2017 was an interesting year, to say the least. Jinder Mahal won the WWE Championship. Luke Harper was almost in the main event of Wrestlemania, and then he became a Bludgeon Brother. Elias hit Finn Balor with a guitar. There is no doubt that a handful of stars were made in 2017.

Will 2018 be good to some people? I certainly hope so.  Here are some people I think have a chance to make it big come 2018.

Aiden English

Many people wondered how much potential Aiden English had after the Vaudevillains split up. He was a jobber. His defeat against Tye Dillinger seemingly cemented his spot at the bottom of the card. He wouldn’t stay there, though.

English has quickly become one of the most entertaining parts of Smackdown. His tag team with Rusev shouldn’t really work, but both men are so talented that they have made it their own. Now they’re in the Tag Team title picture. They probably won’t win, but it’s definitely something.

Come 2018, I expect both English and Rusev to become stars. Rusev was already established, what with him being a two-time US Champion, but this is a big boost to English’s stock. I expect big things from him next year.

Elias

Funnily enough, Elias is one NXT’s most successful call-ups. People boo the hell out of this guy, which is exactly what needs to happen. Sure, he and Aiden English kinda do the same thing, but they’re different enough that they’re not carbon copies of each other.

Right now, Elias isn’t doing a heck of a lot, but in 2018, that could all change. His Intercontinental Championship match against Roman Reigns was actually really good. Both men delivered in that match, and Elias came out of that looking like a star.

All that Elias really needs is that one feud. It doesn’t have to be a main-event feud. It just has to be a good one. Once that happens, he’ll be a made man for sure. People weren’t really expecting much out of Elias, but he has proved them all wrong and has a chance to become one of Raw’s biggest stars.

The post Predicting the Next Big WWE Superstars of 2018 appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Former WWE personality Yamaguchi-San has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke. Yamaguchi’s brother Shunsuke, who currently does Japanese commentary for WWE, posted the following on Facebook:

“Some of u might have heard but my brother Yusuke aka Yamaguchi Wally or Yamaguchi San had a stroke. This is a pic from 1 am est. Don’t know how long he has. Some of his friends from school and Gong Magazine have visited him. Love you brother!!!”

Funaki also poster the following on Twitter:

Prayers to Yamaguchi-san and family #Kaientai pic.twitter.com/be2PvGegYf

— FUNAKI (@shofufu824) December 14, 2017

The post Former WWE Personality Suffers A Stroke appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Taz opens today’s show by saying that he thinks WWE is mishandling Nakamura right now. Nakamura and Asuka are special in Taz’s opinion and while Asuka is being treated the right way by WWE, Nakamura is not. He knows that the laugauge barrier probably a problem for Vince McMahon, but with some creative writing that wouldn’t be an issue.

Taz points out that Nakamura had a good run when he first debuted on the main roster, but now he’s losing clean on Smackdown Live to Kevin Owens and being booked in tag matches on PPVs. He adds that there’s no shame in losing to Owens or tagging with Randy Orton for that matter, but sometime losing clean on television can hurt you, and this is one of those times in Taz’s opinion.

He liked the A.J. Styles/Singh Brothers segment last night, even though some of the lines in the Singh Brother’s promo came off lame and corny. Taz was happy that WWE at least handled their Champion well here, having Styles get the better of the Singh Brothers before standing tall to end the segment.

Taz mentions that Colin Delaney made his return to Smackdown after a decade’s absence last night, losing a tag team match to the Bludgeon Brothers. Taz says that Delaney is a nice kid and it was cool to see him back on Smackdown all these years later, even if it was just for a one-off appearance like Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported.

The post The Taz Show Recap – WWE Creative Failing Nakamura, WWE Partners With Facebook, Riott Squad Needs More Aggression, More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Matt Morgan recently spoke with the Wrestling Inc. Podcast. Here are some highlights from the interview:

WWE officials telling him to start wearing a mask to improve his character: “They put a mask on me, first they said because it was going to improve my body language. What? Anyways, you shut up and do what you’re told. So I went to wrestling practice with a hood and a mask, and then I’d be on TV with a mask,” Morgan explained. “So Jim Cornette was like, ‘How the hell do I explain this? You’re the top babyface, you’re the champion, what do I do?’ So I lost a Loser Leaves Town match, come back as The Blueprint and wear a hood and I’m not Matt Morgan anymore, I’m just The Blueprint.”

The mask being part of the plan to turn him into Kane’s Brother: “The cool part was they were going to turn this into, I was gonna be Kane’s brother Abel,” Morgan said. “And I would’ve killed for that! I would’ve worn a hood gladly for that just because I’m a huge ‘Taker and Kane fan. What leads to Kane leads to ‘Taker, right? Nine-year-old Matt Morgan inside was going bananas.”

So what happened?: “Vince (McMahon) stepped in and came up with stuttering Matt Morgan.”

The post Original Plans Revealed for Kane to Have Another Brother on WWE Television appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

Austin welcomes Sasha Banks to the show.

Banks informs that she spent the early years of her life moving from city to city, accommodating her brother who has autism. Her mother and her would spend a lot of their time caring for him, but her getaway was watching wrestling for a few hours each week.

She feels like she’s been training to be a wrestler her entire life. As a teenager she’d rent wrestling movies and take bumps on her mattress. She mentions that she never really had a backup plan other than becoming a professional wrestler and Austin says that he didn’t either, even though neither of them would recommend that.

