Here's more wrestling news for March 9th 2022
And your headlines for Afternoon include
Brock Lesnar’s Plans For WWE MSG Show Was Changed Several Times; Original Opponent Revealed!
Dolph Ziggler Wins NXT Title At Roadblock!
AEW Revolution Title Match Changed Multiple Times Before Event!
Triple H Gave Four Released WWE Superstars Creative Freedom, Causing Backstage Jealousy!
Sting Warns Younger Talent Not Be Lazy In The Ring!
Shane McMahon’s Original WrestleMania Opponent Revealed!
Tony Khan Responds To Chavo Guerrero Being Upset About Removal From AEW Roster!
Peacock Official Provides An Update On John Cena's New WWE Series!
Finn Balor Says He Questions Whether Money Wrestling Is Worth The Sacrifices He Makes!
Ronda Rousey Received The Highest Ratio Of Hate On Twitter Of Any Female Athlete! And More!
We’re starting off with last week’s WWE live event from Madison Square Garden, which featured a rare untelevised appearance by Brock Lesnar.
The WWE Champion was initially meant to defend against Bobby Lashley, but after he was pulled from the show, rumors circulated about who Roman Reigns
and Paul Heyman had chosen for the Beast Incarnate. In the end, their choice was Austin Theory, which
severely disappointed fans in MSG, many of whom had convinced themselves that Cody Rhodes was about to return.
We now know more about the match, and although Cody was never going to return to WWE this way, WWE had some pretty big names in their plans.
Wade Keller of PW Torch reports that Big E, Drew McIntyre and Seth Rollins were all considered as possible opponents, and for Rollins, this would’ve b
been his second title match of the night, after challenging the Tribal Chief. Kevin Dunn and Bruce Prichard initially chose McIntyre,
setting up a WrestleMania 36 rematch, with the planned finish seeing Reigns attack Brock, causing the DQ.
The card was finalised backstage until Vince McMahon changed his mind, and it was the Chairman alone who selected Theory for the match which angered fans.
While Austin Theory has proven himself to be a capable hand in the ring, and seems destined for a big push one day, many felt let down by MSG’s
main event, which live many big decisions, was decided by the Chairman and the Chairman alone.
Since relaunching as NXT 2.0 in September 2021, WWE’s developmental brand has seen an influx of guest stars, with Mandy Rose and AJ Styles
both making their presence felt on the show.
Most recently, Dolph Ziggler appeared in NXT 2.0, and now the ShowOff is once again a World Champion.
At Roadblock, Bron Breakker defended the NXT title against Ziggler and Tommaso Ciampa, and thanks to some interference by Robert Roode,
Ziggler was able to get the pinfall and the title
Ziggler pinned Ciampa to win the title, infuriating the former Champion, and odds are that Breakker will get another shot at NXT Stand and Deliver.
This is Ziggler’s first singles title in over four years, and his first World Championship in nine, and NXT 2.0 is now the ShowOff’s house.
Over to AEW, as last weekend’s Revolution Pay Per View saw a stellar title defence between Women’s World Champion Britt Baker and Thunder Rosa
but what fans saw wasn’t always the plan. Fightful reports that the ending of the match underwent several changes in the weeks leading
up to the show, but no explanation as to what changes were made to their bout. Its speculated that AEW is setting up a rematch
for their St. Patrick’s Day Slam show, which will air on next week’s edition of Dynamite from Rosa’a hometown of San Antonio, Texas.
Perhaps AEW is waiting for the hometown crowd before they give Rosa her biggest win and the AEW Women’s World Championship, but we’ll only know
for sure after next week’s Dynamite has aired
On November 4th last year, B-Fab was released from her WWE contract, and was followed by the rest of Hit Row two weeks later.
The group had been called up to the main roster mere weeks before they departed, but it seems that their call-up came after some issues developed in NXT.
On the Public Enemies podcast, an appropriate name for this interview, AJ Francis, aka Top Dolla said that some Superstars had grown to dislike
the group because they were given creative freedom. That creative freedom came from none other
than NXT’s head at the time Triple H, and Francis said how “people would be salty” that they didn’t give that kind of freedom, despite being in NXT
for much longer. Triple H reportedly told producers to not write any scripts for Hit Row, in stark contrast to the vast
majority of Superstars who have to recite pre-written promos word for word. Ultimately, this creative freedom wasn’t enough to
save Hit Row from being released mere weeks after they were called-up to SmackDown, and with Triple H no longer in charge of NXT, now NXT 2.0,
don’t expect any other young names on the paint-splattered roster to get this kind of creative freedom.
At AEW Revolution 2022, Sting competed in a massive 6 man tag-team match and proved that even at 62, the Icon has still got it.
Teaming with Darby Allin and Sammy Guevara, the trio defeated the Andrade Hardy Family Office, and the match saw the Stinger take a crazy balcony
dive through three tables.
Speaking on the post-show media scrum, Sting offered some advice to the younger talent in AEW, saying:
“I’ve seen so many loose cannons over the years, so many people that believe that they can break into the wrestling business easy if they just dye their
hair or come up with some kind of crazy gimmick. I’ll tell them all pretty much the same thing: [be] quick to listen, slow to speak. Learn first.
