Tama Tonga sent a message to Tony Khan on Twitter that may imply he’s hoping to walk through the forbidden door. The 39-year-old last performed for NJPW on the World Tag League tour in December. He did not perform on the Wrestle Kingdom shows on January 4th, 5th, or 8th.
“Hey @TonyKhan wanna burn bridges? I love burning bridges,” Tonga wrote on Twitter.
Tonga has been wrestling in Impact as of late. He made his Impact in-ring debut at the tapings in Florida recently. He’s scheduled to take part in Impact’s tapings in New Orleans coming up later this month. This includes the No Surrender PPV on February 19th where the Guerrillas of Destiny are scheduled to face The Good Brothers for the Impact World Tag Team Championships. The match continues the angle between Bullet Club and Anderson & Gallows that really kick-started this summer in NJPW of USA and continued in Impact.
Fundraising For Tonga
The island of Tonga, which has produced wrestlers such as Haku, the Barbarian, Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tonga Loa, and HIKULEO, wad devastated recently by a volcanic eruption. NJPW has released a “Pray for Tonga” t-shirt to raise money for the region.
Recent events in Tonga were unexpected and devastating. And having a friend with family there gave me an extra insensitive to help out. One way was buying this sweet tee from NJPW wrestling. You can buy your own at the link in the comments. https://t.co/xaVQSn7r7O#PrayForTongapic.twitter.com/KuaSKFvcvs
Windham Rotunda better known to WWE fans as Bray Wyatt has appeared online in some new photos. In the pics, he is looking trim and refreshed, compared to his WWE days.
Disney head writer Rob Fee recently got married to comedian and actor Ariana Basseri. A number of wrestling personalities were invited to their wedding ceremony,
Among the invitees was the former WWE star John Morrison. The former IC champion shared some photos from the wedding on Twitter. What’s interesting is that the pictures also featured Wyatt among others:
AEW star Maxwell Jacob Friedman (MFJ) also sent out a hilarious in character wish to the newlywed couple. He wished Rob best of luck in his future endeavors.
The latest from Bray Wyatt
Bray Wyatt was surprisingly released from his WWE contract in July last year. This ended the former world champion’s 12-year-long tenure with the promotion.
The Fiend has since decided to take a break from wrestling. He is set to make his Hollywood debut with an untitled horror film that has already started shooting.
The former champion has also been announced for the WrestleCon 2022 during the WrestleMania week. It will be interesting to see if he makes his in-ring return during or before the event as well.
Laredo Kid has been a regular for Impact Wrestling in recent months. He has now officially signed a contract with the promotion.
The high-flying star recently had an interview with Darren Paltrowitz. He discussed a number of things, including his desire to win the X-Division championship and more.
During the talk he also revealed that he was offered a contract with Impact and Laredo Kid confirmed that he has signed a deal with the company:
“When I see all the crazy moves they do, I try to do the same, you know? And training more [to] be there one day
And when I had the opportunity to be — to sign with IMPACT, it’s great, you know? Right now, it’s a dream to have this opportunity” said Laredo Kid, “then I’m going to find the X Division belt.”
Laredo Kid made his Impact Wrestling debut in March 2017 as part of the company’s partnership with Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. He is also the current AAA World Cruiserweight Champion.
The Luchador had a tryout with WWE in 2015 as well. He worked a tag team match with Sammy Guevara under the ring name Tony Guevara. The duo lost a SmackDown dark match to Los Matadores.
After a disappointing WWE championship run, Big E has been thrust back into the tag team division. It appears that the WWE locker room is not happy with this treatment for the New Day star.
Wade Keller of PWTorch recently discussed the former world champion. He provided some backstage updates about the reaction to his recent bookings.
Keller revealed that everyone he has asked is very upset about the rug being pulled out from under him. Nobody has heard about any issue with Big E that might have led to this treatment from the officials:
“I’ve asked around, and all I’ve gotten is people who are really upset, you know, with the rug being pulled out from under him, and I haven’t heard anything about there being an awareness of an issue with him and I think the people I have asked would know.”
