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Here's your wrestling news for April 8th 2021
And if you like what you're watching smash the like button and give us 1000 likes and more !
And your headlines for today include
New Champions Crowned At NXT Takeover: Stand And Deliver
Mike Tyson Makes AEW Return On Latest Dynamite, When Will He Appear Next?
AEW Blood And Guts Match Will Finally Happen!
New WWE Hall Of Famer Teases Return To The Ring
“She’ll Be Back VERY Soon” WWE Executive Confirms Returns Of Two Top WWE Superstars
Interpromotional Challenge Made For Wrestlemania 37
New Drone Footage Shows Vince McMahon Changed His Mind For Wrestlemania.
“He Was Just Pounding People!” Wrestling Legend Blasts Former WWE Champion As Selfish
Tony Khan Explains Reasons For Allowing Chris Jericho To Return To WWE
Keith Lee’s WWE Return Confirmed! What Will The Limitless One Be Doing? And More.
We’re kicking off today with NXT, and last night’s episode was the final time the show will be on Wednesday Nights, but they
certainly left with a bang. Hosting night-one of TakeOver Stand and Deliver, tonight’s show was main-evented by
Raquel Gonzalez dethroning Io Shirai, becoming the new NXT Women’s Champion.
This end’s Shriai’s 302 day reign, which started last June when she defeated Charlotte Flair, and that wasn’t the only title to change hands.
MSK continued their incredible first-year in NXT by capturing the vacant tag team titles, less than three months after their on-screen debuts,
and less than two months after they won the Men’s Dusty Rhodes Classic.
It’ll be interesting to see if this show means NXT wins in the final ratings war between themselves and AEW Dynamite, as the brand is looking
to start things with a bang next week on Tuesday.
What did you make of TakeOver: Stand and Deliver Night one though? Let us know in the comments.
At the same time as Night One of NXT TakeOver Stand and Deliver, AEW were doing their best to win the final ratings war with a stacked Dynamite.
During a beatdown on Chris Jericho by The Pinnacle, Mike Tyson returned to the show, helping fend MJF’s faction off before the Inner
Circle evened the odds. The segment ended with Jericho and Tyson shaking hands and being on friendly terms,
a far cry to how they were the last time they collided, which was meant to lead to a match between them at All Out 2020 that never took place.
Tyson will also return next week as the special ringside enforcer when Jericho faces Dax Harwood, and though both The Pinnacle and the
Inner Circle have been banned from ringside, we’ll have to see how long that lasts.
The tension between The Pinnacle and the Inner Circle reached a boiling point this week, and this is leading to a match fans have been
waiting for, for a very long time. On Dynamite, an angered Jericho said that on May 5th, both factions will face off in a Blood
and Guts match.
This match was meant to take place over a year ago between the Inner Circle and the Elite before the ongoing global situation prevented it.
Similar to WarGames, the match will see two people start, then alternate members of each team just every two minutes, but the only
way to win is by submission or surrender.
We’ll have to see how bloody the Blood and Guts match will be, and if the original rules are still in place come May 5th.
More from Dynamite, as Kenny Omega has been dominating the show since becoming AEW World Champion, and now he has more
top stars by his side. During the main event, pitting Jon Moxley and the Young Bucks against Omega and the Good
Brothers, the Bucks turned heel, blasting Moxley with a series of super kicks and ended Dynamite hugging Omega, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson.
Matt and Nick Jackson had previously teased reuniting with their Bullet Club stablemates on the January 6th Dynamite, when the five
too-sweet’d in the ring, and whilst the Bucks have constantly shown their distate for Omega’s manager Don Callis, it seems nothing can stop
Omega now that he has the Bucks on his side.
Earlier this week, Rob Van Dam added becoming WWE Hall of Famer to his list of wrestling accolades, fueling speculation that a return
to the company is imminent. We already know that RVD has been working with WWE, filming content for upcoming specials
on the Network, but it now looks like fans will get one more five-star frog splash out of him.
Speaking on After the Bell, Van Dam was asked about a possible return, and though he didn’t want to say for sure, he seemed positive. He said:
“If you're talking about a one-off (match) or something that's not full-time, I would think there's probably as good odds going for it as
going against it." Not only that, but RVD added that there’s nothing about AEW that interests him about
going to Tony Khan’s promotion, and that he watches it sometimes, mostly to help Katie Forbes learn more about the wrestling business.
It certainly seems that RVD is more than happy to work with WWE, and the company is pleased to keep him away from AEW,
as fans probably haven’t seen the last of the newly-inducted Hall of Famer in the ring.
Would you like to see RVD return to the ring, and if so, who should he face? Sound off in the comments.
Speaking of comebacks, it’s now been 2 years since Ronda Rousey’s last WWE match, and the wait for her to return to TV is nearly at an end
That’s according to WWE President Nick Khan who this week spoke to Colin Cowherd, and said that the former RAW Women’s Champion will
be back quote “at a certain point of time.” Khan was far more specific when he spoke about Becky Lynch, saying that The Man wil
be back “in the not so distant future.” After giving birth to baby Roux last December, fans haven’t seen Lynch since last May, but
with the WWE’s own President and Chief Revenue Officer saying she’ll be back VERY soon, we expect that The Man will come
around in the next few months, if not weeks.
From one former Champion to another, as this time last year, Bayley was defending the SmackDown Women’s Championship at
WrestleMania, but her star has fallen considerably.
Not only is Bayley not the champ anymore, she’s not even booked for WrestleMania 37, and that’s no fault of her own.
