wrestlemania Archives

WCW legend suggests Cody Rhodes should never finish the story

September 21, 2023

With SummerSlam officially on the books and the Royal Rumble already being advertised for in January, fans have already begun to fire up their fantasy booking machines to determine the best possible way for Cody Rhodes to finish his story against the greatest champion since WWF became WWE, Roman Reigns.

Will Paul “Triple H” Levesque simply run things back, with Rhodes winning the Royal Rumble to punch his ticket to a main event contest against the “Tribal Chief?” Or does the champion-turned-booker have something more interesting in mind for the biggest show of the year, maybe some sort of a one-two punch centered around “The Rock” himself, Dwayne Johnson?

But what if, and this is controversial, Rhodes doesn’t defeat Reigns? Not at WrestleMania 40, not ever, and instead continues to come up short like his father before him? Well, that is the idea WCW legend Kevin Sullivan discussed on his Tuesday With The Taskmaster show with Paul Bromwell and ultimately came to the conclusion that if the “American Nightmare” doesn’t add the WWE Championship to his trophy case, his career may ultimately be better off for it.

“That’s a great idea because his father never got the WWF belt. They always show that picture where he has the belt. That’s something to think about, and I was against Cody beating Roman Reigns. I was very vocal about that because — I think I told you, Paul, a few weeks ago — that was right after Sami didn’t beat Roman. I thought Sami’s people would’ve turned on Cody because he’d just come in, he didn’t get over,” Kevin Sullivan said via Wrestling Inc.

“He was Cody Rhodes, and he got over, and it’s because he had been there for years, left, made a huge name for himself, came back. I thought if he had won here, it would almost look like he was a corporate champion. I like that he didn’t go over, and it’s going to be interesting to see where they go with WrestleMania 40 with Cody if The Rock comes in for Roman.”

Would it be incredible, in an admittedly ironic way, to see Rhodes leave AEW because he couldn’t win the big one – even if that decision was self-imposed – only to then never win the big one in WWE either? Why yes, yes it would be, but considering Rhodes no has very little control over his storyline, it’s not like he can do much about it but complain.

**Cody Rhodes reflects on the end of The Go Big Show.**

Speaking of Cody Rhodes’ time in AEW, the “American Nightmare” commented on the end of his run in the promotion with Dale Earnhartd Jr.’s podcast the Dale Download, and how it affected one of his other ventures on TBS, The Go Big Show.

Though Rhodes admits he joined the show because of a desire to help get AEW more over with casual fans, in the end, his jump to WWE may have ruined TBS’ planned third season.

“Go Big Show. At the time, we had started AEW, WarnerMedia, they were just looking for crossover. That was my role at AEW. I was the face of the brand. I was not the champion, but I was going to be ‘We know him a little from WWE, casual fans, he’s in a suit, he looks the part.’ I was going to be the face for these crossovers. That’s all they wanted out of it,” Cody Rhodes said via Fightful.

“It was doing really well ratings, can we bring some of those people over? I’m of the thought, I want as many people watching our show as possible. That means sending me to Macon, Georgia in the pandemic for a month where we were totally bubbled up. Yes, send me. I will watch some crazy acts with no audience. One of the most fun experiences I’ve ever been a part of. I feel terrible because when I left the show, they didn’t do the show again. They were ready to do the show again. If Snoop, Rosario, or Jennifer Nettles ever beat me up in a back alley somewhere, I understand. I might have screwed up season three.”

Is it a true crime to the world of television that fans didn’t get a third season of The Go Big Show? Eh, probably not; that show was such a product of the COVID-19 Pandemic that the “fans” in attendance actually sat in cars and honked for approval. Still, could TBS have probably squeaked out a third season had Rhodes stuck around in AEW? Based on his own words, the answer to that question is likely yes.

