– For the past several weeks John Cena has been attempting to lure The Undertaker into a match at WrestleMania 34. “The Leader Of The Cenation” has called out “The Deadman” with a number of promos on Monday Night RAW, but is now taking his assault to social media. He posted the following photo on Instagram of a Cena character (of sorts) poking the head of The Undertaker with a stick, saying “C’mon, do something…..”:
– WWE Champion AJ Styles competed for the first time last night in a live event in New Jersey since his match with Rusev on SmackDown Live on March 13th. Styles teamed up with The New Day to defeat Rusev, Aiden English, Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin. After their victory, Styles celebrated with The New Day in the ring and even Twerked. You can check out the video here:
The New Day’s Xavier Woods recently did an interview with Newsday to promote WWE’s recently released book entitled “The Book of Booty: Shake It. Love It. Never Be It.” In recent weeks The New Day has grown an infatuation with pancakes as they hand them out to fans at ringside during their entrance.
There has been some criticism that their pancake affiliation is a racial stereotype. Woods took the opportunity to shoot that down, saying it instead had to do with a Lumberjack Match they were in late last year:
“I said, ‘Well, if I’m a lumberjack, what do they eat? They eat flapjacks.’ It was hilarious. So, we said the next week, ‘Are we going to do pancakes? Yeah, sure. Why not?’ And that’s where the pancakes came from,” Woods said.
“If there’s ever any source of contention or anything like that, I think that it’s a situation where you should take a look at yourself and think about how deep you are looking into something that’s not really there.”
Woods also pointed out the he and his partners, Big E and Kofi Kingston, are “very aware of how we present ourselves,” but doesn’t want to have to suppress their witty personalities due to being under a racial lens “simply because we are African-American males.”:
“All we want is a blank slate,” Woods said. “And if people continue to refuse to give us one, then they’re doing nothing more than continuing to hold up the social constructs that we’re trying to break down.”
You can read Woods’ full interview with Newsday by clicking this link here.
SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan recently did an interview with The National to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Bryan first discussed what its been like working alongside SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon:
“I have really liked working with Shane. One of the things that is really nice about Shane is that he is a positive person. When we first started working together it was really interesting because we were shooting a shot back stage and it didn’t go as planned because the camera guy was new. But he didn’t chew him out or anything like that.
“‘Hey man, welcome here. This is how we do things here so next time do it like this’. And that is a great way for a leader to talk to people who work for him rather than being ‘Argh, you idiot, what are you doing’. So yeah, I really enjoy working with him.””
He then discussed his ongoing storyline with McMahon, Kevin Owens, and Sami Zayn on SmackDown. It’s expected Bryan will team with Shane against Owens and Zayn in a Tag Team match at WrestleMania 34 next month:
“I think there is so much that is similar between me, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens. In terms of where we come from and also kind of the perception of some of the people in the office about Sami and Kevin and the way that people perceived me as far as thinking ‘Sami Zayn does not have the look to be a top level WWE superstar’.
“But he has the ability. Like people connect with him and I think the same thing with Kevin Owens and I think that makes it a very natural storyline to tell.”
You can read Bryan’s full interview with The National by clicking this link here.
WWE has released a series of videos featuring former UFC star Ronda Rousey training for her debut match at WrestleMania. The former UFC women’s bantamweight champion is teaming up with fellow Olympian Kurt Angle against WWE executives Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, formerly “The Authority.”
Here are some clips from Rousey’s Friday training session at the WWE Performance Center:
It seems that some fans have been poking at WWE Hall Of Famer Edge for one last match after SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan was cleared to return to the ring by WWE. The belief seems to be that since Bryan was cleared to return that “The Rated-R Superstar” could as well – but of course – it’s much more complicated than that. Edge recently addressed this on the latest episode of he and Christian’s podcast, E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness.
