Sami Zayn got another shot at the Undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns after their Elimination Chamber match in Montreal.
WWE presented their latest Live Event from Toronto, Canada this Sunday. The show featured stars such as Rhea Ripley, Kevin Owens and more.
Matches on the card for this event included bouts such as Drew McIntyre, Braun Strowman and Ricochet vs. The Imperium, Charlotte Flair vs. Shayna Bazler and more.
WWE had originally booked Zayn for a tag team match with Owens at the show but they later changed it to singles matches for both the stars.
Sami Zayn vs. Roman Reigns
Kevin defeated LA Knight in a match on the House Show while Sami Zayn got another shot at the Head Of The Table in the main event of the night.
The two recreated the magic of their Elimination Chamber encounter and delivered a nail biter for the live crowd. The referee got knocked out towards the ending of the bout and Roman Reigns tried to use a chair to his advantage but failed.
The final moments of the match saw Roman delivering a low blow to his opponent. He then picked up the victory to retain the titles with a spear.
Both Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn addressed the crowd after the match to end the night. You can check out some photos and videos of their encounter below:
The case of Sami Zayn and The Bloodline is a curious one. The former NXT champion wasn’t even considered a main event talent by many fans up until a year ago. However, he has turned haters into supporters with his performance in the past year. Many believe that he should have beaten Roman Reigns at the Elimination Chamber PPV. Though Paul Heyman is promising that Sami’s story is not finished despite the loss.
The special counsel recently appeared on the SI Media podcast. He was asked if there was ever any inkling to change the WrestleMania plans for Reigns due to Zayn’s rise to popularity. The former ECW owner claimed that it’s always a possibility:
“There’s always an inkling to change any plan because the old expression is you have a test audience every night and we’re very adaptable. We think we have a really good formula here. We think we have a really good path. I don’t think you’ve seen the last of Sami Zayn. In fact, I can guarantee you haven’t seen the last of Sami Zayn, nor Kevin Owens, nor any of the other players in this act that we’ve put together.
There was a very compelling reason to put Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn on Elimination Chamber. The timing was perfect for us and oh my god, we just happened to be putting that show in Montreal, where the reception to Sami would be something that other audiences will aspire to top just because they wanna be the best audience ever.”
‘That’s What We Do’: Paul Heyman
Many people still believe that WWE should have saved the bout between Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn for WrestleMania 39. Paul Heyman addressed this belief and explained how the loss still helped the Honorary Uce:
“So we saw this Montreal opportunity. We also saw the timing could not be better. We’re heading into the Royal Rumble with Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens, and then all the different opportunities that interweave themselves with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. The timeline for the story just fit. I understand that people have wanted more and more and more for Sami. That’s the object. We try to do that with every challenger. We did that with Drew McIntyre going on over to Cardiff in the UK. We did that with Brock Lesnar going into SummerSlam when he drove a tractor out to the ring and demolished the ring. We did that with the group that we took on in the WarGames in Survivor Series. We did it with Kevin Owens going into the Royal Rumble.
We try to do that with everyone that comes into the co-starring role with Roman Reigns in terms of who his opponent’s going to be for the match that we’re trying to sell. And hopefully, on the flip side of being defeated by the Tribal Chief, the Undisputed Champion Roman Reigns, you are worth far more. Have a far more passionate fan base. Sell far more merchandise, sell far more tickets than you did before. You are more famous, more accepted, more valued by the audience than you were before we got our hands on you. That’s the whole object of what we do. I hope six months from now, people are still clamoring more and more and more for Sami, that’s what we do. We try to make stars out of everyone that’s within our orbit.”
You can check out Paul Heyman’s full interview below:
Cody Rhodes made an appearance on this week’s episode of SmackDown to confront Roman Reigns. He also put on his 33-match undefeated streak on the line after the show went off air.
The opening segment of this week’s SmackDown saw The American Nightmare confronting The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. The two had a heated exchange that got personal.
The WrestleMania opponents, however, avoided a fight before their upcoming big match. The segment ended with both the stars shaking hands.
