WWE Continues to Advertise Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns on Both RAW and Smackdown

WWE continued to heavily advertise the Goldberg vs. Roman Reigns match for WrestleMania 36 this week, even though the match did not take place. Reigns chose not to compete in the match that was supposed to be taped with the rest of the WrestleMania card last week due to his underlying health conditions. Both Smackdown and RAW were taped as well, meaning that WWE could have edited out the advertisements if they wanted to. It is heavily rumored, but not confirmed at this time, that it was actually Braun Strowman who competed in the match against Goldberg at WrestleMania 36 for the Universal Championship. Trying to talk people into paying up to $59.99 to watch your event with a match that you know you are not delivering is nefarious business practices. At least fans will be able to see that exciting three-team ladder match though, right….Right? (TJRWrestling)

5. AEW to Hold TNT Championship Tournament

AEW is set to have a tournament to crown the first TNT champion over the next few weeks of AEW: Dynamite. The matches for the first round of the tournament are Cody vs. Shawn Spears, Darby Allen vs. Sammy Guevara, Kip Sabian vs. Dustin Rhodes and Lance Archer vs. Colt Cabana. AEW clearly is going for an explosive theme with the naming of their show, and now title. Let’s all hope the Diarrhea Championship isn’t right around the corner. (TJRWrestling)

4. New Matches Made for WrestleMania 36

With WrestleMania 36 being this weekend, WWE announced several new matches for the card this week. A rare defense of the Women’s Tag Team Titles will take place as the champions, the Kabuki Warriors, will defend the titles against Nikki Cross and Alexa Bliss. Drew Gulak faced Nakamura this week on Smackdown, with the stipulation being if Gulak won, then Daniel Bryan would get an intercontinental title match against Sami Zayn. Gulak won the match, meaning that Bryan vs. Zayn will now take place at WrestleMania 36. Finally, Dolph Ziggler will have his first WrestleMania singles match in his 15-year career as he faces Otis. These matches will bring the WrestleMania card up to a whopping 16 matches. That’s only about 62 cents a match if you watch on the WWE Network or about $3.75 a match if you don’t know how money works and pay $59.99. (TJRWrestling)

3. “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt Challenges John Cena to a Firefly Funhouse Match at WrestleMania 36

Last week on Smackdown, “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt challenged John Cena to have their highly anticipated match at WrestleMania 36 in Wyatt’s Firefly Funhouse. With AJ Styles and The Undertaker already competing in a Boneyard Match, this will now be the second match on WrestleMania 36 that was taped from a different location. With the Coronavirus Pandemic not allowing WWE to perform matches live or in front of an audience, they are clearly trying to think outside of the box on how to present WrestleMania this year. If WWE is looking for future locations, I am more than willing to allow them to use my house for a “Bored, Overly Energetic Children and Nagging Wife Match.” (TJRWrestling)

2. The State of Florida Issues “Stay at Home Order”

The state of Florida has issued a “Stay at Home Order” starting today due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. This will likely have an effect on both WWE and AEW as both companies have been filming their television in Florida. AEW has already reportedly moved their recordings from Jacksonville, Florida to Cody’s gym in Georgia. As for WWE, they have already recorded tonight’s Smackdown, WrestleMania 36 and next week’s RAW and NXT, with it being unknown if they will be able to produce any new content after that. The real potential of there being no new wrestling to watch for the foreseeable future is a depressing thought, though at least we can still watch people pet tigers on Netflix. (TJRWrestling)

1. WrestleMania 36 to Take Place This Weekend

This year’s WrestleMania is guaranteed to be like no other before it. WrestleMania 36 will take place over two nights this year at 7PMET on both April 4th and April 5th. This years event will also be held without a single fan in attendance due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. Finally, the show will take place without arguably its biggest full-time star, Roman Reigns, who due to his underlying health conditions decided not to work the event. For better or worse the show will go on this weekend and will surely be one we won’t soon forget. So pay your $9.99, or $59.99 if you hate money, and watch this historic show. (TJRWrestling)

That will conclude another edition of The Top Ten Wrestling Stories of the Week. As always, if you like what I do, please follow me on Facebook and Twitter @BackseatBookers and listen to my podcast The BackseatBookers (please be aware that it is explicit as my use of four letter words is always ballin’.)