SEScoops

Author: Anutosh Bajpai

  • Cesaro On Why He Thinks He Can Be The Face Of WWE

    Cesaro is finally getting the pay off for the years of hard work in form of his first one on one world title opportunity at the upcoming Backlash PPV event.

    Though while he is only getting the opportunity now, the Swiss superman has always been popular with people. Fans every now and then have called for him to get a run with the world title.

    During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Cesaro talked about his connection with the fans and why he believes he can be the face of WWE:

    \”I feel like I have this special connection with the WWE universe where for the past nine years, they’ve seen what I’m about, rather than me saying what I’m about.

    So, that’s something that is very hard to describe but I feel like I struck a chord with a lot of people who are watching\” said Cesaro,\”and that’s upset important, you can’t fake that and you can’t buy that.”

    The former US champion also discussed how he represents the people from around the world who come to US looking for the American Dream and want to become a WWE superstar.

    Cesaro will challenge the universal champion Roman Reigns in his first singles opportunity at the world title this Sunday at WrestleMania: Backlash event.

  • Eric Bischoff On Who Paid For TNA\’s Rebranding As Impact Wrestling

    The company now known as Impact Wrestling started off as Total Nonstop Action or TNA. The transition of the branding began in 2010 and Eric Bischoff recently revealed who was responsible for it.

    The former Impact executive discussed the company during the latest episode of his 83 weeks podcast and explained how the name was a bad idea from the start.

    Speaking about the rebranding of the company from TNA to Impact, Bischoff revealed that Spike TV and Viacom who were the TV partners of the company at the time were the ones who pushed for the change:

    “Spike pumped the brakes and said sorry, if we’re going to continue with this show and try to sell it, we have to rebrand it. It was a tough battle, there was a lot of push back internally, mostly from the people who didn’t have anything to do with running the business on a day to day basis from Texas, that being Panda Energy.

    Mommy and Daddy, mostly mommy, didn’t want to spend the money so Spike did! Spike paid for the rebranding, Spike paid for the research, these are things the company should have been doing for themselves\” said Eric Bischoff, \”But they didn’t and wouldn’t so Spike said alright if you won’t, we will.”

    The former Impact official also revealed that Spike was paying the contract money for some of the high profile talent signed to the company at the time as a separate budget item, outside of the TV license agreement.

    Though despite the money spent on it, the TNA name continued to be associated with the promotion until 2017, when Anthem bought the company and rebranded it as Impact Wrestling officially.

  • Ric Flair On Which Company He Thinks Daniel Bryan Will Sign With

    Daniel Bryan has everyone puzzled with his future after not having re-signed with WWE following the expiry of his contract last month but Ric Flair believes that he can\’t go anywhere else.

    The 16-time world champion recently had an interview with My World podcast where he talked about the current happenings of the company.

    Speaking about Bryan, Flair claimed that the former SmackDown star does not have an option but to re-sign because his whole family is closely tied to WWE:

    “He doesn’t have an option, he’s going to go home with Brie [Bella], he’s one of the nicest kids I’ve ever met in the business and he wouldn’t leave the WWE. I would have a very difficult time believing he would leave the WWE, if he does, I’d be very surprised. That whole family, everybody’s tied to the WWE.

    I was under the impression he wanted to go home and spend more time with the kids.\” said Ric Flair, \”I don’t know what he’s going to do; whatever he does I wish him nothing but the best.\”

    The WWE hall of famer also admitted that at first he didn\’t think Bryan would be able to make a difference because of his smaller size but he has.

    Daniel Bryan lost a career vs. title match to Roman Reigns during the April 30 episode of SmackDown. It was reported afterward that his WWE contract has expired. People have been speculating what will be his next move since then.

  • Moose Becomes New #1 Contender For Impact World Title, To Face Kenny Omega At Against All Odds

    Moose has become the new #1 contender for Kenny Omega\’s Impact world championship and he will now challenge the cleaner for his title at the upcoming Against All Odds event on June 12.

