At WrestleMania 31, wrestling fans witnessed a site most thought they’d never see – Sting’s first-ever match in WWE. The WCW icon finally got his WrestleMania moment, but it was a losing effort against Triple H that involved arguably-excessive & convoluted run-ins from DX and the nWo. Sting losing his first WWE match was a real head-scratcher WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall recently gave his first-hand account of how and why it all went down.
During an interview with Justin Barrasso for Sports Illustrated’s Extra Mustard blog, The Bag Guy said he got the impression Sting never felt comfortable during his WWE run.
“I was there and obviously involved in his match at WrestleMania last year,” said Hall. “We’re rehearsing the match in Cali last year at Levi Stadium, and it’s the Kliq and the New Age Outlaws out there, and we all know each other. And then there’s Sting, who doesn’t know anybody. He’s an outsider. I just think he never felt comfortable there. Being hurt was answered prayer for him–just let it end.
As for why Sting jobbed to Triple H when it would have made a lot more sense for the debuting legendary babyface to go over, Hall thinks Vince McMahon still needs to prove the point that he buried WCW.
“You need to remember that Vince is never going to go with something he didn’t create. But we didn’t get anything done at the rehearsal the night before, so WrestleMania day, there were tents in the parking lot set up with rings for rehearsal. So we’re all in there again, and I’m next to Hulk on the ring apron and Triple H is going over the match and then he goes, ‘OK, he’ll break the sledgehammer, then I’ll hit him with the sledgehammer, and cover him, 1-2-3.’ I looked at Hulk, and Hulk looked at me, and I was thinking, ‘Sting, what kind of lawyer do you have, bro? You’re coming in the door doing a job? You weren’t even guaranteed to go over?’ That’s Vince just reminding you who won, even if he’s going to make money the other way.”
A year later, Sting will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame during WrestleMania 32 weekend:
Kevin Owens recently spoke with Title Match Wrestling to hype WWE’s upcoming Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 24th. The former Intercontinental champion addressed a wide range of topics including WrestleMania 32, potential matches with Brock Lesnar and The Undertaker, NJPW stars invading WWE and more. Here are some highlights of what he said about:
Facing The Undertaker at WrestleMania: “WrestleMania is synonymous with the Undertaker, regardless of what’s happened with the streak, I still think it’s Undertaker’s show. I’d like to throw my name in the hat and see if he’s still the phenom that he claims to be.”
NJPW Stars To WWE: If any of those guys do get here, Nakamura is probably the one I’m most excited about. I’ve wrestled him once before, before I got signed to WWE and it was a pretty awesome experience. I think he would bring something completely different to WWE. As far as the other guys are concerned, they’re all talented guys, but ultimately, I’m better, so it doesn’t matter if they come or not.
Michigan Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh has been pushing the idea of holding a WrestleMania event at Michigan Stadium, with the idea that it would break the all-time attendance record.
The stadium holds 107,601 for the set up used for football games, so with the stage set up that is normally used for big WWE events such as WrestleMania, the stadium would hold approximately 102,000, which would break anything that WWE will legitimately draw this year regardless of what they announce as the attendance for WrestleMania 32 at AT&T Stadium in April.
It wasn’t specified when exactly they would like to bring WrestleMania to the venue, however it would also break the attendance figures that WWE would legitimately draw for any big event currently on their calendar, including rumored shows such as upcoming WrestleMania events that are expected in certain cities and venues.
The Texas Tribune posted an article by Aman Batheja yesterday detailing how Texas taxpayer money is being used to bring WrestleMania 32 to Dallas on April 3rd. The state has an “Events Trust Fund” designed to “help its communities offset the costs of hosting sporting and non-athletic events. To qualify for these funds, an event must be competitively bid, and the community must be competing with cities outside Texas for the right to host it.” The idea is that the economic impact of the events would offset what the state spends.
In the article, Governor Greg Abbott is called out for signing off on $2.7 million for WrestleMania last week. Why exactly It was the 20th event he’s approved since September, and he had said during his campaign last year that he wanted the state government “out of the business of picking winners and losers.” The 20 events approved so far total $26 million in money awarded from the Events Trust Fund, with $19.5 million of that being for the Formula One race in Austin that took place on October 25th.
