And your headlines for today include
Big E Stretchered Away After Legitimate Freak Injury On WWE Smackdown; BIG E Says His Neck Is Broken; WWE & AEW Stars React
Backstage Notes On WWE Re-Naming Pete Dunne As Butch
Latest Update On WWE’s Plans For ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin At WrestleMania 38
William Regal Shoots Down Report He’s Dealing With Serious Health Issues
Corey Graves Says Many Fans Had No Idea Who Bron Breakker Was During WWE Raw This Week
WWE Planning To Announce A Ton Of WrestleMania 38 Matches
Three More Title Matches Reportedly Planned For WWE WrestleMania 38
WWE Women’s Tag Title Match At WrestleMania Likely To Be Changed
Ronda Rousey Reveals How Long She Plans To Stay With WWE And more!
We’ve got some concerning news from SmackDown now, as Big E suffered a serious injury during last night’s broadcast.
On the show, Big E and Kofi Kingston teamed to face Sheamus and Ridge Holland, but the match ended abruptly because of a freak accident.
That incident happened when Holland suplexed Big E outside the ring, resulting in the latter landing awkwardly and seemingly injuring his neck,
and in fan-recorded footage, Big E can be seen being stretchered away. As for the match, that ended almost immediately
after the incident as Sheamus pinned Kofi, though this was presumably an audible called to end the match as quickly as possible.
Big E has had a strange 2022 to say the least, as despite starting the year as RAW’s WWE Champion and the #1 draft pick of the red brand, he’s since lost
the title and quietly moved to SmackDown
Backstage, the former Champion shared a video where he’s wearing a neck brace and thanked everyone for their concern.
The New Day showed that he can still move his fingers, but gave a worrying diagnosis saying:
“They tell me that my neck is broken.”
In an update, PW Insider noted that Big E was put in an ambulance and taken to a hospital in Birmingham, Alabama where he has undergone
further tests on his condition. Prior to SmackDown, there had ben no word on what WWE had planned for Big E at WrestleMania
but it now looks like he’ll miss the biggest two- night event of the year, just like his former rival Bobby Lashley.
Fightful Select notes that last night’s SmackDown was meant to kick off Big E’s WrestleMania plans, as the arrival of Pete Dunne, now rechristened Butch,
was meant to set up a match next month: “We’re told this is planned as an official call-up and leading into the night there were plans for
Butch, Ridge Holland and Sheamus to take on New Day at WrestleMania. However, with Big E’s injury on Smackdown, we can’t be sure that’s still the case. “
As of this moment, the severity of Big E’s condition is unknown, but we do know that going by the footage, he hit his head pretty hard on the floor.
On social media, both WWE and AEW talent have expressed their support for Big E in a rare bi- partisan act by both promotions.
With WrestleMania 38 so close, it’s hard to say if Big E will be able to be medically cleared in time for the show, but we certainly wish him and the
New Day the very best at this sad time
This match on SmackDown was overshadowed by Big E’s unfortunate injury, but it also saw Pete Dunne make his debut as Butch.
Billed as a protégé of Sheamus and long-time associate of Ridge Holland, Butch’s new name hasn’t gone over well with fans, and that’s also
the case behind the scenes. In an update from Fightful Select, it’s said that the general consensus backstage before the
general consensus backstage before the show was that “something very dumb” was going to happen, and that clearly is the name change.
It’s added that whenever those behind the scenes found out about the name change, that it caused groans and frustration among all that heard it.
Never the less, the name change has gone ahead, and now it’ll be Butch’s time to shine as the newest member of the SmackDown roster.
This April, ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin will return to WWE to confront Kevin Owens at WrestleMania.
Despite initial reports of the two having a match, which would’ve been the Rattlesnake’s first bout since 2003, WWE’s plans are now for Austin to
be the guest on the KO Show, but that doesn’t mean things won’t get physical. In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, its reported
that Austin is working on his cardio as he prepares for his return, which implies that he’ll do more than just stun the Prizefighter as many believe.
It’s also reported that Austin has agreed to do the KO Show segment with a “fight sequence” added, but has not agreed to a sanctioned match between the two.
While whatever WWE has planned will be more than a stunner, it’s noted that Austin hitting his finisher will be the obvious conclusion to this segment and “fight
sequence.” Austin has gotten physical at several events since retiring in 2003, but WWE is billing his upcoming
segment as his first physical confrontation in 19 years, as the Rattlesnake has promised to open one final can of whoop-ass next month in AT&T Stadium.
