Here's your wrestling news for February 19th 2021
And your headlines for today include Vince McMahon Plans To Derail Keith Lee! Sasha Banks Heel Turn! WWEs Plans For Seth Rollins! WWE News!
WWE Makes A Career Altering Gimmick Change For Bo Dallas?
WWE Plans To Bring In Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins As An Alliance? Major Plans For FASTLANE And WrestleMania!
WWE Plans An Unexpected Heel Turn For This Week’s Smackdown; An Interesting Storyline On The Road To
WrestleMania!
Ken Shamrock Says He Owned The Rights To A Very Famous Name In WWE!
New WWE Practice Keeping Even More In The Dark Backstage!
Latest Update On Konnan After Being Hospitalized!
WWE NXT Locker Room Was Legitimately Worried About Kyle O’Reilly Injury Angle!
Why Keith Lee’s Booking Received A Major Pushback From WWE Higher-Ups?
WWE Match Is Postponed Due To Medical Necessity!
Andrade Drops A Bombshell About His Career! An Unexpected Move From The Former Champion!
Sami Zayn On Accidentally Obliterating WWE Wrestler’s Face With Helluva Kick!
Heath Slater Reveals That He’s Severely Hurt & Will Be Undergoing Surgery!
Reason Why WWE Legend Allegedly Punched Hulk Hogan In The Face In Real Life And More!
We’re starting today with news from Bo Dallas, a man so rarely used by WWE, you may have forgotten he’s still
employed. In December 2019, Dallas said he was on a life-changing expedition, and fans
will see a Bo they’ve never seen before, which led to speculation of Dallas teaming with his real-life brother Bray Wyatt.
In the many months since then, that hasn’t happened, and on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer
addressed Dallas’ situation, saying: Yes [he’s still signed with WWE]. He’s there and you know how they say
‘creative has nothing for him’? In his case that’s actually true… I don’t know why he’s never been cut.
A former NXT, 24/7 and Tag Champion, Dallas has had success in the past, but would you like to see him join Wyatt’s
side, let us know in the comments below.
Over to SmackDown, and with Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins both heels on the blue brand, there’s a good
opportunity that the creative team could capitalise on. With reports stating that it’ll be Edge Vs.
Roman Reigns at WrestleMania, it’s entirely possible that the Hall of Famer could get the recently returning Christian
to help him out. Given that Christian returned at the Royal Rumble, having Edge face
Rollins and Reigns would definitely be a match to get fans pumped up, something that’s especially important
given that Fastlane will be WWE’s first Pay Per View after joining Peacock.
In the past, Jey Uso has been the Tribal Chief’s luitenant on SmackDown, but with serious concerns about his health,
especially after he missed the Royal Rumble, perhaps it’s time for Rollins to take the role of Reigns’ right-hand man.
That doesn’t mean we don’t hope that everything is alright with Jey, but for the Fastlane tag match, it’d make
sense for WWE to replace him with Rollins, who’ll add plenty more star power to the match and the
Pay Per View overall. From there, we could see Christian Vs. Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 37,
whilst their respective partners headline one night of the two night event.
On this week’s SmackDown, we could see Rollins and Reigns be in a situations where their interests align,
especially as Cesaro is being considered the favourite to win the SmackDown Chamber and Challenge
Reigns this Sunday, and is in Rollins’ crosshairs too. Perhaps the greater vision that Rollins
has been speaking of could work for both him and Reigns, and what do you make of this, do you think the two Shield brothers
should reunite? Let us know in the comments.
Now, many people in WWE were furious about the fact that they wouldn’t be receiving bonuses, a rule that doesn’t
apply to the top executives of the company, and now WWE has given them something else instead.
Wrestlenomics reports that this week, a majority of employees were given stock in the company valued at $3,000,
and though not everyone received the stock award, most did. We’re not sure if any WWE employee
would prefer stock in the company instead of the bonus that they were hoping for and expecting, but 3 grand
in WWE stock is better than nothing.
Back to SmackDown, and there’s ffewer stars on the blue brand right now more popular than Women’s
Champion Sasha Banks, and women’s Rumble winner Bianca Belair. If WWE has the two headline one night
of WrestleMania 37, it’ll be historic, marking the first two two African- American women have closed the show,
but WWE does have a problem ahead. With both women being faces, WWE may struggle to book a match,
so it wouldn’t be too surprising if the Boss turned heel on tonight’s edition of the blue brand.
