The 619 will not be represented at WrestleMania 34.
Following a surprise appearance at the Royal Rumble earlier this year, Rey Mysterio seemed like the perfect candidate to make a return to WWE at the biggest card of the year on April 8 in New Orleans.
Unfortunately, Mysterio says anybody who is looking for him to pop up out of nowhere will be disappointed because he recently suffered an arm injury that’s going to keep him out of action for several weeks, which will overlap WrestleMania 34.
“Unfortunately, I just suffered a torn bicep three weeks ago,” Mysterio revealed on “Below the Belt” with Brendan Schaub. “Opted not to get surgery.
“It’s a full tear but I’m just gonna kick back, do some therapy for it and hopefully I’ll be ready next month.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWk4b3RO4EA
It was natural to think that Mysterio might show up at WrestleMania 34 considering the response his appearance at Royal Rumble generated back in January.
Mysterio’s appearance at Royal Rumble was one of the biggest stories throughout the entire evening. In fact, Mysterio’s surprise entrance into the Royal Rumble generated over 14 million views for that video on YouTube. Even Ronda Rousey’s first official appearance in WWE from the same event only ended up with 3.7 million views by comparison.
“It was intense,” Mysterio said about his surprise appearance at Royal Rumble. “I didn’t know what to expect. I know the fans were excited cause you always get on social media ‘when you coming back?’ but to actually be there and live that moment. You got that butterfly sensation I always get before I step into the ring.
“Once I make that eye contact with the fans, I’m out there, I go that’s game time. Let’s go.”
Would you like to see Rey Mysterio make another run with WWE in the future? Sound off in the comments to let us know!
– WWE COO Triple H and Monday Night RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon are currently scheduled to compete in a Mixed Tag Team match against RAW General Manager Kurt Angle and ex-UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey.
This will be Rousey’s first match in her professional wrestling career. “The Game” took to Twitter to post the following video on he and Stephanie’s preparations for New Orleans, as well as what WWE means to them:
– Two-time WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair recently launched his own line of suits with Mr. Custom Made, and currently offers 12 items ranging from $595 to $795. The Ric Flair Collection can be found via this link.
TMZ Sports posted a video reviewing Flair’s suit line, and noted Flair has sent pairs to stars such as The Rock and Jamie Foxx, among many more. Check it out:
The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The New Day vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos is now official for WrestleMania 34, as announced on tonight’s SmackDown episode.
Tonight’s show also saw a change made to the WWE United States Title Triple Threat at WrestleMania. Rusev has been added to the match to make it a Fatal 4 Way.
WrestleMania 34 takes place on April 8th from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.
Below is the updated confirmed WrestleMania card:
Confirmed Matches:
WWE Universal Title Match
Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar
WWE Title Match
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles
Triple Threat for the WWE Intercontinental Title
Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz
Fatal 4 Way for the WWE United States Title
Rusev vs. Bobby Roode vs. Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton
RAW Women’s Title Match
Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss
SmackDown Women’s Title Match
Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair
RAW Tag Team Title Match
Braun Strowman and a partner vs. Cesaro and Sheamus
Triple Threat for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles
The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Usos
Finals of the WWE Cruiserweight Title Tournament
Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali
Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon
Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn Zayn and Owens will get their jobs back if they win, they will remain fired if they lose.
First-Ever WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal
Sasha Banks, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Naomi, Becky Lynch, Bayley, Natalya, TBA
Fifth Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Scott Dawson, Dash Wilder, Baron Corbin, Tye Dillinger, Mojo Rawley, Matt Hardy, Dolph Ziggler, Tyler Breeze, Fandango, TBA
SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn is now official for WrestleMania 34. Bryan announced the match on Tuesday’s SmackDown. If Shane and Bryan win, Sami and Owens will remain fired from SmackDown. Sami and Owens will be reinstated to the blue brand if they can get the win.
Below is the updated confirmed WrestleMania card and what the final line-up might look like.
