The Undertaker has given Roman Reigns his flowers for an incredible championship run, after helping put an end to it.

The Dead Man talked about his WrestleMania 40 experience on the latest episode of the Six Feet Under podcast. During the episode, he revealed that his surprise appearance during the main event match between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns helped him get closure for his own wrestling career.

What A Phenomenal Run: The Undertaker

Speaking about the backstage environment after the main event match, The Undertaker said that emotions were running high. He then praised Roman Reigns for his historic run, mentioning how you have to go back to the era before the internet and social media to find a comparable record:

“Man, there was a lot of really emotional moments backstage. You can imagine Roman coming back and after just…what an amazing run as champion. If you look at it, and put it in today’s market, what a phenomenal run.

It’s not going to go down to the record books as the longest world title run but when you look at it in actuality with as much coverage, as much media, as much exposure that you have now. I mean, you have to go back to someone like [Bob] Backlund’s run and Hogan’s early run. They didn’t have social media. They didn’t have as much live TV or they didn’t wrestle at all on TV.”

Kudos To Everyone Involved

The WWE Hall of Famer discussed how to keep the interest of the audience at a time when you are overexposed to wrestling is a huge achievement. The Undertaker praised everyone involved in the angle for the great storytelling through the whole run:

“The biggest part of that is to be able to maintain and keep the people’s interest in that storyline for that long. I mean, absolutely [best storyline we have seen in years] there were so many layers to it.

But kudos to him and everybody that worked on all of that because that’s difficult to do. Really difficult to do and do well. There was some really, really good storytelling involved in that.”

The Last Outlaw was one of the legends involved in the WrestleMania 40 main event match between Rhodes and Reigns. He made a surprise appearance to stop The Rock from interfering in the bout. This allowed The American Nightmare to finally finish his story. If the latest reports are to be believed, however, the spot was originally planned for a different legend.

Sami Zayn had some choice words for Chad Gable after tonight’s episode of Raw.

The Intercontinental Championship was defended in the main event of tonight’s episode of the Red Branded Show from Montreal Canada.

The hometown star got a very special entrance through the crowd for this bout against Chad Gable. The two athletes then had a very physical match as expected.

Sami managed to retain the title at the end using the Helluva Kick and showed respect to his opponent afterward. Another crushing defeat, however, proved to be too much for Gable and the former Olympian finally snapped under pressure.

Zayn went up to his family after the win to celebrate but Chad Gable blindsided him into a German suplex. Gable continued the assault by sending the IC Champion into the ring post and then dumping him over the announce desk. The show went off air with Gable locking his opponent into an ankle lock through the middle turnbuckle.

The officials managed to separate the two once the cameras stopped rolling and Gable went to the back leaving the hometown star in the ring. Once Sami Zayn came to his senses, he cut a promo on Gable and warned him about the consequences of his actions:

What Happened On Raw

Before this main event, the show was on par with last week’s Raw after Mania and we saw multiple big developments during the broadcast.

The episode opened with Rhea Ripley confirming the reports of her injury and announcing that she would have to relinquish the Women’s World Championship.

We also saw the WWE return of Sheamus after nearly six months on the shelf. The Celtic Warrior took on Ivar in a singles match which he won.

Apart from this, the WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H made an appearance to make a big announcement. You can check out the details of it here.

Ricky Starks believes it’s not worth it to spend your energy on trolls.

AEW has been struggling with falling TV ratings and low ticket sales in recent months. The under-par performance has made the company a target of online criticism. Being the president of the promotion, Tony Khan has been at the center of this storm, and the billionaire owner has been subjected to some harsh remarks.

The AEW wrestler recently had an interview with SportsKeeda where he talked about things such as Sting’s retirement, Chris Jericho’s pairing with HOOK, and more.

When asked to describe Tony Khan as a boss, Starks claimed that he is a great dude. According to the former FTW Champion, TK is not anything like you’d expect him to be:

“He’s a great dude. He really is. I’ve never met someone as nice as he is. People always assume someone in that position, someone in that tax bracket is going to be a certain way and he isn’t like that. He is a very, very sweet man. I think people need to realise that we are a startup company. We are all just trying to figure this out.”

Ricky Starks Defends Tony Khan

They also talked about the continuous criticism Khan receives from the fans. Ricky Starks explained that you can’t really say anything to trolls because they don’t want to change their mind. The AEW star claimed that they will never know the real Tony Khan who he gets to greet every time he comes back after a match:

“Well, I don’t think you can say anything to internet trolls because even if you presented them with facts and evidence, they still believe what they want to believe. So I think it’s best to just keep the energy to ourselves, right?

Because here’s the thing. They will never experience what we experience, in that the beauty and joy of someone like Tony when you come to the back after your match. It’s a different feeling to experience that with your boss. It could be a hug; it could be a fist bump. It could be anything.”

Ricky Starks was most recently involved in the AEW Tag Team Title Tournament with his partner Big Bill. The team was expected to beat Top Flight and go further into the tournament. An unexpected injury during the match, however, forced the company to call an audible, and Top Flight advanced instead of the former tag champions.

• Ricky Starks Provides Health Update After Injury Scare

The Rock has provided an update on his condition after the 45-minute WrestleMania 40 main event.

The Great One returned to the ring after almost 8 years to deliver one of the biggest WrestleMania main events in the history of the show. He teamed up with Roman Reigns to face Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in a grueling match. The Hollywood star delivered the punishment he had promised and finally won the match for his team by pinning The American Nightmare.

Though the People’s Champion didn’t come out unscathed from the Show of Shows. In a Sunday video drop on Instagram, he provided an update on his condition and further teased future WWE plans.

https://www.instagram.com/p/p:C5wzPBAvN-h

The Biggest WrestleMania of All Time

The Rock started off by saying thank you to the fans. He mentioned that he wanted to help create ‘the biggest WrestleMania of all time’ and they were able to shatter every record because of the fans:

“Okay, so a few things. Number one, let me just start with Thank you. Let me say thank you so, so much. For all the incredible support going into WrestleMania, the build up to WrestleMania, I wanted to help create the biggest WrestleMania of all time, the biggest buildup of all time, make wrestling cool again. Professional wrestling is cool again from the final boss.

I want to say thank you so much for all of your support. We shattered every WrestleMania record this past WrestleMania. We shattered every WWE record, and we did it because of you the fans, and we did it for you, the fans. So thank you, thank you, thank you.”

The Rock Provides Health Update

Speaking about his physical condition coming out of the brutal PLE main event on April 6, The Rock mentioned that he has spent the past week recovering. However, while he is banged up coming out of the tag match, the good news is that there are no injuries to report:

“How my body feels after WrestleMania? Banged up like a son of a bitch. But that’s to be expected. That’s just the world we’re in. Whether it’s pro wrestling, or MMA, UFC, pro boxing, you go into these events, you prepare as best you can. You have your training camps, and you get banged up like a son of a bitch.

