Gunther, formerly known as Walter, is now part of the WWE SmackDown brand. On Friday’s SmackDown, Gunther beat a local wrestler, Joe Alonso, with Marcel Barthel by his side, renamed Ludwig Kaiser.
It was reported earlier this week that there had been internal discussions about moving Gunther to SmackDown alongside Barthel, but not Fabian Aichner.
Once Gunther moved to the United States, WWE had plans to bring him to the main roster.
This would explain why Gunther was booked to lose to NXT Champion Bron Breakker in the main event of Tuesday’s NXT. Aichner and Barthel dropped the NXT Tag Team Titles in a triple threat match to MSK this past Saturday at Stand & Deliver.
Watch Gunther’s WWE SmackDown debut:
WWE Name Changes
The name change for Barthel is a Vince McMahon decision as he likes to change wrestlers’ names and ignore their past accomplishments in NXT.
WWE has changed the name of many former NXT stars, including Pete Dunne, who was renamed to Butch. They’ve also done it with Mia Yim to Reckoning, Dijakovic to T-Bar, Piper Niven to Doudrop, and Chelsea Green was supposed to be named Victorious before she was injured.
Ricochet will be not be featured on tonight’s (April 8) episode of SmackDown.
The WWE Intercontinental Champion has taken to his Twitter account to reveal that he won’t be inside the Finserv Forum in Milwaukee, WI. He explained why in his posts:
A champion not only defends his title in the ring, he defends & protects his family.
Thank you @WWE for giving this champion some time to spend with my son this weekend. After whooping Los Lotharios on Wrestlemania Smackdown, some R&R with MY champ is exactly what I need.
“A champion not only defends his title in the ring, he defends & protects his family. Thank you, WWE for giving this champion some time to spend with my son this weekend. After whooping Los Lotharios on Wrestlemania Smackdown, some R&R with MY champ is exactly what I need.
“Your Intercontinental Champ won’t be at Smackdown today, but I will be back next week, better than ever!”
Ricochet captured the WWE Intercontinental Title on the March 4 episode of SmackDown. He pinned Sami Zayn off a distraction from Johnny Knoxville.
Ricochet didn’t appear at WrestleMania 38 but he was in action on April 1 for what was billed as “WrestleMania SmackDown.” He successfully defended the IC Title against Angel and Humberto in a triple threat match.
This past weekend, WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin returned to in-ring competition at WrestleMania 38 for his first match in over 19 years.
Austin was originally advertised to take place in a KO Show segment with Kevin Owens, but it turned into an official No Holds Barred match after Owens threw out the challenge. After brawling all over the arena, Austin finally picked up the victory with a stunner on Owens. It was quite surprising to see Austin compete since he had been adamant that he’s done competing inside the ring.
His last match took place at WrestleMania 19 in 2003. Austin was defeated by The Rock in what was their third time main eventing “The Show Of Shows” together. Now, 19 years later, Austin finally decided to give it one more go, going out on top with a win at the biggest professional wrestling event of the year. According to a report from Dave Meltzer of F4Wonline, Austin originally only agreed to do an elongated brawl with Owens in Dallas.
However, after training leading up to WrestleMania, Austin felt confident enough to do an actual match, thus, resulting in the No Holds Barred bout we got at WrestleMania 38. But the action didn’t stop at Night One of WrestleMania for Austin. “The Texas Rattlesnake” also hit the ring the following night, following the conclusion of the Austin Theory vs. Pat McAfee matchup. Austin rekindled his famed rivalry with Vince McMahon, hitting him with one of the worst stunners of all time.
He also hit Theory and McAfee with stunners before doing his celebratory beer bash. It was a tremendously nostalgic weekend for Attitude Era fans, but it was likely the last official matchup Steve Austin ever participates in.
Alexa Bliss has notably been absent from WWE TV for the past several weeks. Bliss hasn’t been on WWE programming since the Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event.
According to a report from PWInsider, Bliss is currently preparing for her wedding with musician Ryan Cabrera. The wedding is slated to go down this weekend in California from an undisclosed location in Palm Springs. The location is being kept so tightly under wraps that those who will be attending won’t even know the location of the venue until closer to the time when it’s scheduled to begin.