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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson reveals his one condition to have another WWE match

September 17, 2023

When Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson took the ring with Pat McAfee and Austin Theory in an impromptu opening segment on SmackDown, it generated totally normal and tempered reactions from fans who understood that the appearance had more to do with the duo being at the University of Colorado earlier in the day for ESPN than anything having to do with a massive in-ring return for “The Great One.”

Fans enjoyed the moment for what it was, especially as it spilled into the backstage area a few moments later with a fun interaction with none other than his WrestleMania 28 and WrestleMania 29 opponent, John Cena, accepted that it was more or less a one-off, and then went about enjoying the rest of the show, which featured The Grayson Waller Effect, an LA Knight match and even more fun to be had.

… yeah, except that didn’t happen.

No, when the segment came to an end, fans were already fantasy booking the main event of WrestleMania 40 – which, admittedly, Johnson did hint at as a possibility – and even started hypothesizing about what a Cody Rhodes pipe bomb would look like if he went full-on CM Punk after seemingly having his big moment taken away by a part-timer.

Fortunately, earlier in the day, Johnson actually gave McAfee some insight into what it would take for him to get back into the ring and if he would even be interested in having another match seven and a half years removed from squashing Erik Rowan at WrestleMania 32. For Johnson, the answer is simple: He wants to make a moment that has never been done before.

“Honestly, brother, it’s not the injury that I’m concerned about because that’s just part of it,” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said via Fightful. “It’s just part of the game. You sign up for it. You get hurt. We all get hurt. That’s just the way it is. It’s not even the schedule because I can control the schedule because I can control the schedule, to a large degree. Me going back to WWE and wrestling a match always comes down to the reason why, and what can we create that’s never been done before for the fans. So that’s the idea.”

Well, if creating moments that have “never been done before” is the criteria by which Rocky picks future matches, then fans might just be in luck, as facing down the “Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns in the main event of WrestleMania XL 1,000+ days into his Universal Championship run is about as marquee a moment as you will find, as there is only so much time left where the duo could put on a match worthy of its pedigree.

Pat McAfee was stoked to stand with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.

After sharing the ring with at least one future Hall of Famer – two if you own a boatload of Austin Theory stock – Pat McAfee stopped by the backstage area on SmackDown to reflect on his incredible return to WWE with Kayla Braxton.

Though McAfee’s night wasn’t perfect, as he did have to spend some time with Theory, in the end, he couldn’t have asked for a better return.

“That bum, Austin Theory. I was in the ring with him again,” Pat McAfee said via Fightful. “He looked good, looking a black tank top. He does look fantastic. It’s just the inside of him that’s terrible. You can’t really change that. But yeah, The Rock and I had a chance to chat earlier today on my show. He was electrifying, and then tonight, to get to be in the ring, I got to see all of it happens. His spinebuster, the People’s Elbow, the eyebrow raise, the ‘It doesn’t matter,’ him starting a ‘You are an a**hole’ chant. I was in there for the whole thing. The WWE, my entire life, has been a dream destination. Everything that I’ve been able to do here, I’m incredibly lucky for and thankful for, grateful for it. I try to enjoy. I definitely did that tonight. It’s a dream being back for sure.”

Asked what it felt like to be in the ring with one of his idols, McAfee admitted it was “so stupid” just how many incredible opportunities the WWE Universe has afforded him.

“Yeah Kayla, it’s so stupid. I got Stunned by Stone Cold at WrestleMania in Texas,” McAfee added. “Then I got to drink some Steve-weisers with him afterwards. I just got to do a People’s Elbow with The Rock. I’m living not only my dream, but I know pretty much every kid that grew up in my generation’s dream, so I hope I’m doing you guys proud. I’m trying to enjoy it, and I am beyond thankful for it all.”

And last but not least, McAfee was asked about his best friend Michael Cole, who seemingly had the time of his life calling wrestling matches alongside the former Colts All-Pro punter during their all-too-short run together. While McAfee clearly misses working alongside the “Voice of WWE” on the regular, he hopes they will work together again one day.

