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Bianca Belair Keeps SmackDown Women’s Title At WWE WrestleMania Backlash

Andrew Ravens
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Bianca Belair made her first defense of the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship at the WWE WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event in Tampa, Florida at Yuengling Center on Peacock. 

She did so against Bayley. The match was back and forth with moments where Bayley looked like she could get the upset win, but Belair continued to push through. The end came when Belair kicked out of Bayley’s belly-to-belly finisher and Belair used her hair to get a quick roll-up victory. 

WWE announced this match back on April 23rd. Belair won the strap by defeating Sasha Banks in the main event of WrestleMania 37 night one.

During the post-WrestleMania edition of SmackDown, Bayley did a promo about how she wants to challenge Belair because she wants to restore dignity to the title. Bayley mocked Belair for crying before her Mania match and said she did so because she didn’t think she could actually win.

The SmackDown Women’s Title is the first title that Belair has held in her career while on the flip side, Bayley is a two-time former SmackDown Women’s Champion.

What are your thoughts on Bianca Belair retaining the SmackDown Women’s Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

Rey & Dominik Mysterio Win WWE SmackDown Tag Team Titles

Andrew Ravens
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Rey & Dominik Mysterio walked into the WWE WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event with the chance to make history. 

They challenged WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode for the straps. Dominik was attacked by the heels earlier in the night and was absent to start the match off. Rey put up a good fight, but was beaten down for the majority of the match. Dominik eventually made his way out and got on the apron. Rey hit a 619 to Roode then Dominik hit a splash off the top rope for the win. 

As a result of this win, not only are they the champions, but they become the first father and son duo to win the titles. This is something that they’ve talked about since Dominik broke into the business. 

Ziggler & Roode won the straps from The Street Profits this January. WWE had booked on the SmackDown go-home show for WrestleMania 37 last month Ziggler and Roode to retain the titles against The Street Profits, The Mysterios, and Chad Gable & Otis in a fatal four-way match.

A few weeks ago, Ziggler & Roode also retained against The Street Profits on SmackDown. The Mysterios had also been picking up some wins as of late to earn this title match. 

Rhea Ripley Survives Triple Threat Match To Retain Raw Women’s Title At WrestleMania Backlash

Andrew Ravens
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Rhea Ripley had the deck stacked against her heading into the WWE WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event. 

She defended the WWE Raw Women’s Championship against Asuka and Charlotte Flair in a triple threat match at this show. The bout kicked off the main card. Flair had the early advantage and stayed put in the middle of the ring while taking on the other stars. Everyone had their moments to shine. At one point, Flair hit a moonsault off the middle rope to the floor. Ripley went over with her finisher to Asuka. 

It had originally been announced as a singles match between Ripley and Asuka before Flair was added. WWE did a storyline where authority figure Sonya Deville added Flair into the match after she reinstated Charlotte from her “indefinite suspension” due to the attack on fellow authority figure Adam Pearce.

Ripley won the Raw Women’s Championship by defeating Asuka at WrestleMania 37 last month. This was originally planned to be Flair challenging Asuka for the strap, but was pulled due to a positive COVID-19 test. 

What are your thoughts on Rhea Ripley retaining the Raw Women’s Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

Jon Moxley Brawls with Nick Gage at GCW Draft Day

Alex Laybourne
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Current AEW star Jon Moxley is not afraid of a fight. Anybody who has seen him during his AEW tenure can account for that. Anybody who has followed him since his time in the indies will know beyond any doubt. So when Moxley showed up at GWC draft day to confront reigning champion Nick Gage, the outcome was already obvious.

The feud between the pair goes back to April, when Jon Moxley appeared at another GWC event and hit a paradigm shift on Gage, onto a pile of light tubes. It was Gage who had the upper hand this time however, hitting a DDT of his own.

https://twitter.com/RonFunches/status/1393813967189934084

This is obviously not the first time that an AEW wrestler has feuded with someone from another company. However, unlike Kenny Omega, this storyline is being set up in a grim and realistic way so fitting for Jon Moxley.