Big E won the WWE championship from Bobby Lashley during the September 13, 2021 episode of Raw. After a lackluster run, he dropped the title to Brock Lesnar during Day 1 PPV earlier this year.
The former champion himself has admitted that he was disappointed with the reign. He said that he wanted it to be five-course meal and it turned out to be an appetizer.
How do you feel about Big E being back into the tag team division? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
Paul Heyman has worked closely with some of the most successful wrestling stars of the past few decades. He knows what it takes to be a star in the business.
When asked which new talent he thinks will be a future star, Heyman took the name of Riddick Moss. He praised the SmackDown star as a future main eventer:
“Riddick Moss is going to be a star. I don’t think anyone has a clue with just how capable he is. He’s demonstrated that he can walk into any personality that he is assigned at the moment.
When Riddick Moss has the emergence out of his shell and into his next incarnation, the same way The Big Dog elevated his game and evolved into the Tribal Chief,” said Paul Heyman, “Riddick Moss’ next iteration in WWE, there will be no stopping him. He’s a main eventer.”
After a 5 years long developmental run, Riddick Moss made his main roster debut in January 2020. He has since joined forces with Happy Corbin as Madcap Moss.
Apart from this, Paul Heyman also talked about the Universal champion Roman Reigns. He claimed that we have yet to see the best of The Tribal Chief.
The WWE grind can often be the cause of stress and anxiety for stars. Jeff Hardy, who was recently released from the promotion, is feeling ‘super stressless’ since leaving the company according to Matt Hardy.
The AEW star talked about his brother on The Extreme Life With Matt Hardy podcast. He claimed that the wrestling veteran has been super positive since leaving WWE:
“One thing I can say for Jeff is that he has been super positive and super stressless since he’s been gone from the WWE. We have about 10 bookings as the Hardy Boyz lined up all together. Some autograph signings, some matches.”
Matt Hardy also recently teased an ‘extreme’ change to his AEW character. It would be interesting to see if The Hardy Boyz end up reuniting in Tony Khan’s promotion.
Many believe the release of Hit Row was one of the biggest missed opportunities for WWE in recent times. B-Fab want to see the group reunite outside the company.
The former NXT star recently took part in a virtual signing for East Coast Autograph Auctions. She discussed things such as a potential WWE return and more.
During the session, she claimed that a Hit Row reunion is her biggest dream. B-Fab said that she would be super excited if they all can come together again:
“That is my biggest dream is that we [Hit Row] come back together and show up somewhere. I don’t know where, but if we can all come together and you know, debut again somewhere else or with a company, I would be super excited.”
One such place where we might see this reunion is AEW. B-Fab also discussed this possibility and a potential feud with The Acclaimed:
“Mhm, that’d be a hot feud. That would be a hot feud [Hit Row vs. The Acclaimed]. We had so many ideas and everything for Hit Row. I just really wish we would have been able to show everybody everything that we could’ve done. But it is what it is.”
B-Fab has already become a free agent due to her NXT contract. The other three members of Hit Row including Shane ‘Swerve’ Strickland, ‘Top Dolla’ A.J. Francis, and Tehuti Miles are expected to join her in free agency in a few weeks.
Would you like to see Hit Row reunite in AEW? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below
If MJF is known for one thing, it’s never breaking his character while on camera. Whether it be on TV, doing an interview, or wishing someone on their wedding.
Disney head writer Colonel Rob Fee recently got married. The All Elite Wrestling star was among the people who took the time to congratulate the couple.
Rob posted the video message he received from the wrestling star on Twitter as seen below. MJF wished Rob good luck on their ‘future endeavors’ and he didn’t forget to mention how he recently beat CM Punk:
The 25-year-old has recently been feuding with the Straight Edge Star. These two had a match during the February 2 episode of Dynamite.
MJF won this match after Wardlow handed the Dynamite Diamond Ring to The Pinnacle Leader. The heavyweight star also provided a distraction, allowing MJF to use the weapon.
