WWE Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair made her surprise return to the company last month. She has come out to share that she felt overwhelmed by the crowd’s response to her comeback.
Flair made her return to WWE on the Dec. 30 episode of Friday Night Smackdown, where she confronted Ronda Rousey. She was met with a positive reaction from the crowd, working as a babyface. Before her return, WWE had her acting as a heel. Flair defeated Rousey to win the Smackdown Women’s Championship.
In an interview with Joseph Staszewski for the New York Post, Flair shared her experience from the Dec. 30 return. She spoke openly about how the crowd response had overwhelmed her.
“I was very overwhelmed. For me to get overwhelmed out there, I’m usually controlling the emotions and the pace and where I’m at. I was just like, I had never had that comeback moment. I never had that feel-good [moment]. Maybe when I won [at] WrestleMania 32, but it wasn’t a surprise. It was a big moment in my career, but no one’s ever missed me. I’m always there”
– Charlotte Flair
What Kept Charlotte From Returning Sooner?
Flair has stayed off WWE TV since her loss to Rousey at WrestleMania Backlash on May. 8, 2022. Before her return, she had stayed off of WWE TV for several months to enjoy her personal life and take care of dental procedures. She and AEW star Andrade El Idolo got married in May. 27, 2022. During her interview with the Post, Flair shared that time away alongside her husband was a needed break, and she had time to relax.
“Usually I’m thinking, even if I do go to the beach while I’m working, I could go for a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, but I’m thinking, What am I doing on TV Friday, where are my live events,” said Flair. She continued,
“To completely be disconnected and in the moment was so nice, and getting that one-on-one time with Manny [Andrade] that I never have had before, it was priceless.”
Since her return, she has feuded with Sonya Deville. Flair defeated Deville for the Smackdown’s Women’s Championship on the Jan. 6 episode of Friday Night Smackdown. However, it seems WWE has teased that they could have another match.
Fans were left extremely disappointed with this week’s Steel Cage match on Monday Night Raw, which did not go as planned.
The match, pitting Damage CTRL’s Bayley against Becky Lynch, had been promoted all week long, and had been as one of the main attractions for Raw’s 30th-anniversary episode.
Instead of a match, Lynch was attacked by WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions IYO SKY and Dakota Kai during her entrance and thrown into the ring.
Locking the cage door, the SKY, Kai, and Bayley beat down on Lynch, and left only after Adam Pearce had broken the lock on the cage door.
Original Plans
The Steel Cage match WWE had planned had to be scrapped due to segments earlier in the episode going long.
It has been reported that the Trial of Sami Zayn that opened up this week’s Raw went much longer than expected.
PW Insider reports that the plan for the cage match was for Lynch to win, and then be attacked post-match by Damage CTRL.
There has been no confirmation yet as to whether this match will be used in full down the line.
Backlash
WWE felt it was the right call to scrap the Steel Cage match, as the alternative was having the actual match go for approximately two minutes.
However, the decision to scrap the match has led to backlash by fans, who have called into question WWE’s treatment of their women for the Raw is 30 event.
Will Matt Cardona be returning to WWE, possibly as soon as this weekend’s Royal Rumble?
Cardona spent over a decade with WWE under the name Zack Ryder, and previously worked as Brett Major.
The former Intercontinental, U.S., and Tag Champion was released in April 2020 as part of one of WWE’s ‘budget cut’ mass layoffs.
Trademark
In recent months, Cardona has teased a return to WWE following the comebacks of names like Karrion Kross, Johnny Gargano, Bray Wyatt, and others.
Over the past week, Cardona filed a trademark for the term ‘WOO WOO WOO. YOU KNOW IT,’ a line synonymous with his Zack Ryder character.
The trademark was filed with Michael E Dockins, who has assisted dozens of wrestlers with their trademark filings.
The term has been filed for the use of merchandise, including clothing and action figures.
It has been reported that Cardona’s wife Chelsea Green is set to return to WWE, and that both sides are just waiting on a creative decision for her TV comeback.
On His Own Terms
After spending much of his WWE career as little above an enhancement talent, Cardona has become a main eventer on the independent scene.
Speaking to Sportskeeda Wrestling last November, the former NWA World Champion said that it would have to be on his own terms.
“I said Zack Ryder is dead because, and listen, never say never, right, but if I were to ever go back, it has to be as Matt Cardona.”
In addition to the NWA, Cardona has competed for Impact, Game Changer Wrestling (where he is also a former World Champion) and had a brief appearance in AEW.
WWE’s Hall of Fame has always been a controversial subject. Many wrestling talents over the years have questioned its credibility over the lack of any criteria for inductees. John Morrison is one who doesn’t care about an induction because he thinks that it’s political and made up.