Confirmed Matches:
WWE Universal Title Match
Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar
WWE Title Match
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles
Triple Threat for the WWE Intercontinental Title
Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz
Triple Threat for the WWE United States Title
Bobby Roode vs. Jinder Mahal vs. Randy Orton
RAW Women’s Title Match
Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss
SmackDown Women’s Title Match
Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair
RAW Tag Team Title Match
Braun Strowman and a partner vs. Cesaro and Sheamus
Finals of the WWE Cruiserweight Title Tournament
Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali
Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon
Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn Zayn and Owens will get their jobs back if they win, they will remain fired if they lose.
First-Ever WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal
Sasha Banks, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Naomi, Becky Lynch, Bayley, Natalya, TBA
Fifth Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
Scott Dawson, Dash Wilder, Baron Corbin, Tye Dillinger, Mojo Rawley, Matt Hardy, Dolph Ziggler, Tyler Breeze, Fandango, TBA
Rumored Matches & Matches Expected To Change
SmackDown Tag Team Title Match
The New Day vs. The Bludgeon Brothers vs. The Usos
Ladies and gentlemen, Paul Heyman is about to crossover from professional wrestling into the world of unscripted television.
Heyman, best known as the advocate and mouthpiece for WWE Universal champion Brock Lesnar, has inked a deal with Roy Bank’s Banca Studio to develop several new television series including one that will star the former ECW owner.
Bank is best known for producing reality series such as “The Apprentice”, “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” as well as “Flea Market Flip”. Now Bank is teaming up with Heyman to produce a new series of unscripted television shows including the debut project that will star the humble advocate.
“Against my strenuous objection, Roy Bank has decided our first collaborative project will be centered around me,” Heyman told The Wrap. “I have come to the educated conclusion Roy has made this decision based on a desire when pitching from the networks that we learn how to deal with rejection.”
All jokes aside, Heyman’s initial project with Bank remains shrouded in secrecy but the series will reportedly “straddle the line” between a talk show, opinion, comedy and pop culture.
“If you are a fan of Paul Heyman or you’re a fan of the energy that Paul Heyman exudes — even if you are not familiar with him directly — you’ll love this show,” Bank said about the planned series.
Then on April 8 Heyman will join Lesnar for his WrestleMania main event match against Roman Reigns.
Heyman’s work on his new television series won’t interfere with anything he does with WWE, although it’s entirely possible there would be some future crossover with his new show and the professional wrestling world.
Will you watch Paul Heyman in his new show? Sound off in the comments and let us know!
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…
Ronda Rousey is in the unfortunate situation where she doesn’t have much room for error.
The former UFC women’s champion inked a deal to join WWE back in January and made her debut at the Royal Rumble before disappearing off television for several weeks to finish filming a movie in Colombia.
When she returned, Rousey was immediately paired with Kurt Angle over the course of three weeks where she “signed” her contract at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view and then in the two subsequent weeks on Raw, she appeared to set up her WrestleMania 34 match.
Now Rousey will make her in ring debut at the biggest event of the year when she teams with Angle against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon in a mixed tag team match. With Rousey’s return to television, WWE also promoted that she would be appearing at every Monday Night Raw between Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania 34.
There’s only one problem — Rousey has been completely absent from live television the past two weeks outside of a vignette that was shown this past Monday night that talked about her journey from the UFC to joining WWE.
As it turns out, Rousey actually was in Dallas for Raw but she didn’t make any appearance during the live broadcast, but instead came out for a non-televised “dark” segment where she addressed the crowd and then had an incredibly awkward spot with Dana Brooke.
Now no one is going to accuse Dana Brooke of being the best worker in the company but the sequence of moves with Rousey — from the poorly blocked punch to Brooke literally jumping into Rousey’s arms to help her with a suplex — was just terrible execution. She’s only been training for her in-ring debut for a handful of months, so it’s going to take a long time before she’s pulling off moves with fluidity like watching Charlotte Flair take on Sasha Banks.
It seems rather obvious that WWE is giving Rousey a chance to learn on the job with a segment like she had with Dana Brooke this past week, but then that also begs the question — will she truly be ready for WrestleMania in three weeks time?
