Seth Rollins is going to WWE WrestleMania 38 and as expected, his opponent won\’t be confirmed until he\’s in the ring at the show.
WWE previously announced over the weekend that Rollins would be meeting with Vince McMahon this morning. WWE released a video of the meeting on social media where McMahon informed Rollins that he\’ll have a match on the WrestleMania card.
Rollins wanted to know who it would be, but McMahon didn’t name the person. He did say it would be someone of McMahon\’s choosing and Rollins will learn his opponent when his opponent is introduced the night of the show.
It\’s expected that Cody Rhodes will be facing Rollins at WrestleMania as Rhodes has signed with the company. It had been reported that WWE holding off on Rhodes\’ return until WrestleMania was the plan.
Rollins has been involved in a storyline over the last few weeks where he\’s failed to find a path to WrestleMania. He lost matches against Kevin Owens and AJ Styles in attempts to get on the WrestleMania card.
Following a loss to Styles, Rollins threatened that tonight\’s Raw wouldn\’t get started unless he gets his WrestleMania moment.
AEW President Tony Khan reportedly had a heated discussion with MJF over the weekend.
Fightful Select reported today the discussion was said to have left both men frustrated and stemmed from MJF\’s interview with Ariel Helwani. The hour-long interview covered various topics from his contract status with AEW to liking WWE’s Bruce Prichard and more.
2024 is when MJF’s deal expires, which looks to be a big year for the pro wrestling industry as WWE reportedly has an interest in signing the top AEW star. MJF admitted that he’s not afraid to “stir the pot” until his deal is up.
MJF said he knows for a fact that the company is interested, but he can’t discuss why for legal reasons.
The report noted, “we\’re told that the contract status of MJF is what has left the young star frustrated of late, but that Tony Khan took issue with the interview being set up without notifying AEW\’s PR team of such.” T
Sources in AEW didn’t think there would have been an issue with the subject matter or the interview in general if it were set up with AEW’s PR team first.
Bret Hart is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and some even think of him as the GOAT. With so many memorable matches from battling Owen Hart to Shawn Michaels, Hart has shared what he thinks is the greatest match of his legendary career and that’s the submission match he had with Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13 in 1997.
Hart went over in the match after locking in the sharpshooter and Austin passing out because of the “pain and blood loss.” It was a double turn as Austin went on to be a babyface and Hart turned heel.
“The match with Steve, that’s the greatest song I ever sang,” Hart said in an interview with Sports Illustrated. “When I watch it back, I wouldn’t change a thing. I still love seeing that spot where I’m punching the daylights out of Steve in the corner and he kicks me in the groin. It was a beautiful, violent piece of art. Working with Steve was easy, it was fun, and it was memorable.
“We put a lot of heart into that match. It captures every element you see in a back-and-forth UFC fight. I always love the Iron Man match [against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania XII, too. Pound-for-pound workload, was the hardest match of my career, but I love the psychology of my match with Steve. I think of the expression, ‘No animals were harmed in the making of the movie.’ There were some hard falls and good shots with Steve, a fight between two warriors.”
Austin will make his return to WWE when he confronts Kevin Owens on the KO Show this Saturday night at WrestleMania 38 in AT&T Stadium. Hart added in this interview that he will be cheering on the fellow WWE Hall Of Famer when he steps into the ring.
On Friday, Triple H announced his retirement from wrestling after dealing with viral pneumonia that led to cardiac issues which resulted in a defibrillator being put into his chest. He won’t be able to actively compete in the ring again.
In the full interview with Stephen A. Smith on Stephen A\’s World, Triple H revealed that there were plans in place for him to compete at WrestleMania 38. However, his health scare nixed those plans.
\”I was already at a place in my career, as far as the in-ring goes, where I was comfortable being done and finished. If the right thing came along, I hadn\’t really said much, but if the right thing came along and they wanted me to do it.\”
He continued, \”I had a conversation with Vince McMahon about doing something at WrestleMania this year in Dallas. We had talked about and there were plans for. Obviously, when this happened, it shut all that down. As far as the schedule, WWE is an intense place, it\’s 24/7 and you\’re running, running, running. It put things in perspective for me.”
Triple H did not give what the exact plans for WrestleMania 38 were. He did note that he is back in the office and now focused on recruitment. His endurance is not quite what it used to be before, but working his way there. He wants to make sure that WWE is a success for generations to come.
Chris Jericho had a major health scare last year at a time when AEW still bringing in big names such as Bryan Danielson, CM Punk, and Adam Cole.
Jericho was hospitalized in December with what was described as a treatable non-covid health issue, which caused his rock band Fozzy to cancel concerts in Swansea, Wales, and Nottingham, England. He was hospitalized just so the doctors could observe him overnight.
AEW President Tony Khan recently sat down with STRONG STYLE on Outlaw Nation to discuss a wide variety of subjects. During it, he noted that Jericho was out of action for a few months due to a blood clot.
\”When CM Punk Bryan Danielson and Adam Cole came in, I saw them as adding two great stars. We already had Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley. Well, very quickly. Chris Jericho had a blood clot and was out of the ring for months. And Jon Moxley was gone for months, and Kenny Omega has been out for months. So we had our first three champions. Jericho Moxley and Omega all go out within a very short time span.”
He added that he was glad he signed Punk, Danielson, and Cole or they would have been in real trouble at the end of the year. Khan didn\’t confirm when Jericho was dealing with this, but he did miss two months around the time period that Khan was talking about.
Jericho’s last match of 2021 was at AEW Full Gear on November 13th where The Inner Circle defeated American Top Team in a street fight. He didn’t wrestle until the January 26th episode of AEW Dynamite in a tag team match.
The March 22, 2022 episode of WWE NXT 2.0 aired live on the USA Network from Orlando, Florida at the Capitol Wrestling Center.
WWE NXT 2.0 Results
Solo Sikoa def. Roderick Strong
Tony D\’Angelo def. Dexter Lumis.
Elektra Lopez def. Fallon Henley.
Bron Breakker def. Robert Roode.
Grayson Waller def. A-Kid
The Creed Brothers (Brutus Creed & Julius Creed) (w/Malcolm Bivens & Ivy Nile) def. GYV (James Drake & Zack Gibson).
GUNTHER def. Duke Hudson.
Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray def. Wendy Choo and Dakota Kai
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic Finals
Wendy Choo and Dakota Kai vs. Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray in the finals of the women\’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. This was actually the main event of the show and a pretty good match.
Things broke down as the match got closer to the finish. Io hit her moonsault finisher for the win.
As a result of the victory, they will now challenge Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne) for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships. Post-match, Mandy Rose told them that they are mistaken if they think they can become the champions. Lee Ray announced that they will turn their tag team title shot into a shot at the Women’s Title. At Stand & Deliver, Lee Ray and Io will join Rose and Cora Jade in a fatal 4-way match for the titles.
Shrai and Ray defeated Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter, while Choo and Kai defeated Raquel Gonzalez and Cora Jade in the semi-finals of the tournament.
The Creed Brothers vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans
The Creed Brothers vs. The Grizzled Young Veterans took place.
Qualifying Matches
Two qualifying matches for the NXT North American Championship ladder match at Stand and Deliver saw Solo Sikoa vs. Roderick Strong A-Kid vs. Grayson Waller.
Bron Breakker vs. Robert Roode
Bron Breakker vs. Robert Roode served as the main event.
Io Shirai and Kay Lee Ray are the winners of the second Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
It happened when Wendy Choo and Dakota Kai vs. Io and Lee Ray was booked on Tuesday’s episode of WWE NXT 2.0. It headlined the show. Io hit her moonsault finisher for the win.
As a result of this win, they’ve earned the right to challenge Toxic Attraction (Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne) for the NXT Women’s Tag Team Championships. However, Kay had a different plan, At Stand & Deliver, Lee Ray and Io will join Rose and Cora Jade in a fatal 4-way match for the titles.
In the semi-finals of the tournament, Shrai and Ray defeated Kacy Catanzaro and Kayden Carter while Choo and Kai defeated Raquel Gonzalez and Cora Jade.
Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez beat Shotzi Blackheart and Ember Moon at the NXT TakeOver: Vengeance Day special last year to become the first-ever winners of the Women’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
The Dusty Rhodes tag team classic tournament was established in 2015 as a tribute to the legendary pro wrestler.
WWE has some big plans for Omos at WrestleMania 38 next month as WrestleVotes initially reported that Omos will face an opponent that might \”surprise\” people at the event in Dallas, Texas at AT&T Stadium.
The current plan calls for Omos to face Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania (via Fightful). Lashley has been out of action since WWE Elimination Chamber where he suffered a storyline concussion, which was done to cover up his shoulder injury with the expectation that he would need surgery.
He dropped the WWE Title in the Elimination Chamber match. Initial reports estimated that Lashley would require four months to recover from the surgery, but it looks like he is coming back sooner than expected. As of this writing, it has yet to be confirmed that Lashley is cleared to compete.
WWE has been pushing him since he made his main roster arrival as he had a successful run as a tag team with AJ Styles and since the split, he has been picking up squash wins on Monday Night Raw in recent weeks.
Brandi Rhodes has her first post-AEW project lined up as after hosting her cooking show, Shot of Brandi, on YouTube for the last four years, she is hopeful to move to television.
Deadline reported today Rhodes has partnered with Scream and Teen Wolf producer DIGA Studios to achieve that as she to bring the online show to a TV partner.
“I started shooting this show in my kitchen four years ago with two iPhone cameras and a cocktail,” said Rhodes. “I am excited to see the show evolve and thankful for the fans who have followed along. I assure you, now that I’m working with DIGA the best is yet to come.”
DIGA Studios will look to sell the half-hour television series to broadcasters and streamers.
Cody and Brandi Rhodes left AEW last month with Cody returning to WWE at WrestleMania 38 for a match with Seth Rollins. The couple previously starred in the TNT reality series Rhodes To The Top.
Rhodes also previously appeared on WAGS Atlanta. DIGA Studios, the company run by Tony DiSanto, has been behind shows such as Hot Ones: The Game Show for truTV and Discovery+’s Selling The Hamptons.
Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay are set to face off for the first time ever under the NJPW banner.
Ospreay has been calling out Moxley, who responded today in a promo posted by NJPW. Moxley challenged Ospreay to face him at NJPW Windy City Riot on Saturday, April 16.
Moxley warned him in the promo that Ospreay’s words have consequences and while he may never have seen a wrestler more talented than Ospreay, it might be time for Moxley to beat some humility into him.
Ospreay first called out Moxley at a Revolution Pro Wrestling event last month and then again backstage on the New Japan Cup tour recently.
BREAKING@jonmoxley has responded to @willospreay– and has demanded a fight April 16 in Chicago!
Windy City Riot will air live on Fite TV as a pay-per-view from the Odeum Expo Center in Villa Park, Illinois. No matches have been officially confirmed for the show, but the following names are advertised to appear:
Thunder Rosa earned another shot at the AEW Women’s World Title and cashed in on it as she beat Britt Baker for it on this week’s special edition of Dynamite, St. Patrick’s Day Slam.
They wrestled in a steel cage bout. The match headlined the show in what ended up being a crazy blood bath with various weapons being used. Baker hit an Air Raid crash to Rosa onto a stack of chairs.
Rosa took a bump on thumbtacks but she broke free and won the match after powerbombing Baker on the tacks and hitting the Fire Thunder Driver into the tacks.
On Thursday morning, Thunder Rosa commented on her championship victory. Needless to say, she\’s speechless.
I have no words to describe how I feel. The love, the energy, the results of yesterday’s match. Im blessed and I’m thankful. I just know there is a lot of work to be done. Gracias a mi gente por este momento tan especial. Your NEW @AEW women’s champion #ThunderRosapic.twitter.com/IyShnGphmp
Last week on Dynamite, Rosa defeated Leyla Hirsch to become the next title challenger. Post-match, Baker appeared backstage and cut a promo about how she thought it was a conspiracy that Rosa was getting another title match so soon and she didn’t want “carny riff-raff” like Rosa becoming champion.
In recent weeks, the two stars began feuding once again as Baker hired Mercedes Martinez to take out Rosa.
Their first match took place at AEW Revolution earlier this month where the bout had frequent interference from Baker’s associates Jamie Hayter and Rebel. In the end, the finish saw Rosa take out Rebel with a spear to the floor laying out Hayter only for Britt to connect with a curb stomp to retain the title.
Rosa was the big favorite heading into their first match, but the finish of it was reportedly changed multiple times leading up to the event.
Santos Escobar\’s interview time backstage was interrupted by Rey & Dominik Mysterio. They set up a match between Dominik and Raul Mendoza for later in the night.
The match was short with the majority of the offense going to Dominik. There was outside interference from the heels. Dominik hit a frog splash off the top rope for the win.
Last week on the show, Dolph Ziggler beat Bron Breakker and Tommaso Ciampa in a triple threat bout to win the WWE NXT Title.
WWE had Ziggler appear on Miz TV on this show. Miz actually had fans chanting his name at first. He plugged his WrestleMania match and then introduced Ziggler. Ziggler said being NXT champion feels right. Robert Rood said everyone knows there are no rules in a triple threat bout and he always follows the rules, a heel play on costing Bron the win.
LA Knight came out to a monster pop and recalled Ziggler taking his advice to come to NXT. LA said if Bron can’t be here tonight to challenge for the title then it should be him. Ziggler said he’s a fighting champion but only fights superstars. Miz said Ziggler has a point and while Knight is going to be a major player, it just won’t be now. LA said he’s a megastar and any day of the week he can take the title off Ziggler. LA wants Ziggler to show him that NXT is his show. Ziggler said the day LA finds out where the main event is then that’s where he’ll find him. Miz booked the match for the headliner of the show.
The match was saved for the main event. After a back and forth match, Knight started getting near falls. Ziggler went over with his finisher. Breakker came out to the ring and demanded his rematch for the title at Stand and Deliver. Ziggler accepted.
This feud started last week after Pirotta said that she and Duke Hudson had a great weekend and Hartwell asked if she even cares if they lost their Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic match. Pirotta stated she was carrying the team and did not like that Hartwell wasn\’t supportive of her relationship. They argued before Hartwell suggested they deal with it in the ring.
The match was short with going over Indi going over with a roll up. Post-match, Indi made out with Loomis and Persia made out with Hudson.
Last week, a vignette aired showing A-Kid where he said he was the first Spanish WWE superstar and worked hard to get signed to NXT UK. He brought up being the first Heritage Cup Champion.
It was actually a back and forth bout that saw Kushida get plenty of offense so it wasn’t a showcase match for A-Kid, who did go over with his finisher.
Cameron Grimes vs. Santos Escobar was booked in a qualifier for the Fatal 5 Way NXT North American Title Ladder Match at Stand & Deliver. Already confirmed for the upcoming bout includes current champion Carmelo Hayes.
The back and forth bout ended with Santos going over with his finisher.
Killer Kross is slated to make his New Japan Pro-Wrestling debut in less than a month as the promotion released a new vignette to hype his arrival.
The former WWE star will be working for the company on April 1st at Lonestar Shootout in Dallas, Texas. Kross issued a match challenge in the video and brought up Minoru Suzuki’s name so that could be a future match made.
While with WWE, he was pushed as a top star in NXT and became a two-time NXT Champion. Alongside real-life fiance and on-screen partner Scarlett Bordeaux, they immediately got over with their entrance.
However, while on the main roster, he treaded water due to booking. The company repackaged him a few different times including wearing a helmet during his entrance. WWE had been planning to repackage him again before he was let go last November.
Kross has competed for Warrior Wrestling, MLW, WrestlePro and Future Stars of Wrestling since becoming a free agent. Here’s the current lineup for Lonestar Shootout:
Ren Narita vs. Rocky Romero
David Finlay, Juice Robinson, Daniel Garcia & Kevin Knight vs. Máscara Dorada, Yuya Uemura, Karl Fredericks & Clark Connors
WWE has taken the first step to dismiss a lawsuit against them by MLW. Major League Wrestling filed a lawsuit this past January where they alleged attempts to monopolize the wrestling market and undermine the competition.
The center of the case is regarding a potential partnership with streaming service Tubi as MLW accused WWE of not wanting Tubi, owned by FOX, to work with a rival promotion and that the company put a stop to the deal before it could be completed.
WWE\’s attorney Jerry McDevitt has publicly stated that MLW shouldn\’t be suing WWE, but rather Tubi for breaking the deal. WWE was served with it on January 14th. MLW was granted a motion to seal their financial information.
WWE has filed a motion to dismiss the case as they argued that LLW failed to please \”a facially sustainable relevant market, monopoly power or anticompetitive conduct, or antitrust injury.\”
They also argued, \”MLW\’s claim for intentional interference with contractual relations is unsupported by factual allegations, and what allegations MW pleads are entirely implausible.\”
Finally, WWE argued the case should be thrown out as neither company is a resident in California, which is where the lawsuit is filed.
WWE has filed a motion today to dismiss MLW's lawsuit in California, which was filed in January, alleging WWE interfered in potential MLW media deals including one with Tubi.
WWE hasn’t used Elias in several months after killing off his old musical character.
Fightful reports that new vignettes have been filmed for him and he\’d been tentatively slated for a return to Raw. However, the report cited a source stating that \”doesn\’t really mean anything until firm plans are set.\” It was added that a name change has been pitched, but there’s no word yet on what it is.
This past December, WrestleVotes reported Elias was given new gear but Vince McMahon scrapped the look because he felt that Elias looked too much like Hall Of Famer “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
Elias was last seen in vignettes in August but hasn’t wrestled since July on Raw where he lost a “Symphony of Destruction” match to Jaxson Ryker, who is no longer with the company.
At the time, the vignettes teased him getting a new gimmick and the Elias character was dead with the idea that he was focusing on wrestling more than music.
Typically, WWE waits to debut or re-debut a wrestler around this time of year as they’re focused on WrestleMania storylines so if WWE does come up with plans it won’t be until next month at the earliest.
Big E took two hard bumps on SmackDown and one resulted in him being stretchered out of the arena.
The former WWE Champion worked a tag team match alongside Kofi Kingston against Ridge Holland and Sheamus. At one point, he fell hard outside of the ring, but seemed to be okay. However, moments later, he landed right on his head during a belly-to-belly suplex from Holland.
In late 2020, WWE decided to push Big E as a singles star as they split him away from Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods in that year’s Draft. He would go on to have a run as the Intercontinental Champion and later won the Money in the Bank match back in July 2021. He would win the WWE Title from Bobby Lashley on an episode of Raw after cashing in the Money in the Bank contract. He held it for 110 days before losing it to Brock Lesnar at the Day 1 event.
Pete Dunne is now a member of the main roster as part of WWE SmackDown. The former NXT UK star was shown on this week’s episode of SmackDown in a backstage segment where he was introduced by Sheamus with a new name, which is “Butch.”
Sheamus stated that he goes way back with Butch and called him more powerful than two sledgehammers combined. The former Pete Dunne is now in a group with Sheamus and Ridge Holland as the fellow former NXT star has been teaming with Sheamus for several months on SmackDown.
Butch and Holland had an alliance while in NXT before Holland was moved to SmackDown.
Butch accompanied Sheamus and Holland to the ring for their match with Big E and Kofi Kingston where the heels went over. During it, Big E had a rough fall for his bump outside of the ring and he landed right on his head. Post-match, Butch attacked Kingston.
Butch has found success since arriving in WWE back in 2016 as he is a former WWE United Kingdom Champion and also a former NXT Tag Team Champion alongside Matt Riddle.
WWE finds itself in an interesting time as they are making more money than ever thanks to lucrative television deals with NBCU and FOX in addition to the big money they receive twice a year for holding two events per year in Saudi Arabia.
WWE made a new SEC filing that revealed the salaries for Vince McMahon and Nick Khan. The WWE Chairman made 1.4 million last year while now he is making $2 million per year while the WWE Chief Revenue Officer is making 1.2 million.
Khan also has a sign-on equity grant, which was previously $9 million. It has risen to $7.5 million this year, which makes it a total of $16 million. McMahon has 42% stock of the company and also has 83% of the company’s voting power.
Related disclosures from last year's proxy statement:
– WWE's top 5 executives' salaries (p. 21), – their summary compensation table (p. 28), and – the relevant footnotes about Nick Khan's equity grant (p. 29).
Last year in an SEC filing, WWE revealed that Stephanie McMahon was making $730,000 as Chief Brand Officer while EVP, Global Talent Strategy & Development Triple H earned $730,000.
Last month, WWE reported its 2021 earnings. Revenue increased 12% to $1.095 billion, which is the highest in the company’s history, in which they netted $63.9 million. In the fourth quarter alone they made $310.3 million of which they netted $180.4 million
Sting and Darby Allin ran out to make the save, but they were out numbered. The former WWE star came out to the classic Hardy Boyz music to clear the ring and hit a Swanton Bomb.
Ever since he was released by WWE, AEW has been the most likely place where he would end up as it’s the second biggest promotion in the United States, and his brother, Matt, works for the company.
Last December, Hardy was released in December following a situation at a live event where he teamed with Drew McIntyre and King Xavier Woods where he looked sluggish before the match and left in the middle of the match through the crowd.
Once Hardy turned down WWE’s offer for help to go to rehab, the company released him. WWE Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis called Hardy to get him back, which included an offer to put him in the 2022 Hall of Fame class. He turned down the offer and asked for the results from his drug test, which took six weeks to get back.
Hardy stated in an interview last month that he was headed to AEW and excited about it only to have to walk back those comments by stating on Twitter that nothing had been signed yet as Hardy was still under contract with WWE. If Hardy didn’t dismiss what he said then it could be viewed as proof of AEW tampering with a contracted WWE star as his non-compete clause didn’t expire until March 9th.
Kay Lee Ray & Io Shirai def. Kayden Carter & Kacy Catanzaro
NXT Tag Team Champions Imperium vs. MSK ends in no contest
Dolph Ziggler def. and Dolph Ziggler and Tommaso Ciampa to win NXT Title
Here are the takeaways from this week’s show:
Opener
Cora Jade & Raquel Gonzalez vs. Wendy Choo & Dakota Kai in a Women\’s Dusty Classic Semi Final Match opened the show.
This was a comedy match when Choo was in the match. Toxic Attraction hit Raquel in the left knee with a weapon when the referee wasn’t looking before we went to a commercial break. Raquel continued to work the match, but was selling the injured leg. Choo hit a splash off the top rope and Wendy hit a stomp on Raquel for the win.
Io Shirai & Kay Lee Ray vs. Kayden Carter & Kacy Catanzaro in a Women\’s Dusty Classic Semi Final Match was saved for the second hour. It was a fun back and forth high energy paced match. Io and Ray went over when they hit a tag team spot.
Now, Ray and Io will meet Choo and Kai in the finals of the tournament.
NXT Tag Team Champions Imperium were supposed to defend against The Creed Brothers. The Creed Brothers earned this title match after winning this year’s Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
However, The Creed Brothers were attacked in the parking lot earlier in the night although their attackers weren’t shown. It was later revealed that MSK, who lost to the brothers in the Dusty Tournament,
The match was solid with back and forth action. However, it ended when The Creed Brothers ran out and attacked both teams. It went to a no contest, thus setting up a triple threat bout down the line, likely at Stand and Deliver.
LA Knight vs. Grayson Waller in a Last Man Standing match took place.
The match saw them brawl all around the arena including up in the stands. They used various weapons. Waller was tossed from the ring through a table on the outside. They crashed through the announce table and Waller got to his feet first for the win.
Knight challenged Waller to a Last Man Standing match on last week’s episode and the match was later made official. Waller recently picked up a win over Knight thanks to outside interference.
NXT Champion Bron Breakker defended against Dolph Ziggler and Tommaso Ciampa in a triple threat match.
The match was solid, but not given a ton of time. Ziggler hit the Zig Zag at one point for a near fall on Ciampa. Bron hit a powerslam on Ziggler, but Robert Roode pulled out the referee to stop the pin. Ciampa hit his finisher and Ziggler got a nearfall after covering Bron. Ciampa went for a running knee strike, but Roode pulled Bron out of the ring and Ziggler hit a superkick on Ciampa for the win.
The match had originally been a singles bout between Breakker and Ziggler, but Ciampa was added to the match after he pinned Ziggler last week when he and Breakker defeated The Dirty Dawgz in a tag team match.
Bron Breakker made his second title defense as NXT Champion when the odds were stacked against him in storyline when he took on Tommaso Ciampa and Dolph Ziggler in the main event of Tuesday’s episode of NXT 2.0, titled Road Block.
The match had some near fall moments including submissions that were broken up at the last minute. Ziggler hit the Zig Zag at one point for a near fall on Ciampa. Bron hit a powerslam on Ziggler, but Robert Roode pulled out the referee. The finish saw Ciampa go for a running knee strike, but Roode pulled Bron out of the ring and Ziggler hit a superkick to Ciampa for the win. We have a new champion.
Originally, this was supposed to be a singles match as Ziggler beat Ciampa in a #1 contender’s match last month on NXT. However, that was changed when Ciampa and Bron joined forces to beat Ziggler and Robert Roode last week on NXT. Ciampa was added to the bout and it made for a three-way bout.
Breakker won the NXT Title from Ciampa at New Year’s Evil in January, which was the second match between them after Ciampa previously beat him last year
Breakker made his first title defense as NXT Champion against Santos Escobar in the main event of Vengeance Day.
Britt Baker retained her AEW Women’s Title over Thunder Rosa at Sunday’s AEW Revolution pay-per-view in Orlando, Florida. Baker also showed off the newly designed title belt.
Fightful Select reported today that AEW officials changed the finish to Rosa vs. Baker match multiple times in the weeks leading up to Revolution. The finish ultimately saw interference from Rebel and Jamie Hayter, which led to Baker hitting her Stomp for the pin to retain.
It’s unclear why the promotion went back and forth on the finish, but based on the finish, it’s leading to a rematch between both stars during the St. Patrick’s Day Slam edition of AEW Dynamite on March 16 in San Antonio, Texas, which is the hometown of Rosa.
All Elite Wrestling has already confirmed Rosa vs. Leyla Hirsch with the winner earning the next title shot from Baker will take place on Wednesday’s episode of Dynamite.
The report also noted that the design for the title belt was produced by Belts By Dan, and it was completed in just three weeks. Dan’s quickest turnaround for a belt is a month. It was inspired by the Mid-South Wrestling North American Title.
WWE Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch was hospitalized over the weekend and missed Monday\’s WWE Raw as a result.
Lynch stated that she fractured her voice box at the house show in Allentown, PA on Sunday night where she worked a triple threat match in the main event against Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley. Video of that incident has been added below.
Lynch expects to be back on Raw next week and wrote this caption with the photo of herself in the hospital:
“Unfortunately I will not be at #WWERaw tonight. Not only did Bianca whip me mercilessly with the illegal weapon that is her hair last week, but last night in the main event of #WWEAllentown she tried to take away my biggest weapon, the spoken word, by fracturing my voice box.
She can’t keep me down that easily. I’ll be coming for her next week. You can’t spell Wrestlemania without I!!!!!”
Becky Lynch is slated to defend the Raw Women’s Title against Bianca Belair at WrestleMania Sunday.
Becky Lynch posted an update on her condition late Monday night. The Man says no fracture of the voice box and no amount of spitting up blood will keep her from retaining her title at WrestleMania 38.
“No fracture, no spitting blood, no whipping is going to keep me from keeping a title no one has beat me for in 3 years. You’ve only made me more dangerous @BiancaBelairWWE,” she wrote.
Lynch’s tweet includes a promo stating that Bianca Belair fractured her voice box. She was hit so hard she was spitting blood all over the arena on Sunday night, but she made it to RAW but found Belair had ran away.
She added that Belair is doing anything she can do to get an advantage before WrestleMania, but Belair has no idea of the lengths she\’ll go to keep the Raw Women\’s Championship.
No fracture, no spitting blood, no whipping is going to keep me from keeping a title no one has beat me for in 3 years.
The following video surfaced online Monday evening from Sunday’s WWE live event in Allentown, PA. The post-match angle reveals how Belair punched Lynch in the throat, and then hit her with the KOD:
This is the end of last nights event, the punch from Bianca before the KOD could’ve been what hurt Becky but I’m not 100% sure #WWERawpic.twitter.com/C4eYEzmza4
Stone Cold Steve Austin has accepted Kevin Owens\’ invitation to be his guest on the KO Show at WrestleMania 38.
At the conclusion of this week\’s WWE Raw, Owens came out and cut a promo about wanting to have the biggest KO Show at WrestleMania. Since WrestleMania 38 takes place from Texas, he wants a low-life Texan to be his guest.
Owens said no thanks to JBL, Booker T, and Shawn Michaels. He said he has the perfect guest in mind. Someone who is a broken shell of himself and just drinking beer all day.
He knocked this person for having bad knees and wearing braces. He asked if this person would need a walker to get out of the ring. He said that he would like to give this person a Stunner people would talk about for years and pour beer on him. He said that he doesn’t think he has the guts to show up.
Of course, Owens said he was talking about Stone Cold Steve Austin. He officially called out the Texas Rattlesnake to show up at WrestleMania.
With WrestleMania 38 taking place from Arlington, TX, it was a foregone conclusion that Stone Cold would be at WrestleMania in one capacity or another.
Back in February, news broke (via Fightful) that WWE had made a \”significant overture\” towards Austin to come out of retirement at WrestleMania. This seemed like a long shot, and thus far it does not look like Austin will be wrestling a sanctioned match. Instead, this will be a talking segment that will almost certainly lead to Austin exacting revenge on Owens.
On Tuesday afternoon, Steve Austin accepted Kevin Owens\’ invitation.
\”19 years ago, I wrestled my last match in a WWE ring,\” said Austin. \”After three Rock Bottoms, 1-2-3, I lost the match. And for 19 years, I\’ve had to live with that defeat, knowing my time was up. Kevin Owens, I want to thank you. I want to thank you for waking something up inside me that I\’ve kept buried for 19 years. Ever since you started running that mealy mouth of yours, talking about the state of Texas, the great state of Texas, you got my attention. And why would you want to do that, Kevin?\”
\”I can think of two reasons. One, you are one dumb son of a bitch. Two, you are fixing to get your ass kicked by Stone Cold Steve Austin. Whether you want to call this the KO Show, a match, a fight, a brawl, whatever. I will guarantee you this. In Dallas, TX, where I started my career, at WrestleMania, Stone Cold Steve Austin is gonna open up one last can of whoop ass on you, Kevin Owens. And that\’s the bottom line \’cause Stone Cold Said so!\”
Watch Steve Austin respond to Kevin Owens\’ WrestleMania challenge:
RK-Bro (Randy Orton & Matt Riddle) are back on top in the tag team division as they are once again the WWE Raw Tag Team Champions. They worked a triple threat match against Alpha Academy and Kevin Owens & Seth Rollins on Monday Night Raw.
At one point, Gable went for a moonsault off the top rope and Orton hit an RKO. The finish saw Rollins hit the Buckle Bomb to Gable then Owens hit a Stunner and Rollins capped it off with the Curbstomp. Riddle pushed Rollins out of the ring and pinned Gable for the win.
Following the match, they cut a promo. Orton said that he has never had this much fun in his career and he would not want to do it with anyone else, but his friend, Riddle. He ended the promo by saying that they’re going to WrestleMania.
Orton and Riddle first won the titles at SummerSlam last August by beating AJ Styles and Omos. They dropped the straps to Otis and Gable on the January 10th edition of Raw. RK-Bro’s reign lasted for over 140 days.
It’s unclear who Riddle and Orton will be defending the Raw Tag Team Titles against at WrestleMania 38 next month in Dallas, Texas.
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