Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Rey Mysterio recently did an interview with Inside the Ropes while backstage at a 5 Star Wrestling event. During the interview Mysterio was asked if he believes he could juggle working WWE and the indies if he were able to negotiate a deal with the promotion:
“Right now, the conversation is still in the open with WWE so I am hoping that when the time is right and we sit down to talk about the future of Rey Mysterio with WWE, if there is any future with Rey Mysterio, it is going to be good for both parties as much as it will be good for WWE as it will be good for me.
“I think it is in the best interest for the both of us. Putting that aside, whatever happens there, hopefully we can continue to do business with 5 Star Wrestling [indie Wrestling in general]. I don’t see why not.”
If he did decide to come back to WWE there are a few names that Mysterio would like to go up against. AJ Styles and Finn Balor top that list:
“Man, there are so many strong names that have been around for quite some time. AJ Styles is one of them. I think that AJ and myself would have a pretty nice run together. Finn Balor, I think I would have a pretty good run with Finn. There are a lot of names that are being thrown out there. If I came back, would I be part of the 205 Live division? Heavyweight division? It is just hard to say. I think that whatever the fans want to see, if I do come back, that is what we will give them.”
WWE Superstar Becky Lynch recently did an interview with The Phoenix New Times to promote tonight’s episode of SmackDown Live. Below are some of the highlights:
Have the wrestlers in the woman’s division had to work harder to prove yourselves? Maybe twice as hard as the male superstars.
“I think so, yeah. You know what I mean? I think when you’re trying to overcome something and prove something, you always have to work harder and you always have to give that 110 percent. And I think the greatest thing about that is that’s the drive from all of us. So nobody rests on their laurels and nobody becomes complacent because everybody’s trying to be the best.
“But everybody’s trying to be that first woman to main-event WrestleManina. And any time you’ve got healthy competition, it always pushed you harder and I think that was the greatest thing with the Four Horsewomen. What we did is we came together while at NXT at the same time and we have a common goal and a common vision and that’s to strive to be the best and change things and change the way things work and I think that was what coached us all so much. We always just wanted to outdo each other.”
What’s your opinion about the WWE bringing in Ronda Rousey?
“So I think there’s a lot of good aspects, and I think that Ronda Rousey has obviously proven that she’s a superstar. Like, a colossal superstar. Before her, there were no women in the UFC. That’s remarkable. And she was an Olympian, and she brings in pay-per-view buys. There’s no doubt that she’s amazing.
“I’m curious to see what she can do in a wrestling ring, because it’s a different kettle of fish. And, obviously, with UFC and with such an incredible history and being so accomplished in judo, she’s going to take up everything so easily. So it’s just going to be a matter of seeing how she does in this business. I know she’s a huge wrestling fan so that’s always great, too. I think you learn better and you learn faster when you’re a fan because you know what it’s supposed to be and you’re able to emulate your heroes and stuff like that.”
Do you want to face off against her in a match?
“Of course, I would love to. There’s nobody that I wouldn’t want to either fight or wrestle. Any girl who comes in the door, I want to have a match with them and bring the best out of them and make a good, compelling story for our audience. There’s nobody I wouldn’t want to fight.”
You can read Lynch’s full interview with The Phoenix New Times by clicking this link here.
Former WWE Superstar Konnan (also known as Max Moon) recently did an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Konnan discussed being outspoken throughout his career and his thoughts on promotions being loyal to their talent:
“Companies are loyal to you as long as it is convenient to their interests. Why wouldn’t I think the same? Don’t ask for my opinion if you don’t want to hear what I have to say. I’m not a stockholder. Companies play those mind games and a lot of people are afraid to leave promotions. You saw it in Mexico with CMLL and AAA, and you saw a little of it with WWE and WCW in the ‘90s with who was loyal and who wasn’t loyal to a company.”
He also offered his thoughts on his run in WWE under the “Max Moon” character:
“Max Moon was a robot that had a lot of pieces to it. I would have to fly from Mexico to LA, then pick up the robot in LA, and I had to carry it everywhere. At this point, I was blowing up in Mexico and I just started on a Mexican soap opera. Why did I need to go to WWE? I was making good money and doing what I wanted, so I just stopped showing up for TV.”