Hopefully you come out of it, not injured, doesn’t always happen that way. My body’s banged up. This whole week I spent recovering, getting rid of all the inflammation, lactic acid, but no injuries. So that’s the key.

So anytime you could go through a match like that, whether it’s 45 minutes, like our match, or whatever it is. It’s WrestleMania. You leave it all out in the ring like every woman, like every guy did in that locker room. You get banged up, and hopefully you don’t get injured, so no injuries here to report. My body feels great.”

The former world champion mentioned that he had an intense 12-week training camp before the show. He revealed that he had rings set up in Hawaii, Southern California, and Georgia and wrestlers were flown in to help him get into the ring shape. The Rock noted that he weighed 284lbs at the time the bell rang but still felt fast and athletic.

The MVP Of WrestleMania 40

While the Chapter of WrestleMania 40 has been closed with Cody Rhodes finally defeating Roman Reigns in the night two main event, the story is not finished just yet.

Speaking about the unfavourable outcome for The Bloodline, The Rock first congratulated both Cody and Roman Reigns and acknowledged Seth Rollins as the MVP of the whole arc leading to the PLE:

“I want to say congratulations to the men I was in the ring with. These guys are the best on the planet. Congratulations to Cody Rhodes, the new Universal Champion. As I had said, when the final boss returns, he’s coming back for you. Make you bleed again, boy. Congratulations, Cody Rhodes.

Congratulations to my cousin Roman Reigns on an incredible three-and-a-half-year run, maybe even four years. Just incredible and iconic and historic, very, very proud of you uso. Also congratulations to who I feel is a real MVP of the entire WrestleMania weekend – Seth Rollins. Seth freaking Rollins.”

The Rock finally ended the video referencing the tense confrontation between him and Cody Rhodes on Raw After Mania, and teased his involvement in WrestleMania 41:

“What an honour it was to share the ring with you three. What an honor it was to for us to break records and now my sights are set on the next WrestleMania but that’s conversation down the road.”

The Rock is expected to step away from WWE for his other projects for a while. Some major post-WrestleMania developments, however, speak of him not being done with Rhodes, or The Bloodline for that matter by a long shot.

Adam Copeland is glad that wrestling has moved past segments such as the infamous live sex celebration.

The TNT Champion recently had an interview with Chek Media where they talked about the change in wrestling culture over the past few decades. Copeland was asked about the infamous segment and how he has grown since then.

Copeland mentioned that despite the difference in eras, he knew even back then that things they were doing were inappropriate. According to the AEW star, if he was offered any such thing today, he would have the confidence to just say no:

“Well Adam Copeland now would say no to that. But Adam Copeland then was like, ‘I guess this is part of the gig, this is what I got to do.’ Knowing even at the time, even with time differences or anything like that, it’s like, ‘Well, this sucks,’ and it did. It really did.

Now I have the confidence in myself, confidence as a performer. To know ‘nah I don’t gotta do that. I bring more than that to the table.’ I can do more with my eyes. than I can with trying cheap stuff like that. So that’s nice that the industry has grown from that because yeah, it’s easy to go for low-hanging fruit.

I think that’s one thing that wrestling did a lot of, and thankfully I think has learned its lesson. I think as society has progressed, as everyone has just kind of progressed and moved forward. I think thankfully, it has too, which wasn’t always the case. It could kind of be the outlier who was left lagging behind, but I feel like now it’s different, and in a good way.”

The Power of No: Adam Copeland

When asked what advice he would give to any young talent who is offered any such role, Adam Copeland referenced the rise of the internet and social media. He explained that before accepting any such thing, you have to consider the fact that it can live on forever:

“Well, I think you just gotta [know] what are you comfortable with. Not only what are you comfortable with but what are you comfortable with living possibly forever? That’s a big decision to make now, right? I don’t think there’s anything wrong with, no matter what your age, going ‘Nah I think I’m good.’ The power of no, is a beautiful thing.”

Edge cashed in his Money In The Bank contract to defeat John Cena and win his first World Championship at the 2006 New Year’s Revolution event. The next night on Raw, the Rated R Superstar declared that he would celebrate the win with ‘hot, unbridled sex’ with Lita live on the show. The segment went on for a while before it was interrupted by Ric Flair and later Cena.

You can check out Adam Copeland’s full interview below:

If you use any quotes from the article, please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription.

Cody Rhodes wasn’t made fully aware of all the perks of being the top champion in WWE and he actually got surprised by his pyro during the dark match entrance after SmackDown went off air.

The American Nightmare opened tonight’s show. He first talked about his Universal Championship win and then confirmed that he will be defending the title at the upcoming Backlash: France event.

The new champion came out once again for a dark match after the show went off air. He successfully defended his title against ‘Dirty’ Dominik Mysterio and cut a promo for the crowd after the match was over:

What Happened On SmackDown

Elsewhere in the show we also saw a huge change in the order of the Bloodline. While Roman Reigns wasn’t present for the episode, Paul Heyman alongside Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso were involved in a segment.

Heyman first claimed that they take accountability for the WrestleMania loss. Before he could finish his promo, however, Sikoa took the mic and declared that losing has consequences. This was in reference to Jimmy losing his WrestleMania 40 match against brother Jey Uso.

A hooded figure then appeared out of nowhere and beat down Jimmy Uso, essentially kicking him out of the faction. The figure revealed himself as the newest member of The Bloodline – Tama Tonga.

Solo and Tonga delivered a brutal beatdown to Jimmy and the segment ended with Heyman joining them while they returned to the back.

Elsewhere in the show, we also saw Bron Breakker winning his first singles match after saying goodbye to NXT and Jade Cargill teaming up with Bianca Belair for a victory over Chelsea Green and Piper Niven.

Fans were expecting to see The WWE Avengers assembling for Cody Rhodes’ WrestleMania 40 battle against The Bloodline and they were not disappointed.

Not only people such as Jey Uso and Seth Rollins came out to help even the odds but fans were greeted with the welcome surprise of John Cena and Undertaker making an appearance to help The American Nightmare finally finish the story.

The new Undisputed WWE Champion was asked about these cameos during his appearance on the Pat McAfee Show after the PLE. He first noted how everyone who came down to the ring brought a unique characteristic with them:

“I think one of the most exciting parts about this moment where individuals start showing up is everybody brings something uniquely different.

I had not forgot in a negative way. It just had been some time since I had felt what it’s like when John Cena runs down to that ring. The level of just energy and effect and his commitment to hearing the people and giving the people what they want. That was something special to see.

