Author: Anutosh Bajpai

The Undertaker is expected to make a surprise appearance at the Super Showdown event and now it appears that his Raw return date has been revealed as well.

PWinsider is reporting that The Dead Man is currently scheduled to make an appearance at the March 9 episode of Raw from the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.

• Also Read: Goldberg Explains What Went Wrong In Match With Undertaker

The March 9 Raw will be the post Elimination Chamber episode of the show and it appears that WWE is loading it up to create buzz for WrestleMania 36.

Previous reports have revealed that WWE Hall Of Famer Edge will be making an appearance on the show to provide \”live medical update\” on his health.

Not only that but the arena for the episode is also advertising the former NXT Women\’s Champion Shayna Baszler for a \”special appearance\” on the show.

• Also Read: Video Of Undertaker Arriving In Saudi Arabia For Super Showdown

Baszler will be competing in the Elimination Chamber match to determine the WrestleMania opponent for Raw Women\’s Champion Becky Lynch and while not confirmed, the NXT star is rumored to face \’The Man\’ at the Show Of Shows.

The Undertaker, on the other hand, is expected to face AJ Styles at WrestleMania this year and it\’s possible that he has a confrontation with the Phenomenal One during the episode.

The reports of Bella Twins being inducted into Hall Of Fame first came out a couple of weeks ago and then WWE made the induction official on the latest episode of SmackDown.

After the major announcement, the duo of Nikki Bella and Brie Bella appeared on the latest episode of WWE Backstage to talk about their careers and more.

During the interview, The Bella Twins were also asked about their reaction to the news. Answering the question, they revealed that it was Vince McMahon himself, who called to inform them about their induction:

\”It\’s funny when Nikki and I got the called, Vince [McMahon] called us both, we saw his missed call and my first reaction was, \’Nikki, what did you say in the press?\’\” recalled Brie. \”We thought we were in trouble, we called Vince back, together, and when he told us, we were shocked, \’What? This year?\’\”

Nikki Bella then explained that after working for long and fighting for so many things, having the one man who they look up to call them for the opportunity was incredible.

The Bella Twins also talked about Nikki\’s Evolution match against Ronda Rousey and she said that she went in the match thinking it as a David vs. Goliath scenario.

Nikki and Brie will be inducted into Hall Of Fame during the WrestleMania weekend alongside Batista and nWo. Davey Boy Smith, JBL and Jushin \’Thunder\’ Liger are the other reported names for this year\’s class but they are yet to be announced officially.

WWE has taken an interesting direction with the Women\’s Royal Rumble winner Charlotte Flair this year and she has chosen to face NXT Champion Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania, instead of choosing a champion from Raw or SmackDown.

Though it appears that Ripley\’s appearance will be the only major involvement of NXT at Mania as there are no other NXT title matches planned for the show.

Dave Meltzer talked about the upcoming event on the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio and revealed that there are currently 14 matches planned for WrestleMania.

However, the Ripley vs. Flair bout is the only NXT Championship match scheduled for Mania and as of this writing, no other NXT titles are expected to be defended on the event.

• Also Read: SmackDown WrestleMania Matches Reportedly In State Of Flux

While the NXT stars can still be used in the male or female battle royals at the PPV, the current plans are for Rhea Ripley to be the main representative of the Black And Yellow brand on WrestleMania.

On a related note, Meltzer revealed that the NXT Champion is being paid under her standard NXT contract but she is receiving bonus pay for any Raw appearances she makes to build her feud with Charlotte.

There is no word yet on what she will be paid for her actual match at the Grandest Stage Of Them All but it\’s not hard to imagine that WrestleMania will be a big payday for her and any other involved NXT stars.

It was reported yesterday morning that the Undertaker is traveling to Saudi Arabia for the Super Showdown event and now videos of his arrival have surfaced online.

@Enjoy_Saudi Twitter account recently posted some clips of WWE superstars arriving in the country for Thursday\’s event. As seen in the post below, the video captures stars such as Goldberg, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, and The Undertaker:

Taker has not officially been announced for Super Showdown so far and there is no word yet on what the Dead Man will be doing at the Pay-Per-View event.

Though previous reports have revealed that the current plans are for the former World Champion to face AJ Styles in a one on one match at WrestleMania 36.

So fans are speculating that Undertaker can make an appearance on the show to confront Styles and set up their match at this year\’s edition of the Show Of Shows.

AJ Styles is set to compete in the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy gauntlet match alongside Andrade, Bobby Lashley, Erick Rowan, R-Truth, and Rey Mysterio.

