And your headlines for Afternoon include
Internal WWE List Shows Top Raw Women’s Division Babyfaces & Heels!
Future Plan For Randy Orton And Riddle!
Austin Gunn Fires Shots At AEW For Recent Tweet!
Adam Cole Accused On Bringing Former WWE Stars To AEW!
Steve Austin Was Really Happy & Relieved After WrestleMania 38 Match!
Former Champion Expected To Make AEW Return Soon!
Chris Jericho Blasted For Saying Tony Khan Will Take Over The Pro Wrestling World In 5 Years!
Good Brothers Remain Loyal To Impact Despite Contracts Expiring Soon!
Released Superstar On WWE Canceling His Storyline With Kofi Kingston And Xavier Woods!
Former WWE Superstar Revealed He Asked Permission To Use Randy Savage’s Signature Move!
WWE Legend Says Vince McMahon Didn't Give His Son A Chance!
How Tommy Dreamer Saved Cm Punk’s WWE Job! And More!
We’re starting off with WWE, and recently, a report came out about the top heels and babyfaces in the men’s division.
Some of these names weren’t surprising, such as Cody Rhodes being considered one of the top babyfaces in the company since his epic return at WrestleMania 38,
while Roman Reigns is considered the top heel.
Now, Mike Johnson of PW Insider has released the internal WWE roster for the women’s division, and on Raw, it’s the ' EST who has proven herself to be the Alpha Female.
RAW Women’s Champion Bianca Belair is the red brand’s top face, followed by Alexa Bliss, who hasn’t appeared in weeks, and Rhea Ripley, who is expected to turn heel very soon.
For the heels, Becky Lynch is top heel, with Carmella and Zelina Vega taking second and third place respectively.
Of course, this list could change at a moment’s notice as Vince McMahon has often changed his mind on several Superstars, but for now, these are the top women, both bad and good on
on WWE’s flagship show.
Randy Orton knows all about making it as a face and as a heel, and right now is part of the immensely popular RK- Bro tag team with Riddle.
WWE has been teasing a title unification match between the Raw and SmackDown Tag Team Champions, and that seems more likely with RK-Bro’s schedule.
According to the Wrestling Observer, RK-Bro are being advertised for the next two episodes of SmackDown, and will likely confront the SmackDown Tag Champions the Usos.
No title match has been confirmed yet, but it’s expected for WrestleMania-Backlash, though which dominant team will stand tall is anyone’s guess.
Over to AEW next as a lot will happen on tonight’s edition of Rampage, but not every match is being advertised.
Tonight, the Blackpool Combat Club will take on the Gunn Club, but you wouldn’t see much about this match on Twitter.
Responding to a video preview of Rampage, in which the Gunn club wasn’t featured, Austin Gunn said that AEW was going out of its way to not promote the stable, but said that
they’ll be stealing the show during tonight’s broadcast.
The Blackpool Combat Club doesn’t seem intimidated, as Jon Moxley has called the team a “bunch of goods” which is needed less in AEW.
It remains to be seen which faction will stand tall during tonight’s AEW Rampage, but the Gunn Club are looking to show why they deserve to be promoted by AEW.
One name who has received plenty of promotion in AEW is Adam Cole, who joined the company in September 2021.
Not long after, Cole’s Undisputed Era partners Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish joined AEW, but this wasn’t something Cole had intended.
Speaking to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, Cole refuted the idea that he played a role in getting Fish or O’Reilly a job in AEW, saying:
"But as far as them making their own decisions, or in any way shape or form, me influencing AEW, deciding to say, hire them. I had nothing to do with that. I wish I could say that I that I did
but those two guys, Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish, they ended up in AEW on their own and they made their own decision as well."
Cole explained that rather than him trying to convince Fish and O’Reilly to join, they were already planning on making the move to AEW:
I think certainly when you see someone that you're really close with talking about how much fun he's having and seeing these hot AEW crowds for them, it was something that they really
wanted to be a part of. Fish and O’Reilly came up short on this week’s Dynamite when they challenged Luchasaurus and
Jungle Boy for the AEW World Tag Titles, and while they’ve made an impact in AEW, Adam Cole didn’t play a role in getting them a job.
Back to WWE, and its been just under two weeks since ‘ Stone Cold’ Steve Austin competed at WrestleMania 38, his first match in 19 years.
After nearly two decades since his last match, there was a lot of concern before the match about how Austin would fare, as his history of neck, back and knee issues are well documented.
Speaking on the Grilling JR podcast, Austin’s good friend Jim Ross spoke about the Rattlesnake’s reaction after the match, saying:
“He and I talked going into that thing and we communicated on Saturday after the show. He seemed to be really happy and almost relieved that they pulled it off.”
JR also discussed Kevin Owens’ role in making the Austin match happen, and said both receive a ton of credit for what they pulled off:
“He and Kevin Owens deserve a hell of a lot of credit for what they did. To show you what kind of ballplayer Austin is, he hadn’t been on the field for 19 years or something like that
and he didn’t look like he missed a step. They kept the match in their lane. I thought that was really smart how they strategized and laid out
that match. It was just absolutely a masterpiece in my view, and Kevin Owens deserves a lot of credit as well. You gotta have a dancing partner to make these things work,
and Steve had a great dancing partner.”
For years, Austin had been presented the opportunity to wrestle again, but had always turned the offer down, fearing what it would do to his legacy if he failed to deliver.
Now, the Rattlesnake has had that final WrestleMania moment, and reportedly has no plans on wrestling again, and after blowing everyone’s expectations this month, that’s definitely for the best.
In January, Rey Fenix suffered a horrific injury on AEW Dynamite when he was choke-slammed through a table outside of the ring.
