WWE News Roundup: Top star allegedly released for standing up to management, John Cena had real-life heat with 8-time world champion, Kevin Owens wants to tag with big name
Welcome to another edition of the daily WWE News Roundup, where we try and bring the biggest news stories and updates from the world of sports entertainment. In today's edition, we will take a look at some interesting stories revolving around major names like John Cena, Dolph Ziggler and The Rock just to name a few.
The Rock and John Cena are arguably two of the biggest stars in WWE history and have gone on to achieve massive mainstream popularity as well. The two men have faced each other twice, with both of them getting one win each over the other. While the two are great friends now, that wasn't always the case:
3) John Cena and The Rock had real-life heat
Former WWE Writer Brian Gewirtz spoke on the Under the Ring podcast about the backstage equation between John Cena and The Rock. The two men had a long program in the 2010s and faced each other at WrestleMania 28 and 29. The Brahma Bull was able to beat Cena in 2012 but lost to The Cenation Leader in 2013.
"Obviously Rock vs. Cena, on paper that's box office, and in reality that's box office. But the fact of the matter is they weren't on the same page on the beginning, and it was real life animosity between them that obviously has since dissipated, and they're really good friends now," said Gewirtz.
The Rock's rematch against Cena was his last big bout in WWE. Though he faced Erick Rowan a few years later, the match lasted mere seconds. He is rumored to be returning for a match against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39.
2) Mark Henry on why Top Dolla was released by WWE
Mark Henry spoke about WWE firing The Hit Row last year as part of budget cuts on the Busted Open Podcast. The faction, consisting of B-Fab, Top Dolla, Ashante Adonis, and Swerve Strickland, were released by the company soon after they made their main roster debut on SmackDown.
Henry said that Top Dolla stood up to the management after they let go of B-Fab, resulting in his release as well:
''They gave them the, you know, let me preface this with, they took them to Titan Tower [WWE headquarters] and they told them the day before they killed them that, 'Hey, we got big plans. We're gonna do this with y'all, we're gonna do that with y'all,' and then they softened them up and said, 'Yeah, but we're gonna let, B-Fab go.' AJ [Top Dolla] spoke up and said, 'No, she's an intricate part of what we do. She's a charter member,' and that was the end of them," said Mark Henry.
While Swerve Strickland signed with AEW after his release, the remaining three members recently returned to SmackDown with Triple H in charge. It will be interesting to see how the group is booked without Strickland, who was the centerpiece of the stable in NXT.
1) Kevin Owens wants to tag with Sami Zayn
Kevin Owens is a multi-time champion in WWE. He is a former Universal Champion and has also held the Intercontinental, United States and NXT Championships.
However, he is yet to become a tag team champion in the company. Speaking on the TWC Show, he said that he wanted to become a tag team champion with his real-life best friend Sami Zayn:
''There are a couple of guys I could see myself winning the Tag Team Titles with, obviously, Sami is at the top of the list. That would be the ultimate good moment for us, to achieve that. We've been tag team champions everywhere we've went, except for WWE. We definitely have to get that checked off the list soon enough."
Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn have a storied history with each other. The two men have held tag team gold before joining WWE. While they have teamed up in the company as well, they have never won a WWE Tag Team Championship yet.