The Undertaker, the only real thread with me and The Undertaker is simply that I’m up against one of his opponents. But when I saw the Undertaker, that to me, it just felt like here’s the old sheriff. Here’s the guard. Here’s the judge. Here was 40 years of WrestleMania and I was really impressed and blown away and touched at The Undertaker being part of that.”

The Best Era Ever: Cody Rhodes

Despite the inclusion of some of wrestling’s biggest legends, the final chapter of this theatrical played out between Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, and Seth Rollins. The Architect fulfilled his promise to be Cody’s Shield. The obsession with his former partner’s betrayal is what ultimately caused The Tribal Chief his title.

Speaking about the ending of the match, Rhodes mentioned that he loves the past eras of wrestling but this proves that the current era is the best ever:

“You gotta wonder how does it feel when you have The Undertaker, when you have ‘The Final Boss’ The Rock. When you have these luminary figures and the last thing you’re seeing is myself, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.

That is a testament to what I have been saying before even AEW. I love the Attitude Era with all my heart. I love the golden age of the 1980s, but we are in the best era ever.”

You can check out Cody Rhodes’ full interview below:

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

John Cena is known to do the craziest things whether it is inside the WWE ring or outside of it. The prime example of it was The Cenation Leader’s appearance at the 2024 Oscars last month.

The former world champion was called up to present the award for the best costume design. In a shocking turn of events, the wrestling star turned up to the stage wearing almost nothing. The moment went viral on the internet and there have been all kinds of speculation on the thought process behind it.

During his most recent appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, The 16-time world champion was asked about the moment. McAfee remarked that the WWE star seems to be someone who doesn’t take things very seriously. John Cena contrasted the statement, explaining that he takes his work very seriously:

“So I think I do take it seriously, but I take IT seriously not me looking cool. Because if you try to look cool all the time, you’re just chasing a perfect view of yourself that doesn’t exist. Man, I know I got a bald spot in the back of my head. I flossed it last night at WrestleMania. Me, you and like seven out of ten dudes have them. So I don’t care. I’m not perfect. That’s not me.”

Make Me As Naked As Possible: John Cena

Explaining his mindset behind the viral Oscar moment, John Cena said that he is always thinking about how to make the best out of any situation:

“So I think instead of trying to craft every situation to ‘How can I look the strongest or the best?’ I look at every situation [and think] ‘How can we make this the best situation?’ When we go over the Oscar bit and they’re like, ‘Oh, do you want to wear Spanx or spandex or a speedo?’ [I’m like] ‘No, make me as naked as possible so Disney says it’s too naked.’

That’s how we go about it. That’s the funny bit. That’s the gag. That’s why everyone’s entertained. I think that’s what leads to polarising opinions and that’s what leads to interest. People can have that stuff and say ‘Oh, this is this.’ But it is what it is. It’s for your entertainment to decide what you want.”

• Triple H: The Next Chapter In Roman Reigns’ Story Is Going To Blow People’s Minds

You can check out John Cena’s full interview in the video below:

If you use the quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

CM Punk made a surprise appearance during the main event of the Raw after WrestleMania 40 and once again made a big impact on the world title scene.

McIntyre held the world title briefly at the Show of Shows. His decision to taunt the Straight Edge Star after the win over Seth Rollins cost him big, however. After Punk snapped on the Scottish Warrior, his attack allowed Damian Priest to successfully cash in the Money In The Bank contract.

The main event of this week’s Raw then saw McIntyre alongside Bronson Reed, Ricochet, and Jey Uso battling for an opportunity to challenge for the world title.

Right as Drew was going to win the whole thing with a Claymore on Uso, CM Punk made a surprise appearance. His distraction allowed the former Bloodline member to take advantage and pick up the win.

The show went off air with Punk standing on the announce desk, celebrating Jey’s victory with his signature hand gesture. He stayed around after the cameras stopped rolling and cut a promo for the crowd:

Full off air CM Punk promo from #WWERaw after costing Drew McIntyre another world title opportunityhttps://t.co/pGseYf9QzQ

— Anutosh Bajpai || SEScoops || Wrestling News (@AuthorAnutosh) April 9, 2024

CM Punk first put over the Philadelphia crowd for their wrestling spirit and then shouted out the WWE crew for putting together the show. The former world champion ended his promo by promising to have his wrestling boots on the next time WWE visits the city.

What Happened On Raw After WrestleMania

Elsewhere on the show we saw surprise appearances from people such as Jade Cargill, John Cena, and even The Rock.

Jade Cargill defeated Chelsea Green in a short match while John Cena teamed up with the new tag team champions R Truth and The Miz for a match against The Judgement Day. Cena and Awesome Truth picked up the win in this bout

The Rock, on the other hand, confronted the new Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes in a tense segment and further confirmed that his run with the company was not over just yet.

Triple H believes the production changes we have seen in WWE in recent months are only the tip of the iceberg and there is a lot more to come.

Many people have credited the WWE Chief Content Officer for ushering in a new era in WWE. During the post-WrestleMania 40 press conference, The Game noted how there are a lot of people who are helping him bring this change.

One such name he mentioned was the new WWE Head of Media Lee Fitting. According to the former world champion, Fitting is responsible for a lot of production changes people have noticed in the post-Kevin Dunn era:

“Lee Fitting, from a production standpoint, from what we’re doing, from the look the feel, all of it. You see changes happening every week on TV and there’s gonna be more of them. But you see that and I see people excited by them and just loving the changes that are made. I’m telling you, there’s so much more to come.”

There’s A Lot More Coming: Triple H

Triple H claimed that Fitting is a guy that he loves to work with and they’ve made a conscious decision to roll out the changes slowly:

“We’ve made a conscious decision together Lee, Nick [Khan] and myself to slowly roll out some of those changes over time. There’s a lot more coming, but when I tell you Lee Fitting, that I love working with him. He has a passion for this just like we do. Might be new here, but he’s all in.

He’s the kind of guy that I want to go to work for. I want to do stuff to make his job easier. I want to collaborate with him and I want to make things better with him. So I can’t say enough good stuff about him. A lot of the change that you see a lot of the success that you’re seeing comes from Lee Fitting.”

You can watch the full WrestleMania 40 Night 2 press conference below:

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

Bayley is very happy to allow the next generation of women wrestlers to take their spot at the top but not before she has celebrated her own moment.

After defeating Becky Lynch at last night’s WrestleMania 40: Saturday event, Rhea Ripley was asked if the Four Horsewomen’s time in WWE was over. While The Mami acknowledged their contribution in the women’s revolution, she said that it was time for them to step aside.

At the post-show press conference tonight, Bayley was asked if her win over IYO SKY was an answer to the Judgement Day star. The new Women’s Champion first discussed how the young star is a once in a lifetime talent:

“I think Rhea is…she is once in a lifetime. I get so jealous of her. First I have so much respect for her because she works her butt off. She does everything. You guys see Judgement Day on every single show, like 10 times throughout the night. That is not easy and sometimes not always fun. It’s very hard.

