Here’s what matters today in wrestling 👇
Image Credit: WWE
The match pitting The Beast against Oba Femi that opened WrestleMania Sunday was exactly what it needed to be. Brock put Oba over clean as a whistle, making sure that the audience knew who would be filling the role he’s played in WWE since his return in 2012 of “unbeatable monster that strikes fear in the hearts of all who dare to face him”. Oba Femi looks & acts the part, and the win over Lesnar was just what he needed to cement his new position. It was the ultimate example for younger wrestlers of how to do business on your way out.
I was a little surprised when Brock took his gloves & shoes off, making the universal signal of retirement from the ring. Many within WWE were as well, as they expected Brock to be retiring at SummerSlam since it’s happening in Minneapolis, which is as close to a hometown crowd as Lesnar has. I get their thought process, but you also must consider that Brock has spent most of his life based in the middle of nowhere. That’s on purpose. I doubt Lesnar has much more of a connection to Minneapolis than he does Las Vegas at this point, he’s certainly had more fights in Las Vegas. Sure, Brock could still get paid and end up wrestling Gunther or anybody else at that show, or in Saudi Arabia or wherever. Other guys have taken off their gloves & boots and still returned to active competition. On Sunday night, I saw the perfect ending to Brock Lesnar’s wrestling career. They’re not going to top that.
WRESTLING HEADLINES 👊🏽
•Backstage Update on Future of Cody Rhodes as Undisputed WWE Champion Amid Latest Injuries
Image Credit: WWE
It’s been a tough stretch for the American Nightmare. After getting massacred by creative decisions during his WrestleMania feud with Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes was physically massacred on Saturday night. An errant punch by Orton caused Rhodes’ eye to swell up after the match. Cody’s pain aside, this kind of helped with the post-match since the last thing Randy did was give him the ol’ fashioned punt. Now they can credit the injury to that kick and give even more reason for why it can only be used so often. Cody is expected to remain Undisputed WWE Champion during the injury, which is only fair considering how long people go without defending championships in the company. If Jade Cargill can go over 100 days between title matches, so can Cody.
It would be kind of ironic if Roman Reigns had to work more PLEs in place of Cody Rhodes, wouldn't it?
Image Credit: WWE
I don’t want to single out wrestling fans for creepy, parasocial behavior, but it was a really bad weekend for the group that went to Las Vegas in that regard. Elayna Black accused a fan of sexual assault at WrestleCon, and CM Punk had to intervene after a fan decided it was ok to get up in AJ Lee’s face with a camera even though she said no. Mind you, these are only the ones I’ve heard about. Why fans feel it’s ok to harass their favorite stars is beyond me. What really got me was back when I used to work at the airport and you’d see these folks with countless merchandise items outside the gates waiting on wrestlers to sign them at 4 AM. I’ve always wondered if that worked, I never saw any wrestlers stopping for that nonsense.
Even then, bugging wrestlers for autographs way too early in the morning isn’t as bad as groping them or getting up in their face even when asked not to. It’s a shame that some of y’all have to be so disgusting and give the rest of us wrestling fans a bad name.
MORE MUST-READ LINKS FROM 411MANIA
→Hall's WWE RAW Review 4.20.26
→The Great Eight: Top 8 NWA/WCW United States Champions
→411 Is Hiring a Writer for TNA Impact Live Coverage
Hey, Larry Csonka & I got our start on 411 covering Impact. Just saying.
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