NEWS

I’ll believe it when I hear it. Wrestlers have a tricky set of rules to follow in their profession. While their job is to have a safe yet also entertaining match, they are also tasked with keeping fans believing that what they are seeing is real. That is a lot harder than it sounds and some wrestlers are better at it than others. Now one of the best ever might be dropping every bit of kayfabe altogether.
According to the WrestleVotes Twitter account, the Undertaker will be debuting his own podcast. WWE and Peacock have talked Undertaker into airing his own podcast in the vein of Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions with the show debuting in the next few months. Undertaker officially retired from the ring at Survivor Series 2020 and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year.
In a show similar to that of Broken Skull Sessions, Peacock & WWE have convinced The Undertaker to enter the podcasting world. Source states his new show should begin airing within the next few months. A fa..

There’s your sequel. There are all kinds of matches in WWE and you never know what you might be seeing. The company knows how to mix things up a bit, but sometimes you need to see a match take place again. It can be needed for a variety of reasons and that will be the case again next month, as we are going to be seeing a rematch from this year’s WrestleMania.
Cody Rhodes made his surprise return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 and defeated Seth Rollins. The following night, the took shook hands without coming to blows. This week on Monday Night Raw, Rollins issued a challenge to Rhodes for a rematch, with the match being set for WrestleMania Backlash on May 8. This will be the second singles match ever between the two.
Opinion: This isn’t exactly a surprise as last week made it pretty clear that we would be seeing this match at some point in the near future. Rhodes seems to be on his way to the top of the WWE and having him beat Rollins twice in a row is a good idea for him. Hopefully the ..

I’m not sure if that’s a name. Having the right ring name is one of the most important things about a wrestler’s entire career. If someone isn’t called the right thing, or even something good, you can leave the wrestler in a pretty bad place. WWE has a tendency to make some interesting choices when it comes to name changes and that seems to be the case all over again.
This week on Monday Night Raw, Austin Theory appeared in a backstage segment where he was granted a United States Title shot next week. At the end of his portion of the segment, Theory said that he and Vince McMahon agreed that the “Austin” part of his name wasn’t working, meaning that his name is now just “Theory”. This comes after Theory was Stunned by Steve Austin at WrestleMania 38.
Opinion: Theory? That’s really the best they could come up with him? Fans are going to know him as Austin Theory but now his name is just Theory? This is up there with Riddle for weird names and I still do not understand WWE’s obsession ..

Welcome to the team. There are a lot of people on the WWE roster, to the point where WWE can break them up into multiple groups. That includes individual rosters for Monday Night Raw, SmackDown and NXT. It can mean a lot when someone moves from one roster to the other, especially after it is a long time in the making. We got to see it again this week with a major name.
This week on Monday Night Raw, Tommaso Ciampa was officially announced as the newest member of the roster. Ciampa appeared in a backstage segment where Ezekiel welcomed him to the show before Kevin Owens came in to yell at Ezekiel. This comes after Ciampa wrestled his last match in NXT at Stand & Deliver. He has wrestled on Monday Night Raw on occasion in the past, but always as part of the NXT roster.
Opinion: This is the kind of move that you knew was coming but it is still a bit weird to see. Ciampa has been such a mainstay of NXT that it is hard to imagine him wrestling anywhere else, though I’m glad to see him get..

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 11, 2022
Location: Little Caesar’s Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
We’re back to normal this week as the Wrestlemania Weekend glow is gone. Now we get to see what the regular crowds are like and how they respond to what WWE is offering. At the same time, we get to see how things go when WWE doesn’t have to try as hard. Let’s get to it.
We open with a recap of Cody Rhodes’ return at Wrestlemania and wanting to become the WWE Champion to honor his father.
Here is the Miz for MizTV. Miz wastes no time in introducing Cody Rhodes, though he does make sure to insult the fans a few times. Miz accuses Cody of taking too long to come out but Cody says it has been awhile since he was in front of a crowd like this one. Hang on as Cody gets to pose a bit more and the fans certainly like him. We hear about Cody being the grandson of a plumber but without the Rhodes name, he would just be a plumber. Cody says it would be ..

That could have been worse. An injury is the kind of thing that can take apart any storyline in the blink of an eye. You never know when you are going to see someone get injured and taken out, which can make for some rather frightening moments. There is little scarier in wrestling than wondering when someone might be out of action for a long time. This time though, it seems that things are not as bad as they seem.
According to Dave Meltzer on the Saturday Night’s Main Event podcast, Roman Reigns is healthy after his match at WrestleMania 38. There had been rumors that Reigns had suffered some sort of an injury during the match but it is said to have been part of the storyline. Reigns appeared on the following Monday Night Raw and SmackDown but did not take part in anything physical.
Opinion: That is quite the relief as you never want to see someone get injured. WWE would have been absolutely crushed by having Reigns go onto the shelf for a long time but now it seems like everything i..

