Here is your news for March 28 2020
We're starting off with news from WrestleMania 36, as yesterday it was confirmed
that Roman Reigns won't be part of the show.
The Big Dog opted not to compete at the show, as he is rightly concerned about
travelling with his compromised immune system, due to the two battles with
leukaemia he has had.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer spoke about the situation, saying that
it wasn't until Reigns discovered that The Miz was ****, that he opted not to
wrestle. He said:
“It was interesting because he was there and he made the call and it had to do in
some form with Miz being **** and the Usos not being happy about it. I don’t
know much else, but that’s all I was told. You know it’s a weird story because if
you followed it because basic logic was that he should have stayed home.
Everyone’s got a risk, but his risk was high — his reward was high too, but his risk
was really high too. For a guy who has kids… it was his decision, but that decision
shouldn’t have been put on him.”
Now WrestleMania w**** go ahead without the Big Dog, and whilst Roman was
likely going to win the Universal title at the show, nobody can blame him for
putting his ******* first.
Roman's absence from WrestleMania now means that Universal Champion
Goldberg is without an opponent, though that may not be the case for long.
Ever since he joined the WWE, Matt Riddle has made his feelings about the Hall of
Famer clear, as he's constantly mocked Goldberg, calling him dangerous, and
once again, challenged him for a match.
On Twitter, the King of Bros called Goldberg 'W****y G', and said that he's ready if
the Universal Champion needs a new Wrestle Mania opponent.
The WWE has no shortage of possible opponents when it comes to Goldberg,
though it’s been rumoured that Braun Strowman w**** be taking the Big Dog’s spot,
and with WrestleMania just over a week away, the company w**** have to think of
something fast for our Universal Champion.
Now, we mentioned earlier that The Miz was recently ****, and that helped Roman
Reigns make his decision not to work WrestleMania, but the A-Lister isn't the only
one who is feeling under the weather.
Whilst the Miz was supposed to defend his SmackDown Tag Team Titles with John
Morrison at WrestleMania, that match is up in the air, and someone else who may
not make it to the showcase of the immortals is Bobby Lashley.
After a promotional trip earlier this month to South Africa, Lashley has been
**************, which is now standard practice for any one returning from overseas.
It's not clear whether his WrestleMania match against Aleister Black was filmed
this week due to the Quarrantine, but if the match doesn't happen, this would
explain the lack of build on Monday Night RAW.
Needless to say, this is a very worrying time for every one, as Miz and Lashley join
Reigns, as well as Rey mysterious and Dana Brooke, who are both **************,
and we can only send out best wishes to everyone who may have been affected.
We've got even more news of Superstars missing shows now, as according to the
PW Insider, one name fans shouldn't expect to see is Buddy Murphy.
Their report indicates that the former Cruiserweight and RAW Tag Champion was
supposed to appear, but has been pulled, saying:
"Buddy Murphy was originally slated to appear on this Monday’s Raw broadcast
but we are told he “was not cleared to appear” and w**** also not be appearing on
Wrestlemania 36’s broadcast."
WWE sources have also confirmed that both Asuka and Cesaro did work the
WrestleMania tapings despite other reports saying they are off ****, so if they are
off the road, then it would be for the next TV tapings.
With so many people being taken off the WrestleMania card, it's important that
everyone gets their facts right, which is why we want to make clear that reports of
Edge being pulled are completely false.
Though some sites and social media have stated that the Rated R Superstar
pulled from the show, Dave Meltzer on the Wrestling Observer Forum confirmed
that the Last Man Standing match against Randy Orton did take place at the
tapings, meaning fans can hopefully see the Ultimate Opportunist take his revenge
on the Viper next week, at WrestleMania 36.
With so many changes happening to WrestleMania, it's hard to keep track of
what's going on, so we've got a handy list of the confirmed matches for the show.
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Drew McIntyre w**** st**** take place, as w**** RAW
Women's Champion Becky Lynch vs. Shayna Baszler.
Rhea Ripley w**** defend the NXT Women's title against Charlotte Flair, whilst John
Cena w**** face the Fiend, in a Firefly Fun House match.
Speaking of stipulations, AJ Styles hopes to give The Undertaker his third
WrestleMania loss in the first-ever Boneyard match, whilst a triple threat tag team
Ladder match between The Miz and Morrison, the New Day and the Usos is slated
for the show, though the Miz's condition could be a factor in whether this match airs.
RAW's Tag Titles w**** also be defended as the Street Profits face Angel Garza and
Austin Theory, who is replacing Andrade, after the United States Champion
suffered a rib injury during this week's match on RAW, where the duo faced Cedric
Alexander and Ricochet.
In singles action, Kevin Owens w**** face Seth Rollins, Elias w**** take on King Corbin,
and a match between Aleister Black and Lashley is
scheduled, though we don't know if it's been filmed,
What we do know is that Edge vs Randy Oton has been filmed, and fans can also
see Bayley take on four other competitors with her SmackDown
Women's title on the line.
On this week's edition of SmackDown, Drew Gulak earned his friend Daniel Bran
an Intercontinental title match against Sami Zayn, as it's clear WrestleMania w****
st**** be stacked, despite everything that has been going on.
With such a huge night, it's hardly surprising that WWE decided to split
WrestleMania into two nights, as for years fans have complained about the length
of the show.
Including last year's kick-off event, WrestleMania 35 lasted over seven hours, and
it looks like this year's event w**** be much easier to digest.
Dave Meltzer has said that each night of WrestleMania is expected to be treated
as a full pay per view, meaning each night w**** be in excess of three hours long.
Unfortunately for Pay Per View providers, the fact that WrestleMania w**** now be
over two nights, has caused quite a lot of confusion, according to Meltzer. He said:
“One cable company is charging $59.99 a night for both nights which is ridiculous.
