Vince McMahon wrestled for the first time in 12 years at WrestleMania 38.
McMahon defeated Pat McAfee in an impromptu match on Sunday’s show. McAfee had just defeated Austin Theory when he challenged the 76-year-old to a match as well. McMahon accepted and a referee joined them in the ring.
Theory attacked McAfee from behind before the bell. With his opponent already weakened, McMahon gave him a few clotheslines and punted a football into his ribs before pinning him.
McMahon and Theory were celebrating in the ring when “Stone Cold” Steve Austin’s music hit. Austin delivered a stunner to Theory before turning his attention to Vince. The two toasted beers together but Austin would eventually give McMahon a stunner too.
Austin then invited McAfee to join him in the ring. The two of them toasted beers together as Austin’s music played. Finally, Austin gave McAfee a stunner as well before the segment came to a close.
This was Vince McMahon’s first match since being defeated by Bret Hart at WrestleMania 26.
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Austin Theory spoke to TVInsider on his upcoming match against Pat McAfee at WrestleMania 38. He spoke about working with Vince McMahon. âIâm in a position that anyone who aspired to do anything in WWE would be so honored to have,” he said. I understand just how big a deal the position I am in is. Just how crazy it is for me as a lifelong fan who grew up watching Mr. McMahon and the crazy things he did. Itâs cool to be put in a position to perform live television with him. The one thing Iâve learned from him is this respectful aggressiveness. Showing you have that respect, but if you have an idea and are passionate about something, you have to use that aggressiveness to go after it. There are little tips as we perform that I take away from for sure.â
WWEâs YouTube page has a preview of the upcoming episode of Broken Skull Sessions with guest Lita.
Natalya spoke with WMBD in Illinois about WrestleMania 38. She also spoke about the incident during WrestleMania 35 weekend where a fan ran in and attacked Bret Hart during his Hall of Fame speech. âIt was really scary, actually. My uncle was starting to speak about my dad. I know that my dad meant so much to my uncle. They were best friends. My dad wasnât there to speak or accept the award, so when youâre honoring somebodyâs life after theyâre gone, itâs very emotional,â Natalya said. For us, we were just trying to honor my dadâs life and give him an incredible send off.âI say this with complete conviction, just like our fans in WWE, just like the superstars in WWE, and the company. We were resilient. [Bret] and I got knocked down, we got right back up, and we kept going.â
This weekâs Road to focuses on Thunder Rosa winning the AEW Womenâs World Championship last week on Dynamite.
In an interview with MMA Fighting, Paige VanZant said she would like to do both pro wrestling and bare knuckle fighting. âI want to fight for AEW. I want to fight for BKFC. Contract is open-ended so I could still do MMA at the same time. I love MMA and I know my doorâs definitely not closed on MMA, but at the same time, my passion really is pro wrestling and bare-knuckle boxing right now.â
In an interview with Between the Ropes, Rocky Romero talked about the initial friction between AEW and NJPW. âObviously like AEW talent coming to NJPW STRONG like we talked about earlier is important but also like vice-versa âŠNJPW talent going to an AEW is super cool and important, you know that is how the forbidden door started right?â Romero said. âBecause of, not going too deep into the backstory, but there was some friction there between AEW and NJPW when The Bucks and Kenny left [NJPW] to form AEW with Tony [Khan]and things were not easy at first. But we are really working on the relationship and people like Kenny and Moxley and Jericho were really important in opening up that conversation again⊠so yeah of course I want to be a part of AEW they are doing great stuff and getting to work with TRENT again was awesome and I want to do more stuff with TRENT and Chuckie, Wheeler and of course, Orange Cassidy is the man.â
WWE has announced three new additions to the lineup for tonight’s Raw.
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will appear on Raw tonight and address her attack on Bianca Belair from last week. Two non-title matches involving champions have also been added to the show. Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton & Riddle) will take on Alpha Academy (Chad Gable & Otis), while United States Champion Finn Balor will face Austin Theory.