The former WWE star recently spoke to Chris Van Vliet. Among other things, the former ECW champion was asked if he thinks he has had a Hall of Fame career. Morrison replied by saying that he doesn’t care about it:
“Funny thing is I don’t care. I think the Hall of Fame is political and made up. It doesn’t matter that much to me.”
– John Morrison
Chris mentioned that John Morrison still has a lot left in the tank. The wrestling star then explained that it might be the reason for his disinterest: “Me too. Maybe that’s why I don’t care so much about Hall of Fame. I feel like it’s too early for that question.”
In his two runs with WWE, Morrison has won over half a dozen titles in the company. He has given fans many moments to remember and is certainly worthy of a Hall of Fame induction once he is ready to call it a career.
You can check out John Morrison’s full interview below:
John Morrison has gone through more name changes than anyone in the history of wrestling. It all started when the former WWE star made his debut on Raw under the ring name Johnny Blaze in 2004. However, he instantly went through a couple of name changes before settling on Johnny Nitro. He used the name for a few years before Vince McMahon made him change it again. The former champion thinks it was because Nitro reminded the boss of WCW’s flagship show of the same name.
The high-flying star was recently interviewed by Chris Van Vliet. Among other things he also talked about his name change in WWE. The wrestling star admitted that going from Nitro to Morrison was a big shift for him. He also revealed that Mr McMahon asked him to change the name three times before he finally did:
“It definitely was. Literally, Vince I don’t know if [he] would admit this or not, but [he] did not like Nitro. I don’t think [so]. Because it reminded him about WCW. Because he asked me to change my name three times. The third time was when I won the ECW title [in 2007]. I didn’t say no that time because I was like, ‘All right. I am not gonna fight this anymore.’”
When asked how he managed to say no to Vince McMahon two times, Morrison said “You just say you’ll think about it and then hope he forgets. Sometimes he does.”
‘You Gotta Have A Champion’s Name’: John Morrison
John Morrison also revealed the reason Vince gave him for wanting the name change and detailed the final conversation about it:
“He said, ‘You gotta change your name. You gotta have a champion’s name if you’re gonna be a champion. Make a list of names. Write down 10 names’ Then an hour later, I had like a list of all these names.
Morrison was off Jim Morrison from the Doors but I had like Brando Morrison, Johnny Brando, Johnny Blaze Morrison, Blaze is already copywritten, but a bunch of stuff. He looked at this list that I’d spent an hour googling names and meanings and different celebrities like James Dean and making this list. He just looked at it and was like, ‘John Morrison,’”
You can check out the former ECW champion’s interview below:
WWE put some serious effort in promoting the Raw 30th Anniversary special and the buzz around the show seems to have paid off in form of a huge rating spike.
According to reports from Wrestlenomics, the show featuring appearances from a number of legends and more drew an average of 2.34 million viewers.
The episode featuring the US championship match between Austin Theory and Bobby Lashley among others drew a 0.70 rating for the 18-49 demographic.
The first hour of the show drew a massive 2.64 million viewers. While the following hours saw the usual decline, both the second and third hours of Raw XXX stayed above 2 million with a 2.37 million and 2.02 million ratings respectively.
This is a big 57% increase in the viewership number compared to last week’s episode of the show. The episode featuring the six-way elimination match had drawn 1.48 million viewers with a 0.42 rating in the 18-49 demo.
This week’s episode of the show which saw appearances from legends such as The Undertaker and DX scored the highest total viewership since the February 17, 2020 episode of the program.
WWE will be presenting the Royal Rumble PPV this Saturday. We will have to see if the big event helps next Monday’s show to retain some of these extra viewers.
The Bella Twins (Nikki & Brie Bella) were initially advertised weeks ago to appear at WWE Raw XXX on Monday night.
They weren’t advertised the week before the event and didn’t show up at the event. While speaking on Instagram Live, Nikki explained why they didn’t appear on the show. It all came down to them being booked from Monday through Thursday with Artem Chigvintsev on a busy media schedule to promote the premiere of “Nikki Bella Says I Do” on Thursday night. She stated that it’s a WWE-owned show, and that’s why there were so many trailers for it during Raw.
“We were hoping, I think it was weeks ago, we were talking about going to Raw. They said they had nothing for us. We were booked on media on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and then there was maybe an idea. Our whole team, including WWE and everyone else, had booked us for Monday in New York. Whatever you see of stuff, all of a sudden, stories change; that’s to clean up and throw it on people, nope. We had all these commitments per the company we work for and everyone else. I know people like to throw it on people, but I’m not going to let that happen,” she said.