Bliss has been dating Cabrera since 2019 after they were introduced by fellow WWE Superstar The Miz. They then got engaged in November of 2020. It will be interesting to see how much longer Bliss is kept off of WWE TV. Fans have been curious as to where the former RAW Women’s Champion has been for the past several weeks. Bliss hasn’t commented on the matter too much, except noting that she seems to be ready to go, and the ball is in WWE’s court.
I’m ready when they are … ?????
— Lexi (Kaufman) Cabrera (@AlexaBliss_WWE) April 3, 2022
In her absence, the WWE’s women’s division still seems to be in a very strong place. Bianca Belair recently defeated Becky Lynch for the RAW Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 38 this past weekend. Charlotte Flair successfully defended her SmackDown Live Women’s Title against the returning Ronda Rousey at “The Show Of Shows” as well.
And with Sasha Banks and Naomi currently reigning as WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, Alexa Bliss certainly has a stacked women’s division to return to when the time comes.
One of the biggest surprises from WrestleMania 38 this past weekend was the in-ring return of Vince McMahon.
McMahon took to the ring after Pat McAfee defeated Austin Theory in their one-on-one match, which “The Chairman” was sitting ringside for. After getting inside the ring, McMahon ordered the referee to ring the bell, starting a new match between himself and McAfee. An already beat down and exhausted McAfee eventually fell to McMahon for the three-count. However, WWE Hall Of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin’s music then hit, as “The Rattlesnake” came down the ramp to hit McMahon with a stunner and close the segment out.
According to a report from Fightful Select, many people backstage weren’t too keen on the idea of McMahon wrestling at WrestleMania this year. However, McMahon made the decision a few months ago and stuck to it despite many being vocal that they thought it was a horrible idea. Of course, after the match McMahon made a few botches; first reacting to Austin Theory’s music as if it were Stone Cold’s, before Stone Cold came out. Also, when he did take the stunner from Austin, it was one of the worst sells of a stunner in history.
However, the report adds that McMahon took it all is stride, laughing about it with everyone backstage. McMahon is of the belief that “as long as people were laughing and entertained, it’s OK.” It’s highly unlikely that Vince McMahon wrestles again anytime soon at 76-years-old, making WrestleMania 38, likely, his last match.
Paul teamed up with The Miz to take on the team of Rey and Dominik Mysterio. Paul and Miz actually came out on top, with the talk of the match being how natural Paul looked inside the ring for his first time. Even Vince McMahon gave Paul some praise backstage after the match for his in-ring work. However, it appears that Paul barely even trained for the match.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour this week, Paul admitted that he only trained two days for his WrestleMania match. And each session was two hours long.
“No, no bro I trained for two days,” Paul said. “For two hours each day. I swear to God. I didn’t train at all. That’s why I’m like ‘Holy sh*t, if I did that with four hours of collective training, imagine I dedicate some real time to this.’ What can I do?”
Paul also noted that he had a bit of training in Orlando before going to Texas where the two days of training occurred, but it still wasn’t anything close to what could be described as extensive preparation.
“I had two days in Orlando a couple weeks earlier. Then in Texas we practiced a couple of moves a couple of times, but like, nothing dude. Nothing. No serious training.”
After his match, The Miz turned on Logan Paul, hitting him with the Skull-crushing Finale. Paul said his feud with Miz isn’t going away, as he plans to get the former WWE Champion in the ring and show him who the true “king of Cleveland is.”
“I’m gonna f*ck him up. I’m gonna f*ck him up bro. That was cold. That was cold. Miz is Miz dude, and evidentially I thought I got over the Miz barrier, but he only cares about The Miz. Miz cares about The Miz and that’s it. So, you know, we’ll see when I can get in there and show him who the real king of Cleveland is.”
Yesterday it was reported that Cody Rhodes was scheduled to be at tonight’s taping of SmackDown Live in Milwaukee. Rhodes recently made his return to WWE at WrestleMania 38, defeating Seth Rollins in Dallas, Texas this past weekend.
