SEScoops

Author: Anutosh Bajpai

  • Becky Lynch On Ronda Rousey: \”Leave Her At Home\”

    It\’s been almost a year since Becky Lynch defeated Ronda Rousey and Charlotte Flair in the main event of WrestleMania 35, but the Man is still not missing any chance to take shots at the former UFC star.

    The current Raw Women\’s Champion recently had an interview with Vicente Betran from ViBe & Wrestling ahead of the historic two night WrestleMania 36 event where she talked about a number of things.

    Though when asked about the former Champion, Lynch offered some harsh words and explained that Ronda should be left at home because she doesn\’t want to put in the work:

    \”Leave her at home, I have talked a long time that all these MMA heads that want to come into WWE because they think it\’s an easy meal ticket but not put in the work and hours and hours we do when it comes to travel and the grind and obsessing about this and making sure the crowd appreciates everything we do. She doesn\’t want to put in that work. Just remember that I\’ll be getting better and better every time while she\’s at home playing with her Twitch or whatever.\”

    Becky also talked about the NXT Championship being defended at WrestleMania. She wondered if an NXT person should have gotten the chance to fight for the title but said that it\’s awesome to see it being defended at the show.

    Becky Lynch will be defending her Raw Women\’s Championship against Elimination Chamber winner Shayna Baszler at WrestleMania 36.

    You can check out the updated match card for the event at this link.

  • CM Punk On How Brock Lesnar Is In Real Life

    ESPN will be running a Brock Lesnar marathon this Sunday and the channel will be showing content related to the Beast including some of his UFC bouts throughout the day.

    Before this marathon, the organization spoke to many WWE superstars and other personalities of his life and asked them to describe the current WWE Champion in real life.

    When they asked former WWE star CM Punk about Lesnar, the Straight Edge Star said that he doesn\’t want to ruin his image, but described the former UFC star as a sweetheart:

    \”I don\’t want to ruin his image, I think he\’s a f—in\’ sweetheart. This is a guy, when I got into MMA and I left wrestling, he was texting me, \’Hey, if you need any help.\’ I\’m always kind of a standoffish guy. It\’s hard to open up and trust people in the pro wrestling world. I think Brock has got a big heart, and that\’s something a lot of people don\’t talk about. \”

    Punk also discussed his match with Lesnar from SummerSlam 2013. He said that he didn\’t know if the Monsterous Athlete would be receptive to any ideas. However, the match turned out to be fun and it was everything he loves about wrestling.

    Rey Mysterio On The Human Side Of Brock Lesnar

    Rey Mysterio who was there for Brock Lesnar\’s first run with WWE recalled how Lesnar had become miserable during his run and explained how this shows the human side of him:

    \”I remember at one point Brock being miserable, This is right before he left WWE in 2004 the first time. We were going to Europe, and my wife and I were sitting right behind Brock on the charter plane. I just saw Brock biting the f— out of his nails and looking at a picture of one of his kids.

    It really hit him, the fact that he had to travel so much. That was the human side of him. The father instinct that he has. Shortly after that, he was like, \’I\’ve gotta get out of here, bro. I can\’t f—ing do this anymore.\’\”

    Mysterio went on to claim that seeing Lesnar like that put things into perspective for him and it made him see his personal life in a different way as well.

    The article also featured comments from the likes of his on-screen advocate Paul Heyman and Jim Ross. You can check out the full piece at this link.

  • Backstage News On Austin Theory Replacing Andrade At WrestleMania

    WWE has confirmed that NXT star Austin theory will be making his WrestleMania debut this year and competing in the Raw Tag Team Championship match at the show.

    The latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter provides some details on this change and reveals why the 22-year-old star was chosen to replace Andrade on the event.

    According to the report, the decision to put Theory in this bout was made by none other than the Raw Executive Director Paul Heyman, who is responsible for pushing many unused stars in recent times.

    Heyman is high on The Raw Tag Team Champions, The Street Profits and the United States Champion Andrade and it seems the same can be said for Austin Theory and his partner Angel Garza as well.