It’s easy to point at past celebrity appearances for WrestleMania matches — from Mike Tyson to Floyd Mayweather and even President Donald Trump — to know that WWE isn’t exactly banking on them suddenly transforming into A.J. Styles overnight. By that same account, no one expected Kurt Angle or Brock Lesnar to suddenly pick up the business in a matter of days when they first joined the WWE universe.
The difference with both Angle and Lesnar as high level athletes who transitioned into WWE is that they had time to develop in promotions away from the bright lights. Angle worked matches in several developmental promotions before finally being eased into a role on television. Lesnar famously teamed up with Shelton Benjamin as a tag team in Ohio Valley Wrestling and spent two years working in a developmental league before finally being called up to the main WWE roster.
Even fellow UFC veteran Shayna Baszler, who counts Rousey as one of her best friends, spent several years working her way up through the independent circuit before she was given a shot in WWE as part of the “Mae Young Classic” and now she’s still developing as part of the NXT roster.
Meanwhile, Rousey will have none of those luxuries as she prepares for her first match on the biggest stage possible at WrestleMania 34. Chances are Rousey won’t be expected to carry much of the match — what’s more likely is Stephanie McMahon will shy away from Rousey the entire match leaving the bulk of the work to Triple H and Angle. By the end, Rousey will likely find her way into get the tap out and the victory as she officially kicks off her WWE career.
That being said, Rousey’s spots thus far in WWE have been tough to watch.
Her mic work has a lot of room for improvement, but that will come over time. She has an undeniable presence about her, despite the limited emotive range we’ve seen thus far (either a huge grin or her ominous ‘murder face’). Add to that, she’s been awkward with the pair of slams that she’s landed on Stephanie and Dana Brooke in her two more physical altercations in the ring.
The toughest part about those sequences is that no first time wrestler would be expected to pull off those moves flawlessly — but 99.9-percent of first time wrestlers aren’t doing that in front of thousands of people with millions more watching at home on television.
Ronda Rousey making her WWE debut in front of a jam-packed stadium will do big business and draw mainstream headlines. At the end of the day, that’s what this is all about.
However, her room for error as a worker under this bright spotlight is virtually non-existent and the reality is that’s not fair, because it takes years to develop into a good worker. Unfortunately because Rousey undoubtedly signed a lucrative contract to work for WWE, she won’t have the luxury of spending two years working the independent circuit before finally joining the main roster.
It’s a catch 22 situation, but is Rousey being set up for success or failure?
Only time will tell but with three weeks remaining until WrestleMania 34, Rousey will be jumping from the frying pan in the fire in quick fashion and at that point it’s sink or swim.
When it comes to the reaction from savvy professional wrestling fans, there is no third direction.
Are you excited to see Ronda Rousey make her professional wrestling debut at WrestleMania 34 and what do you expect? Sound off in the comments and let us know
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.
– WWE Champion AJ Styles missed last night’s live event in San Angelo, Texas after it was once again announced he was injured. “The Phenomenal One” also missed Saturday’s live event from Odessa, Texas after suffering a storyline injury at Friday’s Madison Square Garden live event due to a beatdown from Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
It’s unknown if this angle is being used to rest Styles so he can heal a legitimate injury that has yet to be disclosed. He’s expected to defend his WWE Championship against 2018 Men’s Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura in a WWE dream match of sorts. We’ll keep you updated…
– WWE has released the official poster for WrestleMania 34, which features all Superstars expected to compete at the event smiling (except of course Triple H and Brock Lesnar). One top WWE Superstar missing from the poster, however, is The Undertaker. He is rumored to be taking on John Cena at the event. If that match is made official WWE will likely release another poster featuring “The Deadman” as well. Check out the poster here:
– It looks like WrestleMania 34’s card will feature two Triple Threat matches for WWE titles. We’ve already seen that Monday Night RAW General Manager Kurt Angle has announced The Miz will be defending his Intercontinental Title in one against Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. Wrestling Observer Newsletter’s Dave Meltzer reports that SmackDown Live will have a Triple Threat Title match of their own.
United States Champion Randy Orton is expected to defend his strap against both Bobby Roode and Jinder Mahal in New Orleans. Roode announced his intentions to use his rematch clause at WrestleMania against Orton, after losing the strap this past weekend at Fastlane to “The Viper.” Mahal recently picked up a singles win over Bobby Roode, however, so it’s possible he’s added to the match on SmackDown Live next week.