However, according to an updated report from PWInsider, Cody Rhodes is no longer scheduled to be in attendance for the taping. Instead, the report adds that WWE is planning on having a lot more crossover between brands. Three to four unnamed SmackDown stars are slated to be at Monday Night RAW next week. The reasoning is said to be so Superstars can work dark matches.
Also, now that Roman Reigns is both WWE Champion and WWE Universal Champion, he’s expected to be working both brands as well. This seemed to already be the case on this week’s episode of RAW. Reigns, who is officially a SmackDown star, appeared on RAW to close out the show with a promo. The Usos also were involved in a six-man tag team match.
Both Sasha Banks and Naomi, the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions, also appeared on the show, defeating Liv Morgan & Rhea Ripley in a Championship Contender’s match. Natalya and Shayna Baszler also made appearances.
In addition to that report, it should be noted that Lacey Evans will be in Milwaukee for tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live. However, there’s no word yet on what her involvement will be. Evans hasn’t been on WWE TV since going on maternity leave last year. We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available.
WWE has announced the NXT Tag Team Championships have been vacated.
New champions will be crowned this Tuesday night on NXT’s weekly TV show on the USA Network. WWE has yet to address how the new champions will be determined.
As we’ve reported, WWE released Nash Carter of MSK earlier this week following allegations of abuse from his wife, IMPACT Wrestling’s Kimber Lee. On Monday, Lee took to social media, alleging that Carter “got wasted” and struck her in the face, busting her lip open. She also Tweeted out the following, tagging the official WWE NXT Twitter account (the Tweet has since been deleted):
“Hey @WWENXT this is my face after your tag champ @NashCarterWWE got wasted and hit me so hard he split my lip open. He told me I’m a wrestler so I’m always marked up. I’ve hid this for a year and even forgave him. But I can’t hide it anymore.”
The timing couldn’t be any more significant, as Carter and tag team partner Wes Lee recently captured the titles at the NXT Stand & Deliver event over WrestleMania 38 weekend. Of course, the announcement of the titles’ vacancy did not mention Carter.
WWE also hasn’t publicly addressed Carter’s release, nor the allegations as of this writing. Prior to this announcement, MSK was scheduled to defend their titles against Grayson Waller and Sanga on Tuesday’s event. WWE has not yet announced who will be competing for the vacant titles.
Tony Khan says an expensive online misinformation campaign has been launched against AEW.
Khan revealed on Friday that an independent study has confirmed an online “bot army” has been deployed on social media to stir up negative social media activity against All Elite Wrestling.
According to Khan, some company is running “thousands” of Twitter accounts and uses “an army of bots” to signal-boost the anti-AEW tweets.
“Look closely, these aren’t real people.”
– Tony Khan
Khan didn’t explicitly accuse WWE of being behind this online campaign, but he asked his followers to consider, “Who’d pay for such a *wildly* expensive thing?”
We are currently in the midst of a wrestling war. WWE has legitimate competition for the first time two decades. A Wednesday Night War was waged, top stars are jumping ship and the competition is heating up.
Khan questioned, “Ever wonder why so much of the activity of these accounts is retweets and replies? Like who actually has 80% of their activity as straight up retweets?”
He encourages fans to, “Research this one yourselves. You internet detectives thrive in these situations.”
Khan doesn’t seem too phased by this revelation. He hyped up tonight’s AEW Rampage, featuring Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson in action.
Expecting the anti-AEW bots to be out in full force tonight, he wrapped up the thread by writing, “Their boiler room staff is going to be working overtime on a Friday, and I love it.”
Do you think wrestling companies engage in these shady tactics, or is this paranoid conspiracy theory nonsense?
AEW President Tony Khan spoke with Marc Raimondi for ESPN this week about the future of Ring of Honor. Khan shocked the wrestling world last month by announcing he was purchasing the company’s video library, brand assets and intellectual property.
Last weekend’s Supercard of Honor pay-per-view from Dallas, TX was the first ROH show under Khan’s control. The event was well received by wrestling fans and critics. He really tried to make it an ROH show, including cameos from ROH alums like Samoa Joe and The Young Bucks.