“I love it. He always has to be the buttoned-up guy, doing the play-by-play, which he is the greatest of all time, bar none,” McAfee said. “I understand there’s a conversation for sone other people, but they haven’t been paying attention close enough. What Michael Cole has done throughout his career at the WWE is second-to-none. But now he’s got a little attitude, a little spice, a little personality. He looks unbelievable. I’m incredibly lucky that I got to work with Michael Cole, and I am still very confident that it will happen again.”

Will McAfee ever become a full-time commentator in WWE once more? Considering his schedule, probably not, but hey, it’s always nice to see him return to the commentary booth – not to mention the ring – every now and again, as he brings a sort of fan energy that the traditional teams of Cole, Corey Graves, Wade Barrett, and Kevin Patrick just can’t match.

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Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson delivers the ultimate WrestleMania 40 tease that will have fans going wild

September 15, 2023

Fans have been pining to see an Anoi’i family throwdown between Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Roman Reigns for literally years.

From WrestleMania 37, which didn’t have fans due to Covid, to WrestleMania 38, which took place in the very not Dwane “The Rock” Johnson city of Tampa Bay, to WrestleMania 39 in the very Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson city of Hollywood, California – read: Inglewood – and now WrestleMania 40, aka WrestleMania XL live from the home of the Philadelphia Eagles, Lincoln Financial Field.

On paper, the pairing makes sense, right? Johnson was one of the best professional wrestlers of his generation, and Reigns is one of the best professional wrestlers of his generation; throw the familial relationship into the equation – even though the duo share no actual blood relation – and the results should be nothing short of magic, right?

Speaking to Pat McAfee and company on his namesake show in a surprisingly tough interview with “The Great One,” Johnson reveals just how close he came to wrestling at the “Showcase of the Immortals” at SoFi Stadium and whether or not he’d be down to mix it up with his cousin in the ring at some point in the future.

“The Rock headlining WrestleMania with Roman Reigns, SoFi Stadium, that was locked. We were doing it. But let me just tell you, so about, in the beginning of 2022, Nick Khan, very good friend, he’s the man, he was very instrumental in bringing Vinttyce and I together,” Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson said via Fightful. “We all flew to LA, we met, we sat. This was the beginning of 2022. We broke out the Teremana, we toasted life, we toasted the business we love, and about an hour later, we started talking about the potential of what this match could be between myself and Roman Reigns headlining WrestleMania at SoFi. We shook hands and we hugged right there, all three of us at the table, and said, ‘Let’s do this.’ So then we had a year to really think about this. So the north star thought was, ‘Okay, let’s not do something good. Let’s not do something great. Let’s do something unprecedented.’ It was in, what can we create for the fans that has never been done before? A match, great. Roman, incredible athlete. He’s gonna be on Mount Rushmore. Super handsome, good dude, my cousin, family. Amazing. We can have the match. But the bigger thought was, what can do for the fans and the business that love, where WrestleMania isn’t the end of something, it’s actually the beginning of something bigger.”

Whoa, now that is some news to just casually drop on ESPN on a random Friday afternoon. And the best part? Johnson had more to say on the topic too that will have fans hyped as you-know-what moving forward.

**Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is open to a match at WrestleMania 40.**

Continuing his conversation with the former All-Pro punter, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson let it be known that he got “really, really” close to a match at WrestleMania 39, but ultimately pulled back, decided that a future opportunity at, say, WrestleMania 40 may prove even more valuable for WWE fans.

“So we got really, really close, but we couldn’t actually nail what that thing was,” Johnson noted. “So we decided to put our pencils down. We agreed, hey, listen, there’s a merger coming up, eventually that will happen. There’s WrestleMania in Philadelphia. [Raises his eyebrow] I’m saying that’s a potential too. I’m open. I’m open. But again, let’s figure out what that is because the fans deserve something just incredible and unprecedented. Not only that but I also want to deliver to the locker room and the boys and the girls back there who are working their a**es off. What can we do to put them in a position where they’re part of something that is a new change, an era, in this world of pro wrestling? Vince is a big-picture thinker, as you know. This is why we’ve gotten along for years, just trying to think big picture. So we’ll see.”