The main event of the show saw Sami Zayn competing in a bout against Solo Sikoa. Though this wasn’t the last match of the night and WWE presented two dark matches after SmackDown went off air.
What Happened After SmackDown
The first dark match after the show featured Charlotte Flair in action. The SmackDown Women’s Champion put her title on the line against Sonya Deville.
The second dark match then saw Cody Rhodes, who has been undefeated since his return last year facing Finn Balor in a singles match.
The former AEW star went on to win the match against the Judgement Day Leader. Rhodes cut a promo after the bout and said that he hopes to leave WrestleMania as the Undisputed WWE World Heavyweight Champion.
Uncle Howdy has remained an ominous figure who lurks around but never gets his own hands dirty ever since his introduction to WWE TV, but this changed on tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
Bray Wyatt called out the winner of the Lashley vs. Brock Lesnar match at Elimination Chamber before the PPV last month. The bout, however, ended in a disqualification after The Beast Incarnate delivered a low blow to his opponent.
Bobby Lashley made a trip to SmackDown this week in response to Bray’s tricks. He called out the former Universal Champion for a confrontation.
Uncle Howdy In Action
While Bray was nowhere to be seen, Uncle Howdy did make an appearance. He first showed up in a video on the Titan Tron.
The mysterious character then attacked Lashley from behind, marking it the first time he has gotten physical with an opponent.
Though Bobby Lashley did not stay down for long. As Howdy ran the ropes, Lashley planted him and set him up for a spear. However, lights then went out and when they came back on, Bobby was left alone in the ring.
WWE has not made the match between the former WWE Champion and The Eater of Worlds official yet but all signs indicate that they will meet at the Show of Shows this year.
Having a locker room leader is a long-standing tradition of WWE. The title is usually attributed to the guys who have went through the rookie phase themselves and have been on the top of the card for a significant amount of time. Seth Rollins is one such star who has become one of the leaders of the current locker room, without even realizing when the transition happened.
The Visionary talked about the change in his behind the scene role on After The Bell. Rollins detailed a conversation he recently had with William Regal:
“I was having this conversation with William Regal at catering yesterday or a couple days ago, I’m sitting there and I was asking him. I’m just kind of like, ‘Hey, I don’t know when this happened for you. I don’t know if you remember but it just kind of like humor me a little bit,’ I don’t know, when really I became the guy who was sitting on the other side of the curtain, giving advice. I don’t know when that happened. I just remember being the guy coming back, being like, ‘Mr. Cena, excuse me. Do you have anything for me?’ I don’t know.
I feel like it’s happened very recently. I just started to notice, caught on these shows that there was nobody sitting in that spot. I was like, ‘Man, I can just hear the crowd so much better if I’m right behind the curtain instead of far away in the talent viewing room.’ So I just sat behind the curtain, and I’m just watching the monitor, watching the matches, listening to the live crowd. All of a sudden people start coming back and [asking] ‘What did you think? Any thoughts here and there? I’m kind of like ‘Oh, you’re talking to me? Oh, yeah okay. All right. I do have some thoughts. Bear with me.'”
‘I’m Not That Old Guy’: Seth Rollins
Seth Rollins mentioned that he doesn’t know when this change happened. The 36-year-old remembered being the young guy who learned from people such as John Cena, Kane and Randy Orton. Now he is older than these legends were when he first made his debut in November, 2012:
“But yeah, I don’t know when that happened. I don’t know how it happened. I’m talking to someone. I don’t remember who it was, Somebody the other day who is on the roster substantially older than me. I am like ‘Ah,’ My brain was melting at how I’m older now with some of these other guys than when John Cena was on top. When I came in. When I started working with John. I’m older than John was then. So my brain, I can’t even really process that. I’m like, ‘Oh, wait a minute. No, no, I’m not like that.’
John was the old guy. John was like the seasoned vet at that point. John, Randy, Kane, CM Punk, Daniel Bryan. These guys, they were in a different stratosphere than where I was when I came in. I’m like, ‘No, I’m not. I’m not that old guy.’ That crotchety old guy saying ‘Hey, come here kid,’ But I am. I don’t know when the hell that happened. At some point along the way. I’m that person that sits there now and wags my finger at everybody when they come through. God bless me.”
