Former WWE wrestler Reginald ‘almost main evented WrestleMania’

According to former WWE wrestler Reginald, he was nearly inserted into Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair’s match at WrestleMania 37.

Banks and Belair made history in 2021 when they became the first Black women to headline WrestleMania. But the match apparently could have been a triple threat, with Reginald telling Rewind Recap Relive that Vince McMahon wanted to add him to the mix.

“Brother, I have a million,” Reginald responded when Rewind Recap Live asked if he had any stories about McMahon being high on him. “Just one that’s ridiculous off the bat, I almost main evented WrestleMania. It was an intergender match… If I would have been in this match, I would have got so much heat from everyone because this match had such — like, this was a huge match. This was a first… Vince wanted a triple threat between Sasha, Bianca, and myself.”

Around the time of WrestleMania 37, Reginald was involved in a storyline with Banks, Belair, and Carmella. He even worked a singles match against Banks earlier that year. The story was supposed to be Reginald splitting off from Carmella and getting close to Banks — only to reveal that he was joining her match at WrestleMania. Banks and Belair did not respond favorably when they found out the idea.

“So Carmella fired me and I was supposed to fall in love with Sasha, all of these different things,” Reginald said. “So Vince calls all of us into the office. Me, Sasha and Bianca, and we have some producers and writers there. He says, ‘This is what I’m thinking, Reggie, you buy her a dog, she loves you, and you’re playing every week in the middle, but the thing is you have an endgame. You will come out and announce that this is no longer a singles. This is a triple threat.’

“When he said that, Sasha had a look on her face, and Bianca had the same look on her face. And I’m just like, ‘I don’t know what the hell is happening right now. I’m not going to look at anyone, I’m not going to say anything.’ Vince said, ‘Because Sasha and Reginald, you guys have great chemistry.’ And Sasha kept asking Vince, ‘What do you mean? What is this chemistry?’ He’s like, ‘I don’t know, it’s just chemistry.’ She’s like, ‘But what makes us have this chemistry?’ He was like, ‘I don’t know, damn it. It’s chemistry.’ We just didn’t get an answer. It was just: chemistry.

“Lo and behold, they came to their senses. That would have been stupid to throw me in that match. And so they went on to have a great match that’s going to live in WWE history for a long time. Can you imagine? Can’t even, yeah.”

Even if he was added, Reginald might not have been able to compete —

It’s unknown if this triple threat actually would have gone on last had it taken place. And the WrestleMania plans likely would have fallen through even if McMahon did decide to move forward with them, because Reginald ended up testing positive for COVID the day of the show. He told Rewind Recap Live that he was supposed to accompany Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler for their WWE Women’s Tag Team title defense against Natalya & Tamina.

“I was supposed to debut in front of a live crowd that WrestleMania with Nia & Shayna, but I got COVID the day of,” Reginald said. “I drove to Tampa, tested, got horrible news. Legit been clean, negative the entire pandemic. First time I get to go, my first WrestleMania — COVID. I have to drive back home.”

During his WWE career from 2020-2024, Reginald (real name Sidney Bateman) was known as Reggie, Reginald, and Scrypts. He noted during the Rewind Recap Relive interview that he’s now “in the midst of getting a deal done” with AEW/ROH, where he’s already worked ROH tapings with his new character Soleil.

Former NXT wrestler reveals WWE creative restricted character direction  

Former NXT wrestler Reggie (Sidney Akeem) reflected on the creative limitations during his WWE run.

In an interview with John Kiernan of Ropes n Riffs, Reggie said the SCRYPTS gimmick was shaped by multiple voices within WWE’s creative team. He added that his current superhero-inspired character, Soleil, is his authentic self.

“To be honest, Soleil is what I wanted SCRYPTS to be, but I didn’t have full creative freedom with the SCRYPTS character. It was just so many different cooks in the kitchen that when you saw SCRYPTS that was an accumulation of the head writer, the writing team, this person, that person, myself and whatnot and it was just all over the place. But this is 100% authentically me, and I was hired because of my story in WWE but I never got to use that story. And so I said, if my story and my athletic ability was good enough for me to get hired in a company where I had zero experience, then that story must be good. So I must tell that story.”

Reggie pointed out the misconception about wrestlers competing on the indies regarding creative liberty with their gimmicks. 

“And so, when I got to the indies I seen people talk about how they have so much freedom on the indies to do whatever. They don’t talk about the grind and how hard it is and bookings they come sparingly, but they talk about the freedom you have and you’re so much happier. I was very happy when I put this mask on and did this story.”

“I could have stayed Sidney Akeem and whatnot, but I’m going to do both. I’m not going to lose who I am, because I am a character myself. But Soleil represents a big group of people, mainly kids that look like me or been through things that I’ve been through because I’m letting them know that it’s ok to put on a mask, not to hide, but as a sign of courage. It’s a sign of, I’m gonna do what I got to do, regardless if the world around me tells me that I can’t.”

When Reggie signed to WWE in 2020 he was introduced as Carmella’s French sommelier and assisted in her SmackDown feuds. In 2022 he was moved to NXT where he competed under his Scrypts persona before being released in 2024.

TNA Unbreakable notes: New International Champion, Alicia Fox, Scrypts

News and notes from Thursday night’s TNA Unbreakable special on TNA Plus.