Will outlets around the world run with this headline? Yes, as you are reading right now, this is a pretty darn big news story but it is not, however, a certified signed contract for a match between the “Head of the Table” and the “Most Entertaining Man in Sports Entertainment.” No, until Johnson shows up on SmackDown, stares down the “Tribal Chief,” and demands a match, this still feels like Cody Rhodes’ story to tell, especially if he does get traded to the Blue Brand.

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Grayson Waller reflects on ‘surreal’ experience working with John Cena at Money in the Bank

September 13, 2023

When Grayson Waller stepped up on John Cena at Money in the Bank in London, England, spared on the mic for the better part of 12 minutes, and living to tell the tale, it effectively made the “Aussie Icon” a “made man” within the WWE Universe.

After watching his friend and future A-Town Down Under tag team partner Austin Theory flounder in an incredible way on the mic versus the leader of CeNation in the lead-up to WrestleMania 39, a clear inflection point in the former United States Champion’s career, Waller stepped up to bat, embraced the moment, and shined in his role, going on to wrestle Edge and become a fixture of SmackDown due in no small part to the strength of his performance.

Discussing his MitB coming out party on After The Bell with Corey Graves and Kevin Patrick, Waller noted how “surreal” it was to step in the ring with Cena, especially since he isn’t a fan of “The Face That Runs the Place.”

“I think the word I’d use is surreal. Obviously, being a wrestling fan growing up, John Cena is, many people say, the greatest of all time, so being across from him is wild, especially in the O2. That arena was sold out. You guys know how wild those English fans are. That’s a different vibe,” Grayson Waller said via Fightful. “For me personally, these are the places that I expect myself to be. When I got called up, this is where I wanted to be. When I got in there with John, I didn’t look at it like a huge opportunity for me, I get to be across from — I’m not a fan. I don’t want his autographs, I don’t want his merch. My way to learn from John isn’t by sitting backstage with him and kissing his a**. My way to learn from John is being across from him and going against him, so when I got in there with him, I looked at him as every other opponent I’m in there with. I didn’t look at him as a hero or anything like that because I think that’s when you operate at a different level, and you’re not your best.”

Is Waller really not a fan of Cena? Debateable. Will Waller let Cena know he isn’t a fan of Cena when they meet this Friday on the biggest episode of The Grayson Waller Effect yet? Oh, you’d best believe it, as if Waller learned anything from great talkers of the past, a camp Cena certainly falls into, it’s that winning the mental game can get you to the pay window before the bell even rings.

Grayson Waller opens up about life on the road in WWE.

Elsewhere on After The Bell, Grayson Waller was asked about what it’s like to become a full-time touring member of the SmackDown roster after spending the last chapter of his career in NXT.

Though Waller isn’t a fan of every city he wrestles in – he actually seems to like very few of them – the process of traveling the world is still a new, fun experience for the “Aussie Icon.”

“The travel definitely is. I’ve been doing it a few months, I can’t complain too much when someone like Rey Mysterio has been traveling all over the world for years,” Grayson Waller said via Fightful. “But with NXT, you finish a show and you’re in your own bed five minutes later. That was a dream. Now, I’m in Canada, trying to get through customs there. I go to Alabama, then Pittsburgh. I’m in all these different places, and it’s a long time away from home, but I’m kind of loving it to be honest. This is my first time experiencing a lot of these places. Some of them are terrible, some of them are okay, but the travel is rough at times.”

Asked about his least favorite city he’s worked in thus far, Waller hardly hesitated, shooting off an answer that will certainly upset more than a few fans.