#WWEWomenDeserveBetter
After the show, Nikki and Brie spoke on Instagram, noting the lack of women’s clips on Raw 30. Becky Lynch and Bayley were scheduled to compete in a cage match on the show, but the match was cut short due to the opening segment going long. The hashtag “WWEWomenDeserveBetter” began trending after the show.
Nikki said she loves the fans for sticking up for the women and said it wasn’t about them for bringing this up. Instead, it’s about the women of the past to the ones in the company now.
“I understand why so many people are upset, especially our fans when it’s something like Raw 30.”
Nikki noted that people have their own memories and come from various eras.
“I love that you’re doing the hashtag, and you’re going to see a lot of narratives play because people have to protect themselves and you’re going to get a lot of women blamed and people calling them crybabies. No, we put in just as much effort and work. All those women do, all of them, from every era. Not just women, men too.”
Bianca Belair went on to win the 2021 30-Woman Royal Rumble match and headlined WWE WrestleMania 37 with Sasha Banks. This came one year after she was called up to the main roster from NXT.
For the past nine months, Belair has been the Raw Women’s Champion. Belair’s rise was discussed on the Public Enemies Podcast by former WWE writer Chris Dunn.
This is where the original plan for the 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble match was revealed.
Original Winner
He revealed that Charlotte Flair was penciled in to win the match. The finish had been practiced, and Flair was going to go over. Belair was going to be eliminated midway through the match. However, fellow writer Ryan Ward presented his case to Vince McMahon about why Belair should win instead of Flair.
“I was in a Tampa Hotel room and we were watching some sort of football game and an assistant had just left the Royal Rumble (2021) night-before meeting and they changed the finish and Charlotte [Flair] was going to go over and they rehearsed Charlotte going over and Bianca [Belair] was going to get eliminated like midway through the match and it got changed to Bianca going over and I think a lot of people voiced it but this guy, Ryan Ward, he’s been there for like 14 years, he was [John] Cena’s writer and probably, for my money, I think has had the biggest hand in the women’s revolution.
He was lead writer in the golden days of NXT with Kevin [Owens] and Sami [Zayn] and The Four Horsewomen, all that stuff. From my understanding, what I heard, he kind of said something to Vince [McMahon] to the effect of, ‘Vince, if you look at the Royal Rumble tomorrow, you have Edge winning and Charlotte winning. We’re not making any new stars’ and I think that really resonated and Bianca was on such a roll where it kind of made sense and she also had to, again, right after that match, really nail that post-match promo and she did it and she was just awesome and great.”
Belair will make her next title defense at the Royal Rumble against Alexa Bliss this Saturday.
WWE did an angle on Monday at the Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, with Bron Breakker and Grayson Waller.
Breakker retained his WWE NXT Title over Waller a few weeks ago at New Year’s Evil via count out. They will run it back at NXT Vengeance Day next month inside of a steel cage at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The angle was first seen when Miss Indiana USA Alexis Lete posted a video on her Instagram Stories in what was supposed to be a clip about what she’s been learning while training to become a WWE Superstar. At the end of the clip, you can see a bunch of other trainers and wrestlers swarm Breakker and Waller to try to break things up.
Another View
An alternate view of the fight can be seen below, where Breakker was throwing hands after taking down Waller.
A match or two will likely be added with the event a week away, but the current lineup features four matches. The other bouts previously announced for the show include NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez vs. Gigi Dolin vs. Jacy Jayne, NXT Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. Gallus vs. Pretty Deadly, and NXT North American Champion Wes Lee vs. Dijak.
Roxanne Perez has revealed how Mandy Rose reacted to finding out that she’d be dropping the NXT Women’s Title to her.
Last month, Perez shocked fans when she pulled off a surprise win over Mandy Rose on an episode of NXT to capture the NXT Women’s Title. However, shortly after, Rose was released from the company.
It was alter determined that Rose was let go after releasing explicit content on her subscription fan page. Perez recently spoke to Faction 919 about the entire ordeal, and what it was like working with Rose in her final match with the company.
“For her to be such a good human being, I was always so grateful for her. In a way, I was a little sad, because of the way it was happening, but she was so supportive and being like, ‘You deserve this.’ It made it so much more special.
“To have Booker T, my trainer, on commentary. My boyfriend was also there as well, he was a big part of my training and me becoming a wrestler. To have them there and when they gave me the championship, holding it in my hands, it didn’t feel real until that moment.
“Everything I went through, all the trials and tribulations, the ups and downs of this wrestling journey that I’ve been on since I was 13, all those moments were so worth it. It was finally real and it finally happened. It was crazy.”