Keep your mouth shut. Just learn how to respect the business and everyone who came before you. “Don’t ever dog it out there. Wrestling fans will
look right through that. They know when someone’s just kind of going through the motions versus somebody who’s thinking about how their wrestling
gear looks. What their physique looks like and they’re giving it their all in the ring and they’re putting it out there. They’re taking risks. Fans see that and they
appreciate it.” With their feud with the Andrade-Hardy Family Office seemingly over, it remains to be seen what
Sting and Darby Allin do next, but after last weekend’s insane performance by the WCW legend, don’t be surprised if the popular duo have tag
team gold in their sights.
At the 2022 Royal Rumble, Shane McMahon made his on-screen return, but this latest comeback lasted just days before he was released.
Cut from the company after a series of backstage incidents at the Rumble, all future plans for Shane had to be scrapped, including plans for WrestleMania 38.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer confirmed reports that Shane was meant to face Seth Rollins at WrestleMania, which had been
rumored at the time of McMahon’s release. McMahon had reportedly furious when WWE decided not to include Rollins in the Men’s Royal
Rumble, as he had hoped that the January event would mark the start of their feud for Mania. Meltzer joked that WWE may need to give Shane
call back, as Rollins is still without anything to do next month, and there’s no word on if WWE have any plans for the former Universal Champion
Whatever WWE may have planned for Rollins, they’re keeping quiet about it, and while the Architect is too big a star to not have a match
at WrestleMania, it won’t be against Shane McMahon as originally planned.
More from AEW, as recently, Chavo Guerrero was removed the company website’s roster, an action that Chavo was given no heads up about.
Since then, the former ECW Champion has questioned how much Tony Khan’s word is worth, as Guerrero was promised he could always come
back to AEW, after he finished being a wrestling co-ordinator on the newest season of Young Rock.
Chavo doesn’t believe Tony Khan’s word anymore, and now Khan has given his side of the story.
Speaking on the post Revolution scrum, Khan said he only missed one phone call from Guerrero, refuting Chavo’s claim that he called several times
to contact him. Khan added: “I don’t want to say how much he got paid to be the stunt coordinator for Young Rock, but he got
paid a huge amount of money. He asked if he could take time off and leave, and I said, he was not under contract. He was on a weekly deal.
I said, ‘I would love to have you back, and I do like you a lot, and you did a great thing. We will make our plans going forward without him here.’”
Khan then went on to say that AEW has done a lot of big things since Chavo was written off TV last September, but promised that he will call the
veteran wrestler, adding: “It was kind of a busy week when he called, as we have a show every day. Wednesday we
did Dynamite and Elevation, then we shot Dark in Orlando, and then we shot Rampage live. To be fair when Chavo was here, all of this was crammed
on Wednesday. So maybe he didn’t know I had such a busy week. It remains to be seen if Chavo and Khan’s
relationship can be fixed, but for now, the AEW President is willing to try and get in touch with Guerrero to sort this whole thing out
Back to WWE, as each year, John Cena gets less and less available, with his career as an actor outside the wrestling world continuing to grow.
John isn’t completely gone from WWE though, as he’ll be closely involved in the upcoming series ‘ WWE Evil’ and more details have been revealed
about this project. Speaking to Vulture, Peacock President Kelly Campbell said she’s super excited for the new
show, which will said Cena’s “will bring a fun new take” on WWE’s most iconic heels. Campbell also praised WWE saying her company
and Vince McMahon’s promotion have had an “incredibly successful partnership” which shows no sign of slowing down.
Cena isn’t scheduled to be at WrestleMania 38, but he’ll soon be appearing for WWE Evil, as ironically it’ll be one of wrestling’s most unshakeable
babyfaces who’ll tell all about the industry’s greatest monsters.
In 2014, Finn Balor joined WWE after becoming one of the hottest commodities across the world.
Balor’s career in WWE has had its share of ups and downs, but as a former World Champion and reigning United States Champion,
it’s safe to say that the Prince is on one lucrative contract. Money isn’t everything however, as during an
appearance on After the Bell, Balor discussed the pitfalls of being a wrestler, and how it often doesn’t feel like its worth what he’s gone through
“The money is not that good for the amount of pain we go through and being away from my family for 20 years. I wrestle with myself the whole time as to,
like, hey, is this money worth being away from Ireland? In ten years time, when my family, people start to pass, my friends move on,
is the money going to be worth the sacrifice that I’ve given up? The U.S Champion went on to say that he has 12
nieces and nephews, but they don’t know him as Uncle Fergal Devitt, but only as the Finn Balor character they see on TV.
Balor has given some of the best years of his life to wrestling, and has his fair share of injuries, but its missing out on his family that hurts the Prince
more than any physical setback
And we’re ending today with Ronda Rousey, who returned to WWE earlier this year, but fans weren’t exactly thrilled to see her back, with many believing
she’s taking a spot from a more deserving, full-time Superstar. It doesn’t help that Rousey was a heel when she left
WWE in 2019, and although WWE has positioned her as a babyface this time, it hasn’t won over people online.
A recent study commissioned by BonusFinder found that Rousey receives more hate than any other female athlete, with a whopping 83.1% of tweets
sent to the 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble winner being of a negative nature.
While Becky Lynch received more negative tweets in total, she also received more positive tweets than Rousey and has a 76.19% negativity ratio.
Olympic Gymnast Simon Biles has the most replies with 14,077, but only 65.11% of these were negative.
It’s always worth considering that unlike Biles, WWE Superstars often deliberately portray villains on screen, which will influence how much
hate they receive, but right now, the woman WWE wants as SmackDown’s next top female babyface isn’t feeling the love online.