So I have all the respect for the work she does. Plus she puts on incredible matches. She’s so young, so athletic. She does one dropkick, that I can’t even….I can’t do a drop kick to someone’s knees. It’s like everything she does makes me mad.”

• Dressed to Impress: The Hidden Meaning Behind the Attires of WWE WrestleMania 40

I’m Glad To Watch It Happen: Bayley

Bayley then mentioned a number of young female talents that are taking the work of the Horsewomen to the next stage and proclaimed that she is very happy to watch it happen:

“But I feel as the time comes for the four horsewomen to lift the division up and get better and better as we wanted to do from the beginning. I’m glad that it’s going to someone like Rhea Ripley. It’s going to somebody like Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan. You got Zoey Starks.

There is so many women that are itching to get out there. Candice LeRae is finally showing her face out there. You all the girls in NXT Roxanne Perez, Lyra [Valkyria]. This is exactly what we wanted. So if she’s ready to take it on, I’m very proud and I’m very glad to watch it happen. But let me have my damn moment, Rhea.”

Rhea Ripley defeated Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania last year and successfully took on Becky Lynch at this year’s edition of the Show of Shows. While it’s too early to predict the future, this banter turning into a match between The Mami and Bayley at WrestleMania 41 would be very poetic.

You can check out the full WrestleMania 40 Night 2 press conference below:

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

Triple H is promising that the story of Roman Reigns is not finished after WrestleMania 40.

The run of The Tribal Chief since his heel turn in 2020 has been one of the most epic storylines WWE has ever produced. Now that it’s over, there has been a lot of curiosity on what’s next for the now former Undisputed Champion.

The WWE Chief Content Officer talked about Reigns in the post show press conference after WrestleMania 40. He claimed that after the latest run, Roman is for certain one of the greatest of all time:

“Before I talk on Cody, let me talk about Roman. There’s a lot of banter about greatest of all time. You can make arguments for a lot of people in that and there’s a lot of metrics that you could measure that by, or opinions or whatever that is. If he is not the, he is one of, absolutely for certain – the greatest of all time.

To do what he has done, to overcome all the things in his career. The positioning and the stuff that he had to get through and hung in there to get where he needed to be. To deal with his physical issues and his health issues to overcome, the pandemic to overcome.

Just everything that he has had to deal with, on the way here. Then to go out there and put on a run like nobody has ever put on before. A run of just epic, epic moments, epic storytelling. I see that word cinema thrown around a lot but it really is.”

Roman Reigns Is Going On A Whole New Story: Triple H

Triple H discussed how Roman Reigns has changed the business in many ways through his run. Though he proclaimed that his story is far from over and teased that The Head of The Table is going to take things on a whole nother level:

“There’s few guys that come along in our business where you say, during that period of time that they were in it. They changed the industry. He changed the industry. I mean that in front of the camera, I mean that behind the camera, he’s changed the industry. He’s that good. I can’t say enough good stuff about him.

Then to do what he did tonight with Cody Rhodes, it’s not completing the story. It’s just getting to the end of this chapter. Because he’s gonna go on a whole new story now that is going to blow people’s minds I think. I know he’s going to take it to a whole nother level, but I can’t tell you how much respect I have for Roman Reigns.”

The last time Triple H promised something like this was when Cody Rhodes lost the WrestleMania 39 match against Roman. He claimed that Cody’s story wasn’t finished and it led us on a year-long journey that concluded tonight. A promise similar to that suggests that there are some plans already in place for the former champion and we should gear up for another epic ride.

You can watch the full press conference below:

If you use any quotes from the article, please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

Cody Rhodes received a very meaningful gift from the WWE leadership after his big win against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40.

The American Nightmare took part in the media scrum after finally finishing the story. He was asked why he thinks people resonated with his journey so much.

Rhodes mentioned how it was a father-son story that a lot of people can connect to. Beyond that, however, it was also a tale of someone who wasn’t considered a franchise player and proved himself to be main event worthy:

“I think sometimes it feels like it’s a father-son story, which is something that father-daughter, father-son that a lot of people can see and relate to. But then if I’m truly being honest, I think it’s a story of as much as I had the legacy and I had the last name I didn’t…[I] wasn’t born with all the tools.

My brother’s six-four. Do you know how pissed off I was when I stopped growing? [laughs] My dad and my sister just had all this charisma. I think people resonate that, that works for them. You can make it to the main event. You can make it to being THE main event. I always wanted to be a winning franchise if that makes any sense. At my age and where I’m at in my career, I know that’s not been the story. But I’m very proud of, of what the story has become.

You asked, why it resonates? It’s the only answer I really know – because it’s real. I wanted to be this because at first, he wasn’t and I thought he should have been. Then when he passed away, I failed. I didn’t hand it to him. But it became about, I said this earlier, it was in the hype packages and stuff that was playing – the story was beyond me at that point. I still felt the need to finish it. I’ve been saying all week. I think I said it on First Take too that even if I didn’t believe people believed so I had to do it.”

Cody Rhodes Received A Meaningful Gift

Cody Rhodes also revealed a very special gift he received from WWE officials once he returned backstage after winning the Undisputed Championship:

“I know this isn’t what you asked at all, but something that I wanted to share. I came to the back and Bruce Prichard and Triple H and Nick Khan handed me this [watch] which is the same watch that my dad had that he pawned so that I could go to acting school. So the level of investment and responsibility that the company just put in my hands. I hope I can pay it back. Pay it forward, 100 times over.”

Cody had originally written about the watch in his eulogy for Dusty Rhodes back in 2015: 

“My beautiful Sister Teil will tell you all about “angel money”. And that beautiful gold Rolex…he told me if I ever won the World Title, that I could have it. Just the other night I inquired about that watch, come to find out he had sold it so that I could drive to Los Angeles to chase a dream.” 

https://twitter.com/codyrhodes/status/611332890568327168

You can watch the full media scrum below:

If you use the quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

The story has finally been finished and Cody Rhodes can go home to his family with the Universal Championship, but the nightmare is only beginning for Roman Reigns.

The Tribal Chief’s unbelievable run as the top champion of WWE came to an end at tonight’s WrestleMania 40 from the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

The match was easily the most star-studded bout in the history of WrestleMania main events. Bloodline rules allowed outside interference which means apart from Cody and Roman, we also got to see names such as John Cena, The Rock, and even The Undertaker getting involved.

In the end, it was Rhodes’ resilience that did the job. He finally overcame the odds to defeat Roman Reigns and present the title to his mother as he had promised.