(via WWE)
Perez noted that Rose was actually supportive of her throughout the title win, telling her she deserves it.
Perez is in the midst of her first title reign as NXT Women’s Champion. She only signed with the company last March and is already a former NXT Women’s Tag Team Champion alongside Cora Jade.
Monday’s 30th anniversary edition of WWE Raw was an eventful show. Perhaps the most buzz-worthy moment of the 3-hour marathon broadcast was the face-to-face confrontation between The Undertaker and Bray Wyatt.
The Dead Man whispered something into Wyatt’s ear that had a profound impact on the Eater of Words. Wyatt took a moment on Tuesday morning to share his feelings about the interaction with his legion of fans on social media.
Wyatt says that one moment with The Undertaker at Raw 30 “justified a lifetime of sacrifices” for him. Whatever you want to say about Wyatt’s WWE character, you have to agree: he’s unique. This uniqueness has brought adversity, including people encouraging him to change and confirm. He’s resisted these calls, and now feels reassured that he hasn’t compromised himself to fit someone else’s narrative.
This moment justified a lifetime of sacrifices for me. A lifetime of people treating my uniqueness like it was a disease. Through all the bad times I never changed myself to fit anyone’s narrative. I’m proud of that. Thank you Taker. #SuckItLAKnightpic.twitter.com/nQHYWNq7CL
The interaction with Bray Wyatt on Raw was also meaningful for The Undertaker. He echoed the sentiment that pro wrestling is all about moments. He’s created countless moments throughout his legendary career, but his brief encounter with Wyatt on Raw was a special one he’ll remember for a long time.
Many are looking at The Undertaker and Bray Wyatt’s interaction as a passing of the torch, of sorts. Taker has been WWE’s resident supernatural character since he arrived on the scene in November 1990. Many others have come and gone, but nobody has pulled it off quite like The Undertaker.
They’ve worked together before, most notably a feud that culminated at WrestleMania 31. The Undertaker has publicly expressed his respect for Wyatt, his creativity and his persona. He’s called Wyatt a “phenomenal talent” who has a lot to offer the industry.
WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley has reacted to missing out on RAW XXX this week.
This week’s episode of RAW celebrated the show’s 30th anniversary. The show featured the return of several notable legends such as The Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, Kurt Angle, and many more.
However, one notable absence was none other than Mick Foley. Foley took to his Facebook profile to explain that he “politely declined” an invitation to be part of the special episode.
“Sending out happy 30th anniversary wishes to everyone involved with Monday Night Raw. It is no exaggeration to say that some of the very finest moments of my life took place on this program – and I’m hoping for another 20 years. I was not able to make it this time, but I just might be there for the 50th anniversary in 2043!
“I’m wondering what a few of your favorite Mandind, Dude, Cactus or Commissioner Foley moments are from the Monday Night archives… Winning the title from @therock the first time is the no-brainer end so try to take a little deeper dive than that!
“Thanks to all of you who watched for so many years, and have a nice day!”
Foley occasionally appears on WWE programming from time-to-time but hasn’t been a regular since his stint as Monday Night RAW general manager ended in 2017.
He has admitted that he has been reluctant to be on WWE programming as he has had issues remembering his lines as of late. Foley was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2013.
WWE attempted to present a feel-good show for Monday’s Raw 30th anniversary special. Despite the company’s best efforts, but many fans were left disgruntled and dejected over the way women were booked on the show.
Raw 30 (Results) saw some memorable moments, including The Undertaker’s interaction with Bray Wyatt, Ric Flair proudly introducing his daughter Charlotte, DX interacting with Imperium and Brock Lesnar’s show-closing return.
Despite these high points, there’s been a lot of negative feedback over the lack of emphasis on female Superstars. The top women’s match advertised for the show, a steel cage match between Becky Lynch and Bayley, never took place.
Due to earlier segments in the show running long, the decision was made to cut the women’s cage match and simply run a quick ‘attack’ angle instead. We did get Bianca Belair vs. Sonya Deville, as well as a backstage promo from Alexa Bliss and a special appearance by Charlotte Flair. Rhea Ripley even got involved during the Usos vs. Judgment Day tag title match. However, there was enough backlash to get #WWEWomenDeserveBetter trending on Twitter.
WWE advertised the Bella Twins for RAW 30, but they were nowhere to be found. They posted a video on social media venting about WWE’s poor treatment its female talent. Nikki mocked WWE for getting upset that Sasha Banks was “too over” and Brie added, “there’s a bunch of us they doin’t want to show.”