AEW, ROH & WarnerMedia
When asked about the short-term plans for Ring of Honor, Khan expressed uncertainty. “It’s hard to say,” he told ESPN.
Due to Tony Khan’s business relationship with WarnerMedia, AEW’s media partner in the United States, he had to get an ‘exemption’ from Warner in order to promote the Supercard PPV.
Khan says there’s great potential in continuing ROH as a weekly series, along with occasional special events.
He did not answer whether or not ROH would serve as a developmental system for AEW, but did reveal he’s had talks with WarnerMedia about what can be done with ROH.
“I think the success of Supercard, critically and commercially, will bode very well for WarnerMedia really taking an interest in Ring of Honor, as well as AEW,” he said. “I think there’s great potential to have a complementary wrestling brand.”
Booking ROH
Tony Khan has stated that he plans to be the booker of Ring Honor. However, he already has a lot of responsibilities with AEW, the Jacksonville Jaguars and Fulham FC.
There is a risk that he is spreading himself too thin, but Khan said it was “very natural” for him to handle the booking for the Supercard PPV.
Visit ESPN to read the full interview with Tony Khan.
AEW President Tony Khan expects the Blood & Guts match to return this summer.
Blood & Guts is one of the most violent matches sanctioned by All Elite Wrestling. The match involves two teams squaring off inside a covered steel cage. The rules are similar to the infamous WarGames match, with submission or surrender being the only conditions for victory.
Khan spoke with Marc Raimondi for ESPN this week and was asked if we’ll see another Blood & Guts match. He replied:
“Yeah. I’d say to expect Blood & Guts this summer.”
– Tony Khan to ESPN
The first Blood & Guts saw The Pinnacle defeat the Inner Circle at the special May 5, 2021 edition of AEW Dynamite.
Tony Khan was also asked about the possibility of another Stadium Stampede match. He told Raimoni, “That I’ll have to get back to you on.”
He’s considered another Stadium Stampede match, and thinks its a great signature match that fans really enjoyed. However, the match came about from challenges that were presented during the pandemic that no longer exist.
Visit ESPN to read the full interview with Tony Khan.
Randy Orton is one of the most respected people in the WWE locker room, but it took a long time for the Viper to earn this status.
Orton is the latest guest on WWE’s Out of Character podcast, hosted by Ryan Satin. Episode 53 was conducted live at the WrestleMania Axxess Superstore last weekend in Dallas, TX.
The former Undisputed Champion discussed a lot of topics, including his personal development, his desire to give back to the business, being a huge Goldberg fan when he was younger, setting records in WWE and much more.
Randy Orton was thrust into WWE’s main event picture early into his career. He’d go on to become the youngest World Champion in company history. Orton admits he wasn’t mature enough for that level of success and the pitfalls that come with it. As Orton puts it, it was a case of “too much too soon.”
“Gosh, years, you know?” he said about earning respect backstage. “And then, I kind of started to get an attitude and I got mixed in with the wrong crowd, I guess you could say. [I] made a couple of bad decisions and that respect I think kind of got put on hold for a while.”
Randy Orton was a member of the Evolution faction, along with Triple H, Ric Flair and Batista. That group had a memorable split, which saw the senior members turn on Orton. According to Orton, WWE discussed him and Triple H breaking away from Evolution, but his behavior issues derailed those plans.
“I think there was even an instance where the plan was for me and Triple H to go and do our thing out of Evolution,” he continued. “I might have the order of this wrong but I want to say they went with Dave Batista instead because of me. [It was] maybe in ’05 of ’06 and I just wasn’t ready. It was like maybe 2005, 2006, 2007 where I was really having some close calls with just being a dumb kid. Too much too soon. [It was] most definitely too much too soon.”
Catch Randy Orton’s appearance on the Out of Character podcast:
AEW has been scrutinized for the high number of free agents they’ve signed over the past year. Some people have questioned if the AEW roster is too large, but Cash Wheeler of FTR says that’s nonsense.
FTR, the reigning Ring of Honor and AAA tag team champions, recently spoke with the Dallas Morning News and defended the growing number of performers on Tony Khan’s payroll.
