Category: WWE

Windham Rotunda (Bray Wyatt) Arrives In Dallas, Says He “Hates Ruining Surprises”

Former WWE Champion (Bray Wyatt) Windham Rotunda has arrived in Dallas, TX, for WrestleMania weekend.

On Thursday night, Windham noted on Instagram that he hates ruining surprises. He also encouraged fans to ask up to six questions that he will answer.

I just got to Dallas. This place feels so alive, it makes me feel alive. This week in particular has always been a huge part of me. God damn I missed this energy. I missed all of you too. I’m sure some of you have questions for me. I got answers. Here it is. I’ll reply to 6 questions in the next hour. Keep in mind I hate ruining surprises.

Windham will be the headline attraction at WrestleCon’s “U.S. vs. The World” event scheduled for Saturday. With tons of others shows happening in the Dallas area, it’s possible that Wyatt makes a few surprise appearances.

Fans on social media are also hyping up Wyatt as Seth Rollins’ possible mystery opponent on WrestleMania Saturday. Furthermore, some fans believe Wyatt could be unveiled as Tully Blanchard’s new client in AEW. As noted earlier, AEW President Tony Khan revealed via Twitter that Blanchard will be introducing a new client during ROH’s Supercard of Honor XV show Saturday night.

Since his WWE release last July, Windham has been busy working on a horror film project along with special effects artist Jason Baker. Recently, Baker appeared on The Wrestling Inc. Daily to provide an update on the project. You can see Windham’s IG post below.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Cody Rhodes May Back Out Of WrestleMania 38 Plans [Report]

Many fans expect Cody Rhodes to return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 this weekend. But a new report suggests that it’s not a done deal.

Many wrestling fans are anticipating Cody Rhodes’ return to WWE during WrestleMania 38 this weekend.

As previously noted, Rhodes reportedly signed a contract with WWE following his departure from AEW. On this week’s episode of WWE Raw, chairman Vince McMahon promised Seth Rollins a match at WrestleMania 38. However, The Architect won’t know who his opponent is until the day of the show.

So it’s easy to speculate that The American Nightmare will show up and reveal himself as Rollins’ WrestleMania opponent. But according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, there’s a chance that the second-generation wrestler doesn’t actually compete at “The Show of Shows” this weekend.

During a conversation with Dennis Salcedo on her YouTube channel (h/t WrestlingNews.co), Meltzer revealed that there are people close to Cody who believe that he could end up backing out of WrestleMania 38.

“Depending on who it is, it better be somebody good because…everyone expects it and they kind of have to deliver it I suppose,” Meltzer explained. “If it’s not him, it’s his choosing, it’s not theirs. They believe it’s him. They believe that’s the guy. If for whatever reason he backs out because he’s going to back out, I don’t expect that to happen, but I know people close to him who do…We’ll have to see how it plays out.”

Needless to say, it would be a major letdown for countless WWE fans if Cody didn’t show up at WrestleMania 38 weekend. Most of the company’s top main event stars are already on the two-day WrestleMania card, and it’s hard to think of more intriguing potential options than Rhodes at this point.

Brandi and Cody Rhodes parted ways with AEW last month following the expirations of their contracts. Brandi worked as AEW’s Chief Brand Officer, and aside from wrestling, Cody was one of the company’s Executive Vice Presidents. It’s worth noting that The American Nightmare was never under a non-compete clause after leaving AEW, so he was free to sign with another promotion right away.

Day one of WrestleMania 38 is now just one days away. If Cody doesn’t turn out to be Rollins’ WrestleMania opponent, then we should get more clarity on his WWE status and situation. There’s always the possibility that he doesn’t show up until the post-WrestleMania edition of Monday Night Raw, too.

Source: TheSportster

The Hardys Announced For AAA’s TripleMania XXX

The AEW involvement in AAA’s TripleMania XXX events in 2022 will now include the Hardys

Announced at a press conference held in Tijuana on Tuesday afternoon, Matt and Jeff Hardy will compete at the second TripleMania XXX event in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico on June 18. They will take on former Ring of Honor star Dragon Lee and former CMLL star Dralistico, themselves a brother tag team.

The Hardy Boyz become the eighth and ninth AEW stars to compete on one of the three TripleMania XXX shows taking place in 2022. Andrade, Penta El Zero Miedo, Rey Fenix, Sammy Guevara, Tay Conti and the Young Bucks are all scheduled for the first TripleMania XXX event in Monterrey on April 30. The Young Bucks will headline the event against Fenix and AAA Mega Champion Hijo del Vikingo.

