Here's your wrestling news for April 27th 2022
And your headlines for today include
WWE NXT Star Pulled From Tonight’s Show!
Becky Lynch Drags AEW Over Lack Of Representation For Women’s Division!
Alberto El Patron Reportedly Pulled From Planned AAA Triplemania XXX Match!
John Cena Is Strongly Accused Of Stealing!
Ric Flair Claims WWE Made Video Tribute Anticipating His Death!
WWE Fans Roast The Fact That Veer Mahaan’s Enhancement Talent On Raw Looked Like A Mini Ryback!
Viking Raiders Return To WWE NXT This Week!
Sofia Cromwell Debuts During NXT2.0 This Week!
MLW Issues Response To WWE Move To Dismiss Antitrust Suit!
Cm Punk Returning To AEW Dynamite Commentary! And More!
We’re kicking off today with NXT 2.0, which last night was supposed to see Xyon Quinn in action.
Quinn was meant to face Tony D’Angelo in a match that had been announced over the weekend, but mere hours before the broadcast, Quinn was pulled from the show.
WWE made the announcement over social media, but gave no explanation as to why he was pulled.
Quinn was also short on details, as he said he’d suffered a minor setback and he’ll be back soon, but gave no actual details as to what happened.
In his place, D’Angelo faced Von Wagner, who had been suspended on NXT TV, which had actually been a story that allowed him time to work the recent NXT UK tapings.
Explaining this away, Wagner’s manager Robert Stone said that he had got Wagner’s suspension reduced, and had paid a fine to allow his client to wrestle again.
Whatever the reason for Quinn’s absence, he didn’t appear on last night’s NXT 2.0, but hopefully it won’t be too long before he’s able to get back in the ring.
In 2015, WWE revealed that they were going to start taking women’s wrestling more seriously on the main roster, after fans rallied on the company with the hashtag Give Divas A Chance.
WWE’s Women’s Revolution has allowed the female talent to have better stories, longer matches and even their own Pay Per View, but WWE isn’t the only promotion with a women’s division.
Speaking on Cut of the Day, WWE’s Becky Lynch was asked by Drew Garabo about the AEW Women’s division, and didn’t have many positive things to say:
“Unfortunately, I don't think they are represented the way we are, they don't get as much time as we get and frankly, they're not as good as we are.
We have, certainly on Raw, we have the best women’s division in the world. I say that without any hesitation in my voice. We have the best women’s division in the world.
Competition is great and it’s great for there to be another place and I have a very good friend, Ruby Soho, over there and I would love to see her as champion one day. I would love to see her
get the spotlight she deserves. Competition is always great. Over here, we’re on another level.” AEW has earned a very loyal fanbase over the years, but the
company continues to face criticism over their handling of female wrestlers, and as far as Big Time Becks is concerned, WWE’s division is leaps ahead of what Tony Khan is able to produce.
Now, earlier this month we reported on Alberto Del Rio, who was set to have his first match in three years.
After last competing in 2019, the former WWE World Champion was meant to compete at this weekend’s TripleMania event but that is reportedly no longer happening.
According to Emily Pratt of Fanbyte, the former WWE Superstar has been pulled from the match, in which he was supposed to team with Laredo Kid to face John Morrison and Taurus,
as well as Dragon Lee and Dralistico in triple-threat tag-team action.
Del Rio wasn’t Laredo’s first partner, as the original wrestler was removed due to visa issues, but there’s no confirmation and why Del Rio has been pulled.
The former WWE World Champion has been a controversial figure in recent years, and at one point was facing accusations of kidnapping and assault, though those charges were later
dismissed, but now Del Rio will have to keep on waiting for his return to the ring.
Before John Cena was the unquestionable face of WWE, he was the Dr. of Thuganomics, a white rapper who would freestyle on his opponents before every match.
These raps allowed Cena the chance to show of his creativity and promo skills each and every week, but he’s now being called out for stealing some of his lines.
According to Copywrite, Cena stole his lyrics to use on WWE TV, an the legendary underground rapper claims Cena didn’t ask permission to use these lines.
In the new track ‘Spoiler Alert/Have U Cena?’ Copywrite samples several lines from the 16-time WWE World Champion which he claims the Superstar stole from him, and ends the track with
shooting Cena, who is cut off mid quote.
The song is part of a new album, the High Exaulted 2, which is a sequel to his 2002 album High Exhaulted.
In the diss track, Copywrite says he’s not expecting a response from John, and we’ll have to see if the WWE Superstar turned Hollywood Megastar has any rebuttal for Copywrite’s claims.