    For those who don\’t know, The US Champion Andrade suffered a rib injury during a Raw episode two weeks ago and he wasn\’t cleared to compete at WrestleMania.

    Due to his injury, WWE altered the plans for his match at the Show Of Shows and brought in the NXT star to replace the Mexican wrestler at the PPV event.

    Austin Theory has not wrestled much on NXT TV but he has been wrestling in the independent circuit since 2016. He held the Evolve Championship for a while before signing with WWE and has wrestled for companies such as CMLL in Mexico as well.

    Austin Theory will now be teaming up with Angel Garza to challenge the Street Profits for The Raw Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania. You can check out an updated match card for the event here.

  • Bobby Lashley On If WWE Should Continue With Two Night Format For WrestleMania

    WrestleMania will be broadcasted over two nights this year in an unprecedented event and former champion Bobby Lashley believes that WWE should continue this format for future versions of the show as well.

    The former World Champion recently had an interview with Vicente Betran from ViBe & Wrestling where he talked about things like the coronavirus pandemic and more.

    When asked about the two night format of the Show of Shows and whether the company should continue with this in future, Lashley replied positively:

    \”I would say yes across the board, and I would say yes because we have so much talent that is available, there\’s a lot of guys sitting at home right now that are hugely talented not even being able to get a match on RAW. So yes, if we have an opportunity to bring everyone out and do more storylines and see it for two days, that would be incredible.\”

    Though the Raw star continued by saying that they already do that in a way with the NXT Takeover specials and Bobby Lashley said that maybe the company should just integrate more people here and there.

    The former ECW Champion also revealed which WrestleMania match he is most excited for claiming that he is looking forward to the bout between Drew McIntyre and Brock Lesnar.

    Quotes via WrestlingInc

  • Triple H On Why He Was Sent Back To Commentary During The First Empty Arena SmackDown

    WWE Vice President Triple H recently had an interview with Pat McAfee on The Pat McAfee Show where he discussed things like the coronavirus pandemic and more.

    The Game\’s special appearance on commentary during the March 13 episode of SmackDown created a lot of buzz on social media, though reports had later revealed that the original plans only called for him to be part of the opening segment of the show.

    During the interview, Triple H talked about this change and revealed that the blowing fan reaction of his first appearance on the show made them alter things:

    \”I get on commentary for Cole to continue the reset but by the time I get off commentary in that first segment it\’s blowing up and as I\’m walking off to the side, everybody is pulling me back going, \’Don\’t take the headset off! Man, you gotta go back out there, do the rest of the show.\’

    I was like, \’I don\’t want to do the rest of the show.\’ They talked me into it, so I went back out there\” recalled Triple H. \”and for me, it was just, \’Alright, like, I\’m not gonna be very good at this, so I\’m just going to play the idiot.\’\”

    The former World Champion then praised Michael Cole for his job and said that while he takes a lot of criticism, the man is gifted at what he does.

    Triple H continued by recalling how Cole did not know that he was going to be back on the announcers\’ desk and praised him for keeping the show together while also dealing with the \’butt of his jokes\’.

    Quotes via WrestlingInc

  • AEW Held Another Round Of Tapings Thursday Night

    It appears that AEW ran into some trouble while taping the latest set of their TV programs which included this week\’s episode of Dynamite as well.

    The latest set of TV tapings took place from QT Marshall\’s Gym in Norcross, GA after the previous venues were closed. However, the city officials tried to intervene and attempted to shut down their operations.

    Though the company had proper paperwork in place to allow the shooting to go forward and after being shown the documents, the officials stuck around to ensure that proper codes were followed throughout the tapings.

    The original location for empty arena shows of AEW was the Daily\’s Place in Jacksonville, Florida but they had to relocate because the city officials had started using a parking lot near the venue as a major coronavirus testing center.

