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Welcome back to another edition of the WWE Rumor Roundup. Today's lineup features many big names and equally big stories.
Triple H opened up about his retirement match and revealed how a WWE legend has been trying to convince him about getting some 'closure' on his career.
A two-time champion, who left WWE in 2011, is set to make a full-time return to the company.
Stone Cold Steve Austin also shared his honest thoughts on AEW following the news of Chris Jericho's scheduled appearance on the Broken Skull Sessions podcast.
New Champs in WWE! More RIGHT HERE
A lengthy list of banned terms in WWE has also found its way on the internet. We end the roundup with all the latest updates regarding WrestleMania 37.
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#5. Triple H on his WWE retirement match, Ric Flair's advice
Triple H is one of the busiest people in WWE as he is tasked with running an entire brand.
During a recent media call ahead of NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver, Triple H spoke about his in-ring status and the possibility of having a retirement match.
Triple H explained that he considers the in-ring action to be a bonus as he has various others roles in WWE. Triple H revealed that he often gets calls from Ric Flair, and the Nature Boy tries to convince The Game to have a proper retirement match.
"I'm at the point where to me, the in-ring stuff is a bonus. It's funny—[Ric] Flair calls me all the time to tell me, 'You have to get back in the ring. You have to go to WrestleMania; you have to have that closure and do this, whatever, a 'retirement match.'
Triple H admitted that while he wants to have a retirement match, he just doesn't have the time to focus on the preparations for the highly significant bout.
"There's a part of me that wants to do it, and then there's just a bigger part of me that says, 'I'm so busy 24/7, that to even try and contemplate how to train in the way I would want to train and get in shape—and by shape, I don't mean look—in-shape ring wise so you don't embarrass yourself once you get in there at 52." (H/T WrestleZone)
Triple H even revealed that he had rejected multiple backstage requests from AJ Styles regarding a match.
#4. Davey Boy Smith Jr. is returning to WWE
Davey Boy Smith Jr., son of The British Bulldog, is all set to make his full-time WWE return after being away from the company for 11 years.
Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Davey Boy Smith Jr. had not been booked for Bloodsport's show on 8th April, which pretty much confirms his WWE return.
Meltzer added that talks of getting the two-time Tag Team Champion back started almost a year ago.
The company reportedly always wanted Davey Boy Smith Jr. to be one of the 'focal points' of NXT UK, with no additional plans of having him on NXT or the main roster. Meltzer stated that Davey Boy Smith Jr. would get a guaranteed push in NXT UK.
Meltzer reported the following in the Newsletter:
"As noted before, Davey Boy Smith Jr., not being on the Bloodsport show on 4/8 seems like a give away that he's signed here (WWE). We'd been told it was likely some time back. There was talk of him when they were first talking to him, and this goes back probably a year or so of his being one of the focal points of the U.K. brand as opposed to main roster or NXT. It was added that Davey Boy Smith Jr. will be introduced to the WWE Universe at the upcoming WWE Hall of Fame ceremony."
"Obviously he will be introduced at the Hall of Fame ceremony with his father going in, and that was always an idea to do it that way."
Davey Boy Smith Jr. was waiting for his MLW contract to expire before making a play for a WWE return. While All Japan Pro Wrestling was also interested in his services, the COVID-19 pandemic played spoilsport, and it seems like he is on his way back to the WWE.
Meltzer was unsure whether AEW approached Davey Boy Smith Jr. However, it was noted that Jim Ross was a big fan of the 35-year-old star.
"His MLW contract was in the way for a long time of his coming in, but that expired at the end of the year. All Japan had interest in him, but the pandemic ruined that. I don't know if AEW made an offer to him or not. Jim Ross was also a big proponent of his, and he met with Tony Khan at a party last year when he was still under contract to MLW."
Davey Boy Smith Jr. had a five-year stint in the WWE, which ended in 2011, and he has undeniably grown as a performer and wrestler since leaving Vince McMahon's company. Davey Boy Smith Jr. will be an asset to NXT UK, and his addition to the roster will help freshen up the brand.
#3. Stone Cold Steve Austin shares his thoughts about the competition between AEW and WWE
WWE Hall of Famer Stone Cold Steve Austin will have AEW's Chris Jericho as a guest on his Broken Skull Sessions podcast.
Austin sat down for an interview with Nick Hausman on the Wrestling Inc. Daily, and the Texas Rattlesnake was asked about his thoughts on AEW and the competition with WWE.
Steve Austin stated that he isn't against the rise of AEW even though he doesn't consider Tony Khan's promotion to be WWE's direct rivals. Austin explained that the rivalry between WWE and AEW is unavoidable as both companies provide professional wrestling products.
Steve Austin highlighted that AEW has opened up doors to fresh opportunities, and the company's existence will also force WWE into creating more compelling content.