– As for the finals of the 205 Live Cruiserweight Championship Tournament, Meltzer reports the plan has always been for Cedric Alexander vs. Mustafa Ali to take place in the finals. After Alexander already solidified his place in the finals, Mustafa Ali vs. Drew Gulak will take place on next week’s 205 Live to determine Alexander’s opponent. It was also added that Alexander vs. Ali was the idea for the finals once the idea was developed to have the match take place at WrestleMania.
– It looks like WWE could have called off its plans to have Sasha Banks vs. Bayley at WrestleMania 34 this year. Wrestling Observer Radio’s Dave Meltzer is reporting that the match may no longer be taking place in New Orleans, as per his count he has 14 matches currently on the card. At this point WWE doesn’t really need to add another match to the card, meaning Banks vs. Bayley could get the snub:
“I think we got the whole WrestleMania card. I got 14 matches listed and I don’t think they need more than 14. I don’t think they are going to have any more. They could still throw in a Bayley vs. Sasha Banks match but I’m guessing they are both in the Battle Royal.”
– Meltzer also reports that NXT TakeOver: New Orleans seems to be besting the post-WrestleMania episode of Monday Night RAW as far as ticket sales go. TakeOver is actually near a sellout and will be going head-to-head with a Ring Of Honor (ROH) show which seats 5,000 fans – as opposed to NXT’s venue that can hold double that at 10,000.
SportsBettingExperts.com’s oddsmaker Jim Murphy has released the early betting odds for some of the top matches taking place at WrestleMania 34.
WrestleMania 34 is set to be held on Sunday, April 8, 2018, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. This event airs on pay-per-view (PPV) and WWE Network. It’s the most successful and longest-running professional wrestling event in history. Both Raw and SmackDown rosters will be featured.
Here are the odds:
WWE Universal Title Match Roman Reigns: -350 Brock Lesnar: +300
WWE Intercontinental Title Triple Threat Match Finn Balor: +115 Seth Rollins: +150 The Miz: +350
Mixed Tag Team Match Ronda Rousey/Kurt Angle: -350 Triple H/Stephanie McMahon: +300
Which Match Will Main Event Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns: -175 Any Match Featuring The Undertaker: +100 Any Women’s Match: +150 AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: +250 Kurt Angle/Ronda Rousey vs. Triple H/Stephanie McMahon: +250
Braun Strowman won a tag team battle royal on tonight’s WWE RAW to become the new #1 contender to RAW Tag Team Champions The Bar for a title shot at WrestleMania 34. Tag teams participating in the match were The Revival, Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson, Heath Slater & Rhyno, The Miztourage and Titus Worldwide.
Braun worked the contenders battle royal by himself but the speculation is that he may be put with Elias to make it Braun and Elias vs. Cesaro and Sheamus in New Orleans.
Below is the updated card for WrestleMania 34, which takes place from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on April 8th, with John Cena vs. The Undertaker added:
WWE Universal Title Match
Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar
WWE Title Match
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles
Triple Threat for the WWE Intercontinental Title
Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz
RAW Women’s Title Match
TBA vs. Alexa Bliss
SmackDown Women’s Title Match
Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair
Finals of the WWE Cruiserweight Title Tournament
Cedric Alexander or Roderick Strong vs. Mustafa Ali or Drew Gulak
Handicap Match for the RAW Tag Team Titles
Braun Strowman vs. Cesaro and Sheamus
Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs. Stephanie McMahon and Triple H
Fifth Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal
WWE announced on Monday’s RAW that the first-ever Fabulous Moolah Memorial Battle Royal will take place at WrestleMania 34. The match will feature women from RAW, SmackDown and NXT.