Despite being the daughter of Ric Flair, Charlotte Flair had no interest in a wrestling career during her childhood. Even when she started in the business, it wasn’t because of her father. The SmackDown Women’s Champion actually got into the wrestling business because of her late brother Reid Flair.
The WWE star told the story of her start in wrestling during an appearance on LeBatardShow. She mentioned that her brother was in talks with WWE back in 2012. It was at this time that someone presented the idea for Charlotte to join the business as well. The wrestling star said yes to the idea, thinking she may be able to motivate and help her brother. She got emotional recalling how her brother passed away the same night he was supposed to see her wrestle for the first time:
“Well, he had a really bad drug addiction and I thought that if I somewhat started what he wanted to that it would get him motivated, almost like jealous in a way. Like ‘My sister’s doing this, I’ve got to do it too. I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to stay on the right course.’ So when I started, he still didn’t pass the test [with WWE].
Then he went off to Japan [and] started wrestling in Japan. They brought him home from Japan to see me for the first time at WrestleMania Axxess almost a year after I signed. He passed away that night when they brought him home to see me wrestle for the first time. So, like, ever since then I just think it’s gonna be that first time he sees me.”
‘It Just Keeps Me Ticking’: Charlotte Flair
Charlotte Flair has since become one of the most successful pro wrestlers of all time. According to her, she was just trying to continue her brother’s dream and she never thought that she would achieve so much. Though despite all her accolades, Flair still feels she has something to prove:
“Yeah, I think I kind of deal with that now because I’m like, ‘Wait, I’ve done all this. What’s next?’ I wasn’t really sure what I was working towards. It was all just continuing my brother’s dream, right? I spent so much time trying to protect him and help him and get him on the right path when really, he set me on this course that I could have never imagined. So sometimes when it’s all like over at the end of the night, I’m like, ‘Well, what am I fighting for now? What’s next?’ I still feel like I have something to prove. I don’t really know what that next big thing is because I never thought I would have accomplished all this. It’s just cause I worked hard and I happened to be good at it.
[I] wasn’t 16 and was like, ‘I’m going to be the last Divas Champion or I’m gonna be the first woman to main event WrestleMania. I’m gonna be the first woman to main event Raw, Smackdown, Pay Per Views, and WrestleMania.’ All these things just keep happening. I’m just like, ‘Why did I get to be so fortunate and he never got to see me do any of it. I don’t know. It’s one of the things I guess, it just keeps me ticking.”
You can check out Charlotte Flair’s full interview in the video below:
The Judgement Day faction has given a new life to the careers of all its members. The group has allowed the likes of Dominik Mysterio to loosen up and have fun with their characters. It has also allowed people to experiment with their looks. The group’s leader Finn Balor has especially taken up this opportunity to shake things up.
The Demon Prince has not only made a big change to his ring gear going from trunks to full pants, he has also been experimenting with other things as well. This includes wearing faceless masks during his entrance which has intrigued a lot of people.
Balor was asked about the reasoning behind the masks during his appearance on The Bump. He explained that it’s something he has always wanted to experiment with:
Representation Can Change Demeanor
“Yes, it’s just something that I wanted to try out and experiment with. I always feel like that if you have an idea you should dive into it headfirst.” said Finn Balor, “I’ve had plenty of ideas before. Bullet Club – That was pretty successful. The Demon character – that was pretty successful.
He continued: “So this idea of covering my face, [it’s] what people associate with you. That image, that visual representation can perhaps change the demeanor of the silhouette that they’re seeing. That was kind of the idea behind it and that’s why I’ve been experimenting with it.”
Finn Balor then explained the psychological effect of the mask on his opponents. He claimed that it takes the facial image away, depriving them the knowledge of how he may be feeling before the bout:
“It’s just basically taking the facial image away. So you can’t really see any emotion, can’t see any reaction or excitement that’s on there. It’s basically like playing poker with your opponent before the match, keeping a poker face.”