Marty MacInnis, the chief financial officer for the local Stadium Events Organizing Committee, told the Tribune that “It’s a massive event. They’ve got fan festivals. They’ve got golf tournaments. They’ve got rallies. It’s one of those things where people from all over the world will come to this. […] The trust fund played a part in the decision to try and bid for the event.” He added that the total amount of funding that WWE will get has not been worked out as of yet.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated his Q&A section at JRsBarBQ.com, fielding questions from topics such as TNA’s new deal with Pop TV, the possibility of Kurt Angle showing up at WrestleMania or Abyss jumping to WWE and more. Below are some of the highlights.
On how TNA should handle changing their TV product now that they are moving to Pop TV:
“If I was TNA I would think very strongly on how I revamp my TV presentation and to develop a new, game plan for the future. Lots of ways to accomplish this but they do need a plan that is well thought out and one that they are able to execute.”
On if he thinks Kurt Angle will appear at WrestleMania next year:
“I’d say highly unlikely but as close to a no as I can get without saying it. Ship’s sailed or so it seems. Anything is possible.”
On lots of wrestlers getting hurt due to a lack of selling in matches:
“Many wrestlers take too many unnecessary chances, are often times reluctant to sell so that tey can look stronger and they have ot gained the skill set of mat /submission wrestling. It’s sad and it’s simply not a case of me being too old school.”
On the possibility of Abyss going to WWE at this stage in his career:
“Abyss’ offer to go to WWE was years ago and he’s happy where he is especially at this stage of his career. You’re thinking about a decade too late for any Abyss to WWE talk.”
On whether or not Bobby Lashley should be mentioned in the same sentence as Brock Lesnar and if TNA has dropped the ball with him:
“Bobby has really come into his own in TNA the past several months but he never had the amateur career to the level of Lesnar. Two, entirely different athletes. I’m a fan of Lashley’s work both in the ring and in the MMA cage.”
As noted, The Rock will be appearing as a guest on “Oprah’s Master Class” this Sunday night at 8 p.m. EST. on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). Another promotional clip from the show has been released, as seen above, and features The Rock talking about WWE.
The Rock spoke about feeling angst early into his WWE run due to the fact that he couldn’t be himself.
“I remember I had great angst every night before I went out, because I was not able to be myself,” said The Rock.
He also commented on getting booed as a babyface at his first WrestleMania event:
He continued, describing the time he appeared at his first-ever WrestleMania as a babyface and was booed by the fans, noting it was when he realized he needed to make some changes.
“It was a sobering moment,” said The Rock. “And that was the beginning of the end of my initial run in the WWE. A few weeks later, I tore a tendon in my knee, and I was out for the rest of the summer. I came to the realization before I went back that it wasn’t me, personally, that they didn’t like. It was that I wasn’t being me.”
The Rock said while he was on the sidelines recovering, he received a call from Vince McMahon suggesting that he turn heel when he returned.
“He said, ‘When you come back, we could continue to shove you down people’s throats or we could turn you heel because they want to boo you anyway,'” Rock said. “I said, ‘I think it’s a great idea.'”
“About a month later, I was the hottest heel in the company and things were on fire,” said The Rock. “And the greatest lesson about that is be you. … The most powerful thing you can be is yourself.”
For another preview of The Rock’s appearance on “Oprah’s Master Class,” which features Rock talking about his battle with depression and his transition from WWE to Hollywood, click here.
Expect to see a lot more from WWE’s new partnership with ESPN in the coming months.
Over the summer, ESPN gave WWE a lot of mainstream attention by covering SummerSlam like a big sporting news. ESPN’s SportsCenter now has a weekly segment featuring WWE highlights and it was ESPN that broke the news of Seth Rollins missing 6-9 months due to injury and forfeiting the WWE Championship.
ESPN breaking WWE news is apparently part of the working relationship between the companies, as confirmed by Court Bauer of MLW Radio and Bryan Alvarez of Wrestling Observer Live. Previously WWE had worked with other outlets like TMZ to get big stories out to the public.
Aside from the SportsCenter segments and breaking news stories, ESPN will also be providing extensive coverage leading up to WrestleMania 32 in April 2016.
UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey recently spoke with Rolling Stone about her interest in WWE. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On if she’s ready for WWE:
“I’m ready. I’ve seen NXT, I remember Nattie and Charlotte’s match for the title. Nattie was actually training with the original Four Horsewomen to get ready for that fight. I have so many obligations, but I really want to find a way to make it happen. I’m a huge fan wrestling, and I would like to see the position of women in the sport continue to improve, so if I can be a part of it, great.”
On WWE focusing more on women:
“I’m really encouraged by the progress I’ve seen with what they’re doing with the women in WWE, but I feel like there’s a lot more than can be done. They’re doing some of it now, too. I’m really excited that they’ve brought up all these great women from NXT, who are all different from the normal mold they would use for the Divas division. I’m not going to take credit for anything, but I definitely want to be part of it as much as I can.”
On if she will be at WrestleMania 32:
“Uh, well, I’m going to be filming at that time – and I don’t want to ruin any surprises anyway. If you’re a wrestling fan, you’ll just let it happen.”
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated his official Q&A section, answering questions from fans on a number of various topics. Below are some of the highlights.
On WWE having a creative team of 25 people but still producing weak storylines: “This is news to me as it’s an area that I spend little time addressing. It’s a tough, thankless job but I’d agree that recent creative has not been, seemingly, what the TV viewers want to see.”
On if WWE asked him to take over RAW announcing again: “Everyone has their ‘magic’ number including yours truly.”
On his memories of the old “Livewire” show: “Everyone has their ‘magic’ number including yours truly.”
On WWE no longer using the Titan Tron for RAW or SmackDown: “I wasn’t aware of such as I have not been to a WWE RAW or Smackdown event in years. I don’t know why they would have stopped using the ‘Tron but I’d assume that there’s a good reason.”
On Undertaker’s WrestleMania match possibly having a retirement stipulation: “No one’s creative ideas are bad but simply different. Taker needs to be in a high profile match without a doubt come Wrestlemania but I don’t think that he’s retiring in 2016. That would surprise me.”
Check out more JR Q&A updates at his official website, JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
As noted, the match between The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar at this Sunday’s WWE Hell In A Cell pay-per-view in Los Angeles, California is scheduled to be their final battle.
The current belief is that Lesnar will defeat Undertaker to end their feud due to a run-in by whoever he will feud with next, possibly even the guy he will be feuding with heading into WrestleMania 32. There is no word yet if Lesnar will feud with anyone else between now and next year’s WrestleMania season.
Although no angle was shot between Steve Austin and Lesnar during Monday’s “Stone Cold Podcast,” there are still some clinging to the idea that there has to be a big match at WrestleMania because Vince McMahon wouldn’t blow off a major match like Lesnar vs. Undertaker at a smaller event like Hell In A Cell unless he had something bigger in his back pocket for WrestleMania.
Despite the fact that The Rock also rumored to be facing Lesnar next year, there is no word regarding The Rock appearing at Hell In A Cell on Sunday to shoot an angle.
We noted late last week that The Rock is no longer being considered as Brock Lesnar’s WrestleMania 32 opponent. A WrestleMania showdown between Lesnar & The Rock has been rumored for years, but has been nixed time and time again for various reasons.
Of course after what transpired at this year’s WrestleMania with The Rock, Ronda Rousey and The Authority, there had been a lot of speculation that the four of them would be involved in a mixed tag team match. That was until Ronda Rousey revealed that her movie schedule will prevent her from being part of next year’s show.
The current plan is for The Rock to face Triple H in a singles match at WrestleMania, according to Dave Meltzer on Sunday’s Wrestling Observer radio.
We’re still 6 months out and a lot can change by WrestleMania season, but the absence of names like Steve Austin, Ronda Rousey, Hulk Hogan and possibly Sting make a high-profile match featuring The Rock even more necessary for WWE to ensure WM32 is a big success.
WWE Superstar Roman Reigns recently spoke with The Caller Times to promote this coming Tuesday’s WWE SmackDown television taping in Corpus Christi, Texas. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his feud with The Wyatt Family: “I’m just trying to get out of the swamp. The goal is to take down this Wyatt Army. I don’t think it’s going to end any time soon. If the Wyatts keep adding people, then me and (Dean) Ambrose will continue to break heads.”
On feeling blessed: “You don’t really hear it enough, but I got to thank God for everything. I feel really blessed with the opportunities.”
On facing Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31: “Just the moment alone makes it the best opportunity (and) the best night I’ve ever had.”