“New York is hands down the worst place I’ve ever been in my life,” Waller noted. “I can’t believe that’s a famous place. It’s gross, you walk around, it smells. It’s a rough place to be, I just didn’t enjoy any of it. But then recently I went to Philly, which has a bad reputation, it was great. I loved it. I think it was because I was there in summer, they get like three days of sun a year so they take advantage of it. The next time I go, it’s probably gonna be horrible.”

Whoa, Philadelphia over New York? To some, those are fighting words. Then again, with WrestleMania 40 already booked for the City of Brotherly Love, maybe Waller is just trying to get a good word in with the fans in Philly in the hopes of securing a choice match at the Linc.

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WWE Hall of Famer reveals expected ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage WrestleMania feud was cut short

September 10, 2023

Though Jake “The Snake” Roberts has spent the last few years working on and off for AEW as Lance Archer’s manager, the certified wrestling legend’s legacy will be widely remembered, for better or worse, for his time in WWE – okay, technically WWF – where he, despite never winning a title, established himself as one of the most popular heels in the promotion’s history.

From his battles with Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, to his matches with The Honky Tonk Man and even his feud with Ted DiBiase, Roberts took part in some of the biggest matches of all time, but one feud that didn’t have the run it deserved, and thus didn’t rise to the same level of excellence, was his efforts against the “Macho Man” Randy Savage, but that wasn’t on either performer per se.

No, the reason this performance didn’t go quite as planned had more to do with creative than anything else, which is a shame, because, in Roberts’ opinion on his podcast, the feud had the potential to be fantastic.

“Yeah, Savage and me. That whole storyline was so good, and it was cut so short,” Jake Roberts said via 411 Mania. “They hadn’t even touched the tip of that. All of a sudden, they snapped it off, and that was it, which made me sick because, h*ll, we didn’t even go all the way around. For it to be cut that short, it was just disgusting. But what I am? I don’t know. That’s the one that sticks out.”

Asked if he thought Savage would have been his opponent at WrestleMania 8, Roberts agreed, stating that he felt he “got the shaft on that one.” Still, part of the feud’s end may have had to do with Robert’s decision to slap Miss Elizabeth on television, which upset her family greatly.

“Yeah, that was a part of it because her family, they revolted, man,” Roberts added. “They went psycho on Randy. Randy was no longer allowed at the house. He had promised the family that Liz would never get hurt because, unfortunately, Randy and Liz had never smartened them up to the business. So when I slapped her, that was the end of the ship, brother.”

Would it have been cool to see Roberts go at it with the Macho Man over an extended program that ended in a match at WrestleMania 8? Sure thing, but hey, at least fans got to see Savage get bitten by Robert’s snake; that’s something, right?

Jake “The Snake” Roberts names one of his craziest foes in WWE

Elsewhere on his The Snake Pit podcast, Jake “The Snake” Roberts reflected on another one of his rivals from years past, Bob Backlund, whom he knew from their time together in Mid South Wrestling.

While many fans know Backlund as the second-longest-reigning WWE Champion of all time, Roberts recalls him fondly for a very different reason.

“He’s a f**king maniac. Are you kidding? That guy is legit psycho. He’s just … that guy is so strong, it’s incredible. He’s a freak of nature. He’ll f**king lose it man, and start screaming and s**t. He scares the f**k out of me. He does it at signings. He’ll grab someone in a f**king hold and just scream like crazy,” Roberts said via Wrestling Inc.

“I remember back in the late-70s, he came to Mid South. They brought a kid from LSU, who was like 6’8, 350 f**king pounds to challenge a wrestler. And nobody wanted to get in there. Because if you get in there and you lose, your f*****g s**t’s over. And Backlund raises his hand and says I’ll track you. And everybody’s like ‘Oh, f**k no man.” But he went out there, and all he did was grab the guy in the f*****g headlock. He grabbed that guy in that headlock, and squeezed so f**king hard, the guy passed out. That was f**king incredible man. And it didn’t take long either.”