This was CM Punk’s first loss in AEW since his debut for the company in August last year. Though it doesn’t appear to be the end of this feud.
AEW’s next PPV event in Revolution will be taking place from the Addition Financial Arena in Orlando, Florida on March 6. It’s likely that we are going to see a rematch between the two at the show.
Freddie Prinze Jr. recalls the time he and MVP clicked while working on a promo.
Freddie was once a part of the WWE creative process. He used the skills he harnessed in Hollywood to embrace the role in the wrestling world. Over the years, Freddie has earned the respect of the performers for his ability to relate to them.
Bond With MVP Is Born
During an episode of his Wrestling with Freddie podcast, Freddie Prinze Jr. recalled helping MVP, who was stressed over a script that had been rewritten by Vince McMahon.
“I remember seeing an MVP promo and he hated it because Vince wrote it, or rewrote it I should say. And I was kinda sitting in the back looking and I already knew what the fix was, right? It was just one little line that needed to be tweaked and I knew it would be in his voice and that was the problem.
“None of it was in his voice and I finally just said, ‘Alright, he’s either gonna knock me out,’ cause we had never met and he wasn’t giving me like a, ‘Come on in and help me out kind of vibe.’ I said, ‘He’s either gonna throw a punch or he’s gonna hear this out and I’ll earn some respect.’
“I ran up and he was with DJ and I said, ‘Hey man, I think it’s just this one little line and it’s this Pulp Fiction line,’ and he looked at me like he was gonna kill me. I said the line and he goes, ‘Don’t go anywhere, sit down,’ and I was like, ‘Okay, okay I’m in.’
“We rewrote the promo real quick and I just let him basically say what he wanted to say and then I would kinda like put a couple words there to bring those sentences together. He and I had a really good working — we became really good friends after that even though he wanted to kill me [laughs].”
Freddie was often dealing with tense situations backstage at WWE events. He even had an issue with John Cena that led to the two disagreeing about how to better prepare talent for promos.
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Danhausen is All Elite and Tony Khan says it’s the fans who are to thank.
When ROH announced that it was going on hiatus, it left many wondering about the future of the talent. Names such as Jay Lethal, Jonathan Gresham, and The Briscoes were left in limbo at the time of the announcement.
Lethal ended up signing with AEW, Gresham has started his own promotion along with Baron Black called, “Terminus,” and The Briscoes have been seen on GCW and many feel they could be AEW-bound, although Tony Khan hasn’t committed.
Very Evil Signing
Danhausen
While the future of some names was a question mark, fans had very little doubt about Danhausen’s future. Many were convinced that he was going to AEW and they were right.
Appearing on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio, Tony Khan explained why he jumped at the chance to sign Danhausen.
“He’s really a lot of fun and now, speaking of Orange Cassidy, Danhausen is gonna be closely associated with Orange Cassidy perhaps, we’ll see.
“But having seen them together in Wheeler Yuta’s corner and having seen Danhausen help Orange Cassidy in that great Lights Out match at Beach Break a couple of weeks ago on Dynamite, I definitely think the fans enjoy Danhausen and I’m happy to give them what they want.
“I love listening to the fans.”
Danhausen made his AEW debut on the Jan. 26 episode of Dynamite. Adam Cole went one-on-one with Orange Cassidy in the main event of that episode. Cole went to pull out a chair from under the ring but Danhausen popped out.
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Scarlett Bordeaux has made her return to the ring.
Scarlett had been featured on the NXT brand along with her fiancé Killer Kross. While Kross eventually made his way to the main roster, Scarlett did not. Ultimately, the two were released by WWE.
Back To Business
Both Scarlett and Kross returned to the ring this past weekend. Scarlett worked under the WrestlePro banner for the Killer Instinct event in Rahway, NJ, while Kross captured the Future Stars of Wrestling Grand Championship by defeating Jacob Fatu in Las Vegas.
Scarlett picked up the win in her return match against Harley Cameron. You can catch some snippets of the match below:
Scarlett Bordeaux may have been dropped by WWE but there are no sour grapes here. In fact, she told Renée Paquette that she’s rooting for NXT 2.0 to succeed.