Over the weekend, WWE issued a storyline injury update claiming that Belair suffered a “fractured hyoid bone” when she was attacked by Lynch last Monday. Lynch got payback on Belair by wrapping a steel chair around Belair’s head and sending her throat-first into the ring post.
Lynch is defending her Raw Women’s Championship against Belair at WrestleMania 38 night one on Saturday, April 2.
RK-Bro accepted a WrestleMania challenge from The Street Profits on Raw last week. Gable and Otis then inserted themselves into the picture by interrupting a singles match between Riddle and Montez Ford.
Due to a distraction by Theory, Balor lost a non-title match to Damian Priest last week. Theory then laid out Balor after the match.
Theory is facing Pat McAfee at WrestleMania 38 night two.
Tonight’s Raw is taking place at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. The updated lineup for the show is listed below:
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will address her attack on Bianca Belair from last week
AJ Styles returns to Raw for the first time since being given two con-chair-tos by Edge three weeks ago
Non-title match: Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton & Riddle) vs. Alpha Academy (Chad Gable & Otis)
Non-title match: United States Champion Finn Balor vs. Austin Theory
WWE has revealed which night of WrestleMania 38 Pat McAfee’s match will be taking place on.
McAfee vs. Austin Theory is set for WrestleMania 38 night two on Sunday, April 3. The two-night event is being held at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on April 2 and April 3.
The match was made official for WrestleMania 38 when Theory confronted McAfee on last Friday’s SmackDown. McAfee had accepted an offer to wrestle at WrestleMania during Vince McMahon’s appearance on the Pat McAfee Show last week.
In storyline, Theory is McMahon’s protege.
This will be McAfee’s first WWE main roster match. He previously wrestled for NXT twice.
McAfee has been a color commentator for SmackDown since April 2021.
Here’s the updated WrestleMania 38 lineup:
Night one (Saturday, April 2) —
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair defends against Ronda Rousey
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defends against Bianca Belair
Rey & Dominik Mysterio vs. The Miz & Logan Paul
Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin
Night two (Sunday, April 3) —
Winner-take-all championship unification match: WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Universal Champion Roman Reigns
Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory
Sami Zayn vs. Johnny Knoxville
Night to be determined —
AJ Styles vs. Edge
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Carmella & Zelina Vega defend against Sasha Banks & Naomi
Last night’s SmackDown saw a title change take place on the road to WrestleMania.
Ricochet defeated Sami Zayn last night to win the Intercontinental title. After a distraction by Johnny Knoxville, Ricochet hit a hurricanrana and pinned Zayn to become the new Intercontinental Champion.
Zayn then issued a challenge for the “Jackass” star to face him at WrestleMania 38. Knoxville responded later in the show and accepted the challenge.
Pat McAfee vs. Austin Theory was also made official for WrestleMania 38. Following McAfee’s interview with Vince McMahon on the Pat McAfee Show, Theory confronted McAfee on SmackDown.
Ronda Rousey made her SmackDown in-ring debut last night, defeating Sonya Deville in the main event of the episode. Rousey then put Charlotte Flair in an ankle lock after the match and made her visually tap out ahead of their SmackDown Women’s Championship match at WrestleMania.
Pat McAfee will take on Austin Theory at WrestleMania.
On tonightâs episode of SmackDown, Raw star Theory came out and berated McAfee, saying that he had been set up by McMahon when McMahon was on McAfeeâs podcast on Thursday afternoon. Theory then went to the announce table and said that he McAfeeâs opponent for WrestleMania. He then slapped McAfee, stunning him as Theory took selfies and left.
McMahon on yesterdayâs episode of The Pat McAfee show offered McAfee a match at WrestleMania, with McAfee accepting. A report from last week noted that a match between McAfee and McMahon was in the internal WrestleMania 38 schedule.
