Former WWE Raw ring announcer Lilian Garcia will return to WrestleMania to be the guest ring announcer for the first-ever WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal.
“Words can’t describe how honored & excited I am to be announcing the 1st ever Wrestlemania Women’s Battle Royal! To be back w/ the VERY talented @WWE female Superstars & all of you the @WWEUniverse is priceless! Can’t wait to see you all,” Garcia wrote.
Garcia worked for WWE for over 15 years and still occasionally does appearances for the company. She was last seen at the Raw 25th anniversary special.
The battle royal sparked a huge debate among WWE fans after originally it was named to honor The Fabulous Moolah. WrestleMania’s main sponsor SNICKERS also piled pressure on WWE to change the name and eventually WWE caved in to the pressure and removed her name from the match.
So far, Sasha Banks, Natalya, Becky Lynch, Naomi, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan are all part of the battle royal.
Former TNA champion EC3 made his last appearance for the Impact on last night’s episode of Impact Wrestling where he picked the wrong briefcase and got fired.
Eli Drake, Petey Williams, Moose, and EC3 all had briefcases to open, with Drake getting a Tag Team title shot, Williams getting an X-Division title shot, Moose getting a World title shot, and Carter getting the fired case.
After realizing what everyone had, EC3 refused to open the briefcase and Jeremy Borash – who was hosting the reveal – opened it for him. Carter refused the outcome and said someone must be playing a joke on him and told everyone that he can’t be fired as he’s Dixie Carter’s nephew. Eventually EC3 accepted the outcome and was being nice until he attacked Borash with the case. The attack led to Brian Cage coming out and saving Borash.
EC3 has not appeared on NXT television yet apart from the cameo at NXT Takeover: Philadelphia. He was part of the TV tapings that will air next and will also be a participant in the ladder match at Takeover: New Orleans to crown the new North American champion.
Jeremy Borash has also transferred to WWE since then, specifically working the NXT brand.
In a statement issued to PWInsider.com, WWE confirmed that they have been talking to Hulk Hogan although stressed that Hogan has not been offered a contract and is currently not under any type of contract.
“We have had discussions with Terry Bollea (aka Hulk Hogan) about how he can help others learn from his mistakes, however, he is not under any contract with WWE.”
Hulk was fired from WWE in July 2015 halfway through the Tough Enough tapings where he was serving as a judge. A tape was leaked by The National Enquirer involving him using racial remarks, spelling the end of his WWE career.
Hogan was also removed from the Hall of Fame but recently the company has eased the ban on Hogan, mentioning him on television and using his images in video packages as well.
Since then, Hogan went on to win a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Gawker Media and has largely stayed out of trouble.
With Daniel Bryan back on the active roster and Shane McMahon out, it sounds like Smackdown might soon need a new authority figure, and maybe, just maybe, the Hulkster is up for the job!
WWE has planned 11 television appearances for some of its Superstars in the days leading up to WrestleMania 34 in New Orleans.
John Cena and Nikki Bella will be on the Steve Harvey show today at 2PM EST on NBC and Cena will also be on Ellen tomorrow at 3PM EST also on NBC.
On Tuesday, March 27, Ronda Rousey will be doing the rounds, first on Golic and Wingo on ESPN 2 at 9AM EST, then she will be on ESPN SportsCenter at 10AM EST and 4PM EST and also on ESPN’s First Take at 11:30AM EST.
Stephanie McMahon and Triple H will visit ESPN’s SportsCenter on Wednesday, March 28 at 10:30AM EST and then at 11AM EST on First Take also on ESPN.
On Thursday, March 29, John Cena returns to host the TODAY show on NBC starting at 10AM EST. On Monday, April 2, The Big Show will ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange at 9:30AM EST on CNBC. On Wednesday, April 4, John Cena will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC starting at 11:35PM EST, and then on Monday, April 9, the Raw and Smackdown Women’s champions will be on Extra on NBC starting at 7PM EST.
Jerry “The King” Lawler announced on his latest episode of the Dinner With The King podcast that he will be travelling to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia along with fellow WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross to provide commentary for The Greatest Royal Rumble event.
