Here's more wrestling news for March 21st 2022
And your headlines for Afternoon include
WWE has major plans for all future WrestleManias!
SmackDown Superstar reveals new backstage role that Brock Lesnar now has
WWE Hall of Famer Torrie Wilson says she was banned from mentioning former Women’s Champion during her induction speech
Thunder Rosa addresses criticism of her steel cage Women’s World title victory over Britt Baker
Former United States Champion denies reports that he’s been quietly released by WWE
NWA Wrestler announces that he is married
Cody Rhodes’ sister drops huge hint about his wrestling future And more!
We’re starting today with WrestleMania 38, which will be a two-night show, just like it has been ever since 2020.
These two night events have proven to be a hit for the majority of people, with fans preferring the much shorted WrestleManias, and talent also reportedly
appreciating the shorter match cards as well.
Right now, the plan for WrestleMania 39 is to be a one -night event, which will take place on Sunday April 2nd 2023, but that plan could be about to change.
During the Saturday Night’s Main Event podcast, Dave Meltzer discussed the two night events, and said that WWE is likely to keep this multi-night format going forward:
They haven’t announced 2 days for next year but I think it’s better to go for 2 days. It’s just the nature of what WrestleMania has become. There’s more money
to be made and it’s better for the shows…I talked to people there and they certainly gave me the impression that the idea is 2 days going forward.”
WrestleMania 36 happened across two nights because WWE didn’t want to have too many people at the show due to social distancing measures, and WrestleMania
37 was a test to see how two-nights would sell with limited capacity. This year, there are no restrictions on WrestleMania 38,
and WWE has still opted for two nights, and expect \these shorter, multi-night WrestleManias in the years to come.
For years, Brock Lesnar was the ultimate loner in WWE, communicating with no-one behind the scenes other than Paul Heyman.
Since his return last August though, Lesnar has been much more animated on TV, and that’s also been reflected in his actions backstage.
Speaking to the Sports Guy Talking Wrestling podcast, SmackDown’s Natalya discussed the WWE Champion and how he’s no longer just focussed on his own s
segments and matches. She said: “Maybe this is too much to say, I don’t want to ruin Brock’s persona… Brock watches all of our
matches in Gorilla. The last match that I had on SmackDown, he watched and he critiqued and gave us feedback, gave us advice, told us what we could
do better. He stayed there and watched, and it was so cool getting advice from him.” Lesnar certainly seems like a different man since
coming back to WWE, and the fun-loving Beast has proven to be a hit with fans, but time will tell whether this new attitude can lead him
to victory against Universal Champion Roman Reigns next month.
In 2019, Torrie Wilson was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, a controversial choice by the company as many fans didn’t believe she’d earned a spot.
The ceremony saw Stacey Kiebler make her return to WWE to personally induct Wilson, who spoke about being an inspiration to others, but she also had plenty
of things to say that WWE didn’t want to hear. During a recent virtual autograph signing, Torrie was signing a copy of Playboy in which she
and Sable both appeared in, and said that WWE had banned her from mentioning the former WWF Women’s Champion.
Torrie said that she was told this just before her speech, but she still mentioned Sable, who left the company in 1999 and filed a $110 million lawsuit against
the WWF for sexual harassment.
The two sides settled out of court, and Sable would even return to WWE in 2003 before leaving on better terms the next year.
Torrie didn’t explain why she was banned from mentioning Mrs. Brock Lesnar, only that she was, so don’t expect to see Sable back on WWE TV anytime soon.
NWA news next and we’re sending our congratulations to Colby Corino, who has announced that he and his partner Arinan have tied the knot.
On social media, both Colby and Ariana announced the news along with some pictures of the happy occasion.
Fans may know Colby best for being the son of Steve Corino, the ECW alum who now serves as a trainer and producer in WWE, and we’d like to wish Colby
and Ariana Corino the best on this new chapter in their lives.
On last week’s AEW Dynamite, Thunder Rosa dethroned Britt Baker to capture her first AEW Women’s World Championship.
Defeating the DMD in a steel cage match, the pair had a bloodied affair which has earned rave reviews by the vast majority of people.
There are some however that have criticised the match, with some saying there was too much blood, but that hasn’t phased the champ.
In an interview with NBC Sports Boston, Rosa said how some fans are “programmed” to just hate what they see on TV, saying that this has been the way
for decades. Rosa took issue with fans calling out her Mariachi Band entrance, with many saying it was like
Brock Lesnar making fun of Eddie Guerrero on a 2004 edition of SmackDown, and the new Champion insisted she is proud of her heritage.
There was a time where Women’s matches were the butt of jokes, with fans calling them the popcorn match, and while there are still some who think this
way, Thunder Rosa will continue to prove her haters wrong.
More from WWE, as Shelton Benjamin has had an interesting time since returning to the company, as an injury delayed his in-ring comeback.
For much of his run, Benjamin has been teaming with Cedric Alexander, and the two lost to the Mysterios on last week’s RAW, in what many believed
was Benjamin’s last match with WWE. On social media, rumours circulated that the former United States Champion had been
quietly released by WWE over the weekend, but that isn’t the case. In a tweet of his own, Benjamin clarified that he has
in fact not been released, and joked that Mia Yim was to blame for the rumours being spread in the first place.
Benjamin went on to thank fans who have shown him support since learning of the release that didn’t happen, but said that their concerns are “premature” at this time
With WWE cutting massive waves of talent multiple times a year, we can’t rule out that Benjamin could one day depart the company in the name of Budget
Cuts, but for now, the Gold Standard and former 24/7 Champion is still a WWE Superstar.
And we’re ending today with Cody Rhodes, who will reportedly be returning to WWE on April 3rd.
After being reported last week that he signed a deal, it’s since been noted that he will return on WrestleMania: Sunday to face Seth Rollins, but neither Rhodes,
Rollins or WWE have confirmed the news.
All three may be keeping tight-lipped about Cody’s return, but his sister Teil has hinted at the former TNT Champion’s impending arrival.
In a tweet, Teil shared a picture of a young Cody and their father, the American Dream Dusty Rhodes, and said that the WWE Hall of Famer would be beaming
with pride if he could see what’s coming. Teil didn’t confirm that Cody is coming back to WWE, but many saw her tweet as in direct
reference to the reports, and it appears that we’re just 13 days away from Cody Rhodes coming back home.