Author: Anutosh Bajpai

WWE has announced a number of big matches and segments for next week\’s episode of Monday Night Raw, including a champion vs. champion match for the show.

Apollo Crews surprised everyone when he defeated Andrade and became the new United States Champion on this week\’s episode of the Red Branded Show.

The company has since announced that the new champion will have his first defence on the upcoming episode of the show and he will face an opponent of his choosing.

Another interesting match which has been announced for the show includes the current Raw Women\’s Champion Asuka who will be facing the NXT Women\’s Champion Charlotte Flair in a non-title champion vs. champion match.

• Also Read: More Details On Matt Riddle’s Main Roster Call Up

Asuka won the Money In The Bank and she was awarded the Championship after Becky Lynch relinquished the title. On the other hand, Charlotte Flair won the Royal Rumble and went on to defeat Rhea Ripley for the championship at WrestleMania 36.

Both these matches are in addition to the announced retirement segment for the former World Champion Rey Mysterio which WWE confirmed earlier.

Seth Rollins is expected to hold the \’retirement ceremony\’ for Mysterio on the show and it would be interesting to see how this segment between the two high flyings stars unfolds.

Rhea Ripley made her WrestleMania debut on this year\’s edition of the Show Of Shows where she defended her NXT Women\’s Championship against Charlotte Flair.

During a recent interview with Wrestling Friends podcast, the now former women\’s champion talked about the big bout and revealed how she felt about it afterward.

Ripley revealed that she started crying after the match was over because she felt like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders and she was very happy:

\”I remember, after the match was done, even though the outcome wasn\’t exactly what I wanted, it didn\’t matter. Once the match ended — it was such a stressful day, you have no idea — I remember, everything was done, the cameras were off and I just started crying. I was bawling.

Everyone came down to the ring and were like, \’please tell me these were happy tears.\’ \’Guys, you have no idea. I\’m so happy. I feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders as well.\’\” said Ripley. \”I was super stressed and I was so happy because it is WrestleMania and it still means a lot. I was happy that we did well.\”

• Also Read: Britt Baker On If Adam Cole Is Allowed To Attend AEW Shows

The Australian star also mentioned how WrestleMania 36 was her first time wrestling in an empty area with no audience because, before that, she had wrestled during the NXT Fans Appreciation night in early March.

Rhea Ripley will get a chance to win her title back when she will face Charlotte Flair and Io Shirai in a triple threat match at the NXT TakeOver: In Your House event on June 7

Double Or Nothing was AEW\’s first PPV with no audience in attendance and the AEW Champion Jon Moxley successfully defended his title against Brodie Lee during the show.

The World Champion spoke to media after the event where he talked about things like how he felt about his match, working extra hard at PPVs and more.

Discussing the backstage reaction to the culmination of the show, Mox said that they all felt like they had just won the Super Bowl after the PPV ended:

\”Backstage after the show ended, it feels like we just won the Super Bowl. We put on a hell of a PPV and everyone is jacked up and high-fiving. It feels like we won a game when we were an underdog.\”

• Also Read: Sgt. Slaughter Congratulates Jon Moxley On Leaving WWE

Moxley also talked about potential future challengers for his title saying that he doesn\’t think that the chapter between him and Kenny Omega is closed just yet.

He then mentioned how Hangman Page has the momentum behind him right now and the current champion took the name of Cody Rhodes as a potential opponent as well.

It\’s worth mentioning here that Brian Cage made his AEW debut during Double Or Nothing. He went on to win the Casino Ladder match and he now has a future world title opportunity against Jon Moxley.

Otis has found great success since his main roster debut in January last year. The former NXT star has constantly been featured on WWE programming since then and he also recently won the Money In The Bank match.

Due to his physique and charismatic in-ring presence, some people have started comparing the SmackDown star to the late great Dusty Rhodes.

Otis commented on these comparisons during a recent interview with SportsKeeda. He said that there is only one Dusty Rhodes and being compared to him is an honor:

“There’s only one Dusty Rhodes. I haven’t heard too much of that comparison but I guess you could say that because we’re both big, beefy guys. Good looking, thick men.