    This development forced AEW to move its tapings to the Nightmare Factory in Norcross, Georgia, though it was also shut down temporarily due to a shelter-in-place order that was recently signed by Governor Brian Kemp.

    Material they have taped will be used for shows until mid-May, although it\’s unclear whether they have taped full shows or they will be mixing fresh content with older segments to fill out episodes like WWE.

    It seems that WWE will also be affected by a new stay at home order issued by the Florida government and they might not be able to produce shows post-WrestleMania. You can check out a report on the matter here.

  • Seth Rollins Reveals How He Initially Felt About His Heel Turn

    Seth Rollins returned to his roots and once again turned heel last year after losing the Universal Championship to Bray Wyatt during Hell In A Cell in October.

    The former Champion recently appeared on Peter Rosenberg\’s Cheap Heat podcast where he talked about the upcoming WrestleMania 36 and more.

    Surprisingly during the interview, Rollins revealed that initially, he wasn\’t very excited about his heel turn because he felt like he got the raw end of the deal:

    \”The short answer is no [excited about turning heel]. It wasn’t something that I was excited about out of the gate. I feel like I got a raw end of the deal, a raw shake, when it came to what I was doing at the time,

    And the position I was put in with The Fiend character and the Hell in a Cell and the Super ShowDown [Crown Jewel] matches after I had just come off what I thought was an incredible match and long story with Brock Lesnar from SummerSlam.”

    Though Seth Rollins seems to have embraced his new role since then and he has gone on to form a faction with former NXT Tag Team Champions AOP and former Cruiserweight Champion Murphy.

    The Architect is currently scheduled to face Kevin Owens in a one on one match at WrestleMania and it appears that he will have no one in his corner for this bout because Murphy has been pulled from the show as well.

    Quotes via SportsKeeda

  • Rusev Shows Off New Bald Look (Photos)

    Former US Champion Rusev has joined the list of superstars with a clean shaved head and he has shaved his head while staying in the home after his contract dispute with WWE.

    The former NXT Superstar showed this new look during a WWE Live Feed on Instagram yesterday. You can check out some photos of the same below:

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    Rusev was involved in a storyline with Lana and Bobby Lashley the last time we saw him and WWE had added Liv Morgan to this angle later on as well.

    However, the company decided to pull him from TV due to a contract dispute and the former champion has not been seen on WWE Programming since January.

    In an interview, Bobby Lashley had said that he is not sure if their angle was over and he had hoped that he can still have a WrestleMania match with The Bulgarian Brute.

    However, there is no news of Rusev being brought in for the latest WWE tapings and Lashley has been in quarantine after returning from a trip to South Africa, so it\’s unlikely that we will see either of them at the Show Of Shows.

    There aren\’t many details available regarding the contract dispute between the wrestling star and WWE. So it\’s hard to say when or if he will return to WWE TV but we will keep you posted on his status.

  • AEW Reportedly Re-Shot Dynamite Segment Between Chris Jericho And Matt Hardy During The Show

    The main event segment of this week\’s Dynamite saw Matt Hardy confronting the former AEW World Champion Chris Jericho after his debut on last week\’s episode of the show.

    During the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer talked about this angle and revealed some interesting titbits about whole thing.

    According to Meltzer, most of the things on Dynamite were produced live and the confrontation angle was one of the few things to be taped beforehand on Tuesday.

    However, Chris Jericho did not like the taped version of the segment and he wanted it to be reshot. Though they could not shoot it in the day time because the difference would have been obvious on TV.

    So the company shot the angle again during the Kip Sabian vs. Darby Allin match which was the only bout of the night that had been shot beforehand.

    The production team then had just 15 minutes to edit the whole thing before it aired on TV and it\’s an impressive feat of achievement considering the fact that AEW has been doing live TV for less than a year.

    Chris Jericho also confirmed this story on a Facebook Live Stream, noting that they planned to shoot the angle before Dynamite went on air but they couldn\’t do it because the sun had not gone down yet.