According to those in attendance at the event, the brawl between Moxley and Gage spilled out of the ring and onto the streets. Continuing on for a good fifteen minutes before finally coming to an end.

As of right now, there has been no word on where this angle is headed but given the scope of the professional wrestling landscape right now, the sky is the limit.

It looks certain that Jon Moxley and Nick Gage are headed to war. Whose ring it will be in remains to be seen.

These are very exciting times. When casting an eye to the wider independent scene, there are a great many entertaining fights that could be imagined. Not just for Jon Moxley, but for any one of the AEW roster.

Tommy Dreamer Teases More NJPW Stars Will Appear on IMPACT Wrestling

Alex Laybourne
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The working relationship between IMPACT Wrestling and NJPW is not a new thing. It was revealed back in February that the two promotions were working together. Since then, we have seen FinJuice (David Finlay and Juice Robinson) show up – and claim the IMPACT Wrestling tag titles, and El Phantasmo debuted last week.

However, that does not appear to be the end of the exchange. According to Tommy Dreamer, there are more NJPW stars heading towards an IMPACT Wrestling ring. With Slammiversary not far down the road, the mouths of IMPACT fans are watering at the prospect.

There are already a host of names linked to a spell on IMPACT, and they are not mid-carders either. Former heavyweight champions Tetsuya Naito and Kazuchika Okada have been used in Slammiversary promos recently. Another name linked is former IMPACT X-Division Champion Sanada.

The open relationship shared between IMPACT Wrestling, NJPW and AEW are bound to give rise to a number of interesting feuds and fights. Could we even see a title from one promotion defended on the show of another against an opponent from a third?

Tommy Dreamer currently serves as a creative writer and producer for IMPACT Wrestling. Their borrowed NJPW talent has been booked strong thus far. It’s easy to foresee some of these former IMPACT stars return for a short stint.

The wrestling landscape is changing fast right now. The previously staunch boundary lines fading to dust, it is a very exciting time to watch professional wrestling. Whether it is now or later, we are bound to see some very big names stepping between the IMPACT wrestling ropes.

WWE WrestleMania Backlash Final Card, Live Coverage

Andrew Ravens
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The card for tonight’s (Sunday, May 16, 2021) WWE WrestleMania Backlash pay-per-view event has been finalized.

The company hasn’t officially announced the main event of this event that takes place in Tampa, Florida at Yuengling Center that will air on Peacock but it will most likely be WWE Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Braun Strowman in a triple threat match. 

The latest betting odds are out and the only title change expected will come in the way of Rey & Dominik Mysterio winning the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Titles from Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode.

The rest of the champions are expected to retain their respective titles. As a reminder, we will be providing live play-by-play coverage of this special on Sunday evening starting at 6 PM EST. Here is the final card for the show:

Final WWE WrestleMania Backlash Card

  • WWE Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Braun Strowman
  • WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Cesaro
  • WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Bianca Belair vs. Bayley
  • WWE Raw Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley vs. Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair
  • WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode vs. Rey & Dominik Mysterio
  • Damian Priest vs. The Miz – Lumberjack Match

RVD On Why Sabu Does Not Get The Recognition He Deserves

Anutosh Bajpai
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0

RVD has had a long relationship with Sabu. It goes all the way back to their days in the original ECW where the two not only had an iconic feud but later formed a team together as well.

The former WWE champion recently had an interview with Sports Illustrated to promote the upcoming WWE Icons special highlighting his illustrious career.

During the interview, RVD talked about his matches with Sabu and explained why he thinks the hardcore legend does not get the recognition that he deserves:

“I hope he eventually gets the recognition that he deserves. He’s done a lot. He’s an innovator, he’s different. It was hard for him to fit into a corporate element. I think he walked out or quit from every important position he’s ever had.

“He’s had to do it his way. That’s keeping him from being in the position he should be post-wrestling.” said RVD, “Not that he’s done wrestling, but I am very grateful for all this recognition. He deserves that, too.”