    Impact Wrestling had announced a six-way match for tonight\’s Under Siege event to determine the next challenger for their current champion and the AEW star.

    Along with Moose, the opportunity was given to Chris Bey, Matt Cardona, Sami Callihan, Chris Sabin, and Trey Miguel. The bout was the main event of the show.

    The former Impact grand champion came out victorious in this match and he defeated the other five contenders to become the next challenger for the title:

    Moose has previously crossed paths with Omega when he teamed up with Rich Swann and Chris Sabin to take on the Impact world champion and the Good Brothers in a six men tag at Hard To Kill. Though they lost the bout.

    The event also featured some other interesting matches. The other notable result coming out of the show was Fire ‘n Flava defeating Jordynne Grace & Rachael Ellering to become the new Knockouts tag team champions.

    It would now be interesting to see how the company builds the feud between these two and if Moose ends up being the star to defeat Omega for the title.

  • The Young Bucks React To Reports About Tension Among AEW EVPs, More On The Situation

    Several reports suggesting tension among the Executive Vice Presidents of AEW intrigued the wrestling community earlier this week and became a topic of discussion among fans.

    It was said that the honeymoon period among some key people in the company was over and there were executives who were not even on talking terms.

    The Young Bucks seem to have taken note of these rumors and the AEW EVPs recently reacted to them by updating their Twitter bios to “Currently not on speaking terms.”:

    \"\"

    On a related note, Dave Meltzer provided some update on the situation while writing about it on the Wrestling Observer Message Board. He suggested that the report of the AEW VPs not talking to each other are exaggerated:

    “Anyway, nobody isn’t talking to each other, it’s impossible in wrestling to get everyone to agree on everything, especially when they are passionate about it. The Young Bucks & Omega are legit close personal friends.

    Cody is more of a business relationship with the other three but it’s not an adversarial one in the least and all have the same end goals which is to build a company that sustains and grows.\”

    Meltzer also mentioned how Tony Khan is the one running the show at the end of the day and the VPs just have different philosophies about how things should be.

  • Update On How Long Chris Jericho May Stay Out Of Action

    Chris Jericho suffered a legitimate elbow injury during the Blood And Guts match on Dynamite last week and he was seen wearing a brace on this week\’s episode of the show.

    The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter provides some update on his condition and reveals how long the former AEW champion will need to get cleared.

    At first it was speculated that Chris might have fractured his elbow during the big ending spot where the former WWE star fell off the cage.

    However, the report revealed that Jericho suffered a dislocated elbow during his fall off the cage and he is expected to stay out of action for 4 to 6 weeks.

    This timeline is interesting because MJF has challenged Inner Circle for a Stadium Stampede match at the upcoming Double Or Nothing event on May 30.

    However, if the reports are correct then it means that Chris Jericho will not be cleared in time for the match and he won\’t be able to compete in the bout.

    So it will be interesting to see how AEW tackles this problem and if they postpone the teased match to a later date or find a different solution for it.

  • Summer Rae On Her Relationship With Vince McMahon

    Many WWE superstars find it hard to reach out to the boss Vince McMahon and talk to him but it wasn\’t the case with the former WWE star Summer Rae.

    The female star recently had an interview with Casual Conversations where she talked about a number of things including her start in wrestling and more.

    Elaborating her relationship with the chairman of WWE, Summer said that Vince loved her and opposite to the stories about him, the boss did not scare her at all:

    “Oh Vince loved me, I love it, I would walk my butt straight into Vince’s office all the time. Vince did not scare me at all. Mind you like I have to be respectful.

    I would never just walk in there, I would knock and then wait for hours and hours\” said Summer Rae, \”But if I ever was having an issue or was thinking about leaving, I went and talked to him.”

    The former Total Divas star also talked about a potential return and explained that personally, she knows that she cannot make a full-time return due to her injuries.

    Though she didn\’t completely turn down the idea and Summer Rae said that she could return for a Royal Rumble appearance or such after some rehab.