It’s not a great look for WWE. They’re quick to pat themselves on the back for empowering women, but they’re falling short in the eyes of fans and even their female talent. Women have been part of some of the biggest moments in Raw history. Some of those moments were featured during the ‘flashback’ segments that aired throughout the broadcast.
At the end of the day, feedback from fans (and talent) matters. Even if you think you’re doing a great job, substantial backlash like this needs to be considered.
This was all a LIE, the Women were totally overlooked last night and it was embarrassing, that photo was the only recognition they got, @WWE showed they don't give a d*mn about their Women's and history through all these years, they DESERVE better #WWEWomenDeserveBetterpic.twitter.com/2P7qlgN47A
This isn’t what fans had originally expected, as many believed it would have been Reigns Vs. The Rock, but that match is now unlikely to happen.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said there has been talks in WWE about Austin facing Brock Lesnar this April.
“The match that was pitched was not with Roman Reigns. It was Brock Lesnar, but as you can tell, pretty much from the show tonight [Raw is XXX] it’s not happening. It’s not on. Something could happen now [but it’s not on at this time.]”
Dave Meltzer.
Meltzer added that talks of Lesnar Vs. Austin is nothing new and was happening backstage as far back as early December when reports broke that Lesnar Vs. GUNTHER was the WrestleMania plan.
“It’s been talked about, probably for months. Because I know when they had that Brock Lesnar-GUNTHER thing came up, I was told immediately it’s not happening, or that’s not the idea right now. Maybe it’s going to happen. But the idea [for Lesnar’s WrestleMania opponent] was a secret. Austin was that secret.”
Lesnar Vs. Lashley
On last night’s Raw 30th anniversary episode, Brock Lesnar made his TV return, costing Bobby Lashley a shot at the U.S. title.
On his show, Meltzer said that all signs are pointing to Brock Vs. the All Mighty at WrestleMania.
“The match is not on. It looks like it’s going to be Lesnar with Lashley, based on the show tonight. I don’t have that confirmed if it’s a WrestleMania match. Obviously, both will likely be in the Rumble, probably feud. Whether that means Montreal where the Pay-Per-View is there [Elimination Chamber 2023] or WrestleMania, I don’t know, but it seems like it’s probably something to do with WrestleMania.”
When speaking about Roman Reigns and a potential match with Austin, Meltzer said we should have a clearer picture after this weekend’s Royal Rumble.
“As far as Roman Reigns goes, I don’t know, but I figure that whatever Roman Reigns’ situation [for WrestleMania] will be, we will know on Saturday night, based on who wins the Rumble match.”
John Cena may have been lambasted by fans for years for his alleged inability to wrestle, but that didn’t stop him and Shawn Michaels from putting on a classic in 2007.
At that year’s WrestleMania, Cena retained the WWE Championship against Michaels in the main event, a year after defeating Michaels’ best friend Triple H at the show.
Meeting in a non-title rematch on the April 23, 2007 edition of Raw, Michaels and Cena wrestled for close to an hour before Shawn got the win with Sweet Chin Music.
Easy
The Cena-Michaels match would go for approximately one hour (including commercial breaks) and is heralded by many as one of the best matches in Raw history.
While speaking on WWE’s The Bump, Michaels recalled the match with the 16-time WWE World Champion.
“This is the end of the tour and John and I had to go an hour. No, look, there is no better guy to do it with than John, honestly, and I’ll say this — it sounds strange, but because, you know, it’s not a full hour and you feel like in your mind, even though you’re not dealing with commercial breaks, it’s not, it was really easy.”
Shawn Michaels
Michaels would later face Cena in a fatal four-way at WWE Backlash 2007 (which included Edge and Randy Orton) which Cena would win.
John Cena
It would be a long time before fans would come to appreciate John Cena’s talents in the ring (with many not doing so to this day.)
Addressing the WWE icon, Michaels called Cena a dream to share the ring with.
“John is, is such a dream to work with, John and I got along very well. It was a fantastic night and I had a chemistry with John that was darn near effortless … It was absolutely a piece of cake because you know, it was just a lot of fun.”
Shawn Michaels.
Cena is expected to next compete for WWE at WrestleMania 39, with rumored opponents including Austin Theory and Logan Paul.
Not everything went according to the plan at Raw 30th Anniversary special and the company had to change things on the fly.
The Trial of Sami Zayn segment featuring The Bloodline went ‘extremely long’ and exceeded the length originally allocated for the segment.
This caused the company to adjust the length of several segment. The thing that was affected the most was the planned Steel Cage match between Becky Lynch and Bayley.
According to reports from PWInsider, the original plan was for The Man to win the Steel Cage match and then get beaten down by the members of Damage CTRL.
