Here's your wrestling for may 3rd 2022
And your headlines for today include
Was This The BEST Opening Segment On RAW Between Roman Reigns And Drew McIntyre Thus Far?
WWE Keeping Creative Team In The Dark About Main Roster Releases!
Why AEW Decided To Remove Their Wrestler From Their Roster?
AEW Reportedly Releases Member Of The Dark Order!
Roderick Strong Requests His WWE Release!
WWE Gives New Talent A MAJOR Ultimatum!
2022 WWE Draft Is Already On Internal Company Calendar!
WWE’s Shocking Plans For Shinsuke Nakamura Challenging Roman Reigns For Universal Title
Sad News Concerning ALBERTO DEL RIO!
Cody Rhodes Stands Tall On RAW, But What Will The Fallout Be?
The Possible Direction For The AJ Styles-Finn Balor Alliance
Will Omos Finally Get Revenge On Bobby Lashley? And More!
We’re kicking off today with Monday Night Raw, which kicked off with SmackDown’s top name, Roman Reigns.
The Undisputed WWE Universal Champion was present to build up this weekend’s six-man-tag match at WrestleMania- Backlash, but he and The Usos were ambushed by RK-Bro.
It was a great way to show that Reigns still has some vulnerability, something that we have only seen bits of during his tenure as the Tribal Chief.
Later In the show, fans got a face-to-face confrontation between Reigns and Drew McIntyre, the sixth man in this weekend’s tag match, and it was the arguable highlight of the night.
Reigns' facial expressions alone and the feeling of being cornered seemed to legitimize McIntyre as a challenger, and whether Drew is the one to dethrone him or not, this should be an incredible rivalry.
Last week, a total of 10 Superstars were released from WWE, but none of them came from the main roster, as those on Raw and SmackDown were safe this time around.
After the NXT 2.0 cuts, Ringside News spoke to their sources within the promotion to ask about the main-roster, and were told that releases are being kept very private until they happen.
The source added that not even WWE’s creative team are being told who could be next to go, meaning a Superstar could be in the middle of a feud one week and gone the next.
WWE did have someone who was in charge of continuity, and making sure that what happened on TV made sense in the long- run, but that individual was fired themselves in November 2020.
Who goes next remains to be seen, but WWE has shown no sign of stopping their mass releases, but nobody, not even the writers, know who will go next.
Over to AEW now as the company has signed a lot of names over the years, but now another name from the company’s early days has gone.
On the company’s official roster, Stu Grayson of the Dark Order is no longer listed, but neither he nor AEW have confirmed what’s going on just yet.
F4WOnline are reporting that Grayson’s contract has expired, and the two sides failed to come to terms on a new deal, but it’s worth noting that the rest of the Dark Order are on the
AEW roster website.
Grayson’s most recent match for AEW was on the April 20th edition of Dark: Elevation, and his most recent televised match was back on the March 30th edition of AEW Rampage.
If Grayson’s time with the promotion has indeed ended, then he will join several long-time members of the company, as Joey Janela, Marko Stung and Peter Avalon have all departed in recent weeks.
That’s in addition to Cody Rhodes, unquestionably the biggest name to depart from the company, and Big Swole, who annou nced that she would be leaving in late November 2021.
Stu Grayson has been a pinnacle part of the Dark Order, and has represented the group on countless occasions, but from all signs, his time with the stable and AEW has come to an end.
Now, it was only a few years ago that the Undisputed Era dominated NXT, at one point holding every male championship the gold brand could provide.
Last year though, WWE released Bobby Fish, and both Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly let their contracts expire, and now the sole remaining member is looking to leave Vince McMahon's company.
According to Fightful Select, Roderick Strong has requested his release from WWE, and in fact has requested it several times over the past few months.
Roderick Strong has asked for his WWE release “multiple times” over the last several months. We’re told that Strong has grown frustrated with many things over the past year within the
company and had requested his release, which has been denied by WWE." Obviously, WWE doesn't want to see Strong go to AEW,
where Cole, Fish and O'Reilly are now working, as the last thing they want is for the Undisputed Era to reunite in full as part of Tony Khan's promotion.
It was reported in January that Strong signed a new contract with WWE, but we don't know how long that deal lasts, and while WWE will likely keep him on TV, the former North
American Champion is far from happy to be there.
More release news now, as it was only last Friday that 10 Superstars were cut from WWE NXT 2.0, with some big names of the paint-splattered brand being shown the door.
There’s never a good time for anyone to lose their job, but it appears that WWE waited some extra time before saying goodbye to this latest crop of wrestlers.
While speaking on Sunday Night’s Main Event podcast, Dave Meltzer stated that he had been told on April 13th and 14th that April 15th was going to be a bad day, meaning that was the
originally planned day for the cuts.
April 15th saw massive releases in both 2020 and 2021, but this year, April 15th came and went without anyone losing their jobs.
Instead of the planned date, WWE waited two weeks before releasing the 10 NXT 2.0 Superstars, but clearly knew who they were going to be firing in advance.
It’s highly unlikely that WWE will stop this trend of releasing talent in waves, and while most of the wrestlers cut last week will have been taken aback, and WWE’s own creative team
weren’t told who was being fired in advance either, WWE themselves knew who wasn’t going to be around for much longer
One of the most notable cuts last week was Harland, who joined WWE with a ton of buzz just last year.