  • Seth Rollins On When His Faction May Get A Name

    Seth Rollins has been part of groups like the Shield and The Authority during his WWE career and the former Champion has recently formed another faction with AOP and Murphy.

    So far this group has not found its name but the former Universal Champion believes that they might get one after this year\’s edition of WrestleMania.

    Rollins talked about potential names for his group when he appeared on WWE\’s The Bump. He revealed that he has some ideas and they might get a name after the Show Of Shows:

    \”Yeah, I have some ideas [on names]; I\’ve had some cool names in the past, so we\’ll see where it lands. Maybe, post-WrestleMania. But, I\’ve got some things brewing.\”

    Seth Rollins also talked about his chemistry with the group saying that both AOP and Murphy are very talented but they had been sitting on the sidelines since coming to main roster and they were missing the right guidance.

    Though while the Architect is planning the future of his group, latest reports suggest that we can see a major shakeup to his faction in the upcoming time due to Rezar\’s injury.

    According to the report, WWE does not want to use Akam without his partner and they have no plans for either of the team members to appear on TV in near future.

    This will leave Rollins with only Murphy on his side and it would be interesting to see if the company adds more members to his group to continue this storyline.

    Quotes via WrestlingInc

  • The Rock On Who Will Be On His Mount Rushmore Of Wrestling

    A number of WWE Superstars including Becky Lynch had recently revealed their Mount Rushmore of wrestling and now The Great One, The Rock has joined this list.

    The former World Champion recently held a Q&A session on his Instagram account where he talked about things like his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin and more.

    When asked who would be on his Mount Rushmore of wrestling, the Rock revealed three names and said that he keeps going back and forth on the last entry:

    \”My wrestling Mount Rushmore would be \’The Immortal\’ Hulk Hogan, \’The Nature Boy\’ Ric Flair, \’The Texas Rattlesnake\’ Steve Austin, that fourth person; I always kind of keep blank because I vacillate back and forth between \”Nature Boy\” Buddy Rogers, Bruno Sammartino, Randy \”Macho Man\” Savage, Dusty Rhodes.\”

    A fan then asked the People\’s Champion where he sees himself in the mountain and the former champion said that he is on the back part of it which you can\’t see:

    \”Where am I on Mount Rushmore? I would say I\’m on the back of Mount Rushmore, that\’s the part you don\’t see. I\’m on the back all by myself and I\’m raising my eyebrow and \’If you smell!\’ and I\’m doing all that sh-t. That\’s me on the back.\”

    The Rock also explained the reasoning behind his picks saying that you want to pick people who have had the most impact on the wrestling business and also had the \’X-factor\’

  • Booker T On Why AEW Needs Guys Like Matt Hardy And Brodie Lee

    The March 18 episode of AEW Dynamite saw two big debuts as both Brodie Lee and \’Broken\’ Matt Hardy made their presence felt on the show.

    On the latest episode of his Hall Of Fame podcast, wrestling veteran Booker T talked about a number of things and he also discussed the debut of both these stars.

    Booker first recalled the time he himself jumped ship from WCW to WWE and revealed what Matt Hardy had said about the decision before his WWE departure:

    \”These guys didn\’t waste no time, That\’s the way you want to do it too. I remember when I left WCW for WWE, I said I ain\’t got time to lose no money. Matt Hardy said it was a huge decision to make, but he thought it was the right decision, less days, more money, less stress. That sounds good to me.\”

    Booker T continued by expressing the importance of names like Matt Hardy joining the AEW roster and claimed that they are going to need them to build the company:

    \”You\’re gonna need guys like Matt Hardy, you\’re gonna need guys like Brodie Lee to build that company, I\’m taking nothing away from the young guys that AEW has, but a lot of these guys are really good workers, but are they stars?\”

    The former World Champion also discussed how Matt Hardy is in the twilight of his career and claimed it was the right move for Hardy as he couldn\’t have made the impact he wanted to make as a part-timer in WWE.