Missing are AEW team FTR, who are the current AAA World Tag Team Champions. It is unknown if they will be added to the Tijuana event or TripleMania XXX in Mexico City this October. Last week the Young Bucks declared they’d be returning to AAA as AAA World Tag Team Champions, indicating a potential title match with FTR soon on AEW TV.

This will be Jeff Hardy’s first appearance in AAA and Matt Hardy’s second; he previously competed in AAA’s Lucha Libre World Cup in 2015, where he, Johnny Mundo (John Morrison), and Mr. Anderson reached the finals as Team USA before losing to Team AAA (Alberto El Patron, Myzteziz and Rey Mysterio).

The brothers also have competed for lucha libre promotion The Crash, where they won the promotion’s tag team titles in 2017.

In addition to the Hardy Boyz vs. Dragon Lee and Dralistico, TripleMania XXX in Tijuana will feature the semi-finals of the ongoing mask vs. mask tournament featuring El Canek vs. Psycho Clown, LA Park vs. Villano IV, Blue Demon Jr. vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr. and Penta vs. Ultimo Dragon. The losers of each match will move onto the semi-finals, and the losers of the semi-finals match will then compete in a mask vs. mask match at TripleMania XXX in Mexico City this October.

At today’s press conference, AAA President Dorian Roldan revealed that all the winners in the first round of the mask tournament at TripleMania XXX Monterrey will take part at TripleMania XXX Tijuana. No other matches were announced. As with AAA TripleMania XXX Monterrey, AAA TripleMania XXX Tijuana will air on FITE TV, with English and Spanish commentary.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Is Bringing Back Shane McMahon For WrestleMania 38 Weekend [Report]

WWE is reportedly bringing in Shane McMahon for WrestleMania 38 this weekend.

Two months after an abrupt exit from WWE, it sounds like Shane McMahon will be back for WrestleMania 38 weekend.

As previously noted, McMahon left the WWE following reports that he garnered plenty of backstage heat for largely booking the men’s Royal Rumble match around himself. It was reported that Shane was involved in disagreementts with Vince McMahon and the match winner, Brock Lesnar.

According to a report from Mike Johnson of PWInsider.com, the company will bring in Shane O’Mac for WrestleMania 38 this weekend. The show will be held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday and Sunday. At this time, there are 14 matches on the card. Johnson added that there isn’t any “word at this time” if McMahon will actually appear at WrestleMania 38, but he will be in Arlington for the event.

On this week’s episode of Raw, Vince McMahon promised Seth Rollins a match at WrestleMania Saturday. However, an opponent will not be announced until the day of the show. So it’s easy to speculate that Rollins will go one-one-one with the 52-year-old wrestling legend.

But it has been reported that Rollins will actually face Cody Rhodes, who apparently signed a deal to return to WWE earlier this month. If Rollins were to face McMahon at WrestleMania, it would make sense for Cody to make his highly-anticipated return on the post-WrestleMania edition of Raw.

Shane McMahon has wrestled at five of the last six WrestleMania events. He didn’t compete at WrestleMania 36, which was pre-taped with no fans in attendance because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It certianly wouldn’t be a surprise if WWE brought in Shane for a match, be it against Rollins or another superstar.

McMahon faced The Undertaker at WrestleMania 32, AJ Styles at WrestleMania 33, Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn (a tag team bout with Daniel Bryan), at WrestleMania 34, The Miz at WrestleMania 35 and Braun Strowman at WrestleMania 37 a year ago.

Source: TheSportster

Nikki Bella Is Excited To Hear Vader Tell Stories At WWE Hall Of Fame

WWE Hall of Famers The Bella Twins, Nikki and Brie Bella, took to their YouTube Channel earlier today and gave an update about their WrestleMania 38 status.

According to Nikki, the duo is definitely going to be in Dallas this weekend and they are especially looking forward to the Hall of Fame ceremony.

“So yeah, actually we will be in Dallas because Brie and I will definitely be attending the Hall of Fame this year, which is right after SmackDown on Friday. When The Undertaker is getting inducted, you definitely show up. So, I’m so excited to see The Undertaker to get inducted, to be there in person for it.

