WWE News on WWE Running Less Live Events for Raw/Smackdown and More Supershows
There may be more time at home for WWE superstars due to the company doing less live events (or house shows) in 2020. According to Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE has booked less live events this year.
Normally, WWE Superstars work at least four shows a week, with Raw’s roster running on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday (for TV) and Smackdown on Thursday, Friday (for TV), Saturday and Sunday. Based on the next few month’s live event schedule however, superstars are not scheduled to work anywhere near those many dates.
In February, superstars for both Raw and Smackdown are only scheduled to work a maximum of ten dates. Some of the live events on those weekends will also be Raw and Smackdown Supershows, meaning that many superstars won’t be needed for all of them. The following month in March, only fourteen dates are scheduled for each brand, with several Supershows happening as well.
The change is expected to have both positive and negative impacts on the roster. Working fewer dates should in theory cut down on injuries and just general burn out from the talent. On the other hand, some of the younger talent depends on the house shows to help to develop their skills in the ring, as well as working less dates will affect their pay and potential merchandise sales.
WWE is no longer depending on live events as much to make money, as most of their revenue comes from their television rights contract and the Saudi Arabia deal. Plus, WWE’s live event business was down last year, so if you’re not making much money off it, they must feel like it’s better to just run fewer shows.
There are currently no Raw or Smackdown live events this weekend.
Here are the live events scheduled for February and March (thanks to WrestlingNews).
Monday, February 3 – Monday Night Raw (Salt Lake City, UT)
Friday, February 7 – Friday Night SmackDown (San Jose, CA)
Saturday, February 8 – Raw/SmackDown SuperShow (Oakland, CA)
Sunday, February 9 – Raw/SmackDown SuperShow (Fresno, CA)
Monday, February 10 – Monday Night Raw (Ontario, CA)
Friday, February 14 – Friday Night SmackDown (Vancouver, BC)
Saturday, February 15 – Raw/SmackDown SuperShow (Eugene, OR)
Sunday, February 16 – Raw/SmackDown SuperShow (Kennewick, WA)
Monday, February 17 – Monday Night Raw (Everett, WA)
Friday, February 21 – Friday Night SmackDown (Glendale, AZ)
Sunday, February 23 – Raw live event (Brandon, MB)
Monday, February 24 – Monday Night Raw (Winnipeg, MB)
Thursday, February 27 – Super ShowDown (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia)
Friday, February 28 – Friday Night SmackDown (Boston, MA)
Saturday, February 29 –Smackdown live event (Elmira, NY)
Saturday, February 29 – Raw live event (State College, PA)Sunday, March 1 – Raw live event (Salisbury, MD)
Sunday, March 1 – SmackDown live event (Syracuse, NY)
Monday, March 2 – Monday Night Raw (Brooklyn, NY)
Friday, March 6 – Friday Night SmackDown (Buffalo, NY)
Saturday, March 7 – Raw/SmackDown SuperShow (Allentown, PA)
Sunday, March 8 – Elimination Chamber PPV (Philadelphia, PA)
Monday, March 9 – Monday Night Raw (Washington, DC)
Friday, March 13 – Friday Night SmackDown (Detroit, MI)
Saturday, March 14 – Raw/SmackDown SuperShow (Toronto, ON)
Saturday, March 15 – Raw/SmackDown SuperShow (Youngstown, OH)
Monday, March 16 – Monday Night Raw (Pittsburgh, PA)
Thursday, March 19 – SmackDown live event (Mobile, AL
Friday, March 20 – Friday Night SmackDown (New Orleans, LA)
Saturday, March 21 – SmackDown Live event (Alexandria, LA)
Saturday, March 21 – Raw live event (Springfield, MA)
Sunday, March 22 – Raw live event (New York, NY)
Sunday, March 22 – SmackDown live event (Bossier City, LA)
Monday, March 23 – Monday Night Raw (Fort Worth, TX)
Friday, March 27 – Friday Night SmackDown (Chicago, IL)
Saturday, March 28 – Raw live event (Tupelo, MS)
Saturday, March 28 – SmackDown live event (Milwaukee, WI)
Sunday, March 29 – Raw live event (Montgomery, AL)
Sunday, March 29 – SmackDown live event (Moline, IL)
Monday, March 30 – Monday Night Raw (Atlanta, GA)
Matt’s Musings: I believe this is a good thing for WWE and the talent, as the schedule has been far too rigorous for many years. Hopefully wrestlers can get some much-deserved rest, and have an opportunity to heal any nagging injuries that they have been dealing with.