“We have so many friends there. No matter what we want everyone to be successful and have jobs. We want it to do well, because if it doesn’t do well, that’s even more people we care about out of jobs. So we want [it] to be successful.
“It’s different. I’ll say this. It maybe feels a bit more sterile compared to what it was for me. We understand why they’re trying to appeal to the largest market and we want it to do well. I prefer the old grungy underground NXT personally. I just think there’s a lot of really talented, awesome people in that company. We want to see our friends do well.”
Fans are waiting to see when Scarlett and Kross will be paired up again for a major promotion. Reports have surfaced claiming that AAA has interest in bringing both Scarlett and Kross back to the promotion. The two had made appearances for AAA before being scooped up by WWE.
WWE Superstar Montez Ford recently discussed a conversation he had with Jackass star Johnny Knoxville ahead of the Royal Rumble event.
Speaking on the Hall of Fame podcast, Ford revealed how big a fan he is of the Jackass show and how much he enjoyed meeting the face of the programme.
“He was all game. The cool part about it, I was telling him, ‘Hey man, me and my sister used to stay up late nights to watch MTV, MTV 2, and watch Jackass and The Wild Boys, and everything’” Montez began.
“Like, all night, and we’d see all the crazy scenarios that they did. So for me to have that moment was just like full circle, all the childhood nostalgia all the way around. But he was all game, man” Montez revealed.
Montez Ford on Johnny Knoxville
“He was like, ‘Hey guys, if I am in there, I am in your guys’ world. Don’t let up on me, I want the real thing.’ He said, ‘I have spent my whole entire career hurting other people.’ He’s a great guy, all for it. It’s always cool too to have people from different worlds come in” the former RAW Tag Team Champion continued.
“People that you’ve grown up and watched and come across people that are fans of the business, to come across and just be so welcoming to our world and everything.
“It was cool. He said he was ready to come back too, so I guess we need to lay the smackdown a little bit harder next time” the Street Profits member concluded.
AEW star Serena Deeb recently discussed how Tony Khan has “embraced” having deeper storytelling in the All Elite Women’s division.
Speaking to Tuesday Wrestling Tuesday, Deeb said that the Women’s division is much better in All Elite now that it is more than just “one-off” matches.
“That was the thing for a while where it was just one-off matches” Serena Deeb began. “And the fact that Tony embraced wanting to do more and wanted to put some, some deeper storytelling in there is really cool.
“Hopefully, that continues for other people as well. I think just from an emotional investment standpoint for the fans, one-off matches are great” Deeb noted.
Serena Deeb on
“Especially if they’re dream matches, right? Like Bryan Danielson versus Kenny Omega. Like that’s a dream match, people want to see that and even one time, these people are going to love it. But I think, historically speaking in wrestling, if you look back on the Attitude Era, for example, there were stories and feuds that went on for a year.
“And people stayed emotionally invested as long as there was something compelling to pay attention to. So I think it’s a great sign. I’ve seen it also across other stories in the women’s division and as of late and it’s great. I think a lot of wrestling fans appreciate that” the former WWE Superstar concluded.
WWE Hall of Famer Brie Bella recently discussed her return to the company as part of the WWE Royal Rumble match on Saturday 29th January.
Whilst discussing her time in the 30-woman match, Brie revealed that she wanted to make the most of it as she didn’t know if she would be back.
Talking about getting to go at it in the ring with Ronda Rousey, she said “I’ll say, like, after I got you [Nikki Bella] out, which was really fun” Brie Bella began.
“I didn’t know if I’d ever get my moment again with this because I never know when I’m gonna get the call to come back” Brie continued.
“And it could never be. It was just too perfect, Nikki. It was too perfect, I’m sorry” the former WWE Superstar concluded.
Brie Bella on WWE Return
It is not currently known if WWE will be bringing back Brie or Nikki Bella at any time in the near future.
Both women have expressed their desire to try and go for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships, so it is likely that we will see them both back at some point.
