Category: WWE

Triple H Provides Medical Update On AJ Styles, “We’re Hoping For The Best”

aj styles medical update wrestlemania 34 triple h interview

AJ Styles is still waiting to be cleared by doctors before his anticipated WrestleMania 34 match against Shinsuke Nakamura … this according to Triple H.

While speaking with a french publication called Catch Newz, Triple H was asked about WWE Champion AJ Styles’ recent undisclosed injury and if the company had a Plan B in case he can’t defend his title against Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania. Triple H said:

“You always have to have a Plan B, [and] just in case you have a Plan C,” Triple H said. “AJ is an incredible performer. Replacing AJ Styles would be very difficult. [He’s] not necessarily a replaceable talent, but we would do our best.”

Triple H noted that they are working with AJ to get him medically cleared for WrestleMania “if that’s possible.”

“AJ is working diligently on rehabbing his injuries and getting himself in tip-top shape for WrestleMania. We are trying to help him with that process of getting the best care and the best rehab and everything else possible. And, you know, we’re hoping for the best.”

Triple H added, “Right now he says he’s feeling a lot better and that we’ll be ready to go, and obviously we’ll get him doctors to make sure that he is ready to go and get him medical clearance if that’s possible. But he’s working very hard at it, so we’re hoping for the best.”

For those who missed it, AJ is apparently suffering from a leg injury and only made one house show appearance over the weekend.

Styles hasn’t wrestled since working a match against Rusev on last week’s episode of SmackDown Live. He appeared at last Friday’s live event at Madison Square Garden where he was scheduled to team with Nakamura, but an injury angle was done at the beginning of the show to take him out of the match. He missed the remaining SmackDown live events over the weekend, where he was announced as injured. Styles told Catch-Newz earlier this week during a media call that he still planned on defending his title against Nakamura at WrestleMania.

“If my leg got cut off I’d find a way to make it to Wrestlemania,” Styles said. “I will be wrestling Shinsuke Nakamura at Wrestlemania, don’t worry about it, it’ll be fine.”

Sources: Catch-Newz, WrestlingINC and Pro Wrestling Sheet

Listen to the quick interview clip with Triple H below:

Former NFL Player Pat McAfee Joining The NXT Takeover: New Orleans Pre-Show Panel

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WWE sent out the following, confirming that former NFL Player Pat McAfee will be part of the NXT Takeover: New Orleans Kickoff show.

Indianapolis Colt-turned-comedian, radio host and podcaster extraordinaire Pat McAfee will join Charly Caruso and Sam Roberts on the NXT TakeOver: New Orleans Pre-Show panel Saturday, April 7, streaming live on WWE Network, on the eve of WrestleMania.

A former All-Pro punter who spent eight years in the NFL, McAfee is no stranger to the black-and-yellow brand. He served as a special guest ring announcer at an NXT Live Event in Indianapolis last month and even made his presence felt, helping Aleister Black defeat Adam Cole, with whom McAfee had traded barbs on social media.

The outspoken McAfee, a former recipient of the NFL’s “Walter Payton Man of the Year” award, currently hosts a Sirius XM radio show and “The Pat McAfee Show” podcast, as well as heads up Barstool Heartland, a branch of Barstool Sports. Known for his infectious energy and “Let’s go!” mantra, McAfee can be counted on to add unique insights to the Pre-Show panel.

Don’t miss the NXT TakeOver: New Orleans Pre-Show when it streams live Saturday, April 7, at 7 ET/4 PT, immediately before TakeOver: New Orleans. In addition to the award-winning WWE Network, you can catch the TakeOver: New Orleans Pre-Show on WWE.com, the WWE App, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.

Backstage News On Bray Wyatt’s WWE Future Following The Great War

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There has been talk about making some sort of change to Bray Wyatt’s character, according to The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. No word yet on what the change might be but some feel it’s overdue.

It’s possible that Wyatt keeps some affiliation with Matt Hardy after losing The Ultimate Deletion match and The Great War feud this week. As noted, Matt made the following cryptic comments on Wyatt after the match:

Source: WrestlingINC

Backstage News On What Daniel Bryan Agreed To In Order To Get Cleared By WWE – WrestleMania Match Speculation

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Daniel Bryan revealed in an interview with WWE this week that he was cleared to return to in-ring competition by WWE on Monday. While he was cleared on Monday, the decision wasn’t finalized until very shortly before WWE made the public announcement of his return on Tuesday, according to Dave Meltzer in the latest edition of The Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Bryan hasn’t wrestled since April of 2015, shortly after he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 31. He retired the following February after an EEG test revealed slowing of brain activity and a small lesion in an area of his brain that causes seizures. Bryan had reportedly suffered two seizures and over 20 concussions in his career. Bryan was later told by his doctors that retiring was premature, and that the lesion is a vague thing. He had gotten cleared by several doctors since then, and has said that he would wrestle elsewhere when his WWE contract expires in September if he were healthy and WWE would not clear him.

