NEWS (2/7/24–2/8/2024)

* 8 Years Ago Today – Bryan Danielson (tka Daniel Bryan) announced his retirement

→ And now we know that he had 5+ years added to his career of doing what he loves to do.

* Update on Scott D’Amore and TNA Wrestling

→ D’Amore tried BUYING TNA Wrestling from Anthem prior to being fired.

→ He knew reportedly 7-10 days ago about the pending change at the top.

* TNA Wrestling Announces Venue for Rebellion PPV (April 20)

→ SRS/FIghtful reported it was going to be an announcement of a “major, high-profile venue”

→ The Palms casino in Las Vegas

AEW Dynamite (2/7/2024)

* Swerve Strickland vs. Hangman Adam Page ended in a DRAW

→ Double-turn seems to have taken place

→ Due to the result, TK made the World Title match at Revolution a 3-Way Dance

→ This was a 30-minute draw but a very good match

* BCC vs. CMLL guys

* Toni Storm def. Red Velvet - w/Deonna on commentary

→ Post-match, Deonna entered the ring to get Toni to release the submission, only to be sniffed!

* Tony Khan’s “big announcement” was a special episode of Dynamite called BIG BUSINESS at the

TD Garden arena in BO$$TON on 3/13

* Konosuke Takeshita def. Chris Jericho

* Sting & Darby Allin def. Ricky Starks & Big Bill to capture the AEW WORLD TAG TITLES!

→ Post-match beatdown by the Young Bucks; revealing the BTE Trigger is now the EVP Trigger

WWE WrestleMania XL Press Event (2/8/2024)

* Scheduled to Appear: The Rock, Roman Reigns, Triple H, Cody Rhodes, Seth Rollins, Rhea Ripley, Bianca Belair

* Late this morning we got an IG Story from Cody stating “I’ve made my decision…”

* Earlier in the day The Rock appeared on The Pat McAfee Show, and spoke both as Dwayne Johnson, and in-character as The Rock

→ Called a “certain sector” of Cody fans the “Cody Crybabies”

* By mid-afternoon “Hollywood Rock” and “Cody Crybabies” were both trending on Twitter

* Around 2:40pm, WWE announced that the press event would have FOUR Hosts: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee, CM Punk and Big E

* Start of Event

* Had a very PPV-esque feel to the start (video montage, it’s in the T-Mobile Arena; which holds 20,000)

→ Cole says as much

* The “hosts” are on the panel set, ala a PPV kickoff show

* Punk introduced (after his accolades) as “most importantly, the husband of A.J. Lee”

* Mixture of boos and positive chants for first mention of The Rock

* CM Punk asks the crowd “where were y’all in 2013?” (LMAO)

* Cole and McAfee act as the “hosts” on stage

* Triple H runs down the first WM and calls out superstars and celebrities; does NOT mention himself.

→ He calls it a “new era and an all-new WWE”

* Bianca Belair is the first “guest”

* Rhea Ripley up next…

* Interrupted by Becky Lynch

* Adam Pearce has to break up Bex and Rhea

* Seth Rollins out next…

→ Calls out Cody Rhodes just like on RAW, but Roman’s music hits instead!

* Interrupted by The Rock’s Music

* INTERRUPTED BY CODY RHODES - NO MUSIC

* Nick Aldis, Adam Pearce, and Triple H are on stage

* Back to the panel for reactions

→ Big E actually mentioned The Rock is on the board and “kinda your boss”

* Everything still “up in the air” and nothing officially made official

* They throw it to HHH back with Jackie Redmon; The Rock and Roman walk by…

→ “You better fix this. Let him talk shit about our family again and see what happens… You better fix this, or we will. I’ll slap his fucking teeth out his mouth…”

* Back to the panel, Cole asks Punk “how do you fix this?” And Punk says “This is how you fix it: Personal

Issues can be solved when men fight! Let ‘em fight!” (LMAO)

* At 7:25pm CT, Triple H tweeted the following: Decision made. @CodyRhodes gets the chance to finish his story when he challenges @WWERomanReigns in the main event of #WrestleMania XL.

Episode 528