Roman Reigns will be inducting his special counsel Paul Heyman into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2024 this coming Friday after Smackdown.
The news was revealed last night on Raw during a backstage segment involving The Rock as well, where Reigns said he had a speech to write and Heyman confirmed the speech is for his induction.
Heyman’s speech is probably one of the most anticipated Hall of Fame speeches in history and while there were probably a few others worthy of inducting him, no one can complain about the selection considering the close relationship Reigns and Heyman share together.
Heyman recently produced and directed the A&E Biography of Reigns which aired this past Sunday.
Smackdown certainly felt the wrath of the NCAA programming on CBS, TBS, and ESPN this past Friday as the show drew 2,201,000 viewers, down 34,000 viewers from the prior week and the least-watched episode of 2024. The show had a 0.60 rating in 18-49, down 0.01 from the prior week and was #3 on network television but #7 overall. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)
For the first time, AEW has released several stars from its roster, mostly those who have not appeared on television much lately.
In total, 10 were let go, one of which is an announcer. The releases were confirmed by Fightful and PWInsider.
Stu Grayson, Jora Johl, Gravity, Slim J, Parker Boudreaux, Brandon and Brent Tate of The Boys, Anthony Henry, Jose the Assistant, and Dasha Kuret were all given the pink slip as the company is trying to trim its roster following years of not releasing anyone until their contract expires.
Lia Maivia, the late grandmother of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is the last person to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2024.
Maivia is one of the first-ever female wrestling promoters with The Rock describing her as a trailblazer, protector, and the real final boss.
Real name Ofelia Fuataga Maivia, she was born in 1931 and ran the Polynesian Pro Wrestling in Hawaii as a territory for the NWA after her husband, the High Chief Peter Maivia, passed away. Maivia died of a heart attack at her home in Florida in October 2008 at the age of 77.
Her grandson, The Rock, will be inducting her during the ceremony.
Diving into the dynamic world of online casino affiliate programs is like opening a treasure chest in the digital age. The blend of technology and the age-old excitement of gambling has crafted a goldmine for digital marketers. Through these programs, there’s a world where every click could mean more cash in your pocket. It’s not just about the gamble; it’s about weaving a web that turns clicks into income. Partnering with platforms such as the onedun affiliate program not only opens doors to the thriving online gambling scene but also arms marketers with smart strategies and conversion tricks to truly make a mark.
The Heart of Affiliate Marketing
Central to any affiliate marketing success story is the bond between the marketers and online casinos. It’s this partnership that sets the stage for everything. By aligning with platforms like onedun, marketers get their hands on essential promotion tools, real-time metrics, and a clear pay-out scheme. It’s about crafting a win-win: casinos get to sparkle in the spotlight of increased traffic, while affiliates pocket a commission for every player they bring to the table. Picking the right casino partner means looking at their reputation, what they offer players, and how committed they are to fair play.
Understanding the Numbers Game
In the affiliate marketing arena, gut feelings bow down to the power of data. Metrics offer a window into the effectiveness of strategies, guiding affiliates on where to focus their energies. Whether it’s tracking clicks, conversions, or player spending, this data is invaluable. It not only helps fine-tune marketing tactics but also plays a crucial role in negotiating commissions with casino partners, ensuring fair compensation for your hard work.
Revenue and Regulation
Stepping into affiliate marketing also means navigating through different revenue models and understanding the online gambling legalities. Whether it’s earning a set amount per new player sign-up or a share of the revenue from referred players, each model presents unique opportunities. Moreover, with online gambling laws varying across regions, staying informed is key to ensuring you’re playing by the book.
Seizing Future Opportunities
As the online gambling landscape broadens, affiliates find themselves at the helm, ready to explore new territories and tech frontiers. From mobile gaming to virtual reality, fresh innovations offer new content for promotion, drawing in a modern player base. Staying ahead means being open to learning and adapting, ready to embrace new marketing methods and tech advancements. The future is ripe with possibilities for those who navigate these waters well, transforming today’s challenges into tomorrow’s victories.