Edge said that, while he appreciates fans wanting to see one more match out of him, his injury is significantly different from Bryan’s and he’ll never get cleared for a return by WWE:
“I greatly appreciate that people would like to see me have one more match or come back or ‘Daniel Bryan got cleared so why can’t you?’ I will never be cleared. Mine is a completely different injury. He had neck issues, but it wasn’t neck issues that retired him initially, it was the concussion issues. I never had concussion issues. What I have is cervical spinal stenosis, look it up.”
Christian then joked that Edge had “stupid neck” and the former WWE Champ continued on with the joke before urging fans to look up his injury to see for themselves that WWE could never clear him with the injury he’s suffering from:
“I have stupid neck, just look it up. You can look up ‘stupid neck’ and they’ll probably be a picture of my neck. Just do me a favor and look it up and you will realize that the WWE will never medically clear me to compete again. And I appreciate it, but that’s all there is to that.”
You can listen to E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness by clicking this link here.
Not many inductors have been confirmed for the WWE 2018 Hall Of Fame induction ceremony this year. Thus far it has only been confirmed that Edge and Christian will be inducting The Dudley Boyz, and Molly Holly will be inducting Ivory. It has been rumored that Paul Heyman could be inducting Goldberg and Hulk Hogan could be inducting Hillbilly Jim, however, those remain rumors as of this writing.
It would make sense for WWE to allow Hogan to induct Jim given that the company recently confirmed they have been talking to “The Hulkster” about a possible return. As for Jeff Jarrett, Mark Henry, and Kid Rock there is currently no news on who could be inducting any of those three. Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer reports that WWE really wants to keep this year’s inductor’s a secret.
Discussion: Do you think Hogan will end up inducting Jim into the Hall Of Fame? And who do you think would be some good options for Goldberg, Jarret, Henry, and Kid Rock?
– This past week’s episode of Monday Night RAW featured “Woken” Matt Hardy vs. Bray Wyatt in the Ultimate Deletion from the Hardy Family Compound. For the most part the segment received positive reviews from the professional wrestling world on Twitter. There were, of course, some critics who were not too thrilled about the segment. He recently took to Twitter to address these criticisms:
The #UltimateDELETION was absolutely LOVED by the majority of the audience. And the other small percentage, which were confused/disliked were EXTREMELY vocal as it EVOKED EMOTION..
– WWE’s Southpaw Regional Wrestling won Best Comedy Series at the Cynopsis Short Form Video Festival & Conference. The Cynopsis Short Form Video Festival & Conference recognizes outstanding work in short-form video, showcasing storytelling across multiple platforms. Southpaw Regional Wrestling also placed third in the Brand Content/Content Marketing – Sports category.
WWE Champion AJ Styles recently did an interview with Planeta Wrestling to talk about several professional wrestling topics. The WWE Champ is scheduled to defend his title against 2018 Men’s Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura – a match many fans would love to see main event WrestleMania next month. “The Phenomenal One” discussed whether he’d prefer to open or close the show in New Orleans:
“Well, I think everybody wants to main event,” said Styles. “I think you wait on the last match to put on the best show. I think that’s it, that’s where everybody wants to be. But at the same time, there’s a lot of matches, so you don’t want the person to get sleepy or tired, so going on first like Shane McMahon and myself did last year was pretty awesome.”
Styles is one of the best in-ring talents of his generation and has shared the ring with some of the top names in the industry. He has an amazing ability to tell great stories with anyone he’s competing against:
“I think it’s all about the story that you’re willing to tell,” said Styles. “John Cena would obviously tell some good stories, same thing with Kevin Owens. And Shinsuke Nakamura, the story that we’re gonna tell will be no different.”
At last year’s WrestleMania in Orlando, Styles defeated SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon in the opening match of the main card. Styles feels he and McMahon stole the show that night with their amazing contest:
“Working with Shane was awesome,” said Styles. “We gave people a match they definitely didn’t expect. I think it stole the show, but I think that has a lot to do with the McMahon’s work ethic. They want it to be perfect, they want everything to be just right, and I applaud Shane McMahon’s work ethic. I think it’s unbelievable, and I’d do it all over again.”