Balor appeared on Raw this week to challenge Edge for a match at WrestleMania 39. It’s rumored that this match could be contested inside Hell In a Cell but the stipulation has not been confirmed yet.
You can check out Finn Balor’s full interview below:
Cody Rhodes thinks he may never share the ring with Dustin Rhodes again.
The two brothers had a highly praised match at Double or Nothing 2019. It was one of the matches that helped put AEW on the map which was won by Cody. Though this wasn’t the first time the two wrestling stars went up against each other, as they previously shared the ring in WWE as well. The bout happened at Fastlane 2015 where Dustin, then known as Goldust picked up the win.
With both the Rhodes family members having a win over the other, fans often wonder if we will ever get a third bout to cap things off. When asked about it on the AJ Awesome Show, Cody explained why he may never want to face his brother in a match again:
“Great question. I could say 100% it would happen because that’s how families work. You find each other again. Or I could also say 0%.” said Cody Rhodes, “The reason I can say 0% is because Double or Nothing was such a difficult match for both of us. It was widely respected by the industry. It was really special to us both [and] very hard to top as far as against one another.
‘He Has Earned The Right To Walk Away’: Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes mentioned how Dustin has earned the right to walk away on his own terms. According to him, he wouldn’t want to hamper that by trying to get another match out of his brother:
“Also I again, he has earned the right as a wrestler – who is a Hall of Fame level wrestler – He has earned the right to walk away. I wouldn’t want to hamper that or handicap it in any sense trying to get one last one out of him. So really, it’ll definitely happen or definitely won’t happen Because there’s nowhere in the middle on a repeat of something with us. I myself, I love what he’s doing now. I’m very proud of him and Dakota his daughter [who is a] photographer in the industry now. She’s in the family biz too. So very proud of what he’s been able to do and just unbelievable legacies left.
I don’t cite him or credit him enough as one of my favorites growing up because he’s my brother, but absolutely one of my favorites. One of the highest honors I ever had was Double or Nothing. Because it meant a lot not just to each other, but it’s very important for what was starting there. That needed to happen for it to exist and it happened.”
You can check out Cody Rhodes’ full interview below:
Kevin Owens and Cody Rhodes are two very different kind of performers. Cody meticulously plans every part of his promo and he knows everything he is going to do in a match ahead of time. Kevin on the other hand is known for his spontaneous reactions. His ring awareness and the ability to adapt to things is one of the major reasons behind his popularity. This is probably also the reason why Owens reminds Rhodes of his father.
The American Nightmare recently had an interview with The AJ Awesome Show. He talked about the former Universal champion during the interview and claimed that Kevin Owens reminds him of the late great Dusty Rhodes:
“Kevin’s just a natural at everything. He’s one of those types that reminds me a lot of my dad. It’s funny cause I don’t remind myself of my dad at all but Kevin is one of those [that makes you go] ‘Yeah, he reminds me a lot of Dusty in a way’ and they had a little bond themselves.”
– Cody Rhodes via AJ Awesome Show
Owens and Rhodes are both involved in a multi-layered storyline with The Bloodline heading into WrestleMania. Cody won the Royal Rumble and he is set to challenge Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Universal Championship in the main event of the show. Owens is working with Sami Zayn and they are expected to challenge The Usos for the Undisputed Tag Titles at the event.
Apart from this, Cody Rhodes also talked about his plans after WrestleMania 39 and more. You can check out his full interview below:
The Acclaimed did everything The Acclaimed is known for after this week’s episode of Dynamite went off air.
AEW presented a solid episode of their weekly flagship show ahead of this Sunday’s Revolution PPV from Chase Center in San Francisco.
The show featured the final build for upcoming big matches such as the World title match between MJF and Bryan Danielson among others.
The company also moved the Face of The Revolution Ladder match from the PPV event to Dynamite. The match was won by Powerhouse Hobbs and one AEW star quit the promotion after this bout.
The Acclaimed After Dynamite
The Acclaimed made a brief appearance on the show to save the team of Orange Cassidy & Danhausen from a beatdown by Jeff Jarrett and The Guns.