  • Reason Vince McMahon Nixed Pat McAfee\’s Spoof Of Him From SmackDown

    Vince McMahon reportedly nixed Pat McAfee\’s segment from the throwback episode of SmackDown because he thought the commentator\’s impression of the boss “looked stupid.”

    According to reports from Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the segment was cut from the broadcast by the chairman himself because of several reasons.

    Per Vince, McAfee didn\’t sound or look like a young version of himself and it looked stupid. Mr McMahon believed that the portyal was comical in the wrong way and felt like a parody of the parody.

    Though the report notes that Vince McMahon wasn\’t against the segment itself. He was open to the idea of his portrayal on the episode and he just felt the former football star\’s impression was not what he was looking for.

    For those who don\’t know, WWE held a special throwback edition of SmackDown last week which featured retro graphics and details throughout the broadcast.

    Pat McAfee put out a skit portraying a young Vince McMahon ahead of the show. He later revealed on his podcast that the cosplay was supposed to be featured on the broadcast as well but the idea was nixed before the episode.

    McAfee revealed that he shaved his beard for the portrayal of the character on the suggestion of Michael Cole. He had even filmed some segments in the character which were not used.

  • The Miz On His WWE Championship Reign Ending In Two Weeks

    The Miz won the WWE championship once again after 10 years earlier this year when he cashed in his Money In The Bank contract on Drew McIntyre at the Elimination Chamber event.

    However, his title reign didn\’t last for very long and the former champion only held the belt for a couple of weeks before dropping the title to Bobby Lashley during the March 1 episode of Raw.

    During his recent interview with Fox Sports, The Miz explained that he didn\’t feel bad at the championship being taken off him so soon, The Awesome one says the short title reign was just as meaningful as a longer run.

    WWE Champion is \”The Guy\”

    \”I didn’t want to be a one-trick pony,\” said The Miz. \”I didn’t want to have one title reign, I think as a WWE Superstar you always want to be that guy. No matter how long you have it. Whether it’s a month, a week, a day, an hour, a minute, it doesn’t matter.\”

    He continued, \”If you win the WWE Championship, you are that guy for that particular amount of time\” explained the Miz, \”And it is your job to showcase the prestige and honor that everyone before you did.\”

    Apart from this, the former WWE champion also talked about his WrestleMania match with Bad Bunny and how people were not happy with Bad Bunny\’s involvement at first.

    The Miz explained that after seeing all the negativity online, he had decided to prove people wrong. The negativity was gone when they presented the full story leading up to their WrestleMania match.

  • Cesaro On Why His Pairing With Paul Heyman Didn\’t Work

    Cesaro will finally be getting a one on one world title shot this Sunday. Though at a time it felt like the opportunity would come much earlier. That was when the former champion was paired with Paul Heyman in 2014. Heyman\’s other client at the time, Brock Lesnar had just ended The Undertaker\’s streak at WrestleMania 30 and Cesaro had won the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

    The Swiss Superman recently had an interview with DAZN where he talked about this pairing and explained why it didn\’t work. The interviewer first mentioned how Heyman had commented on the topic recently and said that he was coming off of the big storyline with Brock and Undertaker. It felt like the destination was still to go back to that story and Cesaro was used as a placeholder.

    Replying to the question, Cesaro admitted that Heyman\’s assessment was right. He said that he learned a lot from Paul Heyman during their pairing but the advocate used their time together to talk about Brock Lesnar more than him. The former US champion was the second fiddle at the time and the pairing was more beneficial for Heyman:

    \”I\’ll say this much. I learned a whole lot from Paul, and I still do. But I agree 100 percent with Paul\’s assessment because that\’s 100 percent right. Paul used that opportunity to talk about Brock Lesnar and, I was second fiddle at that point. He even said that in the Talking Smack interview that he did. He said that he knows that alliance was more beneficial to him than it was for me.\”

    Apart from this, Cesaro also talked about things such as his early career in WWE, not getting the opportunity at the world title for so long and more. He will be challenging the universal champion Roman Reigns for his championship at the upcoming WrestleMania: Backlash event this Sunday.