What Happened After WrestleMania 40

The show ended with The American Nightmare celebrating the biggest win of his career with his family as well as a number of top WWE stars such as CM Punk, Randy Orton, and even Triple H.

There was another side of this story however and in the post-show footage that has surfaced, we can see Paul Heyman consoling his Tribal Chief on the stage after his big loss:

Paul Heyman consoled Roman Reigns after his loss while Cody was celebrating in the ringpic.twitter.com/t7PjaKr0GF

— Anutosh Bajpai || SEScoops || Wrestling News (@AuthorAnutosh) April 8, 2024

It’s anyone’s guess what WWE has in store for The Head of The Table after this historic run has come to an end. Though The Rock has suggested that his involvement with WWE will continue beyond WrestleMania 40.

The intrigue of a singles match between the two cousins is still there. While The Great One is likely to step away for some time due to his other commitments, it won’t be a surprise if we see him back into the WWE ring sooner or later.

Triple H believes that WWE is in the business of selling emotions and performers such as Shawn Michaels and Sami Zayn are successful because of their ability to draw emotion out of people.

HBK was called Mr. WrestleMania for the longest time because of his incredible performances at the Show of Shows against opponents such as Bret Hart, Ric Flair and more.

Sami Zayn has been following in the footsteps of the NXT head. In recent years, he has earned praise for his WrestleMania matches against the likes of Kevin Owens and Johnny Knoxville. This year he gave another incredible performance against Gunther who he defeated to win the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 40 night 1.

In the post-show press conference, Triple H was asked to compare the two performers. The Game first explained how Shawn Michaels was successful because of his ability to draw out emotion:

“A lot of people would look at Shawn back then [or] even now, they would see Shawn as this spectacular performer, right? Like the moves that he did. All these spectacular things that he did. Shawn was doing a lot of that at a period of time maybe before everybody else was which is why I think so many younger talent resonate towards him because he’s so good.

But the thing that made Shawn so good was his ability to pull emotion out of you. It wasn’t the moves, the moves were like the special effects. Shawn is unbelievable at getting emotional out. When you hit Shawn, and he goes down and he sells, you feel bad for him.

You want him to do better and he just can get that emotion out of you. When Shawn begins to then make a comeback begins to fire up and begins to put that anger out or whatever it is, that aggression out. You believe it and you buy into it. He’s a Pitbull when he’s on you.”

We Sell Emotion: Triple H

Triple H then explained that WWE is in the business of selling emotion. Sami Zayn, like Shawn Michaels has found success in WWE because he is able to make people feel for him:

“It’s emotion. We sell emotion. We build stories and sell emotion. It’s not the moves, it’s not the spots. It’s not the sequences or whatever, however people want to say – it’s emotion. Yes, those things all lead into it. But without it, it’s just a video game. It doesn’t mean anything.

What you saw in Sami and Gunther tonight was two people that are geniuses at pulling emotion out of you. That’s Sami’s calling card. Yes, he does spectacular things. But his ability as a performer as an actor, whatever you wanna call it, to pull that emotion out of people. It’s awesome. It’s why he is in the spot he is, it’s why he is as good as he is.”

You can check out the full media scrum below:

If you use the quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

Roman Reigns has revealed that he is still taking oral chemotherapy for leukemia and it’s a battle that he is going to have to continue fighting for the rest of his life.

The Tribal Chief teamed up with his cousin The Rock in the main event of WrestleMania Saturday to take on Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. During the bout, Pat McAfee on the commentary noted that Roman Reigns is still battling leukemia.

This revelation concerned people due to Reigns’ history with the disease and he was asked about it during the post-show media scrum. The Undisputed Champion confirmed that he is still in remission. Though he also revealed that the oral chemotherapy is likely to continue for the rest of his life:

“Well, I’m still on oral chemotherapy. It’s a medication that I’m going to have to remain on my entire life most likely. So yeah, that’s just a part of my personal battle. It doesn’t affect…thank God, I’m still able to perform. I think anybody in my position would say, health is wealth. And as long as I can continue to perform, then you already know that that’s at bay, so we’re good. We’re still in remission. But it is something that is still a part of my life.”

Roman Reigns originally intended to make a career in Football and his promising early performance led to his signing with Minnesota Vikings in 2007. However, he was released by the team only a month later when he was diagnosed with leukemia during the team physical. He went into remission about two years after the initial diagnosis.

After retiring from Professional football in 2008, Reigns began his journey to the top of the professional wrestling world when he signed a development contract with WWE in 2010.

In October 2018 he revealed that the leukemia that had been in remission all these years had returned and he would have to step away from WWE programming for an indefinite amount of time. Reigns returned to TV in February 2019, revealing that his leukemia was once again in remission.

• Roman Reigns is Already Thinking About Main Eventing WrestleMania 41

You can check out the WrestleMania 40 Night One media scrum below:

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

The Rock has hinted that WrestleMania 40 may not be his last program with WWE.

Ever since the Great One joined the TKO board of directors, there have been speculations that we will be seeing him on WWE programming more regularly.

After an amazing performance in the main event of WrestleMania Saturday, The People’s Champion took part in the post-show media scrum. He was asked if we can expect more big matches from him, to which The Rock said that he can’t elaborate on it at the moment:

“There might be. Can’t elaborate that much on that but there might be. I love what I do and I love our business. I was born into our business as you guys know so we’ll see.”

The Rock was later asked what inspired his comeback to the WWE ring after more than a decade. The Hollywood star mentioned how talks of a match between him and Roman Reigns have been going on since before WrestleMania 39. 

Speaking about finally pulling the plug on it, he said that the Endeavor sale was a catalyst for it. The Great One mentioned how he has known both Ari Emanuel and Nick Khan for a long time, and once again talked about building things beyond WrestleMania 40:

“My number one priority was ‘Can I come back and add real value this time around’ and not you know, coming back for hot shots one at a time maybe, making appearance one night. That’s fun. That’s fun for the fans, but I wanted something a little bit more, a lot more substantial. Not only a lot more substantial, but something that we can really build upon.

And so these past two, three months, I think we’ve been laying groundwork nicely, and not only building for WrestleMania this weekend, but also I think beyond that and building for the future and what that could look like.”

A win for The Rock and Roman Reigns tonight means the match between Cody Rhodes and The Tribal Chief tomorrow will be contested under Bloodline rules.

We know that the Hollywood star will have to step away from WWE programming for the time being after this PLE due to his movie commitments. 

The intrigue for a Rock vs Roman Reigns match, however, is still there. After the latest comments from the former champion, it won’t be a surprise if we see the current story extending beyond this year’s edition of The Show of Shows.

You can watch the media scrum below:

If you use the quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

It appears Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins are still partners despite their disheartening loss at the hands of Roman Reigns and The Rock at WrestleMania: Saturday.