Though this wasn’t their last appearance of the night. The duo accompanied by Billy Gunn showed up once again after the cameras stopped rolling.
They presented a short rap before competing in a dark match against The Workhorsemen. After winning the bout, the popular tag team scissored with the crowd to end the night:
https://youtu.be/68EArq81BxM
The Guns will be defending the AEW Tag Team Championship in a four-way match at AEW Revolution. The challengers for this bout include The Acclaimed, Jeff Jarrett & Jay Lethal and Orange Cassidy & Danhausen.
The Heavyweight Star was part of the Face of The Revolution Ladder match for a shot at the TNT title on this week’s episode of Dynamite.
Kingston attacked the former Inner Circle member Ortiz as soon as the match began. Eddie threw a ladder on the AEW star as others tried to win the match.
The two continued this scuffle and eventually took it away from the ring. Eddie Kingston and Ortiz brawled on the top of the ramp and then took the fighting backstage.
The two were not seen in the match after this and the announcers said that it took ten people to separate them behind the scene. The bout was won by Powerhouse Hobbs who climbed through a broken ladder to get the job done.
Eddie Kingston Is Done
After the Dynamite episode went off air, AEW posted the following video where Eddie Kingston was asked about the match and Ortiz.
The Mad King did not answer the question about his former friend. He did however, proclaimed that he is quitting the company:
Kingston has always been outspoken and he has never hesitated to share his feelings. He has recently been hinting at problems with AEW management and this appears to be the latest development in the story.
Young talents usually do many different things to try and improve their performance in the ring. This generally includes studying tapes of older generations and different styles from across the world. Kenny Omega, however, took a very different approach. When he felt the need to improve his storytelling, the former IWGP world champion found inspiration from the most unlikely of places.
The AEW star recently had an interview with Renee Paquette on Oral Sessions podcast. He talked about his start in wrestling and his rise to fame. Omega was asked what he did to improve his performance and he noted that he had always been athletic. The former world champion then revealed that to improve on his storytelling, he took inspiration from cartoons instead of old wrestling tapes:
“I was getting matches around 18 minutes to 25-ish. Then for the big ones that’s anywhere from 30 to 50 to an hour. But the main ones are like 20-ish. So I thought how can I study for this? How can I improve myself? Can I take nods from anything around me? I began to study weekly cartoons, specifically superhero cartoons.” said Kenny Omega, “Because an episode lasts about 21 minutes long. There’s a beginning, there’s a middle, there’s an end. The hero gets put into peril at some point. Every week there’s probably a new villain featured.
He continued: “For example, Batman cannot fight the Joker every week. It’s not always going to be that serious. There’s not always going to be that. ‘Oh my goodness, the world may end’ moment. Sometimes he has to fight the Riddler. Sometimes he has to fight Mr. Freeze or Clayface. How do you make all those instances, How do you make all of those altercations interesting? How do you make them feel like they mean something? How do you make them different from one another? Sometimes you can elicit other emotions. Even though you are supposed to be taken as this incredible superhero. Someone that’s larger than life. Someone who is supposed to be one of the best at doing what you do. So I have found that specifically Batman cartoons – Justice League, Yeah, they really helped a lot.”
Trish Stratus is back and she is already causing waves in the WWE world.
WWE had announced that Lita and Becky Lynch will be teaming up to challenge Damage CTRL for the Women’s Tag Team Titles on this week’s episode of Raw.
This came after Lita made her return to the WWE programming recently and helped The Man win a cage match against Bayley.
The bout was the main event of this week’s episode of the red-branded show, which also featured a Cody Rhodes match and the announcement of WrestleMania 39 host.
The tag champs were up to their usual shenanigans during this bout. At one point Bayley used one of the title belts to distract the referee and pulled Lita from the apron to stop her from tagging in.
Bayley continued distracting the challengers. This was until Trish Stratus made her surprise return to WWE TV and laid out the Damage CTRL leader.