Here are the current cards for WrestleMania 38, which takes place at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on April 2 and 3:
Night one (Saturday, April 2) —
SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair defends against Ronda Rousey
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defends against Bianca Belair
Rey & Dominik Mysterio vs. The Miz & Logan Paul
Drew McIntyre vs. Happy Corbin
Night two (Sunday, April 3) —
Winner-take-all championship unification match: WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Universal Champion Roman Reigns
Night to be determined —
AJ Styles vs. Edge
WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Carmella & Zelina Vega defend against Sasha Banks & Naomi
WWE will begin to determine Bobby Lashley’s Elimination Chamber challengers on tonight’s episode of Raw.
Two Elimination Chamber qualifying matches have been announced for tonight’s show. They are: Rey Mysterio vs. AJ Styles and Kevin Owens vs. Austin Theory.
It was announced earlier today that Lashley will defend his WWE Championship against five opponents in an Elimination Chamber match at February’s Elimination Chamber pay-per-view. The PPV is being held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, February 19.
Lashley won the WWE Championship from Brock Lesnar at the Royal Rumble. The finish of the match involved interference by Universal Champion Roman Reigns, along with Lesnar being betrayed by Paul Heyman.
Tonight’s Royal Rumble fallout edition of Raw is taking place at the Heritage Bank Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Here’s the updated lineup for the show:
Men’s Royal Rumble winner Brock Lesnar will make his WrestleMania decision
Women’s Royal Rumble winner Ronda Rousey appears
New WWE Champion Bobby Lashley appears
Elimination Chamber qualifying match: Rey Mysterio vs. AJ Styles
Elimination Chamber qualifying match: Kevin Owens vs. Austin Theory
The first six participants have been confirmed for this year’s men’s Royal Rumble match.
During tonight’s episode of Raw, WWE confirmed five more entrants for the men’s Rumble. They are: The Street Profits’ Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford, Rey Mysterio, Dominik Mysterio, and Austin Theory. “Jackass” star Johnny Knoxville will also be taking part in the match.
The Street Profits and The Mysterios each cut promos on Raw tonight declaring that they’ll be in the Royal Rumble. Theory was informed that he’d be in the match by Vince McMahon.
The Royal Rumble is taking place at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis on Saturday, January 29. WWE hasn’t yet announced any of the participants for the women’s Royal Rumble match.
Here’s the updated card for the Royal Rumble:
Men’s Royal Rumble match
Women’s Royal Rumble match
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar defends against Bobby Lashley
Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch defends against either Liv Morgan, Bianca Belair, or Doudrop (Morgan, Belair, and Doudrop will face off in a triple threat match on Raw next week to determine Lynch’s Royal Rumble challenger)
Mixed tag match: Edge & Beth Phoenix vs. The Miz & Maryse
Finn Balor vs. Austin Theory, as well as other matches and segments, have been announced for this Mondayâs Raw.
Theory, inspired by Vince McMahonâs order to do something unexpected, has attacked Balor for the last few weeks unprovoked. After last Mondayâs attack, Theory took selfies of himself attacking Balor.
The Miz is also set to hold Miz TV, with guests AJ Styles and Omos. The duo will also be in action, as they will face Rey and Dominik Mysterio. Maryse will be the guest on this weekâs Cutting Edge following the events of last week, where Maryse walked out on Miz after he used her as a shield during a confrontation between himself and Edge.
Other matches set for Raw include Doudrop facing Bianca Belair. The two have faced off twice, the first time with Doudrop walking away for a count out loss, then last week where Belair pinned Doudrop. Rhea Ripley will face Queen Zelina in another rematch from last weekâs Raw. Zelina pinned Ripley in under a minute last week due to distractions from Nikki A.S.H. and Carmella. Damian Priest is also set to face Dolph Ziggler.
Also announced for Raw is Bobby Lashley and MVP. Lashley won a gauntlet match on last weekâs show and as a result, has been added to what is now a fatal four-way match for the WWE Championship at Day 1.
The search for Vince McMahon’s missing $100 million egg concluded on last night’s Raw.