WWE COO Triple H recently took part in an international media call to promote NXT TakeOver: New Orleans. “The Game” was asked about the possibility of WWE Champion AJ Styles missing his WrestleMania 34 match against 2018 Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura due to an undisclosed injury. He noted that while it would be difficult to replace Styles, you always need to have a Plan B and C in place:
“You always have to have a Plan B, [and] just in case you have a Plan C,” Triple H said. “AJ is an incredible performer. Replacing AJ Styles would be very difficult. [He’s] not necessarily a replaceable talent, but we would do our best.”
He also revealed that “The Phenomenal One” is working very hard to get cleared in time for WrestleMania and WWE is providing him with the best medical care possible:
“AJ is working diligently on rehabbing his injuries and getting himself in tip-top shape for WrestleMania,” Triple H said. “We are trying to help him with that process of getting the best care and the best rehab and everything else possible. We’re hoping for the best.
“Right now he says he’s feeling a lot better and will be ready to go. Obviously we’ll get him doctors to make sure that he is ready to go and get a medical clearance, if that’s possible. He’s working very hard at it, so we’re hoping for the best.”
WWE COO Triple H was recently interviewed by USA Today’s “For The Win” to promote WrestleMania 34, and his match in which he’ll team with his wife, Stephanie McMahon, against Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey. Here are some of the highlights:
Are you serving as Stephanie’s coach or trainer as she’s preparing for this match?
“I mean, honestly, as a husband, do you really coach your wife on a whole lot? We’re training a lot. We train together, whether that be in the gym or in the ring. We’re trying to make sure she’s as ready as possible. I worked with her – it’s an interesting thing that I’ve been there for so much of the evolution of her as a character, even prior to us having a relationship together.
“I’ve been there all along the way and I’ve put her matches together for a lot of them, almost all of them, with her. It’s exciting to see this one come to fruition, but you know, she’s also a little bit older, has a little bit more responsibility. She’s got a lot going on, as we both do, but she wants to make sure her girls see her proud. So there’s a lot of pressure on her right now.”
The biggest story of the week in WWE was Daniel Bryan’s return after being medically cleared. What has it been like watching him work behind the scenes to get back to where he is?
“It’s been an amazing process. One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do is tell talent that they can’t do this anymore. That you can’t live your dream. And for somebody like Daniel, man, it was soul-crushing. He went through *a lot* to try to get back to where he was, without any guarantee that it would ever work.
“But you take the advice of the doctors, the same doctors that told you he couldn’t, tell you he can… man, it’s like a second lease on life for him. Really excited, really happy for him. Watching him on TV the other night, just sitting at the monitor watching was unbelievable.”
TakeOver: New Orleans will feature a six-man ladder match for the inaugural North American Championship. What do you hope this new title will represent for NXT?
“I think it’s part of a long-term strategic plan for the brand. You see with the UK title, the North American Championship, I think as we branch out and become bigger, [with more] opportunities in different places.
“It allows for multiple events to take place with championships represented where I feel like, in locations across North America, Mexico, Canada, the North American Championship can be defended and be a main event-style match with the right players. The NXT Championship could be going internationally at that same period of time. It really depends, but it’s part of a long-term strategic plan.”
You can read Triple H’s full interview with USA Today’s “For The Win” by clicking this link here.
“Woken” Matt Hardy recently did an interview with TMZ Sports to discuss the Ultimate Deletion. Hardy won The Great War by defeating Bray Wyatt and tossing him into the Lake Of Reincarnation. Hardy said that the feedback from fans has been tremendous and he hopes there will be more to come soon – and it will change WWE ‘forevah’:
“I have to tell you this – it has been amazing, the feedback from The Woken Warriors and the WWE Universe, and people all across the globe. It has been met with love and with adoration,” Matt said. “I say, this is something that probably wasn’t supposed to happen on the plane known as WWE.