WrestleMania 38 would certainly make sense for a big tag team match for the twins, and it would potentially be a spot on the ‘Mania card for Carmella and Queen Zelina if they are still tag champs by that point.
Matt Riddle’s NXT achievements include winning the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic and the tag team titles with Pete Dunne. However, according to the King of Bros, their team was originally supposed to last only one day.
The Raw star recently had an interview with My Love Letter To Wrestling podcast. He discussed things such as his tag team with Randy Orton and more.
During the talk, Riddle admitted that they weren’t actually supposed to win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. It was originally planned to be a one-off thing:
“Yeah, we weren’t supposed to, I didn’t even know I was teaming with Pete until they do, ‘hey, Matt, can you cut a promo saying you how you and Pete met and became a team?’ And I was like, ‘we’re a team?’ And they’re like, ‘yeah.”
As is often the case in WWE, plans changed night after night, and it actually led to the first big NXT accolade for Matt Riddle:
“They’re like, ‘yeah, you’re actually going to win this round and lose the next round,’ and we’re like, ‘okay’. Then the next round, they’re like, ‘yeah, you’re actually going to win this round too and go into the finals.’ And we’re like, ‘alright,’”
Matt Riddle and Pete Dunne defeated Grizzled Young Veterans to win the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic on January 29, 2020. The BroserWeights then went on to defeat The Undisputed Era at NXT TakeOver: Portland to win the NXT tag titles.
AEW star Powerhouse Hobbs is addressing some of the criticisms that have been levied at All Elite Wrestling and Tony Khan in recent months.
The issues mainly stem from a perceived lack of diversity in the company, which has been brought up by several former names in the company such as Big Swole and Lio Rush.
“I can only speak from my own experience. So I don’t know about anybody else’s experience in the company,” Hobbs began. “I can tell you from my experience that everything has been really well.
“I’ve had ideas that I’ve pitched that worked. I’ve had ideas that I’ve pitched that haven’t worked. Overall, the company is very diverse.”
Powerhouse Hobbs on Diversity in AEW
Hobbs also went to bat for AEW President Tony Khan. He can only speak from his personal experience, but he’s completely satisfied with what he’s seen in AEW.
“As I said before, Tony Khan has been very fair to me. I can’t speak about anyone else’s situation. I can only speak on mine. The same thing can be said with Google, with Facebook, with any company. It can be said with any company on this planet.
“What I said is what I said, and that’s just from my personal experience. I will back that up a hundred per cent, a thousand, million times over again” the Team Taz member concluded.
Tony Khan has not discussed the situation publicly since the tweet where he previously referenced Big Swole.
The top 2 @AEW execs are brown (me & Megha)!! Jade, Bowens, Caster, Dante, Nyla, Isiah & Marq Quen all won on tv this month. The TBS Title Tournament has been very diverse. I let Swole’s contract expire as I felt her wrestling wasn’t good enough. #AEWRampage Street Fight TONIGHT! https://t.co/NprF6I7D6G
Paige’s WWE contract runs through June 2022. It will be very interesting to see if she sticks with WWE, or takes her talents elsewhere. Over the past several months, Paige and AEW Women’s World Champion Britt Baker have been expressing mutual admiration for each other on Twitter.
Paige was rumored to be involved in the recent Women’s Royal Rumble, but that never materialized. Fans were so hopeful that Paige would be in the Rumble that she was trending on social media for several days.
During her time away from wrestling, Paige has been focused on several other projects. Last year, she Paige was featured in a music video for the band Falling In Reverse.
If her in-ring career is over, Paige won’t have any trouble raking in huge money. She has a very popular Twitch channel under the handle, @SarayaOfficial. A recent Twitch data leak revealed she’s making a fortune doing live streams for her fans.
Former WWE Superstar and IMPACT Knockouts Champion Mickie James recently discussed her involvement in the WWE Royal Rumble match back on Saturday 29th January.
Speaking on her GAW TV show alongside SoCal Val and Victoria, Mickie revealed a moment in the match that she was not a big fan of.