The WrestleMania main event was everything fans expected and more. The match which went over 40 minutes was one of the longest bouts in the history of the Show of Shows.

From the start, The Final Boss used every tactic he could to control the bout. This included threatening the referee in order to stop the tag team rules from being enforced.

Both Cody and Seth showed incredible courage despite the overwhelming odds and managed to get the upper hand a few times, only to be taken out again however.

It looked like Cody might actually win the match for his team when he went for a third back-to-back Cross-Rhodes on Reigns but The Rock introduced the weight belt at the last second and turned the match into their favor.

• Sami Zayn Defeats Gunther to Win Intercontinental Championship At WrestleMania 40

What Happened After WrestleMania Saturday

Seth Rollins had already been taken out by a spear through the barricades. So after the belt spot, Roman hit the spear. It allowed The Rock to hit Rock Bottom and finally The People’s Elbow for the win.

Both the cousins had an extended celebration after the match while Cody remained in the ring realizing the effect this loss would have on his match with Roman Reigns tomorrow.

Though it appears that the bond between Rhodes and Rollins remains the same despite the change. As seen in the post-show footage below, Cody helped a beat up Seth to the back after the show went off air:

It appears Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins are in this together still. Onto the craziest #WrestleMania main event tomorrow nightpic.twitter.com/JAR9p67uQR

— Anutosh Bajpai || SEScoops || Wrestling News (@AuthorAnutosh) April 7, 2024

The WrestleMania Sunday main event between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns will now be contested under Bloodline rules. This means we can expect to see more of all four of these contestants tomorrow night.

As evident from the results of tonight’s show, The American Nightmare will have to do something unprecedented if he has to finish the story tomorrow night and a planned mystery spot may turn out to be the catalyst of it all.

It has been four years since The Undertaker wrestled his final match against AJ Styles at WrestleMania 36. The bout which was originally supposed to be contested in a ring was changed to a cinematic match due to COVID-19 restrictions. Many fans still believe the Phenom deserved a sendoff in front of an audience but the legend himself seems to be content with it.

The Dead Man discussed the Boneyard match during the most recent episode of his podcast. Speaking about the bout being converted into a cinematic match, Taker said they were lucky to be able to shoot outside in the environment. He noted how due to the style of the match, they were able to tie in his real-life self with the different personas of his career:

“We got lucky in the sense that we got to go out of the Performance Centre. Because all the matches, Edge and I think Randy Orton, they had a hell of a match but it was so sterile because there was no reaction. We weren’t even pumping in noise at that point or didn’t have the virtual audience.

It was just them having a match in the Performance Centre, a killer match but there’s just no emotion to feed off of. That’s the thing that you live for. We were fortunate enough that we got to go off and had this cinematic match. It was cool for me because I got to kind of tie in all the characters in one.

I got to tie myself, the old school Undertaker, the American badass, everything got tied together for that match just due to the fact, the content of the interviews and the stuff that AJ was doing. That match was obviously supposed to be held in the ring. So we got really lucky that we were able to have those kinds of toys and the atmosphere.”

When Undertaker Realized This Was It

The Undertaker’s struggle with his health in the last few years of his career have been well documented. Before WrestleMania 36 there were multiple bouts Taker considered his last, only to be pulled back by the appeal of one more match. According to the Last Outlaw, the realization of the Boneyard match being ‘it’ finally hit him right before they filmed the climax of the fight:

“We were between takes. We were getting ready to, I think getting ready to go to the big finale off the top of the barn there. It was getting cold. We’ve been at it since I think we started filming around dark which was around eight o’clock. So now it’s four in the morning and my back, everything is locking up.

That’s like when I had [the realization], that’s when it finally clicked like ‘This is it dude. You’re not coming back after this one.’ It was just a moment; I was sitting there by myself and just a moment of pure clarity that just said ‘Shit. This is it right here’ Obviously I didn’t share it with anybody. We got through it.”

The WWE Hall of Famer was then asked if he feels content with the Cinematic match being the end of his wrestling journey. Taker mentioned how he always wanted to wrestle AJ Styles. He claimed that he is happy because of how poetic the bout turned out to be:

“I was happy because it was another thing like I was really fortunate enough to be involved in so many innovative matches and these crazy storylines and to be able to do this big cinematic type match which would add different layers to the product. I was happy with all that.

Deep down I always thought AJ was the Shawn Michaels of this generation. I wanted to have that kind of match that I had with Shawn with AJ in a ring, but I don’t think it would have been as poetic as what we were able to do.”

The retired legend later also revealed that AJ wanted to do even more things that would have put the spotlight on Taker in his final match. He refused however, because his body couldn’t handle it.

You can check out the full episode of the podcast below:

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

A wrestling talent is generally always looking forward to winning their next championship. The WWE Intercontinental Championship however is one belt Kevin Owens doesn’t want to win again because of a very good reason.

The Raw star has won the coveted title a total of two times in his career. Owens has held it for a combined 132 days in his two reigns.

KO recently took part in a Fanatics live auction on the UpUpDownDown channel. While signing an IC title replica for the auction, the WWE star mentioned how he doesn’t want to win the championship again because his record is tied with the late Owen Hart:

“This is the main event, it’s the replica championship of the Intercontinental Title I held for the exact same amount of days as Owen Hart. We both had two title runs, they total the exact same amount of days. So I technically don’t ever wanna win this again because I like that.”

Kevin Owens and Owen Hart

The Intercontinental Championship was Kevin Owens’ first singles title on WWE’s main roster. He defeated Ryback at the 2015 Night of Champions event to win the belt. His second title reign came not long after and he defeated Dean Ambrose at the February 21, 2016 episode of Raw for it.

For Owen Hart, his first IC title run came very shortly after the formation of the legendary Hart Foundation in WWE in 1997. He defeated Rocky Maivia for his first title win and Faarooq for his second run with the title. Both times he would drop the championship to Steve Austin.

Kevin Owens is currently in pursuit of another championship in the form of the US title. The belt is held by Logan Paul at the moment. Both Owens and Randy Orton will be looking to dethrone the YouTube star in a triple-threat match at WrestleMania 40.

If you use the quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

Fans were graced with the presence of The Mami Rhea Ripley after the 3/29 SmackDown from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut went off air.

The Women’s Champion made a brief appearance during the show. This came after the segment between LWO and Legado Del Fantasma. A tag team match between Dominik Mysterio & Santos Escobar and Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee for WrestleMania 40 was announced during this confrontation.

The whole Judgement Day was shown backstage after this and Dom apologized to his teammates for not informing them of his intentions ahead of time.

This wasn’t the last of Rhea Ripley fans got to see, however. The World Champion competed in a dark match after SmackDown went off air where she retained her title against Shayna Baszler.