Speaking to TalkSport’s Alex McCarthy, the Role Model said she pitched stories and matches for WrestleMania, but none of those
ideas were picked up on. Given that she’s not competed since the February 19th edition of SmackDown, Bayley
clarified that she’s not injured right now, but the WWE just aren’t using her.
Not only did she tease jumping the barricade and teasing making her own WrestleMania moment, but RAW’s Lince Dorado has even
challenged the Role Model to a match this weekend. Though we doubt that match will happen,
there is still time for WWE to book her into something for the two-night show, and we hope that the company doesn’t let the talented
former SmackDown Women’s Champion go to waste.
If Bayley doesn’t make it on the card, she can watch WrestleMania from the stands, and WWE are continuing to construct the epic stage.
A few weeks ago, we reported that WWE was discussing using the idea of cardboard cutouts, and judging by new drone footage, that’s exactly
what is happening. Not only does the footage show cutouts being placed in seats that haven’t been sold, but we’ve
also had a closer look at the massive WrestleMania stage. Though Vince McMahon was originally against
using cardboard cutouts, he obviously changed his mind, perhaps after seeing how they were used at the Superbowl.
Whatever the reason, WrestleMania will have both actual live fans, and a see of corrugated faces in the crowd, as the show will certainly look
like what we were used to before the current situation.
Fans will be able to watch WrestleMania 37 on Peacock, which has come under fire for lacking features that fans used to enjoy with
the traditional WWE Network. On the streaming service, fans cannot pause or rewind live broadcasts, and whilst Peacock
promised to have these features by Summerslam, the same time they plan on having all WWE content moved to their service,
these features will be ready far soon. Peacock’s customer service has confirmed that pausing and rewinding live shows will be available
by this Saturday for Night-One of WrestleMania, but it’s only for tvOS and iOS devices. As for everyone else, they’ll have to wait
for the show to end before, and time will tell if Peacock can get these features working for everyone before the proposed Summerslam
deadline.
It’s been over a year since fans last saw Brock Lesnar in a WWE ring, and whilst it’s been rumoured he’ll return when fans do, many people
aren’t missing the Beast.
Throughout his career, Lesnar’s lengthy title reigns and part-time status has made him a list of enemies, and that was happening long
before his 2012 return to WWE. Speaking on the latest episode of Aces High, wrestling legend Hiroshi Tanahashi said he
never saw the appeal of Lesnar’s work. He explained: “It was all one sided, a completely selfish
way of wrestling. I saw him in the early 2000s, and he was just pounding people, you never got to see anything from his opponents.”
In 2006, Lesnar and Tanahashi were meant to have a match, which was cancelled last minute due to issues with Brock’s visa, a huge blow
to the show, as Tanahashi said how fans were hyped to see Lesnar in action. Tanahashi isn’t the first person to brand Lesnar
selfish, and he probably won’t be the last, but we doubt the misanthropic Lesnar cares what others have to say.
WrestleMania 37 will go ahead without Lesnar, and will be WWE’s first event in over a year with live fans, but what does the company have
planned after the showcase of the Immortals goes off the air? During the Colin Cowherd Podcast,
WWE President Nick Khan spoke about the return of live fans, and what’s the current plan. He said:
“We’re not going back on tour yet, but we’re plotting out when we’re going to return. Once we return, there’s no going back. So, once
we return, it’s going to be twice a week or with NXT, three times a week.” It’s interesting that WWE hasn’t got any house
show plans, as even before the current situation, there were calls internally for live events to be scrapped.
Khan also didn’t specify when TV with fans will be returning, but it’s good to know that WWE isn’t planning on staying in the Thunderdome
longer than they have to.
From Nick to Tony now, as the AEW promoter has always said that his company is open to work with other promotions, and that apparently
includes WWE. Last week, Chris Jericho was shockingly revealed as the next guest on Stone Cold’s
Broken Skull Sessions, and during an appearance on Busted Open Radio, Khan explained why he’s allowing Jericho
to appear on the WWE Network, saying: “When Chris first came to me, at first, I was taken aback because the idea of Chris doing
something on Peacock, on WWE’s channel is obviously gave me pause. When he told me that it was Steve hosting the show,
I didn’t have to think very hard about it.” Adding that he has a deep friendship with the Texas Rattlesnake, this collaboration between
AEW and WWE is something most fans thought they’d never see, and whatever Jericho has to say this Sunday, we’re sure
it’ll make for a fascinating watch.
Back to WWE, and this week, Titus O’Neil’s philanthropic work for the Tampa community earned him the Hall of Fame Warrior Award,
but to many, it was surprising that Titus was still in the company at all. Many fans haven’t forgotten that in early 2016,
O’Neil was suspended for 90 days when he grabbed Vince McMahon, preventing the Chairman from walking ahead of his daughter
Stephanie, and it was only after massive backlash from fans, that his unfair suspension was shortened to an also unfair 60 days.
It seems two people who are ready to move on is McMahon and O’Neil themselves, as on Instagram, Titus shared several photos from
the Hall of Fame ceremony, including the pair reenacting the grab heard around the world.
Despite not being the biggest name in the ring, Titus is doing very well for himself, as he’ll co- host this weekend’s WrestleMania, and his
photos with Vince McMahon clearly indicate that the two have left their controversial RAW incident in the past.
And we’re ending today with news from Keith Lee, and after two months away, the Limitless One is returning to WWE programming.
Yesterday afternoon, WWE confirmed that Lee will be participating in a watch along for Night two of NXT TakeOver Stand and Deliver,
alongside Ricochet, Dominik Mysterio and others to be announced. Though it may not be what fans were expecting,
having Lee return as part of the Watch Along is better than nothing, but the Limitless One has a long way to go before he returns to the
main-event scene on RAW he was in a few months ago.