RVD also revealed that at one time he had offers from both WWE and WCW but he stayed with ECW because he wanted the company to grow.

Apart from this, the wrestling veteran talked about the other highlights of his ECW run including his 700-days long reign as the ECW TV champion, his matches with opponents such as Jerry Lynn and more.

WWE Icons: RVD will premiere on WWE Network this Sunday on 10 PM ET.

Scorpio Sky Opens Up About The Break Up Of SCU

Anutosh Bajpai
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This week’s episode of Dynamite saw the end of SCU with Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian’s break up and the third member of the group Scorpio Sky has now broken his silence on the development.

The former ROH star talked about the breakup of the tag team in the latest episode of his Wrestling with the Week podcast and shared his thoughts.

Sky admitted that it’s crazy to think that the team that had been together for so long is done for good and thanked his partners for helping him with his career:

“It’s a little bit crazy for me to think that they’re done, it’s over. This tag team that has been together for 10 or 15 years is done for good. The Addiction’s gone, SCU is gone. Bad Influence is gone.

I just wanna thank those two guys for all the help they’ve given me in my career,” said Scorpio Sky, “helping take me to the next level, and hey, ‘Worst Town’ no more. Sad days, man.”

The AEW star also revealed why he didn’t get involved in the match in any manner. He explained that all four of the participants were his friends and he wanted to let them figure it out.

For those who don’t know, Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian lost a tag team championship match to the Young Bucks on this week’s episode of Dynamite, forcing the duo to disband after more than a decade together.

Cesaro On Why He Thinks He Can Be The Face Of WWE

Anutosh Bajpai
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0

Cesaro is finally getting the pay off for the years of hard work in form of his first one on one world title opportunity at the upcoming Backlash PPV event.

Though while he is only getting the opportunity now, the Swiss superman has always been popular with people. Fans every now and then have called for him to get a run with the world title.

During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Cesaro talked about his connection with the fans and why he believes he can be the face of WWE:

“I feel like I have this special connection with the WWE universe where for the past nine years, they’ve seen what I’m about, rather than me saying what I’m about.

So, that’s something that is very hard to describe but I feel like I struck a chord with a lot of people who are watching” said Cesaro,”and that’s upset important, you can’t fake that and you can’t buy that.”

The former US champion also discussed how he represents the people from around the world who come to US looking for the American Dream and want to become a WWE superstar.

Cesaro will challenge the universal champion Roman Reigns in his first singles opportunity at the world title this Sunday at WrestleMania: Backlash event.

Eric Bischoff On Who Paid For TNA’s Rebranding As Impact Wrestling

Anutosh Bajpai
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0

The company now known as Impact Wrestling started off as Total Nonstop Action or TNA. The transition of the branding began in 2010 and Eric Bischoff recently revealed who was responsible for it.

The former Impact executive discussed the company during the latest episode of his 83 weeks podcast and explained how the name was a bad idea from the start.

Speaking about the rebranding of the company from TNA to Impact, Bischoff revealed that Spike TV and Viacom who were the TV partners of the company at the time were the ones who pushed for the change:

“Spike pumped the brakes and said sorry, if we’re going to continue with this show and try to sell it, we have to rebrand it. It was a tough battle, there was a lot of push back internally, mostly from the people who didn’t have anything to do with running the business on a day to day basis from Texas, that being Panda Energy.

Mommy and Daddy, mostly mommy, didn’t want to spend the money so Spike did! Spike paid for the rebranding, Spike paid for the research, these are things the company should have been doing for themselves” said Eric Bischoff, “But they didn’t and wouldn’t so Spike said alright if you won’t, we will.”

The former Impact official also revealed that Spike was paying the contract money for some of the high profile talent signed to the company at the time as a separate budget item, outside of the TV license agreement.

Though despite the money spent on it, the TNA name continued to be associated with the promotion until 2017, when Anthem bought the company and rebranded it as Impact Wrestling officially.

Ric Flair On Which Company He Thinks Daniel Bryan Will Sign With

Anutosh Bajpai
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0

Daniel Bryan has everyone puzzled with his future after not having re-signed with WWE following the expiry of his contract last month but Ric Flair believes that he can’t go anywhere else.