This match itself also made some headlines recently when WWE replaced Rusev with Rey Mysterio and reports have since revealed that the Bulgarian Brute backed out of this appearance at the last minute.

\’The Dead Man\’ Undertaker is traveling to Saudi Arabia for Thursday\’s Super Showdown event, according to reports from Wrestling Observer Radio.

Previous reports have revealed that Taker is expected to compete against The Phenomenal AJ Styles at this year\’s edition of WrestleMania.

Styles is currently scheduled to wrestle in a gauntlet match for the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy on the Saudi show. Other participants for the match include Andrade, Bobby Lashley, Erick Rowan, R-Truth, and Rey Mysterio.

While there is no word yet on what the Last Outlaw will be doing at the event, it\’s speculated that he can set up his upcoming match with the former World Champion in some way during the PPV.

• Also Read: Rusev Removed From Super Showdown, Replacement Announced

It\’s been a while since the Undertaker last wrestled for WWE and his last match for the company was a tag team bout where he teamed up with Roman Reigns to face Shane McMahon and Drew McIntyre at Extreme Rules in July last year.

Some photos of the former World Champion had sparked rumors of him returning at the Royal Rumble PPV earlier this year but the appearance obviously didn\’t happen.

Taker was also recently spotted at the Performance Center in Orlando and it would now be interesting to see if he gets physical in any capacity at the upcoming show.

The Super Showdown this year will be taking place from Mohammed Abdu Arena on the Boulevard in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this Thursday, February 27.

This week\’s episode of Raw saw Paul Heyman hyping Brock Lesnar\’s upcoming matches but his WrestleMania opponent Drew McIntyre was kept off the show.

McIntyre still took part in the episode but he appeared in a pre-recorded video with Charly Caruso where he talked about his career in WWE so far and claimed that he will fulfill his destiny at WrestleMania 36.

Though the Scottish Psychopath did make a live appearance after the show went off air and he competed in a one on one dark match against the Monday Night Messiah, Seth Rollins.

Drew apparently cut a promo before his bout with the former Universal Champion and the crowd was hugely behind the former NXT star.

The finish of the match saw Drew McIntyre picking up a pinfall victory over Rollins after hitting him with a Claymore kick. Below are some photos and videos of the bout:

It\’s worth mentioning here that Seth pulled double duty during the night and he had also competed against Montez Ford of the Street Profits during the broadcast of the show.

Drew McIntyre has chosen Brock Lesnar as his opponent for WrestleMania after winning Royal Rumble. On the other hand, Seth Rollins\’ match for the show has not been announced yet but he is likely to face Kevin Owens at the event.

The intentional glitches seen on SmackDown broadcast recently have been creating buzz among wrestling fans. People have been speculating names which can be behind it and the latest WWE signee Killer Kross is one of the top rumored stars for the spot.

While appearing on the Main Event podcast, reporter Dave Meltzer discussed these rumors and suggested that there could be something to the story of Kross being revealed as the mystery man behind the glitches.

It was previously reported that Killer Kross could be fast-tracked once he signs with the company and Meltzer noted that at the time of his signing, the word was that he was brought on for \”something big\”.

The former TNA star is not expected to take the usual route of going through NXT before joining Raw or SmackDown and WWE Officials are instead planning something significant for him on the main roster.

Though Meltzer put a stop to the rumors of Kross facing John Cena at WrestleMania 36, saying that he specifically asked if this was the plan and was told no.

WWE officially announced the signing of Killer Kross on February 5 but at the time, he wasn\’t assigned any brand. The company had only confirmed that the former Lucha Underground star has reported to their Performance Center to begin his training.

John Cena will be returning to WWE this Friday Night on SmackDown and there are speculations that he will kick off his WrestleMania feud during his comeback.

WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T talked about Cena\’s return on the latest episode of his podcast and revealed his choice of WrestleMania opponent for the 16-time world champion.

Booker interestingly suggested that the Cenation Leader should face the current face of WWE, Roman Reigns, at this year\’s edition of the Show Of Shows:

\”Roman Reigns, Roman Reigns being the guy now, John Cena being the guy who has put in so much time, one of the greatest WWE Champions in history.

I know John Cena could pull it off, I know Roman Reigns could pull it off.  Both of those guys know the art of going out there and doing Romeo and Juliet.\”

Booker T later acknowledged that a lot of people would not want to see the match between the two on paper but he claimed they will be impressed when the bout takes place.

John Cena has locked up with Roman Reigns before. The two faced each other in a one on one match at No Mercy 2017, and the Big Dog came out victorious in the bout.

Cena was originally expected to face Elias at WrestleMania 36 but recent reports indicate that WWE has shaken up the card for the event recently. You can check out a detailed report on the matter here.