“I didn’t love that at all [Melina being eliminated after 53 seconds],” Mickie began. “I did love that, you know, her entrance, people did exactly what we knew they were going to do. They erupted, like ‘holys**t’, it was so good to see her back.
“She hadn’t been in WWE for over a decade, so I think that was amazing to see her get teared up, and, it was awesome” the IMPACT Knockouts Champion continued.
Mickie James on Melina Elimination
“I didn’t love the whole she got eliminated first, no I didn’t love that because obviously as I wanted to be able to be in there with her and tangle it up, and I want her to have those moments with some of the other girls, you know.
“I know it was special for Sasha, and I know Sasha, I know it was special for Sasha to be in there with her” James concluded.
It has not been revealed if WWE is planning on bringing Melina back for any more segments or matches going forward. Right now, it appears as though it will be a one-off for the former WWE diva.
The Triple H era of NXT has come to an end. However, the work he did with various talents during his time cannot be forgotten. One such talent who got the chance to work with the game is Killer Kross.
The now-former WWE star recently had an interview with CBS sport. Among other things, he detailed what it was like working with the former world champion and what kind of leader he is.
Kross claimed that Triple H is a natural leader. According to him, he is not someone who has to raise his voice or get angry to get people to listen to him:
“He was a person where I would come into work and he would be completely focused with each and every person he was working with. I never saw him play favorites. He never told you wanted to hear, he always told you what you needed to hear.”
Killer Kross then explained that both Triple H and Shawn Michaels are individuals who inspire people to be a better version of themselves at work. So much so that people wanted to perform better out of respect for them:
“I could tell you for sure as much as people wanted to perform in this business for the fans, they also wanted to perform out of respect for Hunter and Shawn [Michaels] because of how much time they would put into them and helping them improve
Kross later mentioned how people usually say that you should never meet your heroes. Though Triple H was someone who didn’t disappoint him. He actually exceeded expectations for the person you think he would be by seeing him on TV.
The WWE release of Jeff Hardy has been a hot topic of discussion for fans recently. There has been a lot of speculation on where Hardy will go next. Now his brother Matt Hardy is teasing a change to his character in All Elite Wrestling, saying that maybe it’s time for him to return to his extreme roots.
This Friday’s episode of Rampage saw Isiah Kassidy unsuccessfully challenge Sammy Guevara for the TNT title. The Private Party had also lost a match against The Jurassic Express for the tag team titles last month.
Matt posted a video on twitter after Rampage. He first expressed his disappointment over these recent losses of the members of his faction. He then said that maybe it’s time to put the focus back on himself. Hardy claimed that maybe it’s time adapt his old motto back and he teased an ‘extreme’ change to his character at the end of the video:
‘Maybe It’s Time For Matt Hardy To Make An Extreme Change’
Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy ‘The Hardy Boyz’
“Maybe it’s time for me to go back to the drawing board. Maybe it’s time for me to get rich of what I originally got rich off of and that was me. Maybe it’s time for me to tighten up my boots. Lace them a little tighter. Lace them a little more snug. Maybe It is time to adapt my old motto of fear is only a four-letter word. So starting today, February the 5th, 2022, I’m gonna make a promise to everyone.
I’m saying it here publicly so I’ll be held accountable for it. I’m gonna bust my ass. I’m gonna do everything that I possibly can to take my dilapidated vessel, after all the wear and tear on my body, after my age and get into the best shape that it can possibly be in. Because I don’t like the direction that Matt Hardy is currently headed in AEW. If something doesn’t happen with the AHFO, something has to change. Maybe it’s time for Matt Hardy to make an extreme change.”
Jeff Hardy’s WWE non-compete clause expires in early March. The Hardy Boyz have already been announced for a few appearances including a couple of matches after that. There is no news on how Tony Khan feels about Jeff joining AEW after the infamous live event incident. It’ll be interesting to see if The Hardy Boyz end up reuniting in AEW as well.