    Quotes via WrestlingInc

  • Ric Flair Working With The Rock & WWE On A Movie About His Life

    Ric Flair is arguably one of the greatest sports entertainers of all time and his journey in the professional wrestling world, including his record 16 world title reigns have been nothing but incredible.

    The WWE Hall Of Famer recently appeared on Busted Open Radio alongside Mark Henry and during the conversation; Mark said that he is probably the greatest crossover entertainer in the history of our planet.

    In response to the comments from Henry, Flair claimed that he has started to realize that as well. He went on to reveal that he has talked to The Rock and WWE and they are planning to make a movie about his life as soon as things go back to normal:

    “I’ve talked to Dwayne [Johnson] and Dany Garcia and Hiram Garcia and they’re gonna collaborate for all this stuff and make a movie with the WWE with me with Sue Levinson, who now is with WWE and is doing a fabulous job and Sue’s got a great background.

    As soon as everything gets rolling again, I’m going to make that movie. I am looking forward to that because I’ll have a lot of input and I’ve got a TV show coming out again when Hollywood gets going.\” said Ric Flair. \”This will actually come up first about my life in the 80s.”

    The former World Champion also joked that a TV Show about his life might not be suitable for prime time, saying that it will probably be rated XXR and come at 1 in the morning.

    There is no word yet on what production stage this planned movie on Ric Flair is but we will likely get a better idea after the situation changes and the world starts recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.

  • Becky Lynch On How Her Relationship With Seth Rollins Started

    The relationship between Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch has been one of the most discussed topics in recent times and WWE even used their real-life connection in a storyline last year.

    During a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on ESPN MMA, the current Raw Women\’s Champion talked about a number of things including her upcoming WrestleMania match with Shayna Baszler and more.

    Discussing the start of her relationship with the former Universal Champion, Lynch revealed that they hit it off in the first conversation she ever had with Rollins:

    \”We\’ve been friends for years and years, and just immediately the first conversation that I ever had with him… we just hit it off,\” said Becky. \”I think I just ended up telling him my life story. And that was it, we were just friends, and there was never really anything. But then, we were both single at the same time, and then we were like, \’Why not?\’\”

    Seth Rollins is currently scheduled to face Kevin Owens in a one on one match at WrestleMania 36 though it appears that he will be alone in this fight as after AOP, Murphy has also been pulled from the show.

    On the other hand, Becky Lynch will be defending her Raw Women\’s Championship against Shayna Baszler on the Show Of Shows this year and she believes that she will be competing in the first night of the event on April 4.

    Quotes via WrestlingInc

  • WWE Considering New Format For Empty Arena Shows

    The fans are a crucial part of any WWE show. However, the company has been forced to produce shows without an audience in attendance due to the coronavirus pandemic and it\’s not clear when they will be able to return to their normal format.

    The promotion recently completed a major set of TV tapings including WrestleMania 36. They are set to hold another taping on April 10 and it appears that they are considering a different format for the future shows to make things interesting

    The company has sent out a survey to fans asking about a potential new format for empty arena shows which might include fans in the broadcast.

    In the suggested format as seen below, the company is considering to put live face cams of celebrities such as superstars or sports figures and the fans around the screen in the broadcast of the programm:

    \”WWE is considering new options for the way that they present show segments within this current environment. This might include hearing and seeing feedback from Superstars, celebrities, sports figures or fans during the show\”

    Here is a mockup image that WWE sent out out as part of the survey:

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  • Eric Bischoff Details Phone Call That Led To Steve Austin\’s Firing From WCW

    Firing Stone Cold Steve Austin while he was recovering from an injury was arguably one of the biggest mistakes WCW and Eric Bischoff made during the Attitude Era as The Texas Rattle Snake signed with WWE after this. He then went on to become one of the biggest stars in the wrestling history and his battles with Vince McMahon played a crucial part in winning the Monday Night Wars for the company.

    On the latest episode of his 83 Weeks podcast, Eric Bischoff talked about the firing of the former World Champion and revealed how a phone call led to this decision. The former WCW President recalled the time when Austin was in home recovering from a triceps injury but they were still paying him a lot of money due to his guaranteed contract.

