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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe and All Elite Wrestling.
Rousey Gives Update on WWE Future
Ronda Rousey is set to challenge Charlotte Flair for the SmackDown Women’s Championship at WrestleMania 38, and she has no plans to depart the company any time soon.
During a gaming stream on Facebook (h/t Subhojeet Mukherjee of Ringside News), Rousey discussed how much longer she plans to wrestle for WWE: “Yes, I am staying [in WWE after WrestleMania 38]. I’ll be staying for a while. I just had a baby. I’m not ready to have another one yet, so I’ll be staying around ’til we’re ready for number two, or four.”
Rousey was out of WWE for nearly three years before making her surprise return at the Royal Rumble in January and winning the women’s Royal Rumble match.
Before that, Rousey hadn’t wrestled since losing to Becky Lynch in a Triple Threat match that also included Flair at WrestleMania 35.
During her time away from wrestling, Rousey gave birth to her first child with husband Travis Browne, and she returned to the ring just four months later.
Rousey and Flair will do battle in one of the top matches on Night 1 of WrestleMania 38 in Arlington, Texas, and it is widely expected that the Baddest Woman on the Planet will prevail.
If Rousey does win, it will mark her second title reign in WWE, as she previously held the Raw Women’s Championship for 231 days.
Given how dominant Rousey has been during her WWE career, a yearlong reign could potentially be in the cards if Rousey beats Charlotte at WrestleMania 38 and carries the SmackDown women’s title all the way until WrestleMania 39.
Steveson Reportedly in Line for Huge WWE Push
When amateur wrestling star Gable Steveson finally makes the transition to WWE, there is reportedly a plan in place to push him in a big way.
According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio (h/t Mukherjee), Steveson will be “fast-tracked” to WWE’s main roster, and the plan is for him to be booked as “another Brock Lesnar.”
The 21-year-old Steveson is finishing up his final year as an amateur wrestler at the University of Minnesota after winning a national championship and an Olympic gold medal in 2021.
Steveson recently won his third consecutive Big Ten title and will look to win back-to-back national championships before making the move to WWE.
WWE signed Steveson in September under the NCAA’s new name, image and likeness (NIL) rules, which allowed him to be under contract with WWE while still competing collegiately.
The 6’1″, 265-pound Steveson is the biggest name in amateur wrestling thanks to his Olympic excellence, which could put him on the path to excel at the same level as highly successful WWE Superstars such as Lesnar and Kurt Angle.
Both Lesnar and Angle were elite collegiate wrestlers in their own right, plus Angle won an Olympic gold medal much like Steveson.
If Steveson’s personality is anywhere close to being on par with his athleticism and physicality, WWE likely has a future world champion in the making on its hands.
Regal Denies Report of Health Issues
AEW’s William Regal took to Twitter on Friday to dispute a report about his health.
Meltzer (h/t Mukherjee) reported Friday that he was told Regal’s “health issues at this stage are far more serious than have ever come out.” Meltzer added that Regal would detail those issues during an appearance on Talk Is Jericho with AEW star Chris Jericho next week.
Regal shot down the report, claiming that he is in better health now than he has been in quite some time:
After getting released from his role as NXT general manager and talent scout with WWE in January, Regal made his AEW debut at the Revolution pay-per-view last weekend when he appeared after the match between Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley.
When it looked like Danielson and Moxley were about to fight after the bout, Regal stepped in between them and slapped each of them to keep them in line.
On Wednesday’s Dynamite, Danielson and Mox teamed up in a winning effort with Regal in their corner, and Regal cut a heartfelt promo afterward.
At one point, Regal said he knows he is not “long for this world” due in large part to substance misuse in his younger years, which naturally led to speculation among fans about his health.
Regal’s tweet suggests his conversation with Jericho focused on health issues he had in 2018, however, rather than anything he is dealing with presently.
If that is the case, fans can look forward to seeing what Regal is able to accomplish alongside Danielson and Moxley moving forward.
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