According to Cash Wheeler, AEW is still in its infancy and should sign the most talented performers they can. Khan also just purchased Ring of Honor and now has two rosters to fill.
“When AEW started, they had to build from scratch,” said Wheeler. “And you don’t know who’s going to work on TV, who’s not going to work on TV, who the fans will accept and who they won’t.
“So, you’ve got to just sign everybody and hope after a couple years you’ve kind of got a better read on everything – what’s established, what isn’t.”
Wheeler added that you can’t plan for huge names to become free agents. If people like Bryan Danielson, Adam Cole, Jeff Hardy and Samoa Joe become available, you sign them and have time to figure everything out.
“You can’t plan for things that are completely unexpected. So, some of these names that became available to him, he never could have foresaw that coming. None of us could. So, when it was available, he would be a terrible businessman to not pursue that because it’s going to make his company better. And it’s going to make his talent better because now they have another brain to pick.”
Wheeler added that AEW has a lot of young talent on the roster and they don’t need to be on television every single week. They should be working independent shows and developing their characters before they’re on national TV week after week.
There’s much more to this interview, which you can check out at DallasNews.com.
AEW programming is coming to NJPW World, the official streaming service of New Japan Pro Wrestling.
The NJPW World Twitter account announced the news on Friday morning.
Starting soon, AEW Dynamite and AEW Rampage, will stream on NJPW World at no additional charge.
According to NJPW, a “Japanese live version” is also planned, which should feature Japanese commentary.
AEW President Tony Khan issued a short but sweet statement regarding this partnership. Khan tweeted, “We did it.”
AEW and NJPW have had an informal working relationship up to this point. NJPW-contracted talent has wrestled on AEW TV. This streaming partnership broadens the working relationship between the two entities and will expose the Japanese wrestling audience to AEW like never before.
SEScoops will follow this story and let you know when AEW programming will be available on NJPW World.
PWInsider reports that CM Punk was indeed inside the Agganis Arena in Boston, MA. He was backstage despite not being on the show.
Punk scored a big victory over MJF in their Dog Collar match at Revolution back in March. He has been hinting at making a run at the AEW World Heavyweight Championship.
AEW President Tony Khan says that the process of signing Samoa Joe wasn’t a difficult one.
Joe made a surprise appearance to close out the ROH Supercard of Honor PPV. He choked Sonjay Dutt, who had just aligned himself with Jay Lethal to form a new heel duo. He then stared down Lethal, who was on the outside of the ring.
Samoa Joe is officially a member of the AEW roster. Appearing on Barstool Sports’ Rasslin’ podcast, Tony Khan said that signing Samoa Joe was smooth sailing.
“It was good. He’s a great person, he’s very reasonable and he wanted to come and I wanted him to come. So, in that sense it was pretty easy. We got everything figured out and I was really excited to bring Samoa Joe both to Ring of Honor and AEW.
“I felt like that Ring of Honor pay-per-view as a transition from an era of 20 great years of Ring of Honor, different ownerships, different bookers, different entities but frankly, one thing that was consistent was 20 years of great professional wrestling and great professional wrestlers at Ring of Honor that kept the company strong.”
Joe made his AEW debut on the April 6 episode of Dynamite. He pinned Max Caster to earn his spot in the Owen Hart Cup.
Please H/T SEScoops if you use any quotes from this article.
William Regal didn’t have time to mentally prepare for his presence in AEW.
Regal had been loyal to WWE for many years and once his in-ring career began to wind down, he play a crucial role behind the scenes. He was known as Triple H’s right-hand man on the NXT brand. Once WWE decided to change the direction of NXT, Regal was released.
William Regal Was Mentally Out Of Wrestling
During an appearance on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, William Regal admitted he is still adjusting to getting back in the groove since he had checked out of wrestling entirely.
“In that two months that I was off, when I say I checked out of wrestling, I checked out of wrestling. My wrestling brain hasn’t caught up yet. I still don’t — I felt comfortable last week. I don’t feel like my wrestling brain’s in full working order yet where I could just go, ‘okay boom, boom, boom.’
“It’s not my job either but that’s — the first few weeks was go out and do my bit and then just watch. I’m still sort of here, well I started off about here because I really, really checked out.
