Here's more wrestling news for March 22nd 2022
And your headlines for Afternoon include
Popular Tag Team inches closer to heel turn on latest RAW
WWE has no idea what’s going on with their own Women’s Tag Team division
Matches and more announced for final RAW before WrestleMania 38
Two matches announced for WrestleMania have been changed
The Undertaker comes clean about ‘that’ photo with his alleged grandma
How long will the Hardy Boys stay together in AEW?
Renee Paquette praises former WWE Champion’s work during Thunderdome era: Says he’s firing on all cylinders now
The Undertaker reveals huge struggle he’s still having to deal with
How did AEW’s new deal with DDT Pro Wrestling come about? And more!
We’re starting off with RAW, which this week saw RK-Bro beat Alpha Academy, one of the two teams they’ll face at WrestleMania.
The night saw the RAW Tag Champions get the win, but they had little time to celebrate as post-match, both teams were taken out by the Street Profits.
While they stood tall last night, it appears that RK-Bro will have their moment at WrestleMania, and don’t be surprised if the Profits turn heel after WrestleMania.
Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins haven’t been acting like faces lately, and while they haven’t fully turned yet it could very well happen should they come up short at
WWE’s biggest show of the year
Speaking of Tag-Team gold, the Women’s Tag Team Champions Carmella and Queen Zelina have been at odds lately, which carried on into last night’s RAW.
Backstage, the two teased a break-up as Carmella seemed more interested with her phone than being a tag-champion, but this seems to have been a ruse.
After Shayna Baszler and Natalya beat Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley, the tag team champions cleared house, a spot practically identical to what we saw with the
the Street Profits. Hugging afterwards, it seems that the dissention between the champ was a ruse, but we can’t say
for sure knowing WWE’s history of last minute booking changes. Against three teams the chances of the Champions
retaining are slim, but the direction of the storyline indicates that there is a lot of backstage confusion ahead of the potential title change at WrestleMania.
Next week will see the final RAW before WrestleMania, and there’s been plenty announced to entice fans.
Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar will have a face to face next week ahead of their title unification match at WrestleMania, while the Miz will face Rey Mysterio
after stealing the luchador’s mask this week. The Street Profits will face Alpha Academy next week, and all four teams in the WrestleMania
women’s tag match will be part of an eight-woman tag-team match. WWE has promised that WrestleMania 38 will be the
most “stupendous” two-night show of the year, and time will tell if the final RAW before the big show can live up to the hype.
More WrestleMania news next, as two tag title matches for the show have undergone a change.
It’s been confirmed that the Alpha Academy has been added to the RAW Tag Team Title match, which will now be a triple threat tag match, featuring Otis and Gable
the Street Profits and the reigining champions RK-Bro. The Women’s Tag Team title match has also undergone a slight change, as the bout was originally
announced to be happening on WrestleMania: Sunday on April 3rd, but is now not assigned to any day.
That match will see Carmella and Queen Zelina defend against Naomi and Sasha Banks, Liv Morgan and Rhea Ripley, and Shayna Baszler and Natalya, and whichever
night the match takes place, the champs will be at one serious disadvantage.
For years, the Undertaker refused to break character, an act that earned him the respect of everyone, but there was one photograph that followed the
former World Champion. Known as the Lord of Darkness, a photo of The Undertaker stood next to an old leader, believed to
be his grandmother, has perplexed fans for years, and the truth has finally come out about this image.
On the podcast with Ryan Satin, the soon to be WWE Hall of Famer opened up about that photo, admitting that the woman he’s seen with isn’t his relation:
“The funny thing about this is I have no clue who that is. I honestly have no idea who that is and why I'm in that lady's house. I have seen that picture many times,
and it's always either ‘my mom’ or ‘my grandmother’ — I got no clue.” Whoever the mystery woman is, she was lucky to
get a picture in her own home with the legendary Deadman, in one brief character-breaking moment for the legendary performer
This month, Jeff Hardy joined AEW and immediately reunited with his brother Matt in a feel-good moment for fans.
Many fans had wanted Jeff to join AEW even before his WWE release, but Jim Cornette isn’t sold on the Hardys being back together.
On his Drive Thru podcast Cornette noted how the duo have had multiple reunions over the years, almost all of them brief, and questioned just how long the two
will stay together this time. No matter how many reunions they have, the Hardys will always be considered one of the greatest
teams ever, and despite WWE’s best efforts, the iconic duo are now working for Tony Khan.
One WWE legend Khan doesn’t have is Edge, who’s return from retirement has been nothing short of miraculous.
Not only is Edge wrestling again, but he had to do so for much of his return with a live crowd to cheer him on.
Instead, the Rated-R Superstar had to make do with the silent performance center and later the Thunderdome, hardly the right setting for his
miraculous return. During the MackMania podcast, Renee Paquette discussed Edge’s return, and said that the eleven
time former World Champion had “changed the game” during the Thunderdome era. Paquette explained that Edge was able to find a way
connect with fans even when their wasn’t a single member of the audience in attendance, adding that “ the dude is firing on all cylinders.”
With crowds back, Edge has finally been able to have matches with an audience, and we expect a barnburner between him and AJ Styles, which’ll
thankfully happen in front of a rabid crowd next weekend in Arlington, Texas.
More Undertaker news, as since Survivor Series 2020, Mark Calaway, the man who portrayed the Undertaker, has done plenty of out of character appearances,
but these has been difficult for the former World Heavyweight Champion.
Speaking on Ryan Satins podcast, appropriately titled Out of Character, Calaway explained that he's struggling to leave The Undertaker behind, saying:
There will be times that I’m smiling, but I’m worried about losing my composure ... I’m only starting to get used to talking like this and being open like this.
It’s always been really difficult for me to carry on conversations as Mark Calaway in these kinds of settings."
As The Undertaker, Calaway's dedication to his character earned him the praise of those in the industry and fans alike.
On April 1st, The Undertaker will take his rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame, and while the man who donned the iconic hat and trenchcoat will have plenty
of stories to tell, this too will be a battle for Mark Calaway.
And we’re ending with AEW, who last weekend announced a huge partnership with DDT Pro Wrestling, one of the most popular promotions
based in Japan.
The plan is for AEW to showcase some of DDT Pro's native talent to Western audiences, and both companies are very important to Kenny Omega.
It was in DDT Pro that Omega first made a name for himself outside the U.S, and the former AEW World Champion is happy to pay his old stomping ground back.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that Omega and his connections played a crucial part in the partnership happening, as he has plenty of friends
in high places in DDT Pro.
Meltzer added that the new deal will also include talent from Tokyo Joshi Pro, which will allow more talent to collaborate.
It was only last week that DDT Pro Wrestling celebrated their 25th anniversary, and with AEW on board thanks to the Cleaner, expect the Japanese
promotion to get bigger and better from here on.