It’s an honor. He’s one of the best of all time, Dusty Rhodes.\” said Otis. \”And watching his stuff back too, just to see how he was working his swagger on the camera, how he translated to the fans was awesome, man,”

• Also Read: Backstage News On Recent WWE Departure

The 2020 Money In The Bank winner continued by saying that he hasn\’t studied Dusty too much but you have to appreciate his work every time you watch his old matches.

There is no news on when Otis might cash in his Money In The Bank but there are speculations that he can use the contract for a title shot at the Tag Team Championships with his partner Tucker instead of a world title opportunity.

Japanese female wrestling star Hana Kimura has passed away at the age of 22. Her promotion Stardom confirmed the news of her demise with the following statement:

\”Stardom fans, we are very sorry to report that our Hana Kimura has passed away. Please be respectful and allow some time for things to process, and keep your thoughts and prayers with her family and friends. We appreciate your support during this difficult time.\”

Hana Kimura was a second-generation wrestler who was the daughter of Kyoko Kimura. She had been a part of the Wrestle-1 roster for some time but returned to Stardom where she became the leader of a faction called Tokyo Cyber Squad.

• Also Read: Triple H Remembers His Last Meeting With Shad Gaspard

There were some concerns raised over her status earlier yesterday after Kimura posted some images of self mutilation along with the following cryptic message on Twitter:

“Nearly 100 frank opinions every day. I couldn’t deny that I was hurt. I’m dead. Thank you for giving me a mother. It was a life I wanted to be loved. Thank you to everyone who supported me. I love it. I’m weak, I’m sorry. I don’t want to be a human anymore. It was a life I wanted to be loved. Thank you everyone, I love you. Bye.”

There is no word yet on how the message posted by the young wrestling star coincides with her death but there have been all kinds of rumors about the same.

Apart from being a two-time Artist of Stardom Champion and a one-time Goddess of Stardom Champion, the female star also starred in a Netflix reality show in Japan dubbed “Terrace House” last year.

Two stars injured at Wednesday\’s AEW Dynamite will be unable to compete at tonight\’s Double or Nothing pay-per-view.

While it was originally said that Rey Fenix has been cleared to compete at the Double Or Nothing PPV, he has now been removed from the show.

The high flying star got banged up during this week\’s episode of AEW Dynamite. The company then announced late Friday night that the former LU star is not cleared to compete at the show this Saturday.

Fenix will now be replaced by Joey Janela in the Casino Ladder match with the winner getting a future title shot at the AEW World Champion Jon Moxley:

AEW also announced Britt Baker has been pulled from the show. She suffered a knee injury during the women\’s tag match. Her health will be addressed Saturday night. Penelope Ford will now face Kris Statlander in her place.

Updated Double Or Nothing Match Card

AEW Double Or Nothing will be taking place this Saturday from Daily\’s Place and TIAA Bank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. You can check out the updated match card for the show below:

• Pre-Show #1 contenders match for AEW World Tag Team Championship: Private Party vs. Best Friends
• AEW World Heavyweight Championship: Brodie Lee vs. Jon Moxley (c)
• AEW TNT Championship Tournament Finals: Lance Archer vs. Cody Rhodes
• No DQ, No Count Out Match for the AEW Women\’s World Championship: Hikaru Shida vs. Nyla Rose (c)
• Stadium Stampede Match: Matt Hardy and The Elite (Matt Jackson, Nick Jackson, AEW World Tag Team Champions Kenny Omega and Hangman Page) vs. The Inner Circle (Chris Jericho, Jake Hager, Sammy Guevara, Santana, Ortiz)
• Casino Ladder Match: Joey Janela vs. Luchasaurus vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Kip Sabian vs. Scorpio Sky vs. Orange Cassidy vs. Darby Allin vs. Colt Cabana vs. Mystery Man TBA
• Singles Match: MJF vs. Jungle Boy
• Singles Match: Shawn Spears vs. Dustin Rhodes
• Singles Match: Penelope Ford vs. Kris Statlander

There are a lot of stories about how Vince McMahon is in real life but if there is one person who knows the Boss up close and personal, then it\’s the Undertaker. The Dead Man has been with WWE for 3 decades now and in the time he has developed a relationship with the boss which only a few stars have developed in the history of the company.