“The first night was just a blur, an incredible experience but as much as what was going on I was still — I just did my thing and got out. Whatever else is going on in my brain I still haven’t caught up.”
Regal made his AEW debut at the Revolution PPV back in March. He now manages the team of Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson. They are known as the Blackpool Combat Club.
Please H/T SEScoops if you use any of the quotes in this article.
Perhaps the biggest story out of WrestleMania 38 in Dallas, Texas this past weekend was the long-awaited return to the ring of Stone Cold Steve Austin.
Austin was scheduled to be a guest on Kevin Owens’ “The KO Show,” however, it ended up being an official No Holds Barred match between the two after Owens challenged Austin. “The Texas Rattlesnake” accepted Owens’ challenge, and wound up victorious after hitting Owens with the stunner. It was Austin’s first match in 19 years.
The former WWE Champion wasn’t done there, however, as on Night Two of WrestleMania, Austin got involved in the Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory matchup. After McMahon defeated McAfee in an impromptu match in retaliation for beating Theory, Austin hit the ring to confront “The Chairman Of The Board.” Austin gave McMahon a stunner, which was one of the worst sold stunners of all time, before also stunning McAfee and engaging in his signature celebratory beer bash.
One man who was watching along with the rest of the world was none other than former WCW president Eric Bischoff. Bischoff took to his “83 Weeks” podcast to describe the entire ordeal as simply – awesome.
“I know I’m older, but to see Steve in there doing what Steve is so great at doing – even beyond that, forget about the fact that Steve and I are friends and spent a lot of time in the same industry together and were peers in that era,” Bischoff said (via 411Mania).
“Forget about all of that. The crowd reaction was just awesome. It was just awesome. I just got back home and picked up in the Pat McAfee/Vince McMahon stuff and I can’t say enough good things about it. It was so much fun.”
As for the segment between McMahon and Austin in particular, although Eric Bischoff admits the stunner on McMahon was “horrible,” the former Monday Night RAW General Manager maintains the segment still did its job and was fun for the entire audience.
“I know people are gonna be laughing about the Stunner or whatever, but c’mon, man. You said it, one word – fun. You pay money to be entertained and having fun is a part of that. That whole segment was nothing but fun.
“Yeah, the Stunner looked horrible and I would imagine Vince is very angry with himself [laughs]. But hopefully he gives himself a break because he entertained the hell out of me and a lot of people. Hats off to Vince and the entire team. What an incredible event. In many ways, I think it was one of my favorite WrestleManias in a long time.”
Despite appearing on Monday Night RAW earlier this week, Cody Rhodes might not officially be a member of the red brand just yet.
According to a report from PWInsider, Rhodes is scheduled to be at SmackDown Live this Friday. There’s currently no word yet if he’s expected to be a part of the broadcast or work a dark match, however, he is set to at least be there backstage. It certainly wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities for Rhodes to compete on SmackDown Live, as he hasn’t been assigned to either brand officially as of this writing.
Cody Rhodes made his return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 this past weekend in Dallas Texas. “The American Nightmare” was introduced as the surprise mystery opponent for Seth Rollins. After an excellent bout, one of the best of the entire weekend, it was Rhodes who walked out of WrestleMania with the victory. The following Monday on RAW, Rhodes cut an emotional promo about his father, the late WWE Hall Of Famer Dusty Rhodes.
In the promo, Rhodes made it clear that he intends on chasing a World Championship upon his second run with the company. As for he and Rollins, that program seems to have been put to bed as Rollins came out after Rhodes’ promo on RAW to shake his WrestleMania opponent’s hand. Rhodes did, however, work a dark match against Kevin Owens later that night.
We’ll keep you updated as more information becomes available regarding Rhodes’ SmackDown Live involvement, and his brand situation.
Pat McAfee made his in-ring debut at WrestleMania 38 this past weekend. McAfee took on Austin Theory, while Vince McMahon watched ringside. When it was all said and done, however, McAfee emerged victorious over Theory. Of course, McAfee found himself immediately in another match, as McMahon entered the ring and ordered the referee to ring the bell, shortly thereafter pinning McAfee for a WrestleMania victory of his own.
