Game shows — and especially game shows with celebrities — have become a staple of broadcast and cable TV over the years. But sadly, TV will now be one star-studded competition short on the air. Arena, the competitive game show that saw celebrities team up with WWE Superstars in madcap series of challenges has been canceled. The cancellation comes with the entire shutdown of G4TV, which produced the program in partnership with WWE.
Arena was one of the relaunched G4’s biggest hits, premiering on the network’s Twitch channel and the WWE-owned UpUpDownDown YouTube channel before being added to the linear TV rotation. G4 personalities Gina Darling and Austin Creed (a.k.a. WWE Superstar Xavier Woods) hosted the program and oversaw two celebrities trying to settle a beef by enlisting the help of two WWE Superstars in trivia, video game and silly stunt competitions. Celebrity guests included Twitch streamers QTCinderella and Myth, NFL players Leonard Floyd and Austin Ekeler, and Epic Rap Battles of History stars EpicLLOYD and Nice Peter. Wrestlers who joined in on the fun were Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, Kofi Kingston, Big E, Liv Morgan and the Street Profits (Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins).
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The final days of Arena are a bit fuzzy, causing some confusing reports in the media. A fifth episode had been filmed featuring WWE Superstar Bayley, UpUpDownDown staple Tyler Breeze and Ron Funches. It was seemingly set to air on Oct. 26 but that won’t be happening now due to the G4 closure. When news of the network’s Oct. 16 shuttering happened — via Puck and Deadline before employees were even notified — The Washington Post reported that the Arena crew had quit the week prior. However, an Arena crew member appeared on Darling’s Twitch stream that same night and — while not detailing the specifics — noted that the situation wasn’t exactly what WaPo reported.
The publication then ran a second report on G4’s ending, claiming, “… late last week, a key producer on Arena, a flagship show made as part of a deal with the WWE wrestling circuit originally set to last until April 2023, quit after G4 refused to grant them a raise and additional staff to make up for September’s layoffs.” (G4 laid off dozens of employees on Sept. 14.) In an interview with Gamertag Radio that released on Sunday, Arena crew member Shawna Kelley also noted the network internally “postponed” Arena on Oct. 14, just before Comcast unceremoniously pulled the plug on the whole company.
For now, the four released episodes of Arena — which was loosely based on the esports competition of the same name from G4’s original run — are available on the UpUpDownDown YouTube channel. Fans have been hopeful that Creed and Darling could return for a revived, WWE-led version of the show, but the show is dead at the moment, much like fellow G4 hits Name Your Price and God of Work.
