MMA champion Arjan Bhullar has been teasing a pro wrestling run for a while. He has now revealed that he is in talks with both WWE and AEW about it.
The One Heavyweight World Champion recently spoke to Calf Kick Sports. He discussed things such as his title defense against Anatoly Malykhin and more.
When asked if AEW or WWE are on his radar for a pro wrestling run, Bhullar said that they both are. He revealed that he has been engaged in talks with both companies and claimed that people can expect an announcement soon:
“I’ve been engaged with both companies and we should have something coming down the pipe very soon. I picked a fight with both companies and everyone out there, it’s something I’m going to do and I’m just looking to get the business case in order and the right approach.”
Arjan Bhullar previously called out both WWE and AEW stars earlier this year. The reigning champion said that he has reached the pinnacle of his sport and he is coming for the stars within these companies next.
He is also friends with former WWE champion Jinder Mahal. Mahal walked him to the octagon for a UFC fight back in 2015. So it won’t be a surprise if we see him being paired with the modern day maharaja if he signs with WWE.
The Rock says that while he doesn’t know anything about politics, he does care about the country and he cares about all his fellow Americans. The great one has been talking about a potential presidential run for a while now. This subject has also been getting a lot of attention from his fans.
The former world champion provided the latest update on his stand during an interview with Vanity Fair. He said that at the end of the day he doesn’t know much about devising a policy but he does care about the people of the country:
“You know, at the end of the day, I don’t know the first thing about politics. I don’t know the first thing about policy. I care deeply about our country. I care about every fucking American who bleeds red, and that’s all of them.
And—there’s no delusion here—I may have some decent leadership qualities, but that doesn’t necessarily make me a great presidential candidate. That’s where I am today,”
Elsewhere, he also gave some idea on his early preparation for the role. The Rock said he has talked to people in politics and done “a small amount of research and analysis to see where this comes from and to see what it could look like in the future.”
Describing the result of his research, the people’s champion said that “indicators are all very positive—in, for example, 2024, and in, for example, 2028.”
The Rock is expected to make a WWE return at Survivor Series. Though his rumored WrestleMania match against Roman Reigns is seeming less likely than before with the company keeping doors open for an alternate match for the head of the table.
Dominik Mysterio has said that he would love to take on the Rey Mysterio mantle in the future. The most WWE way of passing this torch would be booking a match between these two. Though the 24-year-old is not sure that he wants to trade blows with his father despite their disagreements. He instead has an alternate scenario in his mind for the change to take place.
Dominik recently had an interview with Sportskeeda. When asked about a potential match with his father, the Raw star said he wouldn’t want to get in the ring with him:
“Personally, I would not like to get in the ring with my dad. Just because I think there’s so much more that we can still do. But you know, what you’re seeing on TV is how we argue and how we fight and how we bump heads, man, that’s 100% us.
The younger Mysterio continued his explanation saying that while their arguments get frustrating at times, he also understands where his father is coming from. He said that Rey wants to help him out and he doesn’t know if he sees himself jumping in the ring and trading blows with him.
Dominik Mysterio Says Passing The Torch Could Be A WrestleMania Moment
Dominik Mysterio wants to continue his father’s legacy
While a potential match is out of sight, Dominik still has the goal of continuing the family legacy. He mentioned how there is no Rey Mysterio Jr. right now. Discussing an alternative scenario for this to happen, the former champion suggested the idea of Rey picking someone for him to beat:
“Traditionally, you know as a son they would have given me the Rey Mysterio Jr. since he’s Rey Mysterio. I think [it’s a] WrestleMania moment: [Rey Mysterio picks someone impossible for Dominik to beat.] Somehow, we make it work and he ends up passing the torch over to me with the mask and the name. That’s a dream for me.”
Both Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio were picked by Raw during night 1 of WWE Draft. After Rey Mysterio lost his first-round King Of The Ring match against Sami Zayn, we will have to see if either of them get something to do at Crown Jewel.
Tony Khan is claiming that this weekend’s episodes of AEW shows are not about competing with WWE. Instead, it’s about producing the best show they can. The AEW president recently made an appearance on Moose & Maggie on WFAN. Among other things, he discussed the upcoming AEW shows.