This allowed the team of Becky Lynch and Lita to get the upper hand. The ending of the bout saw Becky locking Dakota Kai in Dis-Arm-Her on the ring apron.
The wrestling legend then delivered a Lita-sault to IYO SKY and pinned the young star to win the Women’s Tag Team Championships.
The A-Lister hosted The Miz TV segment on this week’s episode of Raw. During the show he revealed that he has been chosen to host the Show of Shows this year.
However, before he could celebrate the announcement, the former world champion was interrupted by Seth Rollins. The Visionary asked to be connected to Logan Paul.
When Rollins was refused, he attacked The Miz. The Architect then used Miz’s phone to call Paul and challenged the YouTube star to confront him next week.
A total of 4 matches have officially been confirmed so far for WrestleMania this year. Here is the updated match card for the show:
Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match: Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns
SmackDown Women’s Championship Match: Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair
Raw Women’s Championship Match: Asuka vs. Bianca Belair
Singles Match: Brock Lesnar vs. Omos
Some of the rumored matches for the show include Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn vs The Usos, John Cena vs. Austin Theory, Logan Paul vs Seth Rollins and more.
WWE WrestleMania 39 will be taking place from the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California on April 1 & 2.
The Undertaker served as a locker room leader in WWE for a long time. This included times like the Attitude Era where emotions were always running high. People fended for themselves more during this time instead of caring for the whole team. This gave birth to a high-tension environment leading to many personal rivalries. Though despite all this, Taker always stayed professional, even with his rivals.
During the interview, Taker was asked if there were people he didn’t like in the business and how he dealt with them. The former world champion explained that he shook hands of everyone, no matter how he felt about them:
“There’s guys. I mean it’s just like any business. There’s guys that you like. There’s guys that you don’t like.” said The Undertaker, “Business being business. I may not like you personally, but when I come into a dressing room or when I come into arena, I’m gonna go up to you and I’m gonna shake your hand. That’s all I have to do, right? It’s just a matter of respect that I have for everybody that I work with.
He continued, “I’m not gonna go out and drink with you. I’m not going to party with you. I’m not gonna [celebrate with you], but I will do that. Then there was a lot of guys that I didn’t particularly care for on a personal note.”
The duo of Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso represented The Bloodline and continued their dominance after this week’s episode of SmackDown went off air.
WWE continued the storyline between the dominant faction and Sami Zayn during this week’s episode of the show from Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
The show opened with a recap of Zayn vs Roman Reigns from Elimination Chamber. Jimmy Uso then revealed that he has asked his brother Jey Uso to meet him in the ring later in the night.
The main event segment then saw Sami Zayn confronting Jimmy as Jey watched from afar. This segment ended with Zayn delivering a Helluva Kick to Jimmy before leaving the ring as Solo Sikoa arrived:
The Bloodline In Action
Both Sami Zayn and Jey Uso returned to the back after the cameras stopped rolling. However, Solo Sikoa and Jimmy stayed in the ring for a dark main event.
The Bloodline duo went up against The OC in a tag team match after the event. Solo picked up the victory for his team in this match using the Samoan Spike:
WWE has announced Roman Reigns’ return for next week’s SmackDown. We can expect some big development in this story at the show.
WWE star Cameron Grimes returned to action after more than three months before this week’s episode of SmackDown from Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
The former NXT star last competed in a match against Joe Gacy during the November 8 episode of NXT last year.
It was reported that Grimes was done with the development brand after this bout and he was headed to the main roster. However, he wasn’t seen in the ring since then.
Cameron Grimes In Action
The former NXT star finally made his in-ring return before tonight’s episode of SmackDown. He competed against Hit Row’s Ashante Thee Adonis:
The 29-year-old made his wrestling debut back in 2009. He competed for promotions such as PWG and Impact Wrestling before joining WWE in 2019.
The Million Dollar Man
Grimes made his NXT debut in July, 2019. He had a successful run in the development brand where he won the North American Championship once.
At one point during his run with the brand, Cameron Grimes was even paired with WWE Hall of Famer Ted DiBiase and held the Million Dollar Championship.