“They called me one day and said, ‘You’re fired.’ I said, ‘OK, bye.’ It wasn’t a big deal to me. I didn’t grow up watching WWE or wanting to be there. Plus, I was already a star in Mexico. Much like what happened after I left CMLL, the WWE has held a grudge for a long time against me.”
Konnan then dove into his passion for finding young talent, cultivating it, and watching it mature over time:
“I remember sitting down with Eric Bischoff when I was in WCW, and listened to him bury Mick. I disagreed. It’s not like what the Kliq had you believe, where guys had to want to be like you and girls needed to want to f— you. That had changed. It’s just like when I heard guys say, ‘Oh, my son can beat up Rey Mysterio.’ That’s not what your son is thinking when he watches Rey. Your son is thinking, ‘This little guy is dope.’
“Rey has drawn a lot of money. At the end of the day, I have a lot of respect for guys who have drawn because I know how hard it is. There is something I love about recognizing raw talent, cultivating it, then watching it mature and become what it could be. Some people don’t know how great they can be unless you tell them and show them how to be great. So many young talent just need someone to believe in them and show them the right way to do things.”
You can read Konnan’s full interview with Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso by clicking this link here.
– As we’ve mentioned before, WWE decided to have Ronda Rousey sign her RAW contract at this weekend’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view (PPV) because tickets for the event weren’t doing well. It seems that adding Rousey hasn’t helped as much as they’d have liked.
Ticket sales remain low and AXS is now offering a two-for-one special on tickets. Purchase those tickets here. It should also be mentioned low ticket sales are the reason WWE is getting rid of brand-exclusive PPV events.
– It looks like Alicia Fox is single again. She took to Instagram and said she’d been “been bamboozled by a #basic bitch” and is back on the market:
– SmackDown Live General Manager Daniel Bryan took to Twitter to announce that tonight’s show will feature a Tag Team Title Eliminator between The New Day and the team of Shelton Benjamin & Chad Gable. The winners will face SmackDown Live Tag Team Champions The Usos at Fastlane next month on pay-per-view (PPV):
– IMPACT Wrestling’s Twitter account congratulated promotional founder Jeff Jarrett on getting the nod for this year’s WWE Hall Of Fame class. Jarrett was a co-founder of TNA back in 2002 alongside his father, Jerry. Between the years of 2013 and 2017 Jarrett had an off-and-on again relationship with the promotion before parting ways in October. Jarrett will join Goldberg, Ivory, and The Dudley Boyz as inductees on April 6th in New Orleans:
– After last night’s Monday Night RAW went off-air a dark match main event between “Woken” Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt took place. Hardy defeated “The Eater Of Worlds” ahead of their clash at Elimination Chamber this weekend on pay-per-view (PPV).
– Kevin Owens made a selfie promo video on his way to the ring during a recent live event. Owens said that he has been doing selfie promo videos for the past six years and hasn’t gotten any credit for it, just like has hasn’t gotten any credit for being one of the most decorated WWE Superstars in recent years. He also vowed to win the WWE Title at Fastlane:
– Paul Heyman took to Twitter to respond to RAW commentator Corey Graves’ comments on last night’s show, and doubled down on his claim that Universal Champion Brock Lesnar does not fear Braun Strowman. Strowman will be one of seven men to compete in this weekend’s Elimination Chamber match; which also includes Seth Rollins, Roman Reigns, Finn Balor, Elias, The Miz, and John Cena. The winner of the match will go on to challenge “The Beast” for the Universal Title at WrestleMania 34:
– WWE posted a video of former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey as she prepares to sign her RAW contract at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view (PPV) this weekend on the WWE Network. The video features comments from Stephanie McMahon and Charlotte Flair, as well as some footage from Rousey’s professional wrestling training. Check it out:
– WWE Hall Of Famer Diamond Dallas Page was backstage for last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW from Phoenix, Arizona. He arrived to the RAW arena around the time Main Event tapings began. PWInsider is reporting that the former WCW World Heavyweight Champion was filming material for upcoming WWE projects. This includes filming for the upcoming “Unreleased Matches” DVD on “The Macho Man” Randy Savage which comes out later this year.