WWE sent Bryan to get tested by several neurologists chosen by WWE Medical Director Dr. Joseph Maroon over the past two months. After they cleared him, Meltzer noted that Maroon was scheduled to test Bryan next week to clear him, however it was changed to this past Monday so that WWE could start building the WrestleMania angle this week. The script for SmackDown this past Tuesday was re-written after he was cleared. Bryan is expected to team with Shane McMahon to face Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn at WrestleMania. There were backup plans of having McMahon get a different partner if Bryan wasn’t cleared, or to have the WrestleManiamatch be a three-way with McMahon, Owens and Zayn with Bryan as special referee.

Bryan got physical for the first time since 2015 on SmackDown this past Tuesday. Bryan fired Zayn and Owens for attacking Shane McMahon last week, which caused Zayn and Owens to attack him. Bryan fought back and looked like he hadn’t lost a step, hitting both men with Yes Kicks and running dropkicks into the corner, while also hitting a German suplex on Zayn. Eventually Owens and Zayn were able to take control, which ended with Zayn hitting Bryan with a Helluva Kick, followed by Owens hitting him with a powerbomb onto the apron on the outside of the ring. The show ended with Bryan being stretchered to the back by paramedics.

It was noted in the Observer that as part of his agreement with WWE to get cleared, he will go to WWE doctors backstage after every match and get Impact testing and a neuropsychological evaluation done until WWE is comfortable that he’s okay.

Not much else has been decided upon other than his WrestleMania match. His schedule will be determined, although Bryan indicated during an appearance on the Edge & Christian podcast last August that he might not be interested in wrestling full-time.

“There’s no reason why I can’t return to doing what I love [wrestling],” Bryan said. “It may never be full-time and it may never be this idea of ‘I’m going to go in and be the guy who main events every live event and stuff. I’m not even sure I want that. Now that I have a child, I don’t want to be away from her that much. But to say that I can’t wrestle say 50 to 100 matches a year or to say that I can’t do Jerry Lawler and Terry Funk are still doing in their 60s. I also want to give the caveat of this: if at any point along with all of this if somebody said there’s a real indication that I should not be wrestling, I don’t want to wrestle. My health is 100% more important than coming back to wrestling. Being a good father is more important than going out there and expounding on my belief that doing more hammerlocks in wrestling is good for the business!”

Source: WrestlingINC

Jerry “The King” Lawler Heading To Saudi Arabia For WWE’s ‘Greatest Royal Rumble’ Event, Teases Wrestling On It

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WWE Hall of Famer Jerry Lawler revealed on his “Dinner With The King” podcast that he and fellow Hall of Famer Jim Ross will likely be reuniting to call some of the action at WWE’s Greatest Royal Rumble event on Friday, April 27th from King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

As noted, this event will air on the WWE Network. Lawler revealed that it will also air live on TV in Saudi Arabia. Tickets will go on sale for the event on Saturday, March 31st and WWE is set to confirm full broadcast details soon.

“I’m going over there [to Saudi Arabia],” Lawler said. “There’s a good possibility me and JR will be doing some commentary on it.”

We’ve noted how the event in Saudi Arabia will feature a 50-Superstar Royal Rumble match. Superstars announced for the event include Triple H, Roman Reigns, John Cena, WWE Champion AJ Styles, WWE United States Champion Randy Orton, Braun Strowman, The New Day, Shinsuke Nakamura and Bray Wyatt. WWE noted to us that Superstars advertised are not necessarily confirmed to participate in the 50-man Rumble.

WWE announced this week that there will be 7 title matches on the show with the following titles up for grabs – the WWE Title, the WWE Universal Title, the WWE Intercontinental Title, the WWE United States Title, the WWE Cruiserweight Title, the RAW Tag Team Titles and the SmackDown Tag Team Titles. It looks like there will be no female Superstars on the card as WWE did not list the RAW Women’s Title or the SmackDown Women’s Title as being on the line.

Lawler also teased that he will be a participant in the Rumble match that takes place that night. It will be interesting to see if any other Legends are used in the match as WWE is looking to make the event a huge success.

“There’s a good possibility that my music will be playing,” Lawler said.

When it was noted that he was on WWE’s “no-touch list,” Lawler replied, “Well, maybe we can get me off that no-touch list for the world’s biggest Royal Rumble, that would be great. Then I’ll know I’ve made it in wrestling (laughs).”

