With fans unable to attend wrestling shows for the foreseeable future due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it’s an ongoing challenge to find ways to keep big matches interesting for folks watching at home. At WrestleMania, that included the very fun Boneyard Match, the completely bananas (and surprisingly deep) Firefly Fun House Match, and the less successful Performance Center Last Man Standing Match. Now we’ve found out the plan for next month’s Money in the Bank, and it’s certainly something we haven’t seen before.

On Smackdown, it was revealed that this year’s Money in the Bank matches won’t just involve climbing ladders – participants will be ascending WWE’s corporate headquarters at Titan Towers in Stamford, Connecticut. As Corey Graves put it on the show:

The match begins on the ground floor of headquarters, but the infamous briefcases – containing the contracts for a championship match anytime, anyplace – will be hanging all the way up on the roof of the corporate tower.

Among other things, this explains why The Wrestle Daily tweeted photos earlier today of a wrestling ring, and a rig for hanging belts above it, on the roof of Titan Towers.

We don’t know many other details at this point, but it seems likely these will be offsite “cinematic” matches like the two at WrestleMania, with the rest of the PPV being taped at the Performance Center in Orlando. At least one person is almost certainly getting thrown down a flight of stairs, but as long as nobody goes off the roof it shouldn’t be too much more dangerous than a normal Money in the Bank ladder match.

Here are your quick and dirty, editorial-free WWE Friday Night Smackdown results for April 17, 2020. This week’s show featured a pair of Money in the Bank qualifying matches, a triple threat (singles) match for the Smackdown Tag Team Championship, and more. Make sure you’re here tomorrow for the complete Best and Worst of Friday Night Smackdown column.

WWE Friday Night Smackdown Results:

– Braun Strowman was a guest on A Moment Of Bliss, and talked about how he used to be a member of the Wyatt Family, but is trying to forget that time in his life. During the interview, a package was delivered to Braun that contained his old “black sheep” mask.

1. Tamina defeated Sasha Banks. Lacey Evans showed up to even the odds against Bayley, which allowed Tamina to hit a pair of superkicks and win the match. Per a pre-match stipulation, Tamina will now get a Smackdown Women’s Championship match against Bayley.

2. Sheamus squashed Denzel DeJournette and won with a Brogue Kick. Sheamus was upset at Michael Cole for talking about Jeff Hardy, and wants respect.

– Another Jeff Hardy video aired, this one focused around his various arrests.

3. Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Dana Brooke defeated Naomi with a sunset flip to earn a spot in the women’s Money in the Bank ladder match.

– Sonya Deville “cleared the air” with Mandy Rose by calling her selfish and saying she’s tired of being second best. Dolph Ziggler interrupted and tried to get Mandy to realize they have a connection. Deville attacked Rose, so Otis showed up, beat up Ziggler, and hit the Caterpillar.

4. Money in the Bank Qualifying Match: Daniel Bryan defeated Cesaro. Bryan won by submission with the Yes Lock.

– King Corbin attacked Elias backstage.

– Drew Gulak vs. King Corbin and Lacey Evans vs. Sasha Banks are next week’s Money in the Bank qualifying matches. Also next week, Dana Brooke and Carmella get a Women’s Tag Team Championship match against Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross.

5. Smackdown Tag Team Championship Triple Threat: Big E defeated The Miz (c) and Jimmy Uso. E pulled Miz out of a figure-four and hit the Big Ending to win the match and the championship for his team. New Day is now 8-time Tag Team Champions.

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On Friday night, the WNBA held its 2020 Draft on ESPN, while maintain social distancing protocols, with commissioner Cathy Engelbert announcing the picks from her home and throwing to live feeds from several of the draftees’ homes as they celebrated with their friends and families.

The start of the WNBA season is still on hold amid the coronavirus pandemic, but that didn’t stop teams from selecting their incoming class for whenever sports are eventually able to safely and responsibly resume. They started the night with a heartbreaking memorial that honored Gianna Bryant, Peyton Chester And Alyssa Altobelli, the three young basketball players who died tragically in the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and took the lives of nine people in all.

Once the draft was officially underway, the New York Liberty started the night by selecting Sabrina Ionescu with the No. 1 overall pick, followed by her Ducks teammate Satou Sabally going to the Dallas Wings with the second overall pick. Below are the results from all three rounds on Friday night, representing the WNBA’s 2020 Draft class.

First Round

1. New York Liberty: Sabrina Ionescu — G, Oregon
2. Dallas Wings: Satou Sabally — F, Oregon
3. Indiana Fever: Lauren Cox — F, Baylor
4. Atlanta Dream: Chennedy Carter — G, Texas A&M
5. Dallas Wings: Bella Alarie — F, Princeton
6. Minnesota Lynx: Mikiah Herbert Harrigan — F, South Carolina
7. Dallas Wings: Tyasha Harris — G, South Carolina
8. Chicago Sky: Ruthy Hebard — F, Oregon
9. New York Liberty: Megan Walker — F, UConn
10. Phoenix Mercury: Jocelyn Willoughby — F, Virginia
11. Seattle Storm: Kitija Laksa — G, Latvia
12. New York Liberty: Jazmine Jones — G, Louisville

