Top WWE Star Contracts Serious Blood Infection | WrestleTalk News

Major Star Suffering With Blood Infection

Before appearing in this year’s Royal Rumble Braun Strowman had been off television for nearly two months, he then returned to Smackdown just ahead of the pay per view, competed in the marquee match and then disappeared once more.

Now we know what has been keeping him off television – in his Instagram story Strowman revealed that he recently got an infection that got into his bloodstream. Scary stuff.

He said that he is on antibiotics and it seems to be clearing up, but the infection did cause him to drop 15 pounds in just five days, caused his joints to swell up and made it difficult for him to eat, which if you’ve seen how much Strowman dutifully packs away to keep in peak physical condition is a serious amount of food.

In the post Braun seemed confident it would be resolved as he towered over a regular sized man’s dartboard and said he would be back on TV soon!

Here’s wishing him a speedy recovery.

Second Elimination Chamber LEAKED?!

Especially as there is a pretty big event coming up in just a little while as WWE stars return to Bischoff’s panopticon or to use it’s more common name The Elimination Chamber.

With the pay per view just over a week away very little has actually been announced for the show – which feels VERY WWE during the pandemic.

We’ve already had the announcement of the oldest chamber on record – with an average age of the competitors of 41 according to caegsideseats’ maths, which I won’t be checking it’s early here – as Drew McIntyre, AJ Styles, Jeff Hardy, Sheamus, Randy Orton and The Miz go toe to many other toes inside the structure.

And now Ringside News are reporting that with no women’s match planned, they have confirmed that there will be two men’s Elimination Chamber matches this year.

And though “the setup for the second match was not revealed” “it will be for the Smackdown brand”.

Reason For Delayed WrestleMania Ticket Sales

But never mind the old EC because we’re also less than 60 days away from WrestleMania 37 and no matches or tickets have been announced for that either.

WWE are reportedly angling to have 25,000 fans in attendance for each night of the show, which kicks off on Saturday April 10th and it was said earlier in the week that WWE are pondering the idea of having cardboard cutouts filling the rest of Raymond James Stadium.

An idea poached from the NFL which did a similar thing for the Super Bowl. I’d argue it’s more surfaces to breathe on but I’m not a scientist, just a concerned citizen of the world.

It’s a complex conundrum of how to have fans in attendance and do it safely and WrestleVotes are reporting that this is why the tickets have been delayed which many imagined would go on sale once the Super Bowl had finished up.

On Twitter Wrestlevotes wrote: “Source says WWE had a few representatives around the Tampa Bay area for last weekend’s Super Bowl. They were gathering further information on how WWE can best pull off WrestleMania safety. Hence the delay on ticket sales. The event planning & details need to be as precise as ever.”

WWE Undecided About Major NXT Call Up

Pandemic paralysis seems to be stretching into all aspects of WWE from match cards, to arena organisation, to how do we solve a problem like a Rhea.

Because we’ve talked about this before and it’s been reported by the likes of Dave Meltzer, but the word is that WWE are planning on bringing Rhea Ripley to the main roster – her match with Raquel Gonzalez seemed like a fitting and hard hitting send off. And her runner-up run in this year’s Royal Rumble could have been a good launchpad for main roster storyline.

But according to Ringside News there is still some uncertainty about exactly what they’ll do with the talented miss Ripley.

Her name has reportedly been brought up in creative meetings, but pitched for potential storylines for both brands which is why she hasn’t appeared on either. So even when creative HAS something for you, they can have too much?

Hopefully they get their story straight and we see Rhea sooner rather than later.

Top Star Face Numb From Injury?!

In’t t’other NXT related news it is TakeOver Vengeance Day this weekend and Champion Finn Balor is set to take on Pete Dunne and my brain is set to melt.

Balor has been doing the media rounds and speaking to the New York Post said that despite the huge match this weekend he is still not 100% from when he broke his jaw four months ago.

Balor said that he was “still in pain” and “reluctant to get any type of strike to the face”.