Seeing McAfee compete in the ring, and in quite impressive fashion, seems to have inspired fellow WWE commentator Corey Graves. Graves recently did an interview with Wrestling Inc., and mentioned the possibility of sharing the ring with McAfee one day. However, it would have to be on the only day that RAW and SmackDown Live go head-to-head inside the ring, given they commentate on different brands, Survivor Series.
“Not to my knowledge was it ever discussed with any sense of legitimacy. But you’ve got to remember, there’s only one night a year Raw and SmackDown competes in head-to-head competition, Survivor Series.
“I hope, I am going to start politicking now,” he said on a possible match. “I think McAfee and Graves at Survivor Series, I think we have to pass the bar that was set by Cole and Lawlor at WrestleMania.”
Shane McMahon’s Son Set to Play College Football
Shane McMahon’s son, Declan James McMahon, has announced that he will be playing college football for Indiana University. Declan’s Twitter bio notes that the running back is six-feet tall and 190 pounds, although he played quarterback as well for Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn.
You can check out Declan’s announcement, as well as reactions from Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon, and John Cena below:
I am extremely grateful and excited to announce my commitment to play Football at Indiana University. Go Hoosiers! #LEOpic.twitter.com/Tpb0OxVzSg
Soooo many choices for end zone celebrations! VKM strut, Shane O’ shuffle… end zone dance aside, congrats on earning an incredible opportunity!! https://t.co/7VWRMnvjGe
Paul recently joined Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour this week to discuss what it was like making his in-ring debut for WWE on “The Grandest Stage Of Them All.” During the interview, Paul revealed that he got quite the reception from Vince McMahon backstage.
“Not yet [when asked if WWE had offered him a longer-term deal],” Paul said (via Wrestling Inc.). “Maybe they will, I don’t know. I swear. I will say this. Vince McMahon after my match. He was stoked. I go backstage, we shook hands, it was the good old stepdad Vince thing. He’s like, he goes, ‘trust me, your future is here!’ I was like, ‘cool, sure.’
“That’s Vince McMahon. He’s a legend. Him being excited about, you know, the new guy’s performance, it’s so validating. Like, even just the response and feedback online after the match, haters or lovers, not one negative comment, man. I think people were surprised by my performance and I’m so grateful that they liked it.”
Paul teamed up with The Miz to take on the team of Rey and Dominik Mysterio. The pair put on a surprisingly entertaining match, but what was the most surprising of it all was how well Paul performed inside the ring. Social media was buzzing about how natural the social media star looked inside the squared circle after his weeks of preparation alongside The Miz.
It remains to be seen if Logan Paul has any interest in doing anymore matches with WWE down the line, as he keeps busy with other ventures such as boxing, YouTube, and more, however, it sounds like McMahon would definitely be happy to have him. After The Miz turned on Paul following their win over the Mysterios, there’s certainly a story for Paul to return to should he choose to do so.
It looks like Rick Boogs underwent successful surgery on his torn quad, per a recent report from PWInsider. The report notes that the operation took place earlier this week in Birmingham, Alabama. Boogs is expected to return home this weekend to begin his rehabilitation process.
There’s no official timescale on how long Boogs will be on the sidelines, however, the expectation is anywhere from six to 12 months. Boogs suffered the unfortunate injury as part of the opening matchup of WrestleMania 38 this past weekend in Dallas Texas. He and partner Shinsuke Nakamura challenged The Usos for the SmackDown Live Tag Team Championships.
Although the opening minutes of the contest were fairly back-and-forth, the tables turned when Boogs attempted to lift both Usos up on his shoulders, until his leg gave out from under him. After hitting the mat and tagging Nakamura back in, The Usos would take out and pin Nakamura to retain their titles. After the match, Boogs needed to be assisted backstage, as he couldn’t walk under his own power.