“I don’t know if Woken Matt Hardy was supposed to get here but he did and now that I’m here, I’m being fueled by The 7 Deities, I have introduced House Hardy, my magic, my family. I’ve introduced The Hardy Compound and now that we have the foot in the door, I believe this is only the start of many, many great things. I think this is something that will change the WWE Universe… forevah!”
WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley then popped into the interview and said he wonders what Vince McMahon thought of the segment. Hardy said he doesn’t know if McMahon loved or hated the segment – but the fact is his “Woken” Warriors and the WWE Universe loved it, and if McMahon has any issues with that then he will DELETE him:
“What absolutely pleasurable words from The Dude That Loves Mankind, Mick Foley, The Cactus Jackman. I’m very happy to hear from him, my friend and I know in his state of euphoria and excitement, of course he messed up the name but yes it was… The Ultimate Deletion!,” Matt said in reference to the Foley tweet.
“And that MeekMahan is a hard character to read. I do not know if he loved it or hated it but these are the facts – The Woken Warriors and the WWE Universe had much adoration for it and they loved the Woken/Broken Universe, and for that, if MeekMahan has any issues with it I certainly have a spot here at The Hardy Compound where I can delete him. Senor Benjamin would love to start digging a hole for him.”
WWE Hall Of Famer and WWE commentator Jim Ross was recently interviewed on former WWE Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian’s podcast, E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness. One top of discussion for Ross was the early days of former WWE Champion The Rock. Ross discussed Rock’s unrivaled confidence and stated that “The Great One” knew what he wanted even before he signed with WWE:
“He’s a different breed of cat, as you boys know.” Ross explained, “and he’s very special in a lot of ways. I never had anybody that basically hit me right between the eyes with a statement of, ‘I’m going to be your top guy’ when he hadn’t even made his first trip to Stamford [Connecticut] I don’t think.
“So, I mean, he had ‘it’ going for him and confidence in where he wanted to go. He had a direction. He knew what road he wanted to travel and not like anyone else who is human on the road, the road is the road, but, professionally, he knew just what he wanted and nothing was going to stop him.”
He then discussed why it’s good for Superstars to have a good rapport with Vince McMahon, and those who disrespect him will be “S.O.L”:
“I think, guys, when they come to work for WWE, the best thing that they can do, on a legitimate, organic, as real as it can be basis, have some sort of rapport with Vince. You have to have a rapport built on respect.” Ross continued, “don’t confront, converse, because if you confront him, you’re S.O.L. It’s disrespectful and it’s not the place to be disrespectful unless you’re just a dumbass. That’s how that worked out, but that’s the deal.”
Ross noted that The Rock was very good at building a relationship with Vince McMahon early on in his career:
“The Rock got to that level of having a good rapport with Vince really, really quick.” Ross elaborated, “I mean, they had their grandpas, The High Chief [Peter Maivia] to talk about, or Rocky Johnson, and The Rock himself. And, of course, Vince is a smart guy – he saw what we had. He knew. He knew. When you get Secretariat, you welcome him in the barn.”
You can listen to Ross’ interview on E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness by clicking this link here.
Daniel Bryan has finally been cleared to return to in-ring action for WWE. He was welcomed back to physical competition by Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens on SmackDown Live, who beat Daniels down after firing them for what they did to SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon last week.
Bryan hasn’t competed in a match since April of 2015 after he had just won the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31. The following year he was forced to retire in February after he took an EEG test that revealed a lesion in his brain, in addition to the slowing of brain activity. The lesion had been causing Bryan to suffer from seizures. Over the course of his career Bryan had reportedly suffered over 20 concussions and two seizures.
After further evaluation, Bryan’s doctors told him that his decision to retire was premature and his lesion was a very vague complication. Several doctors had cleared Bryan to return to wrestling, however, WWE’s doctors still hadn’t done so. Bryan went as far as to say that if he hadn’t been cleared by WWE to wrestle again before his contract expired then he’d go elsewhere to compete. WWE’s Medical Director Dr. Joseph Maroon sent Bryan over to several neurologists to be tested for the past two months.