Inaugural TNA International Champion crowned —

Steve Maclin won a three-way to become the first-ever TNA International Champion in the Unbreakable main event.

Maclin defeated Eric Young, and AJ Francis in the three-way to be recognized as the inaugural International Champion. The International title replaces the Digital Media Championship vacated last month. Steph De Lander claimed the Digital Media title and was briefly recognized as Champion following PCO’s departure in January, but never defended the title.

Young and Maclin both won three-way qualifiers earlier in the Unbreakable card, while Francis won his way in to the title match weeks ago on Impact.

Alicia Fox —

Victoria Crawford, formerly known as Alicia Fox in WWE, made her TNA debut in an angle at Unbreakable. After being shown in the audience, Crawford distracted Knockouts World Champion Masha Slamovich during the mixed tag bout on the show, allowing Tessa Blanchard to hit Slamovich from behind.

Chris Bey —

Chris Bey made a special appearance at Unbreakable. The 29-year-old Bey suffered a broken neck in a TNA match last October, with the company holding a fundraising event for him earlier Thursday, plus auctioning off event-worn gear from tonight’s show on their eBay page.

Scrypts —

Sidney Akeem, formerly known as Scrypts in NXT and Reggie in WWE, made his promotional debut as the surprise opponent for Moose in the X-Division Champion’s open challenge at Unbreakable.

The Hardys —

Matt and Jeff Hardy gave Nic and Ryan Nemeth an invitation to The Hardy Compound at Unbreakable. The Hardys are set to defend their TNA Tag Team titles against The Nemeths at the Rebellion pay-per-view on April 27.

Matt Boone’s full report from Unbreakable is here.

Scrypts wrestles first post-WWE match at GCW Hit ‘Em Up

Sidney Akeem, formerly known as SCRYPTS/Reggie, has begun his post-WWE career.

Akeem wrestled at GCW Hit ‘Em Up in Los Angeles on Saturday night. He defeated Jack Cartwheel on the show. GCW fans have been sharing clips of Akeem’s rather acrobatic displays during the bout on social media.

https://twitter.com/GIFSkullX/status/1802185462548775241
https://twitter.com/EspioakaKeith/status/1802186274356265014

Earlier this week, Akeem teased big things for his GCW debut, writing, “Saturday will be a movie, a run you don’t want to miss. You about to see what I’ve been cooking up in the kettle.”

He is scheduled to return to the promotion in Dallas on June 29, and in St. Louis on July 19.

GCW Hit ‘Em Up results from Saturday, June 15, 2024 —

  • Jordan Oliver defeated Broski Jimmy
  • Megan Bayne defeated Sandra Moon
  • Sidney Akeem defeated Jack Cartwheel
  • Viva Van defeated Man Like DeReiss
  • Zilla Fatu defeated Bobby Flaco and Hunter Drake in a three-way match
  • 1 Called Manders won a six-way scramble match against Sam Stackhouse, Rob Shit, Mr. Danger, Brayden Toon, and Jordan Cruz
  • Ciclope & Miedo Extremo defeated The Stoner Brothers
  • Danhausen defeated Kylie Rae
  • Alli Katch, Effy & Dark Sheik defeated Bodhi Young Prodigy, Alec Price & Cole Radrick
  • GCW World Championship match: Mance Warner vs. Joey Janela went to a no-contest

Scrypts exposed as Reggie on WWE NXT

Scrypts no longer has his mask.

After Scrypts lost to Axiom on Tuesday’s NXT, Axiom helped Reggie to his feet as a sign of respect. Scrypts responded by attacking Axiom, who responded by punching Scrypts. Axiom then removed Scrypts’ mask, revealing the masked man as the former Reggie. Neither commentator identified Reggie under that name, although Booker T asked Vic Joseph if he recognized that guy.

Reggie made his debut under the Scrypts persona back in November. In recent weeks, Scrypts and Axiom have had confrontations, including in a NXT North American battle royal. On last week’s NXT, Axiom promised that he would “expose” Scrypts.

Prior to his run on NXT, Reggie had been on the main roster, first associated with Carmella and later with Nia Jax. He is a former 24/7 Champion who feuded with R-Truth and Dana Brooke over the championship. When Triple H took over as chief content officer in July of 2022, he was relegated to wrestling on Main Event prior to his NXT arrival.

Speak Now: Scrypts revealed, Dijak returns, WWE NXT post-show

Join on-air personality Denise Salcedo as she reviews the November 22nd edition of WWE NXT. 

Topics include the build to Deadline, possible character change for Wendy Choo, Scrypts revealed, Dijak’s return, and more! 

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Reggie revealed as Scrypts on WWE NXT

Scrypts made his in-ring debut on Tuesday’s NXT.

The masked man, who is the former Reggie from the main roster, faced Guru Raaj in his debut match. He picked up the win with a molly-go-round. After the match, he took out a card with his name on it and placed it on Raaj’s chest.

Reggie hasn’t been seen on WWE television since the September 5 edition of Main Event, where he lost to Shelton Benjamin. A former WWE 24/7 Champion, he had not been used on television much once Triple H became head of creative upon Vince McMahon’s resignation from the company in July.

In recent weeks, promos have been airing on NXT featuring a character with a disguised voice, telling the WWE Performance Center via answering machine that he was coming. Last week, a promo aired saying he had made it past security and would be arriving next week to “play a little game”.