Rumors on CM Punk vs. Eddie Kingston, WWE WrestleMania Events, Dorado & Metalik Cuts

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

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Punk, Kingston Reportedly Had Real-Life Heat

CM Punk and Eddie Kingston are set to clash at AEW Full Gear on Saturday following a heated promo segment between them last week on Rampage.

Punk and Kingston brought an element of realism to the table when they went back and forth on the mic, and there may be a good reason for that.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Michael Perry of Ringside News), an unnamed wrestler told him they witnessed a verbal confrontation between Punk and Kingston backstage at an IWA Mid-South show early in their careers.

There was overlap between Punk and Kingston working for the company from 2003-05, which is likely when the confrontation would have taken place.

The wrestler told Meltzer:

"I was sitting right there in an IWA Mid-South locker room when Punk called Eddie and his partner at the time, Blackjack Marciano, fat, lazy and unsafe. Marciano had just accidentally injured Delirious in a previous match and Punk was hot about it, so [he] just buried them nonstop. I could see why Eddie hung onto that hate and anger for so long."

It is unclear if Punk and Kingston have made amends over the years, but their real-life issues add intrigue to their upcoming match regardless.

Saturday will mark Punk's second pay-per-view match in AEW, as he previously beat Darby Allin in his AEW debut bout at All Out.

Kingston has wrestled several times on AEW pay-per-view events, but Full Gear could represent the biggest opportunity of his career given how big of a star Punk is.

Both competitors figure to leave it all on the line at Full Gear in a clash that has a chance to be the match of the night.

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NXT TakeOver, WWE HOF Not Currently Scheduled for WrestleMania Weekend

WWE recently announced that WrestleMania 38 will be a two-night event at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on April 2 and 3, 2022.

While WWE has traditionally made WrestleMania a weeklong celebration, there are reportedly no plans in place yet for an NXT TakeOver or WWE Hall of Fame ceremony to occur in conjunction with WrestleMania 38.

According to Meltzer (h/t Perry), it is still possible WWE could add those events between now and next year's WrestleMania.

Ancillary events that WWE does have in place thus far are the April 1 SmackDown and April 4 Raw at the American Airlines Center in Dallas and WrestleMania Axxess at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas.

The WWE Hall of Fame ceremony has taken place during the week leading up to WrestleMania for many years, while NXT TakeOver events began occurring during WrestleMania week in 2016, which was the last time WrestleMania was in Dallas.

There was no WrestleMania weekend TakeOver in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there was a two-night TakeOver leading up to WrestleMania this year.

NXT has undergone a huge transformation in recent months with WWE focusing on younger, less-experienced wrestlers. There hasn't been a TakeOver under the NXT 2.0 umbrella, but WWE recently announced NXT WarGames for December.

As for the Hall of Fame ceremony, one wasn't held in 2020 because of the pandemic, while this year's took place with no live crowd in attendance and saw both the class of 2020 and 2021 inducted.

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Dorado, Metalik Reportedly Requested WWE Release

Prior to getting released by WWE earlier this month, Lucha House Party members Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik reportedly requested to get let go by the company.

Per Meltzer (h/t Perry), Dorado was upset after having to take the pinfall in a tag team loss to Angel Garza and Humberto Carrillo on Main Event on Sept. 13. He reportedly spoke to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon afterward and asked for his release.

Metalik reportedly asked for his release as well because he also wanted out, although he "was not the kind of a guy who would have asked out" if not for Dorado already doing so.

Dorado and Metalik both debuted in WWE as part of the Cruiserweight Classic tournament in 2016. Both wrestlers impressed and Metalik made it all the way to the finals where he fell to T.J. Perkins.

They primarily appeared in 205 Live for a couple of years after that before joining forces with Kalisto to form the Lucha House Party stable.

After Kalisto was released in April, Dorado and Metalik continued to team together, but they didn't receive much television time.

Dorado and Metalik are presumably under 90-day non-compete clauses, meaning they will be eligible to sign elsewhere and appear on TV in early February.

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