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.
Watch Major League Wrestling FUSION tonight at 8pm ET featuring a World Tag Team Championship match and streaming worldwide for free on MLW’s YouTube channel and Saturday nationwide on cable and dish on beIN SPORTS.
World Tag Team Championship: 5150 (champions) vs. EJ Nduka and ???
Microman, Octagon Jr, and Puma King vs. Arez, Gino Medina and Mini Abismo Negro
Ikuro Kwon vs. “Cash Flow” Ken Broadway
“The Judge” hunts for his first championship and retribution as EJ Nduka teams with a mystery partner to take on 5150 for the World Tag Team Championship on Fusion!
Weeks after being jumped and tagged by 5150, EJ looks to settle the score and deliver the verdict: dethroning the loud and rowdy street crew from NYC.
But the question remains: who will walk the aisle with “The Judge” in his quest for gold? Tune in and find out!
Go behind the scenes with the World Heavyweight Champion as MLW presents the next chapter of Hammerstone: All Access.
In mixed-sized tag competition, “The World’s Greatest Wonder” Microman takes to the skies with Octagon Jr. and Puma King as they face the trio of Arez, Gino Medina and Mini Abismo Negro!
Ken Broadway brings flash and cash to the league as he debuts against Ikuro Kwon.
The league’s investigation into Cesar Duran continues. Is the heat getting to El Jefe?
Join Rich Bocchini and Joe Dombrowski as MLW presents Fusion!
* ROH World Champion Jonathan Gresham vs. Kenny King
* Battle Royal #1 Contender for the Knockouts World Title: Jordynne Grace, Jessie McKay, Havok, Alisha, Gisele Shaw, Savannah Evans, Rosemary, Lady Frost and Knockouts World Tag Team Champions The Influence all vie for the coveted title opportunity but only one can leave the 2300 Arena as the #1 Contender!
* Chump Chump Challenge: Johnny Swinger vs. Zicky Dice
* The action begins Before the IMPACT, streaming this Thursday at 7:30pm ET exclusively on IMPACT Plus, YouTube and Facebook. IMPACT World Tag Team Champion Deaner locks horns with Black Taurus in a high-stakes battle of Violent By Design vs Decay! Plus, Gia Miller, Josh Mathews and George Iceman get you ready for all things IMPACT on the road to Rebellion.
Toni Storm is officially ALL ELITE! The 26-year-old Australian made her AEW debut on this week’s edition of Dynamite when she was revealed as The Bunny’s mystery opponent in an Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament Qualifier Match. Storm advanced to the first round of the tournament when she pinned The Bunny after hitting her with a Storm Zero.
Ahead of Dynamite, Fightful Select reported that Storm had been in talks with AEW and is very close to signing a deal. Apparently, multiple AEW stars have been pushing for AEW boss Tony Khan to sign the former WWE Superstar.
Storm parted ways with WWE via mutual consent in December 2021. According to Bodyslam.net, a source close to the situation revealed Storm just “up and quit”. In fact, she boarded a plane home, which she paid for herself, right after competing in a triple threat match at a live event. “Worked a triple threat at a house show last night and then paid out of her own pocket to fly herself home.”
Storm is engaged to New Japan Pro Wrestling star Juice Robinson. The couple announced their engagement back in October. Robinson and Storm’s relationship status was confirmed in the summer of 2020. The Mae Young Classic winner revealed that the two of them had been seeing each other for a while after Bea Priestley, who is now NXT UK’s Blair Davenport, posted photos of the two of them together on social media. Storm and Davenport are close friends.
Tonight’s AEW Dynamite on TBS will air live from the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.
Tonight’s show will feature the first qualifying match for The Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament with The Bunny taking on a mystery wrestler to be revealed on the show. That same mystery wrestler will be signed by the company tonight.
AEW President, CEO, General Manager & Head Of Creative Tony Khan noted on Twitter that he will be announcing matches for Dynamite throughout the day.
AEW has announced the following line-up for tonight as of this posting:
* Darby Allin vs. Andrade El Idolo
* FTR vs. The Gunn Club
* Owen Hart Foundation Women’s Tournament Qualifier: The Bunny vs. mystery wrestler who will be signed by AEW on tonight’s show
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.
AEW star Miro is currently working on a new TV series in New York City.