She began training in MMA at a young age, training in Judo, Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu, but she didn’t like getting punched in the face so she started training to become a professional wrestler when she turned 18. Initially she was afraid to take bumps but she had a pep talk with herself, encouraging herself to follow her dream and stick with it. She absolutely loves taking bumps now, and she still loves the business very much.

The post The Steve Austin Show Recap w/ Sasha Banks – Being Proactive in WWE, Preferring to Work as A Heel, Becoming A Producer? More! appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

We reported last week that that Matt Hardy has multiple creative ideas for himself to keep him afloat as a singles wrestler while his brother Jeff is absent from WWE television because he’s recovering from surgery.

Matt took to his Twitter account and teased that a change is coming. He sent out the following tweet:

25 years of EVOLUTION..

And change is almost upon me AGEEN. pic.twitter.com/H9mHXLqomA

— REBORN by FATE (@MATTHARDYBRAND) October 4, 2017

The post Matt Hardy Teases A Change Is Coming appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

As noted earlier today, Michael Hayes invited Cody Rhodes to the upcoming WWE Starrcade event to team up with his brother Goldust.

So Cody, UR right we should have Goldy on the show, by the way, what R U doing that night??? Wanna team with UR Brother?

— Michael PS Hayes (@MichaelPSHayes1) September 18, 2017

Goldust has since then teased the return of Cody to the company with the following tweet:

Need I say more!! pic.twitter.com/HuIjFwSXVE

— Dustin Rhodes (@Goldust) September 18, 2017

The post Goldust Teases Cody Rhodes’ WWE Return appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

As previously noted, Cody Rhodes responded to reports of WWE bringing the “Starrcade” event back and asked for the company to book his brother Goldust on the card.

Dear @MichaelPSHayes1

If you're afraid an event won't sell cuz' the holiday and want one of my Dad's events…at least book Goldy..

-Cody

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) September 18, 2017

Michael Hayes has since responded to Cody, offering him an opportunity to team with his brother Goldust.

So Cody, UR right we should have Goldy on the show, by the way, what R U doing that night??? Wanna team with UR Brother?

— Michael PS Hayes (@MichaelPSHayes1) September 18, 2017

Do you want to see Cody make a return to a WWE ring one more time to tag with his brother? Sound off in the comment box below…

The post Michael Hayes Invites Cody Rhodes to WWE Starrcade appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

As previously noted, WWE announced that they would be bringing back the “Starrcade” name for their upcoming SmackDown event during Thanksgiving weekend on Saturday, November 25th in Greensboro, N.C.

For those not aware, Dusty Rhodes created the event back in 1983 with the first three shows taking place on Thanksgiving night in Greensboro.

Cody Rhodes responded to WWE bringing the event back and asked for the company to book his brother Goldust on the card.

Dear @MichaelPSHayes1

If you're afraid an event won't sell cuz' the holiday and want one of my Dad's events…at least book Goldy..

-Cody

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) September 18, 2017

Cody’s wife Brandi was more critical of WWE’s decision to bring the event back and wanted the company to give credit to Dusty for the event:

Starrcade was created and delivered by Dusty Rhodes. WWE didn't want to do it while he was here. Now they want to do it and not give credit? pic.twitter.com/5ZLsoptjHE

— Brandi Rhodes (@TheBrandiRhodes) September 18, 2017

The post Cody Rhodes Reacts to WWE Bringing Back Starrcade appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

While appearing on The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, Stevie Ray was asked about his immediate reaction to the botch “N” word promo by Booker T on Hulk Hogan. Stevie revealed that he didn’t realize that he had said it at first because he was too focused on his own lines.

“I really don’t care about that question because that’s got nothing to do with me. That is more of my brother’s thing. That is more of a question he might have gotten tired of. When people ask me about and ask what was I thinking? I wasn’t really thinking about it because I am getting ready to do my lines. It doesn’t really bother me that much and it’s funny (man) but people ask me what was I thinking? I wasn’t even listening. I am waiting to do my lines so in essence I’m not sitting there and listening to him like a fan at home is listening to him, I am listening to him subconsciously because I am waiting to do my lines for when Mean Gene comes to me. I am not sitting there listening to him word for word and I didn’t even realize that he had did it for a minute because with the clip on YouTube it cuts off before Mean Gene gets to me but if you watch the show I had a little soliloquy of what I was saying but Iknow we had to say something about Hulk Hogan and it is right before we had to go out and work so that is probably why it got so messed up because I think my brother was thinking about two different things entirely. But that is more of my brothers shtick, not mine.”

Stevie also commented on the clip circulating all over social media and revealed that he forgot about the promo until it came up on YouTube.

“In all actuality, I had actually forgotten about that until it came out on YouTube several years later. People started telling me about it but it was just a night. I swear to God, I was just doing a story last night on my podcast and somebody sent in a question that made me remember a story that I didn’t remember until I read it. It triggered something in my head. That is just me. I’ve told people a thousand times that I have never taken pro wrestling home with me and it is just the job that I go to and when I am there I am all in and when I am not I am all out.”

You can listen to Stevie’s remarks embedded in the video below:

The post Stevie Ray Talks About His Reaction to Booker T’s ‘N’ Word Botch appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.