Though Backlund’s legacy isn’t fresh in the minds of WWE fans in the same way as, say, Hulk Hogan, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, or even Jake “The Snake” Roberts, fans may be surprised to learn that Backlund wrestled as recently as 2018 in the ring for Dradition Pro Wrestling in Japan back in 2018. Though the now 74-year-old is now happily retired and, presumably, has mellowed out from what Roberts remembers from the mid-70s, who knows, maybe Backlund could still mix it up Ric Flair-style in the ring if need be… or at least appear on an episode of The Snake Pit to reminisce on the good old days.

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Rhea Ripley reveals who she expects to wrestle at WrestleMania 40

September 8, 2023

When it comes to female wrestlers in WWE, there is Rhea Ripley, and then there’s everyone else.

The “Eradicator” of the Judgment Day with 34 straight singles victories in 2023 alone, Ripley doesn’t just defeat opponents in the ring; she dominates them with wicked efficiency, with the vast majority of those defenses coming in under 10 minutes.

And yet, despite her incredible in-ring success and desire to remain champion for a very long time, that doesn’t mean Ripley is looking to take the easy way out and only take on easy matches on Premium Live Events. No, as she noted in an interview with India Today ahead of Superstar Spectacle, Ripley expects a huge challenge in the forthcoming months from none other than “The Man” Becky Lynch, whom she believes would be a very good foe for WrestleMania 40.

“I expect a huge challenge from ‘The Man,’ Becky. She has definitely made her a name for herself in this company. She’s accomplished so much. She’s going down in history, as one of the best,” Rhea Ripley said via Fightful. “And she will 110 percent be in the Hall of Fame one day. She really has made her own legacy. But like Becky, like Charlotte, like Sasha, like Bayley, like the Four horsewomen, they’ve all made a name for themselves. But at the end of the day, when you step in the ring with Mami, it’s a whole different sort of challenge. And if it were to be myself and Becky Lynch at WrestleMania 40, you know, I invite that challenge. Like you said, we went one on one in NXT. And it there was no clear winner because it was a DQ because Shayna, Jessamyn, and Marina just had to come down and ruin that for me when I was on the stride of my life.”

On paper, it’s hard to argue with Ripley’s case, as her match with Lynch in NXT did come to an end via DQ, and she has yet been allowed to right that wrong in singles action, as thus far, all of their shared in-ring moments together have come in multi-person matches, be that WarGames, the Royal Rumble, or a traditional match. After beating Charlotte Flair, Lynch’s greatest rival, at WrestleMania 39, it looks like Ripley has a hankering to pick off the horsewomen one by one, which would be very good for the entire WWE Universe for more reasons than one.

After dethroning Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley isn’t afraid of Becky Lynch.

Speaking of Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley touched on her in her conversation with India Today, too, and explained that, after a dominant effort against “The Queen” at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, no one, not even “The Man” should have any right to look at her as anything but a main event star.

“So, I would like to see what the outcome would be. I would love to step in the ring with (Becky Lynch). I think it would be a great challenge,” Ripley added. “But at the same time, I feel like she doesn’t exactly know what Mami is capable of. And like what happened at WrestleMania 39, Charlotte underestimated me. She thought I was still the child that she wrestled at WrestleMania 36. I’m not. I’m a completely different animal. I’m a monster these days. I’m a nightmare. I’m an ‘Eradicator.’ And it’s me and Becky. I’m just saying Mami is gonna end up on top, just like she always does. I mean, I’ve got quite a collection going. Uh, I think that if we had Becky to the list, I think everyone would be quite happy with that.”

As with Lynch, Ripley first met with Flair when she was a member of NXT, when Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s crew down in developmental declared war on RAW and SmackDown. Though that initial feud didn’t go particularly well, as it resulted in Ripley losing her NXT Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 36, it still provided some valuable reps for a then-22-year-old Superstar who had future main eventer written all over her.