  • Andrade Reportedly Has Had Talks With AEW

    Former NXT champion Andrade was released from WWE earlier this year and latest reports suggest that he has had at least some level of talk with AEW.

    While it\’s not known on which stage the talks are, the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the former champion has had some negotiations for a potential run with the promotion.

    Andrade had a successful run in WWE winning the NXT championship and the United States championship once during his time in the company.

    The Mexican star, however, was not being used much in the last few months of his time with the company. So he decided to ask for his release from the promotion on March 8 earlier this year.

    Andrade\’s request was granted on March 21. It was reported at the time that he was not under the standard 90 days non-compete clause, meaning that he is free to sign with any promotion he chooses.

    The former WWE star has since returned to the independent circuit and started competing for various indie promotions. He has also joined AAA in Mexico.

    What\’s interesting about his signing with AAA is that Andrade has challenged the AAA mega champion and the AEW champion Kenny Omega for a match at the TripleMania XXIX event.

    Now the latest reports confirm that he is also in touch with other AEW officials. It would be interesting to see if his storyline with Omega leads to his AEW debut.

  • Shawn Spears Explains Reasoning Behind Decision To Leave WWE

    Shawn Spears\’ decision to leave WWE was a tough one for him not only because he was leaving the job security to explore the indie wrestling world but because his wife Peyton Royce still worked for the promotion at the time as well.

    During a recent interview with Inside The Ropes, the former WWE star talked about a number of things and also explained the reasoning behind his decision to leave the promotion.

    Spears first mentioned how there were a lot of things that could have kept him in WWE but he would have regretted not taking a shot at himself and that made him take the leap of faith.

    Shawn Spears: It\’s Not About The Money

    \”If I didn’t leave and take a shot on myself and see what I was at least capable of, in 30-40 years down the road, I was going to say I should have. I knew that that’s what I was going to do.

    I was going to look back on this time and go, \’Damn it, I should have took a shot on myself.\’ And I’m a big believer in – the worst feeling in the world is probably regret. And there’s nothing… At a time where you can’t do anything about it.\”

    The chairman of AEW also said that it was not about the money or being in the main event. According to him, it boils down to waking up every day and being excited for the work.

    Things worked out well for Shawn Spears in the end. He signed with AEW not long after leaving WWE where he has recently joined MJF\’s Pinnacle stable.

  • Sammy Guevara On The Reports Of His Dispute With Impact Officials

    Sammy Guevara made some headlines earlier this year due to reports of his dispute with Impact Wrestling officials over his refusal to work some matches for the promotion back in February.

    There were a lot of rumors and speculations floating around at the time and the AEW star addressed the incident during his recent interview with WrestlingInc.

    Guevara was asked about the various reports about the dispute and replying to it, the young star said that the stuff that came out was only coming from one side:

    “You know a lot of stuff was said, but it’s just business at the end of the day, I know I didn’t really say nothing out there, and all this stuff [reports] that came out was only coming from one side. Some of it wasn’t true; I really don’t want to comment too much on it.\”

    Though he didn\’t elaborate on the situation further and Sammy Guevara ended the conversation around the topic by saying that he still wishes everyone the best:

    “It was what it was, and I still wish everyone the best. We’re all friends and we’re just all trying to succeed at the end of the day.”

    Apart from this, Sammy Guevara also talked about things such as Kenny Omega capturing the Impact world title, Young Bucks\’ new attitude and more.

  • Randy Orton On The Most Uncomfortable Thing He Has Done In His Career

    Randy Orton has been one of the top heels of WWE for almost 2 decades now. He has done some nasty things as part of his character on TV in this time which sometimes have made even The Viper uncomfortable.

    While recently appearing on The Kurt Angle Show, the Legend Killer opened up about such moments from his career and revealed which one of them made him the most uncomfortable.