Final Thoughts on Casino Affiliate Marketing
Embarking on the casino affiliate marketing journey is an exciting venture, blending the thrills of gambling with the strategic finesse of digital marketing. It promises rich rewards for those dedicated to mastering the industry’s nuances, fostering solid casino partnerships, and engaging audiences with compelling content. With the right strategy and a commitment to ethical practices, affiliates can secure a lucrative spot in the bustling online casino world. Learn more about online casino affiliate programs.
The card for the two-night WrestleMania was finally fully announced yesterday, with seven matches taking place on Saturday and six matches taking place on Sunday.
Headlining night one is obviously The Rock and Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. Joining them are Rhea Ripley vs Becky Lynch, Gunther vs Sami Zayn, Jey Uso vs Jimmy Uso, Judgment Day vs DIY vs Awesome Truth vs The New Day vs The New Catch Republic vs A-Town Down Under in the six-pack ladder match, Rey Mysterio and Dragon Lee vs Dominik Mysterio and Santos Escobar, and the six-woman tag match between Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair, and Naomi vs Kairi Sane, Asuka, and Dakota Kai.
Sunday will see Roman Reigns vs Cody Rhodes in the main event along with Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre, IYO Sky vs Bayley, LA Knight vs AJ Styles, Logan Paul vs Kevin Owens vs Randy Orton in a triple threat match, and a Philadelphia street fight between Bobby Lashley and The Street Profits vs Karrion Kross and AOP.
During a lengthy appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani yesterday afternoon, CM Punk went into as much detail as he could about things he could talk about from his time in AEW.
Punk described what led to his altercation with Jack Perry at All In, saying there was already some history there dating back to an episode of Collision where Perry wanted to smash the window of a rental car as part of a storyline.
Tony Schiavone was the one who alerted Punk about it and Tony said that Perry had been cussing him, the doctor, and producers who all shot down the idea. Punk went over to Perry to explain to him that it should not be done and if he was interested, he could do it on a Wednesday on the other show.
This led to Punk and Perry having a little scuffle at All In, with Punk saying he did not punch Perry but choked him a little bit until it was broken up by Samoa Joe and others.
“I turned to Tony Khan, this place is a f*cking joke man. You’re a clown. I quit,” Punk recalled telling Tony Khan.
But producer Jerry Lynn and Samoa Joe convinced him to go out and wrestle, knowing full well it was his last match with the company. He did admit that it was the right thing to do for referee Paul Turner, for Samoa Joe, for Jerry Lynn, and for the thousands who paid money to see him.
Punk said he does not regret going to AEW as he made a lot of friends along the way but is sure that many in there didn’t want him around. Asked about Tony Khan, Punk described him as a good person, but not a boss, and ultimately that works against the company.
He described the chaos and rudderless ship backstage, with no one taking ownership and having the balls to stand up to those who make a mess and also talked in length about what happened with Hangman Page.
Punk could not talk about Brawl Out as he was forced to sign an NDA by Tony Khan and refused to confirm or deny if his torn tricep came in the match against Moxley or in the backstage altercation with The Elite.
The former AEW champion said that AEW is not a “real business” and they are not there to sell out arenas and make money. When asked what kind of business AEW is, Punk said, “I don’t know. Having good matches, maybe?”
They show what The Rock did to Cody Rhodes last week and announce Cody is not medically cleared to be there tonight.
The Rock comes out to the ring first. The Rock said he stopped beating Cody because he saw little girls crying. He then tells all the girls and boys that in life, men got to do what they got to do. The Rock then said wrestling is cool again and then congratulated Brooklyn for selling out the arena and is the largest gate there.
Rock said he didn’t come alone, and Roman Reigns’ music started playing. Paul Heyman, Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa and the Undisputed Universal champion Roman Reigns then come out and join the Rock in the ring.
Roman said he came to Raw to acknowledge his family. Roman thanked the Rock for making this the easiest WrestleMania he would ever be a part of. Seth Rollins comes out through the crowd to interrupt him. Seth said he wants to fight tonight. Seth then challenged the Rock, then he said if he won’t fight him then maybe Roman will fight the real world champion tonight. Solo took the microphone and said you’re fighting me tonight and Seth said you are on. The Rock said it’s Bloodline Rules in your match with Solo tonight.
The New Day & DIY VS. The Judgment Day
Priest hits Ciampa with a Razor’s Edge to get the win for his team.