WWE’s decision to honor Moolah and tie her to the company’s Women’s movement has drawn strong criticism on social media. There have been long standing and widespread allegations about Moolah’s conduct in the wrestling industry as a trainer and manager of female wrestlers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4upD8cJtsZ8
Here is the updated card for WrestleMania 34, which takes place on Sunday, April 8th from New Orleans, LA at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
WWE Universal Title Match
Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar (c)
WWE Title Match
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles (c)
Olympians vs. The Authority
Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs. Stephanie McMahon and Triple H
Triple Threat for the WWE Intercontinental Title
Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz (c)
SmackDown Women’s Title Match
Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair (c)
RAW Women’s Title Match
Alexa Bliss (c) vs. TBA
Cruiserweight Championship Tournament Finals
Cedric Alexander or Roderick Strong vs. Mustafa Ali or Drew Gulak
It looks like John Cena vs. The Undertaker is finally happening at WrestleMania 34, which takes place on April 8th in New Orleans.
Cena appeared on tonight’s RAW in Detroit to officially challenge The Dead Man to the match. Cena said only one person is stopping the match from happening and that is Taker. Cena went on to rip into Taker, calling him self-centered and an egomaniac. Cena also said Taker isn’t washed up and isn’t broken down because if he was, he wouldn’t be posting workout clips to his wife’s Instagram account. Cena stated that he will be going to WrestleMania this year as a fan or as Taker’s opponent. Cena ended the promo by telling Taker that the ball is in his court but he should get over his ego and have just one more match.
No word yet on when Taker might return to WWE TV to answer the challenge but the match is likely happening if they went this far with the tease. Taker made a brief throw-away appearance back at the RAW 25th Anniversary show in January but he has not wrestled since losing to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 33 in 2017.
Below are photos and videos from tonight’s segment with Cena:
Asuka vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair is now on for WrestleMania 34, making it the first and possibly the only RAW vs. SmackDown match to take place at this year’s big event in New Orleans.
Asuka, who earned a title shot by winning the first-ever women’s Royal Rumble match back in January, confronted Flair in the ring after her title defense over Ruby Riott at Fastlane.
With that match set, here is the updated card for WrestleMania 34, which takes place from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on April 8th:
WWE Universal Title Match
Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar
WWE Title Match
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles
Triple Threat for the WWE Intercontinental Title
Seth Rollins vs. Finn Balor vs. The Miz
RAW Women’s Title Match
TBA vs. Alexa Bliss
SmackDown Women’s Title Match
Asuka vs. Charlotte Flair
Finals of the WWE Cruiserweight Title Tournament
Cedric Alexander or Roderick Strong vs. Mustafa Ali or Drew Gulak
Ronda Rousey and Kurt Angle vs. Stephanie McMahon and Triple H
There’s a chance that Braun Strowman will not be wrestling on the “Grandest Stage of Them All.”
It had previously been reported that Strowman was penciled in for an Intercontinental title match against The Miz at WrestleMania 34. WWE decided to go with a triple threat match between Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, and The Miz for the gold instead. It has been said that the WWE is waiting for the fallout with Roman Reigns’ alleged contact with a jailed drug dealer before booking Strowman on the show.
“The Monster Among Men” has been on fire under the WWE banner. He eliminated everyone at the Elimination Chamer except for Reigns. Even after being the final man elimination, Strowman demolished Reigns after the match and sent him crashing into a pod.
While Strowman has been booked to look strong, it may not even lead to a WrestleMania 34 match. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports a backup plan for Strowman is to involve him in a non-wrestling segment. There’s still a chance that Strowman could be added to the Intercontinental title match, making it a fatal four way. Currently, Strowman has been involved in a one-sided feud with Elias. Earlier this week, he sent a piano crashing on his “rival.”
– After suffering a shoulder injury back in September on an episode of RAW, Jeff Hardy underwent surgery to repair the issue. The surgery took place in October and he was given a recovery time of 6-9 months. Pro Wrestling Sheet reports that Hardy has been cleared by his surgeon as of last month for an in-ring return.
Now Hardy is simply waiting to get the green light from WWE doctors. Satin also reports that Hardy’s recent evaluation in Birmingham, Alabama went well and he’s hoping to get some good news back soon. With that being said, there’s a slight chance Hardy could return before WrestleMania 34.