With Ripley now firmly in her professional wrestling prime, and her wrestling prowess an accepted fact among fans, pundits, and Superstars alike, maybe it’s time – well, April 2024 will be time – for Levesque to put all of his cards in Mami’s basket and give her the two-biggest back-to-back women’s wins in WrestleMania history, even if it means delivering Lynch yet another singles loss on a huge show, which has become a bit of a trend as of late. If the Judgment Day is the new Bloodline, then a win over Lynch would make Ripley the faction’s Roman.

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Seth Rollins gives a surprising endorsement to one of Becky Lynch’s biggest rivals

September 4, 2023

Seth Rollins has seen a lot over his decade in the WWE Universe; He’s been at the top of the card, he’s been held off of Premium Live Events, and even had to fight tooth and nail to get a mystery opponent at WrestleMania 38, even if that ultimately worked out in his favor.

Over that decade, Rollins has also been a first-hand witness to the rise, fall, rise, and sudden stalling out of the WWE women’s division, which has gone from headlining WrestleMania 35 to being stuck in a bit of a rut since the end of WrestleMania 39, with very few compelling things for fans to sink their teeth into save Becky Lynch’s on-going storyline with Trish Stratus and Zoey Stark.

While Rollins noted on After The Bell that while some of this discrepancy in booking strength is due to just the natural ebbs and flows of professional wrestling booking, as promoters can’t choose what goes over with the crowd no matter how hard they try, the “Visionary” believes the roster has enough talent to drive it into the future, including Stark, who isn’t exactly Lynch’s favorite performer after her months working with Stratus.

“I would say 100% there is a lot of space to fill there, right now,” Seth Rollins said via Fightful. “On RAW, on SmackDown, absolutely, there is a void. What I sense more than anything is the bubbling undercurrent from our audience. They want something fresh and new, and they want to have people to get behind. They want it. I’m not saying these people are coming from NXT, you never know, it might be somebody that steps up, a Chelsea Green, a Piper Niven, you never know. There are tons of women capable on our main roster at the moment. There is very much a ‘We want something more out of the women. We know it’s there, and we can’t wait to see it,’ there is a growing intrigue and a growing desire to see it. Zoey Stark was in the ring with Becky [Becky Lynch], and they wrecked the main event of Monday Night RAW. That was Zoey’s first main event, and I told her after, ‘The first of many.’ It’s going to be a huge thing. She is someone that has the opportunity to lead the next generation of women into the future. It’s there. It feels like they are on the cusp of a breakthrough. I felt like Monday was a huge reminder of what they are capable of.”

Whoa, those are some pretty kind words to say about the former NXT standout, as her main roster run has been all but exclusively tied to Stratus without many chances to showcase her own unique character. After turning on Stratus at Payback, however, something tells me that is going to change in a very positive way moving forward.

Seth Rollins wants to see the women’s division step up.

Discussing the matter further on After The Bell, Seth Rollins explained that, despite having a tough run over the past few months, he believes the WWE women’s roster has all of the tools to be successful in the future; it just needs to run with the opportunity when it’s presented.

“They haven’t been showcased as well as they could have been over the past six months or so, they haven’t been. Aside from a few exceptions, I don’t need to pick and choose and name names, sometimes that’s how the cookie crumbles. It’s part of the industry and part of the business. I’ve been in situations where I feel like I haven’t been showcased, male talent the same way, it has nothing to do with gender at all. It’s a commentary on where we’re at right now. There are opportunities, and Monday was a reminder of how incredible our female talent roster is and can be when given the opportunity to main event, succeed, and be the best. It’s all there, I just can’t wait to see who steps up and fills that space and grabs that ring.”

Is Rollins correct? Are all of the pieces in place for WWE’s women to shine when their numbers get called, and they just have to stay ready for that opportunity? Or does Paul “Triple H” Levesque need to retool his plans moving forward, potentially with a few NXT stars like Tiffany Stratton drafted up onto the main roster to make things interesting for OGs like Becky Lynch, who she appears to be entering into a program with in the not-too-distant future? Fans will have to keep tuning in to find out.