At the time it looked like Fenix’s arm had snapped in half, and the former World Tag Team Champion hasn’t been seen since.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer discussed Fenix’s condition, and explained that it could be just a couple of weeks before he’s back on TV:
Fenix did an interview today and said he would be back for TripleMania which is April 30. So, we should be seeing Pentagon and Fenix back as a tag team in AEW within a
couple weeks now. With his tag team partner out of action, Penta Oscura has had to go it alone, and while he’s been
able to find a place as a singles star, the Lucha Bros will be back together very soon.
More from AEW, as Chris Jericho has been with the company since Day 1, and has had plenty to say about the All-Elite promotion, and his boss Tony Khan.
After Ring of Honor Supercard of Honor 15, Khan’s first ROH event in charge of the show, Jericho claimed that the AEW President will have taken over the pro wrestling world within
the next five years. Khan may be doing well, but AEW has a long way to go before they match WWE when it comes to
brand supremacy of viewing figures, and on his podcast, Jim Cornette berated Jericho for his claim: We have seen poor Tony’s demeanor lately. I’m sorry, but no
matter who you are or what your aspiration is for Tony Khan’s wrestling projects. That is simply ridiculous; that’s a ridiculous statement made only to kiss the
** of your boss.” Tony Khan has certainly done well in a short amount of time, but some of his comments have often
caused fans to turn on him, including claiming that critics of AEW are paid trolls and bots
Perhaps Tony Khan will be running the wrestling world in five years, though that seems unlikely, as WWE continues to boast record profits and a market dominance year after year.
Earlier this week, we reported on the Good Brothers, who are nearing the end of their contracts with Impact Wrestling.
Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows will both have their deals expire on July 17th, and with both men having appeared in AEW and for New Japan in recent years, many expect the duo to leave Impact Wrestling.
That may not be the case though, as in an interview with Lucha Libre Online, Anderson said that they are incredibly loyal to Impact and Scott D’Amore, who called them within 5 minutes of
of their release from WWE. In Impact, the dup are two-time former Tag Team Champions, and have been a pivotal part of the
company’s revival in recent years, so it’s likely they’ll keep working for the promotion, even after their current contracts expire later this year.
Last November, WWE released Hit Row from their contracts, mere weeks after calling the NXT faction up to the main roster.
Fans never really got a chance to see what Hit Row could’ve done on SmackDown, but we now have an idea as to what was in store.
In an interview on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, AJ Francis, aka Top Dolla, said how there were plans for Hit Row to feud with one of WWE’s most successful ever teams,
but those plans didn’t last long: We’re like, ‘Hell yeah, we’re down to work with The New Day.’ Why wouldn’t we wanna be working
with The New Day, right? The week after that it was like ‘All right, you guys are gonna do backstage in front of the audience segment with Sami Zayn
Debuting on the October 29th SmackDown, Hit Row would be main-roster Superstars for just 20 days before being released, and their feud with New Day is a modern-day What if scenario in WWE.
In the history of wrestling, few stars have inspired younger wrestlers more than Macho Man Randy Savage, who’s incredible in-ring ability was matched by his larger than life character.
In the early 2000s, Savage briefly worked for the upstart TNA Wrestling, where he proved to be especially influential on Eric Young.
Sitting down with Cultaholic, the former TNA World Heavyweight Champion recalled meeting with the Macho Man, after using the same elbow drop that Savage made famous throughout his career:
“I met him when he briefly worked at TNA and he was an amazing guy, super kind to me... Obviously, I had a lot of respect, and I [do the move] and I was working on the pay-per-view
that he was working and I had basically done in every match I had for the last 25 years and I went to him and said, 'If it's okay with you, I would still like to do it. If you don't want me to
then I won't.' He said, 'Yup, go head.' Super cool. Not that he'd ever seen me wrestle, I hope that he knew what my name was, but he gave me permission to do it."
From dropping elbows to winning titles to being an early adversary of Spider-Man, Macho Man Randy Savage accomplished plenty in his life, and while next month will
mark eleven years since his tragic passing, the Macho Man will continue to live on in the minds of fans and wrestlers alike.
Back to the present, as Bo Dallas was cut from WWE in 2021, after a lengthy run with the company.
Once considered a breakout star of FCW, WWE’s developmental ground before NXT, Dallas was the third ever NXT Champion but his success didn’t translate to the main roster.
Despite a strong start and undefeated streak, Dallas was quickly relegated to a jobber, and according to his father Mike ‘IRS’ Rotunda, Bo deserved much more as he told the Stories with
Brisco and Bradshaw podcast: “They were both successful. Vince I don’t think gave my younger son Taylor [Bo Dallas] a chance
because Taylor’s a hell of a worker. He really is. You can’t teach that timing and stuff, and Windham [Bray Watt] had a great gimmick. He got over because he could talk. It was a unique situation
so I’m proud of them both.”
While Wyatt would have an impressive run on the main roster, Dallas never got many, if any, significant feuds, and now both will have to find their place in wrestling away from WWE’s booking.
And we’re ending with CM Punk, who is now one of AEW’s top stars, but worked for years in WWE.
Debuting in 2006 in the relaunched ECW, Punk would go on to become a five-time World Champion, but his career in the company nearly didn’t get started.
In an interview, Tommy Dreamer explained how early into Punk’s WWE Career, some top decision makers in the company were questioning whether to keep him around, and that he in effect
saved Punk’s WWE tenure: "He had little-to-no chance of ever making it in the WWE – he wasn't their type of guy. I saved his job
two times when he was about to be let go – I was saying, Ya gotta keep this kid, ya gotta keep this kid.'"
Dreamer had worked with WWE’s developmental program at the time, OVW, and knew what Punk was capable of in the ring, and it was definitely for the best that the heart and soul
of ECW was able to give Punk the opportunity to become the global phenomenon he is today.