And your headlines for WrestleMania Saturday include
WWE Has Huge Singles Plush Planned For Smackdown Superstar!
Finn Balor Once Again Wasted With Two Losses On Smackdown Before WrestleMania
WWE Announces Massive Change Of Pay For Its Talent
Triple H Makes Surprise Appearance In Emotional Meeting With WWE Roster
Former NXT Champion Samoa Joe Returns To ROH! Confirms Signing With AEW!
Bray Wyatt Confirms He’ll Wrestle Again Despite Year-Long Hiatus
Update On Wedding Plans For Charlotte And Andrade El Idolo And more!
We’re kicking off this WrestleMania Night One edition of Slat Rock with SmackDown, which hosted the eighth annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
The match had a stacked roster involved, with many expecting United States Champion Finn Balor or Damian Priest to get the win, but it was instead Madcap Moss
who stood tall.
Last eliminating Balor to get the win, Moss was hardly who fans expected to win, but it makes sense on paper.
For weeks, WWE has been teasing friction between Moss and Happy Corbin, and with the former 24/7 Champion getting the win last night, it’s clear that the company
has plans for him as a singles star. With Corbin set to face Drew McIntyre at WrestleMania, a match that it’s expected Drew will
win, it’s likely that this weekend will mark the final outing of Corbin and Moss as a team, and they’ll go their separate ways after that
Moss is a breakout star waiting for his big moment, and this win was a big step in elevating Madcap to the next level on SmackDown.
Moss’s win came at the expense of Finn Balor, who lost not once but twice on last night’s SmackDown.
In a guest appearance on the show, Balor first came up short in the Battle Royal, and later teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs to face The Usos and Austin Theory.
Not only did this give the U.S. Champion his second loss of the night, but he also took the pin from Theory, who has had Balor’s number as of late.
After a dominant run in NXT, Balor’s return to the main roster has been mixed to say the least, and it seems that being United States Champion has done nothing to
help his position. Much like his blue brand, Intercontinental Champion Ricochet, it feels like Balor has somehow
reached a worst position now he’s champion, despite theoretically being the second top star on Raw, after WWE Champion Brock Lesnar.
With no match booked for WrestleMania, don’t expect things to change for Balor, and with yet another loss to Austin Theory, a title change may be a matter of days away.
In September 2020, WWE announced that Superstars would no long be allowed to have any third-party deals, including Twitch streams.
The backlash to this decision was immense, as talent had to close streaming accounts, OnlyFans accounts and lose out on sponsorships, but there’s now been a change in plans.
During a company-wide talent meeting this week, WWE President Nick Khan announced to the roster that they will now be able to make additional money from third party
platforms, or as WWE is calling it “profit participation.” Khan didn’t explain how exactly this increase will happen, but said that money can be earned on
top of the Superstars current contracts, and this will include appearances on Cameo, autograph signings and third- party programming, both scripted and unscripted.
It should come as no surprise that those at the meeting took this very well, with one source describing it as a great way to start WrestleMania weekend.
It was WWE’s ruling against third-party deals that cost Zelina Vega her job back in 2020, though she would later return to the company, and while details are still scarce about this
new plan, it’s a step in he right direction.
Khan, despite his nickname as ‘The Terminator’ was a welcome sight at this meeting, but he wasn’t the only big name who appeared.
Before Khan spoke, the meeting opened up with WWE Head of Talent Relations, who introduced Triple H to the meeting.
For many Superstars, this had been the first time they’d seen the Game since August as he’d suffer a cardiac event mere days later in September 2021.
Triple H spoke about his health and WrestleMania, with sources at the scene saying it was an emotional talk for everyone involved.
This was also one of the Game’s very first appearance since he announced his retirement last week, as while his in-ring days are over, Triple H still remains an important part of
WWE’s morale.
Ring of Honor news next as the company had their first show in months last night with Supercard of Honor 15, and some interesting names showed up for the momentous occasion.
In the main event, Jonathon Gresham became the Undisputed ROH World Champion, but his celebration was short lived.
Attacked after the match by Jay Lehtal and Sonjay Dutt, and this beatdown would’ve continued if not for the appearance of Samoa Joe.
One of the pioneers of ROH, Joe earned a thunderous response from the crowd, and that continued after he spoke in the ring once the show went off the air.
The three-time former NXT Champion said that he knows the crowd have missed him, and spoke about being part of the formative years of ROH.
After being released from WWE not once but twice, we doubt we’ll ever see Samoa Joe in a WWE ring again, but he now is once again finding his place outside of Vince McMahon’s
promotion.
Joe’s surprise appearance at Ring of Honor Supercard of Honor 15 was a massive moment but it somehow got surpassed by what was announced on Twitter.
Given that ROH was bought by Tony Khan last month, Samoa Joe appeared on a Khan-run event, and on Twitter, the AEW President confirmed that Samoa Joe is All Elite.
Not only is Joe now with AEW, but fans won’t have to wait long to see him, as in the final moments of Supercard of Honor, the commentary team confirmed that he’ll be
on next week’s edition of Dynamite. Following his two shocking releases from WWE and his appearing at Supercard of Honor, Joe will have
plenty to say and fans will get to hear it all when he steps foot in an AEW ring for the first time.
In July 2021, WWE released Bray Wyatt from his contract in a decision that truly shocked fans.
It's been nearly an entire year since Wyatt's last match, as the former Universal Champion has instead been working on a film project with Jason Baker.
After such a long absence, fans can't be blamed for thinking that Bray's time in the ring is over, but on Instagram, the former Superstar confirmed he will wrestle again, writing:
I will always love wrestling. I couldn’t imagine spending the rest of my life without stepping in the ring again and hearing that roar again. I think about it often. Everything has to be in
place though. Like I said, timing is everything."
In that post, Wyatt was seen looking out of a window, and also stated that he is right now in Dallas, Texas.
Wyatt is set to appear at today's WrestleCon event, but in a non-competing role, and though it remains to be seen when he wrestles next, the former World Champion is
by no means done in the ring.
And we’re ending with Charlotte Flair and Andrade El Idolo, who have been engaged since January 2020.
Though they now work for different companies, the pair are still firmly together as confirmed in a string of photos on social media, and the happy couple are ready to tie the knot.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani of BT Sport, Charlotte confirmed that they have a date for the wedding, saying it’ll \be this summer and that she has her dress already picked out.
When asked if she’ll take time off for the wedding preparation, or if WWE will even allow her to do so, Flair wasn’t so sure as she quickly replied “Who knows?”
With Flair set to defend the SmackDown Women’s Championship tonight, the Queen will have her hands full when she faces Ronda Rousey, but this title match
at WrestleMania isn’t the only important matter on her mind.