Here's your wrestling news for February 4th 2021
And your headlines for today include
"I've never laid hands on so many of these guys" - Edge reveals 9 WWE stars he wants to face!
Lars Sullivan Dismissed Major Misconceptions About His WWE Release!
What Does Vince McMahon Think About Lars Sullivan And His Release?
KENTA Shows Up On AEW Dynamite To Take Out Jon Moxley!
Kenny Omega Issues 'Lights Out' Challenge ; Kenta Reacts!
WWE’s Plan For Rhea Ripley Revealed!
WWE Selling High Dollar Razor Ramon Signature Series Intercontinental Title!
A 35 Year Old Lie About Hulk Hogan Finally Resurfaces!
Title Match Official For AEW Revolution ; Shaquille O’Neal Match And More!
We’re kicking off today with Edge, who’ ll be challenging for a World Championship at WrestleMania 37,
but the opportunity to become a 12-time WWE World Champion isn’t the only thing on his mind.
A lot has changed in WWE since Edge retired in 2011, and In an interview with CBS Sports, the two-time Royal Rumble
winner spoke about nine Superstars he is focused on facing this time around. He said:
“I scratched the surface with AJ Styles and Seth Rollins just because of Rumbles. To me, both of those matches have to
happen. They just have to. Last night, for the first time, I felt what Cesaro brings, and Matt Riddle… Ricochet and [Mustafa]
Ali and Sami [Zayn] and all of these guys I've never had a chance to get in there with. Let me get in with Cesaro. I'd love
to do an Ironman with Daniel Bryan… I got a sample of Damien Priest, and that was exciting.”
Asides from Bryan, everyone Edge named joined WWE’s main roster after he retired in 2011, and since his return
he’s been busy with Randy Orton. With their feud ending on RAW, Edge will now be looking ahead to
WrestleMania, but the Rated-R Superstar is clearly looking to make up for lost time with these potential opponents.
That wasn’t all Edge had to say this week, as he also spoke about his return to the Metro, and the Men’s
Rumble match also saw the return of Christian. Given that their was a time when
both men were told they’d never compete again, his best friend returning was a huge deal to Edge. He said:
“The look you saw on my face as Christian was coming down the ramp, that was real. That was me being part
dumbfounded that we were both in the Royal Rumble in 2021 after being told we could both never do this again…
I’ve known he’s been cleared for a little while, right? So I knew all of these things, but then when it’s actually happening,
you’re in the moment.” After seven years away from the ring, Christian’s return was something many
fans thought they’d never see, and with reports that Captain Charisma is set to wrestle again on a part-time basiess,
this return clearly means a lot to him, and Edge.
Now, yesterday we reported that Lars Sullivan was quietly released from WWE, and now the ex- Superstar has
commented on the situation. According to reports, Sullivan was quietly released from WWE last month
after no-showing TV tapings, but the Freak doesn’t have any bad blood with the company.
In a Patreon-exclusive post, Fightful reported that Sullivan has praised WWE for handling him with quote “compassion
and honesty,” and the Freak believes that WWE didn’t publicly announce his departure was to help with his mental
health issues. Speaking of which, Sullivan admitted that it was his mental health that caused
him to miss tapings and be pulled from TV in late 2020, saying he struggled to eat or sleep around SmackDown tapings.
Sullivan added that these issues were made worse by the recent death of his father at the time.
Addressing some of the controversies that plagued his career, Sullivan said that many of them stemmed from his own
“selfish behaviour.” It had been reported that a shirtless promo with Michael Cole was seen
as an attempt to sabotage Sullivan’s career, but the Freak himself dismissed those rumours, as Fightful reported:
Sullivan himself said he liked doing the promo and saw it as them looking to add more depth to his character.
He was given specific instruction to breath heavy through my nose and the verbiage.
Sullivan also added that he is likely done with professional wrestling now that he’s no longer with WWE, and hopefully he’ll
be able to land a role that doesn’t cause his mental health issues to flare up.
Throughout his brief career in WWE, Sullivan had more than his fair share of controversies, from making racist,
sexist and homophobic comments, both before and after signing with the company, to having a past in adult
entertainment. That may be why his release hasn’t been too surprising to those backstage,
as according to a source for Ringside News, “no one was surprised by his firing.”
It’s clear that everyone in WWE had given up on any plans for Sullivan to be a big star, and it didn’t surprise them
when he was released. One of Sullivan’s biggest controversies was when fans discovered his past
career in adult entertainment, where he worked under the name Mitch Bennett.
According to Fightful Select, these videos, which clashed with the homophobic comments he’d previously
made, were what ultimately caused Vince McMahon to give up on the Freak. They reported:
Wrestlers told us that there was no way Vince McMahon would look at him the same again after the video released.