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross, who is good friends with The Undertaker, noted on a recent blog that he feels next year’s WrestleMania will not be the final match for “The Dead Man.”
For years the belief has been that Undertaker would try his best to physically work through the first WrestleMania held at Cowboys Stadium and then retire at that show, particularly because it’s in his home state of Texas and in a record-setting building.
After Undertaker came back and had a strong showing against Brock Lesnar that was a very physical match, and now that he’s working the tour of Mexico in October, it looks like WWE might be extending how long “The Dead Man” will go.
The 2014 WrestleMania was what Vince McMahon thought could possibly be Undertaker’s final match, which is why he ultimately decided to pull the trigger on having Lesnar end his legendary undefeated streak.
The general talk behind-the-scenes within WWE right now is that The Undertaker is not thinking about retiring imminently.
Philadelphia city officials have reportedly submitted a bid to host WrestleMania 34 in 2018, according to CrossingBroad.com.
Citing an anonymous WWE source, the site says that the city submitted a plan to host the event at Lincoln Financial Field, with NXT and RAW events held at the Wells Fargo Center, and a FanFest held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center.
Larry Needle, the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Sports Congress, has done interviews with local newspapers in recent years expressing the city’s interest in hosting a WrestleMania event.
Wreslemania 32 is scheduled for AT&T Stadium in Arington, Texas in 2016 and WrestleMania 33 is rumored to be taking place from Minnesota in 2017.
“Lester meant to say we are hopeful the new stadium will host a future College Football Playoff Championship and WrestleMania,” reads the statement.
“Unfortunately the mistake was not caught during the editing process. To be clear, Minnesota has not been awarded a future WrestleMania. Minneapolis has submitted a bid and hopes to hear something from WWE by the end of the year. Obviously all U.S. Bank Stadium partners would love to bring the excitement and economic impact of WrestleMania to this market.”
WWE performer Paul Heyman recently spoke with CBS Sports to promote this Sunday’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. During the interview, Heyman was asked the secret to maintaining his friendship with Brock Lesnar.
“I’ve never let him down,” Heyman said. “I always tell Brock Lesnar the truth. I don’t appease Brock Lesnar. I don’t placate Brock Lesnar. When Brock Lesnar asks me for an opinion, I give to him an honest opinion that I’m willing to back up with facts, with theory. It’s never just what he wants to hear, or what benefits me the most. And I get the same from him, I assure you.”
Heyman also sang the praises of current WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, noting that he has “risen to the top faster than anyone else that has been called up so far from NXT.”
“I think Seth Rollins is a perennial champion for the next decade,” said Heyman. “I think in the same way that John Cena and Randy Orton are multi, multi-time champions from 2005 on, I think that is now Seth Rollins’ position. I think Seth Rollins is in the title picture for the next decade. He has established himself as a main event performer. He has delivered on every occasion that he has had the opportunity to perform. And he has risen to the top faster than anyone else that has been called up so far from NXT. So I think Seth Rollins is just at the very beginning of his career as a main eventer.”
Heyman continued, “I mean, Seth Rollins was involved in the main event of this year’s WrestleMania, but he wasn’t advertised as a main event at this year’s WrestleMania. We have yet to see Seth Rollins have the opportunity to perform in a WrestleMania main event. I don’t think you’ve even seen Seth Rollins scratch the surface of what he’s capable of doing.”
With Paul Heyman in his corner, Brock Lesnar goes one-on-one with The Undertaker in “the rematch too big for WrestleMania,” this Sunday, August 23, 2015, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York at WWE SummerSlam, live on pay-per-view and on the WWE Network.
WrestleMania is heading to the new U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In a video posted at Vikings.com profiling the $1 billion stadium currently under construction, Vikings’ Executive Vice President of Public Affairs & Stadium Development Lester Bagley said they are gearing up to host a number of world class sporting events, including WrestleMania.
While Bagley did not specify when the U.S. Bank Stadium will be hosting WrestleMania, officials for Meet Minneapolis (the city’s convention authority) and the stadium authority were preparing a bid back in February to host Wrestlemania 33 in 2017.
The U.S. Bank Stadium will have a capacity of 65,000 for Vikings games, expandable to 73,000.