The storyline began when the egg, which was said to be a gift from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, was stolen at Survivor Series on Sunday night. McMahon opened Raw by threatening to fire Adam Pearce and Sonya Deville if the egg wasn’t found by the end of the show. McMahon also said that whoever gave him the information that led to the egg being returned would receive a title shot.
Sami Zayn revealed that Austin Theory was the culprit, but McMahon instead chose to give the WWE Championship shot to Theory. Theory said he just wanted to take a selfie with the egg but was scared to return it after so much security got involved.
Theory showed McMahon the selfie that he took with the egg. McMahon said Theory reminded him of himself and he was going to drop the charges. After McMahon gave him the title shot, Theory took a selfie with McMahon and the egg. Zayn was upset about not getting the title shot, but McMahon told him that no one likes a snitch.
Theory challenged Big E for the WWE Championship in last night’s main event. Seth Rollins and Kevin Owens both came out to watch the match from ringside. When Rollins got involved, he and Owens started to argue. That distraction led to Big E hitting the Big Ending on Theory to get the win.
Big E threw Rollins over the announce table after the match and then went to attack Owens too, but Owens was able to get away. Rollins tried to attack Big E, but he got laid out with the Big Ending.
The culprit behind the missing Cleopatra golden egg that was the center of tonightâs Raw was none other than Austin Theory.
Sami Zayn, Adam Pearce, and Sonya Deville revealed to Vince McMahon on tonightâs show that Theory was the one who stole Cleopatra’s golden egg that was introduced as part of a tie-in to The Rock’s new Netflix movie, Red Notice, at Survivor Series on Sunday. Theory admitted to the crime, saying that he stole it after he tried to take a selfie with the egg but got nervous with all of the security around and ended up taking it back to his hotel room.
McMahon told Theory that it took a lot of guts to admit what he did and not only dropped the charges, but gave Theory the WWE title match against Big E set for later that night, saying that Theory reminded him of himself. When Zayn questioned McMahon on why he let Theory free, McMahon cut him off, saying nobody likes a snitch. Big E later defeated Theory to retain the WWE title after Theory was distracted by Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins, who were arguing outside the ring.
McMahon opened the show telling Pearce and Deville that whoever was able to find the culprit behind the egg’s disappearance would receive a WWE title match against Big E later in the night. Backstage segments featured WWE talent running around and tearing everything apart looking for the egg.
A change has been made to another one of the teams for Survivor Series.
Rey Mysterio has been removed from Raw’s men’s team for Survivor Series, with Austin Theory being named as his replacement. The announcement was made after Mysterio lost to Bobby Lashley in the main event of tonight’s Raw.
Lashley submitted Mysterio with the Hurt Lock in their match and then refused to let go of the hold. Lashley stared down Dominik Mysterio, who stayed outside of the ring until Lashley let go of the Hurt Lock. Dominik then got into the ring and checked on his father.
WWE authority figure Adam Pearce came out to the stage after the match and announced that, for the well-being of both Team Raw and for Rey Mysterio, he was removing Rey from Survivor Series. Pearce had said he would name a replacement later, but he instead announced Theory as Rey’s replacement after Theory appeared and laid out Dominik with the ATL. Pearce said he liked Theory’s style after the attack.
Rey and Dominik have now both been removed from Team Raw. Lashley took Dominik’s spot when he defeated Dominik on Raw last week.
Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Lashley & Theory will represent Raw in the men’s traditional Survivor Series elimination match. They’re facing SmackDown’s Drew McIntyre, Jeff Hardy, Xavier Woods, Baron Corbin, and a partner to be determined.
SmackDown has one open spot on both its men’s and women’s teams. Sami Zayn and Aliyah were removed from their respective teams last Friday.