In 2017, Ric Flair spent 13 days on life support after a series of medical issues that had been plaguing the two-time WWE Hall of Famer.
Lying in a hospital bed in the ICU, many at the time feared that Flair’s life was going to come to an end, and that includes WWE.
Speaking with ‘The Pivot’ this week, Flair discussed his 2017 health scare, and explained how WWE was preparing for the worst, saying:
“31 days later, I woke up in the ICU,” Flair recalled. “For 13 days I was on life support. I had no memory for six months. I could remember going forward, but I had no memory of the past.
They wrote me off. I was operated on Monday morning. The WWE made a package because it was, like, a 5% chance that I would make it through it. It makes you re-evaluate everything.
But at the end of the day, I still think that if you’re not hurting anybody, and you’re certainly not being malicious, I don’t think it’s wrong to have fun. I’m not going to stop.
I spent a year worrying that I was going to die every day. Once you’ve been that sick, I mean, all you do, and it’s kind of like getting over that anxiety, then you start feeling more comfortable
Then I had one beer, and one champagne, and then two beers and then a couple of years now and drinking the
vodka once in a while. I guess the best way to put it is there’s nothing left for me to do. I’m going to have fun. My family is all in a good place.”
Thankfully, Flair would pull through, and would even be back on WWE TV by the end of the year, and between this incident, and the infamous 1975 plane crash that broke his back, it’s clear
that it’ll take a lot more to take down the Dirtiest Player in the Game.
Over to Raw, as Veer Mahaan faced an enhancement talent on this week’s episode, but one that fans thought bore a striking resemblance to a former WWE Superstar.
As soon as Sam Smothers appeared on TV, fans took to social media to compare Smothers to Ryback, with fans questioning as to when the Big Guy chose to unretire.
Another account which parodies WWE’s creative team said that Smothers is what Ryback looks like when he doesn’t use steroids, implying that the Big Guy’s physique wasn’t all natural.
After being released in 2016, Ryback has spent years making claims against WWE, who he has accused of illegally surpressing his social media accounts, but as this week has shown
the fans still aren’t behind the former Intercontinental Champion.
In the six years since his release from WWE, Ryback has spent plenty of time taking shots at WWE and has made many claims against Vince McMahon.
Despite releasing a self-help book all about thinking positive and forgiveness, Ryback has called McMahon a pimp, and has said the wrestling world will be much better once the WWE Chairman is dead.
Ryback has also said he plans on returning to WWE, after doing several fan polls asking what he should do with his career, but in the unlikely event he does return, he won’t be given a warm welcome.
When Ringside News asked around, they were told that there is absolutely zero interest from WWE in re-signing him, and that’s he’s considered dangerous in the ring.
Not only that, but Ryback is considered a risk, and the source within WWE added that the general consensus is that he’s a quote “nut case.”
After 6 years of bile from the former Intercontinental Champion, it’s not hard to see why the current roster has this opinion of him, so don’t ever expect him back in WWE.
More from NXT 2.0 now, as WWE wants to have more main roster stars on the brand and this week was no exception.
During the broadcast, The Viking Raiders showed up on NXT 2.0 and appeared to be starting something with the Diamond Mine’s Creed Brothers.
Erik and Ivar do have a history with NXT, albeit the black and gold brand Triple H ran, and we’ll have to see what they accomplish in NXT 2.0.
This week’s NXT 2.0 didn’t just see returns, but also debuts, as Sofia Cromwell made her first appearance for the brand.
Appearing backstage during a backstage segment between Fallon Henley, Brooks and Jensen, the commentary team later namedropped her during a two-on-three mixed tag team match.
Cromwell is the on-screen name of Sydney Zmrzel, a former LA Rams Cheerleader, who was signed to WWE after the Las Vegas try outs in the Summer of 2021.
This is another example of a signing moving very quickly to NXT 2.0, as WWE wants to train new talent while they’re on screen personalities, and we’ll just have to see how Sofia Cromwell f
fares on the show.
In January, MLW launched a lawsuit against WWE, claiming that Vince McMahon’s promotion had interfered in their business practices, by putting pressure on the streaming platform Tubi.
And we’re ending today with CM Punk, who has proven to be a valuable commodity for AEW, and will be back on Dynamite tonight.
On social media, Tony Khan confirmed that Punk will be the guest commentator for tonight’s Owen Hart Foundation’s Men’s Tournament qualifier, which will see FTR face off one on one.
This will be the first time that Dax Harwood has faced Cash Wheeler in AEW, and the duo didn’t do so in WWE either, but whoever qualifies for the tournament, there win will be commented
on by the former WWE World Heavyweight Champion.