NXT Champion Finn Balor recently spoke with Sports Illustrated’s “Extra Mustard” blog to promote next Saturday’s NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event at the Barclays Center. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his verbal skills being the biggest knock from WWE coaches and Dusty Rhodes: “Dusty would say, ‘Finn, your work in the ring is up here, but you’re talking is down here – you’ve got to balance them out.’ He was always very straight to the point, and we had a great relationship together. I remember him saying one time, ‘Prince, you know I heard them talking about you before you came in here, and goddamn, I thought Lou Thesz was gonna walk in that door the way they talk about your work.’ I’ll never forget that, and I was very lucky to work with Dusty. He helped me incredibly with my communication, as he called it, and I learned a lot of lessons with him. ‘The Dream’ was someone who filled me with confidence the first time I walked in the door.”
On NXT being WWE’s best product right now: “Right now, NXT is the main roster. NXT is the hottest thing in wrestling. I’m not in any hurry to go anywhere else but take NXT to the next level.”
On possibly main eventing WrestleMania one day: “I started wrestling fifteen years ago, and my goal was to have just one match. I had one match, and then I wanted to have two. Then I wanted to wrestle in Japan, and I wrestled in Japan for eight years. Then I wanted to wrestle in WWE. Here I am, a year later, as NXT champ. So I don’t set long-term goals. The next goal is Brooklyn [against Kevin Owens at NXT Takeover]. But it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to think, in another fifteen years time, the odds are highly stacked in my favor about WrestleMania some day.”
WWE is planning on having The Undertaker appear on at least one episode of WWE RAW after this year’s WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view. Taker is scheduled to go one-on-one with Brock Lesnar in a rematch of their historic WrestleMania XXX showdown.
For those asking about the “Cesaro Section” signs all over the lower half of the SAP Center in San Jose, California on Monday night during RAW, apparently WWE had nothing to do with them. A fan who attended the show reportedly printed out 7,000 “Cesaro Section” signs and handed them out by himself to fans at the show.
In his latest blog at JRsBarBQ.com, WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross talks about which show could sell more tickets at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas: WrestleMania 32 next April, or a UFC super-card rumored for December featuring top draws Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey in action.
While WWE has the WrestleMania brand to promote and a year of lead-up time, JR says that WWE could still drop the ball and fail to draw an audience of 100,000 if they fail to give fans what they want.
“Putting Rousey and Conor McGregor on the same card in December in Arlington, Texas is a no-brainer IMO if the goal is to sell close to 100,000 tickets for UFC,” Ross wrote.
“Adding a strong, Hispanic element to the show is needed too. Nonetheless I’d be willing to wager that WWE will still have more people in the stadium in April that UFC will in December no matter the card for UFC. The only way that WWE can fumble that one is to plan short-term and not listen to their fan base.”
Daniel Bryan has been promoting his new book “Yes!: My Improbable Journey to the Main Event of WrestleMania” and spoke with The Mirror newspaper here in the UK.
Bryan gave a length interview while promoting the book and spoke about a number of topics including why he decided to write a book, main eventing WrestleMania and his fans.
If you want to read the interview in full, you can do so by clicking on this link. Below are some of the highlights from the interview:
Why he decided to write a book in the first place:
“[Laughs] To be honest I wasn’t even thinking about writing a book and WWE approached me with the idea. I had just had neck surgery, they asked me to do it and I was kind of like ‘okay, it seems like perfect timing’. It was May of last year, it was literally either the week before I knew I was having neck surgery, or it was the week after I had my neck surgery. It was one of those two times! I had a lot on my mind.”
On having such a strong connection with the fans:
“I’m not sure. We’ve entered this new phase in wrestling, where the fans acknowledge – and because WWE has done it for so many years – that what WWE is, is entertainment. Long gone are the days of you getting into trouble for saying that wrestling isn’t real. I prefer to use the term wrestling fiction. And so there is this acknowledgement that what they are watching is fiction. So fans don’t get as invested as far as like, for example if someone is really beating someone really hard. It’s not the same as it was in the 1980s when the Four Horsemen were beating on Dusty Rhodes. It’s a different vibe from the crowd. But there are still very real things that the fans catch on to. They think ‘this particular guy we like, and he entertains us, so we want to see him succeed, but the fiction is not allowing him to succeed’. And they think ‘it’s not that he’s not succeeding because he isn’t good enough to succeed, he’s not succeeding because whoever has decided to write the story, has written him out of this story’.