Maybe Sasha Banks socks Bianca Belair in the face, going heel in the process because we know what a
natural heel she can be, and giving the Boss’ love for Eddie Guerrero, we’re confident she’d be able to pull off being
the heel foil to Belair perfectly. Face vs face matches at WrestleMania have often been
letdown, with the AJ Styles Vs. Shinsuke Nakamura feud in 2018 only gaining steam once the latter turned heel.
Do you want to see Banks embrace her darker side once again, let us know in the comments.
Though every movie he’s in has him billed as Dwayne Johnson, to us, and millions around the world,
he’ll always be The Rock, a name that helped launch him into Super stardom. It was when he turned heel in 1997
that Rocky Maivia became the Rock, and while speaking to Casual Conversations with the Wrestling Classic
Ken Shamrock revealed that he owned the name long before WWE even considered it. He explained:
Rocky as he was known back in the day had to have my permission to use the name The Rock because I owned
Ken ‘The Rock’ Shamrock. That’s what I was known as when I was first fighting in the UFC. They called me Ken ‘
‘The Rock’ Shamrock Ken didn’t make any money from The Rock’s name, but that can’t be said for
WWE and Johnson, who made millions out of the moniker. Though they feuded in 1998, Shamrock
was more than happy to hand over the Rock name to the People’s Champion, and that may be one of the reasons
why The Great One was so happy to induct Ken Shamrock into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame.
If you’ve been watching our channel for a while, you’ll have heard countless reports over the past year of chaos
backstage in WWE, and we now know why. Ringside News has learned that WWE
writers for RAW are no longer getting notes from meetings with Vince McMahon, so if a writer doesn’t make
it to the meeting, then they have to help book the show with no direction from the boss.
Given that Vince McMahon has torn up entire scripts in the past because it’s not what he wants, it’s a bad idea for
writers now having no direction of what the Chairman wants, and this baffling decision is being pinned on one person:
Bruce Prichard. One tenured member of creative said:
“I don’t know why Bruce would have most of the staff operate in the dark, but it seems like another power grab to me.”
A different member of WWE creative said that McMahon will hopefully come to his senses and scrap the rule, but for now,
the road to WrestleMania 37 will include plenty of writers working without any plan.
We have some worrying news next, as WCW legend Konnan has been hospitalised.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer confirmed the bad news, saying that the former United States
Champion is suffering from a kidney issue, and his situation is very serious.
In an update from Bryan Alverez, it was said that whatever treatment Konnan is undergoing right now seems
to be doing the job. It was also revealed by Konnan’s close friend Hugo Savinovich that the
wrestler/podcast host also tested positive shortly before he went to hospital, though it’s currently unclear
if he’s still positive.
Konnan had a kidney transplant in 2007, and suffered complications shortly afterwards but made a recovery.
The former WCW star has said that a mix of painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs ruined his kidney, and we’re
sending our best wishes to Konnan at this time.
NXT next, and this week’s show ended with Kyle O’Reilly be stretchered out of the Capitol Wrestling Center
leading fans to fear the worst. Though it was later reported that O’Reilly was fine, and just selling the
attack by Adam Cole, it was a very convincing performance, even to those backstage.
It’s now being reported that the NXT roster backstage believed there was something legitimately wrong with him,
and that this was made worse when it was reported that he’d suffered a seizure.
It’s no secret that O’Reilly is diabetic, and that diabetes can often trigger seiures under the right circumstances,
but just to be clear, O’Reilly din’t suffer a seizure either during, or after this week’s NXT.
WWE Sources who spoke to Fightful said that this seizure talk was simply a case of one fan creating a panic by
overspeculating on social media, and we’re pleased that O’Reilly is fine, though perhaps he should warn the NXT
roster next time around.
Back to the main roster, and although Keith Lee impressed many with his call-up last year, things haven’t gone
swimmingly for the Limitless One. Ringside News is reporting that there is pushback backstage with him
because of Vince McMahon, and while he’s incredibly gifted for his size, they’ve yet to find that special spark
in McMahon’s opinion. One writer said that Lee’s promos haven’t caught fire, but added that
nobody is excelling in that area other than Edge, Randy Orton, Paul Heyman, Roman Reigns, the Steet Profits and
Lacey Evans. With Lee being one of the names as part of WWE’s recent big men
classes at the Performance Center, clearly McMahon feels he needs some tuning up, and with his status this
Sunday in question, things aren’t looking good for the former NXT Champion?
But what do you think of Lee? Can his main roster time be salvaged, or has the ship sailed? Let us know below.