Second Round

13. New York Liberty: Kylee Shook — F, Louisville
14. Indiana Fever: Kathleen Doyle — G, Iowa
15. New York Liberty: Leaonna Odom — F, Duke
16. Minnesota Lynx: Crystal Dangerfield — G, UConn
17. Atlanta Dream: Brittany Brewer — F, Texas A&M
18. Phoenix Mercury: Te’a Cooper — G, Baylor
19. Seattle Storm: Joyner Holmes — F, Texas
20. Los Angeles Sparx: Beatrice Mompremier — C, Miami (FL)
21. Dallas Wings: Luisa Geiselsöder — C, Germany
22. Los Angeles Sparx: Leonie Fiebich — G, Germany
23. Connecticut Sun: Kaila Charles — G/F, Maryland
24. Washington Mystics: Jaylyn Agnew — F, Creighton

Third Round

25. Atlanta Dream: Mikayla Pivec — G, Oregon State
26. New York Liberty: Erica Ogwumike — G, Rice
27. Atlanta Dream: Kobi Thornton — F, Clemson
28. Indiana Fever: Kamiah Smalls — G, James Madison
29. Phoenix Mercury: Stella Johnson — G, Rider
30. Chicago Sky: Japreece Dean — G, UCLA
31. Seattle Storm: Haley Gorecki — G, Duke
32. Chicago Sky: Kiah Gillespie — F, Florida State
33. Las Vegas Aces: Lauren Manis — F, Holy Cross
34. Los Angeles Sparks: Tynice Martin — G, West Virginia
35. Connecticut Sun: Juicy Landrum — G, Baylor
36. Washington Mystics: Sug Sutton — G, Texas

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If a point-and-click adventure game based on Seinfeld sounds like a whole lot of nothing, well, that’s the whole point. At least when it comes to two creators who want to make the sitcom-based video game a reality.

Created by Ivan Dixon, who’s done some work for Rick and Morty, and game designer Jacob Janerka (Paradigm), the pitch for Seinfeld is simple: a point-and-click game about nothing is exactly what the people want.

“Have you ever wanted to be a terrible person with no consequences? Live in a nice apartment in New York and complain about the tiny inconveniences ruining your life?” the trailer video’s voiceover asked. “Now you can with Seinfeld: The Game About Nothing.”

The two created a website for the unofficial pitch, hoping to show fan support for such a game that hopefully can make it a reality.

“We will write a brand new story revolving around the Seinfeld characters designed to work in this medium, remaining faithful to the tone and themes of the show,” they wrote, though it’s notable that Kramer is not a playable character because “no one can control Kramer.”

The trailer has some pretty solid jokes and fake endorsements from some big media outlets. And at least one developer seems interested in the project, barring legal trouble. And there’s a wonderful artistry in modern point-and-click games that can actually make this work. Kentucky Route Zero, arguably one of the best games of the decade, is a point and click masterpiece largely about mundane things in a supernatural world. Whether the licensing and voice work could actually get done to make a Seinfeld game exist is something else entirely, but it’s an interesting concept to say the least.

[via The Hollywood Reporter]

With the world still on virtual lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic, professional sports have been in a holding pattern, with all current seasons suspended until further notice as social distancing protocols remain in place in an effort to flatten the curve and stem the spread of COVID-19.

Transactions around most leagues have been put on hiatus as well, but on Friday night, the WNBA went ahead with their Draft, conducted virtually with most draftees celebrating their big via live feeds in their homes with their families. But before things got kicked off, the league made a remarkable gesture to honor the victims of a devastating tragedy earlier this year.

With the first three honorary picks, the WNBA drafted Gianna Bryant, Peyton Chester, And Alyssa Altobelli, who along with Kobe Bryant were among the nine people who died in a helicopter crash near Los Angeles earlier this year.

Gigi’s mom, Vanessa Bryant, posted an emotional video thanking the WNBA for giving her daughter such a beautiful memorial and talking about Gigi’s dream of one day making it to the league. Kobe and Vanessa’s daughter was quite the basketball player, and she had aspirations of one day suiting up for UConn.

All three girls were 13 years old at the time and would’ve been part of the 2024 class.

The COVID-19 pandemic has put all the major sports leagues on indefinite hiatus in an effort to slow the spread of the deadly virus, and with it, has also put a freeze on most league business and transactions. However, the WNBA went ahead with their 2020 Draft on Friday night, with commissioner Cathy Engelbert announcing the picks virtually, along with live feeds from the draftees’ homes.

To start the night, Engelbert selected Gianna Bryant, Peyton Chester, and Alyssa Altobelli as honorary draft picks as way to memorialize to the three young basketball players who, along with Kobe Bryant, were among the nine people who died in a helicopter crash in February near L.A.

Once the official draft got underway, the New York Liberty selected Sabrina Ionescu with the No. 1 overall pick. The Oregon standout had been the presumptive pick after finishing up her senior season with the Ducks. Soon after, it was officially announced that Ionescu had signed a sneaker deal with Oregon-based shoe giant Nike.

OFFICIAL: @WNBA #1 Draft pick Sabrina Ionescu has signed a multi-year shoe deal with Nike. pic.twitter.com/Fq13bwIIqi

— Nick DePaula (@NickDePaula) April 17, 2020

Ionescu had 26 triple-doubles during her time with the Ducks, and was the only player in NCAA history (men and women) to finish with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 1,000 assists.

Welcome to Brooklyn @sabrina_i20!! https://t.co/MbMRJp6fPV

— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) April 17, 2020

Afterward, Ionescu got a hearty welcome message from Kevin Durant via Twitter, as each of them will ostensibly play their respective home games at Barclays Center in Brooklyn next season.

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“Can you feeeeeeeellll the love toniiiiiiiight?”

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