Here's your wrestling news for March 5th 2022
And your headlines for Afternoon include
Steve Austin Not Wrestling At WWE WrestleMania After All?
"Vince didn't understand that" - Brock Lesnar On Why He Butted Heads With Vince McMahon In Real Life!
"I Did Get A Little Spooked"- Brock Lesnar On Incident From Last Year That Scared Him!
Did WWE Gave Away MAJOR Spoilers? Are Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman Making Their Way Back To WWE?
Erick Redbeard Shows Up In AEW And Gets A Match At Revolution!
Chris Jericho Files To Trademark The Term ‘ Sports Entertainer’!
Fans Panic After Alexa Bliss Drops Possible Goodbye Message!
Bayley Reacts To Vince McMahon Calling Michael Cole “A Horrible Human Being”!
Status Of Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal! And More!
We’re kicking off with Stone Cold Steve Austin, and for the past month, it’s been reported that The Texas Rattlesnake will wrestle at WrestleMania 38
against Kevin Owens.
Austin’s return would be his first match in 19 years, and despite initial reports that the match is happening, things aren’t as clear anymore.
In the Observer, Meltzer noes that it’s “not certain” if this will be a match, but said the two will definitely have some kind of confrontation.
If the match doesn’t go ahead then Austin will likely confront Owens for insulting Texas, and presumably dispatch of the former Universal Champion with
with the Stone Cold Stunner. This is a big step back from the reports that a match between the two was definitely happening, but
whatever the Rattlesnake does this April, we’re sure it’ll get a monster pop from his home-state crowd.
Brock Lesnar will look to make history at this year’s WrestleMania when he faces Roman Reigns in their epic title unification main event on Sunday April 3rd.
One of WWE’s most valuable, and highest paid Superstars, Lesnar was rocketed to the top in his two runs with WWE, with his firs run coming to
end in 2004. At WrestleMania 20, Lesnar faced Goldberg, who was also leaving, and the match was panned by the
audience who considered both men sell outs for departing WWE.
Speaking to News Day this week, Lesnar spoke about his infamous first match with Goldberg, saying:
"I really didn't care at the time. I just wanted to get in that ring and get the hell out of there as fast as I could, because it was my last commitment to the
at the time. I was in a good spot, but in a bad spot at the same time, because I wanted out of the company. I was still a young athlete and I
had aspirations of doing other things. At the time, WWE wasn’t enough for me. And I had explained that to Vince [McMahon] and we butted heads
pretty hard, because I had just signed a new contract back then worth quite a bit of money at the time. And so the company backed Brock Lesnar at the
time, but I just wanted out. And looking back now — and Vince and I have talked about this — it’s water under the bridge.”
Lesnar admitted that while he didn’t care about things at the time, his departure worked out for the best, as he would become a much bigger star
outside WWE in UFC, making his 2012 return a bigger deal:
"I don't think I would be as big an attraction as I am for them now [had I not left]. I think the company has made their investment back a million times
over because I did leave the company, and I was successful when I left. I had a short stint in the NFL, did a little wrestling in Japan. Ultimately, I
I found my home, and it was in the [UFC] octagon. And it fulfilled that need and that void inside of me that I was yearning for. I had to go do that.
And Vince, at the time, didn't understand that. He wanted to lock his claws into me and keep me because he made an investment. We laugh about it
now. And we're both having a great time. We're at a good spot in our life. And I'm enjoying the hell out of this comeback.”
After losing to Goldberg in 2004 and losing twice to him when they were both back in WWE, Lesnar would have to wait until 2017 before he finally slaid
the WCW legend, and looks to take down the Tribal Chief in 4 weeks time.
At 6 3 and 265lbs, Lesnar is a specimen in the ring, and as has proven himself to be one of the company’s most intimidating stars.
It’s hard to think of anything that could leave the Beast Incarnate shaking in his cowboy boots, but during a sitdown with The Michael Kay Show,
Lesnar said that nothing scares him as a grown man, but then took that back: “When I was like, younger, as a kid, senior, in high
school maybe. As a grown man, no. Oh! I take it back! Last fall, I did get a little spooked by a bull moose. I got charged a little bit in the bush by a bull
moose. First, I got a little flustered. But then I contained myself and then I shot him.” Lesnar’s love of hunting is no secret, and while
he’s proven to be a dangerous competitor in the ring, he’s somehow even more dangerous when he gets out of the ring and into the forest.
Now, WrestleMania 38 is just a few weeks away, but WWE is already looking towards what comes after their biggest two nights of the year.
Not long after WrestleMania, WWE will tour Europe, and one promotional image teases some pretty notable names.
In an image promoting their April 30th show in Paris, former WWE Superstars Braun Strowman and the Fiend Bray Wyatt are prominently featured,
despite being released from the company nearly a year ago. Former SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley
is also part of the image, and reports have stated that she is expected back on WWE TV not long after WrestleMania.
We can’t say for sure is this Is a mistake from WWE’s Digital production team, or have they given away a spoiler that definitely shouldn’t have
leaked, but only time will tell what the future holds for these three wrestlers.
What we do know is that at WrestleMania, Sasha Banks and Naomi will face WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Queen Zelina and Carmella in a
between two thrown together teams. This week’s SmackDown saw Naomi take out Carmella and celebrate with The Boss,
and while all four are deserving of a WrestleMania spot, their feud and likely title change means little to nothing.