In September 2020, a lawsuit, accusing WWE of wrongdoing over concussions was dismissed, but now Konstantine
Kyros is aiming at a higher court. This week, the lawyer, who represents names including Marty Jannetty,
Road Warrior Animal and Chavo Guerrero, filed a case with the Supreme Court, claiming that the
rights of his clients have been violated by WWE. Kyros has been filing lawsuits for
years against WWE, and has been reprimanded in the past for fraudulent practices, and WWE’s attorney Jerry
McDevitt described this attempted appeal as “an exercise in futility.”
McDevitt added that Kyros will face sanctions next month on how much he has to pay WWE, and we’ll keep
viewers informed as more details come out.
Back to NXT, and this week’s promised Santos Escobar Vs. Karrion Kross match didn’t happen, for a very specific reason.
On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained the situation, saying:
There was a medical reason that I heard yesterday, Tuesday, that the match wasn’t going to take place. So,
it’s not a storyline. It was a storyline out of necessity, and not a planned storyline
Hopefully whatever medical issue that kept the match happening this week won’t be an issue next week, as a
match between Kross and Escobar is something plenty of fans want to see happen.
More NXT news next, as Andrade could be returning to the gold brand, after being absent from the WWE
main roster for months. Though he was expected to be a huge player on Paul Heyman’s RAW,
Heyman’s removal as Executive Director hurt Andrade’s career badly, with Vince McMahon reportedly not
seeing anything in the former United States Champion. On Twitter this week, Andrade dropped
a possible hint about his future, as he posted a photo of himself as NXT Champion.
A move to the black and gold brand could be the best thing for him, as both Finn Balor and Ember Moon have
impressed since they returned to NXT. Do you feel that Andrade should return to NXT, or should he try and stick it out
on the main roster? Sound off in the comments.
Though Andrade hasn’t been in the ring, he’s been active on social media, and is always ready to defend his fiancé
Charlotte Flair. When the Queen spoke of a dude who said she looks like a man, Andrade was
quick to repond, asking where this person is, and wasn’t happy about what was said.
Unfortunately, comments like these are not uncommon for Charlotte, though we doubt any of the people making
comments like these would say it to her face, especially with the fighting skill of both her, and Andrade.
Back to SmackDown, and Sami Zayn has delivered plenty of Helluva Kicks, even before he arrived in WWE,
but there’s one kick he wants to take back. While speaking to FOX Sports, Zayn
discussed wrestling X-Pac at the CHIKARA King of Trios event in 2011, and said that the timing was off for
the move: maybe I ran too fast, I don’t know what was going on, but I absolutely
obliterated him. Obliterated him to the point where I could feel his skull through my foot.
Zayn also said that one person he nailed too hard was soon-to-be WWE Hall of Famer Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger,
and we certainly wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of a boot by the self-professed Intercontinental Champion.
Despite being a heel on-screen, Zayn has worked hard for years with the Sami for Syria charity, providing medical
assistance to those in need, and on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said the self-proclaimed Intercontinental
Champion will be able to continue, despite the WWE’s new rules about third-party deals, and what Superstars
can discuss on social media. Meltzer explained: “Everything is on a case by case basis.
I asked specifically about Sami For Syria; because that’s one of the charities I know most about. They
said that that’s fine. He will still be able to promote that” This new policy of evaluating
everything on a case-by-case basis could get confusing, especially if different deaprtments are overseeing
what the Superstars post online, but for now, Sami Zayn will be permitted to continue with his charity.
Impact news next and we’ve got sad news about Heath, as the former WWE Superstar will be undergoing surgery.
On social media, the Impact star said he has a sports hernia on the left side of his pubic bone, a hernia on his right side,
a rip on each side of his abdomen wall and a tear of his abductor muscle.
The former SmackDown Tag Team Champion will be going under the knife on March 1st, and with so many injuries
under his belt, there’s no window of time for a return at this point.
And finally today we’re ending with Hulk Hogan, who fans can see win the WWF title in seconds from
Yokozuna at WrestleMania 9, all while sporting black eye. The urban legend is that Hogan
suffered the injury during a real fight with ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage, a tussle the WWF didn’t reveal as they
were both faces, and this week, Jim Cornette revealed all about this alleged fight.
Speaking on his Drive Thru show, Cornette said that it was Savage’s paranoia over his then-wife Miss
Elizabeth that led to the shiner, saying: Savage found out that Elizabeth had run off to Hogan’s house and was
staying with Linda [Hulk Hogan’s ex-wife] because Linda and Elizabeth were friends, and Hogan didn’t tell
Savage that she was there, which is why Savage confronted him by punching him in the f***ing eye
With a career of politicking and sabotaging the careers of others under his belt, there’s plenty of people
who wouldn’t mind giving Hogan a black eye, but on this occasion, it’s safe to say the Hulkster really didn’t deserve it.