Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated wrote a piece about Monday’s 25th Anniversary of RAW that revealed several behind-the-scene notes from the event.

According to Barrasso, the reason WWE opened the show with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and Vince McMahon was an attempt to attract more casual viewers to the show to help build towards WrestleMania.

“The goal remains to attract more casual viewers during the build to WrestleMania 34, which is why the show opened with Steve Austin and Vince McMahon in an interaction that was certain to attract millions of viewers, many of whom do not watch the product every week.”

Barrasso has many other notes from the show, which can be read at this link.

The post Reason Vince McMahon & Steve Austin Opened Monday’s RAW appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

While speaking to Sports Illustrated, Daniel Cormier predicted that the main even of WrestleMania 34 will not be Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns, but instead he believes Braun Strowman will face Reign instead.

“A lot of people boo him (Roman) because they think he’s pushed too hard, but WWE is smart. Now they’ve spun it–they’ve stuck Roman back with The Shield, and now people cheer him again. They’ll find a way to make him the good guy, and I believe that he will get the championship back in New Orleans, but not from Brock Lesnar. I think Braun Strowman will be carrying the belt by then.”

Brock Lesnar is scheduled to defend his WWE Universal Championship against Braun Strowman and Kane at next month’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view event. It Cormier is correct in his prediction, that means Strowman will leave The Rumble as the new Universal Champion.

The post Daniel Cormier Predicts the Main Event for WrestleMania 34 appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

While speaking to Sports Illustrated, Chris Jericho talked talked about his schedule and mentioned that if you want to see him wrestle, it will have to be at WrestleKindom 12.

“If you want to see Chris Jericho wrestle, the Tokyo Dome is where you’re going to see me. If you watch one show this year, that’s the one to watch.”

Jericho was also asked about possibly going back to work for Vince McMahon but mentioned that he’s not slotted for the main event of WrestleMania but pointed out New Japan Pro Wrestling gave him that opportunity.

“I could go back to the WWE, I love working for Vince McMahon,” said Jericho. “But if I showed up tomorrow, as of right now, I am not slotted for the main event of WrestleMania. I am in the main event at Wrestle Kingdom.”

Jericho also commented on part-time Superstars and mentioned that they’re money makers.

“That’s like when people bi— and complain when Brock Lesnar and The Rock wrestle at WrestleMania, saying, ‘These part-timers come to steal our spots. Part-timers, full-timers, single-timers, whatever the f— you want to call it, they’re money-makers.”

You can check out the full interview here.

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While speaking to The Pro Wrestling Illustrated podcast, Cody Rhodes addressed rumors of former WWE Superstar CM Punk possibly appearing at his upcoming 10,000 seat arena event and mentioned that he can be a part of it if he wanted.

“The first thing everyone said when this story broke was, ‘You’ve got to get CM Punk.’ I love CM Punk. The fans never gave up on CM Punk. If CM Punk wants to part of ‘All In,’ he can be part of ‘All In.’ But I am not putting it on him to draw those 10,000 seats. If we did have CM Punk, we would not tell you we had CM Punk—unless we didn’t sell any tickets (laughing).”

Rhodes also commented on the possibility of Daniel Bryan being a part of the show.

“The main thing is I want Dan to be happy and healthy. But I know Dan knows what we’re thinking and when we’re thinking. So if that’s something that, if we could, that would be wonderful match. And I think it would be wonderful to do it for the Ring of Honor world title, being it that he has such roots with the company of old. The company today doesn’t look anything like it used to so I think that would be interesting. But we’re exploring all kinds of options.”

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As previously reported, both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were both kicked off the on-going UK Tour and sent back to the United States. While Pro Wrestling Sheet reported that the decision had to do with the Owens & Sami refusing to “feed” for the New Day, it appears there is more to the story than that.

Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated reports that the decision to send the two home was approved by Vince McMahon. The belief is that the two “went into business for themselves” during their on-camera work during Tuesday’s show.

