Here's more wrestling news for April 4th 2022
And your headlines for Afternoon include
Triple H Makes Surprise WrestleMania 38 Appearance, Leaves His Boots In The Ring!
Cody Rhodes Claims He Didn’t Leave AEW Over Money Or Creative Differences!
Why Seth Rollins Was Picked As Cody Rhodes WrestleMania 38 Opponent?
Who Was Originally Booked In Ronda Rousey’s Spot At WrestleMania 38?
Shane McMahon Trends As Fans Are Happy He Didn’t Face Seth Rollins At WrestleMania!
WWE Superstar reportedly upset that their match was cut short at WWE WrestleMania 38!
WWE Superstar Rick Boogs provides details on injury sustained at WrestleMania Night 1!
WWE Boking Of Edge vs. AJ Styles Match At WrestleMania!
Trish Stratus Reveals That Lita Literally Saved Her Life During WWE Event And more!
We’re kicking off with WrestleMania: Sunday, as the show started with a special appearance by Triple H.
Opening the show off, this marked the Game’s first appearance at a Premium Live Event in over a year, and his first appearance in front of such of a large crowd
since announcing his retirement last month.
Fans were elated to see Triple H make his way to the ring with a loud “thank you hunter” chant filling AT&T Stadium.
Doing his signature pose on the apron, The King of Kings thanked everyone for their support and welcomed the crowd to WrestleMania: Sunday, as pyro and fireworks erupted.
When the camera came back to the ring, we saw Triple H had left his wrestling boots in the middle of the ring, a sign of his retirement from in-ring competition.
Greeting his family members on his way to the back, this was a powerful, emotional way to start the second night of WWE’s most stupendous show, and between his cardiac
event, his retirement and the death of his good friend Scott Hall, this was a much needed feel-good moment for the Cerebral Assassin.
WrestleMania: Saturday also saw the WWE return of Cody Rhodes, nearly two months after he announced his departure from AEW.
Three years after founding the company, and after saying in interviews that he’d be with AEW for life, it’s hardly surprising that fans have questioned Cody’s decision to depart from
the company he founded. While there’s been reports and speculation on what caused Cody to leave, including reports
of pay issues and losing creative control, that won’t be confirmed by Rhodes himself, who told Variety this week:
”I chose to remain silent about my departure from AEW and I’m going to keep my word on that. There’s no shoot interview. There’s no nefarious tale that’s going to be told
There were all these different theories and none of them are correct. I mean, there were things about
money and creative control. They were printed as fact and it’s been a very difficult two months to see that, when the reality is it was just time. It was a personal matter and
we couldn’t move past it.” Fans are certainly excited to see what Cody does next, but whatever personal matter caused
the former TNT Champion to part ways with AEW, you won’t ever find out from Rhodes himself
Cody Rhodes isn’t going to open up about what exactly led to his departure from AEW, but he is willing to talk about what he’ll do differently now that he’s a WWE
Superstar once more
Speaking in a media scrum, Rhodes was asked by Wrestling Inc if he has plans to be involved in WWE management like he was with AEW, but Cody isn’t sold on the idea:
Never say never, just general. Because in six years if we are having this conversation again I could be completely going back what I said. I don’t think I want a management
job in wrestling ever again. I don’t think I was mature enough for it. And I tried.”
Cody also discussed the WWE’s Performance Center, which was where his father Dusty worked for years as a coach for NXT, but you won’t see Rhodes in the PC.
The American Nightmare said that he’ll be happy if he never steps foot in the Performance Center, as it’ll be a reminded that his dad is no longer with him.
He added that upon leaving OVW, his dad told Cody to “never go back. Once you’re done, never go back,” an attitude Rhodes is using for the Performance Center.
Right now, Cody Rhodes is looking to the future, and after leaving WWE in 2016 and becoming one of the hottest things in wrestling, the future looks very bright for the American
Nightmare
Cody’s match against Seth Rollins is already being considered a match of the year candidate, as the two wildly popular Superstars had fans hooked throughout their
near-22-minute bout. Orignally, WWE had planned on Rollins facing Shane McMahon at the most stupendous event
of the year, but that was before Shane was released days after the Royal Rumble in January.
Speaking on the Ringer Wrestling Show, Rhodes discussed facing Rollins at WrestleMania, and said why there was nobody better for him to face in his first match back:
“[Could have been] Nobody else. Seth walked into the ring in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in his first live event loop ever coming off of Florida Championship Wrestling
and it was against me. Dayton, Ohio, at the Nutter Center, his first dark match on television and it was against me. The Shield vs. The Rhodes, which I blocked those matches
out of my head and then realized, ‘Man, these were special and something,’ and it was him then. I can honestly say that it needed to be Seth Rollins.
Cody has confirmed he will be on tonight’s Raw and will have a live microphone, and we’re sure interested to hear what he, and Seth Rollins, have to say on tonight’s
unpredictable show.
Immediately after the return of Cody Rhodes, WWE released three official shirts of the American Nightmare, with each one featuring his infamous neck tattoo design.
According to Brad Shepard, Rhodes’ WWE t-shirt sales have been “red hot” since being released, according to a source within the company.
