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Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe.
Rhodes Reveals When He Learned About Rock vs. Reigns Possibility
Cody Rhodes finished his story at WrestleMania 40 by beating Roman Reigns for the undisputed WWE Championship in the main event, but The American Nightmare claims it almost didn't come to fruition.
During an appearance Monday on Busted Open Radio (h/t Nikunj Walia of Ringside News), Rhodes discussed when he first caught wind of the WrestleMania main event potentially being Reigns vs. The Rock without his involvement:
"One thing that might be revealed in the [upcoming Peaco*ck] documentary and might put things in a different perspective for people is I find out about the possibility of The Rock vs. Roman Reigns the day of the Royal Rumble, and I had to leave that room head up and make sure no one knew what could possibly happen and probably one of the more difficult days I've ever had in the wrestling business.
"But also, how could you complain when you're winning the Royal Rumble. When you're pointing at the sign [and] over 20,000 people in Tampa. It was such a high, such a low."
Cody won his second consecutive men's Royal Rumble match and pointed in Reigns' direction afterward, which indicated a WrestleMania rematch was in the offing.
However, on the following episode of SmackDown, The Rock made a surprise return and came face to face with Reigns after Rhodes said he would not be challenging The Tribal Chief at WrestleMania.
Fans showed their displeasure over Rhodes possibly being left out of the WrestleMania main event on social media, and less than one week later a WrestleMania press conference was held at WrestleMania.
At that event, Rhodes reversed course and said he would indeed face Reigns at WrestleMania, prompting The Rock to turn heel and align himself with Reigns.
Regardless of how much of that was planned all along and how much of it was changed due to fan reaction, the end result was ideal since Rhodes ended up winning the title and The Rock's Final Boss character was consistently among the highlights of WWE programming.
Liv Morgan Wants to Team with Lil Uzi Vert
Liv Morgan is currently in pursuit of the Women's World Championship, but she is open to working with a non-wrestling star should the opportunity present itself in the future.
During an appearance on Open Thoughts with Funny Marco (h/t Shubham Banerjee of Ringside News), Morgan discussed her desire to possibly team up with rapper Lil Uzi Vert in a WWE match at some point: "Maybe Lil Uzi. He's cool. He's cool. ... He definitely could, I feel like he'd be so fast like very luchador, Rey Mysterio type, just out-quick everyone. I'd love to be a tag team, Uzi, let's tag team."
Morgan's Rey Mysterio comparison for Uzi is apt since he stands just 5'4", while Mysterio is billed at 5'6", although he may be even smaller than that in actuality.
Uzi is also known to be a wrestling fan, as he had some involvement with WWE on a couple of occasions in recent years.
For a song entitled "Nakamura," Uzi sampled part of WWE Superstar Shinsuke Nakamura's theme song.
Also, Uzi was part of The Usos' entrance for the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 39, as he rapped them to the ring.
All of that suggests Uzi would perhaps have interest in having a match for WWE at some point, but until that happens, Morgan is focused on completing her revenge tour.
At King and Queen of the Ring on Saturday, Morgan will compete in one of the biggest matches of her career, as she is set to challenge Becky Lynch for the Women's World Championship.
WWE, AEW Reportedly Interested in Signing Mike Bailey
"Speedball" Mike Bailey is reportedly expected to receive interest from some of the biggest companies in pro wrestling when he hits free agency.
According to Fightful Select (h/t Steve Carrier of Ringside News), Bailey's contract with TNA is set to expire at the end of 2024, at which point WWE and AEW are both expected to make a play for his services.
It is reportedly also expected that TNA will attempt to re-sign Bailey to a new deal if there is mutual interest.
Bailey, 33, enjoyed a great deal of success on the independent scene over the years before finally signing a contract with TNA in 2021.
Since signing with TNA, Bailey has held the X-Division Championship once, and he also won PWG's famed Battle of Los Angeles tournament last year.
The Canadian grappler is widely regarded as one of the best high flyers in the business, so it comes as little surprise that he is on the radar of most of the top promotions in the business.
Given that AEW's primary focus is on in-ring work, Bailey would seemingly be a natural fit, as he could hit the ground running simply by having great matches.
The fit may be a bit less obvious in WWE, and it is likely that Bailey would be asked to start in NXT rather than the main roster, but that could be a good thing for him and his continued development as an all-around performer.
WWE Hall of Famer Shawn Michaels has enjoyed a great deal of success in recent years when it comes to developing talent and getting them ready for a call-up by working on all aspects of their game.
Bailey already has the in-ring tools, but spending some time working with Michaels could go a long way toward allowing his character and promo work to catch up to his wrestling.
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