Quotes via WrestlingInc

It appears that former United States Champion Rusev has been pulled from the Gauntlet match he was announced to compete in at the upcoming Super Showdown event.

There was some confusion over the graphics used to promote the match on this week\’s episode of Monday Night Raw and WWE has since confirmed that Rey Mysterio will be replacing the Bulgarian Brute in the upcoming match:

The company has not given a reason for Rusev\’s removal but the two sides have been locked in a contract dispute for a while now and reports suggest that the officials have pulled Rusev from WWE TV due to the same.

Rusev has not wrestled since the January 20 episode of Raw where he and his partner Liv Morgan lost a mixed tag match to Lana and Bobby Lashley.

When WWE originally announced the Gauntlet match, it was reported that the announcement was not a sign of things being resolved between the two parties.

It\’s believed that Rusev will leave WWE once his contract expires. Though it was reported earlier this month that he still has “plenty of time” left on his current deal.

His wife Lana on the other hand, signed a new 5-year deal just recently so she will be staying with the company until at least 2025, whether the former NXT star decides to leave or stay.

Former Cruiserweight Champion Lio Rush recently held a Q&A session on Twitter where he answered questions related to his next album, his favorite feud and more.

When asked why he loves wrestling, the former Champion explained that he grew up watching the business and it\’s the only thing that makes him feel like a kid once again:

\”I grew up watching wrestling as a kid. It was the only thing that made me feel like a kid again the older I got. I try to remind myself this every day.\”

The NXT star also made some interesting comments about the state of 205 Live when a fan asked him if the Cruiserweight Exclusive Show should have its own Takeover Style events.

Rush replied to this question from the fan with a remark on the current state of the series and said that he thinks 205 Live should be treated better as a whole. You can check out his comments in the tweet below:

Lio Rush has previously been subject to reports of backstage heat and he had made a number of headlines last year by publically criticizing his WWE pay and financial status while being under contract with the company.

In light of his previous controversies, it\’s debatable how wise it is for Lio to criticize the status of the show publically and it would be interesting to know how the WWE officials react to his comments.

Current ROH World Champion PCO recently had an interview with WrestlingInc where he talked about things like finally becoming a World Champion in wrestling after 3 decades in the business and more.

Since ROH has a partnership with New Japan Pro Wrestling, the current champion was asked about an interesting possibility of defending the ROH title at an NJPW show.

Answering the question, PCO recalled how he was scheduled to make his New Japan debut by competing in the World tag league but the plans were scrapped due to Brody King injuring his knee:

\”Maybe. I know I was booked for [World] Tag League and I was supposed to make my debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling. But Brody King injured his knee and tore his ACL, I missed that tournament so it will be interesting to see how things turn out. But my main focus is ROH right now and what\’s going on in North America.\”

PCO also talked about a potential tour of Australia for the company and revealed that ROH\’s parent company Sinclair has increased the promotion\’s budget three or four times from last year.

Apart from this, the ROH star talked about his last year\’s entrance at Supercard of Honor and teased an out of the box entrance for this year\’s edition of the show. You can check out his full interview at this link.

Current NXT Cruiserweight Champion and Progress Tag Team Champion Jordan Devlin announced on Twitter recently that he is pulling out of Progress Chapter 103 due to elbow bursitis. He was replaced by Eddie Kingston.

Devlin, along with his tag team partner Scotty Davis were set to defend the tag titles against Anthony Henry and JD Drake but he announced that he will not be able to compete on the show as seen below:

As Jordan noted, he is not expected to stay out of action for very long and his removal was a precautionary measure to avoid the risk of aggravating the injury.

Big Show Reveals How Steve Austin Helped Him

Former World Champion The Big Show was the latest guest on Stone Cold Steve Austin\’s WWE Network series dubbed Broken Skull Sessions and during his appearance, the Monster Sized Athlete talked about a number of things.

WWE recently posted a clip from the show on their YouTube channel in which, Big Show recalls how a WWE star taught him how to be a \’giant\’ in the ring.

The WWE star was none other than the Texas Rattle Snake himself and according to Big Show, Stone Cold taught this to him during a trip to Europe. You can check out the clip posted by WWE below:

While NXT has been moved to Live TV from the WWE Network, many people still consider it to be not in par with WWE\’s other prominent shows, namely Raw and SmackDown.

Former NXT Champion Johnny Gargano was recently interviewed by TMZ Sports where he talked about a number of things and also responded to the people who still consider the show as the \’minor leagues\’.