The show will be taking place on April 27 from the King Abdullah Sports City stadium, a 60,000-seater that WWE hopes to fill up. The show will be broadcast live on the WWE Network and today, WWE’s UK broadcast partner Sky also announced that they would be airing the show on their pay-per-view platform Sky Sports Box Office. The show will air live in Saudi Arabia as well.
Sky lists the historic event as starting at 5PM GMT, which would make that Noon EST on Friday.
This will be the first of many special events that WWE will be holding in Saudi Arabia over a period of 10 years, a multi-million dollar deal that WWE signed earlier this month with the Kingdom.
Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer is reporting that as part of the agreement to let him return to the ring, Daniel Bryan will be required to undergo the Impact testing after every match or segment which involves getting physical.
The mandatory test is to monitor his condition constantly and to make sure it does not fall before the baseline that was agreed to already.
The Impact testing is done to determine concussions and any other neurology-related issues. It will be performed by WWE doctors backstage.
Bryan’s time in WWE after winning the WWE title at WrestleMania XXX has been very difficult and on both occasions following WrestleMania XXX and 31, he had to drop the WWE title and Intercontinental title since he was unable to defend them.
Former Indianapolis Colt NFL player Pat McAfee will be joining Charly Caruso and Sam Roberts for the NXT Takeover: New Orleans Kickoff panel on the eve of WrestleMania.
The radio host took part in a non-televised NXT live event in Indianapolis last month, doing guest ring announcing and then helped Aleister Black defeat Adam Cole.
“Signed a @WWE contract today…Can’t wait 2 rock the mic Wrestle Mania weekend with @WWENXT.. Living a real dream right now,” McAfee wrote on Twitter today.
McAfee hosts a Sirius XM radio show and The Pat McAfee Show podcast, as well as heads up Barstool Heartland, a branch of Barstool Sports.
Last night’s Smackdown, with the much-anticipated interview of the returning Daniel Bryan drew 2,888,000 viewers, up 117,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. It was the most-watched show since April 11, 2017. Smackdown was #1 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic and #5 in overall viewership for the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Finn Balor and Sasha Banks won the second chance fan vote to re-enter the Facebook Mixed Match Challenge series and will be taking on Bobby Roode and Charlotte Flair next week in the second semi final match.
The winners of this match will advance to the finals to take on Intercontinental champion The Miz and Asuka who last night eliminated Raw Women’s champion Alexa Bliss and Braun Strowman in the first semi final match.
Balor and Banks lost to Miz and Asuka in the quarter final and then won 40% of the fans’ vote to re-enter the competition.
Two more matches were announced for WrestleMania last night on Smackdown and both are title matches.
The final match of the Cruiserweight title will see Cedric Alexander taking on Mustafa Ali after Ali defeated Drew Gulak on 205 Live in last night’s semi final match. The Cruiserweight title has been vacant ever since Enzo Amore was fired in late January.
The other match announced is for the United States title and will see the new champion Randy Orton defend against Bobby Roode and Jinder Mahal in a triple threat match.
The Smackdown Tag Team titles is the only title which is not on the line yet at WrestleMania which means The Usos are yet again without a match on the biggest pay-per-view of the year. Ever since The Usos made their debut, they have never been part of the main card of WrestleMania. It’s expected that they will defend against The New Day and The Bludgeon Brothers but that has not been officially announced yet.
The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal was also officially announced on Monday during Raw.
So far there are 11 matches announced for WrestleMania, eight of them for titles, two battle royals, and the mixed tag team match. There will be a two hour Kickoff show which will have two or three matches that will be taken off the main card.
Daniel Bryan did not waste any time to get in action and his foes didn’t waste time to attack him as last night on Smackdown, Bryan was on the receiving end of a brutal beat up by Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
Bryan started the show by cutting a promo thanking everyone – his fans, his wife, the WWE medical team – and announcing that he will be back in the ring, although when, he doesn’t know yet. The fans chanted “WrestleMania” as Bryan looked at the sign hanging from the rafters and asked them if they thought it would be a good idea to come back at WrestleMania, a question that was answered with a resounding “Yes!”