The officials decided to go right to the post-match segment due to the shortage of time. While the stars did show up for the bout, the match never officially went underway.
Becky Lynch tried to get the upper hand by attacking Dakota Kai and IYO SKY at the start but Bayley hit her with the steel cage door. This allowed the trio to get the advantage and they beat the former Women’s Champion down.
The beatdown continued until WWE producer Adam Pearce came out. He cut open the cage door. The segment ended with Damage CTRL standing at the top of the cage while Pearce checked on Becky Lynch.
WWE Hall of Famer’s The Bella Twins were excluded from the Raw XXX celebration and it appears that the female stars are not happy about it.
The duo were originally advertised for the special episode of the show. They were later removed from the lineup however and ended up not making an appearance.
Mike Johnson of PWinsider noted that both Nikki and Brie Bella flew to Northeast over the weekend but they attended a performance of Wicked on Broadway in New York instead of making an appearance on the episode:
“It appears that the two sides may have had a disagreement on how their planned appearance was going to go, so The Bellas ended up not going to RAW in Philly.”
The Bella Twins Call Out WWE
After the Raw episode, the duo questioned the limited inclusion of the women’s revolution in the various packages and graphics during the show.
Nikki Bella claimed that the reason behind it is because the company does not want to show footage of Sasha Banks. Brie Bella chipped in saying that ‘there is a bunch of us they don’t wanna show.’
Nikki further slammed the company saying that ‘when you do what they don’t wanted you, they don’t show you’:
Brock Lesnar is back and he is in the feeding mood.
WWE celebrated 30 years of Monday Night Raw this week with a show full of legends. There were a number of veterans who made an appearance on the episode including people like The Undertaker and DX.
The main event of the show saw Austin Theory defending the United States Championship against Bobby Lashley in No Disqualification match. The All Mighty had won a Six Way Elimination match last week to earn the title shot.
Towards the ending of the bout, Lashley sent Theory into a steel chair at the ring post. Lashley followed it with a number of moves including a superplex off the top.
Theory tried to low blow Bobby Lashley but the former WWE champion managed to send him through a table that had previously been set up.
This is when Brock Lesnar’s music hit and the Beast Incarnate made his return. He delivered an F5 to Lashley and another one to Austin Theory.
Theory landed on top of the All Mighty and got the pin. Lesnar then left the ring and the show ended with the former world champion standing at the stage.
Bobby Lashley and Brock Lesnar have faced each other a couple times with both the stars having a win over the other. The latest encounter suggests that we will be seeing the rubber match between the two sooner rather than later.
WWE loaded up the Raw 30 anniversary show on Monday night with several big matches and legends.
One of the matches promoted for the show was a Steel Cage match between Bayley and Becky Lynch. WWE had a lot more planned, but the company had to call an audible, according to a new report.
The Original Plan
Fightful Select reports that the entrances and the match were scheduled for two segments. Instead, they had to cut things short because of the opening segment with The Bloodline running long.
The Trial of Sami Zayn opened the show with Roman Reigns telling Zayn that he would have to pass his final test this Saturday at the Royal Rumble when “The Tribal Chief” defended his Undisputed WWE Universal Title against Kevin Owens.
The report also noted that several segments had to be trimmed, but the most affected thing on Raw was Bayley vs. Lynch.
As noted, WWE nixed a Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony on this show because Afa and Sika weren’t ready to make the trip, and Rikishi was sick, so WWE nixed the entire segment.
However, people behind the scenes in WWE had to push for Belair to become a star on the main roster. Former WWE writer Chris Dunn spoke with the Public Enemies Podcast about what it was like working with Belair in her first year.
Dunn worked with the company from 2016 to 2021. He shared that he wrote with The Street Profits closely in NXT and was brought up with them. From working with the Street Profits, he pushed to write for Belair.
“…The biggest thing that I’m most proud of is working with Bianca. That whole year it was such a wild thing, said Dunn. He continued…”I was really worried at the time because I think anybody that sees Bianca Belair that she’s unbelievable like it’s kind of undeniable. I think for whatever reason, we had a couple of writers on the team that weren’t around that long, who I think were having a negative impact on the women’s division and I’m also close to Tez, so I kind of campaigned to let me work with Bianca. So we started developing those Mr. Perfect vignettes and the goal was to get her to the main event of WrestleMania year one, because we needed new stars and it felt like that was legitimately possible.”
How Dunn Helped Get Bianca Belair over with Vince McMahon
The first significant accomplishment for Belair on the main roster was winning the 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble Match. It helped push her to become a champion at WrestleMania 37 and make her one of WWE’s biggest stars. However, it took a creative push from Dunn and other writers to get McMahon on board with Belair.