Following Bryan being cleared by all of the neurologists recommended by Maroon, he cleared him this past Monday. Now it’s expected that Bryan will team up with Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 34 in a Tag Team match against Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. There has also been some speculation that the bout could be an Unsanctioned match or No Disqualifications. Wrestling Observer Radio reports that there was a catch to WWE clearing Bryan to compete.
He now has to undergo Impact testing and a neuropsychological evaluation with WWE doctors backstage after every match until they’re comfortable that he’s fine. It should also be noted that Bryan recently made some comments on E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness indicating that he doesn’t really want to work a full-time schedule. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more about Bryan’s situation….
– WWE has released a 15-minute “Director’s Cut” of The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak coming to an end at the hands of Brock Lesnar in New Orleans four years ago. Check it out here:
– WWE is continuing its aggressive pursuit of Mexican talents. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that both Ultimo Ninja and Garza Jr. will be undergoing WWE medical testing, and if they pass, it’s believed they will be offered developmental deals in NXT. WWE is also currently in negotiations to bring Rey Mysterio back to the company as well. Vince McMahon also met with former WWE Champion Alberto Del Rio recently at WWE headquarters. We’ll keep you updated…
As seen on this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW, Bray Wyatt lost his Ultimate Deletion match against “Woken” Matt Hardy at the Hardy Family Compound. Wyatt was thrown into the Lake Of Reincarnation and his body was not able to be found by Senor Benjamin. Many speculated that this could lead to a character change for Wyatt after the match. Some went as far as to speculate that Husky Harris could return, or Wyatt could come back as Sister Abigail.
Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer recently confirmed that there is, in fact, talk about making changes to Bray Wyatt’s character. There is currently no word on what that change may be, however, some feel that it’s long overdue as they believe Wyatt’s current character ran its course long ago. When Wyatt does return it’s very possible he continues his rivalry with Matt Hardy.
Matt claimed on Twitter that Wyatt won’t be seen for years to come and Vanguard 1’s Twitter account said there is still no sign of the “DELETED” Bray Wyatt:
It looks like WWE is planning on filming three separate WWE Network documentaries during WrestleMania 34. Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer reports that the first one is likely to be a WWE 24 episode on WrestleMania 34 itself. This will likely be made up of backstage footage, as is per usual for similar documentaries WWE has already produced. The second documentary will document The Undertaker’s comeback to “The Show Of Shows” for his match with John Cena.
Although the match has yet to be announced on WWE TV, it’s still expected “The Deadman” will be returning this year to challenge “The Leader Of The Cenation.” Taker was featured in the WrestleMania 33 documentary last year and it showed some out-of-character comments from him about returning to the ring and mentioning that he doesn’t want to be a shell of his former self. It’s possible the documentary focused on The Undertaker could feature a lot more of the same, and include some workout footage from the Texan’s training as well.
The third and final documentary being worked on, as some of you may have guessed, is based on Ronda Rousey’s WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania. Rousey will be teaming up with RAW General Manager Kurt Angle against the team of Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a Mixed Tag Team match. It will be extremely interesting to see how Rousey acts backstage before making her highly-anticipated in-ring debut on professional wrestling’s biggest show.
There was also a mention that WWE could be filming a Table For 3 special as well, and that Rousey has been pitched to appear on one of these. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more…
On this past Monday’s episode of RAW, WWE closed out the show with Matt Hardy’s Ultimate Deletion segment against Bray Wyatt from the Hardy Family Compound.
Hardy and Wyatt battled it out all over the compound before “Woken” Matt was able to pick up the pinfall victory. After the bout Hardy tossed Wyatt into the Lake Of Reincarnation, and Senor Benjamin was unable to recover his body.
After the segment was done airing, the professional wrestling world reacted to it rather positively on social media. It saw a ton of positive reviews and it looks like there’s a chance another one could take place down the road. WrestleZone’s Nick Hausman reports that Vince McMahon was concerned about how fans would receive the segment. Not all WWE fans are familiar with the initial ‘Broken Universe’ segments done by Hardy in his time with Impact Wrestling.
