Category: WWE

WWE SmackDown Preview 3/18/22

The Road to WrestleMania 38 will continue tonight as WWE SmackDown on FOX airs live from the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC.

Brock Lesnar to collide with Roman Reigns ahead of WrestleMania

It’s likely that King Xavier Woods will make his return to SmackDown tonight. Woods had been out of action since suffering a calf injury in January, but he returned at last weekend’s live events because Big E suffered a broken neck on last Friday’s SmackDown. WWE had plans for a six-man match at WrestleMania 38 with The New Day vs. Sheamus, Ridge Holland and Butch, but now we should find out if that will turn into a standard tag team match with Big E being out.

The WWE Events website has Ronda Rousey advertised for tonight’s show. There should be a follow-up to last week’s show-closing brawl with SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair.

Big E Gives Update On Broken Neck After Leaving Hospital

Big E was in good spirits, as usual, as he took to social media to update fans on his condition.

WWE superstar Big E has provided a further update on his status, having left hospital following a worrying injury. The former WWE Champion suffered a broken neck on last Friday’s episode of SmackDown, landing poorly off of a belly-to-belly Suplex from Ridge Holland outside the ring during a match between New Day, Holland, and Sheamus.

Big E landed directly on his head and was unable to continue fighting. The cameras panned off the 36-year-old, but subsequent reports claimed he was stretchered out of the arena.

Big E would reach out to fans via Twitter, posting a video in which he claimed to be alright. He later revealed he wouldn’t require surgery despite his neck being broken but also that his C1 and C6 vertebrae are fractured.

Former NFL team doctor David Chao reckons E is lucky to be alive and has cast doubt on a return to wrestling for the former champ.

“The C1 fracture is most dangerous as the top cervical vertebrae is a ring and is commonly associated with immediate death or complete paralysis. Thankfully the fracture was not displaced and he will not need surgery. However, this type of fracture often heals incompletely and it may mean the end of his wrestling career,” Chao wrote for Outkick.

“The C6 fracture is likely a compression injury to the vertebral body. This likely requires immobilization but not surgery. One would anticipate a minimum of three-month recovery with return to full function and activities for this lower cervical injury.”

Big E was back on Twitter on Thursday afternoon, this time walking around his neighborhood in some fine weather.

He wore a neck brace and was in good spirits, as has been the case throughout the whole ordeal.

“Life is good,” he said. “I got breath in my lungs, it’s a beautiful day. My neck might be broken, but my heart, it’s still in there, I think, yeah it’s in there.”

As noted above, E won’t be needing surgery. According to Chao, he could be back to his old self in three months, though he might not be able to wrestle again, at least not anytime soon.

Source: TheSportster

WWE Makes WrestleMania 38 Line-Up Change, Kickoff Pre-show Start Times Revealed

WWE has confirmed that there will be two-hour WrestleMania 38 Kickoff pre-shows, one for each night.

The WrestleMania 38 Kickoff pre-show is scheduled to begin at 6pm ET on Night One and Night Two. The Kickoffs will run for two hours, until the main card begins at 8pm ET.

There is no word yet on who will be featured on the Kickoff panels, or what matches will take place on the Kickoff.

In more news on the WrestleMania 38 card, WWE no longer has AJ Styles vs. WWE Hall of Famer Edge assigned to a specific night. The match was previously announced for WrestleMania Sunday, but now it is once again listed for Night One or Night Two. AJ is returning to RAW this coming Monday to continue the feud with Edge, so we should find out then if the bout will air during Night One or Night Two. Out of the 12 matches/segments announced for WrestleMania 38, only two have not been assigned to a night – AJ vs. Edge, and The Street Profits vs. RAW Tag Team Champions RK-Bro.

WrestleMania 38 will take place on Saturday, April 2 and Sunday, April 3 from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Below is the current announced card, along with rumored and expected matches:

WRESTLEMANIA SATURDAY – APRIL 2:

SmackDown Women’s Title Match
Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair (c)

RAW Women’s Title Match
Bianca Belair vs. Becky Lynch (c)

SmackDown Tag Team Titles Match
Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs vs. The Usos (c)

Logan Paul and The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio and Dominik Mysterio

Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Baron Corbin

Kevin Owens hosts The KO Show with special guest WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin

WRESTLEMANIA SUNDAY- APRIL 3:

Winner Takes All Title Unification Match
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns

Triple Threat for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles
Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley vs. Naomi and Sasha Banks vs. Carmella and Queen Zelina Vega (c)

Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory

Johnny Knoxville vs. Sami Zayn

CONFIRMED MATCHES TO BE ASSIGNED A NIGHT:

RAW Tag Team Titles Match
The Street Profits vs. Randy Orton and Riddle (c)

WWE Hall of Famer Edge vs. AJ Styles

UNCONFIRMED, RUMORED OR EXPECTED MATCHES:

Seth Rollins vs. TBA

WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal

Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods vs. Sheamus and Ridge Holland

WWE Intercontinental Title Match
TBA vs. Ricochet (c)

WWE United States Title Match
Damian Priest vs. Finn Balor (c)

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Big E Returns Home Following Stint In Hospital For Broken Neck

Big E is back at home following a brief hospitalization for a broken neck.