The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York is hosting Survivor Series this Sunday. Here’s the updated card for the pay-per-view
Non-title match: WWE Champion Big E vs. Universal Champion Roman Reigns
Non-title match: Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair
Non-title match: Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro (Randy Orton & Riddle) vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Usos (Jimmy & Jey Uso)
Non-title match: United States Champion Damian Priest vs. Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura
Women’s five-on-five elimination match: Team Raw (Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, Carmella & Zelina Vega) vs. Team SmackDown (Sasha Banks, Shayna Baszler, Shotzi, Natalya, and a partner)
Men’s five-on-five elimination match: Team Raw (Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens, Bobby Lashley & Austin Theory) vs. Team SmackDown (Drew McIntyre, Jeff Hardy, Xavier Woods, Baron Corbin, and a partner)
Hit Row, as well as Austin Theory, are heading to WWEâs main roster.
During the third round of tonightâs WWE Draft, it was announced that Hit Row (Ashante ‘Thee’ Adonis, Isaiah âSwerveâ Scott, Top Dolla, and B-Fab) were drafted from NXT. Scott is the current NXT North American Champion. At the end of the final round of draft selections, Theory was drafted to Raw.
Theory has been associated with The Way stable on NXT, along with Johnny Gargano, Candice LeRae, and Indi Hartwell. He previously was on Raw last March as a protege of Zelina Vega, but by June the relationship had ended. In August, he returned to NXT, eventually aligning with the Gargano family.
Top Dolla appeared in a dark match prior to tonightâs SmackDown, defeating Cedric Alexander.
The Hit Row stable began back in May, when Scott defeated Leon Ruff in a match after Top Dolla interfered. Soon after, the entire stable including B-Fab and Ashante ‘Thee’ Adonis, were introduced.
Davey Boy Smith Jr. appeared in a dark match prior to tonightâs SmackDown.
Smith teamed with Austin Theory to take on Odyssey Jones and Xyon Quinn (formerly Daniel Vidot). Smith was billed under his real name, Harry Smith. In another dark match, Xia Li wrestled Aliyah.
WWE later posted a video on social media with Smith talking about his return to WWE.
Originally signed by WWE in 2006, Smith was released by WWE in 2011 and spent most of the last decade teaming with Lance Archer as the Killer Elite Squad in New Japan Pro Wrestling, where they won the IWGP Tag Team titles on three occasions. Smith left NJPW in 2019 and has worked dates with MLW since his departure. He also attended the WWE Hall of Fame indcution ceremony this year, where his father The British Bulldog was inducted.
Tonightâs SmackDown at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas is the first television taping to take place in front of fans since March of 2020. WrestleMania 36 in Tampa, Florida has been the only WWE event to be held with a live audience since then.
A new match announcement has been made for next week’s NXT.
During this morning’s edition of WWE’s The Bump, it was announced that Oney Lorcan vs. Austin Theory will take place on NXT next Tuesday. The episode is NXT’s go-home show for TakeOver: In Your House.
Lorcan and Theory are each aligned with one of the wrestlers who will be taking part in the fatal five-way match for the NXT Championship at TakeOver: In Your House. Lorcan is aligned with Pete Dunne, while Theory is stablemates with Johnny Gargano. A triple threat match between Dunne, Gargano, and Kyle O’Reilly on last night’s NXT was supposed to decide NXT Champion Karrion Kross’ challenger for TakeOver, but it ended in a no contest when Adam Cole made his return and attacked all three wrestlers.
Lorcan and Theory got into a shoving match backstage after last night’s triple threat match and had to be separated by officials. Lorcan said Dunne would have won the match if it wasn’t for Cole. Theory disagreed and said Gargano would’ve won.
Kross will defend his NXT Championship against Dunne, Gargano, O’Reilly, and Cole in a fatal five-way match at TakeOver: In Your House. The event is taking place on Sunday, June 13.
Ember Moon vs. Dakota Kai is also set for next Tuesday’s NXT. It will be part of the final build to Moon challenging for Raquel Gonzalez’s NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver. Plus, Grammy-nominated pop-rock and nu-metal artist Poppy will make her return to NXT as she appears on next Tuesday’s episode.