Kurt Angle had revealed last month that WWE wanted him to make a brief return to TV but that program has apparently been nixed. The Olympic Gold Medallist recently talked about the Royal Rumble PPV on the latest episode of his podcast. The former world champion revealed that he was in the arena for the show.
Angle mentioned that he went to the show with his wife and they had a great time. However, the program he was supposed to be involved in got canceled at last minute:
“We went to the Rumble and I also did some documentary interviews a day before [and] a photo op with the fans. But I want to make it clear, I’m not signed with the WWE. They weren’t gonna sign me anyway. It was gonna be a three-week program. It got cancelled,” said Kurt Angle, “but you know my obligation is to the show — the Kurt Angle show and that’s it.”
The former Raw GM didn’t reveal any detail on what the promotion wanted him for, or if the cancellation of it had anything to do with the debacle involving Shane McMahon. Kurt Angle was last seen on WWE TV on the May 23, 2020 episode of SmackDown, where he announced the arrival of Matt Riddle. WWE offered him the role of Riddle’s manager but he turned it down.
Roman Reigns was already one of wrestling’s top stars before his heel turn in 2020. He had already held the world title multiple times and picked up victories over opponents such as The Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, and John Cena. However, his new Tribal Chief persona earned him universal acclaim from critics and fans like he had never seen before. Still, Paul Heyman believes that we have not seen the best of the Universal champion yet.
The former ECW owner recently appeared on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast. Heyman who has been around the wrestling business for over three decades discussed how one has to keep evolving to stay relevant in the industry. He then explained that we haven’t seen the best of Reigns because he keeps evolving:
“I’ll say this selfishly. Again talking about evolving personas, evolving characters, evolving personalities evolving box office attractions, you haven’t seen the best of Roman Reigns yet. Roman Reigns a year from now will be far greater than Roman Reigns is today. Roman Reigns this Friday will be better than Roman Reigns last Friday.
Roman Reigns, next Friday will be able to look back at this Friday’s appearance and say ‘Wow, I can do that so much better’ and he will. I’ll include the Usos in there as well. The Usos as a tag team are so infinitely better now than they were six months ago and six months ago they were already the best tag team in the past 20 years.”
“The Big Dog Was An Audition To Become The Tribal Chief”
(via WWE)
Paul Heyman listed all the accolades of The Big Dog before 2020. He mentioned how the former Shield member was a top star from the get-go and he had main evented multiple WrestleManias even before turning heel and joining forces with the advocate. Though according to Heyman, everything he had done before that was just an audition for his current role:
“Roman Reigns was a main eventer from the day he started in 2012 on the main roster. Through 2020 Roman Reigns main evented 4 WrestleManias and that was just the audition to become The Tribal Chief. It was the appetizer for the main course. He had to have that resume, that background, that experience. To come from top attraction, competing with John Cena for the top spot, multi-WrestleMania matches with Brock Lesnar, a victory over The Undertaker, only two people can claim that – Brock Lesnar and Roman Reigns. That was the lead-up to The Tribal Chief.
The Tribal Chief is far bigger box office, a far more compelling personality, a far more riveting persona than the Big Dog. No offense to the Big Dog but the public wasn’t ready to accept the greatness. And Roman Reigns didn’t know how to put it all together and create this package of greatness. This ability to reach greatness and break through the limitations on his greatness. To make a viable claim to be ‘I am the greatest of all time, I am the goat.’ And now he is. As the Tribal Chief. Who is still evolving, who is still emerging.”
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Congratulations to Keith Lee and Mia Yim on getting married.
The couple tied the knot on Feb. 5 after spending several years together. It’s unclear when Mr. and Mrs. Lee began their relationship, but WWE fans knew they were together in NXT.
Mia Yim commented on her magical night. She thanked all the guests who attended their “Disney” wedding and feels proud and lucky to finally be Mrs. Lee.
Several past and present WWE stars were in attendance for the ceremony, including Shelton Benjamin and Damien Priest.