The 16-time world champion recently had an interview with My World podcast where he talked about the current happenings of the company.

Speaking about Bryan, Flair claimed that the former SmackDown star does not have an option but to re-sign because his whole family is closely tied to WWE:

“He doesn’t have an option, he’s going to go home with Brie [Bella], he’s one of the nicest kids I’ve ever met in the business and he wouldn’t leave the WWE. I would have a very difficult time believing he would leave the WWE, if he does, I’d be very surprised. That whole family, everybody’s tied to the WWE.

I was under the impression he wanted to go home and spend more time with the kids.” said Ric Flair, “I don’t know what he’s going to do; whatever he does I wish him nothing but the best.”

The WWE hall of famer also admitted that at first he didn’t think Bryan would be able to make a difference because of his smaller size but he has.

Daniel Bryan lost a career vs. title match to Roman Reigns during the April 30 episode of SmackDown. It was reported afterward that his WWE contract has expired. People have been speculating what will be his next move since then.

Moose Becomes New #1 Contender For Impact World Title, To Face Kenny Omega At Against All Odds

Anutosh Bajpai
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0

Moose has become the new #1 contender for Kenny Omega’s Impact world championship and he will now challenge the cleaner for his title at the upcoming Against All Odds event on June 12.

Impact Wrestling had announced a six-way match for tonight’s Under Siege event to determine the next challenger for their current champion and the AEW star.

Along with Moose, the opportunity was given to Chris Bey, Matt Cardona, Sami Callihan, Chris Sabin, and Trey Miguel. The bout was the main event of the show.

The former Impact grand champion came out victorious in this match and he defeated the other five contenders to become the next challenger for the title:

Moose has previously crossed paths with Omega when he teamed up with Rich Swann and Chris Sabin to take on the Impact world champion and the Good Brothers in a six men tag at Hard To Kill. Though they lost the bout.

The event also featured some other interesting matches. The other notable result coming out of the show was Fire ‘n Flava defeating Jordynne Grace & Rachael Ellering to become the new Knockouts tag team champions.

It would now be interesting to see how the company builds the feud between these two and if Moose ends up being the star to defeat Omega for the title.

The Young Bucks React To Reports About Tension Among AEW EVPs, More On The Situation

Anutosh Bajpai
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0

Several reports suggesting tension among the Executive Vice Presidents of AEW intrigued the wrestling community earlier this week and became a topic of discussion among fans.

It was said that the honeymoon period among some key people in the company was over and there were executives who were not even on talking terms.

The Young Bucks seem to have taken note of these rumors and the AEW EVPs recently reacted to them by updating their Twitter bios to “Currently not on speaking terms.”:

Young Bucks Twitter

On a related note, Dave Meltzer provided some update on the situation while writing about it on the Wrestling Observer Message Board. He suggested that the report of the AEW VPs not talking to each other are exaggerated:

“Anyway, nobody isn’t talking to each other, it’s impossible in wrestling to get everyone to agree on everything, especially when they are passionate about it. The Young Bucks & Omega are legit close personal friends.

Cody is more of a business relationship with the other three but it’s not an adversarial one in the least and all have the same end goals which is to build a company that sustains and grows.”

Meltzer also mentioned how Tony Khan is the one running the show at the end of the day and the VPs just have different philosophies about how things should be.

Paul Heyman Gives Touching Tribute To New Jack

Chris Stephens
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ECW legend “New Jack” Jerome Young passed away yesterday at the age of 58. Former ECW owner Paul Heyman closed out Talking Smack this week with a touching tribute to the man.

“I was asked before the show went on the air if I would like to say a few words about the passing of ECW original New Jack,” Heyman said. “And I avoid eulogies as best I can because anytime I’m faced with death, the first thing that comes to mind is ‘hey, this sucks and there’s no good spin that I can put on it.'”

