Here's more wrestling news for March 19th 2022
And your headlines for Afternoon include
The Women's Tag Team Title Picture Sums Up The State Of The Division!
When Is Asuka Returning To WWE?
Another AEW Star On Their Way Out Of Company
WWE Hall Of Fame Offer Felt Wrong For Jeff Hardy
Simon Diamond Is Recovering After A Recent Stroke
Cesaro Files Trademark For ‘CSRO’
Kenny Omega’s AEW Return!
Did BROCK LESNAR BLADE HIMSELF AT WWE MADISON SQUARE GARDEN LIVE EVENT! And More!
We’re starting with SmackDown, as Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley made a guest appearance last night to take on Sasha Banks and Naomi.
Both teams will challenge Carmella and Queen Zelina for the WWE Women’s Tag Titles at WrestleMania, but this match was interrupted by yet another randomly-formed
tag-team. During the show, Shayna Baszler and Natalya made their presence known, and made enough
of an impact to impress Sonya Deville, who added them to the women’s Tag title match at WrestleMania.
That’s now four teams in the match, none of whom 6were teaming together this time 7 months ago.
This was a clear move to simply get more Superstars on the card, as WWE is seemingly not having their Women’s WrestleMania Battle Royal this year.
Two of the most technically gifted women on the roster, Natalya and Baszler are solid additions to the match, but we can’t help but wonder what
the likes of Aliyah and Shotzi, both without a Mania match, are thinking about being snubbed.
Unquestionably the most egregious omission from WrestleMania 38’s card is Asuka, as the massively talented former Women’s Champion remains off TV.
Asuka had been out with a shoulder injury which has since fully healed, but WWE continues to not use her, with her last match being all the way back in July 2021.
We now have an update on the Empress, as Sean Ross Sapp reports that in February, people within WWE told him that they were hoping for Asuka to return
in Spring, but added that a lot can happen in 6 weeks. This is the latest return window for Asuka, who had at once time been planned for the
Women’s Royal Rumble but WWE later decided that she wasn’t physically ready. Whenever Asuka returns, it’ll be a huge moment for her
and her fans, and while we could see her back in the spring, anything could change in the coming weeks.
Cody and Brandi are the biggest names to leave AEW to date, but it appears they won’t be the last to say goodbye.
Fightful Select reports that Marko Stunt is expected to be leaving soon, and hasn’t been backstage in months. They note:
Despite the fact that he’s not been backstage or featured on television, we’re told that he’s still technically with the company. Marko’s contract runs until May, when
AEW has numerous contracts coming due. Joey Janela recently mentioned to Denise Salcedo that AEW had “ghosted” Stunt, which we’ve also heard.
Those that we spoke to stated that Stunt had expressed his willingness to prove himself and remain with the company, but haven’t heard a follow up on that.
Stunt’s contract hasn’t expired yet, as he still has a couple of months left, but its believed AEW will let his deal expire rather than outright release him from his contract.
Marko Stunt isn’t the only one that AEW has apparently ghosted, as Janela has recently claimed that the company stopped communicating with him as well.
Stunt will likely have a lot of indie dates lined up for when he’s left AEW, but after not being used in months, we’ll have to see what’s next for the Jurrassic Express
member.
Last December, WWE chose to release Jeff Hardy from his contract after he refused to enter rehab, a decision that the promotion quickly learned to regret.
After Jeff’s tests for substances came back negative, WWE offered him both a return, and a spot in the Hall of Fame, all to keep him away from signing with AEW.
With three WWE World Championships and a career as one of wrestling’s most popular stars, Jeff is certainly deserving o the Hall of Fame but the Charismatic
Enigma told WWE no. On the Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast, Jeff said how the Hall of Fame offer “felt completely wrong,
and that he was “almost offended,” believing that WWE was simply handing him something countless wrestlers dream of, and that his induction would be
political ploy, not based on his own accolades. Saying he was in tears, Jeff made it clear that if he goes in the WWE Hall of Fame, he should
go in alongside Matt as the two are often considered the greatest tag team of all time. Jeff may be in AEW now, but that doesn’t mean he’ll
never go in the WWE Hall of Fame, but Vince McMahon may have to wait a long time to mend his relationship with the Charismatic Enigma.