Now that the reviews are in from the Ultimate Deletion, however, the experiment is seen as a huge success after holding over three million viewers in RAW’s final hour. It was also the number one trending topic on Twitter for over three hours. Initially there was a struggle to get the segment on TV, but now it seems there’s a very good possibility WWE could do similar angles down the line.
As noted earlier, Matt Hardy actually spoke to TMZ Sports about Vince McMahon’s reaction to Ultimate Deletion, noting that he will DELETE the WWE Chairman if he didn’t appreciate his broken brilliance. Wonderful!
As we’ve noted, WWE Champion AJ Styles was a part of an international media call to promote WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans next month. “The Phenomenal One” is scheduled to defend his WWE Title against 2018 Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura, which is considered by many to be a “dream match.” Styles was asked if he thinks he and Nakamura’s match could go on last and main event the show:
“As far as the main event goes, I can tell you which match is gonna steal the show,” Styles said. “You could either put Shinsuke Nakamura on last, and AJ Styles last, or you could have that [be] the only match people remember, because we’re gonna tear the house down.
“That’s what we do. We have the talent to be able to do that, and that’s what people are expecting. So, whether or not it is the main event, it will be a main event match.”
SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan was recently cleared to return to in-ring competition by the WWE. Styles was asked about a potential match against Bryan, which fans have been itching for ever since news broke that Bryan had been cleared. Styles said he’d love to step into the ring with Bryan and believes they can put on an ‘unbelievable’ match:
“If ever the opportunity for him and I to get in the ring together, I think it would be an unbelievable match,” said Styles. “It’d be fun.”
Styles was then asked about the rumors that he could be moved to Monday Night RAW by way of the WWE Draft. While he admitted it would be fun to be in The Club with Finn Balor, Luke Gallows, and Karl Anderson; Styles said he has no intentions of losing the WWE Title and can’t imagine WWE sending the WWE Champ to RAW:
“I think it would be cool if we all were in The Club together,” said Styles. “Who knows if that will ever happen, but it would definitely be fun. But, as far as moving to Raw, I don’t plan on losing to Shinsuke Nakamura, and I can’t imagine [WWE] would make the champ go to Raw.”
– On last night’s episode of SmackDown Live, General Manager Daniel Bryan fired both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn for their assault on Commissioner Shane McMahon last week. After Bryan fired them Owens and Zayn brutally beat down Bryan as well, causing the former WWE World Heavyweight Champ to be carted out on a stretcher. To sell Bryan firing Owens and Zayn, WWE has removed their profiles from WWE.com
– Speaking of Owens and Zayn, Sami recently took to Twitter to comment on he and Owens beating down Bryan on SmackDown. Zayn sarcastically welcomed Bryan back (referring to Bryan recently being cleared to compete inside the ring again) and said he hopes he can live with his decision to fire the two best wrestlers alive:
Welcome back @WWEDanielBryan. Hope you can live with yourself after firing two of the best wrestlers alive (and two guys you've known for 14 years).
That is, once you're discharged from the hospital.
– NXT Champion Andrade “Cien” Almas recently made an appearance on the Mexican morning show Sale El Sol. The interview is in Spanish but if you’d like to give it a view you can check it out here:
WWE Champion AJ Styles recently participated in an international media call to promote WrestleMania 34 and his dream match against Shinsuke Nakamura at the event. Styles discussed whether or not he believes this match is the biggest of his career, and also talked what it was like working with Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series. You can check out the highlights here:
You’ve been in 2 WrestleManias so far, but this looks to be the biggest one yet. Do you consider this to be the biggest match of your career, and what have you learnt the most from the past two WrestleMania experiences?
“I do think this is the biggest match of my career. I think this is the match that most people want to see. We’re doing it at WrestleMania, so it doesn’t get much bigger than that. I’ve learned that it’s huge, for one. Thousands of thousands of people are at a show. Just take it all in. Don’t rush to the ring. I don’t do a lot of things right, but my first WrestleMania, I took it all in and I think that’s the one thing, I’m, going to do every time I get the opportunity. It’s just not to rush to the ring, but just to take it all in and enjoy the ride.”