The first half-hour of Rampage on Friday this week will be competing against SmackDown. WWE has announced that the final half-hour of their show will be running commercial-free, while AEW has confirmed a buy-in featuring Bryan Danielson for their show. The Dynamite episode will be airing on Saturday instead of Wednesday the next couple weeks to avoid a clash with NHL.
Tony Khan discussed these changes during his interview. He claimed that their shows this weekend are not about competing with the opposing promotion:
“We have Friday night Rampage on TNT at 10:00 and we have Saturday night Dynamite on TNT at 8:00. Right now, we have all this momentum. The number one show on all of cable and satellite TV six straight Wednesdays.
It’s bad timing to be moving off Wednesday when you’re on such a great recent run, but this weekend’s huge for us, and the shows have been so good. It’s not about competing with them. It’s about doing our best show.”
Though while Tony Khan is claiming that their shows are not about competing with WWE, he also isn’t leaving any chance to take shots at the promotion. The AEW president claimed on Twitter that he can’t wait to beat SmackDown when the clash was first confirmed. He also recently took a shot at this Monday’s Raw, saying it sucked.
It’s worth mentioning here that both Dynamite and Rampage suffered big rating drop last week. So it would be really interesting to see how the shows perform with all the announced changes this week.
Nobody knew that the All In event would become the catalyst of a big revolution in the wrestling business when it originally took place. Though WWE still warned their talents against attending the show, according to Chelsea Green.
The Impact Wrestling star talked about the PPV event on her Green With Envy podcast. She discussed things such as her fatal four-way match at All In and more.
Chelsea then said that she wanted her fiancée Matt Cardona fka Zack Ryder to be at the event. However, he couldn’t do it because he got a text from WWE:
“I will say that I really wish Matt had been able to go. Every one at WWE who had a spouse or a partner that was on All In got a text the week or two out from talent relations at WWE, saying they were not allowed to be at All In.
So originally, of course, Matt and people like Deonna and Adam Cole, so many people were going to be at All In, just backstage watching us.” said Chelsea Green, “And when they sent that text, I mean, it was way too risky for any of them to be there, especially after being told not to.”
Chelsea Green also revealed how she was able to participate in her fatal four-way All In match against Britt Baker, Madison Rayne, and Tessa Blanchard, despite already having signed a WWE contract.
She explained that she didn’t say anything about being part of the show to the officials. Instead, she just told them that she had to finish up her bookings before reporting at the performance center.
After taking part in a WWE tryout, the female star was signed to a contract in August 2018. Though she didn’t report to the performance center until October, a month after the All In PPV in September 2018.
Referee Aubrey Edwards has revealed that she has signed a contract extension to stay with her current promotion in All Elite Wrestling for the foreseeable future
The AEW star recently appeared on the Danger Zone podcast. She discussed things such as the upcoming AEW console game, working with CM Punk and more.
Edwards also discussed the hate she receives online for her work sometimes. She explained that keeping the people she works with happy is her priority. Aubrey then revealed that she signed a contract extension this year:
“People have a lot of opinions of wrestling, but unless you’re in the discussion about the match, you don’t fully understand all of the things that are being talked about, right? Ultimately, if the wrestlers I work with are happy, and my bosses are happy — I got a contract extension this year.
So clearly, I’m doing something good.” Aubrey Edwards, “If those are the people that ultimately determine my future, and if they’re happy, that’s all that matters.”
The 34-year-old made her debut in 2017. She refereed the first-ever AEW world championship match between Chris Jericho and Adam Page. She was then signed as the first full-time female referee of AEW in September 2019.
Since Aubrey did not provide any further detail on her new deal with AEW, it’s hard to say how long she will be staying with them. Though it at least confirms that she won’t be leaving the promotion anytime soon.
This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw from Chase Center in San Francisco, California attracted the lowest live attendance since WWE returned to road in July.