– Following last night’s Seven-Man Gauntlet match on Monday Night RAW, Finn Balor took to Twitter to heap some praise on Seth Rollins and take shots at WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz:
Forget about any controversial moments over the last 2 years, I’ve nothing but respect for @WWERollins & his performance tonight. ? As for the @mikethemiz & his goons …. this is chess, not checkers .. see you Sunday, locked IN the #wwechamber ? https://t.co/ACF2oSKUmB
– After winning last night’s Seven-Man Gauntlet match on Monday Night RAW, which involved all seven men scheduled for this weekend’s Elimination Chamber match, Braun Strowman took to Twitter to warn Universal Champion Brock Lesnar:
– An exchange on Twitter last night between Mandy Rose and Bianca Belair suddenly became heated this morning, after Goldust and Montez Ford got involved. The full exchange (including one of Goldust’s deleted Tweets) can be found below:
Hunnyyyyy… trust me I don’t need to buy a FAKE piece of hair to use as a weapon… ? it’s called a hair FLIP, chill out there toots ! ? #Saltyhttps://t.co/L9f5RYikUp
Goldust: “Get back to me when Bianca can hit the ropes without her hair getting in the way. And don’t you disrespect me, punk. I’ve chewed up and spit out more than you could ever dream. YOU KNOW WHERE YOU CAN FIND ME, if you make it up here. #SinkWithTheNokiaSharkYouMark”
– R-Truth took to Twitter to announce that his new single, That’z Endurance, is now available online:
On Monday afternoon it was revealed that WWE had dropped ‘Crews’ from Apollo’s ring name. There has been some speculation going around online that WWE made this move to avoid any sort of association to last week’s Florida high school mass murderer Nikolas Cruz. Cruz opened fire on his former high school and killed 17 people, including both students and faculty. Sportskeeda is reporting that WWE emailed them and confirmed that this was the reason for the change:
Apparently this is the reason why Apollo Crews is now "Apollo".
Peyton Royce and Billie Kay have been absent from WWE TV since the November 29th TV taping. Royce competed against NXT Women’s Champion Ember Moon with Kay at ringside. The match aired on December 13th of last year. On the latest edition of Wrestling Observer Newsletter Dave Meltzer noted that Royce and Kay aren’t injured, but the company currently doesn’t have anything for them creatively on TV. This still doesn’t explain their absence from NXT live events, however.
Now reports are suggesting that the reason Royce and Kay have been away is because both underwent breast enlargement procedures in December. The recovery time for such a procedure is around six weeks before you can engage in a strenuous workout. Due to their profession as professional wrestlers, however, that time will be a bit longer.
On Friday WWE updated Kay’s profile pictures after the operation. You can see the difference to say the least:
The photos created some chatter on social media and Kay responded to them subtly with a quote on Instagram:
This actually isn’t Kay’s first breast enlargement procedure. She missed some time after WrestleMania 32 back in 2016 and missed three months as a result.
Last night Seth Rollins had a historic evening on Monday Night RAW. “The Architect” took part in the longest match in WWE TV history, a Seven-Man Gauntlet match between the men involved in this weekend’s Elimination Chamber match. Rollins and fellow Shield member Roman Reigns opened up the match as the starting two participants. The two friends put on a great back-and-forth brawl that led to Rollins picking up the victory with the rollup.
Reigns took the loss like a good sport and out came John Cena, who also did the job for Rollins after an excellent bout as well. Although Rollins was defeated by Elias after Cena was eliminated, the former WWE World Heavyweight Champ’s stock rose significantly after the performance. Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio noted that there could be more to Rollins’ pinfall win over Reigns.