Dunn spoke about getting to know Belair and praised her talents. He also shared how the Bayley and Belair obstacle course segment helped get Belair over with McMahon.
“…Vince loved the Lashley and Sami Zayn obstacle course. Loved it, and also we have the numbers to back it up. You’d be shocked stuff that wrestling Twitter hates, like arm wrestling contest, obstacle courses, things like that they rate well,” said Dunn. He went to Bayley’s writer, and they began to think of ideas for the obstacle to show off Belair’s ability.
“…I didn’t produce it or write it; I pitched it. I was around helping, like Jen Pepperman, who’s brilliant with the women’s division; she handled producing it.” He continued, “…Daniel Bryan and Adam Pierce jumped in and added elements to make it bigger. I forgot which one of them came up with the idea of lifting Otis, and then the other one doubled down of like, ‘Okay, you do Gable, but then you do Otis to build it.’ It really blew Vince away.”
The Original Winner of the 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble
Despite the impressive showing during the obstacle course, McMahon wasn’t sold on making Belair a main event star at that time. As a backup plan for Belair, Dunn revealed he pitched an idea for her and Billie Kay to team together, with the idea that it would replicate The Rock and Sock Connection. However, the pitch went nowhere. Heading into the 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble, McMahon didn’t have Belair winning the match.
“…I was in a Tampa hotel room, and we were watching some sort of football game, and they an assistant had just left the Royal Rumble night before meeting, and they changed the finish. Charlotte was going to go over, and they rehearsed Charlotte going over, and Bianca was going to get eliminated midway through the match, and it got changed to Bianca going over.”
Dunn continued, “…I think a lot of people voiced it, but like this guy Ryan Ward who’s been there for 14 years. He was Cena’s writer and probably for my money, I think has had the biggest hand in the women’s revolution. He was lead writer for golden days of NXT, when like Kevin and Sami, the four-horsewomen, all that stuff. From my understanding, from what I heard he kind of said to Vince something to the effect like ‘Vince, if you look at the Royal Rumble tomorrow, we have Edge winning and Charlotte winning. We’re not making any new stars.’ And I think that really resonated and like Bianca was on such a role where it kind of made sense and she also right after that match had to nail that post match promo and she did it and she was just awesome and great.”
Since the pivotal 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble win, Belair has succeeded in WWE. However, if people in WWE like Dunn did push for her creatively, it may not have happened the way it did.
Elsewhere in the interview, he also spoke about the infamous Lashley sister segment, backstage reaction to Kofi Kingston losing the WWE Championship, and more.
The Undertaker made his return to WWE television, but wasn’t portraying his Deadman character. Instead, he brought a fan-favorite gimmick for a segment on WWE Raw XXX to help celebrate the 30 anniversary of the show.
The Undertaker underwent a gimmick change in 2000 when he ditched his Deadman persona for something that was more in line with his real-life personality and called the gimmick “The American Bad Ass.”
On Raw, The Undertaker brought back the gimmick when he interrupted LA Knight’s promo at the Wells Fargo Center. He helped Bray Wyatt lay out Knight before telling him something.
The Moment
WrestleVotes shared this interesting story about Wyatt and Taker as they had a match at WrestleMania 31 in 2015 where Taker went over.
“Feels like a good time to tweet this, following their match at WrestleMania 31 Undertaker told Vince in the post match embrace to “take care of him” in reference to Bray. Regardless of what happen in the interim, Taker has always been a huge Wyatt supporter. It showed just now.”
Although WWE didn’t get their dream match between The Rock and Roman Reigns, the company has tried to make another major match happen. This time it features Steve Austin.
As previously reported, The Rock indicated that he wouldn’t be in ring shape in time for the match at WrestleMania 39 in April. The company knew about this for a while.
Fightful Select reports that a pitch was made internally for a “huge opponent” for Austin, and that was Reigns. The report noted, at the very least, Austin’s camp was approached with the possibility of it happening, which was said to have been for “enormous” money.
Past Talks
Last summer, it was reported that Austin was approached with a deal that wasn’t as appealing from a financial standpoint. After speaking with those in WWE, they claimed they hadn’t heard back on whether the most recent offer was accepted. One source indicated that another “big name” was offered in the months prior.
It was previously reported by WrestlingNews.co in December that the internal plans for top WrestleMania title matches called for Drew McIntyre/Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins one night and TBD/Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns another night.
Austin came out of retirement last year for a match against Kevin Owens at WrestleMania 38.
Free agent Kylie Rae has spoke out regarding her WWE tryout and her status with the company.