But addressing Owens and Zayn in the final segment of the show, things took a turn for the worse for the Smackdown General Manager. Bryan fired both Owens and Zayn for what they did to Shane McMahon last week and said that they won’t be gone forever, but for the time being. Bryan offered his hand for a handshake and the two Canadians obliged.
But then Owens snapped and took out Bryan as Zayn punched him in the face while he was down. Bryan recovered and delivered a German suplex to Zayn and running dropkicks. He then started the leg kicks but Zayn interrupted much to the disappointment of the crowd. Owens hit a super kick and Zayn hit the Helluva kick. Outside the ring, Owens gave Bryan a powerbomb on the apron to end the show.
The crowd went absolutely ballistic once Bryan got the upper hand, bringing back memories of Bryan’s run leading up to WrestleMania XXX. You can see the video of the final segment below.
Monday Night Raw with The Ultimate Deletion as the main event did 3,326,000 viewers, down just 25,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast.
Hour one started with 3,434,000 viewers, then increased to 3,470,000 viewers for the second hour, before dropping off to 3,076,000 viewers in the third and final hour.
Raw was #1, #2, and #3 in the top 50 cable chart among the 18-49 demographic and #1 in overall viewership on cable for the night. (Ratings credit: Showbuzzdaily.com)
Daniel Bryan will kick off Smackdown Live tonight with an interview that will tackle his in-ring return.
“Saying goodbye to the ring was one of the hardest moments of my life,” Bryan tweeted in his first comment following the news of his medical clearance. “But thanks to the amazing people supporting me, I was able to keep fighting for my dream. This moment feels surreal and I’m glad to be able to talk to you all at the beginning of #SDLive tonight.”
A ton of wrestlers including the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, Seth Rollins, Charlotte, Goldust, Matt Hardy, and other wrestling personalities all tweeted their congratulations to the former WWE champion.
Former WWE Superstar Chris Nowinski, who heads the Concussion Legacy Foundation and who obtained a PhD in behavioral neuroscience following the end of his WWE career due to concussions wrote, “I am happy for Daniel Bryan, who has been cleared to return to in-ring #WWE action. I’m very conservative on returning after #concussions, but if Dr. Cantu and the other experts all agree he’s ready, it’s good enough for me. Good luck buddy!”
The “Yes!” chants will be a bit more louder and bit more special tonight on Smackdown Live as General Manager Daniel Bryan returns to the show as a cleared in-ring wrestler for the first time since April 2015.
The last time Bryan wrestled was in a tag team match with John Cena taking on Cesaro and Tyson Kidd on Smackdown from the United Kingdom. And most likely his first match back three years later will also be in a tag team match…at WrestleMania!
With the man formerly known as The American Dragon back, the storyline involving Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, and Shane McMahon will probably change with the rumored match between Zayn and Owens versus Shane and Bryan possibly becoming a reality. Before Shane McMahon took some time off, he made a match for WrestleMania between Zayn and Owens but the two teamed up for an assault on the Smackdown Commissioner.
It will be interesting to see if Bryan is added to the mix tonight…or if WWE has a different plan or match for him at WrestleMania!
Things will get more clearer tonight on Smackdown and with the pay-per-view just three weeks away, you can bet that things will get heated up quickly!
Up until a few months ago, or probably even weeks, it was unthinkable that WWE would clear Daniel Bryan to get back in the ring.
Forcing him to officially retire from WWE on February 8, 2016, the former WWE champion went on a mission to get his brain checked by as many doctors as possible in hopes of getting the green light again. All the good news were all in vain though as WWE’s chief medical doctor Dr. Joseph Maroon held his ground and refused to allow him to return.
Still under contract and technically obliged to perform any work WWE gives him, Bryan had to accept the Smackdown General Manager role at least till the end of his contract. During several media interviews, Bryan made it clear that if WWE doesn’t clear him to return, he will go work somewhere else once his deal is up.
To their credit, WWE wanted to avoid another catastrophe with one of their Superstars as initial brain tests didn’t show encouraging results. But things turned for the better and the majority of – if not all – the hospitals he visited gave him positive results.