It turns out WWE could be planning for Rollins and Reigns to have a program sometime down the road, thus the reason for him getting the clean win over “The Big Dog.” Meltzer finds it difficult to believe that Rollins would go over on Reigns without a big payoff at some point
“Roman’s loss is not just a loss. A lot of the time I get mad when they have a top guy lose for no reason whatsoever. It’s kind of like if you’re a top guy and you lose, it should only be for a reason and this had a reason, I think. I think the reason is that Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins will be working a program down the line. If they’re not, then it was for no reason.”
Former NXT talent and current WWE Superstar Elias recently joined E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness to talk about his run on the main roster. The man formerly known as “The Drifter” discussed the origins of his character singing to WWE crowds:
“One time I went to Largo, Florida and Terry Taylor came up to me and asked if I could sing a song tonight and I said, ‘OK, about what?’ He said that I should sing about the crowd. I came up with a song that night and the song kind of clicked right off the bat, so I evolved it from there. I started asking, at the time, ‘Who wants to walk with The Drifter?’ I would then tell a little story; it all really started at NXT, even though the NXT audience didn’t really get to see that side of me too much; the live events crowd definitely did see that.”
Elias also revealed that Triple H predicted during his time in NXT that his character would be more successful on the main roster than in developmental:
“Triple H has told me specifically from the very first time when he saw me, he said that it would be a better main roster character than NXT. It never really clicked with the NXT audience the way it has. The way I see it, I took my live event act in NXT and brought it to the main roster. They saw the live event act and said let’s put that on TV. On NXT, I would sing songs, but wouldn’t even do that, plus it was very dark and cryptic, but this is the kind of stuff I was doing on live events in NXT before being called up.”
He also discussed how he looks forward to his character evolving as he continues forward in his journey on the main roster:
“I definitely see my character evolving. I don’t want it to run until the wheels fall off. I am definitely going to get the most out of this incarnation of it, then hopefully whatever the crowd reacts to it, and storylines take me there are many level. Think about just any kind of rockstar who has had a journey; they have their ups and downs, their egos and demands and then they hit rock bottom. There’s a million ways to go with ‘Elias,’ in my mind I see it evolving in many different ways.”
You can listen to Elias on E&C’s Pod Of Awesomeness by clicking this link here.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jake “The Snake” Roberts was recently interviewed by The Wrestling Estate to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Roberts was asked about working closely alongside Vince McMahon and Pat Patterson on the WWE creative team in the 90s:
“When I was there, we had like six people who we’d sit down and go over things. Bottom line is it all goes through Vince [McMahon], anyway. But you could talk to Vince. He would listen to a point. We got along well when I was booking with him, quite well. Pat was just a tremendous talent.
“The only problem I had with Pat was that he liked to go with comedy too much. I feel like if people wanted comedy, they’d watch a comedy show. This is wrestling, let’s see some wrestling. But to each his own. You can’t knock Vince too much because he’s still rolling.”
Roberts also shared his opinion on why he thinks there is too much comedy in professional wrestling today:
“I think so. It’s my own feeling. But they’re doing a three-hour show and I’m sure it’s very taxing trying to keep it going. I guess there is a need for some comedy, but again, I just think they put too much out there. I don’t think they pay enough attention to heat for heels.
“Of course, there are no heels and babyfaces anymore. Everybody does the same stuff. I don’t like that either. There should be a clear line as to good guy and bad guy. I think that’s what the people really want. Maybe I’m wrong, hell, I’ve been wrong before.”
It turns out that Roberts also actually reached out to fellow WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair on battling alcoholism. “The Nature Boy,” however, didn’t want Roberts’ help in the matter:
“I sent a message to him, and unfortunately, he didn’t want any help from me. I’ll just leave it at that.”
You can read Roberts’ full interview with The Wrestling Estate by clicking this link here.
