Here is your fight size of date for Friday, April 16, 2021:
- Speaking on a special Q&A version of his podcast, Kurt Angle stated that he believes Shelton Benjamin is the one professional wrestler, besides Brock Lesnar, who could have given him a run for his money in an amateur wrestling match.
“Shelton Benjamin, without a doubt. That kid is extremely gifted. One of the best athletes I've ever been in the ring with. I've actually wrestled with him a little bit, amateur, we didn't really go live, we drilled. He was a late bloomer. This is a kid who didn't start amateur wrestling until his junior year in high school. He won State both years. Went to Minnesota, became a two-time All-American in college with just three years of experience. If he would have continued on, I think he would have become an Olympian. He was starting to mature by the time his senior year in college came around. So, I think his best years were ahead of him, but he skipped that and went straight to WWE.”
(If you use any of the above quotes, please make sure to credit Fightful for the transcription by linking back to this article.)
- Speaking on WWE After The Bell, Vic Joseph discussed nearly passing out by the end of NXT TakeOver: Stand & Deliver and how that ended up with Stephanie McMahon on a special bonus episode of the podcast.
"I had more water that day, I actually had two meals that day. But, I was fading. Long story, the match ends, I go into the back. and I see McKenzie [Mitchell]. McKenzie looks me dead in the eye and she knew something was wrong. I didn't know my name, my eyes were rolling around, I was spent. Stephanie McMahon gives me one of those -- she's standing next to somebody and leans forward like, ‘what's going on over there?’ I'm eating a brown bar of fig apple healthy stuff, which you know I would never put in my body. If it's not McDonald's, Burger King, Skittles, or Twizzlers, probably not going into this stomach. so, she looks at me and she goes, ‘are you okay?’ and I kind of, for some reason, walked to her and I was like, ‘I just get so into it.’ We had this long conversation and by the end of it, I just looked her in the eyes like a sad puppy dog and said, 'Hey. Would you like to come on After The Bell this weekend after WrestleMania?' She said, ‘I'd love to. Let's get it done,’ and I just walked away. That's how it happened."
(If you use any of the above quotes, please make sure to credit Fightful for the transcription by linking back to this article.)
- Speaking with Sports Illustrated, Bianca Belair shared the brief moment that she had with Sasha Banks before they went out on the main event of the first night of WrestleMania 37 and made history.
“It takes two people to make this special, and I’m so honored to be able to stand across from Sasha Banks and be the one to end her title run,” Belair says. “Inside the ring, outside the ring, Sasha is the standard, the blueprint. I needed to prove myself against her. She elevates every person she comes in contact with, and that’s what she did for me. For what Sasha did for me, I’ll be forever grateful to her.”
She continued, “Right before we went out, we were in Gorilla together. We both looked at each other and said, ‘This moment is ours; let’s do this.’”
- Speaking of Bianca, check out this in-depth look at her first week as WWE SmackDown Women's Champion.
- Rhea Ripley was recently a guest on the Sans Restriction podcast.
- According to an interview conducted with Bleacher Report, CM Punk is once again no longer watching professional wrestling.
“I watched my wife’s stuff the year after I was already gone when she was wrapping up. But I watched WWE television for the first time in six, seven years to be able to formulate an opinion for Backstage….I do not [currently watch wrestling]. Whatever I know, I know strictly off of social media just because it’s huge on social media. If someone does something relatively newsworthy, it’s in the feed, so I’ll keep up with it that way. I talk to Renee, is she in the business? I don’t even know anymore.”
- Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Stone Cold Steve Austin recalls having a booger in his nose right before his WCW debut.
"Man, that wasn't funny at the time," he exclaims while laughing. "I was walking down to the ring and I hear, 'From Hollywood, CA" and I remember wondering who they were talking about. I'm from Texas. They hadn't cleared with me they'd be billing me from Hollywood so that's what was on my mind. There I am with Missy Hyatt, who I was a big fan of, who was interviewing me and there I was with a booger hanging out of my nose. Somebody could've let me know before I went out on national TV but it turned out ok."
- WWE will premiere its new programming on the A&E Network this Sunday night.
- The third episode of Wipeout with John Cena on TBS last night garnered 861,000 overnight viewers.
- Series 5 of AEW’s Unrivaled toys have new preview images on Twitter. This series includes Jungle Boy, Luchasaurus, Jon Moxley, Hangman Page, Frankie Kazarian, and Scorpio Sky.
Unrivaled Series 5 @boy_myth_legend Jungleboy! Friend of Luchasaurus and dinosaurs everywhere!!! What do you think?!@AEW @Jazwares @GM_Toy_Dork pic.twitter.com/VYi2aagRSe
— Jeremy Padawer (@JeremyCom) April 16, 2021
After 65 million years of waiting... All Elite Wrestling @AEW Unrivaled Series 5 @luchasaurus !! @Jazwares pic.twitter.com/9kKcq1fzWB
— Jeremy Padawer (@JeremyCom) April 16, 2021
Sky is the limit. Congratulations @ScorpioSky - you are truly Unrivaled! @AEW Unrivaled Series 5!@Jazwares @GM_Toy_Dork pic.twitter.com/OFn5ueDcyf
— Jeremy Padawer (@JeremyCom) April 16, 2021
- Speaking with DAZN, Raquel Gonzalez credited her partnership with Dakota Kai being the reason for her breakout moment.
"Dakota Kai has helped me so much. I say this all the time. I would not be in the position I am if it wasn't for her because we've shared not only travel stories but memories together and working with each other as a tag (team) to winning the first Women's Dusty Classic and being the first NXT Women's Tag (Team) champions to both of us having our own stories with her to me with Rhea. It's been constant support from her and having her there and (having) someone you can confide and trust in such a crazy time. It's very rare to have that and to have that in a tag partner and to know that we both have the same mindset when it comes to anything that we do for NXT. We support each other. We appreciate each other's criticism and opinions. She comes with so much experience. You can't top that. I was put in such a blessed situation to have Dakota on my side."
- Check out the greatest moments from WWE Backlash here.
- Asuka is, once again, Cup Noodles.
- WWE stock closed today at $56.36 per share.
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