During a recent interview with The Bill Simmons podcast, Taker talked about the Boss and revealed how Mr McMahon is in real life. He was talking about his match with Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 30 where Undertaker suffered a concussion. The Last Outlaw was taken to the hospital after the bout and he revealed that Vince left the show to go with him:

\”I don\’t remember doing any of this but I cut a promo on him like \’Don\’t you have a show to run? Why are you here? Most people think he\’s this tyrant, but you really only get to see it if you\’re close to him, he\’s just such a giving person. He\’s a really kind giving person, he knows how to run business obviously, but for years all the charities we worked with there was no publicity about any of it.

\”We worked with Make A Wish for years and you never heard a word about it because that\’s not what he was about.\” said Undertaker. \”Tribute to the Troops, every year whether it was Iraq or Afghanistan, he was on that plane with us. I don\’t think people realize what a big heart he has and how much he cares about the people around him.\”

• Also Read: Triple H Remembers His Last Meeting With Shad Gaspard

The Undertaker also talked about a potential retirement for the chairman saying that McMahon loves the product and he loves working out. Taker mentioned how Mr. McMahon\’s mother is 99 years old and she played tennis when she was 97. He then said that he hopes that nobody is waiting to take over Vince\’s position because he will be there for long and the Dead Man claimed that McMahon will outlive him.

A major departure from WWE\’s production team was confirmed recently as reports revealed that longtime WWE producer Michael Mansury left the company last week.

The now-former WWE employee was considered a big part of Triple H\’s team and many within the company dubbed him as the \”next\” Kevin Dunn.

The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter provides some updates on the situation and reveals the reason why the WWE official decided to leave the company.

It notes that everyone who is seen as a potential successor to Kevin Dunn has their life “made difficult\” in the company and \”they get constantly criticized\” to Vince McMahon.

• Also Read: Arn Anderson: “WWE’s Most Loyal Employees Get Kicked In The Nuts”

Regarding his departure, it was said that Mansury decided to leave the promotion as he had gotten impatient when it comes to upward mobility in the company. Though his departure was not sudden and Michael Mansury had given his notice months in advance.

The former WWE official joined the promotion as a Production Assistant and rose through the ranks over the years to become the Vice President of Global Television Production. Though his last promotion came in March 2016.

Michael Mansury had been with WWE for 11 years since joining the promotion in 2009. He was well-liked among the people in the company and many were shocked with his departure.

Kofi Kingston got to work with CM Punk numerous times during Punk\’s WWE career and the two were even a tag team for a while, holding the World Tag Team Championships together one time as well.

The New Day member recently had an interview with Swerve City Podcast where he talked about his relationship with the Straight Edge star among other things.

During the interview, Kingston also claimed that he considers Punk to be his brother and revealed the advice Kofi received from him before his debut:

\”Punk is one of the guys in the industry who I consider to be my brother; he helped me out when he didn\’t need to help me out. People were more about keeping other people down and their spots being taken.

I remember, I\’m about to go out for my debut and I\’m doing push-ups.\” said Kofi Kingston. \”I see a set of wrestling shoes, I look up, and there\’s Punk. He goes, \’Just remember, they\’re out here to see you.\’ That eased my nerves going out there. He didn\’t have to say that to me.\”

• Also Read: Seth Rollins Responds To Jim Cornette’s Comments About Becky Lynch

The former champion also recalled the time he won the tag team championships with Punk and said that he learned a lot from the now former wrestler.

Kofi Kingston won the World Tag Team Championship with CM Punk back in October 2008. Though their reign didn\’t last for long and they lost the titles to the Miz and John Morrison in December later that year.

The absence of Sami Zayn from WWE has been a hot topic of discussion among wrestling fans and reports suggest that it has caused ripples within WWE as well.

So far the company had not provided any official reason for the absence of the former Champion but they are now claiming that he is out with an injury.

