In this WrestleTalk News, Subscribe and enable notifications to always
on for daily wrestling news videos.
[SUPPORT WRESTLETALK] Card subject to change is a classic phrase
in wrestling parlance, but sometime card change and poster don’t, which is how WWE ended
up spoiling their own canceled plan for one specific WrestleMania match this weekend.
Night Two of the show of shows is playing host to a WWE Showcase match Women’s division
edition as the teams of Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez, Natalya and Shotzi, Ronda Rousey
and Shayna Baszler, and Chelsea and Sonya Deville face off for like bragging rights
or something.
But that was not the original line-up planned for the match at least according to the posters
in LA which show Chelsea Green’s tag partner as Carmella - a partnership that has at least
been established on TV for a number of weeks now until Mela went missing around March 20th.
Deville posted a piccy of the poster with a thinky face emoji suggesting that her inclusion
in the match came through fairly last minute.
Somebody else who’s inclusion in Mania would be fairly last minute, despite having been
spoken about having a spot on this particular card for over a year now, is Dwayne The Rock
Johnson.
The Great One had long been rumored to be facing Roman Reigns for family bragging rights,
but now Cody, don’t mention his dad, is doing that instead.
However bookies still seem confident the Rock will appear at the show in some form giving
him a probability of 66.7% of being on the show.
Considering that Nick Khan told Fightful that: “Expect a bunch of surprises.
That's what we're known for, this is WrestleMania, we pulled some out at Royal Rumble.
Here at SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, two-night event, we have to make it big,"
Though is the Rock really a surprise at this point…
Not a surprise any longer is the line-up for both nights of the show, with WWE breaking
it down on ESPN’s First Take.
Zayn and Owens vs the Usos, Charlotte vs Rhea, Cena vs Theory, Rollins vs Logan Paul, Lynch,
Lita and Stratus vs Damage CTRL, the Mysterio rodeo and a men’s showcase match are all
night one.
Whilst Night Two will feature the women’s showcase, Lesnar vs Omos, Edge vs Balor, Gunther,
Drew and Sheamus, Bianca vs Asuka and will be headlined by Cody Rhodes vs Roman Reigns.
This cleared up a bunch of stuff but caused some confusion because the Night One graphic
featured John Cena front and center leading many to think the Dr of Thuganomics and Theory
would main event night one.
The E later clarified to Fightful that the match would open the show as they had previously
announced, leaving the main event spot likely to be taken by either Charlotte and Rhea or
Owens and Zayn vs the Usos.
Fightful Select did some other digging and found out that WWE have been courting Cena
for this match since Summer 2022, and in that time a few different people have been pitched
as his opponent.
Internal WWE documents reportedly pointed to Logan Paul for a while, but sources told
Fightful that at one point people within WWE were pushing for Cena to take on Cody Rhodes
in his first singles match since facing the Undertaker at Mania 34.
What do you reckon?
Are you happy with Cena vs Theory, would you have liked something else?
Let me know in the comments.
While sometimes it can get overhyped and leave fans underwhelmed, the Raw after WrestleMania
has become an event all in itself, serving as a season premiere in a way introducing
new faces and storylines to WWE post Mania.
Although typically WWE just spends the month afterwards rehashing Mania storylines, so
yeah… at least we’ll be getting our brand new shiny toys right?
Right???
Well, yes it’s certainly a possibility, with names such as Brian Cage being linked
to a WWE move in the near future.
Cage’s WWE move is admittedly on the speculation side at this point, as The Machine’s AEW
deal expires following today’s ROH Supercard of Honor show.
According to Dave Meltzer on yesterday’s Wrestling Observer Radio, it appears that
Cage will in fact (likely) be departing AEW on April 1st, saying “His deal has expired”
“Brian Cage apparently is finishing up.
That’s what I hear, that he’s finishing up unless they sign him to a new deal.”
But wait… there’s more.
As Wrestlevotes via GiveMeSport has provided an update into two more possible WWE debutants,
Kota Ibushi and of course the ‘Switchblade’ Jay White.
While Wrestlevotes notes that the man with famously itchy (and dangerous) feet, Ibushi
is unlikely to be signing a full-time contract with ANY promotion therefore hurting his chances
of a WWE move, as for White things are looking much more promising.
Wrestlevotes claims that Triple H is becoming increasingly confident of bringing White to
WWE which I should bloody hope he would be considering…
y’know Raw is on MONDAY that’s only THREE DAYS AWAY.
C’mon Trips.
Oh but wait… hold on there’s ONE MORE.
While diverting to the women’s division now and while Asuka and IYO Sky are flying
the flag for Japanese stars in WWE, there was one more notable Japanese star who was
also doing the same thing not long ago, that being KAIRI.
The former IWGP Women’s Champion recently revealed her free agent status and in a recent
interview with Steve Fall of Wrestlingnews.co, discussed her ambitions for a return to the
company.
These aspirations included competing in a Royal Rumble, working with the aforementioned
IYO and Asuka and winning the WWE Women’s Championship.
