Tag: Rhea

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.

Ripley vs. Belair Reportedly Discussed for WrestleMania

Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair haven’t competed in a singles bout since 2022—in a gauntlet match no less—but they may not be avoiding one another for much longer.

Fightful Select (via Steve Carrier of Ringside News) reported that WWE officials have discussed staging Ripley vs. Belair at WrestleMania 41 in April.

Ripley reclaimed the Women’s World Championship on Raw’s Netflix premiere by beating Liv Morgan. She then successfully defended the gold against Nia Jax to open the most recent Saturday Night’s Main Event special.

Even assuming Ripley still has any unfinished business with Morgan, WWE is setting the table for her to pivot to a fresh storyline in time for WrestleMania.

Belair would present one such scenario for the champion and also be somebody with whom she has some shared history. They crossed paths in NXT and battled at NXT TakeOver: Portland in 2020.

Ripley told Sportskeeda’s Bill Apter last August she’d like to challenge Belair again and that their encounter would be “WrestleMania-worthy.”

The champ just might get her wish.

Latest on Graves’ WWE Contract

Veteran announcer Corey Graves “wasn’t looking to leave the company” when he publicly vented about his demotion from the Raw broadcast team in a since-deleted post on social media, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter‘s Dave Meltzer (via Carrier).

Meltzer reported Graves still has two years remaining on his current deal with WWE.

With Raw moving to Netflix, WWE decided to pair Pat McAfee with Michael Cole at the broadcast table, while Joe Tessitore and Wade Barrett pivoted from the company’s flagship program to SmackDown.

As a result of the reshuffle, Graves wound up back in NXT and he didn’t sound too thrilled. Seemingly alluding to McAfee in a Jan. 13 post, he lamented “being told you’re not famous enough for your own job.”

Graves didn’t call the Jan. 14 edition of NXT and WWE chose to have Barrett rather than him replace McAfee for Raw on Jan. 20. McAfee was unavailable due to his ESPN duties for college football’s national championship game.

Graves returned to NXT this week. Colleague Vic Joseph advised fans not to adjust their television sets because “this isn’t AI” while pointing to the retired wrestler. Graves, for his part, said he’s “right where I want to be.”

Hendry Discusses Possible Royal Rumble Match Appearance

WWE always includes some surprise appearances during the Royal Rumble match.

Those spots used to be reserved for returning legends or active stars who have been out of action for a while. The company’s partnership with TNA Wrestling, which was formalized this month, opened the door for other possibilities. Mickie James showed up in 2022 and brought the Impact women’s title with her.

Especially with the TNA deal in place, a lot of fans are hopeful that Joe Hendry will compete in this year’s men’s Royal Rumble match.

Asked about the idea during an interview on the DeLoco Podcast (via Fightful’s Corey Brennan), Hendry expressed his desire to make it a reality.

“Anywhere, anytime, any show is what I said to Shawn Michaels when I debuted in NXT, that’s the first thing I said when I came back through the curtain and look at all the exciting things that it led to,” he said. “That obviously would be a huge honor and a privilege and something that’s synonymous with our business.”

Hendry also described himself as “a soldier for TNA Wrestling” who “will do is do what TNA Wrestling asks me to do.”

Speculation over the 36-year-old’s only grew last week when he announced an upcoming appearance at Wrestlecon Indianapolis, which runs Friday and Saturday. Royal Rumble takes place Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Perhaps that’s merely a coincidence, but fans will believe there’s much more to it than that.

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