Gargano claimed that this thinking is complete garbage and it\’s something he and the other NXT talents have worked to dispel for a very long time:

\”That\’s BS, that is complete garbage and it is something that me and a lot of guys have worked to dispel for a very long time. Anyone out there that uses the words \’main roster\’ when talking about RAW and SmackDown, how about you watch the show on Wednesday nights and you\’ll see the real \’main roster.\’\”

Also Read: WWE Making Changes To Big WrestleMania Matches

Johnny continued by saying that in NXT, you see the best wrestling show and the best locker room on planet which is led by him. According to the former Champion, you are stupid if you still use words like \’developmental\’ and \’main roster\’.

Apart from this, Johnny Gargano also talked about his attack on Tommaso Ciampa during Takeover: Portland and responded to fans saying that he is a changed man after the attack. You can check out his full interview in the video below:

Rob Van Dam faced his first WWE suspension back in July 2006 and since he held both the WWE and ECW World title at the time, his suspension became a hot topic of discussion and it made many headlines.

The former ECW star recently appeared on The Steve Austin Show where he talked about things like smoking cannabis on his 21th birthday and more.

Van Dam also opened up about his suspension in 2006. He said that if he could do things differently, then he would avoid it and revealed how careless he was at the time:

\”I would have slowed down that night going through Ohio with 18 grams of weed in my bag. I was speeding, dude.\” recalled RVD. \”I was so careless back then. I used to be so careless I didn\’t even know there were speed limits.

The reason it made such big news was because I had the WWE Championship and the ECW Championship, so there was a lot riding on me at the moment because ECW just came back as a third brand, trying to get momentum, and I\’m the champion.\”

• Also Read: RVD Says He Has Had \”Hundreds\” Of Concussions In His Career

Later in the interview, Rob Van Dam also recalled how he had asked for more time off after this suspension from Paul Heyman but the current Executive Director of Raw refused his request to talk to Mr. McMahon about it.

RVD and Sabu were stopped by the police for speeding in Ohio in July 2006 and both the stars were later arrested for possession of illegal substances.

This arrest resulted in WWE suspending the ECW star for 30 days and due to the suspension, he was forced to drop both the ECW Championship and the WWE Championship.

Quotes via WrestlingInc

Former Women\’s Champion Charlotte Flair will be returning to NXT this week to compete in her first match on the Black and Yellow brand in over 4 years.

WWE has announced that The Queen will be returning to the show to answer the challenge issued by Bianca Belair on last week\’s episode of the brand.

The foundation for this bout was laid out during the NXT Takeover: Portland event where Rhea Ripley had defended her title against Belair in a one on one match.

Flair attacked Ripley right after the match and accepted her challenge for a bout at WrestleMania 36. However, her attack didn\’t end there and Charlotte also rammed the EST into the steel steps before making her exit.

After this, Bianca had challenged the former Women\’s Champion for a match on last week\’s episode of NXT, which Charlotte accepted with the following tweet:

It\’s interesting to note here that Triple H had indicated that Bianca Belair could continue her feud with Rhea Ripley after the latest Takeover event. The NXT Champion herself had then talked positively about the EST possibly being added to her WrestleMania bout.

Now with Charlotte Flair being announced for a match against the NXT star, the big question is if WWE is giving us hints and if the company is plotting to turn the upcoming WrestleMania match into a Triple Threat, adding Belair to the mix.

Roman Reigns\’ leukemia announcement on Raw was one of the most real moments of the professional wrestling history and it was a rare incident where the Big Dog broke the kayfabe to connect with the audience.

During his recent appearance on The Bump, Reigns talked about a number of things and he also explained why he decided to come out of his storyline character for the revelation.

The former Champion first said that he had built a relationship with the people in the past few years and Roman then claimed that he just wanted to be truthful with them:

\”I just didn\’t want to lie. I didn\’t want people to make up stories of what I was doing or where I was going. I just wanted to be truthful and let the world know what was going on with me.

If there was anyone who could take a shred of hope and take my story and use it as strength, or experience, then I thought that would be the best use of what was going on.\” said Reigns. \”I just wanted to utilize the platform I had with my fanbase and help anyone who was going through that.\”

Roman Reigns also discussed how this experience has changed his life and he explained that now he feels blessed every day. Per the former World Champion, he feels blessed just to be able to wake up and hug his daughter.

Apart from this, the former World Champion also talked about how his efforts of trying to spread awareness about the disease are going and more. You can check out Roman\’s interview in the video below:

Before becoming the People\’s Champion, the Rock was given the gimmick of Rocky Maivia which wasn\’t received very well by the fans and it wasn\’t very long before people started turning on his character.