Winners: The Judgment Day
Roman and The Rock are talking backstage and Roman is leaving and going to write his speech. Heyman says The Tribal Chief will be inducting him in the Hall of Fame.
Sami Zayn and Chad Gable are working out until they begin to argue, and Sami said he is afraid of letting people down.
The Judgment Day are shown talking when Legado Del Fantasma walk in and Priest gets mad and walks out, Rhea tells Dominik he needs to get back to communicating with them.
Sami Zayn VS. Big Bronson Reed
Reed missed with the Tsunami, Sami sets up for a Helluva Kick and Gunther appears at the entrance, pulling behind him an injured Chad Gable. Gunther then attacked Sami Zayn. Gunther then held up the Intercontinental Title while standing with one foot on Sami.
Sami begins to move and get to his feet as Gunther looks confused but runs and hits Sami with the title belt.
Winner: No Contest
Jey Uso walking in the back runs into Lil Wayne and invites him to WrestleMania and Lil Wayne said he would be there.
Ivy Nile & Maxxine Dupri VS. Indi Hartwell & Candace LeRae
As Candace and Indi disagreed, Maxxine dropkicked Indi into Candace knocking Candace off the apron and allowing Maxxine to roll up Indi for the win.
Winners: Ivy Nile & Maxxine Dupri
Seth Rollins is shown in the back and Main Event Jey Uso said he has Seth’s back tonight.
Drew McIntyre is shown standing at a funeral home. He then talked about CM Punk. He then turned his attention to Seth Rollins. He says he deserves to have the casket close on his championship reign at WrestleMania.
Ricochet VS. Ivar
Ivar misses the moonsault, Ricochet then catches Ivar and power slams him and hits the 630 splash for the win.
Winner: Ricochet
The Judgment Day are shown watching as Ricochet celebrates his win and Priest asked why Ricochet hasn’t been handled and JD said don’t worry, I will be in the Andre Battle Royal with him on Friday and Dominik says if JD fails, I got someone who will get the job done… and Andrade walks in. Dominik then introduces Santos, who is still in the room playing darts, to Andrade.
Rhea said she had seen enough. She heard Becky is on her way to the ring she is going to go say hi.
Becky Lynch is out to the ring as Michael Cole and Pat McAfee put over her new book she wrote. She calls out Rhea Ripley and Adam Pearce comes out and says no we are not doing this tonight. He then asked Becky to leave the ring. Rhea comes out. Rhea then throws her title at Pearce and runs past him and all the security Adam had with him. The security jumped in the ring and tore the two apart but that didn’t last long.
Damage Control was shown, and Dakota says this is the biggest WrestleMania and it doesn’t get any bigger than Damage Control.
Damage Control VS. Shayna Baszler, Zoey Stark & Teagan Nox
The Kabuki Warriors hit Nox with the insane elbow and got the win.
Winners: Damage Control
On his way to the ring Seth Rollins encounters Drew McIntyre and tells him he isn’t dead yet.
Seth “Freakin” Rollins VS. Solo Sikoa in a Bloodline Rules match
Jimmy Uso comes out and superkicks Seth, Jey comes out and he and Jimmy begin to fight in the entrance way. Jey then gets hit by The Rock. The Rock makes his way to the ring. As the Rock approaches Seth, Seth just smiles at the Rock and Cody Rhodes comes out. Cody was about to give the Rock a Rock Bottom on the announce table, but Roman Reigns pulled Cody’s leg. Rock rolls Seth in to Roman who hits Seth with a superman punch then hits a spear on Cody. Rock then takes a weight belt off and starts whipping both Cody and Seth with it. Roman and Rock leave Cody and Seth lying in the ring and Rock hits Cody with the belt one more time as Raw goes off the air.
Clash at the Castle is returning as a premium live event, this time from The OVO Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.
The date for the event is Saturday, June 15, and marks the fourth international PLE this year so far following Elimination Chamber in Australia, Backlash in France, and Bash in Berlin in Germany. It’s the first time that a WWE PLE will be held in Scotland.
Smackdown on the night before will also be held in the same location.
