Tonight’s episode of WWE NXT in Orlando, Florida at the Performance Center Live on the USA Network:
CM Punk recently underwent successful surgery for a torn triceps.
On Monday’s episode of WWE RAW, a video package aired confirming that Punk underwent surgery on his triceps.
You can check out the video package below:
Here is the very latest on the plans involving The Rock and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40. Please just keep in mind while reading this that the situation is fluid at this point and more will be known on Thursday at the press conference in Las Vegas, NV.
According to a report from Pwinsider, multiple sources claim that The Rock vs. Roman Reigns is still “100% the plan” for WrestleMania 40 despite the strong negative reaction from fans online.
The report states that the match is a “done deal” and is likely “contractually locked in” due to the fact that this is one of the things that was agreed upon with The Rock being appointed to the TKO Board of Directors.
One source went as far as to say there is “no scenario” where The Rock is not facing Roman Reigns short of something like an injury happening. Could they do The Rock vs. Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 (Night One) and Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns (Night Two)? Of course – but that wasn’t the plan as of Monday afternoon.
It is said that Brian Gewirtz, who works closely with The Rock, is expected to be at all major WWE events going forward. This includes the Elimination Chamber 2024 pay-per-view event. He’s also expected to be part of the creative process heading into WrestleMania 40.
While it is said that WWE “definitely took notice” of the reaction Cody Rhodes received, there are several in the company who have pushed for WWE to lean into the situation. The belief internally is that this will all make Rhodes a stronger babyface by playing up the fan support for him. With that being said, there were never any plans to turn The Rock heel or have it come off as if he was taking Rhodes’ spot in a malicious way.
The company can obviously adjust things week-by-week in order to “make it make sense,” as we’re still 61 days away from WrestleMania 40 so there’s plenty of time to change the fan perception.
There are some who believe that with the initial shock of The Rock’s appearance wearing off, the creative team can now work on building everyone as strongly as possible going into the “Showcase of the Immortals.”
It is said that there isn’t a single person in WWE who wants this to hurt Rhodes, as they know how important he is to the company. This includes live events and merchandise sales.
While there were some reports of Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns in a World Heavyweight Title vs. Undisputed WWE Universal Title match taking place at SummerSlam 2024, that is all speculation at this point. That would be six months out and creative is not even being discussed for that show at this point.
Finally, Triple H retweeted the following video of NFL star George Kittle after RAW, seemingly indicating that The Rock could be the special guest referee for a match between Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns at WrestleMamia 40. They’re certainty keeping the fans guessing these days as they attempt to pivot away from the negative press involving Vince McMahon.
Source: eWn
It’s only been a few days since Cody Rhodes indicated he’d be passing up a WrestleMania rematch against WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns, seemingly ceding his spot to The Rock, but the wrestling world has been absolutely on fire over the notion since and Rhodes hasn’t said much in the interim. Tonight, following chants of “Rocky sucks” and “We want Cody” as he interacted with WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre on “WWE Raw,” Rhodes took to X to offer fans a bit of comfort.
Friday on “SmackDown,” Rhodes confronted Reigns for the first time since WrestleMania 39 (excusing a brief fly-by on the ramp last year), with fans hoping for “The American Nightmare” to confirm that he and “The Tribal Chief” would indeed be running things back as he attempted once more to “finish the story.” Instead, while he said he was still coming for Reigns and that he wanted to take everything from him, it wasn’t going to be at WrestleMania. Rhodes explained that he’d sought counsel from legends and one in particular who knows Reigns very well, which prompted The Rock’s iconic entrance music.
While the live crowd in Birmingham, Alabama seemed to initially respond positively as that show ended in a staredown between Rock and Reigns, fans took to the internet to voice their displeasure, creating the #WeWantCody hashtag and otherwise voicing their displeasure far and wide, along with many wrestling pundits echoing their sentiments. Still, with a shade over two months left until WrestleMania 40 — and WWE possibly testing fan reactions even still — perhaps trusting Rhodes is indeed the smart move for now.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
I believe we will have definite answers on Cody Rhodes’ WrestleMania opponent and more on The Rock vs. Roman Reigns at the WrestleMania 40 Press event this Thursday night in Las Vegas.
WWE Raw will air live tonight on the USA Network from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM CLASSIC TOURNAMENT FINALS:
The Wolf Dogs (Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker) def. Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams
NO DQ MATCH:
Dijak def. Joe Gacy
MIXED TAG TEAM MATCH:
The D’Angelo Family (Tony D’Angelo, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo and Adriana Rizzo) def. OTM (Bronco Nima, Lucien Price and Jaida Parker, with SCRYPTS)
NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP:
Lyra Valkyria (c) def. Roxanne Perez and Lola Vice
After a Pop Rox from Perez, Vice shocked the NXT Universe by cashing in her Breakout Tournament Contract to make it a Triple Threat Match.
Despite the added threat, Valkyria found aid in the form of Tatum Paxley who neutralized Perez, allowing her to hit Nightwish on Vice to retain her title.
NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP:
Oba Femi (c) def. Dragon Lee
NXT CHAMPIONSHIP:
Ilja Dragunov (c) def. Trick Williams
After the match, Carmelo Hayes snapped on his partner (Trick) and pummeled his leg with a steel chair, ending the friendship of Trick Melo Gang.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson appears to have replaced Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes as Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns’ opponent at WrestleMania 40. Despite being a much-discussed dream match, the timing of the announcement and shunting of Rhodes out of the picture has led to huge backlash from fans, and there’s been some updates on the matter since.
Dave Meltzer wrote on the F4W Forum that it was Rock who pushed super hard to make his match with Reigns happen, and the change came to be when it was clear CM Punk and Brock Lesnar were both off the WrestleMania card. Rhodes was previously planned to challenge Reigns in a rematch of their WrestleMania 39 bout, while Punk was penciled in to face WWE World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, and a Rock-Reigns bout was due to be made further down the line with either next year’s WrestleMania or a potential Saudi Arabia show in mind. Meltzer floated the idea that the change could have been made to divert attention from Vince McMahon’s sex trafficking scandal.
PWInsider later indicated that, per some of their WWE sources, Johnson put himself forward to “save WrestleMania” in the absence of Lesnar and Punk. Yet, still other sources reportedly believe he was going to push for this regardless, given his conditional $30 million stock deal with TKO is contingent on hitting milestones. Such milestones are speculated to have included a return to the ring, and Johnson felt the time was right to do so with the idea that Rock vs. Reigns will be the larger attraction. Therefore, it’s possible that regardless of who won the Royal Rumble it was going to be Rock challenging “The Tribal Chief” in Philadelphia.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
Cody Rhodes will not be facing Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 after all. Instead, it appears Reigns will be facing his cousin, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, following the events of “WWE SmackDown.”
“The Tribal Chief” took to the microphone Friday night in anticipation for Rhodes’ WrestleMania opponent announcement. Reigns responded to World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins’ recent plea to Rhodes, and dismissed Rollins’ self-appointed title of “the guy” and Rollin’s complaints regarding Reigns’ schedule, among other things. Reigns finished his rebuttal by claiming that he wasn’t “going to beg” Rhodes for his attention like Rollins did.
Reigns ultimately did not need to beg, as Rhodes made his entrance shortly thereafter. Tensions were high between the two, to the point that Rhodes dismissed Jimmy and Solo. Initially, Rhodes spoke with the implication that Reigns was his WrestleMania choice, and that the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship was not a Hollywood title, as Rollins claimed, but was “the title that was put into [his] father’s hands at Madison Square Garden, and then swiftly taken away”. Rhodes openly pondered if his story would be finished when he dethroned “The Tribal Chief”, or if his story would be finished when he took “everything” from Reigns. All the pieces were nearly aligned for a Rhodes and Reigns WrestleMania rematch.
Then, Rhodes said that he would not dethrone Reigns at WrestleMania. Instead, Rhodes claimed he spoke to a person Reigns knew intimately.
Like clockwork, all of Birmingham was prompted to smell what “The Rock” was cooking, and the recently-appointed TKO executive came strutting down the ramp. Rhodes shared a brief moment with “The Rock” as Johnson pulled him in to whisper something in his ear. Rhodes then took his leave. “The Rock” stared down “The Tribal Chief”, who was holding onto his title just a bit more tightly. “WWE SmackDown” then went off the air, with neither men having said a single word to each other.
While there was no confirmation regarding Reigns’ plans for WrestleMania 40, the general consensus is that he will be facing “The Rock” instead of “The American Nightmare.” Johnson has previously expressed desire to face his cousin at some point, and the idea of a family feud headlining WrestleMania 40 has been lurking in the background of Reigns’ entire Undisputed WWE Universal Championship run. It is to be noted that Johnson never specifically expressed desire for a title opportunity. Rhodes’ cryptic claim that he could dethrone Reigns at a time other than WrestleMania adds into the complexity of the situation.
In the last moments of the show, WWE promoted a WrestleMania 40 press conference for Thursday evening, February 8.
Source: Wrestling Inc.
NXT Vengeance Day – PLE – Sunday, February 4 2024 – on Peacock – from the F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville, Tennessee.
CARD
NXT CHAMPIONSHIP:
Ilja Dragunov (c) vs. Trick Williams
NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP:
Lyra Valkyria (c) vs. Roxanne Perez
NXT NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP:
Oba Femi (c) vs. Dragon Lee
NO DQ MATCH:
Dijak vs. Joe Gacy
MIXED TAG TEAM MATCH:
The D’Angelo Family (Tony D’Angelo, Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo and Adriana Rizzo) vs. OTM (Bronco Nima, Lucien Price and Jaida Parker, with SCRYPTS)
DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM CLASSIC TOURNAMENT FINALS:
The Wolf Dogs (Baron Corbin and Bron Breakker) vs. Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams
WWE SmackDown will air live tonight on FOX from the Legacy Arena at The BJCC in Birmingham, Alabama.
According to Pwinsider, Tiffanny Stratton will be at the SmackDown event at the show. However, it is still uncertain whether she will make an on-camera appearance or participate in a dark match.
Trick Williams, along with former NXT Champion Carmelo Hayes and two-time NXT Champion Bron Breakker, are all set to be at the show.