Source: WrestlingINC

Mark Henry Says He Was A Friend Of 17 Year-Old Austin Bomb Victim

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Mark Henry spoke with TMZ Sports about being a personal friend of 17-year old Draylen Mason, a victim of the recent bombings in Austin, Texas. Henry was asked about how the city was doing and called the young man a talent and that it was a hard loss.

“People were on edge, it’s very unfortunate that [Draylen Mason] died, he was a friend of the family,” Henry said. “I knew the kid pretty well, I know the Grandfather, really well, Dr. Mason. It was his Grandson, we spent a lot of time together. We’re in a couple different civic organizations together, try to help people out, it was just tragic to lose a kid like that so young. He was so full of life, so talented, a talented bassist. He traveled, competed, it was a hard loss.”

Mason was described as a talented student and bass player accepted into the selective Butler School of Music at the University of Texas at Austin.

Henry was then asked about the city of Austin recovering from the tragedy.

“Austin is a very resilient place, you have people from all over the country that live here, all of the world,” Henry responded. “We’re all about music, Austin needs to get more diverse, we’re not perfect, but we definitely need to get together and get everybody back on the same page. So we’re not walking around so much on eggshells.”

Mark Henry will be included in the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame class. The veteran Superstar will join Bill Goldberg, The Dudley Boyz, Ivory, Jeff Jarrett, Hillbilly Jim, Kid Rock and Jarrius “JJ” Robertson during the induction ceremony from the Smoothie King Center during WrestleMania 34 Weekend in New Orleans.

Source: TMZ Sports via WrestlingINC

You can see Henry’s full comments in the video:

Edge & Christian To Induct The Dudley Boyz Into The WWE Hall of Fame

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WWE issued the following:

 

The Dudley Boyz and Edge & Christian took part in some of the most extreme battles in WrestleMania history, pushing each other to the absolute limits of what they could do with tables, ladders and chairs. This WrestleMania, the mood when the two pairs are in the same building will be a little less intense.

The duo that reeks of awesomeness will have the honor of inducting Bubba Ray & D-Von Dudley into the WWE Hall of Fame during the 2018 Induction Ceremony on Friday, April 6, from New Orleans, streaming live on the award-winning WWE Network.

Edge & Christian and The Dudleys, along with The Hardy Boyz, were inextricably linked with each other during WWE’s Attitude Era, as they set new bars for what Superstars were willing to do in the chase for glory. Their Ladder Match at WrestleMania 2000 left the WWE Universe in awe, as the competitors risked their bodies in pursuit of the World Tag Team Championship. The teams topped themselves one year later at WrestleMania X-Seven in the bout they became known for: Tables, Ladders and Chairs. After the demolition derby of a match, they somehow survived, emerging from underneath mangled steel and splintered tables, having created a legacy that Superstars are still trying to top today.

In New Orleans, though, Edge & Christian will get to share stories about their rivals from inside the ring and out in their inimitable fashion when The Dudley Boyz take their place in sports-entertainment history.

What will Edge & Christian have to say about The Dudley Boyz? Find out during the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, streaming live on WWE Network Friday, April 6, at 8 ET/5 PT.

Tickets for the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans are available now.

Click here for WWE Hall of Fame ticket information

Rey Mysterio No Longer Wrestling At NJPW Strong Style Evolved

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Rey Mysterio who was originally scheduled to compete at this Sunday’s NJPW Strong Style Evolved in Long Beach, California is no longer wrestling at the event.

Mysterio had previously been scheduled to face-off against Jushin Liger, but it was announced at a press conference today that Will Ospreay will be taking the injured wrestler’s place.

Mysterio injured his bicep earlier this month, which was the reason given by NJPW for his absence. Mysterio has been in talks with WWE about a new contract. According to PWInsider, the wrestler will be traveling this week to Birmingham, Alabama to get checked out by WWE doctors in advance of possibly signing.

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

WWE To Air The Greatest Royal Rumble On The WWE Network

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According to Pwinsider, it appears that WWE will air the Greatest Royal Rumble on the WWE Network. The site notes that a reader sent word overnight that he went to cancel his WWE Network subscription and when he did, a screen pointing out all of the future live programming that would be on the Network came up, including a listing for the Greatest Royal Rumble. The site also says they replicated the cancellation experiment and got the same. The event, which takes place April 27th, is slated to feature the first 50-competitor Royal Rumble match, as well as seven title matches.

Source: 411Mania

NXT Preview 3/21/18

* Will Roderick Strong and his mystery partner prevail in their Dusty Classic showdown?

* Can Kassius Ohno provide Adam Cole with his crowning NXT achievement?

* Will Tommaso Ciampa dare show up again?

* Ember Moon looks to continue her momentum en route to TakeOver