Rhodes clearly has a ton of support from the fans, and after three years of mixed-at-best reactions in AEW, the former \Executive Vice President has been met with nothing but
love so far.
In January, Ronda Rousey made her long-awaited return to WWE, winning the Women’s Rumble match to earn a title match at WrestleMania.
That match didn’t go how Rousey would’ve hoped, as Charlotte Flair gave her her second loss in WWE, but the company had a much different plan in mind at first.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer reported that Banks was the original plan for Charlotte Flair, but that plan was scrapped when Rousey signed a deal to return.
As for the RAW Women’s Championship, the plan was always for Bianca Belair to face Becky Lynch, and that plan had been locked in since Summerslam 2021.
Ironically, WWE’s back-up plan for Banks led to her and Naomi capturing the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championships, and we aren’t confident that the Boss
would’ve left WrestleMania with gold had she faced Charlotte Flair as originally planned.
In the weeks before WrestleMania, Cody Rhodes was considered the favourite to face Seth Rollins at the show of shows, but he was by no means the only name fans were
considering. Perhaps the second most likely candidate was Shane McMahon, who Rollins was originally scheduled to face, and it had been
reported that Shane was in the area for WrestleMania week.
Ultimately, the show of shows went on without an appearance by WWE’s prodigal son, and the fans were very happy to not see him.
On Twitter, Shane McMahon’s name was trending, not because fans were wanting a surprise return, but because they were thrilled that it wasn’t the son of the Chairman.
With Rollins teasing Shane as a possible opponent on Twitter days before the match, we can’t imagine the kind of meltdown the Internet Wrestling Community would’ve
had, but things worked out for the best thanks to WWE’s deal with Cody Rhodes.
Now, before WrestleMania 38, it was announced that Sheamus and Ridge Holland would face the New Day’s Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods and that this match would
happen on the Saturday show. That match didn’t happen on Night One, as it was removed due to time constraints, and tensions
were running high even before that decision was made. According to Sean Ross Sapp, the match was scheduled to be the shortest match at
WrestleMania, and was planned to only get \ 10 minutes and that includes entrances
This led to quote “at least one person involved” being reportedly “very upset” about how little time the match \ would get.
After being removed from Night One, the match took place in the same originally planned spot, second to last, as part of Night Two.
This move did little to improve the run time of the bout, as the match lasted just 1 minute and 40 seconds from bell to bell.
We can’t say for certain who was very upset about the match’s length, or how they reacted to the short time they received on Night two, but this all made for a very
tense situation backstage in Texas.
Perhaps the biggest setback at WrestleMania was Rick Boogs’ injury, as the powerhouse’s first championship opportunity at WrestleMania didn’t go as planned.
During the match, Boogs suffered a knee injury which f orced WWE to call an audible and end the match prematurely, and Michael Cole would later inform form
that Boogs has suffered a torn quadirceps and patella tendon and will require surgery. On Instagram, Boogs gave an emotional update
on his condition, saying that he’s grateful to compete at WrestleMania, but said his experience was the highest of highs and lowest of lows.
Boogs added that his tendon was ripped completely from the bone, but that he will come bag bigger, better and stronger, calling it a mindset.
There’s still no confirmation on if Boogs and Nakamura were set to win the SmackDown Tag Team titles this past weekend, but if WWE still has any plans for the duo to
be champions, they’ll have to wait until the guitar-playing Superstar is fully healed.
On Night Two, Edge and AJ Styles had the long-awaited dream match between the two, which highlighted the talents of both men.
Not only was AJ immaculate as fans had come to expect, but Edge showed off why his heel turn has worked despite the immense sympathy his nine-year retirement has given him
with fans. Entering to a fiery backdrop reminiscient of his days with the Brood, this was a perfect old-school
style wrestling match, with action and drama between two matched Superstars.
The pair were so well matched that it took Damian Priest to make the difference, as he distracted Styles enough to give Edge the win with a mid-air spear.
Post-match, the two celebrated with a laugh as this seemed to be the start of some new brood.
If so, we have to question who else could be part of the stable, and we’re also questioning whether WWE will go with a heavier band than Alter Bridge for a new theme.
Whatever the case this was a great match with a stunning finish, and with this newly-formed heel team set to make an impact on Raw, expect some interesting things with
the babyface RAW Tag Team Champions RK-Bro.
Throughout women’s wrestling history, few names are more respected than Trish Stratus and Lita who have been both the best of friends and fiercest of rivals.
During the 2001 WWF Invasion event, the pair teamed to face The Alliance’s Stacy Kiebler and Torrie Wilson, but the scariest spot of their segment was after the match had ended.
Making their way to the back, Stratus nearly fell through a gap in the ramp, which had been shaped as a V with two entrances, one for the WWF Superstars and one for the Alliance.
On Twitter, Stratus reacted to a clip of her near-fall, and said that if Lita hadn’t grabbed her, she could have nearly lost her life.
A single bad fall or bump can derail or even end a career, but thanks to Lita, the seven-time Women’s Champion would go on to have a long, prosperous career in the ring.
And that’s the end of the video, after an explosive two days of WrestleMania. But what did you think was the Match of the Night for the Sunday show? Let us know in the comments.