Here is your news for April 8 2020.
We’re starting with news from WrestleMania, as one man who nearly appeared at
this year’s two-day event was Jeff Hardy.
According to Wrestle Talk, there were talks of Hardy facing Goldberg, after Roman
Reigns pulled out due to his ************************** condition, but the company
ultimately went for Braun Strowman, who captured the Universal Title.
Hardy only returned to WWE recently after spending close to a year on the shelf,
as he’s been dealing with an injury as well as two DWI arrests.
Of course, neither Hardy nor Strowman was the original opponent for Goldberg,
as Roman Reigns was supposed to face him, and WrestleTalk spoke about the
original plans, saying:
WWE’s initial plan when they figured Roman wouldn’t be on the show was to have
Goldberg retain. WWE wanted Goldberg to put over Roman Reigns, with this
being the only reason he defeated The Fiend for the Universal Championship at
Super ShowDown.
Though WWE had hoped to push the Reigns-Goldberg title match to Summerslam,
a phonecall with President Trump revealed that sports league owners are hoping
to re-open stadiums in September, but with the current situation, anything can happen.
Speaking of the Big Dog, there have previously been reports of WWE and Vince
McMahon being upset at Reigns for not competing, but that apparently couldn’t
be further from the truth.
In a report from WrestleTalk, there is no animosity towards the former World
Champion, as they said:
WWE higher-ups, including Vince McMahon himself, was very accepting of
Roman Reigns’ decision to miss the show, especially given his history with
leukemia.
It’s good to see there’s no animosity at the Big Dog for what must have been a
very difficult decision, and though it’d been great to win the Universal title, Reigns
rightly put his health and his family’s health first.
One man who did appear at WrestleMania in a major way is the Undertaker, who
won his critically-acclaimed cinematic Boneyard match against AJ Styles.
Returning as the American Badasss, the Phenom certainly impressed fans, and
according to WrestleVotes, this will be the Undertaker’s persona from now on.
With WWE giving fans a closer look at Mark Calloway himself, it certainly makes
sense for the Deadman to be portrayed as more human on screen, and though
he’s not donning his hat and trenchcoat, the Demon of Death Valley is still just as scary.
We’ve got more WrestleMania news now, as one person who was supposedly
meant to appear at this past weekend’s event was Tyson Fury.
Speaking to Alex McCarthy of Talk Sport, the Gypsy King confirmed he was
supposed to appear, but obviously couldn’t due to the ongoing situation.
In that same interview, Fury also said he’d love to face new WWE Champion Drew
McIntyre, and this comes out McIntyre called out Fury for a title match.
If that match does happen, it’ll have to wait after his fight with Deontay Wilder in
July, but there’s every chance this bout could be delayed.
McIntyre wasn’t the only new champion crowned at Wrestle Mania, as Charlotte
Flair won her second NXT Women’s title, and things have gone from bad to worse
for Rhea Ripley.
According to the PW Insider, Ripley has gone back to Australia to have her work-
visa renewed, but will need to go through a two-week mandatory ******* *******.
This means fans won’t see the former Champion for a while on WWE TV, as the
report reads:
Given the current state of the world, there is no known timetable for
her return, but she given the different ******************** involved with
international travel in each country, there is no real way for her to
return in time for this week’s scheduled NXT tapings in Florida, which
will cover multiple episodes of the USA Network series.
Ripley’s situation may have been a factor in the title change last weekend, and
whilst she will be back, fans shouldn’t expect to see her on WWE TV for some time.
From NXT’s Women’s division to RAW’s now, as Shayna Baszler didn’t win the
RAW Women’s title at Wrestle Mania, but isn’t letting that stop her drive.
On Twitter, the Queen of Spades said that this feud means so much more than just
the title now, as it looks like these two will be battling for quite some time.
It was long-believed that Baszler was the woman to dethrone The Man, and whilst
WrestleMania seemed like the perfect time for a title change, the Queen of
Spades may still be the one to end Lynch’s historic title reign.
Speaking of RAW, this week’s show was the first post- WrestleMania episode
without a live crowd, but many fans tuned in at home.
Showbuzz Daily reports that this week’s show drew an average 2.1 million
viewers, up over last week, which averaged less than 2 million.
Time will tell whether WWE can keep this momentum going, as the company
continues to film shows long in advance, whilst they still have the opportunity in
the current unpredictable situation.
It was on this week’s show that WWE Champion Drew McIntyre had his first title
defence, and the Scottish Superstar has already spoken about his historic win.
In an interview with ESPN, McIntyre spoke about his actions after defeating Brock
Lesnar, saying:
“One of our rules in WWE is that you don’t look down the camera and
break the fourth wall, like you wouldn’t do in a movie. But I couldn’t
help myself. In that moment, I just wanted to thank everybody for
supporting me, for supporting WWE during this time and choosing
WWE to take your mind off these difficult times. I wanted to let
everyone know how I felt, and I’m so glad we kept that in the show. I
wasn’t sure if it would be edited, because I really meant it.”
