WWE Superstar Spectacle

Superstar Spectacle was a professional wrestling televison special and WWE Network event produced by WWE that featured wrestlers from their Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brand divisions. The event was taped on January 22, 2021 and aired on January 26 for India's Republic Day. The event was specially produced for WWE's Indian market as a part of their five-year deal with Sony Pictures Networks India. The event also incorporated elements of traditional and contemporary Indian culture and emanated from the WWE ThunderDome, hosted at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

WWE Superstar Spectacle
Promotional graphic featuring various WWE wrestlers
PromotionWWE
Brand(s)Raw
SmackDown
NXT
DateJanuary 22, 2021[1]
(aired January 26, 2021)
CitySt. Petersburg, Florida
VenueTropicana Field
Attendance0 (behind closed doors)[lower-alpha 1]
Tagline(s)Indian Dhamaal
A Republic Day Blockbuster
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Five matches were contested at the event. In the main event match, WWE Champion Drew McIntyre teamed with The Indus Sher (Rinku and Saurav) to defeat The Bollywood Boyz (Samir Singh and Sunil Singh) and the returning Jinder Mahal. The event also featured the participation of 10 Indian wrestlers from WWE's developmental system. The company later announced that 20 million people had watched the event live.[2]

Production

Background

Coming out of WWE's third-quarter financial call on October 29, 2020, WWE's President and Chief Financial Officer, Nick Khan, announced that they were working with Sony Pictures Networks India on producing an event specially targeted to their Indian market which would air in 2021 and would mainly feature the promotion's developing Indian wrestlers. The event would mainly air on Sony's Indian platforms and be domestically distributed to the United States.[3][4][5] The television special was a two-hour event shown on Sony TEN 1, Sony TEN 3, and Sony Max, airing at 8pm IST. Viewers had the option of watching the broadcast in the language of their preference, with both English commentary and Hindi commentary being offered.[6][7][8][9][10]

On January 13, 2021, WWE announced that WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, Rey Mysterio, Charlotte Flair, AJ Styles, Bayley, The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods), Shinsuke Nakamura, Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler, Robert Roode, Natalya, Ricochet, WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair, and many more would be in attendance at the event.[11][12] Jinder Mahal, the first WWE Champion of Indian descent,[13] The Bollywood Boyz (Sunil and Samir Singh), Indus Sher, Jeet Rama, Kavita Devi, Giant Zanjeer, Dilsher Shanky, and Guru Raaj, were all further confirmed to appear.[14][15][16]

Storylines

The event included matches that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw, SmackDown, and NXT brands,[17][18] while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, Friday Night SmackDown, and NXT.[19]

Results
No. Results Stipulations Times
1 Finn Bálor defeated Guru Raaj Singles match[20] 7:08
2 Dilsher Shanky, Giant Zanjeer, Rey Mysterio, and Ricochet defeated Cesaro, Dolph Ziggler, King Corbin and Shinsuke Nakamura Eight-man tag team match[20] 6:25
3 AJ Styles (with Omos) defeated Jeet Rama Singles match[20] 9:13
4 Charlotte Flair and Sareena Sandhu defeated Bayley and Natalya Tag team match[20] 6:06
5 Drew McIntyre and The Indus Sher (Rinku and Saurav) defeated The Bollywood Boyz (Samir Singh and Sunil Singh) and Jinder Mahal Six-man tag team match[20] 9:03

Notes
  1. The event was held without a paying audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, though featured a live crowd of virtual fans via WWE's ThunderDome viewing experience.

References
  1. Johnson, Mike (18 January 2021). "WWE taping Superstar Special this week, special to air next week on major holiday in India". PWInsider. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  2. Sapp, Sean Ross. "WWE says 20 million people watched Superstar Spectacle". Twitter.
  3. Currier, Joseph (9 January 2021). "WWE announces 'Superstar Spectacle' India special". The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  4. Transcribers, Motley Fool (30 October 2020). "World Wrestling Entertainment Inc (WWE) Q3 2020 Earnings Call Transcript". The Motley Fool. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  5. Powell, Jason (29 October 2020). "10/29 WWE Conference Call report: Vince McMahon discusses the 2020 third quarter financial report". Prowrestling.net. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  6. Wilen, Jerome (13 January 2021). "WWE files for new trademarks; Update on WWE Superstar Spectacle". WrestleView. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  7. Thompson, Andrew (13 January 2021). "Jinder Mahal, Kavita Devi & more confirmed for WWE Superstar Spectacle". POST Wrestling. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  8. Johnson, Mike (12 January 2020). "WWE Superstar Spectacle updates". PWInsider. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  9. Lafferriere, Nicolas (12 January 2021). "Se revelan los primeros detalles de WWE Superstar Spectacle". Solowrestling.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  10. Defelice, Robert (11 January 2021). "Report: Top Raw And SmackDown Superstars May Be Involved In WWE Superstar Spectacle Taping". Fightful. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  11. "WWE® and Sony Pictures Network India announce WWE Superstar Spectacle". WWE. 16 January 2021. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  12. Defelice, Robert (13 January 2021). "WWE Officially Announces Superstar Spectacle Airdate, Stars From All Three Brands To Be Featured". Fightful. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  13. Deb, Sopan (19 August 2017). "Jinder Mahal, the immigrant who became the 'Modern Day Maharaja'". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  14. Staff, WWE.com (13 January 2021). "WWE and Sony Pictures Network India announce WWE Superstar Spectacle". WWE. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  15. "WWE Superstar Spectacle - Special event for Indian audience on Republic Day". The Hindustan Times. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  16. Johnson, Mike (13 January 2021). "Official details released on WWE Superstar Spectacle, lots of big WWE names to appear". PWInsider. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  17. Grabianowski, Ed (January 13, 2006). "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks. Discovery Communications. Archived from the original on November 18, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
  18. "Live & Televised Entertainment". WWE. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2012.
  19. Steinberg, Brian (May 25, 2016). "WWE's 'Smackdown' Will Move To Live Broadcast On USA (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  20. "SUPERSTAR SPECTACLE RESULTS". WWE. January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2021.
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