What was it like working a physical style match-up with Brock Lesnar? How do you feel you were able to bring out the best performance of his career in many years?
“I think that it’s something he’s always capable of. It’s all up to him if he wants to do it. I think he and I put on a spectacular match and it was a good opportunity for me to be in the ring with Brock Lesnar. It was an exciting match, one that one kind of expected but at the same time didn’t know what to expect. I think it was a great match and I’m very proud of that match.”
You can read some more form Styles’ participation in the media call by clicking this link here.
Earlier this week RAW commentator Corey Graves took a shot at Taz with a Tweet that he has since deleted, saying:
“Insecurity is a bad color on you @OfficialTAZ, shoulda stuck to orange and black.”
Taz issued out his own response to Graves and claimed to have absolutely no idea what Graves was talking about:
“I have no clue what you are talking about. PS: Tough to be insecure when I’m the happiest I’ve been ever professional for past 3 + years & I always stick to ORANGE & BLACK.”
It remains unclear what Graves’ issue is with Taz, however, it has been speculated that it could be due to Taz’s recent comments on Chris Jericho’s podcast, Talk Is Jericho. Taz said the biggest problem with WWE commentary right now is that there is nobody in the booth with high-level in-ring experience:
“The first thing, if you are a color commentator, not play-by-play, so if you are a former pro wrestler, and I learned this from Vince McMahon; you have to take your ego and what you did because it is not about you, it is a humbling job. I put over more guys as a commentator than as a worker, but you have to take your ego, and put it behind the curtain as Vince McMahon told me. You have to be able to, the key is you have to put your agenda and ego aside and keep it in the Gorilla position,” Taz said in the interview with Jericho. “You can’t bring it to the announce desk.
“I am someone that believes that as a former world champion and as a color commentator. That is not a knock on any current color commentator, but I believe in the guys that have been to the dance, drawn some money and know what it takes to have a title. It is a big deal to have that responsibility, as you know, and it is a big deal. I believe, and I know that it is going to sound negative on those that weren’t world champions; Corey Graves was a former tag team champion in NXT.
“Byron Saxton barely worked, so that to me jumps out. I believe in that. You can’t tell me as a fan, if I have never been a wrestler, you can’t tell me what it is like to be a world champion if you have never done it; I’m sorry,” Taz continued. “I hope for the best of those guys, and no disrespect to those guys. I met Corey Graves, and he seems like a great guy, but that is my opinion. You need some legitimate sea legs under you as a professional wrestler, I really believe that. I think putting your ego and checking it, and having the chops to talk obviously.”
You can listen to Taz’s full interview on Talk Is Jericho by clicking this link here.
– Last night in the semi-finals of the Mixed Match Challenge, Team Little Big (Braun Strowman and RAW Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss) were defeated by The Miz and Asuka. During the match there was a moment in which Strowman caught Bliss after she was bumped off the apron. For a second it looked like they were about to kiss before they realized they were still in a match and Bliss needed to get back in the ring before getting counted out.
In a post-match interview with Strowman and Bliss they were asked about the kiss that almost happened. Strowman said he hopes it can actually happen now, and just as they try one more time, a fan comes in and asks Bliss for her autograph. “The Monster Among Men” gets frustrated and bolts off:
– On last night’s episode of SmackDown Live, the first episode after General Manager Daniel Bryan was cleared for an in-ring return, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn attacked Bryan after firing them for attacking Shane McMahon on last week’s episode of SmackDown. McMahon broke his silence on the matter via Twitter:
On a night that should have been one of @WWEDanielBryan's finest…Sami & KO proved they are vile, spineless cowards. Neither of them belong in @WWE and #SDLive…I just hope this didn’t set back Daniel’s in-ring return even further.