    So to make sure that Austin\’s character stayed alive and it didn\’t disappear from TV completely, Bischoff decided to put him in a backstage segment at WCW Staturday Night. He asked Tony Schiavone to give Stone Cold a call to come and shoot the promo but the former Champion didn\’t want to come to the phone:

    \”Tony called Steve and Steve\’s wife answered the phone, and the way it was reported back to me from Tony was that Steve\’s wife said \’Hey Steve, Tony Schiavone is on the phone he wants to talk to you\’, and Tony could hear Steve yelling back to his wife, \’Tell them sons of b—–s I\’m not here.\’\” recalled Bischoff. \”Well, that\’s pretty bulls–t right? That’s bulls–t. He was there; he just didn\’t want to have a conversation. He didn\’t want to hear anything I had to say, or maybe he was in pain, I don\’t know.\”

    Schiavone then came back to Eric Bischoff and detailed the call which led to him believing that Austin was being dishonest to him. According to the former WCW executive, he becomes irrational once he feels that someone is being dishonest with him and this is the reason why he made the call to let the former Champion go.

    Quotes via WrestlingInc

  • Lana On Why She Stopped Posting Family Pictures On Social Media

    Being a heel in WWE means that you are constantly being targeted by the WWE fans even in today\’s age and people go as far as disrespecting your family and friends as well. Lana, who has spent most of her WWE career being a heel, is no stranger to such reactions and she recently revealed that she stopped posting photos of her family because of the same.

    The Raw star recently appeared on The Matthew Aaron Show where she recalled an incident which forced her to make the decision to not post photos of her family anymore. Lana recalled that in 2014, they were doing Rocky IV and patriotic people of the United States decided to come to her Instagram:

    \”Well all of the United States of America decided to come onto my Instagram, and if I would post a picture of my nephew that was like literally three weeks old, they would be like, \’He\’s the ugliest baby in the world! We hope he dies! USA! USA!\’. It\’s like, oh my God, you are so sick. People are sick, like what is wrong with you.\” said Lana. \”So I stopped posting anything of my family because… normal people are not as tough as a WWE superstar.\”

    Lana also talked about heels in the business saying that you cannot have a super good guy or superhero without having a hated villain. She said that you need to be committed to be a good villain and the former NXT star explained that to become a hated villain you have to be selfless and understand that you are going to lose at the end.

    Quotes via WrestlingInc

  • Kofi Kingston Says He Wanted His WWE Championship Reign To End Differently

    A lot of people were infuriated with the way Kofi Kingston\’s WWE Championship reign ended and the list of names includes his tag team partner Big E as well.

    The former Champion recently had an interview with Sports Illustrated to promote his upcoming Netflix film, The Main Event which will be released on April 10, 2020.

    During the interview, Kingston talked about his long title reign and he remembered how he was able to motivate people when he was the champion. Though the former Champion also admitted that he would have liked things to end differently:

    \”Six months is a very long title reign in this day and age, and I was able to motivate people and push people to be the best version of themselves. At the end of the day, that\’s really all I want to do in this industry.

    I want to push people to follow their dreams, and I feel like I did a great job of that in that title reign.“ said Kofi Kingston. ”That\’s what I focus on. I would have liked for it to end differently, but at the end of the day, you go out and do the job you\’re asked to do.\”

    Elsewhere in the interview the New Day Member recalled his trip to Ghana while being the WWE Champion and said that he takes a lot of pride in it.

    Kofi also recalled how he felt the same as others when he found out about the finish of his match with Brock Lesnar and revealed that he had a different version of the story in his mind. You can check out his full interview at this link.

  • Jake Roberts Reveals Who Brought Him Into AEW

    Jake Roberts has been on a path to recovery from the last few years and the former WWE star even returned to weekly national television recently when he debuted on AEW TV.

