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With the advent of the Wild Card Rule - and with reports of lackluster live event ticket sales for both brands on all nights of the week - WWE got into the habit of cancelling or re-scheduling most Monday night SmackDown house shows.
But not all of them. It may surprise you to learn that one of the ones they didn’t cancel or re-schedule is tonight, Mon., July 22 in Fort Meyers, Florida, where SmackDown will run opposite the big Raw Reunion show happening two hours north on Interstate 75 in Tampa.
Or maybe it isn’t a surprise. With names like Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, John Cena (reportedly) and many others on hand in addition to the usual Raw roster, WWE has more than enough talent on hand in Amalie Arena for the Reunion show on USA Network.
It could be bad news for some popular fantasy booking ideas, like Kevin Owens interacting with the man whose finisher he’s now using, Stone Cold. Or Charlotte Flair WOOing it up with the Nature Boy again. While there aren’t any matches announced locally by Hertz Arena in Fort Myers, Owens & Flair head up the list of “Featured Superstars” on WWE.com’s ticket page for the show there, along with the likes of The New Day, Bayley, Randy Orton (who’s confirmed he’s not booked for the Reunion - but more on that in a separate post) and more.
Of course, WWE could get wrestlers between the two Gulf Coast venues if they want to. KO and Austin could hit Shane & Vince McMahon with Stunners in Tampa, then WWE could put Owens in helicopter and have him at Hertz in plenty of time for a house show main event. And the “Featured Superstars” are “subject to change”, as the listing of the 24/7 title contenders who’ve been promoting themselves on social media for Tampa proves.
And they’ll probably need to do that if they hope to sell tickets in Fort Myers. Ticketmaster’s showing a lot of available seats less than eight hours from the opening bell, and fans interested in a wrestling show tonight might be willing to drive a couple hours to see D-X and other Hall of Famers instead of hitting the b-show.
We’ll find out how it all plays out tonight. Join us in our Raw live blog to see who makes the reunion.