The show featuring the announced team-up of SmackDown women’s champion Becky Lynch and Raw women’s champion Charlotte Flair among other things managed to draw in only 4,031 fans in the arena, according to WrestleTix:
WWE Monday Night RAW Mon • Oct 11 • 4:30 PM Chase Center, San Francisco, CA
This was still a good fill-out for Raw as the estimated capacity for the arena was 4,208. Though the chase center can hold up to 18,000 fans for basketball.
This was the lowest attendance figure in 13 weeks, ever since Raw returned to road with the July 19 episode. The show from Dallas had attracted 9,189 fans.
The highest attendance for Raw since they resumed touring was 12,629 for the August 2 show. The episode from Allstate Arena in Chicago featured a live appearance for Goldberg among others.
Poor live attendance had been a persisting problem for WWE before coronavirus. Reports of low attendance and empty arenas had become a regular occurrence.
Many believe that WWE’s failure to create new stars that can draw the audience is the reason for this. Though Jinder Mahal believes that the notion about the promotion not creating new stars is wrong. You can check out his comments at this link.
NXT women’s championship will be defended in a triple threat match among the teams of Indi Hartwell & Persia Pirotta, Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne, and Io Shirai & Zoey Stark at the upcoming Halloween Havoc event.
This week’s episode of NXT saw Toxic Attraction’s Dolin and Jayne challenging the current tag team champions Shirai and Stark for a match at the upcoming event.
Hartwell and Pirotta had a match later in the evening where they defeated the team of Sarray and Amari Miller. Post-match, we saw a three-way brawl among the challengers and the champions.
WWE later announced that these three teams will be meeting at the upcoming NXT special where Io Shirai & Zoey Stark will have to defend their title in a three-way.
This will be the third title defense for the current champions since they won the championships back on July 6. They had defeated Hartwell and Candice LeRae during the Great American Bash event.
Updated Halloween Havoc Match Card
This is also the third match that has been announced for the upcoming show after the NXT championship and the women’s championship match. Here is the updated card for the event:
NXT Championship Match: Bron Breakker vs. Tommaso Ciampa
NXT Women’s Championship Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal Match: Mandy Rose vs. Raquel Gonzalez
NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Match : Indi Hartwell and Persia Pirotta vs. Gigi Dolin and Jacy Jayne vs. Io Shirai and Zoey Stark
NXT Halloween Havoc will air on Wednesday, October 26 from the Performance Center in Florida.
Jon Moxley has returned to his roots of deathmatch wrestling after his release from WWE a couple of years ago. He has delivered insanely brutal matches against opponents such as Joey Janela, Kenny Omega and Nick Gage. Though Renee Paquette is not a fan of this hobby of her husband. The female star recently made an appearance on the Busted Open Radio. Among other things, she also discussed Mox’s obsession with hardcore matches.
Revealing her reaction to seeing her husband in these brutal scenarios, Renee admitted that it’s hard to watch. She recalled how Moxley was a mess when he came back after his recent bout with Nick Gage:
“Obviously, it’s really hard to watch. I don’t even really know how to put it into words. You’re watching your loved one, my husband, doing this insane sh*t. Just seeing him bleeding that much, seeing his back tore up, it looked like grilled beef. The dude walked in the door yesterday. By the time he got home, I’d never seen him look worse. It’s hard to watch that. It’s hard to see him go through that. Also, he retained the championship, so what does that mean? Does that mean there is more of this?”
Renee Paquette Wants Mox To Be Happy
Renee Married Jon in April 2017
Renee Paquette explained that it’s hard to see Jon bleeding that much. She wants the former AEW champion to do the things he wants and be happy. Though as soon as he walks back through the door, she has to assess all the damage:
“The thing is, I want him to go out the door and go do the things he wants to do. I want him to be happy. I want to see him thrive in that space, and obviously, he is, but as soon as he walks through the door, I’m still in wife mode. I’m like, let me see. I want to assess all of the damage.”
Paquette later also discussed how Jon Moxley loves indie wrestling, whether it be competing at the CGW shows or showing up to Defy in Seattle. He is not the guy who wants to be rich and famous. He is the guy who wants to do art and matches that he is proud of. Since the ball is in his court to be able to do that, that’s exactly what the former WWE champion is doing right now.