“We actually get the opportunity to be there in person. I love that Vince McMahon is inducting him. I just can’t wait to hear the speeches, but it’s the Undertaker so I feel like it’s going to have some really cool production to it.

“Sharmell, congratulations! I am so proud that you are going to be in the WWE Hall of Fame, that is so amazing. Always have loved everything that she’s done. And to think Booker is going to be the one to induct her? Wow, what a night to be a married couple.”

Nikki Bella also took the time to express her excitement for Vader being inducted into this year’s Hall of Fame. It’s important to note that though she says she is excited for Vader to be at The Hall of Fame to tell stories from his career, Vader won’t personally be at the ceremony as he passed away in 2018 at the age of 63.

“And I’m also so excited that the WWE Universe will be welcoming Vader into the Hall of Fame. I always get excited for men of that generation to come to the Hall of Fame because they have the most incredible stories we’ve never heard,” she said. “And I always love when those men take the stage, and the women, and from that era of wrestling that was so iconic and so historic. So I’m really excited for Vader to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and just to have his presence there and hear his speeches.”

Nikki even teases toward the end of the video that The Bellas may even get into a bit of action at this year’s WrestleMania. After making their in-ring return at The Royal Rumble this year, it would be interesting to see if the duo has a longer run in the works.

“As far as action that weekend, well, the world of WWE, things change every day so just keep tuning in for that. And of course, I think we’ll be meeting a lot of you whether it’s virtually, or on panels, you will see Brie and I at some point in Dallas.”

Source: Wrestling Inc. with credit to The Bella Twins YouTube Channel 

WWE NXT Preview 3/29/22

The Stand & Deliver go-home edition of WWE NXT 2.0 will air live tonight from the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida with the final build for Saturday’s big event in Dallas, Texas.

WWE RAW Preview 3/28/2022

The WrestleMania 38 go-home edition of WWE RAW will air live tonight from the PPG Paints Arena from Pittsburgh, PA.

The Steiner Brothers Are Going Into The WWE Hall Of Fame

It’s officially WrestleMania week and WWE will kick things off with the go-home Raw a few hours from now. Later in the week we’ll have SmackDown, Stand & Deliver, and, of course, WrestleMania. There will also be the Hall Of Fame ceremony on Friday night during which a number of former WWE Superstars will be honored and added to WWE’s Hall, including The Undertaker and Vader.

This year’s class is smaller than usual, and it seems the final inductees into the 2022 class have now been revealed, and they might be the most surprising so far. As first revealed David Shoemaker via The Ringer, and confirmed shortly after by WWE, iconic WCW tag team The Steiner Brothers will become WWE Hall Of Famers this Friday, presumably rounding out the 2022 class.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1508447252280401927

The Steiners are widely regarded as one of the best tag teams of all time by many wrestling fans. The two competed together in WWE during the early ’90s, winning tag team gold twice. However, it was under WCW’s banner that Rick and Scott arguably did their best work. The brothers won the promotion’s Tag Team Championships seven times and the US Tag Titles once, really cementing their legacy in WCW.

That Rick and Scott will be Hall Of Famers by the end of this week is further evidence that no bridge between WWE and a former Superstar is ever burned for good. After a tainted run as a singles star in WWE 20 years ago, Scott Steiner has had nothing but bad things to say about the company ever since. Big Poppa Pump even described the HOF as a joke that only exists in Vince McMahon’s mind once. Clearly, he has had a change of heart.

Perhaps the change of heart has been inspired by the success of Bron Breakker. Rick Steiner’s son has rocketed to NXT fame over the past six months, winning and then losing the brand’s top prize in that time. Rick even celebrated with his son after the cameras were off when Breakker won the title. It will be fun to hear what they have to say when they’re inducted later this week.

Source: TheSportster

From WWE.com:

The Steiner Brothers will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame’s Class of 2022. As first announced by David Shoemaker on TheRinger.com, Rick & Scott Steiner will be enshrined in the hallowed hall during the 2022 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony as part of WrestleMania Week.

The WWE Hall of Fame at a ceremony will take place this Friday, April 1 at American Airlines Center in Dallas as part of WrestleMania Week.  The event will stream live exclusively on Peacock in the U.S. and WWE Network everywhere else.  In addition, for the first time in history, WWE will present both Friday Night SmackDown and the 2022 WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony live on the same night at American Airlines Center, giving all fans in attendance an unprecedented opportunity to witness both events for one price. Tickets for the special 2-for-1 SmackDown + Hall of Fame are now available via Ticketmaster.

