And your headlines for Afternoon include
Several tributes to the late Scott Hall happen on RAW
Hulk Hogan makes emotional speech about Scott Hall’s death
WWE subtly reference Cody Rhodes on this week’s episode of RAW
Huge update on how far along talks between Cody and WWE are. Could he be back for WrestleMania?
WWE’s top heel breaks character at recent untelevised live event
Former ROH Women’s World Champion signs deal with WWE.
Update on WWE’s plans for Elias! When will the former 24/7 Champion be back? And more
We’re starting this video with Scott Hall, as the wrestling world has come together following his death yesterday.
Hall died after suffering three heart attacks this past weekend, and there were several tributes to him on this week’s RAW.
In the opening segment of the show, Kevin Owens began his promo saying “hey yo!” which Hall would use throughout his career, and paraphrased another
line from Hall in a backstage segment with Seth Rollins. Telling the architect that “tough times don’t last but
tough times do,” this was in reference to Hall’s 2014 Hall of Fame induction, when he told fans that bad times don’t last, but bad guys do.
Later in the night, United States Champion Finn Balor did the Too Sweet hand gesture, which Hall would use both in the Kliq and as part of the new world order.
Balor’s opponent Damian Priest also paid tribute to the Bad Guy, doing the signature Razor Roman walk during his entrance and hit the Razor’s Edge to
Balor during their match.
WWE also aired a video package that looked at Hall’s career and legacy, as the Bad Guy’s legacy will live on after his sad passing this week.
Few men worked closer with Scott Hall than Hulk Hogan, as the two were part of the original NWO that took WCW by storm in 1996.
Appearing at his Hogan’s Hangout bar in Tampa, Florida, the Hulkster wore an NWO shirt, and thanked the fans for their support following Hall’s passing.
Speaking about Scott, the Hulkster praised the Bad Guy, saying:
“He took care of me when I was down and out, and everyone thought Hulkamania was dead. Scott Hall resurrected me. He put me back on the map.
I love him so much, I can’t even explain it to you. He had a bunch of faults, but he was a good guy. I just wanted to let everyone know that he’s in our
thoughts and prayers tonight.”
Hogan admitted that after hearing the news, he found it difficult to leave the house to come to his bar, where he’s a regular.
This is a hard time for everyone, but especially those who knew Hall so well, as the former WWF Superstar touched the hearts of a lot of people throughout
his incredible life.
RAW news now, as before this week’s show, it had been rumoured that Cody Rhodes would return, with WWE reportedly seeing this episode as ‘make or break’
for their plans with the former TNT Champion. Cody ultimately did not show up and confront Seth Rollins, who is without
a WrestleMania opponent, but there were plenty of teases to Rhodes’ imminent arrival. On commentary, Corey Graves said how Rollins’
WrestleMania hopes had been “dashed” a nod to Cody’s time with the vein ‘dashing’ gimmick, and added that the Architect’s dreams had become
a nightmare. Many saw this as a reference to Cody’s nickname as the American nightmare, the nickname he’s
used pretty much since leaving WWE, which itself is a nod to his father the American Dream Dusty Rhodes.
Losing to Kevin Owens in the main event of RAW, the stipulation was that had Rollins won, he’d get to confront Stone Cold at WrestleMania instead,
and while he won’t be confronting the WWE Hall of Famer, don’t count out something big for Seth Rollins next month.
Cody has yet to publicly return to WWE and the company is yet to acknowledge him on TV, but things seem to be finally coming together behind
the scenes. On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed the Cody situation, and revealed
that at this time, the match with Seth Rollins is still listed as part of WWE’s internal schedule for WrestleMania
“The fact that the match is still being listed tells me that they believe he’s in, whether he’s signed or not I cannot say but obviously they believe he’s in,
they believe the match is still on. It’s gonna be interesting to watch the show.” With less than three weeks until WrestleMania,
WWE need to have something special planned for Cody Rhodes, and that appears to be a match with the former Universal Champion.
We can’t say for certain if Cody has signed with WWE, but things certainly look that way, and if it isn’t Rhodes who confronts Seth Rollins at
WrestleMania, WWE will need a huge alternative, or face a lot of disappointed fans.
For the past two years, Roman Reigns has been WWE's top star, with his heel turn in August 2020 winning over even his hardest of critics.
After years of being pushed as a baby-face, his heel turn has been some of his best work, but the icy cold Universal Champion still has a lot of love for his
home town. At a live event in Pensacola, Florida, the Bloodline defeated Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston and Xavier
Woods in the main event and broke character after the match. Grabbing the mic, Reigns shared his love for his
hometown, calling it "the most beautiful best kept secret in the world" and said he's blessed to do what he loves with the people he loves.
Reigns also issued a challenge to the younger fans in attendance, daring them to follow their dreams and in perhaps his most humble display, said he
acknowledges the crowd, not the other way around. It was certainly the most face-like Reigns has been in a while, even if the majority of fans didn't see
it, and whether his reign as Universal Champion, now in day 562 ends at Wrestlemania or not, he'll always be welcome in Pensacola, Florida.
Now, last month, it was reported that Rok-C had signed a deal with WWE, in a huge claim made by her trainer Booker T.
Booker would later walk back on those claims, but it now seems that the deal has happened for real.
Mike Johnson of PW Insider reports that the former Ring of Honor Women’s World Champion has signed a contract with WWE, after being one of the most
sought out prospects to come from ROH. At Ring of Honor’s most recent event, last December’s Final Battle, she successfully defended against
Willow Nightingale, but would lose the ROH Women’s World title to Deonna Purrazzo on an episode of Impact.
With Rok-C now in WWE, and ROH owned by AEW, don’t expect a second reign for the young wrestler, and we’ll have to see what she does now that
she’s a WWE Superstar in the making
And we’re ending today with Elias, who hasn’t been seen on WWE programming for months.
The last time Elias wrestled, he was losing to Jaxson Ryker on the July 19th 2021 edition of RAW in a symphony of destruction match, and his last on-screen
appearance was the next month, where vignettes aired of him, promoting that Elias was dead.
Despite this teased major change to his character, fans haven’t seen anything from him yet, but that could finally be about to change.
In a report from Fightful Select, its noted that new vignettes are being filmed for the former 24/7 Champion, and he is tentatively scheduled to be
returning to the RAW brand. It’s worth remembering that WWE does have a history of changing and dropping plans, and that
these vignettes being filmed does not guarantee anything will happen for the former singer- songwriter.
After all, it was leaked last year that a new gimmick for Elias had been planned, but scrapped by Vince McMahon himself for being too similar to Macho
Man Randy Savage, and we’ll just have to see what these new vignettes show, if they make it to air.