Wikipedia

New Era (WWE)

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Czello (talk | contribs) at 13:38, 2 September 2022 (Tense). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The New Era was a term used by WWE to describe a period within the company beginning in May 2016. The period from March 2020 to July 2021, where the company produced their main shows behind closed doors during the COVID-19 pandemic in a bio-secure bubble, has been referred to as the "ThunderDome Era".

New Era
The logo used by WWE throughout the New Era
PromotionWWE
DateMay 1, 2016 (2016-05-01) – disputed
WWF/WWE eras chronology
← Previous
Reality Era 		Next →
—

Initiation, the rise of Roman Reigns, and the state of the men's division

 
Roman Reigns was promoted by WWE as the face company during the New Era

After the Reality Era ended, WWE promoted the 2016 Payback pay-per-view as the start of a "new era".[1]

Much like what happened to John Cena during the PG Era, Roman Reigns would become a prominent figure in major storylines during the New Era to mostly negative reactions.[citation needed] Since his return from leukemia in early 2019, crowd response to him has been more positive.[citation needed] After returning from another brief haitus at SummerSlam in 2020, Roman Reigns would turn heel, allying with his former rival Brock Lesnar's manager Paul Heyman.[2] Roman Reigns would ally with The Usos and form the stable The Bloodline of which Reigns would be the leader, titling himself "The Tribal Chief".[3]

At WrestleMania 35 in April 2019 Kofi Kingston defeated Daniel Bryan to become the first African-born WWE Champion.[4][5]

The New Day stable, comprising of Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and Big E, became a record 11-time tag team champions in the company under the Freebird rule.[6]

At Night 1 of WrestleMania 38 in April 2022, WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin came out of retirement after 19 years for a one time only match defeating Kevin Owens.[7] The following night on Night 2 of WrestleMania 38 in the main event Roman Reigns defeated Brock Lesnar in a Winner Takes All match for the WWE Championship and WWE Universal Championship, becoming the first wrestler ever to hold both titles at the same time.[8]

The Women's Revolution

Further information: Women in WWE § Divas Revolution (2015–2016)
 
Charlotte Flair, along with Sasha Banks, made history in 2016 by being the first woman to main event a WWE pay-per-view at Hell in a Cell (2016) in the first ever women's Hell in a Cell match. Charlotte Flair also became a record 13 time women's champion.

As a continuation of the Diva's Revolution that began in 2015, the Women's Evolution picked up further momentum in the New Era, with women have regularly competed in stipulation matches that were previously reserved for men, including the Royal Rumble match, Elimination Chamber, the Money in the Bank ladder match, Hell in a Cell, WarGames, and TLC matches.[9] On the Raw-branded Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event in 2016, Charlotte Flair and Sasha Banks made history being in the first women to main event a WWE pay-per-view event. This match was also the first women's Hell in a Cell match.[10]

Flair and Becky Lynch in particular received much success during this period, with them being interchangeably considered the "face of the women's division" in the New era.[11] Flair, Lynch, and Ronda Rousey headlined WrestleMania 35 in a triple threat match which Lynch won, making them the first women in WWE history to main event WWE's flagship event WrestleMania.[12][13]

On January 31, 2021, Bianca Belair made history by becoming the second Black wrestler (after The Rock) to win a Royal Rumble match and the first and so far, the only Black woman to win a Royal Rumble match.[14]

On night 1 of WrestleMania 37, Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks became the first Black women to main event a WrestleMania.[15]

The second brand extension

Further information: WWE brand extension

In the Summer of 2016 WWE reintroduced the brand extension.[16][17] The new brand split became effective with the 2016 WWE draft on July 19, 2016, with SmackDown changing its name to SmackDown Live and moving to Tuesday nights.[18]

While the WWE Championship would be moved to the SmackDown brand, the new WWE Universal Championship was introduced for the Raw brand, with Finn Balor becoming the inaugural champion winning the title by defeating Seth Rollins at the 2016 SummerSlam event.[19]

The NXT brand, which primarily serves as a developmental territory for WWE, had gained increasing prominence during the Reality Era, with its weekly television series and NXT TakeOver events frequently receiving critical acclaim.[20][21][22] In particular, NXT TakeOver: Dallas was viewed as a superior event to WrestleMania 32, the latter being held the following night to mixed-to-negative reviews, and has been cited by some pundits as the point where the brand can no longer be considered a farm league.[23]