Sullivan had been a favorite of McMahon’s upon his call-up in 2019. Even if Sullivan does plan on returning
to WWE, we doubt he’d be welcomed back, especially as the Chairman of the Board who had once been so eager to
push the Freak, couldn’t look at him the same way.
AEW news now, and this week’s Dynamite saw the debut of KENTA, who wasted no time building towards his New
Japan match with Jon Moxley. In the main event, KENTA attacked Moxley, in a shocking conclusion for
AEW Beach Break. This is all building towards the long- awaited match between the two for
New Japan that’ll take place on February 26th, which’ll be for Moxley’s IWGP United States title.
On commentary, Impact’s Don Callis said it was interesting how other companies invade AEW whenever
he’s around, and we’ll have to see if a possible long-term talent trade is in the works between AEW and New Japan
Pro Wrestling.
If Kenny Omega gets his way, that won’t be the last time we see KENTA, as cameras caught the pair speaking after
Dynamite went off the air. In their segment, the AEW World Champion tried to welcome KENTA to
the American Bullet Club, the New Japan star told him to “Shut the f**k up. I’m not your friend.”
Omega then turned to the camera and challenged Tony Khan to book him and KENTA against Lance Archer and Jon
Moxley in a Lights Out match for next week’s February 10th edition of Dynamite, and we’ll have to see if the Champ gets
his wish next Wednesday.
Now, it’s been reported that Rhea Ripley made her main-roster call-up during last Sunday’s Women’s Royal Rumble match
but it seems that WWE are taking their time with deciding where’s she’s going.
A former NXT Women’s Champion, Ripley would be a great addition to either RAW or SmackDown, but according to PW Insider,
she wasn’t backstage during this week’s RAW. That doesn’t mean she’s going to be a
a SmackDown Superstar though, as that same report noted that she’s not booked for this Friday’s SmackDown either.
Ripley’s main-roster call up has already happened, and whilst we’re confident she’ll be successful whichever brand
she ends up on, WWE aren’t going to rush such an important decision.
Now, when you think of great Intercontinental Champions, one name fans often speak of is Razor Ramon,
and now fan can get a title that’s oozing Machismo. On WWE Shop, fans can now buy a
replica of the classic Intercontinental title, with a strap designed to be all about the Bad Guy.
At $500, these titles will probably be bought for only the most dedicated fans of Scott Hall, but we’re sure there’s
plenty of fans willing to pay top-dollar for a title as cool as this one.
One man who knows Scott Hall well is Hulk Hogan, who’s has had plenty of stories told about his legendary career,
but not all of them are true. One tale told by the Iron Sheik is that when Hogan left the AWA in 1983 or
Vince McMahon’s WWF, Verne Gagne offered Sheik $100,000 to shoot on Hogan, and injury his leg.
During UnSKripted though, Verne Gagne’s son Greg dismissed the story, saying:
Sheik made that thing up. A couple of months ago, my brother and I, he said, ‘You gotta watch this thing on YouTube.’ I
I never knew he said it. So when he [my brother] had told me, I said, ‘That was never said. Verne never did that
In today’s money, that 100-grand would be worth over a quarter of a million dollars, but given the fact that the Shiek still has
has an issue with Hogan, as seen on his social media accounts, it’s entirely plausible that he made the whole story up,
and has kept it going for 35 years.
More AEW next, and after a huge Beach break edition of Dnamite, the company is keeping their momentum rolling with next
week’s show. It’s been confirmed that AEW TNT Champion Darby Allin will defend his title
against Joey Janela. Hot of their win in the Tag Team Battle Royale, MJF and Chris Jericho will face
the Aclaimed, whilst Cody Rhodes and Lee Johnson will face Peter Avalon and Cezar Bononi.
AEW Beach Break was a huge night for the company, and AEW isn’t slowing down on the road to their next Pay Per View
Revolution.
We mentioned that MJF and Chris Jericho won in the tag team battle Royale, and now their match has been made official
for AEW Revolution. It’s been confirmed that on March 7th, the pair will face the AEW World Tag
Team Champions the Young Bucks, and time will tell whether the duo can bring more championship gold to the Inner Circle.
Speaking of AEW, this week’s edition of Dynamite saw a huge announcement, as Shaquille O’Neal’s in-ring debut was confirmed
On the March 3rd Dynamite, Shaq and Jade Cargill will team to face Cody Rhodes and Red Velvet, though it’s
strange that this match isn’t happening at AEW Revolution, which will happen just four days later.
It’s possible that this is down to Shaq’s contract with Warner Media, and whatever the reason, Shaq is finally
getting the wrestling match that he never received when he was working with WWE.
More news from WWE now, as we all know that the company will release a Superstar with little to no explanation