And your headlines for today include
WrestleMania won’t be main-evented by a match for the first time ever!
Exact date for Cody Rhodes’ return to WWE announced!
Bianca Belair pulled from fan signing: Replacement confirmed
WWE changed plans for SmackDown last week: What was meant to happen?
AEW announces new partnership with Japanese promotion
Gable Steveson closes door on amateur wrestling career: When will he appear next?
Steveson spoils WrestleMania 38 plans in deleted tweet
Indie promotion pokes fun at released WWE Superstar following controversial departure from the company.
Update on Bret Hart amid rumours of joining AEW
Former WWE Superstar makes killing in first few hours of launching Only Fans account. And more
We’re kicking off today with WrestleMania 38, as for the third year in a row, the show will be a two-night event, with two main-events scheduled to take place.
For countless wrestlers, their dream is to one day main event WrestleMania, but this year will reportedly see a groundbreaking move by WWE.
According to Reddit insider kermit125, who has proven to be accurate in the past, WWE is planning for the main event of WrestleMania: Saturday to not be a match
but instead the confrontation between Kevin Owens and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin. For weeks, Owens has been insulting the Lonestar
state, and whilst it was initially reported that the two would have a match, its since been clarified that Austin’s appearance on the KO
Show will lead to a quote “fight sequence.”
If this happens, it’ll be the first time ever that a WrestleMania won’t end with a match, in a truly history-making moment for the company.
Austin is no stranger to headlining WrestleManias, as he closed out the show in 1998, 1999 and 2001, and it appears he’ll have one last mania main event in his
his home state
Owens and Austin closing out night 1 of WrestleMania isn’t the only scoop from kermit125, who also revealed when Cody Rhodes will make his return to WWE.
Last week, it was reported that Rhodes has signed a new multi-year deal with the company, after a month of speculation and rumours about her status.
In his report, Kermit noted that not only will Rhodes face Seth Rollins as previously rumoured, but that their match will be part of the Sunday show on April 3rd.
Rollins is still without an opponent for WrestleMania, and with this report, it’s all but assured that the former Universal Champion will have a presence next Sunday.
Kermit adds that the RAW Women’s Championship match between Becky Lynch and Bianca Belair will not just be on the Saturday as previously confirmed
by WWE, but that it’ll be the first match of WrestleMania 38. WWE wants to kick off WrestleMania in a big way,
and the RAW Women’s title match will certainly do so, as the card for this year’s two-night show is coming together.
Belair Vs. Lynch is expected to kick-off WrestleMania 38, but WWE is doing all they can to make out that the match may not go ahead, even reporting that Belair
was injured by Lynch on last week’s RAW. In all likelihood, this injury isn’t legitimate and WWE are just trying to add more to their
collision next weekend, and the company is doing all they can to make it seems real. Ahead of an online Meet and Greet planned for today,
WWE announced that Belair has been pulled from her appearance, and has been replaced by The Miz. In their initial report, WWE reported that Belair had
suffered a “fractured hyoid bone” in her throat as a result of Lynch’s attack, and we’ll have to see what condition the EST is in ahead of
her long-awaited championship rematch with Big Time Becks.
Over To SmackDown now, as last Friday’s show was the first edition of the Blue brand since Big E suffered a broken neck, in a huge blow to SmackDown.
WWE did make reference to Big E’s injury but had originally planned to do more, as according to Fightful Select, Ridge Holland was originally scheduled to cut
an in ring promo in which he’d address what happened. As it was Holland who delivered the suplex last week that broke Big E’s neck, fans would’ve
been interested to hear what he said, but the segment was cut and Holland instead faced Kofi Kingston.
That wasn’t the only change, as the original schedule called for Drew McIntyre and the Viking Raiders to face Happy Corbin, Madcap Moss and Jinder Mahal,
but Moss was replaced at the last minute by Shanky.
There’s no word on why Moss was pulled from the m atch, but whatever WWE had planned for him didn’t play out on TV last Friday.
AEW news now, as the company has made some huge waves over the past three years, with perhaps the biggest to date being the purchase of Ring of Honor.
Now, AEW will be colliding with another promotion as on social media, the All-Elite company announced a new partnership with Japan-based promotion DDT Pro Wrestling.