It was reported recently that the creatives had not come up with a plan for his main roster debut yet. His in-ring return indicates that his official call up will finally be happening soon.
Brock Lesnar continues to be one of the biggest stars WWE has to offer. One would think that the company would have solid plans for him going into the WrestleMania season but it doesn’t appear to be the case.
In the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Dave Meltzer revealed some details about the conversation around The Beast Incarnate ahead of the Show of Shows.
Meltzer wrote that the company wasn’t planning on a match between Gunther and Brock as many expected. The original plan for him was changed just recently as well:
“The only thing we know is that whatever the Lesnar plan was, and it wasn’t Gunther, that is that it changed in the last week or two.”
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
This past Monday’s Raw saw MVP challenging Brock Lesnar for a match against Omos at WrestleMania 39. The former US Champion asked the retired MMA star to show up on Raw next week to give his answer.
Many fans are still confused and angry about WWE’s decision to not pull the trigger on Sami Zayn and have him lose to Roman Reigns at Elimination Chamber in his hometown of Montreal.
Dave Meltzer provided an update on this in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He explained the company’s internal argument on why this is the right move.
Meltzer mentioned how Sami Zayn’s story coming off of his match with Johnny Knoxville at WrestleMania 38 has been a huge success. The officials asked how it would affect the ratings if he ended up defeating Reigns:
“The argument was that the ratings Zayn is drawing are in conjunction with being linked with the Bloodline, and would he draw television viewers away from storyline?
But the argument is that they could do that and the storyline continues particularly with the Usos and Sikoa along with Reigns now trying to eliminate Zayn, which should be the storyline now as well.”
WWE has switched to a two-night schedule for WrestleMania since 2020, which means that we get to see not one but two Mania main events every year now.
It’s almost certain that the match between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes will be one of the main events this year, but the place for the other marquee match is not fixed yet.
Dave Meltzer provided an update on this in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He revealed which match could be the second main event for WrestleMania 39.
Meltzer mentioned how both the nights last year were headlined by men. Due to political reasons, there is a feeling within the company that night 1 of the show should be main evented by female stars this year.
The SmackDown Women’s Championship match between Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley is the favorite for this spot, compared to the bout between Bianca Belair and Asuka for the Raw Women’s Title.
The other possible main event is the expected tag team match between The Usos and Sami Zayn & Kevin Owens for the Undisputed Tag Titles.
The main event of WrestleMania 38 night 1 featured the in-ring return of Stone Cold Steve Austin, who faced Kevin Owens in an impromptu match. Night 2 saw Roman Reigns defending the Undisputed WWE Title against Brock Lesnar.
Which one of these matches do you think should main event the show of shows this year? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
There has been a lot of talk about Kenny Omega’s future recently. Amid reports about his AEW contract and rumors of WWE interest, people have been wondering if The Cleaner could be the next big AEW star to jump ships.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter recently provided an update on the matter, confirming that Omega will not be going anywhere at least in the next few months.
Per Meltzer, the company has decided to add time to Kenny Omega’s deal for whatever time he has missed due to injury over the past four years.
It’s estimated that The former AEW World Champion’s contract could be extended by 9 months but the exact timeframe for it ‘hasn’t been finalized’ yet.
Omega missed the longest amount of time when he dropped the AEW world title to Adam Page and took time off to deal with multiple nagging injuries.
His hiatus from the company lasted from November 2021 to August 2022. He underwent both hernia and knee surgeries during this time.
Kenny Omega was also off TV from September 2022 to November 2022 in the fallout of the backstage brawl at All Out. Though it’s unknown if that time is also being factored into the decision.
Mercedes Mone paid a touching tribute to the late Hana Kimura during tonight’s NJPW Battle In The Valley event from San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, California.
The former Sasha Banks made her in-ring debut for the Japanese promotion during the event. She went up against the IWGP Women’s Champion Kairi.