Her too? It can be very interesting to see a wrestler pop up in another company. They might be someone you haven’t seen in a long time or someone brand new, but either way, you know you are in for something different. This could be even more interesting if it is someone who has changed a lot while they are gone, and that might be the case again in the near future.
Cody Rhodes made his return to WWE at WrestleMania 38, defeating Seth Rollins at the show and then opening the following night’s Monday Night Raw. According to Fightful Select, there have been discussions on bringing Cody’s wife Brandi Rhodes in to WWE. It is not clear how far these discussions have gone or whether Rhodes will have an in-ring role or not. Rhodes previously worked for WWE as a non-wrestling ring announcer named Eden Stiles.
Opinion: I wouldn’t be surprised to see Brandi pop up somewhere in the future, though I don’t know if she is needed. If WWE wants Cody to be a top star, he really doesn’t need a valet or ..

Sometimes friends aren’t that helpful. WWE has posted a new video to its YouTube channel in which they show the full match between Sasha Banks and Asuka for the Raw Women’s Championship from SummerSlam 2020.
You can see the video in its entirety below:
[This post contains video, click to play]

From WWE.com:
The Legit Boss had a leg up from the opening bell, targeting Asuka’s knee that Bayley focused on in their earlier matchup. Banks looked set to cruise to an easy victory after hitting an incredible flipping powerbomb to the outside from the apron, dropping The Empress of Tomorrow with a sickening thud.
But Asuka turned the tables, demonstrating her resolve with a top-rope missile dropkick despite her injured knee.
Suddenly desperate and defensive, Banks pleaded with Bayley at ringside for reassurance. But Bayley was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and she moved out of the way to avoid the same hip attack that Asuka hit Banks within Bayley’s title defense earlier in the e..

NXT UK
Date: April 7, 2022
Location: BT Sports Studios, London, England
Commentators: Andy Shepherd, Nigel McGuinness
It’s time for the big title fight as United Kingdom Champion Ilja Dragunov is defending the championship against Roderick Strong. It says a bit that NXT UK has to import challengers for Dragunov, but it isn’t like there is anyone around to give Dragunov a run for his money at the moment. Let’s get to it.
The opening video looks at the title match.
Opening sequence.
Primate vs. Wild Boar The rest of Symbiosis is here and if Boar wins, he gets to face Eddie Dennis. They go straight to the slugout with Primate getting the better of things for all of a few seconds. Boar takes him down and stomps away before going after Dennis. T-Bone gets in the way and the distraction lets Primate take Boar down. That doesn’t last long either though as Boar knocks him into the corner and hits the big reverse Cannonball. T-Bone offers another distraction though and Dennis gets in a chai..

That’s not what I heard. Most of the time, a wrestler is going to be treated as a hero or a villain. While there are occasional middle grounds, most of the time it is one end of the spectrum or the other. That is on paper at least, as there are occasions where the fans will not react as the promotion intends. It seems that is the case again, as two AEW heroes might not be as well received as it seems.
Last week’s edition of AEW Rampage featured a segment between the Men of the Year and Tay Conti/Sammy Guevara. The segment saw Conti and Guevara yelling back and forth with the team, including Scorpio Sky. After the show, Sky posted a tweet, showing Conti holding an edited sign saying “we paid to have our boos overdubbed.” This would suggest that the fans at the show booed Conti and Guevara, though this did not appear to be the case on the broadcast.
? #AEWRampage pic.twitter.com/a6mDjXwUQF
— Scorpio Sky (@ScorpioSky) April 9, 2022
If I didn’t hear it, it didn’t happened brother ?
— ..

So that’s where she went? There are a lot of people on the WWE roster and it can be difficult to keep track of some of them. With so many people around, there is a real chance that WWE might not have something for everyone. It can be frustrating for both the wrestlers and the fans alike, and that seems to be the case again with a WWE star who hasn’t been around much in the first place.
According to Ringsidenews.com, SmackDown’s Shotzi is perfectly healthy and ready to go whenever WWE has a new story for her. She was not factored into the WrestleMania mix in any way and therefore was not around for any of the shows over WrestleMania weekend. Shotzi has not wrestled on television since the February 25 edition of SmackDown, when she lost to Sasha Banks.
Opinion: This is about as WWE as you can get: they bring up someone from NXT, take away part of what makes them work in the first place, and then leave them on the sidelines. Shotzi has been on the main roster for about ten months now an..

It’s another thing to do. Wrestlers are incredible athletes, but they are capable of doing other things outside of the ring as well. This could be a variety of things, some of which have nothing to do with their in-ring abilities. It can be fascinating to see how a wrestler can do outside of the ring and now an already well rounded performer is trying his hand at something else.
AEW’s Swerve Strickland has announced that he is taking part in a horror movie in Los Angeles. There are no details on the film, other than that it may be titled You Promised, based on Strickland’s Instagram post. The post also includes some clips of Strickland on the set, where he is dragged across the floor. Strickland is scheduled for a tag match this week, which will see him team with Keith Lee against Team Taz.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Swerve Strickland (@swerveconfident)
Opinion: Strickland is working hard and it is impressive to see him trying his hand at so many things. There is s..