Barrasso wrote, “In a decision approved by Vince McMahon, both Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn were kicked off the remainder of WWE’s overseas tour and sent home after yesterday’s SmackDown in Manchester, England for conduct deemed detrimental to the WWE.

Multiple sources both internally and externally confirmed to Sports Illustrated that Owens and Zayn’s offense was “going into business for themselves” regarding their on-camera work during yesterday’s SmackDown.

Several attempts to reach out to WWE for comment regarding the story have gone unanswered.

The post Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn Reportedly Went “Into Business for Themselves” at SmackDown appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

It was reported earlier this week via Sports Illustrated that Emma was released from her contract with WWE because of issues with the writing team and tweets she sent out on Twitter.

“Emma created just enough enemies on the writing staff, which she exacerbated from the way she voiced her opinion on Twitter”, reported Justin Barrasso. “The doors remain open for a return, but her exit from the company is viewed by some as addition by subtraction in the locker room.

In an updated on her release, former WWE writer James McKenna appeared on The Sheets Podcast and mentioned that the failed repackaging as Emmalina had a huge part of her release from the company. McKenna also pointed out that Emma would often shoot down ideas that were presented to her and this became a problem for the creative team.

McKenna said that Vince McMahon was behind the individual behind the Emmalina character and it was basically the last straw when the debut of the gimmick was a failure. Emma apparently didn’t like the new character, which gave McMahon a bad impression on her. The gimmick ended up being scrapped immediately. This ultimately hurt Emma’s stand in the company in the eyes of McMahon.

The post Real Reason Emma Was Released from WWE appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

While speaking to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Jim Ross was asked if there was any discussion from WWE about him returning to SmackDown Live as JBL’s replacement. Ross said that if WWE needed to for him to fill in, he would be open for it but he’s not interested in a full-time gig.

“I really do appreciate when people think of me for an opening. If WWE ever needed me to fill in, I would certainly do it with no reservation. Now, is it something I want to do full-time? Absolutely not. It’s a young man’s game, so let’s continue to develop these new guys.”

He continued, “I’m thrilled to have my WWE jersey back. I’m going to do between 30 and 40 dates a year. I am happy to fulfill my obligations. If I’m needed for more, I’m ready, but I do not want to do 52 weeks a year. WWE is going to use me if the weekly U.K. show comes to fruition, and my hope is that I’m involved in that show with Nigel McGuinness.”

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While speaking to Sports Illustrated at a charity event that was organized by Booker T to help those affected by Hurricane Harvey, RVD commented on a potential comeback to WWE.

“I don’t have any plans to share, but there is always a possibility of a return. I’ve talked to WWE recently, but it’s about the new video games that are coming out. That was more of a business talk about that, but when the business is right and it’s the right time to go back, that, of course, is then always a possibility.”

Since RVD’s time away from WWE, he has participated matches on the independent circuit.

The post Rob Van Dam Says He Recently Spoke to WWE appeared first on Wrestling News & WWE News, Rumors & Spoilers.

While speaking to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Bayley talked about her career goals and revealed that she plans to headline WrestleMania.

“I plan on headlining WrestleMania by WrestleMania 35,” said the former Women’s Champion when asked about her goals.

“I want a one-on-one match with Sasha Banks. A Fatal Four-Way with Sasha, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte would also be great some day at a WrestleMania.”

You can check out the full interview here.

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While speaking to Pro Wrestling Illustrated, Kazuchika Okada was asked about possibility joining the WWE and mentioned that it’s not something he thinks about. He would go on to say that he believes New Japan is far more superior to WWE when it comes to match quality.

“It’s not something I think about,” Okada said. “New Japan is far superior to WWE when it comes to the quality of the roster and the quality of the matches. One thing I will say is that I do pay attention to what Finn Balor, AJ, and Nakamura are doing, and they look like they’re having fun. I might want to wrestle them again someday, but I might want to do that in New Japan. Hell, I might want to be like some other people and become a movie star or join the UFC. You never know.”

You can check out the full interview here.

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