There is this realisation that by cheering they may have the power to change that. I think last year specifically it was almost the case that the fans didn’t know, they didn’t know if they could change it. But it’s very powerful, this idea is powerful. Imagine if you could watch a movie and as you’re watching the movie you realise that the supporting character is actually your favourite character, and you want him to be the guy who saves the day. And, somehow, by yelling at your TV screen or something like that, you could actually change how the movie pans out. That would be incredible! In wrestling you can.”
If in his book he talks about his time on the independent scene:
“Yes actually there is a big piece, a substantial portion written about that particular match when I wrestled Nigel in Liverpool to unify the Ring of Honor World Championship and Pure Championship. I talk about that match specifically a lot. I talk about my time in Dublin. I spent a lot of time over in England wrestling at Butlins holiday camps for Brian Dixon and All Star Wrestling. I talk about my first night ever in England, when I almost watched a man get thrown out of a building!”
Daniel Bryan’s book is available to purchase today. If you want to read the rest of the interview, click this link
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated his official Q&A section. Below are some of the highlights:
On the Hulk Hogan racism controversy: “As I said in my blog on this website, I never knew of Hogan to be a racist. He’s not unlike many top level stars, he can be problematic at times doing business but that goes for many, many talents.”
On the possibility of Steve Austin being involved at WrestleMania next year: “I think that they can and who said neither would definitely NOT be a part of the presentation? Hogan, I get, but Austin in a non wrestling role has not been eliminated.”
On the “Diva Revolution”: “I don’t really hae any take on the Divas in WWE at this time other than to say that the NXT additions will help the main roster greatly and the winning streak of Nikki Bella is a non issue to me personably. If the streak helps the overall product I say roll with it.”
On the biggest misconception about him: “That I have a contentious relationship with WWE which isn’t true. I don’t always agree with what they do philosophically but that doesn’t mean anything other than that.”
Check out more JR Q&A updates at his official website, JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
WWE Superstar Daniel Bryan recently spoke with Brian Fritz of The Sporting News earlier this week and was asked if he feels he has won over Vince McMahon.
“You know, yes but I don’t know to what degree,” Bryan said. “You know what I mean? Does he think I should ever main event another WrestleMania? I would say probably not. (laughs) It’s interesting. I think he likes me, he sees me as a valuable performer. He sees me as someone who makes the company money. But I still don’t think he will ever see me as ‘the guy’ in the way he sees John Cena as ‘the guy’ or in the way he potentially sees Roman Reigns as ‘the guy’. To this day, I still don’t think he sees me like that.”
Bryan was also asked how much he feels the injuries he has suffered have prevented him from being viewed as one of the top guys in WWE.
“Yeah, that has hurt me a lot as far as that goes,” he said. “It would be interesting to have seen what would have happened had I not had my neck surgery shortly after WrestleMania last year. And when I say that, when I say he doesn’t see me as ‘the guy’, I’m not blaming him. He has good reason to not see me as ‘the guy’. Right? (laughs) There’s plenty of reasons for me to not be ‘the guy’. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t see me as a valuable performer.”
Check out the complete interview at SportingNews.com.
Ring Of Honor star Michael Elgin appeared as a guest on Jim Ross’ “Ross Report” podcast recently and spoke about Kevin Owens’ future in WWE, as well as his goal to make it to NXT.
Regarding Owens’ future with WWE, Elgin claims Owens will eventually be a WrestleMania main event talent. “[Owens] has the passion for it, he has the work ethic, and, you know, I see huge things for him within WWE,” Elgin stated. “Working with him, being on the road with him, he has a knack for it in every aspect – I would be almost shocked if he doesn’t main event a WrestleMania.”
Elgin also apoke about his own goals, noting he hopes to make it to NXT in the future.
“There [are] still a couple of things I want to accomplish and a few things at Ring of Honor that I still have to accomplish, but, no doubt in my mind, [making it to NXT] is definitely a goal of mine,” Elgin said.
“I always thought I was going to make it, but in other people’s eyes, if I was going to make it,” he continued. “I was going to have to venture the world and follow in the footsteps of guys like Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko and Chris Jericho and leave behind a legacy of my work elsewhere to get to WWE, or now NXT, but that’s definitely a route I’m okay with taking and I want to take in the future.”