    During a recent interview with SportsKeeda, the wrestling legend talked about a number of things and also revealed who was responsible for bringing him into the company.

    Roberts first mentioned how his name kept getting brought up and later revealed that while he expected people like DDP or Dustin Rhodes to vouch for him, it was actually President Tony Khan who wanted him there:

    \”My name kept getting brought up by people, but it was actually [Tony] Khan that said \”I want him in here.\” That\’s quite a compliment there. That\’s not the way I expected to be brought in, I expected it to be through Dallas or through Dustin [Rhodes], but it wasn\’t, it was Khan who wanted me in there.

    He\’s the one that initiated the \”let\’s get him.\” I did the little card-dealing gimmick I did for them [at Double Or Nothing],\” recalled Jake Roberts. \”That was just a nice thing to do, But then to get invited to do this angle [with Lance Archer) was much bigger.\”

    The WWE Hall Of Famer continued by saying that his storyline with Lance Archer is going to be huge and they haven\’t really started it yet.

    He then mentioned how AEW is doing things the old school way where they are building things up for the long term instead of doing what WWE does. You can check out his full interview at this link.

  • Backstage Update On Roman Reigns Pulling Out Of WrestleMania

    Roman Reigns\’ sudden decision to pull out of WrestleMania surprised fans and it left people wondering about the reason behind this move.

    The thing that especially puzzled the fans was that the Big Dog was still present for the tapings of the show and he chose his replacement for the match against Goldberg himself.

    Dave Meltzer provided some updates on the situation during the latest Wrestling Observer Radio and revealed that an incident with The Miz led to this decision from Reigns.

    Per Meltzer, The A-Lister was sick but he was still present for the tapings despite clear guidelines from WWE that every ill person needed to stay at home.

    This upset The Usos and his cousin\’s unhappiness helped in Roman Reigns\’ decision to pull out of his WrestleMania match against the former WCW star.

    WWE announced on SmackDown this week that the SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Miz and John Morrison will defend their titles against The Usos and The New Day in a ladder match at WrestleMania 36.

    However, reports suggest that the Miz did not work the Mania tapings after the incident with Reigns so it\’s likely that the company will change this bout on next week\’s episode of SmackDown or before that.

  • Bray Wyatt Challenges John Cena For Stipulation Match At WrestleMania

    It appears that after the Undertaker vs. AJ Styles match was changed into a Boneyard match, another top WrestleMania fight will be converted into a stipulation bout.

    WWE had announced that this week\’s episode of SmackDown will feature a Firefly Fun House segment where Bray Wyatt will address John Cena.

    The former Universal Champion then hosted the segment in the second hour of the show where he created \’the perfect smoothie\’ to defeat the Cenation Leader at Mania.

    Wyatt said that Cena deserves a match which is not ordinary and proceeded to challenge his opponent to a Firefly Fun House match at the upcoming PPV event.

    There is no word yet on the characteristics of the bout but you can check out a video of the SmackDown segment where Bray mentions the WrestleMania match below:

    WWE has since announced that John Cena will be returning to SmackDown for next week\’s go-home episode of the show where he will respond to this challenge from the Fiend.

    If Cena does accept this challenge then it will be the third stipulation match for Wrestlemania after WWE announced AJ Styles vs. Undertaker bout as a boneyard match and Edge vs. Randy Orton as a Last Match Standing match for the show.

  • Drew McIntyre On Potentially Winning The WWE Championship Without An Audience

    If Drew McIntyre does win the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania this year, it will have to be in front of no live audience, however, the Scottish Star is trying to look at the bright side of the things.

    The former NXT Champion recently had an interview with SuperSport.com where he talked about things like the coronavirus epidemic affecting the world and more.

    Discussing his upcoming match with Brock Lesnar, McIntyre said that he had a vision for how it would go down in the stadium but he is trying to look at the bigger picture:

    \”I don\’t think there are quite the words for it, I had visions for how it would go in that stadium…but right now, looking at the bigger picture, the fact that I\’ve got the opportunity to fight for the WWE Title, after an 18-year journey, against Brock Lesnar, in the main event at WrestleMania.