– This weekend’s Elimination Chamber match competitors; The Miz, Finn Balor, John Cena, Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, Seth Rollins and Elias will all compete in a Gauntlet match on RAW tongiht. WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz took to Twitter to slam Balor specifically ahead of the match:
– Triple H has reached 7 million followers on Twitter and has become the third-most followed professional wrestling personality on the social media platform, right behind The Rock and John Cena. Here’s the full top ten list:
1. The Rock (12.6 million)
2. John Cena (10.9 million)
3. Triple H (7.1 million)
4. Randy Orton (5.8 million)
5. Sheamus 4.8 (million)
6. Steve Austin (4.4 million)
7. Daniel Bryan (4.3 million)
8. Shawn Michaels (3.9 million)
9. Nikki Bella (3.4 million)
10. Chris Jericho (3.4 million)
– WWE has announced the following:
WWE® (NYSE: WWE) today announced that tickets to Survivor Series will be available on Friday, March 16 starting at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m. PT. Survivor Series will take place Sunday, November 18, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles and will be streamed live around the world on WWE Network.
Ticket prices for Survivor Series range from $25-$500. All fans who purchase a $450 or $500 ticket will take home a commemorative Survivor Series chair. Tickets can be purchased at the STAPLES Center box office, www.AXS.com or by calling 888-9-AXS-TIX (888.929.7849) / 925-357-4228 (outside U.S. & Canada). All tickets are subject to service charges and facility fees.
In addition, Survivor Series Travel Packages will be available Monday, March 5 starting at noon ET at www.survivorseriestravel.com, allowing fans the opportunity to purchase NXT® TakeOver®, Monday Night Raw®, and SmackDown®Live tickets ahead of the general public.
Former WWE Superstar and IMPACT Wrestling talent Al Snow was recently interviewed by The Roman Show at Coastal Championship Wrestling’s (CCW) recent “Breaking Chains” event. Snow discussed his time with WWE’s old developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), and what it was like working with the female talents:
“When we were doing the developmental in OVW the women, which were Beth Phoenix, ODB, Katie Burchill and a lot of those women carried the show and were the main event. In fact, we had the first ever women’s ladder match in OVW in Louisville, Kentucky for WWE developmental between Beth Phoenix and Katie Burchill. They tore the house down. It was more than often than not that the women carried the show. The women can be as strong as an attraction if done in the right manner if treated respectfully.
“The most important, and this isn’t a sexist thing, if the women continue to be women – meaning they don’t become guys with boobs – that they can perform wrestle like a man, act professionally like a man, legitimately like a man, but maintain their feminine quality so they can relate to the men and women in the public.”
Snow was asked about former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey signing with WWE, and said she’s going to need a lot more charisma in professional wrestling than she did in mixed martial arts (MMA):
“It takes a very special person to work the opposite. If she’s capable of taking the charisma she had in MMA, she’ll need ten times the charisma in the WWE. I trained mixed martial artists King Mo and Dan Severn. Both will tell you [like] King Mo, ‘I don’t know how these guys do it. I would rather much prepare for a fight than train pro wrestling because physically there’s much more demand’.”
The former WWE Hardcore Champion also has a new clothing brand out, Collar and Elbow. Here’s what he had to say about it:
“I wanted to create a brand for wrestling. At the time, I didn’t know there was one for wrestling. Ultimately the biggest fans of wrestling are wrestlers. You have to be such a fan of wrestling. There’s nothing wrong being a fan of wrestling. The problem is the general public if you wear a wrestling shirt and identify as a wrestling fan, they get the usual ‘you like that? That’s fake.’ They don’t want to wear it.”
One third of former SmackDown Live Tag Team Champions, The New Day, Kofi Kingston recently did an interview with The Buzz Adams Morning Show to promote an El Paso live even in Texas. The former Intercontinental Champion discussed The New Day’s creativity and where they draw the inspiration from:
“It’s funny, going back, it was three guys just trying to save our jobs. At first there was a time when we would pitch ideas but they said they wouldn’t want to do certain things, but then it just got to a certain point where everything we do now is ridiculous and are just trying to find the line. With Francesca, it was actually right before a promo we had in New York. I think it was around Summer Slam 4 years ago, and Xavier Woods randomly said that he can play the trombone. Me and Big E didn’t even know he could play the trombone. We thought he could play one or two notes, but he said, no, he played in concerts in High School for all four years; so we had asked [WWE Management] if we can do that live and they said sure.