As noted, Big E suffered a broken neck during Friday’s SmackDown in Birmingham, AL after taking a belly-to-belly throw from Ridge Holland at ringside. He was stretchered away from the ringside area, and then taken to a local hospital for further evaluation. Big E announced that same night that he suffered the broken neck when taking the move from Holland.

In an update, Big E revealed in a tweet that he is already back at home after being hospitalized at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital.

NFL star Andre Smith, who was born in Birmingham, tweeted Big E and offered to help him with anything he needed while he was in town for the hospitalization. Big E responded and revealed that he was already back at home in Tampa, FL.

“Appreciate you, man. I’m actually home now but Birmingham took good care of me,” Big E wrote.

On a related note, Drew McIntyre took to Twitter and wrote about spending some time in the hospital with Big E on Friday night. Several WWE stars visited with Big E in the hospital that night, and McIntyre commented on how he was feeling.

“I spent some time with @WWEBigE in the hospital last night and even in that situation you couldn’t take the smile off his face [face with tears of emoji] He really is remarkable. Love ya brother, can’t wait to hear the reaction when you return,” Drew wrote.

Big E responded, “It meant a ton to me. Thank you for being who you are, my friend.”

We noted before how Big E announced the broken neck in his first Twitter video on Friday night, but he then posted another video on Saturday morning and revealed that he fractured his C1 vertebrae and his C6 vertebrae, but would not need surgery. He also confirmed that there was no damage to his spinal cord, and no ligament damage.

There’s still no word on how long Big E will be out of action, but we will keep you updated. We noted before that WWE had plans for a big six-man match at WrestleMania 38 with The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods) vs. Holland, Sheamus and Butch, the former Pete Dunne.

https://twitter.com/locxsmiff/status/1502470039416582156

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Backstage WWE Hall Of Fame Updates On The Steiner Brothers And Batista

The Steiner Family is reportedly scheduled to be in Dallas for WWE’s WrestleMania 38 Weekend.

The Steiner Brothers, Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner, are rumored for the 2022 WWE Hall of Fame Class. It was reported earlier this week that if Scott isn’t interested in being inducted, as he’s indicated in the past, then WWE would just induct Rick, but they want the brothers to go in as a tag team.

In an update, PWInsider confirms that WWE officials are considering The Steiners for a Hall of Fame induction this year. There has been a lot of talk about the induction in the past week.

Furthermore, it was noted that a number of Steiner family members are scheduled to travel to Dallas for WrestleMania 38 Weekend. Bron Breakker, Rick’s son, will challenge new WWE NXT Champion Dolph Ziggler at NXT Stand & Deliver on WrestleMania Saturday.

There’s been some speculation on Batista’s WWE Hall of Fame induction, but that likely will not be happening this year. WWE originally had The Animal scheduled for the 2020 Class, but the ceremony was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was then announced that the 2020 Class would be inducted along with the 2021 Class last year, but Batista was removed from the list, and he later announced that he could not make the event due to previous obligations. He confirmed that WWE honored his request to induct him at a future ceremony.

Batista is expected to be in Dallas for The Undertaker’s WWE Hall of Fame induction next month, but word now is that he likely will not be inducted until WrestleMania 39 Weekend from Los Angeles.

WWE has announced The Undertaker, Vader and Queen Sharmell for the 2022 Class so far. WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon will induct Taker, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T will induct Sharmell, but there’s no confirmation on who will posthumously induct Vader. “Psycho” Sid Vicious is rumored for this year’s Class.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Cody Rhodes Hints During Seth Rollins Match On WWE RAW?

Soon after Seth Rollins lost to Kevin Owens in the main event of this week’s RAW, announcer Corey Graves would drop several Cody Rhodes hints.

Graves mentioned how Rollins’ WrestleMania hopes had been “dashed” and “his dream has become a nightmare.”

For those who missed RAW, Rollins set up a match with his friend Owens with the stipulation being that if he won, he’d get to replace Owens in the segment with WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin at WrestleMania 38. Since Owens prevailed with the win, his KO Show segment with Austin will go ahead as planned.

Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins is rumored to take place at WrestleMania 38. Earlier on Monday, Dave Meltzer reported that the match is still listed internally for next month’s event.

Meltzer’s latest update came a week after he reported that Rhodes’ WWE situation was “back up in the air,” with WWE creative being asked to hold off on plans until Rhodes signs a WWE contract.

Since Monday’s RAW was held in Jacksonville, the home of AEW, there had been a lot of speculation of Cody Rhodes returning to WWE TV this week. With WrestleMania 38 less than three weeks away, Seth Rollins is still without a match at the Showcase of Immortals.