The most successful of tag teams must be completely in synch and possess an ability to almost read each other’s thoughts. Arguable no one can find that level of connection better than family. Enter celebrated University of Michigan alumni Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner, sibling competitors who donned on the headgear (and/or mullet) and introduced an innovative in-ring style that helped them fight their way to the top of the mountain.

The Steiner Brothers first joined forces in 1989 and grew to become the face of tag team excellence as one of sports-entertainment’s most celebrated tag teams. Together, Rick and Scott lit up NWA Mid-Atlantic and NWA/WCW where they used their impressive mix of amateur and professional wrestling to capture the WCW Tag Team Titles seven times and the United States Tag Team Titles once. Their success was not entirely limited to the Atlanta-based organization, however. During their brief time in WWE in the early ’90s, the pair quickly made history by appearing on the first episode of Monday Night Raw in 1993, battling The Headshrinkers on The Grandest Stage of Them All at WrestleMania IX and winning the WWE Tag Team Championship twice. Following a short tenure with ECW in 1995, The Steiners then returned to WCW in 1996 and their impact was undeniable as they battled elite opposition like Harlem Heat and The Outsiders for the WCW Tag Team Titles.

Don’t miss when The Steiners take their place in sports-entertainment history during the 2022 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony this Friday, streaming live exclusively on Peacock in the U.S. and WWE Network everywhere else.

WWE NXT Level Up Preview 3/25/22

Tonight’s WWE NXT Level Up was taped at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida and will be streaming at 10/9 C on Peacock in the United States and on WWE Network everywhere else!

Jacket Time clash with Enofé and Blade on NXT Level Up

Quincy Elliott making his debut against Joe Gacy

Kiana James colliding with Ivy Nile

Triple H Announces Retirement From In-Ring Competition

Triple H announced his retirement from in-ring competition on ESPN during an appearance on the show First Take with Stephen A. Smith.

The full interview will then be released via Stephen A’s World on ESPN+ later tonight.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1507386044660035585

As we’ve noted, Triple H suffered what was said to be a very serious cardiac event last fall, and has been away from the job since then. WWE announced on September 8 that he underwent successful heart surgery the week before that at Yale New Haven Hospital in New Haven, CT.

It was stated that the operation was needed after Triple H suffered the cardiac event, caused by a genetic heart issue. WWE’s statement noted how Triple H was expected to make a full recovery, and since then it’s been reported that he is doing well.

He has done some WWE work in recent months, but he still has not returned to the daily workload that he had before.

During an appearance on First Take earlier today (via Fightful), Triple H spoke about his health issues, noting that he almost died and now has a defibrillator in his chest. He added that he is now retired from in-ring action and can never wrestle again. Here are highlights:

On the heart issues that almost killed him: “From the viral pneumonia, I had fluid in my lungs, fluid around my heart. They followed up on it, did an EKG. Basically, the way your heart pumps out, it’s 55 to 65 percent of your injection fracture is a good number. I was at 30 (percent). I had a quick text message saying, ‘don’t take time, pack a bag, we’ll head to the emergency room. I’ll fill you in on the way.’ By the time I got to the emergency room, my ejection fracture had gone down to 22 (percent). I was in heart failure. Bad. By the next morning, as they figured that out in the evening, the next morning as I was setting in to get an MRI done and about to go in for a heart cap, my ejection fracture was down to 12 (percent). I was nose diving and at the one-yard line of where you don’t want to be. For your family and your future, when they tell you it’s 99%, it gets real. We have three young girls; 15, 13, and 11 (years old). Suddenly, I come home and I’m a little bit sick, and their dad, who is strong, always, suddenly is in the hospital. I don’t know if they understood the consequences of it, but there are moments in there when they are putting you out for stuff and you think, ‘is this it? Do you wake up again?’ That’s tough to swallow. It makes you think differently about life. It doesn’t make you any less driven with the things you do, but it certainly makes you appreciate the things you have; your friends and your family.”

On his status as a wrestler: “For me, as far as in-ring, I’m done. I will never wrestle again. I have a defibrillator in my chest, which it’s not a good idea for me zapped on live TV.”

Triple H’s final match as a wrestler was teaming with Shinsuke Nakamura to defeat Samoa Joe and Robert Roode at a live event in Tokyo, Japan in June 2019.