^ I Support Local Community Journalism Support the independent voice of Phoenix and help keep the future of the New Times clear. Valley professional wrestling fans won’t have to wait long to see the action in the ring in person as WWE is bringing Friday Night SmackDown, one of their biggest weekly television shows, to downtown Phoenix this summer. An episode of the show, currently airing on FOX, is scheduled to take place at the Phoenix Suns Arena with a live audience on Friday, August 20, according to the WWE website. Tickets for the event will go on sale on Friday June 11th through Ticketmaster. No prices were announced. Superstars Rey Mysterio, Sasha Banks, current SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair and current Universal Champion Roman Reigns are currently scheduled. It’s the first time the company has brought one of its shows to the Valley in 18 months and is part of a 25-city tour marking WWE’s return to live events with the audience. Last month the company announced its resumption of live events in. at arenas in the USA from mid-July after more than a year. In March 2020, WWE began broadcasting its shows and pay-per-views from its training center in Orlando before moving to nearby arenas and stadiums (where they set up a bubble-like venue called ThunderDome with nearly 1,000 LED boards on which fans could participate virtually) a few months later. In April, the biggest WWE event of the year, WrestleMania, was held at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida and hosted a limited crowd. Friday Night Smackdown’s visit to Phoenix in late August takes place the day before SummerSlam, WWE’s second largest pay-per-view of the year, which supposedly takes place on Saturday, August 21, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Keep Phoenix New Times Free … Since we started Phoenix New Times, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Phoenix, and we want it to stay that way. We offer our readers free access to concise coverage of local news, food and culture. We produce stories about everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with bold reporting, stylish writing, and staff who have won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi Feature Writing Award to the Casey- Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with the existence of local journalism under siege and the setbacks in advertising revenues having a bigger impact, it is now more important than ever for us to raise funds to fund our local journalism. You can help by joining our “I Support” membership program which allows us to continue to cover Phoenix without paywalls. Benjamin Leatherman is a writer for Phoenix New Times. It covers the local nightlife, music, culture, geekery and fringe activities.
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