WWE’s interest in the Women’s Tag Team Title picture ended almost as soon as the titles were introduced, and this entire programme feels
more like a TV feud than something reserved for the company’s biggest event of the year. We especially feel for Sasha Banks who in just
12 months has gone from one headlining WrestleMania in one of the best main-events in recent history, which saw Bianca Belair
coronated as the new face of the division, to having a tag match with next to no build.
We understand WWE wanting to get all four women on the card and this is probably the best way to do it, but if WWE’s best method of getting the
Women’s Tag Titles defended at WrestleMania is with a match few people care about, it only shows how little WWE have invested in those championships.
This Sunday, AEW will host it’s Revolution Pay Per View, and last night’s Rampage saw another match confirmed with a surprising return.
On Rampage, PAC and Penta came out and said that Rey Fenix won’t be able to wrestle at Revolution, but promised a third man will be on their team.
The House of Black emerged and cackled at the idea of the Death Triangle’s manager Alex Abrahantes being in the match,
but Abrahantes was their to introduce the actual third man, Erick Redbeard. The former Erick Rowan made an immediate
impression, wiping out an entire team of security guys, and perhaps he could be the difference maker when the Death Triangle face the House
of Black tomorrow night.
For decades, WWE has, despite the second W in their name, avoided using the term wrestling, and prefers to call what they produce as ‘Sports
Entertainment.’ The Sports Entertainment name has always been a sore spot for fans who’d rather see WWE
Wrestlers instead, but now one man is looking to cash in. On February 28, Chris Jericho filed for a trademark
for the term ‘Sports Entertainer,’ and did so with the aid of Michael Dockins, AEW’s go to guy when it comes to trademarks.
Jericho is set to wrestle Eddie Kingston at tomorrow night’s Revolution Pay Per View, and we’ll have to see if AEW’s top Sports Entertainer can get the job
done against the Mad King.
Back to WWE as while WrestleMania will see tons of Superstars compete on the company’s biggest stage, the show is expected to go ahead
without Alexa Bliss, who will reportedly not be in any of WWE’s plans until after WrestleMania. Given that Bliss only made her in-ring return last
month at Elimination Chamber, this is an odd decision for WWE to make and fans are now considering if she’s going to be with the company
for much longer.
On Twitter, Bliss fired out a quick tweet to say that she loves all her followers, and many took it as a sign that she plans on leaving WWE.
Fans responded by asking if this was some kind of goodbye message, but Bliss hasn’t clarified her initial tweet.
While Bliss could be a big star in another promotion, the focus she’s been given in WWE over the past few years means it’s unlikely she plans on leaving
even if that means fans have to wait until after WrestleMania to see her next storyline.
This week, Vince McMahon did a rare interview when he sat down with Pat McAfee, and had plenty to say about the wrestling industry and
one of his employees in particular. During the interview, McMahon commented that Michael Cole is a "horrible human being," and
while this comment seemed very tongue in cheek, one person is taking it seriously.
On Twitter, Bayley shared a clip from the show, saying she's been telling people all along about Cole's 'horrible' behaviour.
Bayley's beef with Cole during the Performance Centre era was a highlight of Smackdown, and she even shaved his name into her hair for the
2021 Royal Rumble.
Bayley is expected to be back on TV after Wrestlemania 38, and given her comments, she's clearly not forgotten the 'horrible' man at commentary.
Now, WrestleMania usually means the return of the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, which has been a staple of the show since 2014.
In 2020 though, the Battle Royal didn’t happen at WrestleMania, as WWE wanted to keep those getting close to each other to a minimum,
and 2021 saw the match happen on SmackDown instead of their biggest event of the year. Dave Meltzer reports that WWE is once again not
going to host the Battle Royal at WrestleMania, and that its instead expected to be on the March 28th RAW or the April 1st episode of SmackDown.
The men may not be getting a chance at WrestleMania, but the report adds that the Women’s WrestleMania Battle Royal is still
expected to happen on either April 2nd or April 3rd. Typically Battle Royals at WrestleMania were used so that more people could get to have a
a Mania match and Mania payday, but we’ll have to see what WWE does with these two huge matches.
And we’re ending with even more from next month’s two-night show, as on April 3rd,WWE unify the WWE and Universal Championship, and either Brock Lesnar
or Roman Reigns will leave AT&T Stadium as the unquestionable top star of the company.
One man who knows both Superstars very well is Paul Heyman, and he, like many people, isn’t sold on unifying the titles.
On the Battleground podcast, Heyman explained why he’s against the title for title match, saying:
I don’t like the concept of Champion vs. Champion, I don’t like the concept of Winner Take All. In my opinion, Roman Reigns is already the end-all,
He’s already the one that has taken it all. He’s already the champion in WWE and every other title can fight to be in the number two position.
Heyman went on to say that between Reigns’ strength and his own tactical mind, Lesnar doesn’t have any chance at WrestleMania,
and said that the two will work to make sure Brock loses the title today at his defence inside Madison Square Garden.
Tonight’s title match inside the Garden will be taped and filmed, and if Reigns and Heyman get their way, a new WWE Champion will be crowned very soon.