“We are excited to bring both Friday Night SmackDown and Clash At The Castle: Scotland to our amazing fans in Scotland at the OVO Hydro in Glasgow this June,” said WWE President Nick Khan. “The world will see that this is one of the UK’s best venues and Scottish crowds are some of the loudest, craziest and most passionate on the planet.”
WWE held Clash at the Castle in Wales in 2022 with over 62,000 fans in attendance. The Hydro is an arena though holding just under 15,000 seats.
Monday Night Raw is live tonight from the sold out Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the final red brand show before WrestleMania.
Announced for tonight are three matches so far including Sami Zayn vs Bronson Reed, The New Day and DIY vs The Judgment Day in an eight-man tag team match, and Ivy Nile teams with Maxxine Dupri to take on Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell.
Plus, The Rock and Roman Reigns return to Raw with Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins also both in the building.
The first hour of tonight’s Raw is also commercial free on USA Network.
Appearing on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, CM Punk said that AEW management were pissed at him for showing up unannounced backstage before a taping of Monday Night Raw in Chicago last May.
Punk explained that he was going back home to Chicago from Tampa following a CFFC show and on the plane he met several WWE Superstars who were traveling for Raw. Punk said that he got a text from Bayley after landing saying that Liv Morgan, who was on the same flight, described him as being super nice and Bayley invited him to come over to say hello.
Punk joked that it was all Bayley’s fault and when he showed up he met a few other Superstars such as The Miz, Bobby Lashley, and Baron Corbin, before running into Triple H. A few minutes later, Punk said he was thrown out of the arena on the orders of Vince McMahon who did not like that he was there while he was still under an AEW contract.
Helwani asked what did AEW think about it and Punk said that they used the word “betrayed.” He said that AEW allows other people on the roster to appear on other shows and here he was just being backstage and not appearing anywhere on TV but were still mad about it.
Punk said that if they wanted to be mad about it, then they could be mad about it and shrugged it off.
A fan of SlotStreamers or similar? Know that there are subtle elements that are responsible for your passion.
In the realm of professional wrestling, the dichotomy between hero and villain isn’t just a narrative device; it’s the lifeblood that fuels the drama, excitement, and passion in the ring. Known in wrestling parlance as “faces” and “heels,” these roles serve to captivate, enrage, and engage audiences worldwide. The heels, in particular, command a unique space in wrestling lore. A truly effective heel can elevate a storyline, turn a match into a saga, and etch moments into the annals of wrestling history that fans will cherish—or despise—for generations.
The psychology of the heel is as complex as it is fascinating. At its core, a heel’s role is to make the audience react, to elicit boos so loud they drown out the cheers. But being a villain in wrestling is far more nuanced than mere antagonism. It’s about storytelling through conflict, charisma through contempt. The best heels are those who, through their actions and words, can make fans feel a deep, burning desire to see them overcome. This requires a blend of acting, improvisation, and athletic ability that few outside the industry can truly appreciate.
Understanding better
Historically, wrestling has seen its share of memorable heels, each bringing their own flavor of villainy to the ring. Ric Flair, with his flamboyant style and boastful arrogance, set the gold standard for heels. His catchphrase, “To be the man, you gotta beat the man,” embodied the heel’s arrogance, making every match a dramatic battle of egos. Flair’s ability to make the audience loathe him, only to secretly admire his skill and charisma, is a testament to his mastery of the heel persona.
Then there’s Rowdy Roddy Piper, whose gift for gab and unpredictable antics made him one of the most effective heels of his time. Piper’s ability to provoke, both on the microphone and in the ring, made his segments must-see TV. He wasn’t just a villain; he was an agent of chaos, a role that he played to perfection.
In more recent times, wrestlers like MJF (Maxwell Jacob Friedman) have taken the art of being a heel to new heights. MJF’s use of social media, sharp wit, and unabashed arrogance have made him one of the most despised figures in wrestling today. What sets MJF apart is his commitment to the character, blurring the lines between performance and reality in a way that keeps fans deeply invested in his downfall.
Ups and downs
The impact of heels on storylines cannot be overstated. They are the catalysts for change, the obstacles that heroes must overcome. The dynamic tension between face and heel drives the narrative forward, giving matches stakes and turning athletic contests into epic tales of good versus evil. This dynamic is crucial not only for the storytelling aspect but also for the emotional investment of the audience. A well-crafted heel turn can shock the world and shift the entire landscape of a promotion, as seen with Seth Rollins’ betrayal of The Shield in WWE.