“The contrast is like, one day we are trying to ask for something standard to only get rejected, and the next we are asking if we can play the trombone and all of a sudden it’s like everything is okay, so we are trying to find things to do to get away with them. Francesca was born, pancakes were born, unicorn horns were born where to the point that they started selling unicorn horns. It’s all about doing something crazy that comes from our minds and where we can draw the lines, but we haven’t drawn the lines quite yet so hopefully there will be some fun stuff coming up.”
Kingston and The New Day have released some crazy merchandise over the years, including their own cereal brand “Booty O’s.” Kingston was asked what crazy merch the trio is coming out with next:
“Who knows. Right now, this is kind of like the ‘Pancake Era’ for us right now, so, the next merchandise idea is going to revolve around pancakes. Whether that’d be pancake batter, or a pancake shirt. The guy who makes our pancakes is known as Mr. Bootyworth. We haven’t revealed him yet to the world, so you are getting an inclusive during this interview right now that everyone has been let in on Mr. Bootyworth. We don’t have an idea of where he is going to go, but we don’t know, we will have to wait and see what comes to mind first.”
Kingston is notorious for having some ridiculous saves in the Royal Rumble match, preventing himself from getting eliminated. He revealed which is his favorite and, in his opinion, the most difficult he has ever done:
“Honestly, I don’t even like ranking them myself as far as favorite. I just try to come up with new ideas and throw them out there and allow the fans to decide what their favorite is. I think, for me, the toughest was the handstand one; because, if you watch that one, I was thrown out of the Rumble by Miz. My hands are thrown on the ground, but my feet are up in the air, so I am walking around and doing a handstand headed towards the stairs where my feet are on the stairs and they don’t hit the floor. I get a lot of credit now for doing these things, but if you play close attention it is the guys around me that are doing all the work.
“This year, I just got knocked out of the ring and Xavier [Woods] sacrificed himself and then him and Big E sacrificed themselves and threw me back into the ring. I didn’t do anything on that. I got thrown out of the ring one time by Adam Rose and then I landed on his Rosebuds, which they then threw me back in the ring, so again, I didn’t do anything with that. Another time, I was riding on Big E’s shoulders, so again, he’s giving me a ride, I’m not the one doing any of the work, but I get a lot of the credit, which should mostly go towards those that help me, but they are definitely a lot of fun during Royal Rumble season.”
WWE Superstar Braun Strowman was recently interviewed on Busted Open Radio to talk about several professional wrestling topics. The former strongman competitor talked about owing his career to former World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry:
“Truth be told, I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Mark Henry. I traveled around the world doing strongman competition. That’s the first time I met Mark, back in 2010 when I competed as an amateur. I introduced myself and said ‘I’ve always been a fan of his in WWE and what he’s done in the strength sports world.’ We sparked a friendship from there and he pretty much turned WWE’s eyes on me. Long and behold, here we are today.”
“The Monster Among Men” also discussed the lessons that he learned during his time in WWE’s developmental territory in Florida:
“The biggest thing was probably finding out and figuring out how to relate to the people, having the character development. That’s been the craziest thing, getting to play something that I’m not personally in real life. For the most part, I’m a very fun, easy going guy that likes to have fun. It was finding that niche that was to play Adam, but use Adam’s strengths and weaknesses to turn into Braun, and I think I’ve done a good job meshing the two together.
“The things I learned in developmental was I learned I could do damn near everything someone 200 pounds lighter than me can, but the big question was ‘Why’ would I do that. That’s the biggest thing I learned. I was injured a lot when I was in developmental and that’s because I was out there trying to work like a 180 pound Lucha wrestler, flying around and going off the top rope. I was young and excited to learn.
“I took wrestling the same way I’ve taken everything in life, and that’s I want to be the best in the world at it or I don’t want to do it all. I thought that’s what I needed to be doing. It took a few injuries, but I learned that I’m a ground based athlete. You’re 380 pounds. I bounce from 360-380 pounds depending what I eat. People come to see that, not to see me do flips and flops. They come to see a larger than life character like Mark himself.
