WWE: The Rock on His Current Training for In-Ring Wrestling, Big Change Made to Women’s Elimination Chamber Match Plans, More News

The Rock Comments on “Training For Wrestling Requires Respect For The Sport, I Have To Prepare The Right Way”

E! News held a recent interview with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. One of the topics discussed included Johnson’s thoughts about his current training for an upcoming in-ring return for WWE.

“The type of training with professional wrestling—unlike stunts, unlike weight training—requires a respect for the sport. I gotta prepare in the right way. I don’t want to get my a– kicked too bad.”

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WWE Reportedly Dropped Plans for Jade Cargill to be in Women’s Elimination Chamber Match

As noted before, WWE had been planning for this year’s Women’s Elimination Chamber match at next week’s Elimination Chamber 2024 event to feature Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Naomi, Tiffany Stratton, and Jade Cargill as the official competitors.

PWInsider’s Mike Johnson reported that his sources stated that WWE officials recently dropped their plans for Cargill to be involved in this match for reasons currently not known.

Johnson reported that Cargill is currently expected to attend the upcoming SmackDown double tapings this Friday so it is possible that WWE officials could potentially pivot back to their original plans for her for the event.

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WWE News & Notes

WWE announced that their upcoming Elimination Chamber 2024 event on February 24th in Perth, Australia will be featuring a Grayson Waller Effect talk show segment with Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.

WWE also announced that they have recently expanded their partnership with the ‘Love Has No Labels’ campaign.

WWE also recently announced that the official theme song for their NXT Stand & Deliver 2024 event on April 6th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is “Year Of The Vulture” by The Wonder Years.

Bronson Reed recently announced on Instagram that his cousin Kayla passed away this past Monday.

As noted before, former WWE employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit this past January against former TKO Group Executive Chairman Vince McMahon accusing McMahon of committing sex trafficking and sexual abuse towards her during her time in the company. Wrestlenomics’ Brandon Thurston reported that an update on Grant’s lawsuit is currently expected to arrive this Friday due to that being the deadline date for an answer or extension to their summons by the court.

In a recent interview with the Rush Hour Morning Show podcast, R-Truth gave his thoughts about who came up with the idea for his “Tom & Nick Mysterio” gag with Judgement Day. R-Truth stated “That was Rob Fee and myself. When he said the name at first, we both laughed, we knew it would work. That’s one thing about the wrestling business, if we laugh at it, we know everybody is going to laugh at it. That’s how we pick and choose. I can’t take credit for all of that one.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent interview with TV Insider, Natayla gave her thoughts about how her Dugeon 2.0 with Tyson Kidd is their “love letter to wrestling. Natayla stated “TJ and I rented a warehouse. A little warehouse. There is no air conditioning, one small bathroom, and a wrestling ring. And the only thing you need is passion. We have friends who work in every corner of the industry. We have friends from every promotion. Our ring is not a school where you can sign up, or pay a fee, or just drop in. It’s invite only. You have to know a friend who knows a friend who knows a friend. It’s kind of a wrestling workshop for intermediate to advanced people. We rent the space, but “The Dungeon” is our way of giving back to the industry. It’s our love letter to wrestling. I love being able to give back from women of NXT to women in the independent industry to women who love this industry. When Jade Cargill asked to train in “The Dungeon,” I was so honored because when she asked she had just lost her mother. I thought, ‘That shows me right there the women we are going to get in WWE. Someone who has such passion for this.’ Having just lost a parent and thinking, ‘You know what? This is a positive focus for me and a way to shift my focus to work hard.’ I have so much respect for her for wanting to train during that difficult time in her life. “The Dungeon” is our love letter to professional wrestling.“

In the same interview, Natayla also gave her thoughts about the rumors of a possible film based on The Hart Family being in production. Natayla stated “I am working on something near and dear to my heart. I can’t confirm or deny what I’m working on, but it’s very special, and I’m really excited about it. If I were going to do a movie and could choose who I would personally want to play my dad, it would be Paul Walter Hauser. Paul is a huge wrestling fan. He just won the Emmy Award and called out [wrestler] Matt Cardona in his acceptance speech. I love Paul’s passion for the industry. I see old footage of my dad and think, ‘If there was a movie on the Hart family, call Paul Walter Hauser.’ I can’t unsee him as my dad. He has to be my dad. I love Paul. I think it’s so commendable that someone from his world has so much respect for us.“

In a recent interview with the Sunday Night’s Main Event podcast, former WWE talent Matt Riddle gave his thoughts about the recent sex trafficking and sexual abuse allegations against Vince McMahon. Riddle stated “Well, people say that (they were surprised), and granted I had no idea of anything going on. I don’t even politic my own matches. I show up and do my job. Honestly, if you watch any of his work from in-ring performances, the things he said and did, logic would tell you alone. Especially, me, personally, all the good wrestlers that play good characters, that’s them. It might be turned up by ten or 100, but that’s them. When I see Vince do all the things he’s done from the 80s, 90s, early 2000s, I was not surprised. Some of it, a little, but yeah, the guy is a billionaire that owns a company. He’s done it all, seen it all, and wants to do more and see more. I don’t know, I’m not a billionaire. I wasn’t the dude (alleged in the lawsuit). Brock was the dude he was talking to. It wasn’t me. I really have no comment, other than that. I’m not surprised. I hear people say they’re surprised. I’m not surprised. The guy was a maniac.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

In a recent episode of the Six Feet Under podcast, WWE Hall of Famer and co-host The Undertaker gave his thoughts about WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque’s running of WWE. The Undertaker stated “He’s doing it calmly. So I’m not I’m not around, obviously, like I used to be. When I was working full-time, or even when I wasn’t working full-time. It was just so chaotic.” The Undertaker also gave his thoughts about the current locker room environment in WWE. The Undertaker stated “There is like this calm backstage. The crew itself, the talent, they’re relatively young. Top to bottom, they’re young people. They’re all so chill. I’ve seen Triple H get worked up, but I haven’t seen him yell at Talent. I haven’t seen him bad mouth anybody. There’s been times where you come back through the curtain and you know that ass-chewing is coming. I haven’t seen that with him. Like I said, I haven’t been around a whole lot, but I’ve been around enough, and I know him well enough, and I can just tell it’s such a chill vibe. For me, I almost don’t like it because it’s almost too calm. To me, and this is just me on the outside looking in, it’s like they don’t care enough. It’s not that. It’s just the atmosphere.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)