The promotion had vacated the Intercontinental Championship last week but they hadn\’t given any reason for the same and instead, they just claimed that Zayn was unable to defend the title.

However, the company posted a preview of the announced IC title tournament this week in which they claimed that the former champion is out with an injury.

For those who don\’t know, Sami Zayn was booked for WWE tapings after WrestleMania but he decided to pull out of the shows over coronavirus concerns.

His decision hasn\’t sat well with the WWE officials and reports claim that the former NXT star\’s call has caused a \’lot of unhappiness\’ within the company.

The officials have since made the decision to strip Sami Zayn of the Intercontinental Championship and announced a tournament for the crowning of a new champion.

• Also Read: Sami Zayn Comments On Being Stripped Of The IC Title

The Undertaker is one of the last remaining old school guys in the wrestling business who believes in keeping the kayfabe alive and making sure that the secrets of the business are well guarded.

However, the Dead Man has opened up in recent years. Not only has he eased into his real-life persona a bit more but the former World Champion has also joined social media and become active on Instagram and Twitter.

Taker recently appeared on The Bill Simmons Podcast where he was asked about his presence on social media and he explained why he has made these accounts:

\”I got a social media account, it\’s probably less than two years, right? You know, the writing was on the wall. I got more matches behind me than I do in front of me.

And, people are saying like, \”dude, you need to get yourself out there because your wrestling career is coming to an end.\” said the Undertaker. \”Now, it\’s time to cash in on the brand, you know, the stuff that you didn\’t do all these years.\”

• Also Read: WWE And Vince McMahon Release Statement On Shad Gaspard

The Undertaker is the subject to the new WWE documentary The Last Ride where he has opened up about the recent years of his career and he has also been making other appearances recently.

During one such interview, he revealed what he asked Vince McMahon when the boss first told him about the ending of his famous WrestleMania streak. You can check out his comments on the matter at this link.

CM Punk\’s return to WWE programming during the WWE Backstage episode last year was kept as a big secret and Renee Young was one of the few people who knew about his comeback beforehand.

The WWE Backstage host recently had an interview with Outkick the Coverage where she talked about things like the progression of Sasha Banks and more.

When asked about Punk\’s return, Young revealed that she had first heard about it a couple weeks before the episode but she hadn\’t actually seen the former WWE Champion until he walked through the curtain:

\”I heard some rumblings a couple weeks before, In the world of WWE, you\’re always waiting to see if this is actually happening and are we really doing this. I had not actually seen him until his music hit and he walked through.

I\’m getting texts throughout the show and I\’m making sure to check my phone saying okay cool, he is in the building we\’re actually doing this.\” said Renee Young. \”He did not miss his flight, he showed up and wanted to make sure he was there to be a part of the show. It was really the day of [the appearence] when it all felt so real to me like \’Oh my god, CM Punk is coming back.\’\”

• Also Read: WWE And Vince McMahon Issue Statement On Shad Gaspard

The WWE star continued by mentioning how the other guests of the show like Adam Cole and Paige did not know about Punk\’s presence. Even the people from WWE in the control room were not aware of the same and they were left surprised by his return.

CM Punk made his WWE return after 5 years of absence during the November 12 episode of WWE Backstage last year. There have been rumors of a possible in-ring return for the Straight Edge Star but the speculations have not come to fruition yet.

Former Champion Bobby Lashley made his return to WWE during the April 9, 2018 episode of Monday Night Raw. It was the night after WrestleMania 34 and his comeback left a number of fans disappointed.

Braun Strowman had been teasing a mystery partner for the Show Of Shows which ended up being a 10-year-old boy Nicholas. Many believe that instead of the young fan, it would have been better to reintroduce the former ECW Champion during the PPV.

During a recent interview with TalkSport, Lashley was asked if there were any plans for him to be revealed as the mystery partner for the Monster Among Men, and the former ECW Champion replied by saying that he doesn\’t know:

\”I didn’t know anything to tell you the truth. At the beginning when we first negotiated and started talking, I was supposed to be coming back around WrestleMania. There was talks of before, during and after. I didn’t hear about after. I heard about doing something before to set up an angle for WrestleMania, or doing something at WrestleMania – didn’t know.

