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WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 2 Predictions

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The WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver event is taking place over the course of two nights. Night 1 took place yesterday, Wednesday April 7th (airing on USA Network).

Tonight’s show, Thursday, April 8th will be available to watch via Peacock and WWE Network for International fans.

WWE had already announced the main events of both nights that take place in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center. WWE NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai vs. Raquel Gonzalez headlined the first night, with Gonzalez winning the Championship for the first time in her career.

WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor vs. Karrion Kross will main event tonight, with Balor putting his Championship on the line.

This show marks the second special for the yellow brand in 2021, which features a stacked lineup. As a reminder, we will be providing ongoing coverage of tonight’s show throughout.

Here’s the full card for Night 2 of the event:

NXT Takeover Stand & Deliver: Night 2

  • Unsanctioned Match – Kyle O’Reilly vs Adam Cole
  • NXT Championship Match – Finn Balor (c) vs Karrion Kross
  • Undisputed NXT Cruiserweight Championship Ladder Match – Jordan Devlin vs Santos Escobar
  • NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship Match – Shotzi Blackheart & Ember Moon vs The Way
  • NXT North American Championship Match – Johnny Gargano (c) vs Bronson Reed

Here are Jake’s predictions for the second night of WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver:

What would you like to see us produce for video content on YouTube going forward? Let us know in the comments

Dark Side Of The Ring Season 3 Premieres May 6th (Trailer)

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Dark Side of the Ring season three is set to premiere in just over a month.

Vice TV’s hit series about the seedy underbelly of the pro wrestling industry returns for a third season on Thursday, May 6th at 9pm (EST).

Vice has released the official trailer the 14-episode season.

Topics shown in the trailer include Brian Pillman, Nick Gage, Collision In Korea, Ultimate Warrior, Grizzly Smith and Dynamite Kid.

According to Dark Side Executive Producer & co-creator Evan Husney, the season premiere focusing on Brian Pillman’s story will be a 2-hour special.

Dark Side Of the Ring Season 3 Topics

The updated list of confirmed topics for Dark Side of the Ring Season 3 is below:

  • Brian Pillman (Season Premiere)
  • FMW (Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling)
  • XPW (Xtreme Pro Wrestling)
  • Nick Gage
  • WCW/NJPW Collision In Korea 1995
  • The Smith Family (Grizzly Smith, Sam Houston, Rockin’ Robin & Jake “The Snake” Roberts)
  • Ion Croitoru (a.k.a. Bruiser Bedlam, Johnny K-9)
  • Chris Kanyon
  • Dynamite Kid
  • The Plane Ride From Hell
  • The Ultimate Warrior

WWE Video Game Announcement To Be Made During WrestleMania 37

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Wrestling fans will be glued to Peacock and the WWE Network this weekend for all the WrestleMania 37 festivities.

According to the @WWEGames Twitter account, we can also expect announcement regarding the WWE 2K video game franchise.

The annual WWE 2K video game franchise was put on hold after the disastrous release of WWE 2K20 back in 2019. The game was plagued with bugs and was widely panned by critics. It was so bad that WWE 2K21 was scrapped entirely.

WWE 2K went in a completely different direction with 2020’s WWE Battlegrounds release, an arcade-style grappler.

WWE’s video game division has had two years to rethink the WWE 2K series. It appears we’ll get first details about WWE 2K22 in just a matter of days during WrestleMania 37.

WWE Uses Wrong Footage For Ethel Johnson’s HOF Induction

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Ethel Johnson holds the distinction of being the first female African-American wrestler, although by some accounts her sister Babs Wingo began training before she did. Their younger sister Marva Scott would join them shortly after.

She made her debut as a 16-year-old in 1950. It had been just 3 years since Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947 when Johnson and her two sisters began trailblazing a similar path in pro-wrestling. She was trained by and would later serve as a challenger to Mildred Burke.

Johnson was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Legacy Wing this week. Unfortunately, it appears WWE used the wrong footage for her induction.

“The footage of Ethel Johnson that they showed was not of Ethel Johnson it was of Sandy Parker, who was an African-American woman wrestler who came along probably, I’m going to say 15 years later, ” said Dave Meltzer recently on Wrestling Observer Radio.

“Ethel Johnson and Sandy Parker didn’t look anything alike.”

Ethel Johnson retired in 1976 at the age of 41, finishing up her career with the AWA. She would pass away at the age of 83 in 2018.

Lady Wrestler: The Amazing, Untold Story of African-American Women in the Ring

Johnson and her two sisters are featured in the documentary “Lady Wrestler:
The Amazing, Untold Story of African American Women in the Ring
.” Johnson appears in the documentary.

“Lady Wrestler: The Amazing, Untold Story of African-American Women in the Ring” is a documentary that chronicles the stories of Babs Wingo, Ethel Johnson, Marva Scott, Ramona Isbell and dozens of other women who braved racism and sexism to succeed in the male-dominated world of professional wrestling during the sport’s golden age in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. These courageous women raised families while blazing a trail for female athletes long before many of the breakthroughs of the civil rights and feminist movements,” reads a description of the film.

A clip from the film is below:

Tony Khan: “I Just Want To Make New Fans Of Wrestling”

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AEW Dynamite next week will be unopposed. Tony Khan recently spoke to PW Insider about how he feels NXT moving nights will help create more wrestling fans.

 “I think there are a lot of wrestling fans who like AEW, and I think among the world of wrestling fans, we have a chance to continue building an audience and getting fans to check out the show now because we won’t be opposed by another wrestling show next week,” he said. “I think we’ll have some new fans coming in then I really hope, checking us out, and I hope to make some new wrestling fans in general, fans of AEW and then they can check out other companies and find what they like in wrestling, and find the wrestlers and the moves and the stories they like, and I just want to make new fans of wrestling.”

