And your headlines for Afternoon include
The Road To WrestleMania For The Smackdown Tag Team Champions!
What Happened With RIDE Holland Backstage After BIG E’s Scary Fall; How Did Bruce Prichard & Kevin Dunn React?
Johnny Knoxville Shares Sami Zayn’s Phone Number To City Of L.A. Via Plane Banner
Sting Hints CM PUNK Was Backstage Months Before His AEW Debut
Becky Lynch Appearing On WWE Raw Next Week After Injury
Isiah Kassidy Wants Throwback Photo With Jeff Hardy Scrubbed From The Internet
How WWE Is Planning To Book Gable Steveson?
Jeff Hardy Excited To Revisit Rivalry With CM PUNK In AEW
“Hangman” Adam Page Trusts That Tony Khan Will Handle ROH Properly And more!
We’re kicking off today with SmackDown, and its now been eight months since the Usos captured the SmackDown Tag Team Championships,
defeating Rey and Dominik Mysterio back at Money in the Bank 2021. To put that into perspective, we’ve seen five WWE
Championship reigns since that time, the return of John Cena and Lita, the return and subsequent release of Shane McMahon, Brock Lesnar become
a fun-loving cowboy and The Undertaker be confirmed as a soon-to-be Hall of Famer. All that and more has happened during the rein
the Usos, who have managed to replicate their cousin Roman Reigns in having one of WWE’s lengthier title reigns.
It now looks like time could be up, as last week, the pair attacked Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs to make way for the Tribal Chief, and that could be
sign of things to come. On this week’s episode of SmackDown, Nakamuara and Boogs confronted the Usos, and laid out the
challenge for a SmackDown Tag Team Title match at WrestleMania 38.
Boogs proceeded to beat Jey Uso in singles action to secure their ticket to the two-night event inside AT&T Stadium, and all signs point to a title change.
After all, WWE loves to have their big moments take place at WrestleMania, and having the dominant eight-month reign of the Usos end on the biggest
show of the year would certainly be a moment. For the past year, the Usos have looked close to unstoppable, especially as part of
the Bloodline, but in just three weeks, their time may finally run out, curtosy of Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs.
WrestleMania 38 will also see Johnny Knoxville become the latest celebrity to get in the ring when he takes on Sami Zayn.
The two have been at each other for months, with Zayn even getting hold of Knoxville’s number to harass him, but that’s an action the former
Intercontinental Champion quickly lived to regret.
In a video sent to TMZ Sports, Knoxville reveals his latest prank, as he shared Zayn’s phone number to the city of Los Angeles via a plane banner.
The Jackass star said this latest prank was to cele brate his own birthday, and we can only imagine the kind of calls and texts that Zayn is now dealing with.
Zayn has said that Knoxville has no place in wrestling, and looks to prove that at WrestleMania, but he’ll probably have to get a new mobile phone first.
Over to RAW, as Becky Lynch couldn’t make it to this week’s show, citing a voice box injury she claims was caused by Bianca Belair.
Ahead of last Monday’s show Belair shared a photo from a hospital bed, and was indeed injured at a recent live event, but that won’t keep the RAW
Women’s Champion away. Lynch is scheduled to be at next week’s episode of Monday Night RAW and despite not being on
this week’s show, was backstage at the event.
We’re sure that Lynch, damaged voice box or not will have things to say about her WrestleMania 38 opponent, as the Man will come around during next
week’s RAW.
AEW news next, as the latest edition of Dynamite saw Jeff Hardy debut, coming to the aid of his brother Matt during a beatdown by the treacherous
Andrade-Hardy Family Office. Jeff’s debut was something fans had been hoping to see even before his release from WWE last
December, but not everyone is thrilled to see the Charismatic Enigma. On Twitter, a photo of Hardy and a young Isiah
Kassidy has been circulating, and in response, Kassidy has demanded that the image be deleted from the internet.
Kassidy may have once been a fan of the former WWE World Champion, but those days are apparently long gone, but don’t be surprised to
see the two sharing the ring again, this time as opponents.
Back to WWE, as the company signed Gable Steveson to a lucrative contract last September, and the Olympic Gold Medalist was drafted to RAW the following month.
Steveson has yet to have a professional match for the company, but WWE already has big plans for their new acquisition.
While speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed that WWE not only plans on fast-tracking Steveson to the main roster,
but also plan on booking him like Brock Lesnar. With Steveson much younger and likely much cheaper than Lesnar, who is one of, if not the
highest paid Superstar on TV, it makes sense that WWE is looking towards the future, and that future is Gable Steveson.
On this week’s SmackDown, Big E was in a serious accident and reportedly is dealing with a broken neck.
Big E landed awkwardly after taking a suplex from Ridge Holland, and as you can imagine, things were pretty tense backstage.
Wade Keller of PW Torch reports that after the incident, Holland was apologetic backstage, but that Bruce Prichard and Kevin Dunn were very upset
and called him into a room
We don’t know what exactly was said, but other Superstars could hear loud shouting coming from the room.
Vince McMahon and Triple H have both reached out to Big E, to make sure he’s doing okay after this week’s incident.
This week’s SmackDown was meant to kick off a WrestleMania feud, which would’ve seen the New Day face Sheamus, Ridge Holland and Butch
but with Big E seemingly out indefinitely, time will tell what WWE will do next.
More from AEW, as Jeff Hardy has a whole roster of new wrestlers he can face in the All-Elite promotion , but there’s one former rival that Jeff wants to take
on again. In 2009, Jeff and CM Punk had a veery personal rivalry, which fans considered one of the best
feuds in their respective careers, and it centred around the two very different lifestyles to two lead
While Jeff’s issues with substances have been well documented, Punk’s real-life straightedge stance fueled his work as a heel, and we may be getting
this angle again
During a ‘Signed by Superstars’ virtual signing, Jeff said he’s very excited to work with Punk again, saying how there’s so much history between the two.
There are some questions as to whether AEW will bring up the past between them, as Punk has been one of the promotion’s most popular babyfaces
since joining, and we doubt the company plans on turning either him, or Jeff heel anytime soon. In WWE, fans got tired of the company continually
bringing up Jeff’s dark past, as it seemed every other feud was revolved around Hardy being called a drunk or an addict, but something very similar
could play out soon in All Elite Wrestling.
And we’re ending today with Tony Khan, who last week made a rare appearance on AEW Dynamite to announce that he had purchased Ring of Honor.
Khan’s blockbuster announcement certainly lived up to the weeks of hype, though many are skeptical of Khan’s next move.
We previously reported that many staffers within Ring of Honor are expecting to lose their jobs when the deal is finalised next month, but AEW World
Champion Hangman Adam Page isn’t concerned. In a recent interview, Page discussed Khan’s role as owner of Ring of Honor, saying that khan’s
track record with AEW proves he will handle the 20-year-old promotion properly.
A seven-year veteran of Ring of Honor himself, Page said he would not be opposed to returning to the promotion, such is his confidence is Tony Khan.
Khan has said he will be the head booking of ROH after the takeover, and while many are worried about losing their jobs, Page has
all the faith in the world in his boss’ actions