There are millions who believe that Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best football players of all time, though WWE superstar Sheamus is not one of them. The celtic warrior recently had an interview with BT Sport. Among other things, he also explained his reasoning for not considering Ronaldo among the greatest ever.
Sheamus explained that Ronaldo is definitely a world-class player but everything he does is for camera. Even if his team doesn’t win, the Portuguese star doesn’t stop:
“Don’t get me wrong, Ronaldo is probably one of the greatest players. Is he one of the greatest players ever? Absolutely not, he’s not. But he’s definitely a world-class player and one of the best there’s been in the last decade.
But even if he scores a penalty, he’s just all about the camera, mate. D’you know what I mean? Shirt off, where’s the camera? Even if he scores a penalty and they didn’t win, like, shirts off, whatever.” said Sheamus, “I’m not knocking the guy or hating him; it’s just he knows exactly what he’s doing.
"Is Cristiano Ronaldo one of the greatest players ever? Absolutely not. But he's one of the best of the last decade."
"He wouldn't last five minutes in the ring, he's got the showmanship but no physicality."@WWESheamus is a Liverpool fan and a wind-up merchant ?? pic.twitter.com/k5zql6rM7Y
The former world champion was also asked how he thinks the football player would fare in a wrestling ring. To which, he replied by saying that he wouldn’t even last 5 seconds. Sheamus claimed that football players go down when the wind blows or a blade of grass hits their shin. They wouldn’t last even 2 minutes in wrestling.
One of the very first moments that established Dominik Mysterio as a babyface on the WWE roster was the beatdown he received at the hands of Brock Lesnar. It happened during a Raw episode in 2019. As it turns out, he didn’t even know about his confrontation with the former world champion before he walked into the arena.
The 24-year-old recently made an appearance on Out of Character podcast with Ryan Satin. He discussed things such as his SummerSlam match against Seth Rollins and more. Discussing his Raw moment with the Beast Incarnate, Dominik revealed that his father had brought him in. Though he did not tell him who they will be working with:
“My dad had told me that we were going to do something with somebody but didn’t mention who, didn’t mention what. He just said we were going to do something with somebody. I’m starting to think who we can work with or what’s going to happen, Brock [Lesnar] never came to mind.”
Dominik suffered a beatdown at the hands of Lesnar
Dominik Mysterio recalled how he still couldn’t get a reply from Rey even when they had hit the road. It was a big surprise for him when the confrontation turned out to be against none other than Lesnar:
“We were driving to Phoenix, Arizona where I was going to be in the crowd and I was like, ‘Are you going to tell me now who we are wrestling or what’s the deal?’ He goes, ‘You’ll see when we get there.’ We end up getting there and next thing you know, I’m getting tossed around by Brock. So, everything was a surprise for me.”
Rey Mysterio was supposed to face Seth Rollins for the Universal title in the main event of the September 30, 2019 episode of Raw. However, Brock Lesnar interfered in the opening segment of the night. He took out not only Rey but his son Dominik as well. Rollins then defended his title against Rusev in the main event
AEW Rampage has seen a big drop in viewership rating and key demo ahead of their upcoming confrontation with SmackDown this Friday Night.
This week’s episode of the show featuring the CM Punk vs. Daniel Garcia match as the opening bout of the night drew an average of 502,000 viewers per Showbuzz Daily.
This is a big 19.29% decline from last week’s episode of the show. The Rampage episode featuring the singles match between Nick Jackson and Bryan Danielson had drawn 622,000 viewers in total.
The taped show also saw a big decrease in the key demo rating. The episode drew a 0.17 rating in the 18-49 demo, which is a steep 32% decline from last week’s show.
With the decreased ratings, Rampage ranked #15 for the night on Cable Top 150 which is based on the demo rating. Last week’s episode of the show had ranked at #3.
This is the lowest rating for the weekly show since its debut back on August 13. This is the seventh straight week the show has seen a decline in the rating, since the August 20 episode featuring CM Punk’s debut.
