WWE: Shinsuke Nakamura on Great Muta Match, Solo Sikoa on Idea to Use Samoan Spike, More News

Dec 28, 2022

Shinsuke Nakamura Comments on Upcoming Match with Great Muta & WWE’s New Regime Being Open to It

Yahoo Sports held a recent interview with Shinsuke Nakamura. One of the topics discussed included Nakamura’s thoughts on his upcoming match against wrestling legend The Great Muta and how it would not have been possible with WWE’s old regime under Vince McMahon.

“I was like, “No way. I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t think it would happen. It was something that would never have happened under the previous structure of the WWE. （Noah came to me with the idea, and we discussed it, but my answer was no. Vince (McMahon, Chairman and CEO of WWE) stepped down in the summer, and I was advised by people within the company that it might be possible now. I still thought it would be difficult, but I even talked directly to Triple H (WWE’s vice president). When the decision was actually made, I was shaken.
There was a big change in the WWE between when Mutoh announced his retirement and when the match was decided. Vince, who was the symbol of everything, was retiring, and that was something that no one could believe. Everything changes in America when the top changes. At that time, there was a feeling that many things would change in the future. One of the changes that occurred to me was this. The fact that ‘no’ became ‘yes’ gave me a boost.”

Solo Sikoa on Origin of Him Using the Samoan Spike in WWE

The New York Post held a recent interview with Solo Sikoa. One of the topics discussed included Sikoa revealing that Paul “Triple H” Levesque came up with the idea for him to use the Samoan Spike as a move in WWE.

“Put him out of commission and as a finisher. It will definitely be one of my finishers now moving forward. The idea came from Hunter [Triple H]. Hunter pulled me aside. I think it was Paul Heyman’s idea, too, so Hunter wanted to run it by me. He goes, ‘I know your uncle was a big part of your guys’ family. I know what he meant to you guys. I wanted to ask you if you would be OK using the spike?’ I was like, I don’t know. I kind of want to stay away from it because that’s his thing. And he was like, ‘I know he passed away and yesterday was his anniversary,’ which was a Sunday and the next day was Raw. He goes, ‘I think it will be cool if you pay a tribute to him on TV by using the spike.’ I was like, ‘You know what man? Yeah, let’s do it.’ Once he said that I kind of got emotional. I was like, wow. For those who don’t remember who Umaga was, now I’m about to refresh their memory. It was a pretty cool moment for me to pay tribute to him.”

WWE News & Notes

WWE’s house show event this past Monday at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York featured an Open Challenge match between Jinder Mahan and Bray Wyatt, which was won by Wyatt. This was Wyatt’s first match since his return to WWE at Extreme Rules 2022 this past October.

Former EVOLE owner and current WWE official Gabe Sapolsky reportedly will be holding a seminar event on January 21, 2023 at the WWN Training Center in Port Richey, Florida, according to the Wrestling Observer. Dave Meltzer reported that this seminar will include taped tryout matches for WWE and other promotions and advice from Sapolsky on what things WWE is looking for new potential signings.

As noted before, Dominik Mysterio and Rhea Ripley visited Rey Mysterio’s house invited for Christmas Eve festivities, which resulted in Dominik being arrested for the disturbance he caused. Dominik recently stated on Twitter that he was released from jail this past Sunday and pushed for his parents to be arrested over their involvement in the incident.

Several talents reportedly were absent from WWE’s house show event in Columbus, Ohio this past Monday due to travel-related issues, according to PWInsider. Mike Johnson reported that his sources described the travel situation for both of WWE’s house show events that night in Columbus and New York City was described as a “complete nightmare” with several talents missing or arriving late to the shows. While responding to a fan question on Twitter, Rollins stated that the reason for his and Lynch’s absence was due to their tour bus had broken down on route to the event.

As noted before, Sasha Banks and Naomi have been absent from WWE since this past May due to their current suspensions over a walk out incident during a WWE RAW show in Norfolk, Virginia. PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that Naomi was seen in New York City this past Monday but it is currently not known if she was in attendance backstage during WWE’s house show event at Madison Square Garden that night.

WWE recently released a video on Twitter celebrating the 20th anniversary of Shelton Benjamin’s official WWE debut.

Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that former college football player Kash Daniel was given a tryout offer by WWE under their previous regime but he had turned down their offer. WWE officials reportedly believed that the reason was due to Daniel had aspirations at the time of wanting to play in the NFL instead, which has yet to happen due to him being undrafted in 2020 and not being signed to any team. Those spoken to reportedly stated that they are currently unsure if the tryout offer is still on the table for Daniel under WWE’s new leadership regime.