Khan also spent some time during the interview talking about tomorrow’s house show. AEW will present “The House Always Wins” tomorrow from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville.

“This is an experiment,” Khan said regarding tomorrow’s show. “It felt like a great week for us to do it where we have the whole crew available to us and we got a really good house for Dynamite this week, we have a great crowd, and with the recent sales of Dynamite, tickets have trended really well, Revolution did very well, the weather’s been great, the fans have been great, we wanted to do something special for our fans here in Jacksonville.”

Bayley Unsure Why She Isn’t Booked For WWE WrestleMania

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Bayley had such an impressive 2020 that she was named the #1 female wrestler in the world in the annual PWI rankings. She held the Smackdown Championship from October 11th, 2019 until October 25th, 2020. In recent months, however, she’s fallen out of the title picture and doesn’t have a match booked at all for WrestleMania.

Bayley recently spoke to Talk Sport about not having a match on the show.

“I cannot give you an honest answer, dude,” Bayley said when asked what is going on with her at Mania. “I don’t know. I’m sorry guys, it just didn’t happen.”

“Even if there was something, I don’t know if I would tell you guys to spoil it. But yeah, it’s OK. I’ll be here for a long time. I might just jump the barricade and steal my own moment if they won’t give me one. I’ll just steal it.”

Bayley Pitched Ideas for WrestleMania

Bayley continued to say that she pitched ideas for this year’s show but nothing came together.

“I’ve pitched for stuff for this past WrestleMania just because there has been so many instances this past year where the pitches have gone through and it becomes easier to talk to certain people.”

She continued to say that she would have been open to a non-title grudge match at this year’s event.

“I would have loved to have had a non-title match at WrestleMania. Just a grudge type of match. Something that meant, not more than a title, but was a little deeper than a title. But, there’s always next year.”

Bayley hasn’t wrestled since February but she says she’s injury-free and that is not the reason she hasn’t been a major part of angles as of late.

What makes things even more frustrating is that Bayley had a prominent role at last year’s WrestleMania. She successfully defended the SmackDown Women’s Championship in a Fatal 5-Way Elimination match.

bayley sasha mania 36

The Rock Rumored To Replace Arnold Schwarzenegger In Terminator Franchise

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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is rumored to be replacing WWE Hall of Famer Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role of the Terminator franchise. Schwarzenegger last played the role of a futuristic cyborg in 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate.

According to entertainment reporter Daniel Richtman of Giant Freakin Robot, replacing Arnold with the Rock could be part of plans to massively shake up the franchise. The last film, the 6th installment, actually skipped over the 3rd, 4th, and 5th movies, pretending they never happened.

Additionally, Netflix has ordered an anime series based on the Terminator franchise. There are also rumors that the next movie will veer more into the horror genre than science fiction.

Richtman also reported that Rock is being considered for a role in a new Predator movie, another classic Schwarzenegger action movie.

The Rock Arnold Schwarzenegger
The Rock & Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Rock Asks: Schwarzenegger or Stallone?

The Rock recently mentioned Schwarzenegger in an Instagram posted to promote this week’s episode of Young Rock. In it, The Rock asked the question of who is the greatest action movie star of all time?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNV-JsyFuxl/?utm_source=ig_embed

The Rock’s WWE Future

Paul Heyman recently stated that the Rock was hopeful to take on Roman Reigns at WrestleMania this year.

“If I could show you one day’s worth of text messages, emails and calls that come into my phone from some of the biggest superstars in sports and entertainment on this planet, it would blow your mind,” Paul Heyman told GiveMeSport in a recent interview. 

“Crossover celebrities in their prime would love to step into a WrestleMania ring with Roman Reigns. It’s not just Dwayne Johnson. The Rock is just one of many. Top stars in many sports are yearning for the publicity, the notoriety, fame, legacy and money of main eventing WrestleMania with Roman Reigns.”

AEW Dynamite Results (4/7): Blood & Guts Match Set, Mike Tyson Returns, Young Bucks

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AEW Dynamite aired live from Daily’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida. AEW Champion Kenny Omega teamed up with Good Brothers to face Jon Moxley and AEW Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks tonight. Mike Tyson made an appearance on this week’s edition of Dynamite as well.

Dynamite Results (4/7)

  1. Hangman Page def. Max Caster
  2. Jurassic Express def. Bear Country
  3. Darby Allin def. JD Drake to retain the TNT Championship
  4. Tay Conti def. The Bunny
  5. Kenny Omega & Good Brothers def. Jon Moxley & Young Bucks

Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:

Hangman Page Picked Up A Victory

Hangman Page battled Max Caster in the first match of the night. Hangman dominated the action early and bounced Caster’s face off the top turnbuckle several times. Page stomped Caster down to the canvas and then planted him with a Fallaway Slam.

Page followed it up with a Suplex for a one count. Caster connected with a forearm to the face but Hangman shrugged it off and leveled him with a big boot. Caster dragged Hangman out of the ring but Page sent Max into the barricade.

Anthony Bowens sent Hangman into the barricade and rolled him back in the ring. Caster went to work on Hangman’s arm and controlled the next couple minutes of the match. Page battled back with a Powerbomb and a Clothesline in the corner.

Page connected with an Exploder Suplex and went for the cover but Caster kicked out at two. Hangman and Caster traded punches on the ring apron. Page got the better of the exchange and connected with a Side Slam that caused Max to tumble to the floor.

Hangman made his way to the top rope but got distracted by Bowens. Caster capitalized and planted Hangman with a Superplex before applying an Armbar in the middle of the ring. Page set up for a reverse Alabama Slam but Bowens slid the boombox into the ring.