The first half-hour of next week’s Rampage will be going head to head against supersized SmackDown featuring Brock Lesnar among others. WWE has confirmed that the final half-hour of the show will be commercial-free.
Posted October 12th, 2021 in WWE, News. Tagged: CM Punk.
WWE has confirmed that hometown star Mansoor will be facing Mustafa Ali in a one-on-one match at the upcoming Crown Jewel PPV from Saudi Arabia.
This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw saw these two stars teaming up to face Shelton Benjamin and Cedric Alexander. The Hurt Business members won this bout.
The tension between Mansoor and Ali continued after the fight. This led to Ali attacking his former partner during a backstage interview with Kevin Patrick.
The former Retribution leader was interviewed backstage after the show went off air. He issued a challenge to the Saudi Arabian star for a match. WWE has since confirmed this bout.
WWE Crown Jewel Updated Match Card
This is the seventh match that has been announced for the upcoming PPV. After the latest confirmation, here is the updated match card for the upcoming event:
Universal Championship Match: Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns
WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre vs. Big E
Triple Threat SmackDown Women’s Championship Match: Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch
Raw Tag Team Championship Match: AJ Styles and Omos vs. Randy Orton and Riddle
No Holds Barred Match: Bobby Lashley vs. WWE Hall of Famer Bill Goldberg
Hell In A Cell Match: Edge vs. Seth Rollins
Singles Match: Mansoor vs. Mustafa Ali
WWE Crown Jewel will take place on October 21 from the Mohammed Abdu Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
WWE superstar Carmella has said that the ‘hate and threats’ she receives on social media are at an all-time high and it’s quite disturbing for her.
The former SmackDown women’s champion recently posted a no make-up selfie on her Instagram. In the caption, she discussed the negative environment of social media:
“Being on Instagram and Twitter recently has been hard. The hate and the threats are at an all time high, it’s quite disturbing actually.” wrote Carmella, “I usually just try to post and leave it alone, but it’s hard to NOT read the negativity sometimes.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CU5OdmFASqb/
The female star continued saying that she luckily knows who she is. So she won’t let the haters get to her. She just wanted to post this message as a reminder to not believe in everything you read.
Carmella was drafted to the Raw roster last week, for the first time since the brand extension returned in 2016. Though the roster changes do not take effect until the Crown Jewel PPV. She has continued competing on SmackDown in the meantime.
Last Friday’s episode of the show saw her picking up a victory over Liv Morgan in a first-round Queen’s Crown tournament match. Their match was not given a lot of time and talents are said to be frustrated with this.
WWE had considered breaking up a number of tag teams during the recently concluded Draft, and it appears one of them was the team of AJ Styles and Omos.
According to Wrestlevotes Twitter account, the officials had considered breaking up this duo. The discussion was serious enough to the point where their split was the plan.
However, some people of power including a main Raw talent expressed that Omos wasn’t quite ready for a singles run yet. The decision-makers listened to this and pulled back on their break up:
WWE had seriously considered breaking the pairing of AJ Styles & Omos during draft. To the point where that was the plan. Until people of power (including a main RAW talent) spoke up & expressed thoughts on how Omos isn’t quite ready for singles yet. And they actually listened.
AJ Styles and Omos was not the only team that was in discussion for a breakup. WWE officials had also considered splitting up the Street Profits during the Draft.
They wanted to keep Angelo Dawkins on SmackDown. Montez Ford would have moved to Raw with his wife Bianca Belair. Though these plans were nixed as well. All three of them ended up being drafted to Raw.
AJ Styles has been teaming up with Omos since April this year. The two even won the Raw tag team titles at WrestleMania. They dropped the championship to Randy Orton and Riddle at SummerSlam.
The duo is set for a rematch against Orton and Riddle at the upcoming Crown Jewel PPV. You can check out the card for the show here.
Tonight’s episode of Raw featured 4 first-round King Of The Ring and Queen’s crown matches. The show saw a few interesting names advancing in the tournament.
The first match of the night saw New Day member Xavier Woods competing against Ricochet. Towards the ending of the bout, Woods got out of the ring to take a breather but Ricochet followed him outside.