– Last night’s SmackDown Live featured several previews for this weekend’s Fastlane pay-per-view (PPV) event. After SmackDown Live and 205 Live went off air the dark match main event of the evening, also a preview for this weekend’s Fastlane, say Shinsuke Nakamura defeat Rusev.
“The Artist” won the match via disqualification after Aiden English got involved. Nakamura hit the Kinsasha on English to send fans home happy. Here are some photos:
– On this week’s episode of Monday Night RAW The Bar retained their RAW Tag Team Titles against The Revival. Sheamus and Cesaro currently have no challengers for their titles at WrestleMania 34. “The Celtic Warrior” sent out an open challenge to all tag teams via Twitter to challenge them at “The Show Of Shows”:
PWInsider reports that The Bar’s challengers at WrestleMania 34 are “not currently a team.” The Young Bucks took to Twitter to declare their interest in possibly answering the call in New Orleans:
– WWE Intercontinental Champion The Miz recently spoke to WTMJ-TV Milwaukeeto promote last night’s episode of Monday Night RAW. During the interview Miz was asked about two-time WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair calling him the best heel in the business today. Here’s how Miz responded (quotes via Wrestling Inc.):
“Ha! Is that what he said? Coming from him that’s an honor,” Miz said. “Ric Flair – in my opinion – is the greatest of all-time. I mean he is absolutely incredible, I mean, he gave me his figure-four, how can I say a bad thing about him?
“You know what I mean? He’s just an incredible human being and incredible in-ring performer. And still, his legend lives on, no matter if he’s in the ring or outside the ring people still do ‘The Strut,’ give the ‘Woo!’ It’s amazing.”
– Speaking of The Miz, it was announced by RAW General Manager Kurt Angle that he would be defending his Intercontinental Title at WrestleMania 34 in a Triple Threat match against Seth Rollins and Finn Balor. “The Demon King” took to Twitter to react to the news that he’d be getting a crack at the title on “The Grandest Stage Of Them All”:
Ronda Rousey is expected to team up with Monday Night RAW General Manager and WWE Hall Of Famer Kurt Angle at WrestleMania 34 to take on the team of WWE COO Triple H and RAW Commissioner Stephanie McMahon. That match has been set up in the past few weeks at Elimination Chamber and on RAW. During Rousey’s RAW contract signing at Elimination Chamber, Rousey put Triple H through a table after Angle noted that he and Stephanie had been manipulating her.
The next night on RAW the four seemed to clear the air after several apologies, however, Triple H hit Angle with a cheap shot before leaving the ring to end the show. It’s expected that the feud between the four will continue to develop on tonight’s episode of RAW from Milwaukee. Kurt Angle and Triple H are expected to work most of the Mixed Tag match at WrestleMania.
It’s also expected that the entire match is going to be mapped out move-for-move with Angle and Hunter carrying most of the load, building up to spots between Stephanie and Ronda. There has also been some speculation as of late as to whether or not Rousey’s husband, UFC heavyweight Travis Browne, would be her partner instead to make the match more of a husband and wife storyline.
Browne has also been training alongside Rousey inside the ring. WWE decided not to go that route as it would leave Triple H to carry the match with three inexperienced in-ring performers on the biggest show of the year.
For the past several weeks there has been a ton of talk and speculation as to whether or not The Undertaker will be competing at this year’s WrestleMania 34 event from New Orleans. Rumors suggest that “The Deadman” will be working against John Cena at “The Showcase Of The Immortals” this year. Cena teased that match-up on RAW this past week but said the match was ‘impossible.’
New reports suggest Cena could actually be working with Rey Mysterio at the event instead. Taker recently appeared at a campaign event for his storyline brother Kane (real name Glenn Jacobs) in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he’s running for mayor. The campaign event was the first time ever that Kane and Taker appeared together in public outside WWE.
Mike Johnson of PWInsider reports that The Undertaker was asked by several fans about a possible return to WWE at WrestleMania, however, he continuously downplayed the idea to those who asked him about it:
“Yesterday he did a signing in Knox County Tennessee with Kane to help promote Glenn Jacobs for Mayor. Apparently Taker & Glenn Jacobs are close. There were some fans that asked him about returning, and why he could have very well been working them, he kinda gave the impression of “ahh, don’t hold your breather, don’t wait for that one,” but we’ll see.