However, the Great One managed to turn the situation around and he went on to invent a character that is still remembered as one of the greatest gimmicks of the wrestling history.

• Also Read: Update On Cain Velasquez\’s WWE Status

During his recent interview with Oprah, The former Champion revealed that WrestleMania 13 was the starting point of this change and he recalled how his appearance at the show was the turning point of his career:

\”It was a turning point in my career and it allowed me to grow. By the time I got to Chicago, 16,000 people were chanting \’Rocky sucks.\’ I remember laying there in the ring and the referee said to me \’Don\’t listen to them.\’ It was crippling for me.\”

Later in the interview, The Rock explained how after this, the WWE management realized that his gimmick was not working and they gave him permission to just be himself:

\”At that time, the powers that be thought that this wasn\’t going to work, and for whatever reason, people aren\’t liking you. At that moment, it was very defining, because I asked them if I could just be myself and just go out there, speak to the crowd, and just be myself – authentic… At that time Vince [McMahon] said \’You got it.\’\”

• Also Read: Triple H On WWE Possibly Moving PPVs Out Of WWE Network

The former World Champion recalled how after getting the permission he grabbed the mic the next night on Raw. The promo he then cut was the start of his transformation and it was the beginning of his run as The Rock.

Apart from this, The Rock also talked about his tough childhood, his start in Hollywood and if he knew that he would become such an overnight sensation.

Quotes via WrestlingInc

One of the top Japanese women\’s wrestlers Sareee has finally confirmed her signing with WWE after months of rumors about her move to the United States.

The former Diana Champion took on her Twitter and announced the news via a tweet in Japanese. Below is the rough translation of the female star\’s post:

\”I decided to think about doing professional wrestling abroad outside of Japan. And WWE joining has been decided. I am relieved to be able to properly report to everyone. Spreading Japanese women\’s professional wrestling, Aiming for the top of WWE, Aim for the pinnacle of women\’s professional wrestling. I will fight over my life. #wwe #Sareee\”

The reports of Sareee signing with WWE first came out last year but neither WWE nor the Japanese star herself had commented on the matter back then.

The foundation for her move to the US was laid out last year in summer when WWE went to Japan for a tour and Triple H spent the time scouting talents.

The Game was reportedly impressed with Sareee\’s performance and the two had numerous meetings at the time. Triple H had told media that he has heard Sareee was the future of women\’s wrestling

Sareee made her wrestling debut at the young age of 15 back in 2011 and she will be reporting to the WWE Performance Center next month

WWE has added the return of Bella Twins, Nikki Bella and Brie Bella for a talk show segment to an already stacked line up for this week\’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown.

The company has announced that the twin sisters will be taking part in the \”A Moment of Bliss\” segment hosted by former Women\’s Champion Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross.

The Bellas are not the only big name announced for a return on Friday Night and former Universal Champion Bill Goldberg is also expected to appear live on the show.

The company has also announced a few matches for the episode with the most interesting one being a #1 contenders match between Carmella and Naomi.

The winner of this bout will then go on to challenge the current SmackDown Women\’s Champion Bayley for her title at the upcoming Super Showdown event.

Though this isn\’t the only announced bout and they have also confirmed that the Usos will be teaming up with The New Day to take on John Morrison, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode in an 8 men tag team match.

There is no word yet on why the Bella Twins are returning to SmackDown but they are expected to be inducted into Hall Of Fame this year and it\’s possible that the company confirms this news during the upcoming segment.

While WWE has announced the NXT Championship match between Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair for WrestleMania, there are chances of this match being altered into a triple threat bout, with Bianca Belair being added to the mix.

Ripley successfully defended her title against Belair at Sunday\’s NXT Takeover: Portland but in the post show interview, Triple H had indicated that the EST of NXT might not be done with the NXT Champion.

The former NXT UK star was asked about Bianca possibly being added to her WrestleMania match during a recent interview with Sportskeeda and replying to it, the current champion said that she won\’t mind it:

\”If they add Bianca Belair to it, I honestly don\’t mind,\” Ripley said. \”I love fighting Bianca, and if she got put into the match, I\’d be all for it.

I\’m not going to argue about it and say that she doesn\’t deserve it, because she does deserve it. She deserves her WrestleMania moment and, if she gets added to it, I\’m not going to complain.\”

Triple H had also indicated that the idea for Flair to challenge for the NXT title may have come from Vince McMahon himself and commenting on this, Rhea Ripley said that it\’s insane to think that the higher-ups think so highly of her.

She explained that The Game was one of the people who inspired her to get into wrestling and to have people like him and Vince McMahon believe in her is a wonderful feeling.