While Rick Boogs has yet to comment on the early reports of his surgery, he did take to Instagram earlier this week to address the injury, seemingly in good spirits. Here’s what he had to say:
“From the highest of highs to lowest of lows. Having my beautiful wife with me to experience my first Wrestlemania. Getting the incredible opportunity to open the show! Being able to demonstrate brute strength in front of millions of viewers! Unfortunately, the doctor told me my quad was too strong for the tendon and it was flexing so hard, it ripped the tendon totally off the bone. I’m still incredibly grateful for the experience and for all the love and support. History proves I will come back bigger, better, and stronger. IT’S A MINDSET.”
Savannah Evans has signed a multi-year contract with Impact Wrestling.
Evans recently appeared on the Women’s Wrestling Talk podcast to discuss her decision to make Impact her longterm home, her impressions of the locker room and her favorite moments working for Impact Wrestling thus far.
Evans says she got a call from Tommy Dreamer last year, June or July. Dreamer had been in touch with Kaleb Konley, one of her trainers, about bringing her in. They sent in some of her recent work, which led her to working shows for Impact last year.
“But, about the signing itself, I got that call, maybe three weeks ago,” she said. “Worked out all the you know, fine details on the contract and then sent it back last week.”
Savanna Evans says she loves the Impact locker room and is impressed how everybody has their own role there.
“No one’s stepping on anyone’s toes or anything like that,” she said. “It’s just, we’re all working to put out this product, you know. We all have the…that one goal in mind. So, I do..I love the locker room that they have there. And you know, just like their goal, like their plan for the company is really big for me, like, just, for example, like the diversity of women they have on the roster is..is big for me.”
Evans added that, “none of us look the same” in Impact and everybody brings something unique to the table.
Catch Savannah Evans’ appearance on Women’s Wrestling Talk:
In the fallout of WrestleMania 38, the next big match everyone has their eyes on for WrestleMania 39 next year in Los Angeles is a bout between Roman Reigns and The Rock. Reigns has reigned as WWE Universal Champion for nearly 600 days, and recently defeated Brock Lesnar to capture the WWE Championship as well, unifying the promotion’s two top titles.
Now, with Reigns holding the two top titles in WWE, and establishing himself as the “Tribal Chief” of his legendary professional wrestling family, many have wondered if The Rock could return to challenge that moniker. Some have even speculated at the possibility of doing something similar to The Rock vs. John Cena, which was set as the main event of WrestleMania one year out from the show.
However, if Reigns’ current advocate Paul Heyman has anything to say about it, he’d go a different route. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour recently, Heyman noted that he isn’t a fan of setting the stage a year out from WrestleMania, as so much can happen in between now and then.
Why? Why would you do it? Because then they’re telling everybody that for the next 364 days nothing [that Roman does] matters until The Rock,” Heyman said (WrestleZone). “If Dwayne Johnson wants to step up to Roman Reigns, then Dwayne Johnson should step up to Roman Reigns, and we’ll set the match, and we’ll go for it. But to go for it a year from now? That’s a long time.
“A lot can happen in a year. What if I say to Roman Reigns, ‘take 30 days off and do a movie’ just to show Dwayne Johnson who’s a bigger box office attraction in film? Which, it would be Roman Reigns, and Roman Reigns is a better actor than Dwayne Johnson, to be blunt. I mean there’s a lot that could happen. You got a year.”
Paul Heyman certainly raises an interesting point, as it would also be difficult to have The Rock commit to such a task given his busy Hollywood schedule. Of course, there’s no shortage of opponents for Reigns to keep busy with in the meantime. One Superstar in particular who recently returned to the company already has his eyes on a World Championship, and for now, that road leads to “The Head Of The Table.”
Something has got to give in the rivalry involving Hammerstone and Richard Holliday.
On MLW TV, Holliday had been Hammerstone’s friend but sometimes the gold will change people. Holliday betrayed Hammerstone, attacking him in Dallas earlier this year and he made his intentions clear. He wants the MLW World Heavyweight Championship.
With Alicia Atout by his side, it’s safe to say Holliday will go through every nefarious trick he can to take the title home. MLW has announced that Hammerstone vs. Holliday will be contested for the promotion’s top prize on May 13.
The title match will headline MLW’s Kings of Colosseum ’22 event.
The action will be held inside the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tickets are on sale now.