“If I was Undertaker and I was returning, certainly I would want to keep the mystique and the aura going and hide things, you know? Sort of do a little slide of hands. We’ll see what happens.”
– WWE and The New Day are set to release their new book “The Book of Booty: Shake It. Love It. Never Be It.” The book will be released on Tuesday, March 13th. The New Day will be holding a small book tour in which they will hit several sports for book signings. You can check out the dates for the signings and the book’s synopsis below:
– Friday, March 9th: World of Wheels in Chicago
– Sunday, March 11th: Barnes & Noble in Columbus, OH (Townsfair Way)
– Monday, March 12th: Barnes & Noble in Dayton, OH (Miamisburg-Centerville Road)
“Multi-time W . . . W . . . E! (WWE) TAG! TEAM! CHAMPIONS! The New Day want you to feel the power!! And now you can with The Book of Booty: Shake It. Love It. Never Be It. From the purveyors of positivity themselves, each chapter of this handy guide will help you embrace the New Day way of life. Even if you’re feeling booty—and who (who?! who?! who?! who?! who?!) has never felt booty? —you’ll be clapping, gyrating, and radiating positivity like the New Day themselves.
Fans will learn:
* The New Day’s official definition of “booty,” and the telltale signs that you or a loved one might be booty
* The proper attire and headwear for the new you
* How to twerk like a man
* What your spirit animal says about you
* How to project positivity
“By the time you finish this book, you’ll be a rainbow-gazing, trombone-playing, unicorn-loving soldier of positivity, ready to take on nefarious WWE tag teams with a smile on your face. Pro tip: Eat your Booty O’s every morning for added strength!”
– WWE uploaded the following video to their YouTube channel in which they take a look at John Cena’s Road To WrestleMania 34. Check it out here:
– Stephanie McMahon uploaded a clip on Instagram from her latest “Midnight Workout.”You can watch it below:
Those holding tickets to WrestleMania 34 have received an email from WWE to clarify a few rules regarding items that aren’t allowed at the event.
The email highlights the ban of beach balls, balloons, iPads and other tablet devices.
The ban came into affect after beach balls were thrown around at live events in August and at the SummerSlam PPV.
The following video shows just how disrespectful fans can become when a beach ball is introduced; so it’s understandable to see superstars frustrated and annoyed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJN7eNL0c_0
The email, and ticket itself, that was sent to WrestleMania 34 ticket holders is likely to contain terms and conditions that give WWE the right to eject or dismiss anyone who is deemed to be carrying or using ‘illegal’ items.
Discussion:
Most professionals wouldn’t appreciate a beach ball being thrown around while they’re trying to work, especially if they have dedicated their lives to entertaining those who brought the offending item! On the flip side, perhaps it could be said that superstars are more annoyed at themselves for not captivating an audience?
It looks like Rey Mysterio may be returning to the ring for WWE at WrestleMania 34 in a huge match against John Cena.
We noted before that Mysterio was backstage visiting at Monday’s SmackDown live event in San Diego, his hometown. Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated reports that Mysterio was also backstage for tonight’s SmackDown TV tapings in Los Angeles to finalize details for the deal that will see him work WrestleMania in New Orleans. Barrasso added that Rey’s rumored opponent is Cena.
Cena returned to SmackDown on tonight’s show and earned a spot in the WWE Fastlane main event, making it a Six-Pack Challenge with WWE Champion AJ Styles, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Baron Corbin, Dolph Ziggler and Cena. Rey made a surprise appearance for WWE at the Royal Rumble back in January and has been rumored to be in talks with the company about a return later this year or in early 2019.
The last Cena vs. Mysterio singles match came on the July 25th, 2011 RAW. That match saw Cena defeat Rey for the WWE Title. The two would then team up at a December 28th, 2013 WWE live event in Newark, NJ. They defeated Randy Orton and Alberto Del Rio that night.
Breaking: Per WWE sources, Rey Mysterio is backstage working out details tonight at SmackDown for a match at WrestleMania. The rumored opponent is John Cena.
