News & Notes: Rusev, Stephanie on Not Sexualizing Wrestlers, After SD

May 25, 2017

Rusev

Rusev teased a return to SmackDown early in the day on Tuesday, but again didn’t show up. He said that he didn’t show up last week because he was at a Nashville Predators game.

No @PredsNHL game tonight. You know what that means…….

— Rusev The Ruler (@RusevBUL) May 23, 2017

WWE seemed to be doing an angle where he would end up in the Money in the Bank match and he still could be added, but lots of WWE’s booking seems to just be made up as they go, so it looks like they may have changed their mind. It also sort of seems like Jinder Mahal has taken over the role of “foreigner heel.”

Stephanie McMahon

Stephanie McMahon gave an interview to Sky Sports claiming that WWE is trying to not sexualize their wrestlers.

“People shouldn’t be worried,” McMahon told us during WWE’s recent tour of U.K. and Ireland. “Our athletes aren’t worried, especially when you look at Olympic level athletes having to wear certain types of clothing. Our men and women have to wear spandex-type clothing because what they do in the ring is actually quite dangerous. If you had a lot of loose clothing then it could be a problem in the ring. This is athletics, this is sports, this is like live action theatre and there’s no denying the athleticism of our women in the ring and what they can do.”

“Most recently, what really turned the head of decision makers was when our fans started a hashtag called #GiveDivasAChance that trended worldwide for three days and was a reaction to us having a tag match that lasted all of thirty seconds. The voice was so loud from our fans and it said ‘we want more athletic matches, we went longer matches, we want better stories, we want stronger development’ and it was so loud that our chairman and CEO responded.”

After SmackDown

After 205 Live Tuesday, Jinder Mahal wrestled Randy Orton in a dark match. Mahal hit an RKO, but the Singh Brothers ran in and attacked Orton, causing a DQ. Orton then hit both of them with RKOs.