Over to AEW, as William Regal debuted at last weekend’s Revolution Pay Per View after over two decades working for WWE.
During this week’s promo on Dynamite, Regal spoke about his career and said how he doesn’t have much time left, which greatly alarmed fans of the British legend.
In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it was noted that Regal’s health is far more serious than has ever come out, and will be a key talking point during his
interview on Talk is Jericho next week. During his days as NXT General Manager, Regal would often make announcements via satellite,
leading some to speculate he was unwell, but it was never considered that he was dealing with a life-threatening illness.
It’s no secret that Regal suffered from serious substance abuse issues for years, which no doubt harmed his body, but the reports of his health
being in decline have been greatly exaggerated. On social media, Regal refuted the rumers that
he’s unwell, saying that he’s healthier now than he’s been in years, and that this is nothing but rumours.
With Regal being part of the storyline with Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson, the veteran performer will need to be in good health to handle the two
ex-WWE Champions, and all reports that Regal is unwell should be taken with a very large grain of salt.
On this week’s RAW, Bron Beakker had his debut match on the red brand, teaming with Tommaso Ciampa to defeat the Dirty Dawgz.
It was certainly an impressive debut for Breakker, who only started wrestling on TV just six months ago, and one person who saw it in person is Corey Graves.
Speaking on After the Bell, the RAW commentator had nothing but praise for the now former NXT Champion, and said that many members of the WWE
Universe didn’t know who Breakker was, as they don’t watch NXT. While Breakker certainly made an impact, its odd
for a WWE employee to say that fans don’t watch NXT, which has struggled both during and after the Wednesday Night Wars to get fans to tune in
We’ll have to see what WWE has next for Breakker, though a second NXT Title win and permanent main-roster call-up have been rumoured,
but whatever happens next, we’re sure he’ll make sure people know who he is.
Now, WrestleMania 38 is now just 21 days away, and the show has a stacked card already lined up.
Not including the Steve Austin-Kevin Owens confrontation, the two night event has nine matches already confirmed, but there’ll be
many more made official during the next three weeks. That’s according to Wrestle Votes, who report
that WWE plans to add seven more matches to the show, which would make 16 in total, or eight for each night.
In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it’s covered that 3 of the seven matches will be title matches, with the United States Championship and both the
RAW and SmackDown Tag Titles up for grabs. It’s noted that new U.S. Champion Finn Balor will defend at WrestleMania against Damian Priest
while RK-Bro, who only regained the RAW Tag Team gold this week, will face the Street Profits next month.
As for the SmackDown Tag Team Titles, The Usos are expected to keep the titles until WrestleMania, where they’ll defend against Shinsuke Nakamura
and Rick Boogs. The Observer adds that the Women’s Tag Match which has already been announced is likely to be
changed again, as Natalya and a yet to be named partner will likely be added, making this a fatal four-way tag-team title match.
The report didn’t state who will join Natalya, but Shayna Baszler seems the likely candidate after the two teamed together last night.
If this match does indeed have a total eight Superstars then it’s likely the Women’s Wrestle Mania Battle Royal won’t go ahead, but we’ll
only know for certain as we get closer to WWE’s biggest event of the year.
And we’re ending today with Ronda Rousey, who made her long-awaited return to WWE at January’s Royal Rumble, entering the Women’s Rumble match
at #28 and winning the entire thing. After her first, and to date, only loss at Wrestle Mania 35, Rousey took an extended break from
the ring to focus on starting a family, and succeeded in that goal last year when she became a mom. Following such a lengthy break, many have
questioned how long will Rousey be around, but during a Facebook Gaming Stream, the number one contender for the SmackDown Women’s
Championship confirmed that she’s not going anywhere just yet: “Yes, I am staying [in WWE after WrestleMania 38]
I’ll be staying for a while. I just had a baby. I’m not ready to have another one yet so, I’ll be staying around ‘till we’re ready for number two, or four.”
On last night’s SmackDown, Rousey made it physically clear she plans on staying, as her brawl with Charlotte Flair in the parking lot
closed SmackDown in the latest intense build in their rivalry. Rousey isn’t ready for another child just yet
but it is something that is on her mind, but until that moment, the self professed ‘Hot Mama’ of WWE has plans on dethroning the SmackDown
Women’s Champion at WretleMania 38 next month.