The referee caught it but Bowns then tossed a chain to Caster. Max hit Page in the face with the chain wrapped around his fist but somehow Page was able to kick out. Hangman hit Bowens with a Moonsault and then delivered the Buckshot Lariat to Caster for the pinfall victory. After the match, Hangman celebrated with a beer and gave some to the crowd.

The Pinnacle Will Face Inner Circle In A Blood & Guts Match On May 5th

Inner Circle came to the ring as Dynamite went to a break. When Dynamite returned, Jericho said the Inner Circle is back in black and brought up the beatdown they received by The Pinnacle. Jericho said it was a wake up call and made them realize they have made some poor decisions.

Jericho claimed that all of those decisions were caused by his “jerk off” friend MJF. Chris noted that he is not smart about a lot things, but is smart when it comes to the business of pro wrestling. Jericho wanted MJF under his thumb because he knows how good MJF is.

Chris admitted that MJF outsmarted them but has no idea how to put on a spray tan and had more streaks than the toilet bowl he shoves his face in last week. Jericho told MJF that he needs to ditch the scarf and focus on being better than talent like Peter Avalon.

Jericho wondered why MJF is stealing past gimmicks from him and mocked Maxwell for caring so much about what people think. Chris said MJF is a mark for himself and the truth is that he will never be better than Jericho and he knows it. Chris brought up Tully Blanchard and referred to himself as a “3rd string member of the Four Horseman”.

Chris joked about FTR and how nobody can tell them apart. Jericho joked Shawn Spears’ “potential” and how he has never seen it and how it’s embarrassing to have a blonde mohawk in 2021. Jericho added that Wardlow needs to strip naked to count to 21. Jericho then announced that it will be The Pinnacle versus Inner Circle on May 5th in a Blood & Guts match.

Opinion: This one of the better Jericho promos I have seen in some time and I don’t know how you can’t be excited for this match. There were so many quotable lines in Jericho’s promo tonight.

Taz Wants Christian To Join His Team

Christian Cage was interviewed backstage tonight. Taz interrupted and tried to get him to join his team. Cage went to respond but Taz told him to sleep on it and walked away before he could answer.

Jurassic Express def. Bear Country

Jurassic Express faced Bear Country tonight on Dynamite. Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus booted Bronson and Boulder out of the ring to start off the action. Jungle Boy went for a flip but Bear Country caught him. Luchasaurus then leaped onto Bear Country before the action returned to the ring.

Boulder slammed Luchasaurus into the turnbuckle and tagged in Bronson. Bear Country isolated Luchasaurus in the corner and took turns beating him down. When Dynamite returned from a break, Bear Country was still in control. Luchasaurus connected with a Chokeslam to Bronson and followed it up with a standing Moonsault for the pinfall victory.

QT Marshall Cut A Great Promo

QT Marshall cut a promo on Cody Rhodes tonight. QT joked that Cody surrounded himself with vanilla midgets so he can be the star he wanted to be. QT added that Aaron Solow will never be known as just somebody’s boyfriend ever again.

Darby Allin Retained The TNT Championship

Tony Schiavone interviewed Sting on the stage. Jake Roberts interrupted and poked fun at Sting and called Darby a gerbil. Lance Archer showed up and ripped the microphone away from Roberts. Archer told Sting that it is his time now and he is supposed to be in the main event. Sting then ripped the microphone away and agreed with Archer. Sting told Lance to make it happen and stop disappearing. Archer laughed and walked away with Roberts.

Darby Allin defended the TNT Championship against JD Drake. Allin went for a Crossbody off the top rope but Drake caught him with a shoulder tackle. Sting came up behind Ryan Nemeth with the baseball bat and chased him around the ring. Nemeth ran away as JD hit a Senton in the ring.

When Dynamite returned from a break, Allin climbed to the top rope but Drake tripped him up. JD hit a Cannonball in the corner and followed it up with a Splash for a two count. Allin and Drake battled on the turnbuckle again. Darby bit JD’s finger and hit him with a Powerbomb. Allin followed it up with the Coffin Drop for the pinfall victory to retain his TNT Championship. After the match, Matt Hardy, Butcher, Blade tried to attack Darby but Sting and Dark Order fought them off.

Mike Tyson Beat Up Shawn Spears

The Pinnacle somehow got Chris Jericho alone and beat him down before bringing him to the middle of the ring. It was revealed that Inner Circle’s dressing room door was bolted shut. Mike Tyson then made his way to the ring and attacked Shawn Spears int he corner. Tyson unloaded some punches before Inner Circle finally rushed the ring. Mike Tyson and Chris Jericho then shook hands to end the segment.

Tay Conti def. The Bunny

The Bunny (Allie) faced Tay Conti tonight. Butcher, Blade, Matt Hardy, and Dark Order were ringside for the match. Bunny controlled the match early and Dropkicked Conti into the barricade as Dynamite went to a commercial break.

When Dynamite returned, Bunny was still in control as Hikaru Shida was now ringside. Conti hit a knee to the face and went for the cover but Bunny kicked out at two. A brawl broke out and Bunny grabbed a kendo stick. AEW Women’s Champion Hikaru Shida ripped the kendo stick away and Conti connected with a Superplex. Tay followed it up with a DDT for the pinfall victory.

Young Bucks Betrayed Jon Moxley

Jon Moxley and The Young Bucks faced Kenny Omega and Good Brothers in the main event tonight. Omega locked up with Matt Jackson to begin the match. Nick and Karl Anderson then tagged in and Nick hit an Arm Drag. Gallows grabbed Nick by the throat but he escaped. Young Bucks sent everyone out of the ring and Moxley hit a Suicide Dive with them. Moxley and Young Bucks posed in the ring as Dynamite went to a commercial break.