Miro revealed on Twitter and Instagram this week that he has been living in Brooklyn, and working on a pilot for a new project. His IMDB page shows that he is filming for a TV series called “East New York,” which is currently in pre-production.
The IMDB page also says Miro plays a character called Nikolai Dushkin, which Miro confirmed on Instagram.
“Super excited about this upcoming pilot. Living in Brooklyn has definitely opened my eyes about living in a city, walking to a gym and groceries. #Dushkin,” he wrote on Twitter.
Miro then added in a follow-up on Instagram with the same photo, “Living in Brooklyn for couple of weeks. Very excited about shooting this great pilot!!! Meet Nikolai Dushkin….. and pickles, of course”
The “East New York” cop series also features Richard Kind, Jimmy Smits, Olivia Luccardi, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Kevin Rankin, Amanda Warren, C.S. Lee, Lavel Schley, Edmond Laryea, Oryan Landa, Fred Tolliver Jr., and Ruben Santiago-Hudson.
IMDB notes that the series is being filmed for CBS. Below is the synopsis:
“Follows the recently promoted police captain of East New York, Regina Haywood, who leads a diverse group of officers and detectives, some of whom are hesitant to deploy her creative methods of serving and protecting.”
It was revealed earlier this month that Miro signed a new four-year contract extension, which will keep him with AEW until at least early 2026. He has not wrestled since losing to Bryan Danielson at AEW Full Gear on November 13. Miro had been dealing with a hamstring injury for a while, but word is that he’s been cleared to return for quite a while.
AEW’s women’s division is about to get a serious injection of talent.
WWE went hard when it came to releasing wrestlers last year. More than 80 people were wished well in their future endeavors by the time 2021 was all said and done. Some of those wrestlers have since found work elsewhere, whether that be in AEW, Impact Wrestling, or by booking dates on the independent circuit. However, there are still a number of released stars who remain unattached.
One of those unattached stars will presumably find a home in AEW before the end of today. It was revealed on Rampage last week that The Bunny will face off against a mystery opponent tonight on Dynamite. The Bunny and the new signing will do battle in the first qualifier for AEW’s upcoming Owen Hart tournaments.
Speculation on who exactly tonight’s new signing will be has been rife, and a frontrunner has emerged with less than 24 hours to go. According to Fightful Select, Toni Storm has been in talks with AEW and is very close to signing a deal. Apparently multiple AEW stars have been pushing for Khan to make Storm All Elite, and even if she isn’t the wrestler making her debut tonight, she will likely be a part of AEW very soon.
Right behind Storm is Ember Moon who is also reported to have been speaking extensively with AEW. Moon, who now goes by Athena, doesn’t appear to be as close to signing a deal as Storm, but there is a chance she’s the one who debuts tonight. Athena has been picking up a number of indie bookings in the meantime, marking her return to the ring for the first time since leaving WWE by losing to AEW’s Thunder Rosa.
Even though some fans are calling for AEW to slow down when it comes to new signings, the promotion definitely needs to continue bolstering its women’s division. The addition of Moon and Storm would add a lot of experience and depth to the division if Khan can get those signings over the line. Other free agents we could see debut on Dynamite a few hours from now include Tegan Nox and Mia Yim.
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.
We are very sad to learn that Logan Roettger, a pro wrestler who also styled many WWE performers at his salon in Tampa, Florida, passed away due to a car accident on March 23. He was only 28 at the time of his death.
Roettger known as Logan Legit performed for World Wrestling Alliance (a indie promotion in Indiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee).
Wrestling promoter Chris Waddell said Roettger left his home Wednesday, March 23, 2022. Unfortunately, he was in an accident en route and was taken to a hospital in Nashville, Roettger, where he passed away.
“We spent all day with him yesterday [Thursday], and his parents flew in from Florida,” said Waddell in a video shared to Facebook. “Logan was full of life and every time he stepped in the locker room — every time — he made it a better place, a more enjoyable place,” said Waddell.
“He became the best of us, he really was Logan to me was not only my partner, but he was my best friend. He gave me tools inside to let people know who I was, who I am, and just to be a better person overall, we are broken, we are sad, I feel so, so much pain for his mom and dad.”
In addition to working as an independent talent, Roettger occasionally styled many WWE and NXT superstars at his salon in Tampa, Florida. He was also the WWA National Champion.