The One and Only delivered a suicide dive sending Woods into the barriers. Though Woods managed to sidestep a second suicide dive attempt from his opponent, sending Ricochet into the barriers instead.
Xavier Woods then brought Ricochet back into the ring. He delivered a top rope elbow to his opponent and then pinned him to win and advance into the King Of The Ring.
The second qualifying match on Raw saw Shayna Baszler facing Dana Brooke. This match was once again not too long. It saw Baszler picking up a quick victory.
The second King Of The Ring tournament match of the night saw Jinder Mahal taking on Woods’ New Day partner Kofi Kingston. Mahal won this bout after some interference from Veer and Shanky.
The final first-round match of the night saw Doudrop facing Natalya. The ending of this bout saw Natalya trying to lock in the sharpshooter but Doudrop managed to fight it off. She then rolled Natalya for the win.
Xavier Woods and Jinder Mahal will now meet in the semi-finals of the King Of The Ring tournament. Doudrop on the other hand will face Shayna Baszler.
People usually have a superstar they looked up to as a child that leads them to pursuing a pro wrestling career. Though Preston “Number 10” Vance credits a match to have gotten him into pro wrestling.
The Dark Order member recently made an appearance on My Mom’s Basement with Robbie Fox. He discussed things such as the tribute show for Brodie Lee from his hometown and more.
Revealing what inspired him to become a pro wrestler, Vance recalled an exact match that made him want to pursue a wrestling career out of all others:
“I have one definitive match where when I watched it I was like, ‘I want to do this.’ It was Hogan and Rock at ‘Mania at and before they even locked up when they just — that stare down in the Toronto SkyDome going crazy.
They’re not even doing anything and they love it, you know? I’m not someone who’s big on like, ‘Oh what a cool move.’ I like the moments.” said Number 10, “Literally, the Icon vs. Icon moments. So that was the definitive one.”
Later in the interview, the AEW star also offered big praise to John Cena saying that he is a huge fan of the cenation leader. He mentioned that it’s not even so much about what Cena does in the ring.
Number 10 discussed how the cenation leader has delivered the most wishes with make a wish foundation. He claimed that the 16-time world champion has gotten where he is by working super hard.
Tony Khan created a lot of buzz for his promotion when he brought in people like CM Punk, Adam Cole, and Bryan Danielson to AEW in close successions. Many believe that WWE reacted to these big debuts by bringing back Brock Lesnar and Becky Lynch at the SummerSlam PPV. Though the AEW president is not sure about it.
Khan was asked if he thinks the SummerSlam returns were a reactive booking from WWE during an interview with Dazn. Replying to it, Tony said that he can’t be sure:
“I can’t say for sure what’s on their minds; Summerslam is a big deal for those guys over there so maybe they had it long in their plans that it would be the place that Brock and Becky returned. We’ve got to keep doing what we’ve been doing so far and that’s trying to give people, our fans, the best possible wrestling product we can.
WWE has tried to undermine AEW as a competition every chance they have gotten. Discussing whether they actually think AEW is a rival for them, Tony Khan mentioned how he has heard that his shows are watched in the gorilla position in WWE:
“Do they see us as rivals or competition? They say we’re not, but I’ve heard that AEW shows are on monitors in the Gorilla position over there, so I take that as a compliment if they’re watching us whilst trying to run their own show.”
Khan went on to claim that he admires them for doing this. According to him, trying to run a show while watching another one is something else. He said that he puts everything he has into producing AEW shows. There is no way he can watch something else while trying to get on with things.
After wrestling in arenas around the globe, Kenny Omega has a very specific pick for his favorite arena in wrestling because of the acoustics of it.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer recently made a tweet about the best arenas in the world. Replying to it, the AEW champion picked Osaka-Jo Hall as his favorite:
“Osaka Jo absolutely gets my vote. While sound gets lost in the Tokyo Dome, Arena Mexico, Saitama Super Arena, etc,” wrote Omega, “the acoustics are incredible in that building. It rumbles when you get the crowd rocking.”