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Seth Rollins gives a surprising endorsement to one of Becky Lynch’s biggest rivals

September 4, 2023

Seth Rollins wants to see the women’s division step up.

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Edge reveals which WrestleMania match he had to sign a waiver to wrestle

August 31, 2023

As Edge prepares to decide on what he wants to do next in his professional wrestling career, be that retirement, a return to WWE, or a jump to AEW, the “Rated-R Superstar” stopped by the Brotherly Love podcast to discuss his career, his injury history, and, most interestingly of all, his match with Mick Foley at WrestleMania 22; the final WrestleMania match of Cactus Jack’s career.

While many fans may remember that match in particular for Edge’s putting Foley through a flaming table with a Spear, Adam Copeland recalls it most for having to sign a waiver to be allowed to do the spot, as WWE didn’t want to be liable for his actions.

“That was a lot of stupidity on my part,” Edge said with a laugh. “I always say that I’m probably missing a chip. We were heading into WrestleMania 22, and I was wrestling this guy named Mick Foley, who is also missing a chip. I thought that Edge should be in the main event. I thought I’d really put in the work to earn that, and I had a chip on my shoulder,” Edge said via WrestleZone.

“So when they said, ‘How about you wrestle Mick?’, I was like, ‘Great because he’s just as nuts.’ We got together, and we said to ourselves, ‘Okay, we’re gonna steal this show.’ We’re in a hardcore match, which means there’s so rules. I had to sign a waiver before, that if anything happened to me, no one was responsible but me. Signed it. Didn’t even think about it. I was like, ‘Yup,’ signed it. I’m coming to steal the show.”

Goodness, so if Edge had to sign a waiver to do all of the crazy spots in the match, who came up with that finish? Was it Foley, who has done more crazy spots in Japan than most wrestlers will do in their entire careers? Well, as it turns out, that one was on Edge, too, as he explained to Matt, Andrew, and Joey Lawrence on their podcast.

Edge explains how he came up with his flaming spear finish at WrestleMania 22.

After going into extensive detail about the match and Mick Foley, Edge got around to the finish of the match, which he thought would be an incredible moment with the potential to steal the show.

The only problem? Edge wrestled the match shirtless, which led to burns that Foley didn’t have to worry about, as he had multiple layers on for the match.

“The finish was my idea. Usually when you see Edge do something really stupid, it’s because Adam cooked it up, and he has too much time on his hands. So the finish of this match, I do this thing called the Spear. I said, ‘Hey, Mick. What if I Spear you through the ropes into a flaming table?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, of course.’ I didn’t even factor in the idea that he wears a flannel, he wears a T-shirt. He’s got like three layers of clothing on,” Edge said.

“As I’m coming at him, this is when it dawns on me. ‘Oh, I don’t have a shirt on, and I’m going face-first into these flames.’ As I’m running, that’s when it dawns on me. I’m like, ‘Well, I’m here. We’re committed.’ So I hit him, and I just tried to tuck my head into his body as much as I could. Burnt my arm, burnt my hair. We go through the table, the fire goes out. As I’m crawling over to cover him for the pin, I see my arm is smoking, and it’s turning gray. I’m kind of shaking a little bit. I didn’t fully realize until I got to the back and they’re looking at me, I’m kind of in shock. You can kind of tell, I don’t really know what’s going on right now. It’s pretty weird to see now, especially where I’m at in life now, it was a different dude, then.”

Theoretically, it’s probably not a good idea for any wrestler to spear themselves into a flaming table in front of 17,155 at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois, especially if they aren’t a hardcore specialist, but then again, folks do still fondly recall Edge’s stop with Mick Foley almost 20 years, later signifying that signing that waiver was probably a good idea. Though the jury is still out on whether or not Edge will ever put another performer through a flaming table again – Edge vs. Christian Cage at All In 2024? – it’s safe to say he got some serious bang for his buck out of his match with Foley that won’t be soon forgotten.

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