This isn’t a purchase like the ROH situation, but the two companies will work in tandem to bring a variety of stars from DDT into the United States and presented
to Western audiences. In a statement, AEW’s Vice President of Talent Relations Christopher Daniels congratulated DDT on their recent
25th anniversary and said he’s looking forward to the two companies working together. Fans may have heard of DDT before, as it is where
Kenny Omega first started making a name for himself in the international pro-wrestling world, and where he formed the popular
Golden Lovers tag team with Kota Ibushi. With ROH under his ownership and this partnership with DDT, Tony Khan’s influence over the
wrestling world continues to grow, and we’ll have to see which companies meet with the AEW President next.
Back to WWE, as the company is waiting for the imminent arrival of Gable Steveson, who captured his second NCAA Championship this past weekend.
The Olympic Gold Medalist has proven himself beyond a doubt on the mat, and its now time to say goodbye to amateur wrestling.
On the ESPN broadcast, Steveson said he’s “done” and has achieved everything he wanted to do,
including a Gold Medal and the NCAA Championship in repeat victories. Steveson’s time as an amateur wrestler is over,
but his time as a WWE Superstar may be beginning very soon as on Twitter, Corey Graves invited the Olympian to RAW.
Asking Steveson if he’s busy Monday, Steveson is already a RAW Superstar, being drafted in last October’s pool, but is yet to appear on the show other
than while in the crowd. We’ll have to see if Steveson shows up tonight, but if he does, it’ll be just the first of many
appearances for the young Superstar, who’s racked up plenty of accomplishments already before his first professional match
Steveson may or may not be at tonight’s edition of Raw, but its practically guaranteed that he’ll be at WrestleMania 38, according to the man himself.
On Twitter, after announcing the end of his amateur career, Steveson said “I will be at WrestleMania.. It’s time!!” but would immediately delete the tweet.
The Olympian may be fast, but he fast enough this time, as fans were able to screenshot the tweet before he deleted it.
Steveson deleting the tweet is presumably to keep his WrestleMania appearance a secret, but the cat is out of the bag.
The only question now is whether he’ll appear on the Saturday or Sunday, but whichever day is picked, expect something big for the Olympic Gold Medalist.
Last November, WWE released Nia Jax from her contract, in a huge shock to fans who assumed the former RAW Women’s Champion would be with the
company for life. It has since been claimed that Jax’s refusal to be vaccinated was a factor in WWE’s decision as
she’d be unable to perform in a lot of places that require talent to be jabbed, but Jax has since refuted those rumours.
Jax’s comment about the vaccine are well known, and now one promotion is having fun at the expense of the ex-Superstar.
At the latest event held by indie promotion ‘Women’s Wrestling Revolution Plus,’ Jax’s name was announced for the next match, before the announcer
said that she “would’ve been there” if not for the location’s strict vaccination policy.
The wrestler in the ring, Kathleen Baptista can be seen laughing in the video and this joke about Jax’s stance also got a laugh from the crowd.
After her release from WWE, Jax hinted that her wrestling career is completely over, and while she may never step back in the ring, the wrestling
world hasn’t forgotten about her or what she believes.
More from AEW now, as earlier this month, FTR parted ways with Tully Blanchard, and immediately teased bringing in a different legend as their manager.
Mere hours after firing Blanchard, the duo tweeted Bret Hart, asking If he’s free to work with them, and this could be happening according to recent photos.
In a picture shared online, the Hitman is seem to be in great shape, and was much slimmer in the photo with the Calgary Flames.
It’s no secret that Bret has been dealing with several health issues in recent years, but looks to be doing much better right now.
It’s also no secret that Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood are huge fans of the Canadian legend, and this past Dynamite saw the Young Bucks make reference to FTR’s
next manager being “the best there is.” Whether Bret actually joins AEW remains to be seen, as we’re sure WWE and Vince McMahon
will fight hard to keep him away from Tony Khan, but whatever happens, it’s great that Bret is looking well.
And we’re ending today with former WWE Superstar Toni Storm, who launched her Only Fans account last Saturday, selling exclusive content to fans.
An OnlyFans account would not have been possible in WWE due to the company’s rule against third party deals, but this new venture is seriously paying off for
for Storm. Within her first hour of the account being active, the former NXT UK Women’s Champion had raised
over $10,000, with accounts paying $19.99 a month for her content
Within her first half a day, that number had risen to $33,000, and Storm’s earnings from the site are continuing to skyrocket.
Storm wrestled for WWE for several years, and was the 2018 Mae Young Classic winner before being called up in 2021 and thrust into a program with
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair. That feud saw the two throw pies at each other before Storm reportedly requested her release in
December, but with her OnlyFans proving to be a hit, the New Zeland wrestler won’t be forced to accept the first offer from a promotion that comes along