– WWE.com has officially added Trent Seven to the NXT roster page after he has made several appearances on the program over the past year. Seven participated in the WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament.
After his first marriage dissolved back in 2012, longtime WWE Superstar John Cena didn’t know if he ever wanted to get married again. Cena then began dating fellow Superstar Nikki Bella for several years before changing his mind on the matter and proposing to her live in the middle of the ring at WrestleMania 33 last year. The pair are currently engaged and have yet to officially tie the knot due to both their hectic schedules.
Another big issue for Cena was his refusal to have kids, something Bella desperately wanted based on her comments on Total Divas on E! back in 2014. Cena recently made an appearance on Good Morning Britain to promote his upcoming film, Blockers, in which Cena plays a parent who teams up with another group of parents in attempt to stop their children form losing their virginity on prom night. It turns out the role has changed Cena’s mind a bit about having children:
“Especially in something like [Blockers], because the story is about these parents doing what they think is right to try to protect their children,” said Cena. “But the story is also about being confident as a parent, being confident in your children that you have done well, and they also are doing well.
“And the bond between parent and child can be a wonderful thing, even through some pretty tough situations. So, it absolutely has made me consider being a parent more.”
– The 50-man “Greatest Royal Rumble” event scheduled for April 27th from Saudi Arabia has been confirmed to be a WWE Network special. If you are a WWE Network subscriber and attempt to cancel your account, WWE lists the upcoming Network specials that you’ll be missing out on – and the Greatest Royal Rumble is listed.
The WWE Network will be showing the Greatest Royal Rumble. If you attempt to cancel your subscription, this message appears. pic.twitter.com/ZnJvM1I8bz
WWE announced earlier this week that the Greatest Royal Rumble event will feature 7 championship matches. Top stars advertised for the show include John Cena, Triple H, Roman Reigns, AJ Styles and Randy Orton. The Undertaker and Chris Jericho are also rumored for the show.
– On last night’s episode of SmackDown Live, WWE Champion AJ Styles was sitting ringside for Shinsuke Nakamura’s match against Rusev. After the match Aiden English and Rusev attacked Nakamura, and while Styles was taking his time getting ready to jump in and help out, the Japanese star rallied back and was able to fend the pair off himself.
Several fans pointed out that WWE botched the on-screen graphic that appeared when Styles was introduced. He was correctly listed as WWE Champion, however an image of the Untied States Championship was depicted.
WrestleMania takes place in just over two weeks, yet top star John Cena is still without an opponent for the biggest show of the year.
Cena has been on a mission to secure The Undertaker’s opponent. So far, he’s yet get a response. After failing to punch his ticket to WrestleMania in the Elimination Chamber and at Fastlane, Cena once again threw out the challenge to “The Deadman.” Cena called out The Undertaker once again this past week on RAW, but that brought out Kane, who delivered a chokeslam. They’ll square off next week on RAW.
As per a rumor at Cageside Seats, WWE might wait until the “go-home” addition of RAW prior to WrestleMania to make the Cena vs. Undertaker match official.
It seems like a questionable decision to wait until the last minute to confirm one of the most high-profile matches on the WrestleMania card, but the lineup is already stacked, so WWE must be confident that fans are already sold on the event. Seriously, look at this lineup:
Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns
Kurt Angle & Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H & Stephanie McMahon
WWE Champion AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn (Daniel Bryan & Shane likely to be added)
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka
Intercontinental Champion The Miz vs. Seth Rollins vs. Finn Bálor
US Champion Randy Orton vs. Jinder Mahal vs. Bobby Roode
Mustafa Ali vs. Cedric Alexander to crown a new Cruiserweight Champion
Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
The first-ever WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal Match
Sheamus & Cesaro vs. Braun Strowman and a partner of his choosing
Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax
John Cena vs. The Undertaker is a huge match that fans have wanted to see for years. Granted, it would have been a hotter match 3 years ago, but it’s historic nonetheless. At this point, Cena vs. Taker would be the icing on the cake of an already-stacked event.