Evoking strong reactions from audiences is the heel’s primary function, and the best villains in wrestling have mastered this art. They understand that wrestling is more than just physical combat; it’s an emotional journey for the audience. Through their actions, they can make fans feel anger, betrayal, and frustration—emotions that are as real to the audience as the wrestlers themselves.
Into the heart
The art of the heel in wrestling is a complex blend of performance, psychology, and athleticism. The greatest villains in the sport’s history have understood this, using their characters to engage fans in a deeply emotional narrative. They remind us that in the world of wrestling, villains are not just obstacles to be overcome; they are essential to the very fabric of the storytelling, providing depth, drama, and a touch of darkness against which the brightest heroes can shine.
Ahead of WrestleMania, WWE issued a press release today touting their viewership increase among the 18-49 demographic.
“These ratings are a testament to our creative team, production crew and all of the WWE Superstars that work together week in and week out to produce these impressive results,” said WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque.
The press release said that in Q1 2024, Friday Night Smackdown averaged 892,000 total viewers in 18-49, up 15% from the year prior. The show was #1 for 11 of the first 12 weeks of the quarter among all shows while the February 16 episode, it scored 985,000 viewers in 18-49, making it the most-viewed broadcast program in primetime for the entire week of February 12.
Jumping to Raw, Q1 2024 saw Raw averaging 733,000 viewers in 18-49, up 6% compared to the prior year. It ranked #1 on Monday for nine of the 13 weeks during the quarter and highlighted the January 29 episode which was the start of Pat McAfee as a commentator where the show had 811,000 viewers in 18-49, an increase of 13% over the prior week.
NXT only had one line in the press release but registered the biggest jump in 18-49 as the show has an increase of 31% in 18-49 for Q1 2024.
A New York Post article has shed light on a love letter written by Janel Grant to Vince McMahon on December 24, 2021 where she described the former WWE CEO as “my best friend, my love, and my everything.”
Grant, who sued McMahon, John Laurinaitis, and WWE, is claiming that she was coerced into writing the letter and her attorney, Ann Callis, said that Grant was instructed to write it by the former WWE chief.
Screenshots of text messages a few days earlier corroborate her version of events as she sent a picture of her right arm where she had surgery on her left finger, asking Vince, “How will I write your letter? I can type & read it. Or try to write in a couple of days. I’m so sorry if I mess this up. I want u to have a nice letter,” along with a sad face emoji.
Jessica Taub Rosenberg, McMahon’s attorney from the law firm Kasowitz Benson Torres, told the Post that no one coerced Grant to write the letter and she wrote it of her own accord.
Grant’s spokesperson said many of the lines in the letter were taken from the 1947 film The Bishop’s Wife as well as other exiting material from pop culture.
The letter, published in full by the Post, was Grant’s 24th draft and is four pages long.
Do you want to get familiar with Canada’s online gambling laws? Is online gambling legal in Canada? If you want to know the answer to these questions, you’re probably the citizen of Canada or the ones who’ve just migrated there.
Before starting your gambling journey there, you need to be familiar with gambling laws in Canada. The gambling law in Canada differs according to province.
According to online casino at BSC news, Jackpot City, Spin Casino, PlayOJO, and Ruby Fortune are some of the best verdicts with payout speed options which are preferred by a lot of Canadian citizens.
For example, online gambling is illegal in different provinces of Canada, including Alberta and Saskatchewan. But if you live in Quebec province in Canada, gambling has been legalized in this province since 1985.
There are different Canadians who use international and licensed sites to play a variety of online gambling. If you’re familiar with Canadian law, you’ll be able to participate in these popular gambling platforms with proper safety following the legal rules and regulations.
We’ll learn about Canadian gambling laws and the gambling age in Canada in detail. But before that, we’ll help you get familiar with the term online gambling in detail.
What is Online Gambling?
Online gambling involves any kind of gambling activities that are played on the internet. You can find different games on online gambling that include:
Poker
Casinos
Sport betting
Bingo
Betting
You can play online gambling using electronic devices like phones, computers, laptops, and tablets. Through online gambling, you can get access to different casino games and play your favourite games anytime you want from anywhere.
