New details are being revealed on the WWE Premium Live Event changes in the works.
It was recently reported that WWE Day 2023 was being nixed after being scheduled for Sunday, January 1 from the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, GA, the same venue the inaugural Day 1 event was held earlier this year. It was believed that part of the reason Day 1 was being nixed was so it wouldn’t have to compete with NFL’s final Sunday Night Football game of the season, the highly-anticipated match between the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Rangers. This would mean WWE runs no main roster Premium Live Event from the Survivor Series and the Royal Rumble.
In an update, it’s been noted that WWE also does not have plans to re-brand Day 1, and that there would be no event scheduled that weekend to kick the year off. However, as of this writing, WWE Day 1 is still listed on the public WWE schedule. However, tickets were originally scheduled to go on sale Friday, September 23, but they still are not available, and the date has not been announced.
There were some local conflicts in Atlanta that weekend with two big football games – College Football’s Peach Bowl semi-final at 4pm or 8pm on Saturday, December 31 from the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals vs. Atlanta Falcons game at 1pm on Sunday, January 1 from the same venue. Wrestling Observer Radio added that weeks back there was talk of Day 1 being moved, but the later report from Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics said there would be no PLE shows scheduled between Survivor Series and The Rumble.
WWE was reportedly set to announce a Day 1 date change on October 7, but that obviously did not happen. Officials in the Atlanta market were under the impression that a change would be announced that day, but since then no one has been able to find out anything more. The Wrestling Observer adds that the new date was rumored to be Tuesday, December 27. Tuesday would be an interesting day for a main roster PLE as it would go head-to-head with WWE NXT on the USA Network. WWE did have a non-televised live event scheduled for that same night in Detroit, but it was recently nixed internally, before it was officially announced.
It’s interesting to note that some fans purchased the pricey Day 1 Priority Pass tickets a while back, and they have been unable to get any confirmation on the status of the event, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. WWE has not responded to any questions regarding the status of the show.
It should be noted that WWE has not officially cancelled Day 1 as of this writing.
WWE’s deal with Peacock reportedly calls for 12 PLE shows per year, meaning that if they do cancel Day 1, then they will have to add another show later in the year, and would be going nine weeks between major events.
It was noted that there will be “big changes” made to the WWE PLE schedule for 2023, with less gimmick shows and more international events.
Word now is that WWE has plans for one Premium Live Event per year from the UK, to go along with the two per year from Saudi Arabia.
There is also talk of bringing back WWE King of The Ring, with a Premium Live Event that would feature the King of the Ring and the Queen of The Ring tournaments. The inaugural Queen’s Crown tournament wrapped up at WWE Crown Jewel in 2021, and was won by Zelina Vega. That same show saw Xavier Woods win the King of The Ring tournament.
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