During the New Era NXT TakeOver: New York held on April 5, 2019; received critical acclaim, reputed wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter praised all the matches, in particular giving the main event of Johnny Gargano vs. Adam Cole 2 out of 3 falls match a 5.5 stars, making it his highest rated WWE match in history.[24]

WWE NXT would later move from the WWE Network to USA Network on Wednesday nights and expanded to a two-hour format to complete against the upstart wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling and its flagship show Dynamite on TNT, a move which marked the beginning of Wednesday Night Wars.[25][26] Raw and SmackDown talent would begin to make more frequent appearances on NXT programming, while the likes of Finn Balor would return to the brand full time.[27] NXT's creative staff would also gain oversight of the 205 Live brand, with talent appearing on WWE NXT, and the Cruiserweight title being renamed as the NXT Cruiserweight Championship.[28] The title would be unified into the NXT North American Championship at New Year's Evil on January 4, 2022 when North American Champion Carmelo Hayes defeated Cruiserweight Champion Roderick Strong.[29][30][31]

COVID-19 and the "ThunderDome" era

Main article: WWE ThunderDome

As with other industries, WWE was affected by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. WWE was barred from having live attendance and held Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live's events behind closed doors at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, although WWE later used some of their own crew as part of a limited crowd in a protective environment.[32] NXT events continued to be held at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, but also without fans, while the NXT UK brand would go on hiatus.[33][34][35]

Beginning in August, WWE moved events for Raw and SmackDown, and briefly 205 Live, to a new virtual crowd and arena staging, a bio-secure bubble called the WWE ThunderDome. The ThunderDome allowed fans to attend events virtually for free and be seen on the nearly 1,000 LED boards within the arena.[36] The bubble was hosted at three arenas in Florida: Orlando's Amway Center,[37] Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg,[38] and the Yuengling Center in Tampa.[39]

A similar setup, the Capitol Wrestling Center, was introduced for the NXT and 205 Live brands in October, hosted at the WWE Performance Center with a small crowd. Meanwhile, NXT UK resumed operations in September without any fans at the BT Sport studio.[33] WrestleMania 37, held in April 2021, was WWE's first major event to be held outside of the ThunderDome and with live fans, though to a limited capacity.[40]

By mid-July 2021, WWE had left the ThunderDome to resume a live touring schedule for Raw and SmackDown.[41] The period of time from August 2020 to July 2021 would be referred to by WWE as the "ThunderDome Era."[42][43][44]