    Orton talked about the promo he cut on Eddie Guerrero after his death. Randy had said that the late legend was not in heaven and he was actually in hell and he admitted not being comfortable with the line:

    “[I was] 100% was not comfortable with it, Rey assured me that it’s something that Eddie would’ve wanted. Even still, Rey and myself went to Vickie and Vickie gave us her blessing

    She said the same thing ‘Eddie would’ve wanted to help you guys in this manner. If he could’ve used his death in some way to help the business, he would’ve wanted us to do it, especially with Rey being involved.’\”

    Randy Orton later acknowledged that the storyline helped his career, but he still puts that promo on top of the list of things that have made him uncomfortable:

    \”There’s a lot of things I’ve done in my career that have made me uncomfortable, I think we can all agree on that individually, but that in particular was something I’d put at the top of that list.”

    Randy Orton was involved in a feud with Rey Mysterio and Kurt Angle in 2006 only months after the passing of Eddie Guerrero in November 2005. This feud led to a match among the three at WrestleMania 22 where Rey Mysterio defeated both the stars and won the world title.

  • Bayley On Who Will Win 2021 Money In The Bank

    Former SmackDown women\’s champion Bayley recently had an interview with SportsKeeda where she talked about the upcoming Money In The Bank event.

    The female star has some experience when it comes to winning Money In The Bank as she won the bout in 2019 and successfully cashed in her briefcase on Charlotte Flair to become the women\’s champion.

    During the interview, she was asked about this year\’s edition of the PPV. When asked who she thinks is going to win the bout, Bayley picked up the members of the Riott Squad:

    “Oh man, that’s hard, but I’m gonna have to go with either one of the Riott Squad, or two. Both of them. Maybe they could share it. They are best friends right.”

    Bayley also talked about her own Money In The Bank win and how she didn\’t get to carry the briefcase for long as she cashed it in on the same night.

    The former champion admitted that she would have loved to carry the contract around for a while and tease people about a potential cash in.

    Money In The Bank this year is expected to take place from the ThunderDome in Yuengling Center, Tampa, FL on June 20 and the build for it will begin after the Backlash event.

  • Rumor Killer On Brock Lesnar – AEW Speculations

    Brock Lesnar has been away from WWE for over a year now and many were surprised that he wasn\’t even brought in for a match at WrestleMania 37.

    Since his contract with the company has expired as well, many have been wondering if AEW officials could be interested in bringing him in but that doesn\’t seem to be the case.

    Lesnar\’s status was discussed on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio and it was noted that there has been no talk of the former champion joining the AEW roster.

    Brock Lesnar: Top Free Agent

    We have seen stars like Jon Moxley and Paul Wight jumping ships to AEW and anything is possible in pro wrestling but as of now, there is no indication of the Beast Incarnate changing sides.

    Brock Lesnar was last seen on WWE programming during the WrestleMania 36 event from the Performance Center where he defended the WWE championship against Drew McIntyre and lost.

    There have been multiple rumors about his return since then but so far the company has decided not to use the former world champion in any angle in the absence of fans.

    WWE officials have said that the company plans to start touring again in the second half of 2021. So Lesnar\’s return at SummerSlam is a strong possibility but we will have to wait and see if it actually happens.

  • Sean Waltman On WWE\’s Reaction To The Blood and Guts Match

    The WWE management had a very interesting response to the Blood and Guts match from AEW and now Sean Waltman has revealed his thoughts on the reaction from the company officials.

    On the latest episode of Pro Wrestling 4 Life podcast, the former WWE star sat down with MLW owner Court Bauer and MLW World Champion Jacob Fatu and discussed a number of things.