I really didn’t know anything about the Braun tagging thing.\” said Bobby Lashley. \”If they would have told me that, I would have been all for it. That’s an incredible opportunity. I mean to come back as the tag team champions!\”

• Also Read: WWE And Vince McMahon Release Statement On Shad Gaspard

The Raw star continued by saying that the company may have discussed the possibility internally but he has no clue about it. He hasn\’t heard anything about it even to this day.

Bobby Lashley set up a match with Drew McIntyre this week and he will now be challenging the WWE Champion for his title at Backlash on June 14.

WWE has filed for a couple of trademarks recently and one of them might be an indication of a very interesting possibility for the future of Bray Wyatt.

According to the United States Patent & Trademark Office, WWE has filed applications to trademark terms \”In Your House\” and \”Sister Abigail\”.

The In Your House term has been used by the company for a number of PPVs. Just recently they announced NXT TakeOver: In Your House event for June.

With this trademark, it seems likely that the company will be branding more of their empty arena PPVs as In Your House events until they are allowed to run normal shows again.

• Also Read: Shad Gaspard’s Family Issues Statement Through WWE And AEW Stars

On the other hand, Sister Abigail has often been referred by Bray Wyatt and the company has teased the character for WWE TV a number of times to no avail.

Wyatt had teased the debut of the character for the TLC event in 2017 for his match against Finn Balor. However, he was pulled from the show due to an undisclosed illness and AJ Styles ended up replacing the former Universal Champion in the bout.

Now the trademarking of the term could be an indication that the company is finally planning to bring her to life and it would be interesting to see if we witness the debut of Sister Abigail anytime soon.

A number of WWE superstars have been released by the company recently and now another major behind the scene departure has been confirmed, though this time the official has chosen to leave himself.

According to PWinsider, WWE\’s Vice President of Global Television Production Michael Mansury has officially parted ways with the company last week.

The now former WWE employee had given his notice several months ago that he would be leaving in May. He was apparently a big part of Triple H\’s team and even dubbed as the successor for Kevin Dunn:

\”Mansury was seen as a big part of the Triple H regime and some in the company had dubbed him unofficially as the \’next Kevin Dunn\’ – with the idea being that he would one day fill Dunn\’s role down the line.\”

• Also Read: Brodie Lee On If His AEW Character Is Spoofing Vince McMahon

The former WWE official had joined the company in 2009 as a Production Assistant. He rose through the ranks over the years and became an Associate Producer, Producer and then Managing Producer before being elevated to his final position in March 2016.

Michael Mansury had been the director of record for many WWE PPVs and TV productions in recent years. He was well-liked backstage and many were \”shocked\” by his departure from the promotion.

There is no word yet on the reason for his decision to leave the company. We will keep you posted on any updates on the same.

Brodie Lee has become a prominent figure in AEW programming since his debut in March and some of his promos have created buzz on the internet due to their resemblance with the habits of his former boss, Vince McMahon.

However, the former Luke Harper is saying that while he has heard the talks and speculations about his work, the similarities are not intentional.

Lee recently appeared on Busted Open Radio and when asked about his promos, he claimed that he has no reason to hate WWE or Vince McMahon:

\”Look, you take them however you want, I happen to be a fan of mafia movies, so that\’s the way the character is portrayed for me. I believe the leadership style, the results speak for themselves. So, you can take it anyway you want.

\”Trust me, I hear you. I hear everybody. None of that is intentional.\” said Brodie Lee. \”I have no reason to hate WWE, no reason to hate Vince McMahon, nothing like that. You take it how you want.\”

• Also Read: The Rock On Why He Retired From WWE In 2004

The former WWE star also commented on the fan notion that he is upset with WWE for his mistreatment, saying that he wasn\’t upset and instead he just wanted to wrestle.

Brodie Lee explained that he is a professional wrestler and he wanted to wrestle while he still had the opportunity because he will not be able to do this forever.

The former WWE star is set to challenge AEW World Champion Jon Moxley for his title at the upcoming Double Or Nothing PPV on May 23.