"Man, I love it. I think it's a competition by proxy just because they're wrestling, WWE's wrestling, but I don't think they're directly trying to compete. But in essence, they are, and I love it because it gives more people within any of this jobs. It gives more people a chance to work. And it makes WWE, you know, forces them to push the envelope rather than just sit back and push out content. Competition makes everybody better."
In a separate interview with Sports Illustrated, Steve Austin also revealed Vince McMahon's reaction to Chris Jericho's return to WWE programming. Austin noted that Vince had no issues with Jericho's scheduled appearance, and he even spoke about his relationship with the WWE Boss.
"I texted Vince and said we had this badass idea about Jericho coming on the show ... Vince goes, 'It's cool. Go ahead.' But me and Vince don't always do well with phones and texts and all that, so I texted one more time, 'Are you sure it's OK to have Chris Jericho on the show?' Vince gave me the thumbs up, and Chris came out to do the show."
Mark your calendars for April 11th as the next edition of the Broken Skull Sessions podcast featuring Chris Jericho is bound to break the internet.
#2. List of banned WWE terms for promotional partners of WrestleMania 36 revealed
A Fightful Select report has revealed a list of banned terms and social media guidelines that WWE distributed last year to its promotional partners for WrestleMania 36.
The report revealed several banned terms and various other company directives regarding the social media policies for the promotional partners.
Given below are the banned terms:
- Blood
- Choke
- Belt
- Strap
- Diva
- Head shot
- Trauma
- Kayfabe
- Mofos
- House show
- DQ
- The Anti-Diva
- Spinal injuries
- Victim
- Violence/violent
- Wrestling/wrestlers
- WWF
- Wifebeater
- Curb Stomp
- Needs a push
- To be over
- Babyface
- Heel
- To job/jobber
- Card
- Strangle
- Kill
- Murder
WWE instructed its promotional partners not to respond to fan comments from any of the associated accounts. The promotional partners were also barred from speculating about future angles and were explicitly told to portray the superstars in a positive light.
"Dirt sheets" was also mentioned, and the partners were told to be sensitive about the language they use on social media, keeping in mind how the dirt sheets would interpret it.
The terms 'Sports Entertainment' and superstars were favored over 'wrestlers' and 'wrestling'. WWE reiterated that promotional partners had to be careful about their messages and avoid situations of fans speaking negatively about the company.
WWE also wanted to reduce the use of hashtags on Facebook and to stop using words and terms that could set off 'spam labels' in the social media algorithms.
#1. The main event of WrestleMania 37 Night 1 revealed why WWE moved the Battle Royal
WrestleMania 37 is just a week away, and WWE, unsurprisingly, has a lot riding on the two-night event.
Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair match is scheduled to be the first night's main event.
The SmackDown Women's title match has been listed as the main event on many card rundowns backstage, and it has been featured above Bobby Lashley and Drew McIntyre's WWE Championship match.
"The rest of the 4/10 show is Sasha Banks vs. Bianca Belair for the SmackDown Women's title, which is being positioned in many card rundowns as the main event, on top of Lashley vs. McIntyre."
WWE also moved the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal to the final SmackDown episode before WrestleMania 37. Dave Meltzer reported on the Observer Radio that WWE removed the match from the WrestleMania 37 card to cut down the event's overall runtime.
Meltzer noted the following:
"Yeah, because I think they don't wanna go more than three and half hours on both shows, especially since they're starting an hour later than I expected. They're starting both shows at 8 (pm EST) instead of 7 (pm EST)." H/t WrestleTalk
Given below are the match cards for both nights of WrestleMania 37:
WrestleMania 37 - Night 1 - April 10th, 2021
- Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bianca Belair (Singles match for the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship)
- Bobby Lashley (c) (w/ MVP) vs. Drew McIntyre (Singles match for the WWE Championship)
- Bad Bunny (w/ Damian Priest) vs. The Miz (w/ John Morrison) (Singles match)
- The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) (c) vs. AJ Styles and Omos (Tag team match for the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship)
- Braun Strowman vs. Shane McMahon (Steel cage match)
- Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins (Singles match)
WrestleMania 37 - Night 2 - April 11th, 2021
- Roman Reigns (c) (w/ Paul Heyman) vs. Edge vs. Daniel Bryan (Triple threat match for the WWE Universal Championship)
- Asuka (c) vs. Rhea Ripley (Singles match for the WWE Raw Women's Championship)
- The Fiend "Bray Wyatt" (w/ Alexa Bliss) vs. Randy Orton (Singles match)
- Big E (c) vs. Apollo Crews (Nigerian Drum Fight for the WWE Intercontinental Championship)
- Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn (w/ Logan Paul) (Singles match)
- Riddle (c) vs. Sheamus (Singles match for the WWE United States Championship)