But worse still is that “One thing that still hasn’t come back is the feeling in my bottom lip. It’s still numb. It’s like I’ve been to the dentist and you get that shot. Pretty much my bottom lip down to my chin I’ve still got no feeling, but the doctors are a little hopeful that might come back in a couple of months. They say nerves take a little longer to heal.”  

Fan Favourite Gimmick To Return?

He was also asked about whether he thought about returning to the Demon gimmick, a fan favorite, but a massive pain in the arse before every show I’m guessing.

He said that he was definitely considering it, but that it doesn’t feel like the time for the demon right now.

But he did give a hint as to when might be: “You know, Karrion might be that time, but we will have to see how events kind of develop. But his character is definitely something that is very intriguing to the audience. Whether The Demon can add another element to that kind of situation when it arises will be interesting” 

Would you like to see Karrion vs The Demon? I feel like Balor would look like a kid in facepaint next to Kross.

Triple H Did Not Know About Recent Release

Triple H has also been doing his usual pre-Takeover media calls and a couple of interesting facts arose.

Asked about the release of former Forgotten Son and NXT performer Steve Cutler, Trips said that he had no knowledge of the release or why it happened. So he forgot. That’s our joke, us fans, you can’t just use that as a legit excuse.

There were rumours going round that Cutler’s release may have been something to do with his recent diagnosis with COVID-19, and in that regard Triple H said, as reported by Sean Ross Sapp on Twitter that “they take COVID seriously across the board”.

But he only knows what he has read about Cutler and has not asked.

“Nothing To Add” On Velveteen Dream

He was also asked about The Velveteen Dream, whose NXT push seemingly shuddered to a halt after allegations against him emerged earlier this year.

Dream has not wrestled a match since the Christmas Special and only won two matches since April 22nd last year.

In response to questioning Triple H said that there “is nothing to add to Velveteen Dream” but he is still on the roster, still training, still at the PC.

Whether Dream ever returns to being a central figure on NXT remains to be seen.

Bianca Belair Says Hair vs Hair Is Inevitable

Despite winning the women’s 2021 Royal Rumble, Bianca Belair is yet to reveal on TV her opponent for WrestleMania 37. However despite a major title match on the horizon, another match that any fans with eyes may have come up with is Bianca defending her braid in a hair vs hair match.

And considering it’s exactly the kind of gimmick WWE would love to run, taking into account that they nearly ran one last year with Mandy Rose vs Sonya Deville before it was changed to a Loser Leaves WWE match, Bianca agrees it’s definitely something she can see happening, as she revealed in an interview with Peter Rosenburg on ESPN’s Cheap Heat:

“People bring it up all the time and they ask do I ever think I’ll ever be a part of that, I think it’s pretty much inevitable because I mean, so much of who I am is my braid. I mean, she even has a name. Her name is Destiny, and it makes sense, right? So, and I think that it’s really fun to have feuds sometimes that aren’t always a part of the title picture and if I have a hair versus hair match… I ain’t gonna say it’s bigger than a title. A title is pretty big, you know? But, there will be a lot at stake and I think a lot of people could get very invested in it. I don’t wanna lose my braid, I don’t want to lose my hair. I think it would be great. I’d be down for it.”

Toni Storm Says Evolution II Is Inevitable

And speaking of inevitable, NXT’s Toni Storm believes that an Evolution 2 is inevitable to keep the momentum going for the women’s revolution, as she said in an interview with Kenny McIntosh of Inside The Ropes:

“It’s important that we keep the momentum going for this women’s revolution. It’s really important to me. It’s the best thing to ever happen to my career. So I’m sure, in the future, there will be another one. No doubt.”

At the first Evolution, Toni Storm defeated current NXT Women’s Champion Io Shirai to win the finals of the Mae Young Classic, and Toni will be fighting for that title at this Sunday’s NXT TakeOver Vengeance in a triple threat against Shirai and Mercedes Martinez.

And to end things off with some happy news, we must offer our congratulations to Keith Lee and Mia Yim who revealed on social media that they are now engaged! The two Raw stars have been dating since their NXT days, and they really are now Yimitless. Ooh Bask In Their Glory.

What are your thoughts on the above story? Let us know in the comments on Twitter or Facebook.

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