“What put WWE on the map are these larger than life human beings that Vince McMahon has been able to find around the world that shocked and awe people because you don’t see human beings like that walking around on the streets. Take myself for example, Big Show, Mark Henry, it doesn’t matter what’s going on or where we’re at, when we walk in the room, we steal all of the attention because people go ‘oh my god, look at this human being. I’ve never seen anything like this.’
“It’s been an unbelievable rise to where I am and what I’ve been able to do in such a short amount of time.”
Strowman was then asked if he has any regrets in his career thus far, to which he responded he wished he was more careful protecting himself early on. He suffered an injury nearly three years ago that almost ended his professional wrestling career:
“If I could go back and do it all over again, I would be smarter with protecting myself and my brand, being a big man, not letting people talk me into doing stupid things I should not have been doing.
“One injury that was really close to ending my career is I ruptured a disk in my back and it cut into my side nerve and paralyzed my back. The folks at WWE take such great care of us with injury and make sure we are running at peak performance. I went to the doctor in Pittsburgh, I had to be pushed through the airport in a wheelchair because my left leg was 100% paralyzed. I had surgery and when I woke up, I walked to my recovery room. The man upstairs is certainly looking out for me.
“Having peers like Mark and Big Show, these big men that have paved the road to where I’m going and taking me under their wing and teaching me the things to do and not to do… I could not have been put in a better position. I feel like I hit the wrestling lottery. I’ve been in the right place at the right time.”
The former Wyatt Family member also divulged how grateful he is for all the opportunities WWE has given him to thrive:
“They have given me so many opportunities. They give everyone opportunities for everyone to grab the brass rings. I love competition and I’m a sore loser. In my opinion, losing is when I mess up a spot. I’m really hard on myself and it pisses me off. I want to be perfect. I want to be the best, or I don’t want to do it at all.”
– Bloomberg recently did a story on WWE that featured some comments from Stephanie McMahon. Stephanie commented on her brother’s role within WWE, revealing he’s not an actual executive within the company but “is really a strong talent for us right now.”
– Former WWE Superstar Darren Young was released from the company this past October. He has since changed his WWE-related social media handles. Young’s new Twitter can be found @realfredrosser and his Instagram account is realfredrosser. Instead of using the Darren Young name, he now uses his real name, Fred Rosser:
– WWE posted the following video of Seth Rollins cutting a great backstage promo to hype this weekend’s Elimination Chamber match. Rollins talked about originally not having a match for the pay-per-view (PPV) event, but now being a part of the biggest Elimination Chamber match of all time. He vowed to win the match, go on to WrestleMania 34, and slay “The Beast” – again – to win the Universal Title. Check it out:
– WWE has been teasing an upcoming feud between RAW Tag Team Champions The Bar (Sheamus and Cesaro) against The Revival, perhaps for a title match at Elimination Chamber. WWE posted a backstage video of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson calling out The Revival, calling them a pair of “NERDS!” Could this lead to a title eliminator match between the two teams?
– Alexa Bliss took to Twitter to react to getting her own Mattel doll. Bliss recalled telling her former teacher she wanted to grow up to be a Barbie Doll:
When I was 5 I said when I grew up I wanted to be a Barbie Doll … here’s to my teacher who said I couldn’t ???? pic.twitter.com/Jugt1JKciU
– In the latest edition of their “Fantasy Warfare” series WWE posted a video teasing a potential match-up between Rey Mysterio and current WWE Champion AJ Styles. Check it out here below:
– Former WWE Superstar Sean “X-Pac” Waltman took to Twitter and revealed that he’s related to one of the victims of this week’s Florida high school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Waltman revealed that one of the 14-year-old victims was the daughter of his mother’s niece:
Ronda Rousey’s in-ring debut for WWE is expected to take place at WrestleMania 34. Reported plans have Rousey teaming with a mystery partner against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. Sports Illustrated is reporting that there are four names that WWE is currently considering to partner with Rousey at “The Show Of Shows.”