When Dynamite returned, Moxley and Anderson traded chops in the ring. Moxley planted Omega with a German Suplex and then delivered one to Gallows. Gallows connected with a big boot to the face that knocked Moxley to the canvas. Moxley battled back with a Neckbreaker and tagged in Nick Jackson.

Nick hit Karl with a forearm to the face and a flurry of kicks. Gallows threw him to the corner but missed with a Splash. Jackson kneed Gallows in the face and followed it up with a Double Stomp. Nick connected with a Backstabber on Anderson in the corner before booting Gallows in the face. Anderson caught Nick with a Spinebuster and both men fell to the mat.

Matt and Omega then tagged in. Matt hit Kenny with an Arm Drag and then a massive Back Body Drop. Matt faked a Superkick and planted Omega with a DDT. Matt strutted around the ring waiting for the AEW Champion to get back up. Matt hesitated and didn’t hit Omega with a Superkick.

Omega slapped Matt in the face several times and Matt responded with some punches. Gallows booted Matt in the face but turned around into a Dropkick from Nick. Moxley then Clotheslined Gallows out of the ring as Matt hit Karl with a Superkick.

Omega connected with a snap Dragon Suplex but got turned inside out with a Clothesline from Moxley. Matt followed it up with a Piledriver and went for the cover but the AEW Champion was able to kick out at the last moment. Young Bucks it a 450 Splash and a Moonsault and went for the cover but Anderson broke it up.

Nick flipped onto Good Brothers outside the ring. Matt continued to check on Kenny Omega and had a remorseful look on his face. Young Bucks set up for the BTE Trigger but wouldn’t do it. Moxley started yelling at them and tagged himself in. Jon planted Kenny with the Paradigm Shift and hit another one.

Moxley locked in a choke hold and went for another Paradigm Shift but Young Bucks Superkicked him. Good Brothers attacked Eddie Kingston as he limped down the entrance ramp and hit him with the Magic Killer. Good Brothers then hit Moxley with the Magic Killer and dragged Omega on top of him for the pinfall victory. Good Brothers then held up Moxley and Callis whispered into Matt’s ear. Young Bucks then hit Moxley with another Superkick as the crowd chanted “you sold out!” to end the show.

WWE NXT TakeOver Night 1 Results (4/7): Io Shirai vs. Raquel Gonzalez, WALTER Defends Title

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The April 7, 2021 episode of WWE NXT aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center. 

WWE NXT Results 

  • Pete Dunne def. Kushida
  • Bronson Reed Wins Gauntlet Eliminator Match
  • WWE NXT UK Champion WALTER def Tommaso Ciampa
  • MSK def. Grizzled Young Veterans & Legado del Fantasma to win NXT Tag Team Titles
  • Raquel Gonzalez def. Io Shirai to win NXT Women’s Title

Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:

Gauntlet Eliminator Match

pjimage 2021 04 06T134436.539

WWE booked Bronson Reed, Dexter Lumis, Cameron Grimes, Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, Leon Ruff, and LA Knight in a Gauntlet Eliminator Match. 

Scott and Ruff started things off. Reed entered the match third and caught Ruff, who attempted a dive during his entrance, but he tossed him into the ring. Grimes was out at #4. As Lumis was making his entrance, Ruff got eliminated by Scott.

Knight eliminated Lumis. Reed hit a backsplash to Knight for the elimination. Grimes was eliminated before Reed hit his finisher to Scott for the win. 

As a result, he has earned the right to challenge North American Champion Johnny Gargano for the title on the second night of TakeOver, which is tomorrow. 

Pete Dunne vs. Kushida

pjimage 2021 04 06T134455.451

Pete Dunne vs. Kushida took place in a singles match. It was an excellent choice for an opener. Dunne won with the Bitter End after injuring the hands of his opponent. 

Last week on NXT TV, Dunne and Kushida worked the battle royal to determine the participants for the Gauntlet Eliminator match at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver night one.

This is where Dunne and Kushida simultaneously eliminated each other from the match. After the eliminations, Kushida put him in the Hoverboard Lock but refused to let go of it until he was forced to do so. 

Earlier in this show, Dunne interrupted an interview with Kushida because he took exception to Kushida calling himself the best technical wrestler in the world. Dunne stated that he holds that crown and dared Kushida to answer his challenge and try to prove him wrong.

WWE NXT UK Title Match

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WWE NXT UK Champion WALTER vs. Tommaso Ciampa aired on this show. 

Ciampa was telling the story of his old self being back as he went back to wearing trunks and shaved his head again so he doesn’t like a 60-year-old man as he had been with hair. The match was just as advertised, a hard-hitting bout. These guys brought it. 

Throughout the match, Ciampa was working over the right hand of the champ after he missed a chop on the announce table. A back and forth match with Ciampa hitting near fall spots towards the end. WALTER hit a big chop for the finish. 

WALTER will defend the NXT UK Title against Rampage Brown at NXT UK: Prelude on Thursday.

https://twitter.com/btsportwwe/status/1379963910908997634

Vacant NXT Tag Team Titles

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MSK vs. Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Legado del Fantasma in a Triple Threat Match for the vacant NXT Tag Team Titles. 

Of course, the titles were declared vacant once Danny Burch suffered a separated shoulder while teaming with Oney Lorcan against Finn Balor & Karrion Kross in the main event. 

These were the top three injury free teams and so it made sense for them to battle it out to see who should become the new champions. 

The match had a wild start with MSK getting the majority of the offense. There was a brilliant spot where Lee’s hand was placed in the turnbuckle and Drake hit a drop kick in the corner. Of course, Lee previously hurt his hand. The finish came down to MSK hitting a double cutter to Drake and a tag team move out of the corner to Gibson for the win. 

Main Event

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WWE NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai vs. Raquel Gonzalez was the main event of this show. 

First off, this was the perfect match to headline the first night. Io is one of the best workers in NXT and not just in the women’s division. Coming into this bout, Raquel was someone that fans could buy in and think was a real contender and someone who could dethrone Io as the champion. 

Io got the early advantage before there was some outside interference by Dakota Kai, who ended up getting ejected from ringside. This was a sprint and no downtime whatsoever. 

Io made a comeback after being dominated. Io hit a moonsault off the top rope to the floor then a running knee strike. Near the end, Io hit a dive off the skull, which was part of the stage. Raquel hit her finisher for the win.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1379977380463316992

Raquel Gonzalez Wins WWE NXT Women’s Title

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Io Shirai made her latest defense as WWE NXT Women’s Champion against Raquel Gonzalez at Wednesday’s (April 7, 2021) WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver.

The match featured an early attack by Io. When Dakota Kai attacked Io, she was ejected from ringside, and allowed Raquel to dominate. At one point, Shirai hit a dive off the skull, which was part of the stage. Raquel hit her finisher for the win. 

On the March 14th edition of NXT, Shirai retained her NXT Women’s Championship against Toni Storm. Later that night, Shirai confronted Gonzalez and declared that she wanted to face Gonzalez next. The following week, Shirai told Raquel to sign a contract to make it happen, which she did. 

This feud goes back to the NXT TakeOver: WarGames event where Gonzalez pinned Shirai to get the win in the women’s WarGames match as Gonzalez was part of Team Candice with Candice LeRae, Dakota Kai & Storm while Shirai was part of Team Shotzi with Shotzi Blackheart, Ember Moon & Rhea Ripley.

Shirai became the NXT Women’s Champion when she beat Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley in a triple threat match at TakeOver: In Your House in June of last year.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1379977380463316992

MSK Win Vacant WWE NXT Tag Team Titles

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New WWE NXT Tag Team Champions have been crowned and it’s MSK. 

On the first night of WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver event from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center, the company booked MSK vs. Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Legado del Fantasma in a three-way match. 

The bout featured a wild start with MSK getting the early advantage and a few dives. The end came when MSK hit a double cutter to Drake and followed up with a tag team move out of the corner to Gibson.

The titles became vacant after Danny Burch suffered a separated shoulder while teaming with Oney Lorcan against Finn Balor & Karrion Kross in the main event of a recent episode of NXT. Unfortunately, Burch is expected to be out of action for six months.

Lorcan and Burch had been NXT Tag Team Champions since winning the titles from Breezango in October 2020. In the finals of the men’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic at TakeOver: Vengeance Day, MSK defeated The Grizzled to win the tournament.

Just a month ago, MSK were supposed to challenge for the titles against Lorcan and Burch, but that match was nixed due to Lee being out with a broken hand. 

Mike Tyson Saves Chris Jericho On AEW Dynamite

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As advertised, Mike Tyson made an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT, which marked his first appearance in AEW with a live crowd. 

On the show, the boxing legend showed up in the second hour when The Pinnacle was attacking Chris Jericho in the ring. The rest of the Inner Circle was locked in a room backstage and was making their way out to the ring. After Tyson and Inner Circle stood tall in the ring, Jericho and Tyson hugged in peace, a reference to their past. 

https://twitter.com/FiteTV/status/1379967412242554882

Tyson made an appearance at the Double or Nothing pay-per-view event last year where he presented the TNT Championship to the winner of Cody Rhodes vs. Lance Archer, which served as the tournament finals to crown the inaugural TNT Champion.

AEW followed up with another Tyson appearance on the May 27, 2020 edition of Dynamite where he was involved in a brawl alongside some of his friends with Jericho and the Inner Circle. This episode did 827,000 live viewers and a 0.32 in the important 18-49 demographic. 

After this angle was shot, there had been some speculation about a match between the boxing great and Jericho happening. Jericho previously confirmed there were plans to do a match with Tyson at the AEW All Out PPV event on September 5th, but due to Tyson’s fight with Roy Jones jr. happening on September 12th, they had to postpone it. 

WALTER Retains WWE NXT UK Title At TakeOver: Stand & Deliver

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WALTER worked his first match of the week with a top NXT star standing tall with the top prize in his hands. 

WALTER defended the NXT UK Title against Tommaso Ciampa at Wednesday’s (April 7, 2021) WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver event from Orlando, Florida.

Ciampa turned back into the 2018 version of his character with the return of his shaved head and trunks. The match saw Ciampa continuously try to get a string of offensive moves together only to be knocked down. In the end, WALTER hit a big chop for the finish. 

This came before WALTER will defend the NXT UK Title against Rampage Brown at NXT UK: Prelude on Thursday. 

This feud started a month ago when Ciampa mentioned WALTER on NXT. After Imperium invited Timothy Thatcher to join them, Ciampa told Thatcher that he’s not interested in joining Imperium, but was interested in facing WALTER. 

To get things moving along, Ciampa said WALTER was sitting safely across the pond holding onto the title while the rest of Imperium did his dirty work. This led to WALTER appearing to take out Ciampa. 

What are your thoughts on WALTER retaining the NXT UK Title? Was this the right call by WWE officials? Sound off in the comment section.

Inner Circle vs. Pinnacle In Blood And Guts Match Announced

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All Elite Wrestling is finally booking the Blood and Guts match. The COVID-19 pandemic previously prevented fans from seeing it in AEW.

The original plan was for the match to take place in Newark, New Jersey in front of AEW’s largest paid crowd to date last year. The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana, and Ortiz) were supposed to face The Elite (Kenny Omega, Cody, Hangman Page, and The Young Bucks) in the contest.

On Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite, Jericho came out with the rest of the Inner Circle members for a promo to address their feud with The Pinnacle (MJF, FTR, Wardlow, and Shawn Spears). This marked The Inner Circle’s first arena appearance since they were attacked by MJF and The Pinnacle a few weeks ago.

Jericho blamed his “jerk off” friend MJF for some of the recent bad decisions they’ve made and apologized. He noted that he’s smart about pro wrestling and that’s why he brought MJF into the Inner Circle, but MJF outsmarted them. 

He mocked MJF for being a mark for himself because he would run around backstage to see what people were saying about him after his matches.

The former AEW World Heavyweight Champion then announced there will be a Blood and Guts match between The Inner Circle and The Pinnacle on the May 5th edition of Dynamite from Jacksonville, Florida at Daily’s Place on TNT.

Keith Lee To Appear On WWE Programming This Week

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WWE announced on Thursday that Keith Lee is slated to return to their programming this week. 

He’ll do so when he participates in the Watch Along episode for the second night of NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver – Night 2 event on Thursday. He’ll join Ricochet, Samoa Joe, Dominik Mysterio, and others on the stream, which will be hosted by Matt Camp, Evan T. Mack, and Ryan Pappolla of The Bump.

His status with WWE has made headlines as of late because he has been out of action since early February. Last month, it was reported that Lee was actively trying to get cleared for a return and had been working out at the Performance Center. 

He did break his silence in a statement posted on Twitter, but aside from that, has been quiet. This return comes at the same time as former WWE on-air personality Cathy Kelley coming back to the company for at least one night as she participated in the Watch Along episode for TakeOver Night 1. 

For fans wanting to check it out, the Takeover Watch Along episodes will air live on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok.

Tony Khan Discusses Approving Chris Jericho’s Broken Skull Sessions Appearance

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AEW President and CEO Tony Khan commented on Chris Jericho appearing on Sunday’s episode of Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions show on Peacock. 

Khan was on Busted Open with Dave LaGreca and Tommy Dreamer where he talked about why he approved of Jericho’s appearance on the show. 

Khan started out by stating that he never even considered this was going to be a possibility and when he first heard about it, he had to think about it for a minute. He brought how Jericho and Austin had talked about it beforehand. 

“When Chris brought it up to me, at first I was taken aback because Chris doing something on Peacock on WWE’s channel is obviously going to give me pause. But when he said it was Steve hosting the show, I didn’t have to think very hard about it.”

Khan continued by stating that he looked at this appearance as him or anyone else from AEW going on the Busted Open Radio show as he trusts Jericho to go on this show and feels the same way with him appearing on a WWE show. He also trusts Austin to do a great job with the interview. 

“They’re both friends of mine, and I feel like it’s probably going to be a very good show,” Khan said. “I haven’t watched it yet, but Chris told me I’m really going to like it, and it’s a great chance for us to go out and promote AEW to a different set of fans. I was all for it, and definitely, Steve being the host had a lot to do with that.”

This will be the first time that an AEW star will appear on WWE programming. 

WrestleMania Stage Construction Underway (New Photos)

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We are just a few days away from WWE’s biggest show of the year, WrestleMania. Wrestling fans love to see what the WrestleMania stage looks like each year. We have an early look at the setup inside Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.

As seen below, a pirate ship is a big part of the elaborate set design. The football stadium is home to the NFL’s reigning SuperBowl champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

WrestleMania Stage Photos

Here are the latest WrestleMania stage photos, courtesy of Tampa Bay’s News Channel 8’s Eagle 8 HD helicopter cam:

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WWE presents WrestleMania 37 on Saturday, April 10th, and Sunday, April 11, 2021. It will be broadcasted on Peacock.

WrestleMania 37 Card

The following are the official lineups for WrestleMania 37 nights 1 and 2:

Night 1 

  • WWE Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre
  • WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair
  • The Miz and John Morrison vs. Damian Priest and Bad Bunny
  • Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins
  • WWE Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. AJ Styles and Omos
  • Carmella & Billie Kay vs. Lana & Naomi vs. Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose vs. Ruby Riott & Liv Morgan vs. Natalya & Tamina – Tag Team Turmoil Match (Winners Get Women’s Tag Match on Night 2)
  • Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon – Steel Cage Match

Night 2 

  • WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns vs. Edge
  • WWE Raw Women’s Champion Asuka vs. Rhea Ripley
  • Randy Orton vs. The Fiend
  • Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn
  • WWE Intercontinental Champion Big E vs. Apollo Crews – Nigerian Drum Match
  • WWE United States Champion Matt Riddle vs. Sheamus
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax vs. TBA

WWE President Shares Update On Returns Of Becky Lynch & Ronda Rousey

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Fans could be seeing Becky Lynch and Ronda Rousey make their WWE returns in the near future. 

On Wednesday’s Colin Cowherd’s podcast, WWE President Nick Khan talked about a wide range of topics. He was discussed WrestleMania 35 from 2019 that was headlined by Rousey vs. Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair in a triple threat match for the Raw and SmackDown Women’s Titles. 

He mentioned the popularity of female wrestlers in general and how big business this match did. He made a point to say Rousey would return “at a certain point in time” while Lynch would return “at a certain point of time…in the not-too-distant future.”

Rousey worked her most recent match in WWE at WrestleMania 35 as she dropped the Raw Women’s Title. At the time, she noted that she was taking time off from WWE to start a family. She later aired some grievances with “f*king ingrateful fans” in addition to the brutal travel schedule that she had to deal with during an appearance on the Steve O podcast.

On the flip side, Lynch had to vacate the strap last May and gave it to Asuka as she was pregnant. Last December, Lynch and Seth Rollins welcomed a daughter in December. On the night of this year’s Royal Rumble, she hinted she was returning.

WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver Night 1 Predictions

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The WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver event will take place over the course of two nights, tonight Wednesday, April 7th (airing on USA Network) and Thursday, April 8th (Peacock broadcast). 

The company has already officially announced the main events of both nights that take place in Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center. WWE NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai vs. Raquel Gonzalez will headline the first night while WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor vs. Karrion Kross will go down the following night. 

This show marks the second special for the yellow brand in 2021, which features a stacked lineup. As a reminder, we will be providing coverage of this special on both nights.

Here’s the full card for Night 1 of the event:

Stand & Deliver: Night 1

  • WWE NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai vs. Raquel Gonzalez
  • MSK vs. Grizzled Young Veterans vs. Legado del Fantasma for the Vacant NXT Tag Team Titles
  • WWE NXT UK Champion WALTER vs. Tommaso Ciampa
  • Bronson Reed, Dexter Lumis, Cameron Grimes, Isaiah “Swerve” Scott, Leon Ruff, and LA Knight – Gauntlet Eliminator Match
  • Pete Dunne vs KUSHIDA

Here are Jake’s predictions for the opening night of WWE NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver – MINUS Pete Dunne vs KUSHIDA…because honestly someone forgot it was on the card tonight.

Pete Dunne to win by the way.

What would you like to see us produce for video content on YouTube going forward? Let us know in the comments

WWE Hall of Fame Legacy Inductions For 2020/21 Revealed

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Since 2016, WWE has been inducting wrestlers and people from the wrestling industry into its Hall of Fame “legacy wing.” During this year’s induction ceremony, 10 more names were added.

Baron Michele Leone

A big star during the early days of wrestling on television. Leone was involved in a lucrative angle with Lou Thesz in the early 1950s that did great business. He was able to retire afterward and returned home to Italy.

Brickhouse Brown

Brown was a top heel in several promotions during the 80s and 90s. He was trained by Terry Funk and Eddie Graham. He passed away in 2018 at the age of 57 from prostate cancer.

“Dr. Death” Steve Williams

After spending the late 1980s with WCW, Dr. Death would become a big star with All Japan Pro Wrestling in the 90s. Jim Ross would bring him into WWE during the late 90s as well. Williams passed away from throat cancer in 2009.

Gary Hart

A devious manager who feuded with the Von Erichs in Texas, Gary Hart was the booker for WCCW from 1976 until 1987. Some of the biggest stories, angles and matches in wrestling history took place in that promotion during his run as match-maker.

Ray “The Crippler” Stevens

Ray Stevens and Pat Patterson were known as the Blond Bombers. They are former AWA tag-team champions and were big stars in the Big Time Wrestling promotion in San Fransisco as well. This is just the latest induction for Stevens. He went into the NWA Hall of Fame in 2013, the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996.

Dick The Bruiser

Former AWA World Champion Dick the Bruiser was also inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame legacy wing. Along with the Crusher, he held the AWA Tag Team Championships on 5 occasions.

Ethel Johnson

Ethel Johnson was a top star from the 1950s until the 1970s. Trained by the great Mildred Burke, Johnson is credited with being the first female wrestler to deliver a standing dropkick. Her story is told in the 2016 documentary “Lady Wrestler:
The Amazing, Untold Story of African American Women in the Ring

Paul Boesch

Paul Boesch was a World War II veteran, a promoter and wrestler who is perhaps most notable for his time with Houston Wrestling. His in-ring career ranged from the mid-1940s to mid-1960s. He worked as a promoter after that for another 20 years before retiring in 1987.

Pez Whatley

Pez Whatley is best known for his time with Georgia Championship Wrestling and other promotions during the 1980s. He picked up with WCW in the early 90s before beginning to work backstage for the company.

Buzz Sawyer

Buzz Sawyer is best known for his time with Jim Crockett Productions and Georgia Championship Wrestling during the 1980s. His feud with Tommy Rich is historic, with the “Last Battle of Atlanta” becoming something of a cult favourite amongst fans. He died of a drug overdose in 1992 at the age of 32.

Kazuchika Okada Serves As Olympic Torch Bearer

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The Summer Olympics are scheduled to take place in Tokyo, Japan from July 23rd to August 8th, 2021. Kazuchika Okada recently served as a torch bearer in the official Olympic torch relay.

Okada posted the following to Instagram of him posing with the torch:

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“Everybody was waving and smiling as I made my run, so I wanted to return those smiles right back to them. It was a fantastic experience,” Okada said.  

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Kazuchika Okada holds the record for the most combined title defenses (30) and days spent with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship (1790). The title was recently unified with the Intercontinental Championship as the IWGP World Championship. Okada has been largely out of the title picture since dropping the belt to Tetsuya Naito on January 5th, 2020 on the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 14. He’ll challenge again for the belt on May 29th.

Upcoming Lineups In NJPW

The following matches are upcoming in NJPW:

April 28th: Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni – Night 1
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
    SHO & YOH (c) vs El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • KOPW 2021
    Toru Yano vs EVIL
  • Will Ospreay, The Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare & Jeff Cobb vs. Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo
  • Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado
  • Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura vs. Gabriel Kidd & Tiger Mask IV
April 29th – Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni – Night 2
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi vs. Aaron Henare & Jeff Cobb
  • Will Ospreay & The Great-O-Khan vs. Shingo Takagi & Tetsuya Naito
  • Toru Yano, Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & Dick Togo
  • Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, & Jado
  • SHO, YOH & Tiger Mask IV vs. El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Minoru Suzuki
  • SANADA & BUSHI vs. Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura
May 3rd – Wrestling Dontaku – Night 1
  • NEVER Openweight Championship
    Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Jay White
  • Iron Finger from Hell
    ladder match (2nd ever in NJPW history)
    Taichi vs. Tama Tonga
  • Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tanga Loa
  • Will Ospreay, The Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare & Jeff Cobb vs. Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI
  • Kazuchika Okada, SHO & YOH vs. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Toru Yano, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Tiger Mask IV & Master Wato vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & Dick Togo
May 4th – Wrestling Dontaku – Night 2
  • IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
    Will Ospreay (c) vs Shingo Takagi
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
    El Desperado (c) vs YOH
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs. Jay White, EVIL, KENTA, Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori
  • Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI vs. The Great-O-Khan, Aaron Henare & Jeff Cobb
  • Kazuchika Okada & SHO vs. Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado

The winner of Will Ospreay vs Shingo Takagi will go on to face Kazuchika Okada for the belt on May 29th at Wrestle Grand Slam inside the Tokyo Dome.

Bianca Belair: “I Didn’t Find Wrestling, Wrestling Found Me”

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Bianca Belair won the 2021 Royal Rumble and is now set to challenge Sasha Banks for the Smackdown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania. She took a different path to WWE than some do. She spoke to the Tampa Bay Times recently about how she didn’t find wrestling, wrestling found her.

“My path to WWE was unique,” Belair said. “I didn’t know it was a dream until it became my reality. But I didn’t find wrestling. Wrestling found me.”

In fact, it was Mark Henry who recruited Belair to WWE. Henry had seen her compete at a Crossfit event and then contacted her to attend a WWE tryout camp. Triple H spoke about how Belair did during that camp.

“When she came in and tried out for us, I don’t know that she knew necessarily what we were,” said Triple H. “She came in and was just this crazy stud athlete, and then you see she’s just an amazing person and that charisma shines through.”

Belair continued to talk about having to play catch-up to understand the business.

“I think the most difficult thing for me was I feel like I was playing catchup in trying to learn the history of the business and the art part of performing,” she said. “I would say (the character Bianca Belair) is pretty much how I am, but just amped up to 1000.”

The full interview with the Tampa Bay Times can be read here.

Rob Van Dam On What Vince McMahon Said To Him During His HOF Induction

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Rob Van Dam is now a WWE Hall of Famer. The former WWE Champion spoke to the Battle Cree Enquirer recently about the honor. RVD also noted during the interview that Vince McMahon paid him a special compliment during his induction ceremony.

“I was delighted when I heard. It was a surprise call. To me, it means a lot,” Van Dam said to the Battle Creek Enquirer. “I am going down in history with the legends that inspired me when I was growing up in Battle Creek, dreaming of being a professional wrestler. Now generations to come will look at me in a similar way. That’s quite an honor.”

“Being inducted into the Hall of Fame probably means more than being a world champion because there are probably a lot of world champions that will never be in the hall of fame,” Van Dam continued.

High Praise from Vince McMahon

RVD continued to say that Vince McMahon got up during his speech and said that he changed the style of the business.

“To have Vince McMahon stand up during the induction ceremony and tell me that I changed the style of the business was probably the highest compliment I could imagine,” RVD said.

Van Dam continued to say he wasn’t sure that he’d ever be inducted into the Hall of Fame. He’s always appreciated people telling him he deserves it, however.

“I didn’t know if it would ever happen,” Van Dam said. “When people referred to me as a future Hall of Famer, that was a big enough compliment for me, just to know that they saw me with that respect. So now that I actually have that Hall of Fame ring and plaque, and it’s official, it’s a proud moment.”

Roman Reigns Says There’s A Lot Of Truth To His Tribal Chief Character

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Roman Reigns has been portraying a new heel persona since returning to WWE at SummerSlam 2020. At WrestleMania, he’ll face both Edge and Daniel Bryan with the Universal title at stake. Reigns was recently interviewed by PEOPLE and spoke about the character he has been portraying since last summer.

“It feels good,” Reigns said of his current persona. “There’s a lot of truth to what we put into the Tribal Chief character, the burden of the crown, of being the face of the company. I think everybody would like to be Superman, but to be able to have some of those Superman qualities, then also display the emotions, the mentality that comes into it, and the way it can affect a man. People connect to that.”

“People understand the struggle, people understand these different battles, these emotional battles that my character kind of displays on a weekly basis,” he continued. “I think it allows for a different connection, and that’s why it’s been received so well.”

Family Man

Roman also spoke about how the last year has impacted him and his family. The father of 5 is enjoying having more time with his loved ones.

“Due to having the availability and the lack of travel, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to just invest so much more time in my relationship with my wife and my family,” he said. “It’s going to make you a better individual if your team is untouchable and is extremely strong.”

The full interview with PEOPLE is available here.

AEW Dynamite Preview: Omega & Good Brothers vs. Moxley & Young Bucks

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All Elite Wrestling returns tonight with an all-new episode of AEW Dynamite on TNT. This is the final battle of the Wednesday Night War, as NXT moves to Tuesday nights next week.

NXT will have Night 1 of Takeover: Stand & Deliver, so AEW has some stiff competition. That said, AEW has a big lineup announced, including the return of boxing legend “Iron” Mike Tyson:

Dynamite Preview for April 7th

In addition to whatever AEW has planned with Mike Tyson, the following matches are set for Dynamite:

  • AEW World Champion Kenny Omega and The Good Brothers will take on Jon Moxley and World Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks.
  • TNT Champion Darby Allin defending against JD Drake
  • Hangman Page faces Max Caster of The Acclaimed.
  • Jurassic Express vs. Bear Country
  • Tay Conti vs. The Bunny

Plus, we’ll get the latest from the Inner Circle after their surprise return and beatdown of the Pinnacle last week.

Join us here later tonight for our AEW Dynamite Results & Takeaways. Until then, check out our AEW News page.