    This can be a moment of escape for everybody. Becoming the WWE Champion finally after 19 years, becoming the first British Champion, hopefully, will make people feel something on a deeper level\” said McIntyre. \”And that is very important to me too.\”

    The Raw star also explained how WWE\’s services are important in the current situation, saying that whatever entertainment gets your mind off of things is very essential right now.

    Drew McIntyre said that people should stick to whatever form of entertainment they like because it\’s good for everybody. You can check out his full interview at this link.

  • NXT Star Replaces Current Champion In WrestleMania Match, Another Star Pulled

    The news of Roman Reigns pulling out of WrestleMania 36 made a lot of headlines yesterday and latest reports have now revealed two more names which have been removed from the show.

    PWinsider is reporting that the current United States Champion Andrade suffered a rib injury on this week\’s episode of Raw and he was not cleared to compete at the WrestleMania tapings which took place later in the week.

    Andrade was expected to team up with Angel Garza on WrestleMania and the duo was scheduled to challenge the Raw Tag Team Champions, The Street Profits at the event.

    However, he was replaced by an NXT star in the match and Post Wrestling is reporting that former Evolve Champion Austin Theory worked as the substitute for the Mexican star.

    Another star that was removed from the show is the former champion Murphy and reports state that he was \”not cleared to appear,\” though it doesn\’t provide any further details.

    Murphy was not scheduled for a match at WrestleMania but he was expected to be at ringside for the announced Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens match at the show.

    It\’s likely that the company had to make changes to their plans for the bout because of Murphy\’s removal and it would be interesting to see if they brought in Samoa Joe to play a part in the story.

  • Backstage News On Next Set Of WWE Tapings

    WWE has been forced to reduce their operations greatly and the company has moved its shows to the Performance Center where they have been taping shows with no audience in the presence of only the essential personnel.

    The company recently completed a major taping schedule which included the shooting for both nights of WrestleMania 36 and now latest reports have revealed when the company will resume their operations.

    According to reports from PWinsider, the next set of WWE tapings are scheduled to be held at Performance Center on Friday, April 10, which is expected to include the post WrestleMania episode of SmackDown as well.

    It was noted previously that the company taped episodes of their weekly TV shows leading up to WrestleMania this week, including Raw, SmackDown and NXT.

    The report now reveals that WWE has taped the post WrestleMania episode of Monday Night Raw and the NXT episode for the same week as well.

    The post-WrestleMania Raw is usually the biggest episode of the show of the year and the NXT episode is expected to feature some big matches such as the #1 contender ladder match for the NXT Women\’s Championship.

    The company included these shows in the latest tapings because of the \’stay at home\’ mandate issued by the Orange County officials. It went into effect on Thursday night and the order will stay effective until April 9.

  • Braun Strowman Expected To Be Roman Reigns\’ WWE WrestleMania Replacement

    News broke earlier today that the former World Champion Roman Reigns has decided to pull himself from the upcoming WrestleMania event due to coronavirus concerns.

    WWE was working on a replacement for the Big Dog for the PPV and on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio; Dave Meltzer provided an update on Goldberg\’s potential new opponent for the Show Of Shows.

    It was reported previously that the company taped some of the bigger WrestleMania matches on Wednesday and they planned to complete the tapings by Thursday before the Florida Mayor\’s \’stay at home\’ mandate came into effect. Meltzer mentioned that he believes it was Braun Strowman who replaced Roman Reigns on the card and wrestled Goldberg at the tapings.

    The Big Dog was present for this match and the former World Champion himself made the call for the Monster Among Man to be his replacement for the match.

    It\’s not confirmed how WWE is handling this situation storyline-wise and we should get a better idea about it on tonight\’s episode of SmackDown.

    There is no confirmation about the winner of this bout either. It would be interesting to see if the officials went with their original plans and put the title on Braun Strowman, giving him his first world title reign in the company.