Hmm…
Interesting.
So while all eyes may be on the new or returning faces strapping back through the WWE curtain,
what of the man who’s been THE face of WWE for a gazillion years at this point, Roman
Reigns.
While Roman’s astounding world title run looks likely to end on Sunday, what has been
much less clear is what a potential loss at Mania would mean for his WWE future.
While WrestleVotes via GiveMeSport had reported that the ‘Tribal Chief” was set for a
“significant break” following Mania, contingent on Reigns losing his titles at Mania… which
surely is happening right?
While what exactly Roman is or isn’t doing immediately after Mania isn’t clear, what
is clear is that Roman isn’t ready to give up that WWE paycheck just yet.
Speaking to Associated Press, Roman said of his wrestling future:
“I feel good.
I take care of myself.
I’m not running around doing anything crazy.
I raise children and dominate the wrestling game,”
“If they keep cutting these insane checks, I’ll stay around.”
So there you go, you just gotta cough up that dollar Nick Khan or…
Vince…
Stephanie?
I don’t know anymore.
While Roman may still be WWE’s present, what of WWE’s potential future Bron Breakker?
The long-standing NXT Champion is set for a highly anticipated match with fellow star
in waiting Carmelo Hayes at NXT’s Stand & Deliver PLE on Saturday, in a match that
many expect Breakker to lose.
Why do they think that exactly?
Well because Bron was set for a classic post-Mania main roster call-up of course.
Yes, along with other rumored names such as Zoey Stark and Cameron Grimes, Breaker’s
future seemed to lie away from the white and gold brand.
However, that may in fact not be the case after all, as in the promotional poster for
the upcoming NXT Battleground PLE on May 28th (same day as AEW Double or Nothing by the
way), Bron Breakker is seen front and center, presumably confirming his presence for the
event.
While Bron could of course still be set for a call-up after Mania it is rather curious
and may point toward a change of plans for Rick Steiner Jr.
Oh would you look at that it’s good ol’ Phil again, back in the news… again.
I know, I know we’re all getting a little fed up with the CM Punk news, BUT while you
may be sick of Phil just know… that he misses you.
That’s right, do you hear that Oli?
Punk misses you.
Isn’t that lovely.
Yes, while Punk has gotten a bad rep in the last seven months or so, he has always consistently
had two supporters in AEW, that of course being Dax and Cash of FTR.
And during a special FTR live show for WrestleMania weekend, Dax would receive a message from
Phil, expressing his love for the fans.
According to Dax, Punk said:
"He sent me a heart emoji.
I said, 'Should I send a message to my audience from you?'
He said, 'Yes.'
His message, to you (the fans), is, 'I miss them.'"
Following this, a CM Punk chant would begin to which Dax would tell Punk “I told you
dude, they f**king love you man”.
This exchange would come after a photo was posted by Dax via Twitter of himself, Cash
and Punk all looking rather chipper, with the caption ‘LA’.
LA you say…
CM Punk and FTR as a trio to WWE confirmed.
As for Punk and FTR, both of their AEW futures remain in doubt, and while we will ultimately
(likely) learn Dax and Cash’s decision next week on Dynamite, Punk’s future seems destined
to remain unsolved for the time being.
Dax recently discussed Punk’s recent Instagram blowup in an interview with WrestlingInc,
saying:
“With the Punk situation, I can understand where he is coming from, why he put that out
there.
I don't know if it's true or if it's not true, that's for him and everyone else to discuss.
What I do know is… if I read and I heard for over six months about how s**t of a person
I am or how much heat I have in the locker room, or how everyone hates me or I'm a cancer,
I would probably explode too at some point.
I probably would've exploded a lot sooner than he did.”
Despite Punk’s rant, seemingly burning whatever was left of his AEW bridge, Dax remains convinced
that there is a path back in the company for Punk, saying that Punk “deserves to have
a finish to his career that he wants.”
Moving on now to a star who Punk once referred to as a ‘pillar’ of the company, Britt
Baker.
While Britt has transitioned to a secondary character to AEW Women’s Champion Jamie
Hayter, her not being in the women’s division hotseat may be a blessing in disguise as she
has revealed that she is dealing with a worrisome injury.
In an interview with Comicbook.com discussing her role in the new AEW: All Access show,
Baker would reveal that a topic discussed on the show - that being a nagging back injury
suffered in 2022, is unfortunately not improving.
Baker said:
“Unfortunately it’s getting worse.
Now it’s like a neck and a back problem.
But it’s manageable.
I’m tough, so I’ll always find ways to work.
My championship reign was with a broken wrist.
So I’ll figure it out one way or another.
You’ve got to work your way around it, sometimes maybe trick your body into thinking, ‘Eh,
it doesn’t really hurt that bad.’”
Baker was most recently on this week’s Dynamite to show her support for her boyfriend Adam
Cole, who himself has of course had his share of health scares.
So, hopefully this ongoing issue can be properly managed to avoid any unnecessary risks for
‘the doctor’.