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1503566745243684869
https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1503566816676921352

Source: Wrestling Inc.

WWE Hall Of Famer Scott Hall Passes Away, WWE Pays Tribute On RAW

WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall has tragically passed away at the age of 63.

News of Hall’s passing was confirmed by WWE on Monday, March 14. “WWE is saddened to learn that two-time WWE Hall of Famer Scott Hall has passed away,” the company said in a statement. “WWE extends its condolences to Hall’s family, friends and fans.”

https://twitter.com/WWE/status/1503521512455913478

Hall was hospitalized last week after falling and injuring his hip. The WWE Hall of Famer underwent surgery which caused a blood clot to be dislodged. Hall subsequently suffered three heart attacks and was on life support until Monday afternoon. On Sunday evening, Hall’s former nWo comrade Kevin Nash took to social media to reveal that Hall was due to be taken off of life support and would likely die as a result.

WWE paid tribute to the “Bad Guy” Scott Hall/Razor Ramon during last night’s RAW;

Scott Hall’s wrestling career began in 1994. He found megastardom during a four-year stint with WWE, where he performed under the name Razor Ramon from 1992 to 1996. Hall famously parted ways with WWE and jumped ship to WCW, giving Ted Turner’s promotion a major boost in its efforts to win the Monday Night Wars.

Hall struggled with addiction issues for much of his career but got sober with the help of Diamond Dallas Page back in 2013.

WWE RAW Preview 3/14/22

Tonight’s WWE RAW will air live from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida.

WWE has announced the following segments for tonight’s show:

* Kevin Owens will respond to the WrestleMania 38 promo from WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin

* New RAW Tag Team Champions Randy Orton and Riddle will host a RK-Bro Championship Celebration after last week’s title win

WWE is also teasing that we will find out the WrestleMania 38 opponents for RK-Bro on tonight’s show.

For what it’s worth, WWE Champion Brock Lesnar is not advertised for tonight’s RAW but WWE Hall of Famer Edge and AJ Styles are. Lesnar is scheduled to be on Friday’s SmackDown with WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.

Former ROH Women’s Champion Rok-C Reportedly Signs With WWE

After several months of rumors and speculation, it appears that former Ring of Honor Women’s Champion Rok-C is finally on her way to WWE.

According to PWInsider, the 20-year-old wrestler has indeed signed with WWE for the promotion’s NXT brand. No date was given for her potential start date.

PWInsider’s report confirms what many saw as the inevitable since Rok-C was released from her Ring of Honor contract, along with everyone else in ROH, late in 2021.

It was reported by F4WOnline in February that she had been offered a contract by WWE following her second tryout with the company. That same month, WWE Hall of Famer Booker T, who helped train Rok-C at his Reality of Wrestling promotion, seemingly confirmed that Rok-C had signed with WWE. He later stated he had misspoke on the matter but was still hopeful the promotion and her would come to an agreement.

Beginning her wrestling training at 13 years old, Rok-C began training under Booker T at 16 and eventually received training from former AAA luchador Daga and MLW luchador Gino Medina. She would work in Reality of Wrestling from 2018 to 2021, the same year she began appearing for Ring of Honor in their revamped Women’s Division.

Rok-C would defeat Miranda Alize at ROH Death Before Dishonor XVIII to win a tournament to become the inaugural ROH Women’s World Champion; she had previously defeated Angelina Love, Sumie Sakai, and Quinn McKay (WWE’s Kelly Kincaid) in the tournament.

At 19 years old, Rok-C became the youngest talent in Ring of Honor history to hold a championship. She defended the title 9 times, notably against Willow Nightingale at ROH Final Battle and against Holidead on the last episode of ROH Wrestling under the Sinclair regime. She would drop the title to Deonna Purrazzo in a Winner Takes All match on the January 13 episode of Impact Wrestling.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Report: AEW EVP Believes Cody Rhodes Has Signed With WWE

At least one AEW EVP believes free agent wrestler Cody Rhodes is bound for WWE, according to Fightful Select.

The report noted that as of last weekend, at least one AEW EVP “fully believed that Cody Rhodes was signed or was signing with WWE and would face Seth Rollins at WrestleMania.”

The news outlet added they haven’t been able to confirm Rhodes’ WWE status or potential debut date.

Last week, Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that Rhodes’ WWE situation was “back up in the air,” with WWE creative being asked to hold off on plans until Rhodes signs a WWE contract. The report also noted that Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins was previously penciled in for WrestleMania 38, but that was when Rhodes was expected to sign with WWE.

According to Dave Meltzer, upper-level WWE sources “don’t know what happened with the Rhodes talks” and have halted all Rhodes-related plans. With Monday’s RAW being held in Jacksonville, there has been a lot of chatter on social media of Rhodes returning to WWE TV this week.

Source: Wrestling Inc.