Top 5 Wrestling News Stories Of The Week 04/14: CM Punk & Roman Reigns Screwed At WWE WrestleMania & John Cena Makes History
Each and every week, the weird and wonderful world of professional wrestling never fails to captivate fans with a plethora of captivating stories that make their way into the news cycle.
Whether it’s shocking upsets, dramatic showdowns, or behind-the-scenes drama, the happenings within professional wrestling always keep fans on the edge of their seats.
Here are the Top Five Wrestling News Stories of the Week.
Kevin Owens Shares Scrapped KO Mania T-Shirt
Kevin Owens has revealed a scrapped WrestleMania 41 t-shirt design.
The 40 year-old Canadian was set to battle Randy Orton in a highly anticipated encounter at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium before the extent of a recent neck injury came to light.
Owens appeared on the 4th April edition of SmackDown to announce that his issues were more serious than originally anticipated and required urgent surgery to repair. As a result his bout with Orton on ‘The Grandest Stage Of Them All’ was immediately shelved.
The former WWE Universal Champion has become known for a new t-shirt annually at WWE’s top Premium Live Event, with the 2025 edition set to be no different with a redesigned version of the original WrestleMania 8 poster.
The unique ‘KO Mania’ shirts have proven popular each year, with the design for the new unreleased shirt containing Kevin Owens and Randy Orton imposed onto the original poster featuring Sid Justice and Hulk Hogan.
Mercedes Mone Sends Message To Bayley After WrestleMania Snub
Mercedes Mone has very publicly reached out to Bayley.
At night two of WrestleMania 41, Bayley was scheduled to challenge Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the Women’s Tag Team Titles alongside Lyra Valkyria.
However, on the countdown show ahead of night one, Bayley was attacked backstage, although Morgan and Rodriguez denied they were involved. As a result, the former Women’s Champion has been pulled from WrestleMania, with Valkyria given 24 hours to find a replacement.
While no official comment has been made, it’s been widely speculated that Becky Lynch will join Valkyria to battle Morgan and Rodriguez. Lynch hasn’t wrestled since losing to Morgan on the May 27, 2024, edition of Monday Night Raw.
Despite being pulled from the show, it’s been reported that Bayley isn’t injured and the switch has been planned for several weeks. That same report noted that there is a great deal of sympathy in the locker room for the star who will now miss the biggest event on the WWE calendar.
In response to the news on social media, Bayley’s long-time close friend, Mercedes Mone, told her to call her.
🫵🏽📞🤑 @itsBayleyWWE
WWE Acquires Major Wrestling Promotion
24 years after Vince McMahon bought his competition and ended the Monday Night Wars with the purchase of WCW, WWE has announced the acquisition of Mexican promotion AAA.
The news was broken by Michael Cole on the WrestleMania 41 pre-show, not long after a Worlds Collide event pitting NXT and AAA stars against each other was announced. Among those present for the announcement were AAA President Marisela Pena, AAA star Vikingo, and many of WWE’s own Mexican stars.
The acquisition comes in partnership with the Mexican sports and entertainment holding company, Filip. No details on the terms, such as purchase price, have yet come to light. It also remains to be seen what this means for AAA’s already scheduled events and its future as a standalone entity.
CM Punk & Roman Reigns Screwed At WWE WrestleMania
The issues between Seth Rollins, CM Punk, and Roman Reigns have boiled over since their paths crossed at the Royal Rumble. The reality is that the problems between all three men date back over a decade.
Seth Rollins hates Punk for abandoning him when he walked out of WWE and talking trash about the company, his issues with Reigns stem from stabbing him in the back when they were in the Shield and the success Reigns has since achieved despite his part-time status. And CM Punk seemed intent on prying his former counsel, Paul Heyman, away from the side of the Tribal Chief.
So much so that Punk’s much-talked-about favour for teaming with Reigns in WarGames was that Paul Heyman had to accompany him to the ring for his first-ever WrestleMania main event. Rollins rubbed salt in the wounds to Reigns before their showdown as well by reminding that he’d always do what’s “best for business” – the mantra used by The Authority.
At WrestleMania 41, Seth Rollins donned white gear reminiscent of his display at SummerSlam 2015 on the night he defeated John Cena to walk out with both the WWE and US Championships. For the first time since WrestleMania 35, Roman Reigns came to the ring on the grandest stage of them all without Paul Heyman, and CM Punk was played out with a live rendition of Cult of Personality.
The action began in the crowd, but when it got into the ring, the three stars involved wasted no time in getting straight to the point. Spears, Stomps, and Go 2 Sleeps were all hit as everyone came within a whisper of winning the match at one point.
Seth Rollins implored Reigns to join him in a Shield powerbomb, but instead Reigns powerbombed both Punk and Rollins by himself through the two announce tables. Paul Heyman looked equally as exhausted as the three men in the ring, as he seemed torn about where his true allegiance lay. But things became clearer when Heyman grabbed a steel chair and handed it to CM Punk in front of Roman Reigns.
However, Heyman got in the ring and delivered a low blow to Punk and then handed the chair to Reigns. Reigns wore out Punk with the chair and as Heyman pointed out Rollins was there for the taking, he hit Reigns with a low blow as well before handing the chair to Seth Rollins.
Seth Rollins drilled the chair into Reigns’ back just as he did 11 years ago when he first betrayed him. A Stomp was then enough to make sure Seth Rollins picked up the win. Heyman raised Rollins’ hand in victory after the bout, solidifying their alliance.
John Cena Makes History, Travis Scott Lends A Hand
For the 17th time, John Cena is World Champion.
After coming up short at the Royal Rumble, John Cena needed a new plan. However, no one could have predicted just how far he would be willing to go.
In search of redemption, Cena won the Elimination Chamber match and then stunningly turned heel to align with The Rock and Travis Scott, for reasons that still remain very unclear.
This set up Cena’s quest for World Championship number 17, and a WrestleMania date with Cody Rhodes.
By the time the match rolled around at the end of night two, the crowd was electric. Cena entered with little fanfare as promised, but he was most certainly the favourite inside the stadium.
In contrast, Rhodes’ reaction was mixed for the most part, the crowd seemingly determined to watch Cena triumph one more time.
The action started out at a snail’s pace, but eventually the big moves arrived. Cena hit Rhodes with no less than three AA’s, to no avail, including one from the top rope. In response, Rhodes hit a Powerbomb and Cody Cutter, but then things got weird.
Cena trapped Rhodes in an STF, but as Rhodes eventually kicked him off, he launched the veteran into the referee. This allowed Rhodes to hit the Cross Rhodes, but there was no referee to count the fall. Embracing his new heelish side, Cena uncovered the turnbuckle and rammed Rhodes into it twice before landing another AA, but again Rhodes kicked out.
With both men on the mat, Travis Scott’s music hit, and he made a run in so slow he would have been passed several times by The Undertaker in full Deadman gimmick.
When Scott finally got the ring, he and Cena tried to double-team Rhodes, but the champion threw the Hip Hop star back out. He followed up with a Cross Rhodes on Cena, only for Scott to grab the referee.
This sparked a showdown between Scott and Rhodes, with the latter looking for revenge after being attacked at Elimination Chamber. Scott tried to punch the American Nightmare, but he ducked and landed a Cross Rhodes.
Cena went to use the title belt as a weapon, but Rhodes ducked and grabbed it. However, he couldn’t bring himself to use it, allowing Cena to hit him with a low blow.
For an added exclamation point, Cena smashed Rhodes with the belt before covering him to secure victory.
The event went off the air as Cena and Scott celebrated while The Rock was surprisingly nowhere to be seen.