We’ve got some unfortunate news from wrestling veteran Simon Diamond, who is recovering after having a stroke.
In a report from PW Insider, it’s said that the 53-year-old, real name Pat Kenney, was hospitalised last Friday after what he described as a “mild stroke,”
and is dealing with impaired vision as a side effect.
Diamond was released from Hospital this past Wednesday and is facing a long recovery that’ll he be doing at home.
Best known for his time in ECW and Impact, Simon Diamond now serves as the NWA’s Director of Talent Relations, but will miss this week’s Crocket Cup
Pay Per View events. In his place, Kyle Davis will take over the role as Simon recovers, and we wish him a quick and full recovery
after this setback
Last month, Cesaro’s contract with WWE came to an end and he chose not to re-sign with the company.
After over eleven years with WWE, Cesaro never got that world title run fans wanted to see, and will now have to work outside the company, under a new name.
Since WWE owns the rights to Cesaro, many assumed that he’d be competing as Claudio Castignoli, the name he used prior to signing in 2010,
but that may not be the case. In recent filings with the U.S. Patent Office the former United States and Tag Team Champion
filed a trademark for CSRO, and if successful, he’ll use it for the standard merchandise expected of a pro-wrestler.
With how close this name is to the WWE owned Cesaro, it’s unclear if the Swiss Cyborg will have his requested filing granted, but if so, the Cesaro name
will live on, though slightly changed.
This week, WWE announced their latest class of signings, with Bianca Carelli becoming the company’s latest second generation Superstar.
Carelli has a solid background in MMA and Boxing, and is also the daughter of Santino Marella, who on Twitter reacted to the news by saying he’s having a “proud
daddy moment.” Other notable names in the class includes Rok-C, the former ROH Women’s World Champion, and the
Notorious Mimi, who has done enhancement talent work for AEW in the past, and now they, and the rest of this class will be looking to do big things now
that they’re part of the WWE roster.
More from AEW, as Kenny Omega hasn’t wrestled for the company since November’s Full Gear, and the former World Champion certainly earned his time off.
Omega had been piling up several injuries, even before AEW was founded, but had refused to take time off until his programme with Adam Page came to its conclusion.
We now have an update on Omega, as the Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that he is currently recovering from athroscopic knee surgery, which will
take approximately ten weeks to recover from. At the end of March, Omega will have yet another surgery, this one for a sports hernia, and it
reported that he’ll need at least two months to recover from that. When you factor these surgeries in with his other
health issues, such as the vertigo he’s been suffering from since 2018, it’s no wonder why the originally proposed February return
window has come and gone, as the former World Champion should take as much time as he needs to get back to 100%.
And we’re ending with WWE’s recent Madison Square Garden Live event, where WWE Champion Brock Lesnar retained his title over Austin Theory
but was left a bloody mess thanks to the Bloodline after the match. In an era where blood is rarely seen in WWE, the image
of Lesnar laughing off what had happened while wearing the crimson mask was a startling visual and even WWE’s
commentators referenced that he had been bleeding, omitting their usual vernacular of saying a wrestler has a “contusion” or injury.
WWE has also shown Lesnar’s wound in full colour, instead of showing it in greyscale in replays, and fans have questioned as to what exactly
happened inside MSG. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the plan was always for Brock to bleed, but
because they do not allow blading, Lesnar had to do it the hard way, and was busted open by the steel ring steps.
The report noted that blading is far safer than being busted ope the hard way, but that Lesnar “does what he wants.”
On this occasion, Lesnar wanted to bleed, and Roman Reigns used the steps to bust him open, and with WrestleMania 38 looming, don’t
be surprised to see some colour at next month’s event.