    Reacting to the reports that WWE officials believed the Blood and Guts match set the business back 30 years; Waltman explained that they might have been talking about the sponsors:

    “When you first told me about the reaction from them, I was like, ‘Really?’ But maybe if you’re just talking about dealing with sponsors because there’s big-time corporate sponsors involved in wrestling these days, well, WWE, and so I guess I can understand why they might feel that way because wrestling gets painted with a very broad brush.\”

    Though when asked about the complaints from some that the match was too violent, Sean Waltman replied negatively while also explaining that wrestling does not belong to any one company:

    “No, but who am I to say? Some people like that, there’s a place for a lot of things. Wrestling doesn’t belong to any one company.”

    While the WWE management was not happy with the Blood and Guts match, the talent had a different reaction and many stars expressed their interest in doing something similar.

  • Chris Jericho Reportedly Suffered Legitimate Injury During Blood And Guts

    It appears that the initial reports of all the participants of the Blood and Guts match coming out of the bout unharmed are not correct and Chris Jericho seems to have suffered a legitimate injury in the bout.

    While the former AEW champion was not kept off TV and he was seen on this week\’s follow-up episode of Dynamite, many fans noted that he had his left elbow in a brace and it was taped up as well.

    In an update, Bryan Alvarez noted on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio that these things were not props and Jericho has suffered a legitimate elbow injury.

    According to him, the former WWE star suffered the injury during his big spot falling off the Blood and Guts cage and he possibly fractured his elbow while doing the spot. Though there is no word on the severity of the injury.

    The Pinnacle vs. Inner Circle feud continued on this week\’s episode of AEW Dynamite and Chris Jericho\’s stable confronted MJF\’s group while the latter were trying to celebrate their victory in the extreme match.

    While Jericho was present for the segment, he did not get physical during it. If the reports are correct then he might stay away from action for a while.

    MJF has since challenged the group to a Stadium Stampede match for Double Or Nothing and it would be interesting to see how Jericho responds to this challenge from the young star.

  • Watch Darby Allin\’s Emotional Promo From After Dynamite Went Off The Air

    This week\’s eventful episode of AEW Dynamite ended with a big championship match between the TNT champion Darby Allin and \’the best man\’ Miro. The finish of this hard fought main event saw Miro picking up the victory and becoming the new champion after he caught the title holder in his game over submission.

    The cameras went off air with Allin still lying in the ring but it wasn\’t the end of the show. After the feed went off air, Darby Allin cut an emotional promo addressing the fans. The now former champion said that people have been asking him when is he gonna win the AEW title but he doesn\’t need that s***:

    “When I became TNT Champion, I told everybody it was the only championship that meant anything to me, and I mean that one-hundred percent. People ask me, ‘When are going to win the big one? When are you going to win the AEW [World] Championship?’ I look them dead in the eye and said, ‘I don’t need that s***. I need the TNT Championship.’

    “I don’t need to collect any other belts from anywhere else in this world. I need the TNT Championship. And I guarantee you — every single one of you here — this is not the last time I am TNT Champion. Thank you for all the support. It means the world to me.”

    https://twitter.com/FLWrestlingFan/status/1392662097775972353

    The team of Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky have been interfering in the business of Sting and Allin in recent weeks and the Icon had to fight them off after the main event match this week as well. This suggests that we are going to see a feud between these two teams in the coming time.

    As for Miro, he was confronted by Lance Archer after his big win on tonight\’s episode of Dynamite. While these two have not been feuding, the segment seemed a clear indication that we will see these two competing over the title in the upcoming times.

  • Orange Cassidy vs Pac Match Finish Changed During Dynamite

    The #1 contender match between Pac and Orange Cassidy on this week\’s episode of Dynamite ended in double count-out after the latter got knocked out.

    However, this wasn\’t the planned finish for the bout and the officials had to call an audible during the show, according to PWInsider. The original plan was for the match to continue a bit longer and for the match to end in a 20-minute time limit draw.

    However, Cassidy got legitimately hurt after taking the sunset flip powerbomb to the floor towards the ending of the match. While he still kept trying to get back in the ring and finish the match as intended, the decision was made on the spot to end the bout.

    https://twitter.com/wolfkingvillian/status/1392642587907997699

    Though it didn\’t change the plans for the championship match for Double Or Nothing and according to the report, the company always intended for the AEW world championship match to be a triple threat.