Wrestling fans are curious about Rae’s status as a free agent. She has worked with several promotions in the past, like All Elite Wrestling and Impact Wrestling. Unfortunately, Rae has dealt with mental health issues that have affected her career. She took some time off from wrestling in 2020 and made her return a year later.
Since her return to wrestling, she has competed for independent wrestling promotions and NWA. On Dec. 6, 2022, PWinsider’s Mike Johnson reported that she had participated in a WWE Tryout at their Performance Center. She no longer worked with NWA at the time and was a free agent. Six days later, Rae competed as “Briana Ray” against Dana Brooke for a WWE Main Event taping.
Via NWA
In an interview with the Going Broadway Podcast, Rae spoke about how her tryout came together.
“…When WWE goes to towns, I’m sure you’re all familiar, they’ll use local talent to come and do extra work, said Rae. She continued, “… They were coming to Chicago, and from my understanding, again Freelance Wrestling is my home. It’s where I started. It’s where I continue to train and they were asking people from my school to reach out to WWE. I don’t know how many people know about this, but it’s Gabe Sapolsky and he’s one of the best people I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing.”
Rae credited Sapolsky for helping her throughout the process. She added that “…I talked to Gabe, and from what I understood, he was surprised that I was even reaching out for extra work because he’s like, ‘I think we could try to get you a tryout if you’re able to.’
“…As far as something long-term at this point, I got the not right now deal, which is okay because if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen, and if it’s meant to be, it would’ve happened kind of thing. They’re having me still come back for extra work. I was just there this past Friday and the Friday before,” said Rae. Regarding her match with Brooke, Rae said, “…From what it felt like after the match, they were, maybe I’m a little naive, but they seemed very happy with it. It feels good being there, like the environment it legitimate feels very positive and genuine and people are happy. Maybe I’m naive, so I don’t know, because again I’m not signed there, I’m not contracted, I don’t have to be there every single week kind of thing, so I don’t know anybody else’s experience, but from my experience it’s been wonderful.”
Rae will compete in Freelance Wrestling against Sandra Moone on Feb. 10. While she is a free agent, Rae seems to be on good terms with WWE. By Rae continuing to have a working relationship as an extra, it could see WWE make her a full-time talent.
On Monday, WWE will celebrate the 30 anniversary of Raw from Philadelphia with a loaded card and several former stars expected to appear.
Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Booker T, and more will be there. The Undertaker is also slated to attend, although his wife, Michelle McCool, revealed on Twitter that she wasn’t called.
The Idea
WWE might have some big plans for Taker and one of its biggest stars, Bray Wyatt. Fightful Select reported today, “There were pitches for Undertaker to be involved with a Bray Wyatt/LA Knight segment.”
Taker and Wyatt had shared the ring before as The Undertaker went over the fan favorite in a singles match at WrestleMania 31 in 2015, one year after Brock Lesnar snapped Taker’s undefeated WrestleMania winning streak.
The report noted, “Despite his look on the poster, The Undertaker’s traditional gear was sent to the show.” Thus, Taker could again be portraying his Deadman gimmick on this show.
Raw 30 will also serve as the go-home episode before the 2023 Royal Rumble event this Saturday, where Wyatt and LA Knight are slated to meet in the Mountain Dew Pitch Black match in the Alamodome.
Factors beyond WWE’s control led to the Bloodline Acknowledgement Ceremony scheduled for tonight’s Raw being scrapped.
The segment was promoted as featuring every generation of the Anoa’I wrestling family, in a ceremony focussed on Roman Reigns.
Last week, WWE announced that the segment had been replaced with ‘The Trial of Sami Zayn.’
Scrapped
WWE’s promise of every generation of the Bloodline appearing had fabs excited, but it was a promise the company couldn’t deliver on.
In an F4WOnline update, Dave Meltzer reported that a series of absences ultimately led to WWE ditching the ceremony.
It is noted that the Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika) were originally going to play a large part in the ceremony, but neither was going to be able to make it to Raw.
Rikishi, the father of The Usos and Solo Sikoa is dealing with an illness and would not have made the show either.
The report refuted rumors that The Rock not being at Raw led to the segment being scrapped, saying he was never scheduled to appear.
The Trial of Sami Zayn
Instead of an acknowledgment ceremony, the Bloodline will be all business on tonight’s Raw.
Sami Zayn has been at odds with the group ever since he ate the pin during his and Reigns’ tag match against Kevin Owens and John Cena on the final SmackDown of 2022.
The match marked the second time in 2022 that Reigns lost a match (the first being by DQ at the Royal Rumble against Seth Rollins.)
While Reigns wasn’t pinned, the loss to Cena and Owens was the first clean defeat for the Tribal Chief since 2019.