After smackdown went off the air Rhea Ripley faced Shayna Basler for the women's title. No surprise Rhea retained obviously. It was a good match. pic.twitter.com/C0Pm0zt7n0

— Ryan Avedisian (@RyanAvedisian1) March 30, 2024

The second dark match of the night featured another member of the Judgement Day. Finn Balor squared off against Sami Zayn in this match but unlike Mami, he failed to win the contest.

What Happened On SmackDown

Apart from this, the show also featured an appearance from former AEW star Jade Cargill. The female star made her SmackDown signing official during the show and put the whole roster on notice.

Cargill made her presence felt in a big way during the main event segment as well. The final broadcasted match of the night featured Bianca Belair defeating Dakota Kai in a singles contest.

Asuka and Kairi Sane attacked the EST immediately after the bell rang and Naomi also failed to stop this assault. Jade Cargill made the save for the babyfaces and they stood tall to end the show.

• 5 Things We Learned From Becky Lynch’s Memoir ‘The Man’

The Undertaker has named the proudest moment of his wrestling career.

The Dead Man has had many memorable encounters throughout the years. His matches with rivals such as Mick Foley and Kane are still remembered by fans multiple decades later.

However, when asked what is the greatest event he has ever been a part of during a recent Patreon Q&A, Taker picked his encounter with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 25 as his greatest match ever:

The Last Outlaw was asked if he thinks the Michaels match was maybe the greatest ever in history of wrestling. While he shied away from making any such claims, the WWE Hall of Famer did reveal that WWE originally wanted to put the match very early in the card. They threw a fit about it backstage and then both performers went into the ring with the intention of stealing the show:

You know me I don’t like to put myself over in those kind of answers but that match was pretty close to…in spite of Dave Meltzer only giving it four stars. I don’t remember him taking too many bumps. I don’t really have a lot of stock in what he says. I can’t even believe I just gave him credit. I did say his name and I’m regretting that right now. We might have to edit that out. 

There was just so many special factors, starting with Shawn and I’s relationship. How it had come full circle and to where now we care for each other as friends and not just competitors and people working for the same company. We are genuine friends at that point.

We don’t like where we have been put on the card. So we both have chips on our shoulders. He was from San Antonio, I’m from Houston, we’re in Texas. Everything lined up perfectly for that match and that night and it’ll still probably be my proudest moment.”

My Greatest Matches: The Undertaker

The Undertaker later discussed how WrestleMania 25 was start of a series that ended with the memorable ‘End of An Era’ match with Triple H four years later. According to Taker, the pressure shifted completely on him after the first bout but the whole series is probably his greatest achievement as a performer:

“Then even then, leading into the two with Triple H. That was the continuation of those first two matches. Those all just kind of fell together. You’re talking about pressure though. The first one was us proving a point. The second one, the pressure was on me because I’m getting Shawn Michaels’ retirement match.

That’s a heavy heavy responsibility. Cause you want, you know, for somebody who has had a career like Shawn, you wanna make sure that they go away thinking ‘yeah, I can walk away from this. I am ok because we just tore the house down’ So that pressure was huge.

And then now I go into the next two with Triple H. Like I’ve just had two freaking banger matches and now we’re continuing the story with the best friend who is stepping in and completely different styles. Those were four really, really fun years.

There is my run with Mick [Foley] and the things that I got to do with Mick and obviously, the greatest story maybe ever told was me and Kane and I hold those in really high regard. But as far as storytelling, match quality and all of that, those four matches are probably I feel like four of my greatest matches.”

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription.

The Undertaker has finally explained the one point about him that has always puzzled the fans.

The Dead Man is the epitome of the old-school wrestler. He is one who likes to live by a code and maintain order. His loyalty and ethics are the reason why he served as a locker room leader for a long time in WWE. Taker is a man who has the respect of almost anyone who knows anything about the wrestling business. The one thing that doesn’t seem to match all of these qualities, however, is his fear of cucumbers.

The WWE Hall of Famer was asked about the origin of this hate during his most recent Patreon Q&A. The wrestling legend finally explained that it comes from a childhood experience with a bowl of pickled cucumbers:

“Why do you give me some bullshit question like that? I don’t even like talking about the cucumbers man. Alright, here it is. When I was just a weeee little Undertaker, like a kindergarten, first grade Undertaker, I come home from school one day. My mother had taken a bunch of fresh cucumbers and cut them up into slices and had them soaking in a big bowl of vinegar. It was that day. [At that time] it was the greatest thing ever.

So I proceeded to eat the whole bowl of cucumbers soaked in vinegar. Well, something about that didn’t settle well with my stomach. Shortly after I ate all of the cucumbers, I expelled all of the contents of my stomach. From that moment on, the smell, for a long time even to see a cucumber I would get somewhat, I wouldn’t say nauseous but queasy. Smell a cucumber? Forget about it. My stomach is just like [nope]…it’s like my mouth starts watering.

So that’s why I hate cucumbers because I ate too many once as a child, left a horrible, horrible scar in my memory of how bad I threw up. How sick that I got. Then just the very smell of a cucumber [made me sick], heaven forbid I taste one. Let me get one in a bit of sushi or something like that [if] you want to see some drama. Because anytime I go to order sushi, like I’ll ask. If there’s cucumbers that are supposed to be in a roll or [something] I ask specifically ‘Can I get this without the cucumber?’ Usually [it’s] ‘Yeah, that’s no problem.’

Heaven forbid they forget or they screw up and I get cucumber in my mouth. It is not a good day at the sushi restaurant. I will show my ass real quick and I try really hard not to do that. I know people are working hard trying to do things. I am level-headed as I can be, do not put cucumber in my sushi, especially when I make it very clear that I do not want cucumber in my sushi.”

• The Undertaker Explains How Paul Heyman ‘Earns His Money’ As A Wrestling Manager

Paul Bearer Was An Evil, Evil Man: The Undertaker

The Undertaker also talked about how Paul Bearer always took advantage of his weakness. He told a story of Bearer sabotaging his food during a meal:

“The other part of that question, Did Paul Bearer [put cucumber in my boots]. Paul Bearer put cucumber in everything that I owned. Paul Bearer was evil, an evil evil man. Now I love him to death. I love him to death. I miss him every day. But the man was evil and was so much like, okay, you put them in my boots, ha ha ha. But he got to the point where that didn’t satisfy him enough.

So he would have to push the envelope to the point where I remember once getting up. I had to go to the restroom or whatnot. I come back and he’s sitting there and I could just tell by the look on his face that he had done something. Didn’t know what it was. [I] didn’t know that anything had been ordered that had cucumber in it. Anyway, I guess he went to the salad bar and got a slice of cucumber and somehow got it at the bottom of the glass of my iced tea.