Paul Heyman Pays Tribute To New Jack

“When I heard that New Jack had passed away, my hope was that New Jack had turned to his wife and said ‘hey, I’d like to read my own obituary, call a bunch of people and tell them that I died and then everybody is going to make a big fuss about it and then I’ll read about my own life.’ And then at some point this weekend, they’d sell a bunch of t-shirts and he’d sit there and go ‘got ya’ because that’s what New Jack would do. And apparently it’s not so, which sucks.”

“Usually when we would pay tribute to somebody here in WWE we’d show a lot of footage of that person and to be blunt, we can’t show you a lot of footage of New Jack because he was the most non-PG performer in sports entertainment history. Because New Jack was a gangsta. And everybody who was a fan of ECW, that came to see ECW, who watched ECW knew that fact from the moment his music hit and no, we never had rights to use his music. Why? Because as an organization, we were gangstas and New Jack was the most gangsta of all of us gangstas.”

“That’s over 20 years ago. Anybody that ever saw New Jack perform live, or heard him cut a promo, understood just how real he was. Jerome Young was quite an individual. Deep in his heart he was every bit of New Jack that he could offer you.”

“I wish you all a most extreme weekend, gangsta style.”

Tributes To New Jack

Below are some notable tributes to New Jack that have been made online:

https://twitter.com/RealMickFoley/status/1393378213779357698

MMA Champion Arjan Bhullar Calls Out AEW & WWE stars

Chris Stephens
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Arjan Bhullar is the new ONE World Heavyweight Champion. He defeated Brandon Vera in a fight that took place April 28th, 2021 from Singapore Indoor Stadium. The fight didn’t air until today, however. After his victory, the new champion called out stars from both WWE and AEW.

“I have reached the pinnacle of this sport now I want to attack the pro-wrestling industry. AEW, WWE, I’m coming for you guys next, consider this a warning shot,” Bhullar said.

The promotion Bhullar fights for, ONE, recently signed a deal with TNT. So far, 4 fight cards from the promotion have aired on the network. Bhullar isn’t the first fighter from the promotion to call out stars from AEW. Vitor Belfort is also signed to the promotion, has appeared on Dynamite as part of Mike Tyson’s entourage, and has asked Tony Khan to give him a match with Chris Jericho.

“With myself being with ONE, and on the same network, I think it’s time for [AEW CEO] Tony Khan to give me Jericho, and I can whip Jericho’s butt. We can really make that fight happen,” Belfort said to SCMP MMA.

Arjan Bhullar fights out of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. His pro-record sits at 11-1, including a 3-1 stretch in the UFC.

Update On How Long Chris Jericho May Stay Out Of Action

Anutosh Bajpai
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0

Chris Jericho suffered a legitimate elbow injury during the Blood And Guts match on Dynamite last week and he was seen wearing a brace on this week’s episode of the show.

The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter provides some update on his condition and reveals how long the former AEW champion will need to get cleared.

At first it was speculated that Chris might have fractured his elbow during the big ending spot where the former WWE star fell off the cage.

However, the report revealed that Jericho suffered a dislocated elbow during his fall off the cage and he is expected to stay out of action for 4 to 6 weeks.

This timeline is interesting because MJF has challenged Inner Circle for a Stadium Stampede match at the upcoming Double Or Nothing event on May 30.

However, if the reports are correct then it means that Chris Jericho will not be cleared in time for the match and he won’t be able to compete in the bout.

So it will be interesting to see how AEW tackles this problem and if they postpone the teased match to a later date or find a different solution for it.

Drew McIntyre On What He’s Learned From John Cena & The Miz

Chris Stephens
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0

Drew McIntyre has a chance to regain the WWE Championship Sunday night at WrestleMania Backlash. It’s a spot McIntyre likely once thought he’d never be in following his release from the company in 2014. McIntyre recently spoke to the Bleacher Report about lessons he learned from John Cena during his time away form WWE.

“I always talk about John Cena as someone I patterned myself after, after I was released rather than learning from him in the moment when I was there on the roster. Instead of working to better myself on the roster, it took getting fired and bettering myself personally before I thought of who I could look up to in this business and whose mentality I needed. I thought about John and how relentless he was with everything he did: be it in media, the gym, in the ring and every aspect of his life.”

McIntyre would continue to say that Cena was not the only person he learned from. He also mentioned that he has been influenced by The Miz as well.

“Cena is such a workaholic and The Miz followed that exact same path. I said to myself, ‘I’m going to be that guy, too.’ Whether it was outside of WWE or inside WWE, whenever I was given any kind of position where I was able to take the reins and get the media opportunities and they wanted to speak to me, I was going to take full advantage of it. The second I had that title, I said, ‘Give me it all! I’m that guy now, there’s no excuse, I want every little bit of it.’”

McIntyre will face Bobby Lashley and Braun Strowman Sunday night in a triple threat match for the WWE Championship.

Asuka Comments On Once Having Given Up On Wrestling

Chris Stephens
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Asuka is one of the most decorated champions in modern-day WWE. She’ll have a chance to win the RAW Women’s title again as well this Sunday at WrestleMania Backlash. There was a time when Asuka was ready to give up on her pro-wrestling dream, however. She spoke to ET Canada about the experience.

“I want to say to Asian girls, don’t give up on your dreams! When I was 16, I wanted to be a WWE superstar. One day I asked my mom can I be a WWE superstar, and she said, ‘No, you have to go college! I also told my high school teacher, ‘I want to be a WWE superstar.’ She laughed and said, ‘Don’t be silly.’ I was shocked.”

Asuka continued to say that she gave up on her dream and decided to go to college. She began training as soon as she graduated, however. She’d hit another obstacle in 2006, however.

“I had no choice,” she continued. “I gave up on my dream once, I went to college and after graduating from college, I started training, I couldn’t give up on my dream. My friends gave me confidence, ‘You can do it, you can do it!’ I called a wrestling company in Tokyo. I left my hometown of Osaka, Japan. Now I am a WWE superstar. Don’t give up on your dream!”

Asuka’s pro-wrestling dream hit another rough patch in 2006 when she retired due to chronic inflammation of the kidneys, a condition known as Nephritis. She didn’t wrestle a match from December 2005 until September 2007. It would be Asuka’s mother, who had once implored her not to go into wrestling, that encouraged her to not give up on her dream, however.

“I had a problem, but I want to entertain people. It’s my goal. My mother told me I have to fight again,” Asuka said of this time.

Asuka’s sometimes friend sometimes rival Becky Lynch has a similar story. After debuting in 2002, Lynch retired (aside from a couple of appearances) from 2006-2013 before being signed to WWE. It seems notable that two of the greatest women’s wrestlers in the world both toyed with the idea of giving up around the same time.

Asuka was also asked about potential opponents she would like to face one day. She listed some surprising names!

“I want to wrestle with Triple H and Ric Flair,” Asuka teased. “I fought many great WWE superstars. Oh, [I want to wrestle] Ronda Rousey. One day!”

Shinsuke Nakamura Declares: “The King of Strong Style Is Back”

Jake Skudder
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WWE SmackDown had an interesting (sort of) change to the Shinsuke Nakamura vs King Corbin feud. Corbin defeated Nakamura in a match to determine the ‘king’ of SmackDown, with Shinsuke Nakamura wanting to be proclaimed the King of Strong Style once again.

Nakamura then ‘stole’ the crown from Corbin, the crown that the ‘King’ has had since winning the King of The Ring tournament back in 2019. Nakamura then appeared in a backstage video where he said that the King of Strong Style had returned, and that he enjoyed ‘looking good.’

“I’m the real King. The King of Strong Style is back, finally” Nakamura said in the video. “Finally. I’m looking good, it’s time to take photos,” Nakamura added.

Nakamura vs. Corbin

Shinsuke Nakamura vs King Corbin has not been confirmed for the WrestleMania Backlash card on Sunday, however it may end up being included as a pre-show match.

Hopefully, and I really mean hopefully, the King Corbin gimmick might now get dropped and Baron Corbin might take a different turn with his character going forward.

Shinsuke Nakamura has had a very stop start path on his career on the WWE ‘main’ roster. As NXT Champion, Nakamura appeared to be one of the prominent talents going forward, with the NJPW legend having a different type of charisma to other talents on the roster.

Sadly, Nakamura has arguably not reached the same heights, other than his Royal Rumble win and subsequent WrestleMania match against AJ Styles for the WWE Championship.

John Cena Recalls Bizarre Firefly Funhouse Match From WrestleMania 36

Jake Skudder
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WWE Superstar John Cena recently spoke to Den of Geek. The future WWE Hall of Famer discussed a number of topics during the interview, including the creation of the Firefly Funhouse match.

The Funhouse match of course took place back at WrestleMania 36. The concept was brought together due to the COVID-19 pandemic meaning that 2020’s ‘Mania event had to take place in the WWE Performance Center. The Fiend Bray Wyatt and John Cena took part in the cinematic ‘match,’ showcasing the history of Cena’s career and throwing in some subtle (and some not so subtle) hints to the audience.

“The Funhouse match was something I hold very close to me” John Cena began during the interview. “Maybe that’s another 45-minute interview for another day, because that was kind of thrown in my lap at the last minute.”

John Cena on Firefly Funhouse

“I remember specifically asking what a Firefly Funhouse match was. And the answer was literally, ‘we don’t know’” Cena continued, noting how creative he and Wyatt had to get for the concept to work. “In most performers that would cause panic, but I was just riveted by the open field that we could possibly create something special.”

“And like you said, it took a lot of brave folks and a lot of hard work to make something that hopefully the audience understood” Cena noted. “At least if it reached one, we reached you and that’s good.”

John Cena has not been back on WWE programming since his ‘loss’ during the Firefly Funhouse match, which you can watch in its entirety below:

https://youtu.be/_bkElHv7EQ4

Summer Rae On Her Relationship With Vince McMahon

Anutosh Bajpai
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0

Many WWE superstars find it hard to reach out to the boss Vince McMahon and talk to him but it wasn’t the case with the former WWE star Summer Rae.

The female star recently had an interview with Casual Conversations where she talked about a number of things including her start in wrestling and more.

Elaborating her relationship with the chairman of WWE, Summer said that Vince loved her and opposite to the stories about him, the boss did not scare her at all:

“Oh Vince loved me, I love it, I would walk my butt straight into Vince’s office all the time. Vince did not scare me at all. Mind you like I have to be respectful.

I would never just walk in there, I would knock and then wait for hours and hours” said Summer Rae, “But if I ever was having an issue or was thinking about leaving, I went and talked to him.”

The former Total Divas star also talked about a potential return and explained that personally, she knows that she cannot make a full-time return due to her injuries.

Though she didn’t completely turn down the idea and Summer Rae said that she could return for a Royal Rumble appearance or such after some rehab.

Reason Vince McMahon Nixed Pat McAfee’s Spoof Of Him From SmackDown

Anutosh Bajpai
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0

Vince McMahon reportedly nixed Pat McAfee’s segment from the throwback episode of SmackDown because he thought the commentator’s impression of the boss “looked stupid.”

According to reports from Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the segment was cut from the broadcast by the chairman himself because of several reasons.

Per Vince, McAfee didn’t sound or look like a young version of himself and it looked stupid. Mr McMahon believed that the portyal was comical in the wrong way and felt like a parody of the parody.

Though the report notes that Vince McMahon wasn’t against the segment itself. He was open to the idea of his portrayal on the episode and he just felt the former football star’s impression was not what he was looking for.

For those who don’t know, WWE held a special throwback edition of SmackDown last week which featured retro graphics and details throughout the broadcast.

Pat McAfee put out a skit portraying a young Vince McMahon ahead of the show. He later revealed on his podcast that the cosplay was supposed to be featured on the broadcast as well but the idea was nixed before the episode.

McAfee revealed that he shaved his beard for the portrayal of the character on the suggestion of Michael Cole. He had even filmed some segments in the character which were not used.

The Miz On His WWE Championship Reign Ending In Two Weeks

Anutosh Bajpai
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The Miz won the WWE championship once again after 10 years earlier this year when he cashed in his Money In The Bank contract on Drew McIntyre at the Elimination Chamber event.

However, his title reign didn’t last for very long and the former champion only held the belt for a couple of weeks before dropping the title to Bobby Lashley during the March 1 episode of Raw.

During his recent interview with Fox Sports, The Miz explained that he didn’t feel bad at the championship being taken off him so soon, The Awesome one says the short title reign was just as meaningful as a longer run.

WWE Champion is “The Guy”

“I didn’t want to be a one-trick pony,” said The Miz. “I didn’t want to have one title reign, I think as a WWE Superstar you always want to be that guy. No matter how long you have it. Whether it’s a month, a week, a day, an hour, a minute, it doesn’t matter.”

He continued, “If you win the WWE Championship, you are that guy for that particular amount of time” explained the Miz, “And it is your job to showcase the prestige and honor that everyone before you did.”

Apart from this, the former WWE champion also talked about his WrestleMania match with Bad Bunny and how people were not happy with Bad Bunny’s involvement at first.

The Miz explained that after seeing all the negativity online, he had decided to prove people wrong. The negativity was gone when they presented the full story leading up to their WrestleMania match.

Cesaro On Why His Pairing With Paul Heyman Didn’t Work

Anutosh Bajpai
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Cesaro will finally be getting a one on one world title shot this Sunday. Though at a time it felt like the opportunity would come much earlier. That was when the former champion was paired with Paul Heyman in 2014. Heyman’s other client at the time, Brock Lesnar had just ended The Undertaker’s streak at WrestleMania 30 and Cesaro had won the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

The Swiss Superman recently had an interview with DAZN where he talked about this pairing and explained why it didn’t work. The interviewer first mentioned how Heyman had commented on the topic recently and said that he was coming off of the big storyline with Brock and Undertaker. It felt like the destination was still to go back to that story and Cesaro was used as a placeholder.

Replying to the question, Cesaro admitted that Heyman’s assessment was right. He said that he learned a lot from Paul Heyman during their pairing but the advocate used their time together to talk about Brock Lesnar more than him. The former US champion was the second fiddle at the time and the pairing was more beneficial for Heyman:

“I’ll say this much. I learned a whole lot from Paul, and I still do. But I agree 100 percent with Paul’s assessment because that’s 100 percent right. Paul used that opportunity to talk about Brock Lesnar and, I was second fiddle at that point. He even said that in the Talking Smack interview that he did. He said that he knows that alliance was more beneficial to him than it was for me.”

Apart from this, Cesaro also talked about things such as his early career in WWE, not getting the opportunity at the world title for so long and more. He will be challenging the universal champion Roman Reigns for his championship at the upcoming WrestleMania: Backlash event this Sunday.

Andrade Reportedly Has Had Talks With AEW

Anutosh Bajpai
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Former NXT champion Andrade was released from WWE earlier this year and latest reports suggest that he has had at least some level of talk with AEW.

While it’s not known on which stage the talks are, the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the former champion has had some negotiations for a potential run with the promotion.

Andrade had a successful run in WWE winning the NXT championship and the United States championship once during his time in the company.

The Mexican star, however, was not being used much in the last few months of his time with the company. So he decided to ask for his release from the promotion on March 8 earlier this year.

Andrade’s request was granted on March 21. It was reported at the time that he was not under the standard 90 days non-compete clause, meaning that he is free to sign with any promotion he chooses.

The former WWE star has since returned to the independent circuit and started competing for various indie promotions. He has also joined AAA in Mexico.

What’s interesting about his signing with AAA is that Andrade has challenged the AAA mega champion and the AEW champion Kenny Omega for a match at the TripleMania XXIX event.

Now the latest reports confirm that he is also in touch with other AEW officials. It would be interesting to see if his storyline with Omega leads to his AEW debut.

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