I have to admit attending @RealKeithLee & @MiaYim was a lot of fun. Seeing every one have a good time and feeling all the positive energy despite Mia’s presence will always Be a wonder to me. Congrats again Fam. pic.twitter.com/qahe0sD0gk
Mia Yim and Keith Lee are free agents after being released by WWE on November 4, 2021.
However, Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer speculates that Mr. Lee already agreed to a deal with All Elite Wrestling. “Keith Lee is on that list, and we’re told that he’s been talked about for [AEW] if not has already agreed to a deal here,” wrote Dave Meltzer.
After his 90-day WWE non-compete clause expired, Lee posted on Twitter that he is looking forward to wrestling again. His last match was on Oct. 25, 2021, when he defeated Cedric Alexander at Monday Night Raw.
Wrestling fans are awaiting his return to competition. Based on Meltzer’s report, AEW wants Lee on their roster. However, AEW hasn’t shared if they have signed Lee or spoken with him. AEW President Tony Khan revealed on Busted Open on Sirus XM that the “forbidden door” would open again and expect more free-agent talent signed.
“…Just in the last several weeks, we’ve made some big one, and I plan to make some more big signings and not in the long term future. I mean in the short-term future,” said Khan.
While it’s unclear when Mr. or Mrs. lee will wrestle again, they seem to be enjoying this new chapter in their lives.
It’s been quite the week for Shane McMahon, who went from an appearance in the Royal Rumble to reportedly being let go by his father’s company.
In an update to what went down last weekend in St. Louis, Fightful Select published more information on McMahon’s backstage dealings prior to the Royal Rumble match. Though McMahon wasn’t the sole producer of the match, he was involved in creative and had some wild pitches that didn’t make it into the final match.
According to Fightful Select, McMahon was pitching ideas for his entry into the Royal Rumble match that he felt would highlight him personally. He even pitched being the number one entrant in the match. According to the report, Vince McMahon got involved, made changes to the match, and noted that they wouldn’t be doing much of what Shane had pitched previously.
Apparently it wasn’t just Vince McMahon who wasn’t happy with Shane’s pitches. Brock Lesnar also took issue with the ideas being thrown around by the younger McMahon.
Shane was pretty insistent on some of his ideas, even though they didn’t come to fruition. He was reportedly acting quite unprofessional about the situation, talking down to people in the process. One source told Dave Meltzer:
“Every single story you’ve already heard, multiplied many times over. He was unprofessional the likes of which left Vince no options but to fire him.”
There was also a funny situation with Randy Orton. According to the report, McMahon was originally supposed to be the 29th entrant and Orton was supposed to come in at 28. However, this got mixed up and Orton told McMahon that he would not be coming down to Shane’s “Here Comes The Money” theme so he better get out there once number 28 was called.
Overall, this year’s Royal Rumble was very poorly received by both the fan base and backstage, leading to a lot of the fallout which has been reported this week. WWE has not confirmed Shane McMahon’s release publicly as of yet.
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The internet allows wrestling stars to showcase their talents to the whole world and reach a much wider audience. However, it can also be a toxic place for wrestlers who aren’t used to the relentless criticism and trolling.
CM Punk is one of the most polarizing figures of the whole industry who often finds himself being targeted by the trolls for one reason or the other. He has good advice for anyone who is not used to it.
The AEW star recently had an interview with Abe Kanan of Rock 95.5 in Chicago. Speaking of the internet trolls, Punk shared his advice for other wrestlers. He said that you can’t win from them and you should focus on finding inner peace instead:
“You can’t win. I implore all humans to understand that you cannot win [from internet trolls]. You cannot be beholden to what nameless, faceless people on the internet say about you. It doesn’t matter.” said CM Punk, “You have to find inner peace and be happy with what you’re doing. I 100% am that guy. I’m stoked to be where I am. I got a lot of cool projects coming up aside from AEW.
He continued, “And I get to go home to a very beautiful, smart, talented woman and my dog Larry every night. So it can’t be beat. Like Johnny 256969 on Twitter, trust me you could say whatever you want about me dude. I sucked in UFC? That’s cool, I get that video game money. So I am ok.”
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