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We are back with another exciting WWE News Roundup to look at the top stories that recently made headlines. Eva Marie's WWE return has led to divisive reactions across social media, and a professional wrestling legend has given her honest opinion on the topic.
A young WWE Superstar recently praised Randy Orton. Meanwhile, Paul Heyman spoke about Roman Reigns' latest run on SmackDown.
Drew McIntyre teased a major match with a popular figure. Also, a WWE icon elaborated on his strained relationship with Vince McMahon in the past.
With that in mind, let's dive straight into the latest WWE News Roundup.
#5 Mickie James thinks Eva Marie has the potential to succeed in WWE
Mickie James has been trending ever since she was released by WWE alongside several other fan favorites. Meanwhile, Eva Marie's recent return to WWE has led to a lot of controversy among the WWE Universe.
Aside from the fact that Marie's character doesn't cater to pure wrestling audiences, many have compared her to recently released stars such as Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, and James herself.
Mickie James talked about Eva Marie during the latest edition of Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette, among various other topics.
She praised Marie for making a name for herself outside of WWE in the last few years. On the subject of characters like Marie, James said that stars in WWE have different roles other than just being pure wrestlers (H/T: Wrestling Inc.):
"I feel like there’s always been — even going back to old school wrestling — that there’s a role for everybody and not everybody has to be a five star wrestler, or whatever, and have dream matches," James stated. "That doesn’t have to be a thing, if their character is strong and they can sells tickets, get ratings, I guess it works.”
Mickie James also addressed the potential hypocrisy of WWE bringing in new talent while releasing other stars due to alleged budget cuts. She pointed out that there have always been changes on the roster with new or returning stars after WrestleMania.
The professional wrestling veteran respected Eva Marie's entrepreneurial skills and mentioned how the latter can succeed in WWE this time around:
“She’s beautiful and stunning, and I do have mad respect in the sense that she has a million followers and been able to rebrand herself and really do a whole other thing outside of wrestling once she left,” James added. “Me being an entrepreneur — and I’m always looking at stuff — I completely respect that side of her. If she can capitalize on all of this heat and just kind of go, ‘Yeah? So?’ That’s where the real — everybody will hate her and it will be great for her.”
Let us know your thoughts on Eva Marie's WWE return in the comments section below.
#4 WWE RAW's Drew McIntyre believes a match against Tyson Fury is a likely possibility
Former WWE Champion Drew McIntyre recently appeared on Sportskeeda Wrestling's first-ever edition of The inSide Kradle podcast. Among several topics, The Scottish Warrior spoke about a potential match against professional boxer Tyson Fury.
Not only is Fury a two-time world heavyweight champion, but he also defeated Braun Strowman at WWE Crown Jewel 2019. McIntyre has been involved in an off-screen rivalry with Fury, and the former would love it if their potential clash took place in the United Kingdom. McIntyre also thinks this huge match will likely go down in the future:
"The way things are today with the Network being on Peacock now... we can do them across the world. It [McIntyre versus Fury] is possible. I think it's gonna happen. I think it should happen and I do believe that McIntyre and Fury, a couple of the UK's most successful sons, would put more eyeballs on the product. We could really turn some heads with that match." McIntyre declared.
Tyson Fury challenged Drew McIntyre to a match back in August 2020. Judging by the latter's recent comments, he is even looking forward to this showdown with the professional boxer.
You can check out the full episode of The inSide Kradle (w/ Drew McIntyre) in the YouTube video and the Spotify link embedded in this slide.
#3 Mansoor praises Randy Orton's generosity in WWE
WWE RAW's latest recruit, Mansoor, recently spoke to Sportskeeda Wrestling's Rick Ucchino. For the most part, the Saudi Arabian star has gained fame by performing in his home country.
Now that he is part of Monday Night RAW's roster, Mansoor highlighted Randy Orton's approachable nature and even praised the veteran's honesty during the Sportskeeda Wrestling interview:
"Someone who has been really, really generous to me has been Randy Orton," Mansoor said. "He’s someone who… it’s very intimidating to go up to a guy like Randy Orton who has done so much and accomplished so much in WWE. And he’s just so incredibly approachable and kind and always offers honest feedback."
"Most of the locker room has been really amazing about that, you know?" Mansoor added. "After my matches or after anything, I’ll go to the back and anybody who is watching the monitor, I’ll always ask them how I did and, you know, and Randy’s been great for that."
Mansoor also praised other members of the RAW roster such as MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Bobby Lashley, and Mustafa Ali.
The Saudi Arabian star's 49-0 winning streak ended during the latest edition of RAW. However, Mansoor still has a long road ahead of him on WWE's main roster, as he is currently just 25 years old.
#2 WWE legend Kurt Angle sent threatening messages to Vince McMahon in the past
Kurt Angle had a dwindling relationship with Vince McMahon towards the end of his initial WWE run in 2006.
During the latest edition of 'The Kurt Angle Show' on AdFreeShows.com, Angle recalled how he was in bad shape at the time. Angle's frustrations directly impacted his relationship with McMahon as a result. The WWE legend sent McMahon a bunch of threatening messages towards the end of his initial run in the promotion:
"I was in bad shape. I had a lot of injuries," Angle said. "At one particular time, I had the neck injury, the shoulder, the abdominal; I had a torn abdominal muscle, a groin muscle, a hamstring. This is all at the same time. I was in really bad shape. And the painkiller problem wasn't getting any better. So, I was in a state of turmoil, and even my relationship with Vince started dwindling, and it was getting more erratic. I was, you know, calling him, leaving him messages with threats. Just, I felt out of control. I was at a bad point in my life."
"I said it before; I started lashing out at Vince, and Vince was ignoring me, which made me even more angrier," Angle added. "I would leave him threatening messages on his answer machine, on his cell phone. It just got so far out of control."
Kurt Angle and Vince McMahon eventually had a discussion, after which the Olympic Gold Medalist left the promotion.
Thankfully, Angle rebuilt his reputation outside of WWE for several years. He then returned to the company in 2017 for a Hall of Fame induction and another run as a superstar.
#1 Paul Heyman reveals why everyone should witness Roman Reigns' current run in WWE
It's no secret that Roman Reigns' latest WWE run has featured many newsworthy moments. Reigns has dominated WWE SmackDown since aligning with Paul Heyman in 2020.
During a recent interview with Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Heyman mentioned the "lure" of attaching himself to someone else on the screen after Brock Lesnar. He also highlighted Roman Reigns' greatness and elaborated on why everyone should watch The Tribal Chief in 2021:
"For me to pursue, in front of the camera, life after Brock Lesnar, the only lure that could seduce me to even attempting such an impossible goal was to do it with someone that would live their life in the pursuit of achieving that impossibility, and that’s Roman Reigns,” Heyman said. “And that’s why someone, that’s why anyone and that’s why everyone should watch Roman Reigns. Every micromoment he’s in the frame, you are witnessing the pursuit of the all-time greatest career in the annals of sport, in the annals of entertainment and in the annals of sports entertainment.”
Roman Reigns banished Daniel Bryan from SmackDown after a high-stakes main event not too long ago.
Moving forward, Cesaro seems to be a likely contender for Reigns' Universal Championship on the Blue brand.
Stay tuned to Sportskeeda for more WWE news and updates.