Even before he signed with WWE, many were calling Harland the next Brock Lesnar due to his impressive physique, but it’s been reported that he didn’t improve enough during his time for WWE
to justify keeping him around
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that this will be WWE’s policy going forward, and that all new talent will have just 90 days to show improvements, or else lose their jobs.
Talent will reportedly be fine if they’re showing steady progress throughout their time, but , if there is not a quick improvement, then there is a chance they will not be kept around.
This policy will even apply to those who sign long-term contracts with WWE, so for anyone who’s just signed with WWE, the clock is ticking for you to justify why you should keep your job.
Each year, WWE will shake up it’s rosters with an annual draft, allowing Superstars to be moved from one show to another in order to create new feuds.
While the draft has lost some of its mystique, given that certain Superstars are now appearing on both shows, it’s still an exciting annual event for WWE, and this year’s draft is in the works.
Ringside News was told recently that WWE’s 2022 draft will take place this September, but like any plans in WWE, this is always subject to change.
Last year’s draft date was moved several times before it eventually happened, but for now, the plan is for a draft in just four months time.
WWE Superstars have been given no heads up as to what show they’ll be on latest this year, as Vince McMahon likes to capture an organic reaction at draft time, especially when he’s breaking up
tag team. We won’t know who’s on what show until after the draft, but WWE is already preparing to shake things up again this September.
It’ll be interesting to see which brand Shinsuke Nakamura ends up on, as he is on the cusp of a feud with Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
On the post-WrestleMania 38 SmackDown, it was teased that Nakamura would be next to face the Tribal Chief, but those plans are on the back burner for now.
Rather than face Nakamura at this Sunday’s WrestleMania- Backlash, Reigns will team with The Usos to face Drew McIntyre and RK-Bro, and we have a better idea as to why
plans have changed.
When Ringside News asked, they were told that Nakamura is in the plans for Reigns, but WWE is in no rush to push this feud.
The source said that “Nakamura is there for us to hit when it’s time,” and added that the eventual match between the two won’t be at a stadium show, but for when WWE needs a
new challenger for the Head of the Table. It seems like WWE doesn’t have much faith in a Nakamura-Reigns feud, but will get around to
it eventually, so expect the former King to one day become another victim of the Universal Champion.
We've got some sad news to report next, as Alberto Del Rio has confirmed that his ex-wife, the mother of his children, has died.
In a heartwrenching post, Del Rio spoke about Ángela Velkei, calling her an "exceptional human being" and "exemplary mother" to their three children, Sofia, Stephanie and Joseph.
It is with pain in my heart and with a torn soul that I officially confirm the unexpected and unfortunate death of Ángela Velkei, mother of my three children. Angela was an exceptional
human being and an exemplary mother to my three children. I thank each and everyone who went to donate blood and platelets, to the media that spread the word so that more
could go to help us and the whole family that is present for my children in this very difficult moment in their short lives.
Angela passed away this past Saturday 30 April 2022 and fought with all his might until his last second in this world. Today she rests with God and is watching over Sofia, Stephanie and
Joseph from heaven. Angela, you were my wife for many years, the mother of my children, my best friend, advisor and you were there for me.”
Del Rio went on to say that Angela had supported him even at times where everyone seemed against him, and promised that their three children will be brought up to be good people as
she always asked him to do. It was last week that Del Rio posted an urgent request for blood donors, and while those
efforts were ultimately in vein, we're offering the former WWE World Champion and their three children our deepest condolences at this incredibly difficult time.
Back to Raw now, as Cody Rhodes hijacked Seth Rollins’ appreciation night, answering the crowd chants of ‘We Want Cody’ that echoed throughout the arena.
Confronting his WrestleMania-Backlash opponent, Cody once again stood tall over Rollins, which may mean he’ll be coming up short this weekend.
Typically, whoever gets the upper hand on the go home show means that they lose when it matters, and it probably would’ve been better for Cody had Rollins been dominant last night.
With that said, a defeat at Backlash could be the right thing for Cody, who has so far been undefeated since returning to WWE, but will have to lose a match eventually.
It was his prominent push in AEW that caused the fans to turn on the American Nightmare, and as one of the very, very few credible top-tier babyfaces, WWE needs to do all they can
to keep Cody being cheered.
That may mean having Rhodes take the loss this weekend, in what would be his first WWE defeat since 2016, but that may not be a bad thing for the former TNT Champion.
And we’re ending with more Raw, which saw AJ Styles defeat Damian Priest in a match with a huge stipulation.
With his victory, Priest is now barred from ringside for this weekend’s Styles-Edge WrestleMania-Backlash rematch, but as soon as the Phenomenal One got the win, he was attacked by Edge.
What followed was a two-on-one beatdown that would’ve continued had Finn Balor not got involved, and formed an alliance with his fellow Bullet Club alum.
Nearly six years after an alliance was teased at Summerslam 2016, WWE are finally putting the two talented former World Champions together, and we’re amazed it’s taken them this long.
That doesn’t mean we expect Styles to win this Sunday, but no matter what happens at WrestleMania-Backlash, don’t be surprised if Styles and Balor become the new hot tag-team on Raw.
If The Usos don't take the titles from Raw Tag Titles from RK-Bro and the title unification match never happens, then we could see the duo of Styles and Balor dethroning Orton and
Riddle, giving both men some much needed direction on the red brand.