Those names, in order of WWE’s preference, are The Rock, RAW General Manager Kurt Angle, SmackDown Live Commissioner Shane McMahon, and Seth Rollins. It’s also possible that top WWE officials already know who Rousey’s partner will be. WWE would like for The Rock to partner with Rousey as a way to continue on from the foursome’s encounter at WrestleMania 31. We’ll keep you updated as we learn more…
WWE Superstar Rusev recently did an interview with Wrestling Inc. to talk about several professional wrestling topics. “The Bulgarian Brute” discussed what “Rusev Day” meant to him and the passion behind it:
“It’s more than just a catchphrase – it’s a mentality. t’s celebrating yourself; celebrating who you are. It’s more than just catchphrase. If you think about it, it’s Rusev Day. So it’s more than that. People understand that, and the passion behind it. That’s why people get behind it, and it’s just been amazing to see.”
Rusev also said that he feels very proud that the “Rusev Day” chant has really taken off with the WWE Universe:
“It just makes me proud. Every time I hear someone say ‘Rusev Day’, it makes me smile. The fact that I was a bad guy, a foreigner that never wanted – that wanted to get out of there , to be able to just have fun, to be ‘you’. It’s good, man. It’s a good feeling. It’s the best time of my career, the most fun of my career. Right along the time I was feuding with Lana.”
He also revealed that his initial pairing with Aiden English was meant to be a joke, but the pair ended up hitting it off:
“I have no idea whose idea it was. It was uh… it was supposed to be a joke, a one-time thing. But then we just hit it off. It was right; the chemistry – and we were playing off each other. The people started loving it since the beginning. So it was a no-brainer for us to be together, for us to keep doing magic.”
You can read Rusev’s full interview with Wrestling Inc. by clicking this link here.
Former WWE Superstar Rosa Mendes recently did an interview with Press Box Online to talk about several professional wrestling topics. Mendes opened up on her longtime friendship with former WWE Divas Champion Paige:
“Paige and I are soul sisters. She has a heart of gold. When friends go through hard times, it’s important to be there for them, but it’s also important to step away when they need space. If your friendship is strong enough to withstand obstacles, then I feel that those obstacles will bring you closer together. I’m so happy that her and I reconnected.
“When I was going through my own problems, [Natalya] was there for me, and I don’t know what I would have done without her at that time in my life. She’s been a true friend for so many years. That’s what being a true friend is all about — being there when someone needs you, not when their friendship can benefit you.”
Mendes also offered her thoughts on the current Women’s Revolution in professional wrestling:
“All of the girls are so unique and different that I can’t pinpoint one match and one particular moment, because I had so many great experiences. WWE female superstars are extraordinary women. WWE has done such an amazing job finding women that have the most unbelievably dedicated work ethic and knowledge. The sacrifices and hard work that it takes to become a superstar and to make it on TV, it’s more than a lot of the [fans] know about.
“I’m glad that Total Divas and Total Bellas can show them a bit of what it’s like behind the scenes. My favorite memories in WWE? I feel like I need to write a book, because I’ve had so many amazing memories and funny stories that I would love to share — 10 years of them! [Laughs]”
She was also asked about a potential return to the ring – to which she said she wouldn’t rule anything out:
“Never say never!”
You can read Mendes’ full interview with Press Box Online by clicking this link here.
– Per a report from Rajah, Rey Mysterio is expected to sign some sort of a deal with WWE soon. If it doesn’t happen this year then it’s expected it could happen in 2019. It’s very possible he could sign a term-style deal similar to Chris Jericho, which would also allow him to work elsewhere. While that would be an ideal scenario for Mysterio it’s unclear if WWE would want to do something like that, especially since everything needs to be approved by Vince McMahon.
– The Rock recently took to Instagram to post how important his time is to him now at this point in his career. Here’s what he had to say:
“Reached a point in my career where my most important currency, is my time.
If I’m giving you my time, then you get me at 100%, fully committed and a passionate SOB who’s going all in. So be protective of your time. It’s the one thing we can control where it goes and who gets it. Thank you to the multiple teams of people who worked so hard to make our Super Bowl launch of #SKYSCRAPER a success.”
