Cody Rhodes Talks The Rock, CM Punk; Riddle Eyes Goldberg; WWE Rumors on Charlotte
Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
Rhodes Talks Competing for WrestleMania Main Event Spot with The Rock, Punk
Amid speculation that CM Punk and The Rock could occupy main event spots at WrestleMania 40, Cody Rhodes suggested this week that he isn't sweating it.
Speaking to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Rhodes downplayed his concern about possibly being frozen out of the WrestleMania main event scene, saying:
"The Rock is The Great One—he's still electrifying. CM Punk is one of the greatest stars in the history of wrestling. I know what I'm up against. Look at the roster—it's loaded with stars. But that doesn't bother me. I'm not flinching. I'm not rooting against anyone else, I'm just working to make it happen."
Ever since Rhodes lost to Roman Reigns in the main event of Night 2 of WrestleMania 39 last year, it has been widely assumed that Cody would spend the next year building toward another shot at Reigns before headlining WrestleMania once again.
That could still happen, but the recent returns of The Rock and Punk to WWE programming may have thrown a wrench into things.
Punk isn't likely to impact Rhodes much since all signs point toward him potentially winning the men's Royal Rumble match and facing Seth Rollins for the World Heavyweight Championship on Night 1 of WrestleMania 40.
Reigns is firmly in The Rock's crosshairs, though, as The People's Champion made a surprise return to Raw last week and named-dropped "The Tribal Chief," which is one of Reigns' monikers.
Both Reigns and The Rock have expressed interest in facing each other in the past, and a dream match between the real-life cousins has been the talk of the WWE Universe for at least the past few years.
If WWE goes with Reigns vs. The Rock at WrestleMania, it would almost certainly leave Rhodes on the outside looking in, although the possibility remains that WWE could do Reigns vs. The Rock elsewhere, such as Australia for Elimination Chamber in February, which would leave the door open for a Reigns vs. Rhodes rematch.
Riddle Wants Match vs. Goldberg Following WWE Release
Matt Riddle has already started to make an impact in the wake of his WWE departure, and he is eyeing a match that could generate a ton of buzz in the wrestling world.
Speaking during an autograph signing with Signed By Superstars (h/t Andrew Thompson of Post Wrestling), Riddle discussed his desire to have a match against WWE Hall of Famer Goldberg:
"You know, I don't wanna give too much, but I personally would love to work William [Goldberg]. I think me and Goldberg would be a great match. I think I could get something out of him that people haven't seen in years and I think it'd be great for business. I know it'd be really great for me, but at the end of the day, you can't—you know, if he wants to do it, he'll do it.
"If he needs to do it, he'll do it and I mean there's a couple places we could do that. I would imagine maybe an AEW, maybe a TNA, maybe a New Japan but if it was gonna happen, it'd probably be AEW."
Riddle and Goldberg have something of a history, as Goldberg took issue with some negative things Riddle had to say about him.
The two performers had a run-in backstage at SummerSlam 2019, per Riddle, who told a story of Goldberg telling him that they had "some talking to do." Riddle said he called Goldberg "bro" to which Goldberg replied, "I'm not your bro."
Lately, Goldberg has been vocal about his desire to have a retirement match, and he had some less-than-flattering things to say about Vince McMahon, as he claimed that McMahon promised him a retirement match in WWE, only to renege on the agreement.
If Goldberg wants to make a retirement match happen outside of WWE, doing it against a former nemesis in Riddle, who can also wrestle a great match, may be the best option for him in terms of putting on a good show and generating interest.
Injury Updates on Charlotte Flair
Multiple reports regarding Charlotte Flair's health and recovery have surfaced since WWE announced last month that she will be out for nine months due to a knee injury suffered during a match against Asuka.
According to PWInsider.com (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Flair underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus. She is also reportedly dealing with a neck strain in addition to the knee injury.
Despite all of the challenges Charlotte is facing, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Randall Ortman of Cageside Seats) reported that people close to her believe that she will return before the nine-month timeline laid out by WWE.
Flair is the most decorated female Superstar in WWE history, having won the SmackDown Women's Championship seven times, the Raw Women's Championship six times, the NXT Women's Championship twice, the Divas Championship once and the WWE Women's Tag Team Championships once.
She was likely primed to be a key part of the WrestleMania 40 card in April, but the injury will render her unable to compete and potentially create an opportunity for someone else to step up.
WWE is fortunate to have a women's division that is stacked with high-end talent, including the likes of Bayley, Iyo Sky, Asuka, Kairi Sane, Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley and Becky Lynch, among many others.
Because of that, WWE is able to absorb the loss of a significant talent like Charlotte, but it hurts the depth of the women's division nonetheless and takes a main event-caliber performer out of the picture.
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