References

  1. ^ "WWE Payback 2016 results: Epic encounter begins WWE's New Era". WWE. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  2. ^ Wilen, Jerome (August 29, 2020). "More on Roman Reigns aligned with Paul Heyman, Braun Strowman and Bray Wyatt".
  3. ^ "Roman Reigns Says He Carried WWE Through the ThunderDome Era".
  4. ^ Malik, Sohail. "Kofi Kingston: WWE's first Africa-born world champion". www.aljazeera.com.
  5. ^ "Kofi Kingston Is the First African-Born Wrestler to Win a WWE Championship". OkayAfrica. April 8, 2019.
  6. ^ "The New Day Become 11-Time Tag Team Champions on WWE Raw, Get WrestleMania 37 Match".
  7. ^ "2022 WWE WrestleMania 38 results, Night 1 grades: Steve Austin wrestles surprise match, Cody Rhodes returns". cbssports. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  8. ^ "Cook's WWE WrestleMania 38 Night Two Review". 411mania. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  9. ^ Daniels, Tim. "Charlotte Flair and the Best Women's Performers in WrestleMania History". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  10. ^ Tedesco, Mike (October 30, 2016). "WWE Hell in a Cell Results - 10/30/16 (Live from Boston, Banks vs. Charlotte, Owens vs. Rollins, Reigns vs. Rusev)".
  11. ^ "Here is Why Charlotte Flair Will Be the Face of WWE After Becky Lynch". EssentiallySports. May 14, 2020.
  12. ^ "Wrestlemania - Baltimore Sun".
  13. ^ "2019 WWE WrestleMania 35 results, grades, review, matches: Becky Lynch, Kofi Kingston steal the show". CBSSports.com.
  14. ^ ""It's such an honor" - Bianca Belair on being the first African-American woman to win the Royal Rumble".
  15. ^ "WWE stars Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks make history as first Black women to duke it out in WrestleMania main event". CNN.
  16. ^ Caldwell, James. "7/11 WWE Raw Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 11, 2016.
  17. ^ Caldwell, James (July 18, 2016). "7/18 WWE Raw Results – CALDWELL'S Complete Live TV Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
  18. ^ Trigga, Tha (2016-07-19). "7/18 WWE Raw Results - CALDWELL'S Complete Live TV Report". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  19. ^ "411Mania".
  20. ^ Shoemaker, David (December 17, 2014). "The Best Wrestling Show of the Year Wasn't WWE's 'TLC' ... It Was 'NXT Takeover: R Evolution'". grantland.com. Grantland. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  21. ^ Beougher, Wyatt (December 15, 2014). "NXT Is the Best Weekly Episodic Wrestling Show Today, Period". 411mania.com. 411mania. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  22. ^ Oster, Aaron (February 26, 2015). "NXT, Where the Women Work". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 26, 2015.
  23. ^ Foster, Rick. "TakeOver: Dallas Proves That NXT Is No Longer Developmental". wrestleview.com. Retrieved 9 April 2016.
  24. ^ Dangoor, Louis (12 April 2019). "NXT Title Match Given Highest Ever WWE Star Rating". WrestleTalk. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  25. ^ "Premieres of AEW and NXT Start 'Wednesday Night Wars' With a Bang". sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2019-10-04.
  26. ^ "AEW Dynamite wins week one of Wednesday night ratings war". f4wonline.com. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  27. ^ Moore, John (November 13, 2019). "11/13 NXT TV results: Moore's live review of Io Shirai vs. Mia Yim in a ladder match for the advantage in the WarGames match, Lio Rush vs. Angel Garza for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, the build to NXT WarGames continues". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  28. ^ Franchomme, Steph (2019-09-12). "NXT, NXT UK, 205 Live: Triple H Discusses The Future of The Brands And Shows". VultureHound Magazine | Entertainment & Wrestling. Retrieved 2021-06-14.
  29. ^ Currier, Joseph (December 21, 2021). "TITLE UNIFICATION MATCH ADDED TO NXT NEW YEAR'S EVIL". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
  30. ^ Holder, James (December 29, 2021). "NXT Cruiserweight Championship Set To Be Retired". Inside the Ropes. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  31. ^ Currier, Joseph (January 4, 2022). "WWE UNIFIES NXT NORTH AMERICAN AND CRUISERWEIGHT TITLES". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  32. ^ Johnson, Mike (March 21, 2020). "WWE TAPING UPDATES". PWInsider. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  33. ^ a b Currier, Joseph (September 10, 2020). "WWE Announces Heritage Cup for NXT UK". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  34. ^ "WWE NXT TakeOver: In Your House results, recap, grades: Women's main event steals nostalgic show". CBSSports.com.
  35. ^ Melok, Bobby (June 7, 2020). "Io Shirai def. Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair to become new NXT Women's Champion". WWE. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  36. ^ Fiorvanti, Tim (August 17, 2020). "WWE to host shows in Orlando with virtual fans". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on August 22, 2020. Retrieved January 16, 2021.
  37. ^ Barrasso, Justin. "WWE Turning Orlando's Amway Center into 'WWE ThunderDome'". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 17, 2020.
  38. ^ Staff, WWE.com. "WWE ThunderDome will head to Tampa Bay's Tropicana Field beginning Friday, Dec. 11". WWE. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  39. ^ Williams, Randall (March 24, 2021). "WWE Moves ThunderDome to USF's Yuengling Center". Sportico.com. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
  40. ^ Brookhouse, Brent (March 17, 2021). "2021 WWE WrestleMania 37 tickets: Capacity set at 25,000 fans for each night of show at Raymond James Stadium". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  41. ^ Otterson, Joe (May 21, 2021). "WWE to Return to Live Touring in July". Variety. Retrieved May 23, 2021.
  42. ^ Brookhouse, Brent (June 20, 2021). "2021 WWE Hell in a Cell live stream, how to watch online, start time, card, matches". CBS Sports. Retrieved June 26, 2021. The event marks the final major show of the WWE ThunderDome era as the promotion prepares to return to touring in front of live fans.
  43. ^ Is Sheamus the best performer of the WWE ThunderDome era?: WWE The Day Of sneak peek. WWE. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  44. ^ Raimondi, Marc; Fiorvanti, Tim (June 20, 2021). "WWE Hell in a Cell results: Bobby Lashley and Bianca Belair retain". ESPN. Retrieved June 26, 2021. The final WWE pay-per-view of the Thunderdome era was a mixed bag with some great matches,...
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Era_(WWE)&oldid=1108090329"