    Regarding Orange Cassidy, it was noted that the young star was ok after the match and he was seen socializing with a number of talents after the show.

    Kenny Omega will defend his AEW world championship against both Pac and Orange Cassidy in a triple threat match at the Double Or Nothing PPV on May 30.

  • \”They Probably Got Tired Of Getting Their Ass Beat\”: Jim Ross Takes Dig At NXT Moving To Tuesday Nights

    Jim Ross not only got to witness the Wednesday night wars up close but he once again ended up on the winning side as NXT decided to switch its weekly programming to Tuesday nights.

    The former WWE star recently had an interview with Jimmy Varsallone where he talked about a number of things like Paul Wight joining AEW and more.

    Talking about WWE\’s decision to move NXT to a different night, Ross claimed that they probably got tired of getting beaten by AEW in TV ratings every week:

    \”It was obvious, WWE goes on Wednesdays, head-to-head with us, in hopes it would hurt our growth. It didn\’t happen. They probably got tired of getting their ass beat every week. They have a lot of stroke with USA, so they made a move.

    It helped them and they have more viewers, we have more viewers, and fans don\’t have to make a decision.\” said Jim Ross \”If it\’s fan-friendly, it\’s a good move. We have to protect our greatest assets (the fans),\”

    The legendary commentator also said that he thinks the AEW product in general was more fan friendly and NXT\’s move makes it easier for fans as they don\’t have to choose between the two shows anymore.

    Apart from this, Jim Ross also talked about things such as the AEW president Tony Khan, being able to enjoy the wrestling business again and more.

  • Damian Priest Says He Was Told He Would Be \’Done\’ If Bad Bunny Storyline Failed

    Damian Priest made his main roster debut at the start of the year. Almost immediately he was put into a big storyline with Bad Bunny leading to their WrestleMania match against The Miz and John Morrison.

    During his recent interview with Sporting News Australia, the former NXT star opened up about his experience in the main roster so far among other things.

    Talking about his storyline with Bad Bunny, Priest explained how his confidence has grown due to the trust the company has shown in him before revealing that prior to the storyline, he was told that he would be done if he blew the angle:

    “Yes it does give me confidence, it goes both ways. I can put in all the work I want, but obviously I also need the company to believe in me and have my back.

     A lot of people were honest with me and they told me ‘listen, you can’t blow this because if you do, you’re done’. All I said was you’re giving me the opportunity, I’m going to do everything to my abilities to knock this out of the park.\”

    While Damian Priest did not reveal the name behind the comment, he did reveal some names which have helped him since his arrival on the main roster:

    \”Everybody has been awesome to me, if I have a question or anything. I could go up to say one of the guys in The New Day and they’ll take the time to just sit with me and talk and explain stuff to me, and guide me the right way.\”

    Damian Priest signed a contract with WWE back in October 2018. He was moved to the main roster in January 2021 after a successful run with the North American championship in NXT.

  • \”I Was Mad\”: Ric Flair Admits Being Uncomfortable With Lacey Evans Storyline

    Ric Flair\’s recent storyline with Lacey Evans was criticized by a lot of people and now the wrestling veteran himself has admitted that he was not comfortable with the whole angle. The 16-time world champion recently appeared on the Ariel Helwani MMA Show where he talked about things such as his promo after winning the 1992 Royal Rumble and more.