But Korakuen Hall, Edion Arena, Arena Mexico, Tokyo Dome, Sumo Hall, Budokan Hall all have to be in the convesation worldwide. https://t.co/tAVnIr4GrQ
Osaka-Jo Hall is a multipurpose arena situated in the Kyobashi area of Osaka, Japan. The arena opened in 1983. It can hold up to 16,000 people at a time.
NJPW has been holding its annual Dominion PPV from the arena since 2015. They have presented a total of 7 Dominion shows from Osaka-Jo Hall till now.
Kenny Omega, who made his name wrestling for the Japanese promotion before signing with AEW, has competed in 4 of these shows. He main evented 2 of them.
His two out of three falls main event match against Kazuchika Okada from Dominion 6.9 in June 2018 received high praise from fans. It was the first and till date the only match to receive a 7-star rating from Meltzer.
After promoting the women’s revolution for the last few years, WWE seems to be reverting back to their old ways. The talents within the company are frustrated with it.
Fightful Select provided some updates on the backstage reaction to the recent changes. According to the report, there ‘significant frustration’ from talent and staff about the booking of the women’s division:
“We’ve heard significant frustration from talent and staff alike about the booking of the women’s division of late, and the time given in multiple situations.”
This week’s episode of WWE SmackDown featured two women’s matches. The first one saw Zelina Vega picking up a victory over Toni Storm in a first-round Queen’s Crown match. This bout lasted only 2 minutes 14 seconds.
The second bout of the night saw Carmella picking up a victory over the fan-favorite to win the tournament, Liv Morgan. This bout was given even less time and it lasted only 1 minute 36 seconds.
The site also notes that the original plan for Morgan vs. Carmella fight was different. According to them, at one point, Morgan was scheduled to win this first-round Queen’s Crown tournament match but the officials changed the plans.
What do you think about these changes WWE is making to the women’s division? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section.
D-Von Dudley has now settled into his backstage role as a producer in WWE but he didn’t like the position at first because he didn’t want to stop wrestling.
The Hall of Famer recently appeared on The Cut Pro Wrestling podcast. He discussed the Dudley Boyz’ 2015 return to the company and explained that the run ended because his partner Bubba Ray was reluctant to sign a contract extension.
Dudley then claimed that he wanted to continue wrestling but WWE didn’t want him as a singles competitor. He explained that he now enjoys the backstage position that was offered to him instead, but it took him some time to embrace it:
“Just for the record, I never wanted to stop wrestling. I never wanted to be a producer backstage for WWE, I enjoy it now but it took me some years to actually embrace it and like it.”
D-Von Dudley Has Grown Into His New Role
D-Von Dudley continued his explanation mentioning how he has produced matches for the teams he once had great bouts with himself:
“I hated it at first, I didn’t like it. Now, I’ve grown into it, working with guys like the Usos, the New Day, even Rey and Dominik, the Viking Raiders, The Bludgeon [Brothers],
I had great matches with those guys in the ring with them as well as producing their matches. I felt that I was wrong again and not getting the opportunity to wrestle continuously, but you know it is what it is.”
Bully Ray was offered a backstage position in WWE by Vince McMahon himself. Though the wrestling legend didn’t feel very enthusiastic about it because of how things have changed over the years.
Discussing if he has any interest in taking on a backstage role in WWE, Ray revealed that the boss himself, Mr. McMahon had offered him a position in the past:
“Vince has offered me the position in the past. He has told me, ‘When you’re ready, I’d love to have you here as a producer’. I don’t think the job is the same job that it used to be when [Brisco] were a producer or an agent.”
Bully Ray Explains Why He Didn’t Take The Job
The Dudley Boys are one of the most iconic tag teams of all time
Explaining why he didn’t take the job, Bully Ray mentioned that the producers nowadays just carry the marching orders of the creative team to the talent:
“I believe the producers and agents now just kind of carry the marching orders of creative to the boys, and I don’t think the boys have as much input into things these days. I do consider myself creative.
If I don’t feel like that creativity can be put to work for the guys and the gals putting their matches together, then I kind of feel stifled. I would try it one day.”