Three of the leading professionals in neurology all gave Bryan the go ahead to return to the ring, leaving WWE’s chief doc with probably no alternative but to sign off on the clearance papers.
Among those who gave Bryan the okay are Dr. Robert Cantu, Clinical Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery and Co-Founder of the CTE Center at the Boston University School of Medicine. He’s also the Senior Advisor to the NFL Head, Neck and Spine Committee. Dr. Javier Cárdenas, a neurologist and the director of the Barrow Concussion and Brain Injury Center. His expertise involves concussion, post-concussion syndrome, spinal trauma, and traumatic brain injury. And Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, a board-certified Sports Neurologist, specializing in sports related concussion and neurological disorders in athletes. He currently serves as the National Director of The Sports Neurology Clinic.
Get ready for the Yes! Movement to start again as WWE.COM just broke the news that Daniel Bryan has been medically cleared by WWE to return to the ring.
“Following more than two years of extensive evaluations, four-time World Champion Daniel Bryan has been medically cleared to return to in-ring competition by leading neurosurgeons, neurologists and concussion experts, including Dr. Robert Cantu, Dr. Javier Cárdenas and Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher,” a WWE.COM statement said.
The Smackdown General Manager underwent a full review of his medical history and received comprehensive neurological and physical evaluations independent of WWE. He was cleared by each doctor as well as WWE’s Medical Director, Dr. Joseph Maroon.
Maroon was the hold-out person and was the one who kept Bryan from getting cleared after all the medical experts he visited cleared him.
One of the most hyped matches in recent times in WWE, The Ultimate Deletion, was a very obvious miss from the Hulu version of Monday Night Raw.
The 90-minute edited version of the show completely deleted any references to The Ultimate Deletion match which main evented Raw last night. Last week, a preview of the match aired on Hulu which suggested that it would eventually air on the episode uploaded today.
However, the Hulu version of Raw ended the broadcast with Finn Balor, Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows taking on The Miz, Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel.
Addressing the disappointment of many fans, Hulu tweeted, “We have the rights to stream a pre-formatted 90-minute special of Raw, and no edits are done on our end. We’ll share your feedback with our team.”
The Raw Women’s title match at WrestleMania 34 will see Alexa Bliss defending her title against her former best friend Nia Jax.
The match became quasi-official when Asuka chose to go after the Smackdown Women’s title currently held by Charlotte Flair. Jax and Bliss have been building to a confrontation for the past few weeks and it was on last week’s Raw that Bliss was caught making fun of Nia, body shaming her in a backstage segment as she was waiting to be interviewed.
This will be the second WrestleMania for both of them. Last year, Bliss walked in as the Smackdown Women’s champion but lost the title to Naomi in a six-pack challenge while Jax was part of a fatal 4-way match for the Raw women’s title.
Ronda Rousey’s appearance on Monday Night Raw came in the form a video package again but the former UFC champion was in Dallas and appeared in front of the live crowd after Raw went off the air.
After the cameras stopped rolling, Rousey came out and before she could even start speaking, Dana Brooke interrupted. “I mean, who are you?” Brooke told Rousey as she reminded her that this ring has four sides and not eight like the Octagon.
“Personally, I can’t wait until WrestleMania when Stephanie McMahon makes you her property,” Brooke continued. Brooke then told Rousey to get out of her ring and Rousey invited her to make her leave.
Brooke threw a weak-looking right hand, which Rousey blocked. She then tried to get out of it peacefully but Rousey held on and suplexed Dana out of the ring.
W-O reader Bob Wilson attended the WWE live event in San Angelo, Texas on March 18 and sent in the following results.
Bobby Roode defeated Baron Corbin and Jinder Mahal in a triple threat match; Breezango and Zack Ryder defeated Mojo Rawley, Mike Bennett, and Primo; Dolph Ziggler defeated Sin Cara; The Usos defeated Rusev and Aiden English and Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable in a triple threat match to retain the Smackdown Tag Team titles; The Bludgeon Bros defeated The Ascension; Charlotte Flair defeated Ruby Riott via DQ; Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Naomi defeated The Riott Squad; Shinsuke Nakamura and Randy Orton defeated Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn in a street fight.