    Opening up about his romantic angle with Evans, Flair admitted that he wasn\’t comfortable with the part but he still played it because he doesn\’t want to be the one to turn down an angle:

    “In this instance, I didn’t [feel comfortable]; the one thing I’ve learned is you’re not going to win a war when someone’s got their mind made up. She most definitely didn’t like it, but the one thing that I can say about me is I always said yes. I didn’t want to be that guy that was always going ‘Oh, that isn’t perfect for me.’\”

    Ric Flair also admitted being mad about the whole thing when the storyline was pulled and explained how Vince McMahon had made his mind about it:

    “When that was all over, I was mad but now I just look back and say it wasn’t it. This was something that when I got to TV, Mr. McMahon wasn’t there to argue the point with and he had stuff going on, I don’t like to put the pressure on someone if I can’t talk to him. He just made up his mind,

    The former champion later claimed that a reason behind the storyline was that Lacey Evans is a former marine and Vince McMahon wanted her to be successful. According to him, the way to get successful sometimes \”is to take two people that are doing really well and give them the rub.\”

    Ric Flair started aiding Lacey Evans in her feud against Charlotte Flair in January. The storyline continued for more than a month before the female star announced her real-life pregnancy and went on a hiatus.

  • Backstage Raw Updates On Velveteen Dream And More

    Velveteen Dream\’s presence backstage at this week\’s episode of Raw became a topic of discussion among fans making many wonder if the company had any plans for him to appear on the show.

    PWinsider has now provided some update on the situation and the site reports that despite his presence, there were no plans for Dream to appear on the show at any point.

    He hasn\’t been seen much at the Performance Center in recent months either and there is no word on why he was brought in at the tapings. Dream has not appeared on WWE programming since his match with Adam Cole during the December 23 episode of NXT.

    On a related note, the site notes that Mansoor was originally scheduled to appear on this week\’s episode of the red branded show but he was pulled from the episode after the plans changed.

    Mansoor officially became a Raw star last week. He also made his in-ring debut for the brand during the show. He competed against Sheamus in a singles match. Mansoor lost the bout by DQ when Humberto Carrillo attacked the US champion.

    Regarding this week\’s match between Sheamus and Carrillo, the original plan was for Sheamus to win clean before the match had to be stopped by the referee due to a botched Sunset Flip Powerbomb.

    Humberto has since been cleared to compete by the doctors and according to the report; he will only be missing ring time if the company decides to sell the finish of that bout.

  • Booker T Responds To Reports Of Controversial Triple H Angle Being Omitted From His Documentary

    The latest episode of the A&E’s Biography: WWE Legends series focuses on the wrestling career of Booker T. It looks at the various achievements and career highlights of the veteran wrestler. However, the documentary attracted some controversy over the omittance of his 2003 feud with Triple H for the world heavyweight championship held by the game at the time.

    Booker T addressed the rumors about the feud intentionally being left out of the episode which originated from a tweet of writer David Dennis on his Hall Of Fame podcast. He claimed that he has never given the story a whole lot of credence:

    “How can it be pulled from the bio, okay you talked about it – it wasn’t in there and it got pulled out, it never actually got in. To write it like that makes it seem like there was a whole lot of meat and potatoes on the bone of the story of Booker T, Triple H, WrestleMania 19.

    Me personally, I’ve never given that story a whole lot of credence. They talk about the story that went into, and I understand that being a young black kid looking up to my heroes – trust me I understand that as well.\”

    The former world champion went on to say that he has never framed his career around one match and he got paid more money for the one match with Triple H than any other match in his life. T said that he understands why people have interest in the story. Though the former WCW star explained that for him, that\’s not what his story is about:

    \”For me, I just want everybody to know that, that was not what my story was about at the end of the day. It’s not about the dark side of WrestleMania 19 and Booker T and Triple H. And for people to want to make it about that, I get it, I get it. I’m not naive or anything like that. I understand. But for me personally, that’s not what Booker T’s career makeup is all about.”

    Booker T had a feud with Triple H in 2003 leading to a match between the two at WrestleMania 19. The angle became controversial due to its racial overtone and the fact that Triple H ended up beating his opponent clean.

    The issue became a topic of discussion when writer David Dennis, who appeared in the documentary, mentioned how producers filmed him speaking about the angle. However, in the since-deleted tweet, Dennis suggested that it won\’t be included in the episode, which turned out to be the case.