The Attitude Era star then questioned JBL how his experience of working as an agent was. Replying to it, JBL said that he tried it for a few months but didn’t enjoy it.
Bully Ray was also asked which generation he thinks had the best tag teams. In reply, the former champion claimed that the tag teams of the Attitude Era sold more arenas and made more money than any other generation.
The NXT 2.0 revamp has divided the opinion of fans with the majority considering it a wrong move. Though Bianca Belair seems excited about the changes and the result they might bring.
The former SmackDown women’s champion recently had an interview with Hindustan Times. She discussed things such as her move to Raw during WWE Draft and more.
When asked for her thoughts on the rebranding of WWE’s development territory, Belair claimed that she is all about it. She mentioned how she is a home-grown talent:
“I am all about NXT because that was where I learned everything. I am a homegrown NXT talent. NXT is amazing – they know how to create superstars. They became the third brand at one point. They are now revamping. They know how to build superstars”
Bianca Belair then listed a number of stars that have come from NXT including people such as Shayna Baszler and Rhea Ripley. She said that it’s fun to see new faces:
“It’s just fun to see new faces and new talent. We have so much talent in the locker room. Even in NXT – who are waiting to show their talent. I know what they can do. I am just waiting for the world to see what they can do.”
Apart from this, Belair also revealed which stars she would like to include in her faction. You can check out her comments on the matter at this link.
WWE Hall Of Famer Lita and the current SmackDown women’s champion Becky Lynch are teasing a confrontation ahead of this Monday’s episode of Raw.
The Attitude Era star retweeted an article on her profile looking at five dream matches she could have with stars of the current roster. Not very surprisingly, one of the names on the list was of The Man herself.
Lynch took the time to respond to the wrestling veteran saying that she will like to send Lita off with a bad arm. Lita then teased a confrontation between the two:
Well, if you happen to find yourself in the neighborhood tomorrow….
This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw will be airing live from Chase Center in San Francisco, California. It’s also where the former women’s champion resides.
Becky Lynch was moved to Raw during the WWE Draft. While the changed rosters do not come into effect until after the Crown Jewel PPV, there is nothing that can stop The Man from doing what she wants.
Lita was last seen wrestling in a WWE ring almost 3 years ago. She competed in a 10 woman tag team match during the October 29, 2018 episode of Raw.
Will you be excited for a Becky Lynch vs. Lita match in the future? Let us know your thoughts about a potential clash between these two below.
Damian Priest had a great run with Bad Bunny after his main roster call-up. Though his first reaction to learning about his tag team with the rap star was not something you would expect.
The US champion recently had an interview with Superluchas.com. He discussed things such as the first WWE Heavyweight Champion of Puerto Rican descent, Pedro Morales being a major inspiration from him.
Speaking of his first reaction to being told about his tag team with Bunny, Priest revealed that he didn’t even realize the officials were talking about the rapping star:
“They told me that I was going to be promoted to Raw and that I was going to be part of a team because Bad Bunny was going to enter, the first thing I said was, ‘How are they going to give the name Bad Bunny to a wrestler when there is already a singer named Bad Bunny? You don’t use your brain?! ‘And they looked at me and said, “THAT’S the Bad Bunny!” It was a surprise to know that he was going to wrestle.
Damian Priest & Bad Bunny
Damian Priest and Bad Bunny at Latin Billboard Awards
Damian Priest also said that he met Bad Bunny for the first time on the day of the 2021 Royal Rumble itself. The Archer of Infamy says they hit it off immediately. He taught Bunny some wrestling stuff on the first day itself. It was a producer who gave the idea of the Puerto Rican rapper throwing himself over Miz and Morrison and Bunny was all for it.
Damian Priest made a surprise appearance at the 2021 Royal Rumble after three years in NXT. He entered the match at #14 and eliminated people such as John Morrison, The Miz, Elias, and Kane before being eliminated by Bobby Lashley himself. Priest teamed up with Bad Bunny for his first WrestleMania match and the duo defeated The Miz and Morrison in a tag match.