Mone paid a tribute to Kimura with her unique entrance and ring gear during the co-main event of the night, as seen in the video below:
the entrance. paying homage to hana kimura. the look. the atmosphere. her first wrestling match in 9 months. her and kairi giving us one of the best matches of the year they delivered on so many different levels. we are truly living in the mercedes monè era pic.twitter.com/Dul27icJbQ
Hana Kimura was a young Japanese wrestler who made her debut in 2016. She competed for Stardom and other promotions in Japan.
The 22-year-old was found dead in May 2020. Prior to her passing, Kimura had shared hate comments she received on social media.
Mercedes Mone made her NJPW debut during the Wrestle Kingdom 17 event in January this year. She had confronted Kairi at the show, setting up tonight’s match between the two.
The event tonight saw the former WWE star defeating Kairi to win the IWGP Women’s title using the Moneymaker finishing move.
The show also featured a loser leaves NJPW match between Jey White and Eddie Kingston. White lost this bout, signalling the end of his run with the company.
Triple H has compared Sami Zayn to WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley after his incredible performance at the Elimination Chamber PPV.
Zayn went up against Roman Reigns at the PLE in a very emotional match. While he didn’t manage to win the title, the former NXT champion gave the performance of a lifetime during the show.
The WWE Executive talked about the bout in the post-show press conference. Triple H explained that Sami Zayn reminds him of Foley due to his connection with the crowd:
“[Sami Zayn is] just a really special performer that in some ways, not in all ways, but in some ways reminds me so much of a Mick Foley in that his connection to a crowd.
One minute can make you laugh, the next minute you can have so much sympathy for him. He’s just, he connects on such an emotional level that I think it’s hard to put it in words and that makes it something really special.”
Zayn unintentionally speared Jey Uso during the Elimination Chamber match. He was then saved from a post-match beatdown by Kevin Owens.
After tonight it appears that WWE is going with their original plans for WrestleMania and we will see Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens teaming up against The Usos at the show of shows.
You can check out the Elimination Chamber press conference below:
If you use any quotes from the article please credit SEScoops with an H/t for transcription
Sami Zayn had the opportunity of a lifetime at Elimination Chamber. He went up against Roman Reigns in one of the best stories that WWE has told in a long time.
Unfortunately for the former NXT champion, WWE decided not to pull the trigger on him despite the incredible crowd support.
Reigns ended up winning the match after distractions from Jimmy and Jey Uso. The Tribal Chief tried to deliver a post-match beatdown on his opponent but a returning Kevin Owens made the save.
Owens first laid out Jimmy Uso and he took out Reigns as well. Sami Zayn then delivered a helluva kick to the Undisputed Champion and stood tall in the ring as the show went off air.
The Underdog from The Underground stayed in the ring after the cameras stopped rolling. He soaked in a standing ovation from the crowd for a while before finally leaving:
The Elimination Chamber PPV also saw Jey Uso coming in between the Head of The Table and Sami Zayn, only for him to eat a spear from Sami that was originally meant for Reigns.
After tonight, it seems clear that WWE is sticking with their original plans for WrestleMania 39. We will see Zayn and Owens teaming up to face The Usos at the upcoming PPV.
Sami Zayn had the opportunity of a lifetime in his hometown to make history and defeat Roman Reigns to win his first world title in WWE.
The Underdog from The Underground however, failed to get the job done. WWE chose not to pull the trigger despite the incredible crowd support and he suffered a disheartening loss.
Zayn broke his silence on the defeat during the post-show press conference. The WWE star said that he is feeling ‘strangely detached’ after the show:
“I feel very strangely detached, which I don’t know if people want to hear. You want to hear, ‘Wow, I did this. It was awesome. I’m riding high.’ I normally am, but I’m feeling very strange, strangely detached,”
Sami Zayn said that he might feel different later after he has watched the whole thing back. However, right now he is feeling like waking up just before you have realized your dream:
“I’d be lying if I said that didn’t affect me. Of course, it’s unbelievable…this is a dream come true. You ever have a dream, it’s going in a certain direction, and then you wake up right before. That’s kind of what this was.”
The former NXT champion later mentioned that some elements of this story were real. He discussed how he saw the crowd after the match was over and saw deflated faces that were not ‘in a storyline sort of deflated.’