So I think I had, I was eating a hamburger or something. So I take a bite of this burger. I’m chewing it up. I take the tea, gonna wash it down. I’m drinking and then I see it. It’s like that moment of [realization] like ‘Oh my god. That’s a cucumber and it’s in my drink.’

I slam the drink down and get the big spit pop from him. He spits what it is in his mouth out. I’m cussing him right in the middle of the restaurant and he’s like, ‘What, What I didn’t do that.’ I’m like ‘You’re a damn liar. You know you did that.’ That’s why I don’t like cucumbers. I ate too many as a child, got sick and travelled the world with a evil manager who would sabotage my food with cucumbers. So there it is.”

Taker later revealed that he has the same problem with tomatoes as well. According to the former world champion, he can eat tomato sauce or ketchup but raw tomatoes are ‘right under the cucumber’ for him.

If you use any quotes from the article, please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

Nick Aldis has admitted that he felt a little bit betrayed after the All In 2018 event.

The independent PPV promoted by The Elite has proven to be one of the most important events in the history of wrestling. The show that started off as a challenge ended up being the catalyst of AEW’s formation and has changed the landscape of professional wrestling forever.

The SmackDown General Manager was an important part of this phenomenon. He defended his NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Cody Rhodes at the Sears Centre Arena. The bout is still remembered for the intricate storytelling leading up to it and the delivery of it.

While both the stars played their role in this feud perfectly, the results were not the same for them. The event propelled the American Nightmare into his current superstardom, but Aldis had to continue battling for relevance long after it. It was only after a bitter end to his relationship with NWA in 2022 that he managed to get an opportunity with WWE.

During a recent interview with Inside The Ropes, Nick Aldis was asked how he feels about the different paths their careers took after All In. He mentioned that playing the comparison can lead you to the rabbit hole of bitterness in wrestling but also admitted his disappointment at not being made aware of what was going on behind the scenes at the time:

“I think in this business if you start playing the comparison game, you can really go down a rabbit hole of bitterness and resentment very quickly. I felt a little bit betrayed when I found out that they were all familiar, they were all aware of Tony Khan, and they’d been sort of plotting this thing.

So then as we progressed a couple of months forward, it’s sort of like, ‘oh, that’s all already happening. That’s sort of a done deal.’ Sort of in that respect I guess I felt like I could have been informed of that sooner. But I just looked at it from the perspective of like, Well, that piece of business meaning Cody and I at All In, that did nothing but good things for everyone involved. It wasn’t like people looked at me and went ‘Oh he’s finished.’

We tore the house down and we had the match that everybody remembers. We had the real main event of that show. That built my credibility. Off the back of that, we were able to launch an entire show that at that time had a strong, sustainable audience. I landed a six-figure contract off the back of that also. Cody obviously, had a pipeline to a billionaire. It is a different, I only had a millionaire, he had a billionaire but, whatever. It’s all just part of the tapestry of your career.”

• The Undertaker Reacts To Paul Heyman’s Hall of Fame Induction

I Was The Right Guy Too: Nick Aldis

Nick Aldis made it clear later in the interview that he doesn’t resent Cody Rhodes in any way. According to the former NWA star, their match gave him an opportunity to show his talent and to prove that the big fight feel can be orchestrated outside of WWE too:

“I certainly didn’t resent Cody. If anything, I was grateful to Cody because the success of that show was certainly not [dependent on me]. They weren’t going to sell those…they sold those tickets, no matter what. I always say I didn’t draw the house but I felt like I made the show what it was.

I felt like if you take Cody and I’s match out of All In I think people remember it as a sort of really amazing achievement, as a sort of, almost like a giant crowdfunding exhibit like ‘Wow. I can’t believe that these guys got together and they managed to sell 11,000 seats to an arena. That’s really cool.’

But I felt like what Cody and I’s match did was kind of show that it can be done outside of WWE. Like a moment, storytelling, emotion. the big fight feel. The delivery of the big match and the fairytale ending can happen somewhere else with the right guys. Look, Cody was the right guy, but I was the right guy too. I felt like it underlined me as ‘this guy could do it too.'”

You can check out Nick Aldis’ full interview in the video below:

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription

Paul Heyman is arguably one of the most influential managers of the wrestling business of all time. From Steve Austin to Jimmy Snuka and from CM Punk to Roman Reigns, the former ECW promoter has been an instrumental figure in the careers of some of wrestling’s biggest names. The Undertaker is another such guy who credits Heyman for his early success in wrestling without which his legendary WWE run may have never started.

The Dead Man talked about the legendary manager being announced as an inductee for the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2024 on the latest episode of his podcast. He said that the accolade is well deserved and discussed the many ways Paul helped him out when they got paired together in WCW:

“Hall of Fame man. Well-deserved too. Not only has he got like a brilliant wrestling mind. But even for as long as he’s been involved in the business and around, he’s still so passionate. He’s one of those guys like Paul Bearer was the same way with me. When he was managing Brock and obviously now he’s managing Roman Reigns. He is so invested in those guys and their well-being, their decision-making.

When I went solo in WCW, after Danny left, they put Paul with me. He was so instrumental in keeping me sane because I was so frustrated there with what they were doing with me. Obviously, the infamous meeting that I had with WCW’s upper management. He was such an advocate for me, in the sense of getting me to Bruce [Prichard], who would eventually get me to Vince [McMahon] and that whole thing.

He was a little better off than I was, I wasn’t making any money. A lot of times, he would just pick up the rental cars instead of us splitting it or help me out when he could, but obviously, the biggest contribution on my part with him was just that connection to get me out of WCW and into an opportunity with WWE”

• Also Read: The Undertaker On Wrestling After Owen Hart’s Death

Paul Earns His Money: The Undertaker

The Undertaker then discussed how Paul Heyman not only plays the part of an on-screen manager for any talent he is paired with but also acts as a real-life advocate for them behind the scenes:

“Paul, if he’s passionate about an idea, or his guy is passionate about an idea, he will flat out go to battle. It’s not his hill really to die on, but he will. He truly is representing, what they feel is the best move for where they’re positioned. Not every manager is like that. Not every manager is as invested as Paul is.

Paul can be brash and he can say some things that will ruffle your feathers. But overall he’s very smart about the business. He’s totally invested. A lot of times too, he’ll go and rely things that maybe his guy doesn’t wanna do. ‘Hey what you think about this.’ Paul earns his money man. He does a really, really good job of advocating for his guys.

Not everybody is that invested. But he’ll fight and argue and try and get his point across and change people’s minds which is what you want. As a talent sometimes, you’re trying to focus on ‘Okay, I have to focus on this match’ and whatever that might be. So it’s nice to have somebody, who is so knowledgeable of the business, going in there and not to say politicking, but being an advocate.”

You can check out Undertaker’s full interview below:

If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription