Here's your wrestling news for March 30th 2022
And your headlines for today include
WWE's Post-WrestleMania 38 Plans For Roman Reigns; Massive Triple Threat Match Confirmed!
Finn Balor GREATLY Insulted By WWE This WEEK?
AEW Has A Tremendous Amount Of Interest In Former WWE Superstar!
Nikki Bella Says She Can’t Wait To Hear Vader’s WWE Hall Of Fame Acceptance Speech!
AEW Criticized For Underwhelming Booking Of The Hardys!
WWE Holding TLC Pay-Per-View In Saudi Arabia!
News On What Will Close WrestleMania 38 Saturday!
Velveteen Dream To Work In WWE AGAIN?
MJF Recorded Voice Acting Role For Film Set For 2023 Release!
WWE Set To Have Shane McMahon Be A Part Of WWE WrestleMania 38!
Lana Says She Was Brain Washed By Toxic Environment In WWE!
Harland Marries Longtime Girlfriend Isabella Guerrero! And More!
We’re kicking off today with WrestleMania: Sunday, as WWE Champion Brock Lesnar and Universal Champion Roman Reigns will unify the two titles on April 3rd.
Arguably the biggest main event in WrestleMania history, this is a match worthy of headlining the show, but it appears WWE have spoiled this match.
In advertisements for post-WrestleMania live events, its said that Roman Reigns will compete in a Universal title match against both Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre at Erie,
This match is scheduled for April 16th, and the next night will see Reigns face McIntyre in a singles match.
While the card is always subject to change, these shows practically spoil that Reigns will leave WrestleMania as the new WWE Champion and still Universal Champion,
cementing himself s the head of the table of the entire company. Today marks day 577 of Reigns’ incredible run as Universal
Champion, and according to these upcoming live events, his time as a champion isn’t coming to an end anytime soon.
Finn Balor is a two-time NXT Champion, the first Universal Champion and the reigning United States Champion, but his booking has often left a lot to be desired.
At this time, the rumoured title match between himself and Damian Priest at WrestleMania hasn’t been announced, and this week saw Balor compete in a show very far away from Mania.
Instead, Balor was relegated to the WWE Main Event tapings in Pittsburgh and faced Apollo Crews in a singles match.
Typically, Main Event is reserved for talent who have no storylines going on and who fans traditionally don’t expect to have any progression on Raw or SmackDown.
With Balor being the U.S. Champion, it’s hardly surprising that fans are worried that the popular Irish Superstar, who in theory is Raw’s second top star, has been relegated to this
C-Show. Despite this, it’s still expected that Balor will face Priest at WrestleMania, but with only one show
left between now and the two-night event, we’ll have to see whether the company announces the title match or not.
Last December, Toni Storm was released by WWE, after reportedly asking to be let go by the company.
After a call-up and odd feud with SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair, Storm has ben a free agent for some time now, and has made a killing so far since
launching her OnlyFans account earlier this month. It may now be time for the New Zealand born star to step back in the ring as Fightful Select has
learned that AEW talent has a tremendous amount of interest in the idea of Storm joining the company.
Many even expect her to join the company immediately now that her 90-day non-compete clause expired yesterday.
A former NXT UK Women’s Champion who feuded with many big names in WWE, Storm could definitely bring something to AEW’s ever expanding women’s division.
After reportedly making $10,000 in just one hour on OnlyFans, we couldn’t blame Storm if she chose to make money without having to take bumps, but it appears
Toni is heading to AEW, at least if the talent of the promotion get their way.
This Friday, the WWE will induct their latest class into the Hall of Fame which will include Big Van Vader.
Sadly, Vader’s induction will be posthumous as the mastodon died in June 2018, but someone clearly didn’t tell Nikki Bella the sad news.
Speaking on her and Brie’s YouTube channel, the longest- reigning WWE Divas Champion gushed over Vader and said she’s excited to hear what the big man has to say:
“And I’m also so excited that the WWE Universe will be welcoming Vader into the Hall of Fame. I always get excited for men of that generation to come to the
Hall of Fame because they have the most incredible stories we’ve never heard. And I always love when those men take the stage, and the
women, and from that era of wrestling that was so iconic and so historic. So I’m really excited for Vader to be inducted into the Hall of Fame and just to have his
presence there and hear speeches.” We can only hope that Nikki realises her mistake and doesn’t repeat it in the future, as despite Vader
making it clear he wanted to be inducted during his life, this induction will come too late for the former WCW World Champion.
But what do you make to Nikki’s comments? Let us know in the comments.
AEW news now as Jeff Hardy made his long- anticipated debut this month, reuniting with his brother Matt.
Arguably the most popular tag team of all time, fans have been ecstatic to see the Hardy Boys back, but that’s now how Jim Cornette sees things.
On his podcast, Cornette spoke about Matt and Jeff involving themselves with Private Party and the Butcher and the Blade, and criticized AEW for what he perceives
underwhelming booking: “Two weeks of The Hardy Boyz, and it’s over, just like that? How could you do this on purpose? If you
said, ‘I’m gonna reunite one of the most popular tag teams of all time in the history of wrestling, and within the first two weeks, they would be horrible matches with underneath teams
and nobody will care. And I will use Jeff Hardy’s debut in my company to sell one single ticket.’ Could you believe this?
Matt and Jeff have said they hope to one day become AEW World Tag Team Champions, but haven’t gone after the titles yet, and according to Cornette, their run in
AEW so far has failed to deliver.
Back to WWE, and later this year, the company will return for their next event in Saudi Arabia, and like February’s Elimination Chamber, this too will be a very special Premium
Live Event. Andrew Zarian reports on F4W Online that in September, WWE will be returning to the middle east, this time to host
their established TLC show. This will be the first TLC event since 2020, as no show was held in 2021, and the second time that
WWE will host a show that existed long before the Saudi deal in the controversial nation. Zarian also noted that WWE’s Labor Day weekend event
for the UK in September is also happening and will reportedly be taking place at Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.
With WWE hosting another major Premium Live Event in Saudi Arabia, its clear that this deal is proving to be profitable to both sides, and perhaps we’ll see a Saudi-endorsed
WrestleMania in the coming years.
Speaking of WrestleMania, we are just three days away from night one of WrestleMania 38 and there’s been plenty said about the show’s main event.
It was once reported that Stone Cold Steve Austin’s confrontation with Kevin Owens would close out the Saturday show, the first-time ever that a WrestleMania wouldn’t end
with a match, but as we reported yesterday, more recent plans called for Charlotte Flair Vs. Ronda Rousey to headline Night One.
There’s now been yet another update to the card as on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer explained that the Austin-Owens confrontation is back in the headline spot.
WWE did at one time plan on having the SmackDown Women’s Champion close out the show, which would be the second straight year it would, and the company even
went as far as billing the Rousey-Flair match as the confirmed main event. It’s worth stating that Austin is reportedly in fantastic shape
and will do much more than just hit a stunner on Owens, but with mere days before WrestleMania, the card is still yet to be finalised
This month, the wrestling world lost Scott Hall who was taken off life support after suffering three heart attacks.
The two-time WWE Hall of Famer worked with some of wrestling’s biggest names included the Undertaker, who has spoken about Hall’s career and tragic passing.
Speaking to SHAK Wrestling, the soon-to-be WWE Hall of Famer complimented Hall’s work and spoke about working with the Bad Guy during the early days of his career in Japan:
Man, one of the great in-ring workers. He was really gifted, him and Shawn’s ladder match at Madison Square Garden was one of those legendary iconic matches. It’s just another sad
example, we lose and have lost way too many guys, at way too young of age. Some of our choices that we make early on we don’t see the ramifications later
on in our lives. You can’t foreshadow that. But it’s just sad to lose a guy that you’ve been in the trenches with, that you come up with.
I was on my first tour of Japan with Scott, Scott kind of took me under his wing. Showed me the ropes in 1988 or 89 whenever it was. You know, where to go to eat, it was a
really sad day. And I know it was sad for Nash, and Shawn, and Triple H, and X-Pac, all those guys. They were all so tight, and I
know what it’s like to lose guys like that who you’re really close with. I feel bad for them, I feel bad for Scott’s family, it’s just another sad loss that our business has suffered.
Scott Hall may no longer be with us, but his memory will live on forever, as his influence on wrestling was far bigger than just what we saw on TV.
In 2021, WWE parted ways with Velveteen Dream, who had at one time been considered a high-profile prospect of NXT.
Dream’s career was derailed after multiple accusations of sending explicit photos to minors, and while Dream would admit that it was him in some photos, he claimed that
his phone had been hacked.
Despite WWE’s own investigation saying they found no evidence of wrongdoing, the company chose to release him, but the young star is hoping to get back on TV.
In an Instagram post, Dream called the claims made against him “trashy and unsavoury” adding that he beat them all and would still like to have a career in WWE.
Dream didn’t explain how he ‘beat’ the accusations of misconduct but added that he was never guilty, and has a “hell of a lot of talent” at the tender age of 26 years old.
While WWE have said they found no evidence of wrongdoing, one of Dream’s accusers has claimed they were never even contacted as part of the investigation
and though he remains innocent until found guilty, the court of public opinion means it’s unlikely we’ll ever see Velveteen Dream back in WWE.
More from AEW now, as MJF has never shied away from bragging about himself, and the loud mouth wrestler will now be taking his skills outside of the ring.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani, MJF confirmed that he has already done some voice acting for a new animated movie set to release next year.
Following in the footsteps of names like The Rock, John Cena and Batista, little is known about this upcoming film, but soon plenty of movie goers, wrestling fans and
and non-wrestling fans alike will be able to hear 0 rom the Salt of the Earth.
In January, WWE released Shane McMahon, mere days after he returned to the company as part of the Men’s Royal Rumble match.
A series of incidents backstage during the show had left Vince McMahon with no choice but to release his son, but Shane O’Mac could be back sooner than anyone had first
thought. Mike Johnson of PW Insider reports that WWE is bringing Shane back for WrestleMania, but at this
time it’s unclear if he’ll have an on-screen role with the event or just be in the vicinity.
Interestingly, Shane’s original plans for WrestleMania before his release was to face Seth Rollins, who is now rumoured to be facing Cody Rhodes this weekend.
While its been rumoured, Rhodes’ return has never been publicly confirmed by WWE, and it’ll be very interesting to see who shares the ring with the Architect in just a few days time.
Last June, WWE released CJ Perry, who for years worked under the ring-name Lana.
Unlike her husband Miro, Perry hasn’t appeared for any other promotion yet, but has had plenty to say about her former employer.
In a lengthy Instagram post in which she thanked everyone for their birthday wishes, Perry spoke about her eight-year run with WWE, though avoided mentioning the company by name
She said: “I can’t believe how far life has come in a year & how brain washed I was from the toxic environment that I had worked
for 8 years. I allowed it to define my identity & self worth. Change can be hard friends.”
WWE had at one point this year asked Perry to return as Lana as part of the Women’s Royal Rumble, an offer the Ravishing Russian swiftly turned down.
Responding to speculation of where she’ll go next, Miro has said it’ll be her decision if she chooses to come to AEW, but if she keeps up with comments like these against WWE,
she may be All-Elite bound soon enough.
Over to NXT 2.0 and congratulations are in store for Harland, who has gotten married to his fiancé Isabella Guerrero.
It was on Valentine’s Day this year that Harland popped the question to Guerrero, who’s no relation of the famed wrestling family, and the happy couple didn’t waste time in tying the knot.
Harland last competed on the March 1st NXT 2.0, where he defeated Draco Anthony, but we imagine the powerhouse will take some more time away from the ring for his honeymoon.