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WWE WrestleMania 37 did not disappoint. Both nights ended with fantastic main events and we have an exclusive with Bianca Belair, who main-evented Night One of WrestleMania. We also take a look at Dutch Mantell revealing how Vince McMahon once fired a WWE Superstar right after he came backstage after his match.
Also in this news roundup are updates on the returns of Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch. We also look at a couple of other stories, including an AEW star who was spotted at WrestleMania.
#6 Vince McMahon once fired a WWE Superstar right after a match
Dutch Mantell was a guest on last Friday’s edition of Sportskeeda’s Talking Smack. During his appearance on the show, Dutch Mantell recalled the story of how Brad Maddox was fired by Vince McMahon right after he had come backstage after a dark match:
"You don't know what Vince is going to say and when he [Vince McMahon] is going to say it. Actually I saw him fire a guy. When he came back from the ring one day he just fired him. He didn't fire him, he told somebody else to fire him. He said tell him to get his stuff and go home. I forgot what the guy had done, it was in dark match. He went out and said some unkindly bad words to the crowd and he just told him to leave and he never worked for WWE again. What was his name? Brad Maddox! They put him in the ring one night and Vince didn't like his promo and let him go." (H/T: Sportskeeda)
Maddox had used the word “pr****s” in his promo, which had infuriated Vince McMahon. The incident took place in 2015 and Maddox has not returned to WWE since.
#5 Two former champions set to return soon
WWE's President and Chief Revenue Officer Nick Khan was recently a guest on The Colin Cowherd Podcast. Khan gave an update on the WWE status of both Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch, confirming that both Superstars will be returning to WWE “at a certain point in time.” Here's what Khan said:
"Ronda is going to be coming back at a certain point in time. Becky Lynch, she just had her first baby, she will be coming back at a certain point in time in the not too distant future." (H/T: Fightful)
Ronda Rousey’s last WWE match came at WrestleMania 35, where she headlined the show with Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch.
Becky Lynch gave birth to her first child with Seth Rollins late last year. Lynch is said to be ready to make her return to WWE soon. There was a report ahead of WrestleMania that Becky Lynch could return for a segment with Bayley, but that was not the case. Could we see Lynch return on the RAW after WrestleMania?
#4 Former WWE Superstar Mr. Hughes opened up about backstage issues with Lex Luger
The Hannibal TV recently interviewed former WWE and WCW star Mr. Hughes on YouTube. Hughes opened up about how he once had issues with Lex Luger, saying that Luger had refused to sell his moves during their first match together.
Here’s what Mr. Hughes said when asked if he had issues with Luger:
"Yes I did. I had one issue. Remember I told you that when I came to Atlanta, they brought me in to have Torture Rack matches with Lex Luger all over the country and our first Torture Rack match, I can't remember what town or city we were in, it was somewhere in Virginia I think... somewhere in Richmond but this was the very first night we were going to work out Torture Rack match. Well, my thing was I did punches and I did headbutts and I did dropkicks. Those were the main things that I did. When I was doing all this, he was not selling anything. I go 'what the hell'. I tell the ref 'Come here man, tell Luger if he don't start selling then I'm freaking leaving and you're going to count me out'. I'm not going to sit up and waste my damn time. They brought me in here to get this guy over so we can make some freaking money together, right? So we have the match, I come back in and we finish the freaking match." (H/T: Sportskeeda)
Hughes went on to say that he confronted Lex Luger in the dressing room area later that night and never had a problem with him after that day.
You can also check out Mr. Hughes discussing his casket matches with The Undertaker HERE.
#3 JTG loved the United States title match at WrestleMania
Former WWE Superstar JTG spoke to Sportskeeda shortly after Night Two of WrestleMania. While discussing his favorite matches from the show, JTG praised the United States Championship match, especially for Sheamus’ performance:
"It was perfectly executed, well timed, I got to give it to Sheamus for that. It was a great match and Sheamus just laid it into him [Riddle]. I'm in the audience like... I'm a worker but I'm going like 'ouch'."
Sheamus pinned Riddle to leave WrestleMania as the new WWE United States Champion.
You can check out Sportskeeda’s full interview with JTG HERE.
#2 AEW star Miro attended WrestleMania 37 to support Lana
AEW star Miro was in attendance at WrestleMania 37 to support his wife Lana, and the latter's dad was also at the show with The Best Man. Lana posted a photo of the duo on Twitter.
Miro was signed to WWE under the ring name Rusev until his release last year, after which the former WWE United States Champion went on to sign with AEW. Miro was recently feuding with Orange Cassidy and Best Friends.
#1 Bianca Belair opened up about being in the main event of WrestleMania 37
Bianca Belair and Sasha Banks made history on the first night of WrestleMania 37, becoming the first African-American women to main-event The Show of Shows. Belair left WrestleMania as the new SmackDown Women’s Champion after beating Sasha Banks. This was the first title win of Belair's WWE career.
Sportskeeda’s Rick Ucchino caught up with Bianca Belair after her historic title win. During the interview, Bianca Belair opened up about what was going through her head when she stood across the ring from Sasha Banks:
"I was just overcome with all types of emotion. Just the fact that we were at WrestleMania. It was the main event. We were at the main event of WrestleMania and we were creating history. When I looked across at Sasha Banks, I couldn't help but smile. I know that we were both fighting for a title, but it was... This moment, it was more than just about me. It was more than just about Sasha. It was more than just about us."
Bianca Belair got her WrestleMania title shot after winning the 2021 Women’s Royal Rumble match. You can check out more from Bianca Belair’s interview with Sportskeeda HERE.