Another one is charging $9.99 for one night and $59.99 for the other night which
makes no sense either. It’s because it’s being thrown in and the company’s making
these decisions not WWE. They don’t know what to make of it.”
We certainly wouldn't want to pay a total $120 for a WrestleMania without a live
crowd, so hopefully those people with access to the Network w**** sh**** out the 9.99
required to watch both nights, as well as all of WWE's other content.
We're taking a break from WWE now to look at All Elite Wrestling, as Brodie Lee
has certainly made a big impression in his short time with the company.
After debuting on last week's show, the former Luke Harper won his debut match
this week, and also sat down with Chris Jericho for the Talk is Jericho podcast.
Speaking about his WWE tenure, Lee revealed that he pitched various ideas to
Vince McMahon, but the boss wouldn't bite. He said:
"I’m very much into ****** ******, so I wanted to collect something from each
person I would beat. The problem became, I wasn’t beating anybody. I also
wanted to be a smart monster, an intelligent monster, where I could speak like I
do in an intelligent way and break my opponents down in a way that I wasn’t
doing in the Wyatt family. Having the same matches I was having and look the
same, but also intelligent. Almost like Bruiser Brody."
Though the idea of an intelligent Harper could have been interesting, it never
happened, as the former Intercontinental Champion spent his WWE tenure as the
strong silent type, almost always as part of a team or group.
Now with his own flock in AEW, it'll be interesting to see what the future holds for
Lee, as he's finally able to share his creative side with the fans.
Back to WWE now, and whilst WrestleMania is supposed to be the biggest show of
the year, and therefore the biggest payday for the Superstars, that may not be the
case this year.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that whilst the part-
timers have the Saudi Arabia shows as their biggest pay day, WrestleMania
remains the top show for mid-card and lower talent, but added:
“I think the top guys w**** probably get main event WrestleMania payoffs because
he always takes care of the top guys. That’s been the MO. As far as the other guys,
who knows?”
This is just the latest talk about money, as Braun Strow man recently claimed that
he wasn't being paid by WWE during this worrying time, but his comments have
been disputed in the days since.
It's clear that this year's show was nothing like what WWE had planned just a few
months ago, and hopefully it won't be long until things go back to normal.
With everything that's been going on in the world, it's always good to see
Superstars trying to make things better for the fans, and one person who, at least
attempted to do that this week, was Scott Dawson.
Recently, the former Tag Champion posted a rare match of his from his NXT Days,
which saw him and Dash Wilder take on the Undisputed Era from a live event in
San Antonio Texas.
Though Dawson had the best of intentions when uploading the footage, the WWE
weren't too pleased, as they filed a takedown notice on Dawson's video, for using
footage from a WWE event, despite the rules about no videotaping the shows.
This certainly seems like a petty move by WWE, as the Top Guy was just trying to
give out a good match during this worrying time.
With reports of both Dash and Dawson not being paid for weeks, and supposedly
aiming to leave WWE later this year, it's not surprising that the WWE have taken
this course of action, and this certainly won't help their chances of getting the
Revival to stay, when their contracts expire later this year.
We've got news from the Benoit family now, as although Chris Benoit's final
actions w**** forever taint his legacy, that hasn't stopped his remaining son David
from aspiring to be a professional wrestler.
One person who worked closely with David's father, both in WWE and WCW, was
Eric Bischoff, who spoke about the possibility of David joining either WWE or AEW
on his 83 Weeks Podcast. He said:
"I think first of all I think we’d be far better served to go to AEW than WWE. But in
either case, if either of those opportunities became available? If I were managing
David? I would really think hard about getting into the ring and making that choice.”
Bischoff went on to discuss that whilst second-generation stars usually have it
rough, as they're compared to their parents, this would be especially difficult for
David, given both the talent of his father, and Chris' horrific final acts.
Ultimately, time w**** tell whether David makes it in wrestling, and we can only
hope for the best for his possible career.
We're looking at CM Punk news now, as recently, the relationship with him and
WWE has been frosty, especially after Punk claimed the company was begging for
him to compete at WrestleMania.
Now it seems the Best in the World has fallen out of favour with his former
manager Paul Heyman, as according to reports, even the RAW Executive Director
isn't pushing too hard for Punk to be used.
For now, Punk seems more than happy not wrestling, as he's making plenty of
money with WWE Backstage on FS1, without taking a bump.
And finally today we're ending with a recap of SmackDown, as this week's show
could lead to a lot of changes at WrestleMania.
Despite all other media outlets reporting that Reigns won’t be competing at
WrestleMania, the company aired the Big Dog’s Wrestle Mania 32 match against
Triple H, before the Game appeared on the broadcast to give his prediction about
the Reigns-Goldberg match.
It’s certainly an interesting strategy by WWE, as they are trying to say that the
match w**** st**** be happening, despite what the majority of fans already know.
The show also saw a segment where King Corbin pushed Elias off a high structure,
which could lead to a kayfabe injury, and their match being pulled from
WrestleMania if necessary.
A tag team number one contenders match between The New Day and the Usos
saw Miz and Morrison interfere, leading to the triple threat ladder match being
announced, though as we previously stated, Miz’s condition w**** be a factor on
whether this match is aired.
The Intercontinental title match between Sami Zayn and Daniel Bryan was made
official, as was a match between Otis and Dolph Ziggler, that w**** take place
at WrestleMania.
The WWE didn't give the explanation to why Dana Brooke was pulled from the
SmackDown Women's title match, and with the company announcing the Firefly
Funhouse stipulation for Wyatt Vs. Cena, Wrestle Mania is definitely going to
to be a show unlike any other.