Here, we’ve listed some of the benefits of online gambling:
It gives you bonuses that can be used when you’re playing online.
The accessibility of casino games lets you enjoy games conveniently from your home.
You’ll get a variety of game options to choose from.
If you win big, you’ll have better banking.
You can maintain proper privacy while doing online gambling.
We hope this section helped you have a better understanding of online gambling. There’s a lot to cover so let’s dive in!
Online Gambling Rules and Regulations in Canada
In Canada, you can get two types of licenses, all of Canada and non-charitable gaming and betting. You can apply for a suitable registration based on the nature of your business.
All gambling workers like gambling suppliers, and lottery retailers need to be registered and certified by GPEB-recognised third-party testing labs.
If you are actively involved in Casinos, you must know that there are three classes of casinos. They are:
Class A Casino: This kind of casino has 800 or more slots available for the player.
Class B Casino: You can get between 500 to 799 slots in class B casinos.
Class C Casino: Get 500 slots or less in these casinos.
If you’re playing from Canada, there’s difficulty in the legality of operators from betting as there are no rules or regulations that stop the player from playing in international online gambling.
As a Canadian player, you can get access to all the international online gambling without breaking the rules and regulations. However, there’s no fixed rate to how many operators is accepted to bet by the legality.
In some provinces, you can start gambling when you’re 18 and above. Whereas in some provinces, you can start online gambling only after you’re 19 years old.
Some of the B.C. horse racing participants in Canada are drivers, trainers, owners, jockeys, exercise persons, and veterinarians.
Is Online Gambling Advertisement Legal in Canada?
Online gambling advertising is prohibited in Canada under unauthorized real-money gaming operations. However, if you still want to do advertisement of your gaming nationally, you need to get permission from the Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC).
The marketing affiliates are legal if it’s done following the rules and regulations of governing legislation in Canada. You don’t need to be registered or licensed to the marketing affiliates in Canada.
You’ll face penalties for unlawful gambling marketing. So, you need to be very careful and make selective advertisements following the guidelines provided by the government of Canada.
Statistics of Online Gambling in Canada
Here are some of the key points on statistics of online gambling in Canada:
By 2024, the online gambling revenue is estimated to reach US $ 4.19 bn.
You can find over 19.3 million online gamblers in Canada, 56% of whom are men and 43% are women.
75% of Canadians are actively indulged in different forms of online gambling. However, the most popular ones are casinos, sports betting, and lottery.
In Canada, you can find that most of the people aged 45 actively participate in gambling.
From 2024 to 2028, the online gambling market is estimated to grow by 6.89%.
Canada ranks number 8 when it comes to online gambling throughout the world.
In Canadian casinos, you can see over one million visitors just in a single day.
Since 2011, the revenue in Canada has consistently risen from online gambling.
The online casino market in Canada is estimated to grow by 6.01% in the upcoming year.
Around two-thirds of Canadians aged 15 or older have reported gambling in the past year, and 1.6% of past-year gamblers were at a moderate-to-severe risk of problems related to gambling.
Hence, these are all the key points or statistics about online gambling in Canada.
Wrapping Up:
If you’re thinking of starting online gambling in Canada, it’s important to get familiar with casino regulations in Canada. When you’re aware of rules and regulations, you won’t be penalized by the government when you start playing.
However, you need to understand that different provinces have different sets of rules and regulations. So don’t trust what others say, have a thorough knowledge and information before starting your online gambling journey.
With the rise of online gambling, there are different fraud international websites available out there on the web. So, before you invest your money, do a background check on the website’s reviews and reputation.
We wish you all the best for your online gambling journey in Canada!
ESPN’s Marc Raimondi and Mike Coppinger wrote a detailed look at how WWE had to switch things around and change their planned Roman Reigns vs The Rock match at WrestleMania 40 after fans turned on The Rock and supported Cody Rhodes.
Featuring quotes from Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Rock’s writer Brian Gewirtz, and WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H, the team behind the storylines admitted that they had to call an audible and listen to what the people actually wanted.
Triple H told ESPN that things are run differently now that he’s in charge.
