Here's more wrestling news for June 2nd 2022
And your headlines for Afternoon include
AEW star flips off Vince McMahon’s Hollywood star in shocking diss!
Dakota Kai confirms new name and new look after WWE release
Booker T said nobody liked “controversial” former WWE Women’s Champion
Ric Flair to work with WWE again after last year’s release and Dark side of the Ring
Top Bellator MMA star expected to sign with WWE imminently
Jake Roberts gives sad update on Virgil after cancer diagnosis
Xavier Woods shows off new video game tattoo
AEW confirms return of Blood and Guts match. Hair Vs. Hair also announced for this month
WWE announce John Cena Month to celebrate 20 years since his debut And more!
We’re starting off with AEW, as Max Caster is no stranger to controversy, with some of his raps for the promotion getting him in some serious hot water.
This week though, it wasn’t a rap or his matches that got fans talking, but Caster’s shot at none other than WWE Chairman Vince McMahon.
On Twitter, Caster uploaded a photo of himself from the Hollywood Walk of Fame, more specifically at the star McMahon was award ed in 2008 due to his services to Wrestling and Television.
This was a huge accolade for the WWE CEO, but Caster isn't impressed, as the image shows him flipping off the star.
There's been plenty of talk recently about AEW contracts expiring, and talent being interested in signing with WWE, but judging by this image, Max Caster has no interest in working for Vince McMahon.
Earlier this year, Dakota Kai was released from WWE, alongside nine other Superstars from NXT.
Unlike the majority of names cut, Kai was hoping for her release, as she had told management that she would not be re-signing when her deal expired.
THis week, the New Zealand-born wrestler's non compete clause with WWE expired, and we now know the former nXT Women's Tag Team Champion's new name.
In a tweet, Kai showed off a new look, with her hair now multiple colours, and said that fans can call her King Kota from now on.
Kai had to find a new name, as WWE owns the name 'Dakota Kai' and she had previously said that she wasn't going to go back to Evie, the name she used before coming to WWE.
Time will tell how sucessful King Kota will be, but with her non-compete clause expired, expect another promotion to make a play for her soon.
In 2005, Melina debuted on WWE's main roster, first as a manager before transitioning into a role as a full-time wrestler.
One of the few women to win both the Women's Title and Divas Championship, Melina had a decorated WWE career, but also left with something of a reputation.
Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T discussed being in WWE at the same time as Melina, and the significant heat she had backstage:
I did not like Melina in her day. No one did…she was controversial. She was very controversial when she was in WWE and none of it had to do with her in-ring prowess or anything like that."
There's no shortage of stories about Melina from that time, including a reported backstage fight in May 2006 with Booker's wife Sharmell, and infamously being kicked out of the
the locker-room that same year by Lita.
During this year's Women's Royal Rumble, Melina had her first WWE match in over a decade, and while she was clearly happy to be back, things weren't always so easy with the former Divas Champion.
Last Summer, Ric Flair left WWE, believing that the creative for both him and his daughter Charlotte didn’t suffice.
It wasn’t long after that Flair was embroiled in controversy as fans learned of his alleged actions during 2002’s Plane Ride from Hell, but now the Nature Boy is back working with WWE.
It was announced this week via Tweet, that Flair and WWE will team-up with film writer, producer and director Tom Rinaldi to create a 2 hour documentary about “the never-before-revealed
history” of the 16-time World Heavyweight Champion.
Flair is set to have his final match ever next month, and the 73- year-old claims he’s in great shape for the match, but now fans will get to relive his entire career thanks to this new partnership with WWE.
From an established name in WWE to a fresh face, as the company is reportedly very interested in signing one of Bellator’s top MMA fighters.
According to a new report from Fightful, Valerie Loureda is expected to sign with WWE imminently, if she hasn’t already done so.
It’s said that Loureda made “great impressions” when she went to a week-long tryout at the Performance Center recently, and like AEW’s Paige VanZant, she too has received training
by Gangrel in preparation of an in-ring career.
It’s also reported that should she sign with WWE, her contract with Bellator will freeze, meaning she can pick right back up as a fighter if she’s released by Vince McMahon.
This may seem like a negative start to her career, that Bellator is already preparing for her release, but given how quickly WWE has gone through talent lately, it’s probably for the best.
At 23 years old, Loureda has years ahead of her, and WWE are hoping that those years are spent as a fully-fledged Superstar.
In April, WWF alum Virgil announced that he was fighting Stage 2 Colon Cancer, and shortly after said he had been diagnosed with dementia.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, he also said he’d recently suffered two strokes, and now we have an update on the former Million Dollar Champion.
On the latest episode of the DDP Snake Pit Podcast, Jake ‘ The Snake’ Roberts said he had recently gone to see Virgil, and that the former wrestler has lost mobility in one of his arms.
“I just wanna throw some love out there to that guy. He went through a lot and he’s, he’s still positive, man, and seeing him this weekend played with my heart quite a bit because, you know,
seeing him not be able to lift the one arm. Strokes, yeah, two of them.
Roberts is no stranger to health issues himself, so it must be especially bad for him to be taken aback by the condition Virgil is in.
Virgil has a fundraiser to raise money for medical costs, and we’re continuing to send our best to the former wrestler at this difficult time.
If you’ve followed Xavier Woods’ career, you’ll know that he’s a massive gaming fan, with his Up Up Down Down channel now boasting over 2.2 million subscribers.
Now though, Woods has taken his love of two gaming franchises to the next level by getting a large tattoo on his right arm.
The ink in questions features the sword of Final Fantasy 7 protagonist Cloud, with the helmet of MegaMan, the hero of the franchise of the same name.
While WWE is traditionally against a Superstar getting a tattoo, especially one with images that are likely to be trademarked elsewhere, it seems Woods is an exception on this occasion,
and fans will be able to see his new ink every time he steps foot in the ring.
Back to AEW next, as the Blood and Guts match is officially set to return later this month.
During this week’s Dynamite, Chris Jericho accepted a challenge for the match on behalf of the entire Jericho Appreciation Society, after the challenge was laid out by William Regal and Eddie Kingston.
It makes sense that Regal was there, as Blood and Guts is AEW’s ans wer to WarGames, the WCW stipulation now owned by WWE that Regal infamously would announce during his days as General Manager of NXT.
This upcoming Blood and Guts match will take place on a June 29th special edition of AEW Dynamite and will feature the JAS facing Kingston, Santana, Ortiz, Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley in a
rematch from Double or Nothing.
That wasn’t the only huge match laid out though, as it was also announced that Jericho and Ortiz will face off in a hair vs hair match at AEW Road Rager on June 15th.
It’s been quite some time since wrestling fans have seen hair vs. hair, but one person will be entering Blood and Guts with a brand new do in just a few weeks time.
And we’re ending today with WWE, who are celebrating John Cena by giving the entire month of June to the 16-time World Champion.
June 27th will mark 20 years since John’s WWE main-roster debut where he answered an open challenge by Kurt Angle, ushing in an era of Ruthless Aggression.
On WWE.com, the company praised Cena as someone who for ever changed wrestling, and said that a new episode of WWE Playback will feature Cena breaking down his own WWE debut.
Cena-themed editions of WWE Top 10 and WWE Playlist have also been announced, as well as never before seen photos and classic videos.
As for Cena himself, it’s been rumoured that he’ll be returning soon to set up a match at this year’s Summerslam, but until then, they’ll be plenty of content going around about the former
WWE Champion.