After a long, difficult road to the main event of Wrestle Mania, this win clearly
meant a lot to the first British WWE Champion, who told ESPN that he hid the title
in a locked-room after he won it at the tapings. He added:
Finally, when I had won the title, I saw the emotion and remembered
how real it was to me. In that moment, it was real again as I was
watching it. I went upstairs, I opened the door and I took the title out,
now that it was official.
ESPN wasn’t the only place the new Champion has shown up, as he also appeared
“Everyone wants to keep doing it and I want to be the one leading this
ship and I’m really proud of not just myself as champion, but WWE for
stepping up during this difficult time in the world.”
Fans don’t know what the future will bring, especially with the current global
situation evolving, but McIntyre is clearly in the right mindset to lead the WWE’s
ship through these unchartered waters.
From one Mania match to another now, as John Cena came up short in the Firefly
Fun House, but for a brief moment, fans got to see what would have happened if
Big Match John turned heel.
Donning the black and white of the NWO, Cena made his entrance as Hulk Hogan,
but according to Dave Meltzer, there was another time when the company
wanted to turn John heel. He said:
“There was even a time, I think most people know this, that Vince had decreed that
John was going to turn heel and it had all been agreed to. John had agreed to it.
John got his heel gear made and then Vince goes, Vince started thinking about it
and he goes, ‘It’s f****** stupid, he’s our #1 merchandise seller. He’s the face of our
company doing all this make-a-wish stuff.”
With over 600 Wishes granted, Cena is clearly a fantastic good guy, both in the
ring and in real-****, so it’s hardly surprising that Cena’s heel turn never made it to TV.
We’ve got some Triple H news now, as though the Game didn’t appear at
WrestleMania this year, he’s certainly been kept busy handling WWE during the
current global situation.
Speaking to TV Guide this week, the King of Kings remained positive when looking
at WWE’s future, saying that the WrestleMania reception could open the door for
more unique concepts, saying:
“All of those things, whether it’s off-site shoots or different things like that, I think
those will all be opportunities that we can explore in the future and we’ll see.”
Both the Boneyard match and the Funhouse match have been praised by fans, as
has WrestleMania being split into two, more digestable shows, but one part of
WWE that hasn’t done so well recently is NXT, that continues to lose to AEW
Dynamite in the ratings for the past 14 weeks.
Speaking to Sports Illustrated, the Game said that he is a believer in the long-
game, and compared the situation to the Monday Night Wars, saying that though
RAW was a better show than Nitro, they still often got beat.
Time will tell whether the Game’s words come true, but after so many losses to
Dynamite, NXT may be in need of a major change.
We’ve got some uncomfortable news from WWE’s original Diva Sunny, who has
hit out at fans making some very unpleasant requests.
On Facebook, the controversial manager said she’s tired of people wanting to date
her for money, but also took a classless swipe at Ashley Massaro, saying the
former Diva search winner was an escort, but doesn’t do that anymore.
This comment is especially tasteless as Massaro took her own **** last year, and
whilst it must be infuriating for Sunny to receive these kind of offers, we don’t
think someone who spent the last year in prison should be lecturing anyone about
the alleged actions of the sadly-departed Ashley.
Back to WrestleMania now, and after the success of the Firefly Funhouse match,
the WWE is unsurprisingly cashing in on their WWE Shop website.
On the site, the company is selling prints from the match, including Cena in his
rookie attire, John in his NWO attire, and the Fiend standing triumphant over the
16-time World Champion.
This isn’t the only big-ticket on the store right now, as the company is also selling
art from the Boneyard match, so fans can get a piece of WWE history in their very own homes.
Now, in the current global situation, everybody is being advised to keep clean and
for WWE, this is no different.
According to the PW Insider, some very big steps have been taken to ensure the
Performance Center is being kept as clean as possible, as they said:
The company will change the ropes, turnbuckles, canvas and aprons in between
matches as well as do a complete *********** of the PC to insure talents are kept healthy.
PW Insider is also reporting that during WrestleManaia, superstars were placed in
one hotel that the company took over, and revealed that this will also be the plan
for the next set of TV tapings.
It’s clear that the WWE is taking this current global situation very seriously, and
hopefully, things will be back to normal, sooner rather than later.
With all the measures and compromises WWE had to take for WrestleMania this
year, we’re pleased to see that the show was a success, and one person who
certainly thinks that is Mick Foley.
A former WrestleMania main eventer himself, the Hardcore Legend took to
Twitter to describe this year’s show as an “unqualified success, even under the
most adverse of conditions.”
It’s safe to say that this year’s show was unlike any Wrestle Mania before it, and
judging from the online consensus, the New York Times best-seller isn’t alone in
his opinion on this year’s show.
And finally we’re ending with someone who didn’t enjoy WrestleMania, as CM
Punk has said he finds it impossible to watch WWE these days.
Speaking on the No-Sports Report Show, Punk said:
I find it completely impossible to watch with no crowd. The audience is the
100% - and this is more evident than ever now - driving force behind what
wrestlers do in the ring. When I wrestled, that was my boss.
Though fans have slowly gotten used to the notion of having no crowd at the
arena, it still is very strange to see these matches take place in near-silence, and
we can’t wait for the crowds to once again return to the WWE’s arenas, when the
time is right.