“My career, I learned from being here, but there were things along the way that I always thought I would do differently,” Levesque said. “In this time now, I get to make those calls and with a large team of people. Whether people will want to believe it or not, I think we were sort of looking at this as here’s where we’re going to go to get this started and it has the opportunity of going this way or that way.”
He said that they call audibles “every single week” depending on reactions because this is what the business is all about.
“The beautiful thing with this group and with Cody and Roman and Rock especially, everybody’s got their ear to the ground. And then we all just get together and figure the shit out,” Triple H noted.
Meanwhile, to make this all happen, The Rock had to get on board as well, especially since it meant turning heel.
Brian Gewirtz said that this is not The Rock’s first rodeo and he’s all too familiar with the “card subject to change” term.
“I think he went into this with Rock vs. Roman, we have like 95 pages of merchandise and all these kinds of things,” Gewirtz said, adding that this is one of those things where “WWE needs to do what WWE needs to do.”
The Bray Wyatt documentary titled Becoming Immortal is now available to stream on Peacock.
Filmed after the popular Superstar unexpectedly passed away at the age of 36 in August of last year, this Peacock Original documentary takes you behind the scenes and in the world of one of the greatest minds that the industry has ever seen, with new sit-down interviews specifically shot for this documentary including with Triple H, John Cena, Braun Strowman, his brother Bo Dallas, his sister Mika Rotunda, and his fiancee JoJo Offerman.
But the two-hour documentary also ends with a tease in the post-credits, as the in memory graphic turns glitchy in typical Wyatt style and then a lantern is shown. The lantern eventually switches on after a few tries and we see an image of Uncle Howdy in the background and a voice which says “run!”
According to Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful, Bo Dallas is making his return, resuming his Uncle Howdy gimmick. WWE sources confirmed that the ending was put there on purpose and it will lead to his comeback, keeping the spirit of Bray Wyatt and the fireflies alive.
The Ricky Starks and Big Bill vs Top Flight match on Collision this past Saturday ended prematurely and with a different finish and scheduled winners after Starks had an injury scare during the match.
During the match, which was part of the AEW Tag Team title tournament, Starks was hit with a Pele Kick off the turnbuckle by Darius Martin which looked like it knocked him silly. After a few more moves, they went straight to a finish which confused everyone as Starks didn’t kick out of the pinfall and the referee stopped the count. He was then DDT’d and Martin pinned him again, this time with the referee counting to three.
Starks later wrote that he was all good and “everything checked out fine” but was being precautious.
Dave Meltzer of the Observer reported that Starks and Bill were originally scheduled to win the match and then take on FTR in the semi final of the tournament. The other semi final match features The Young Bucks vs Best Friends.
WWE Rivals and Biography: WWE Legends will air their last episodes for a few weeks tonight on A&E.
Rivals will start at 8PM with The Miz vs Daniel Bryan while Biography will follow with an episode focused on Roman Reigns, directed and produced by his special counsel, Paul Heyman.
Rivals returns on the air on April 21 but instead of Freddie Prinze Jr as host, it will be Gabriel “Fluffy” Iglesias. New episodes will tackle Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage, Steve Austin vs Booker T, Ric Flair vs Dusty Rhodes, Triple H vs Seth Rollins, John Cena vs Batista, and Hulk Hogan vs The Rock.
Biography resumes on May 26 with episodes on Mark Henry, Eddie Guerrero, The Miz, Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Rob Van Dam, Ted DiBiase, The Steiner Brothers, Trish Stratus, Becky Lynch, Paul Heyman, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and another episode with Steve Austin training and preparing to get back to the ring against Kevin Owens.
In addition, WWE’s Most Wanted Treasures also returns on April 14 for a brand new season with Booker T, Mick Foley, and Lita on the hunt for memorabilia.
Tomorrow’s Monday Night Raw in Brooklyn is completely sold out and Ticketmaster is out of tickets except for verified resale ones.
@WrestleTix reports that the count is 13,345, with the last couple of hundred tickets selling out over the weekend. This number is over 1,000 more than their last visit there this past December which was a Smackdown taping.
Both The Rock and Roman Reigns will be at the Barclays Center for the final push for WrestleMania on Raw.