Waddell spoke to the WWA fans, noting that as Legit, Roettger “understood how to connect” with the audience, and drew fans and fan loyalty, and was the most popular wrestler in the company. “He lived for performing for you.”
Roettger was born October 14, 1993, and was from Posey County, Indiana, and resided in and around Evansville for most of his life.
In 2019, he started wrestling, and worked as a manager, and rose to become WWA National champion, despite his smaller size.
“Logan was full of life and every time he stepped in the locker room — every time — he made it a better place, a more enjoyable place,” said Waddell. “He became the best of us, he really was.”
“Logan to me was not only my partner, but he was my best friend. He gave me tools inside to let people know who I was, who I am, and just to be a better person overall,” said Waddell. “We are broken, we are sad, I feel so, so much pain for his mom and dad.”
Late on Friday, Waddell shared more memories of Roettger with SlamWrestling.
“We met through online dating and had our first date at a WWE house show at the Ford Center [in Evansville] in May 2019,” said Waddell. “Logan helped me build up the courage to come out as bisexual.”
“Logan and I started dating and he quickly told me about his passion for wrestling. He immediately wanted to manage, thinking he was too small to compete, but fell in love with the performance as soon as he stepped in front of our crowd,” said Waddell, who has been a wrestler and promoter for 15 years. “He started wrestling and was amazingly talented. He won our 2021 Most Loved year-end award in December and loved his fans and the industry so much.”
According to Waddell, the WWA promotion became much more “progressive and inclusive” thanks to Roettger.
By trade, Roettger was a hairdresser, after studying at TSPA Evansville Beauty School, in Indiana.
Kelsey Boles was a classmate, and they graduated at the same time. They have remained friends. She recalled Roettger excitedly letting her know when WWE wrestlers came in to get their hair done, when he worked at Monaco Salon in Tampa, Florida. “Pro women wrestlers (WWE I’m pretty sure) would come get their hair done and he was shocked and so excited that he was in a salon where they get their hair done at,” she recalled via text. “He got to do a few of the girls’ hair before. His favorite women’s wrestler at the time was Carmella.”
“He always loved wrestling,” added Boles. “He would tell me he would watch wrestling all the time growing up and still to this day did. Him and I went to a couple WWE shows together as well.”
At the time of his death, Roettger was associated with the JuniperJade Salon in Evansville.
There were many who shared their memories of wrestling Logan Legit online.
“Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to work with him. Probably the easiest match I ever had. He was my first opponent in my return to the WWA,” posted Paul Rickard.
Ian Matthew Harper had a longer post:
I always loved goofing around with Logan at shows while we were waiting on matches or segments. I’m still processing that when I go to the building, Logan isn’t going to be there to give me a hug and say something catty about the sweatpants and flip flops combo I’m usually wearing. I only got the pleasure of being involved in a handful of segments or matches with Logan including being slapped, stomping on him for real in my first battle royal on accident (that he regularly reminded me of), and finding any excuse to diss each other in front of the fans. My favorite was the last tag match I wrestled. I had a ruptured disc in my back and took a week off, but before then was my most recent WWA show and it included me managing Bo Brady and Alex Beretta against Logan Legit and CCW (Chris). We acted like buffoons that entire match and made it feel like the old Saturday morning wrestling you’d watch where the bad guys always got their comeuppance and tan away like scolded dogs. I’m blessed to have had my last memory with Logan being an entertaining one with him standing tall.
Jones Nation was one of Roettger’s wrestling trainers, and later an opponent. “When I first saw Logan he showed up before an Evansville show. I went over and introduced myself and had small talk. He was very nervous but excited to start his journey into professional wrestling. Thus the heel manager Logan Legit was born. He instantly had a knack for working the crowd,” wrote Nation. “Logan had a interest in starting to train to be a wrestler. Myself and others would teach him the ways of the business.”
Munchie Gonzalez also shared his memories: “I can’t really put much words into how appreciative I was to have you in my life. We trained together. You were involved in my first match and helped me gain confidence when I had none in myself to perform. You were one of the first to welcome me back with open arms when I came back. You were always available at 2 am in the morning to talk to when I needed someone. You were the best of us and I will miss you everyday.”
WWA presented: WWAisLEGIT (Fandemonium 2022) on Saturday, March, 26, 2022, at Veterans Memorial Coliseum (Evansville, IN).
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