WWE: Julian Baldi Signs Contract with WWE, The Undertaker on WrestleMania 40 Providing “Closure” on His Wrestling Career, More News

Apr 16, 2024

Julian Baldi Signs Contract with WWE

Former Valdosta State University football player Julian Baldi announced on Twitter that he recently signed an official contract with WWE.

“IT’S OFFICIAL – It had to be kept a secret but I can finally announce that I have signed with WWE! Andiamo
#WWENextGen #wwenxt”

IT’S OFFICIAL – It had to be kept a secret but I can finally announce that I have signed with WWE! Andiamo 📈🇮🇹 #WWENextGen #wwenxt pic.twitter.com/tQv3bPq3f0
— Julian Baldi (@julian_baldi) April 16, 2024

Prior to his signing, Baldi was among the talent recruits who were featured in WWE’s WWE: Next Gen reality competition series on Roku.

The Undertaker Comments on His Involvement at WrestleMania 40 Providing “Closure” on His Wrestling Career

WWE’s WrestleMania 40 event earlier this month in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania featured WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker making an appearance during the Cody Rhodes vs. Roman Reigns match for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship.

A recent episode of the Six Feet Under with Mark Calaway podcast featured The Undertaker giving his thoughts about his appearance at the event and how it provided closure for his wrestling career.

“Here’s the coolest thing about the whole week. I’ve only shared this, until now, with Michelle [Undertaker’s wife Michelle McCool]. Something happened. I have been struggling with it since I retired. This weekend gave me closure. It really did. It was fun. Obviously, it was fun. Doing this for as long as I have and being involved and how important that storyline was and is. When it was over and I was running out of the building, I’m like, ‘I’m good now.’ I don’t know if I needed…my last match was the Boneyard with nobody there. It was a moment of clarity that I had. ‘I’m okay now.’ Not saying I wouldn’t do something like that in the future, but I don’t have that feeling in my chest like I’ve had since I retired like I hadn’t come to peace with it. I knew, just like I knew it was over in the Boneyard match at four in the morning. I’m good. I had no clue, but I knew once it was done, ‘You’re good. It’s time to flip the page and go to the next chapter.’ It was such a cool weekend all around and then to have closure to the wrestling part of my career, it was cool. It was a great feeling. It’s an amazing feeling because I don’t have that pressure now. It’s been difficult the last couple of years. I was out there and what a moment to have. I can close this book.”

The Undertaker also gave his thoughts about the process that led to his appearance at WrestleMania 40.

“It happened pretty spontaneously. We got to Philadelphia on Wednesday. I got a call on Tuesday from Triple H. ‘Hey, a lot of things are going on and a lot of thoughts are being put into this. Would you want to be part of it?’ ‘If it works and if I can be a help, I don’t know how, but if I can help, fine, whatever you guys need. Just let me know.’ ‘We don’t have anything yet, we’re just putting ideas together.’ I don’t hear anything else until Thursday. I get a text from Michael Hayes. ‘We’re coming up with some ideas.’ ‘Cool, let me know.’ That was it. I’m at the One Deadman Show. I get a text from Paul Heyman. ‘Interesting.’ I told Paul originally, ‘This isn’t about me. If the guys want me involved in it, whatever I can do, let me know. If they don’t, it ain’t going to hurt my feelings. I’m good. Don’t feel like there is any pressure.’ It had gone back and forth. I get a text during Sunday, and that’s when you see me get up. At that point, I knew there was a good chance.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com 1 & 2

WWE News & Notes

Post Wrestling’s John Pollock reported that WWE had sold 15,431 tickets for a live gate of $1,035,270 for their March 25th RAW show at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois based on a recent audit release from Pollstar.

Logan Paul and his fiance Nina Agdal recently announced on Instagram that they are currently expecting the birth of their first child this Fall.

As noted before, WWE is currently working on plans for Bo Dallas and the Uncle Howdy character potential return to the company. Monday’s WWE RAW show in Montreal, Canada featured a new teaser for Dallas’ upcoming return in the form of another screen glitch that took place durign New Day’s entrance for their WWE World Tag Team Championship #1 Contender Triple Threat match on the show. This glitch featured a QR code briefly flashed and when scanned leads to an image of an incomplete URL. When solved, this lead to a website link of https://www.wwe.com/uednj51a and a video featuring the message of “Time to wake up, take my hand, things will be better, trust me.”

WWE held two matches for this week’s Main Event taping prior to the start of Monday’s RAW show in Montreal. These were Otis defeating Ludwig Kaiser in a singles match and Natayla defeating Xia Li in a singles match.

WWE also held one match for this Wednesday’s WWE Speed taping prior to the start of Monday’s RAW show in Montreal. This was Ricochet defeating JD McDonagh in a WWE Speed Championship Semifinal Round match.

Monday’s WWE RAW show in Montreal featured Sheamus making his official in-ring return from injury since this past August. Following his match, WWE held a digital exclusive backstage interview with Sheamus discussing his thoughts about his return to WWE. Sheamus stated “It’s kind of ironic. My last match at WWE before tonight was in Toronto, Canada, in August. My first match back is in Montreal, Canada, and I couldn’t have ever expected a response like that from these Canadian fans tonight in Montreal. It was off the charts, and that’s why it’s been so hard sitting at home for the last couple of months. But if you want me to send a message to everyone in the WWE locker room, I only have four words. You don’t want this.” (Transcript h/t: Fightful.com)

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently reflected on Instagram about his tag team match with Roman Reigns against Seth Rollins & Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40. Johnson stated “Congratulations to Cody Rhodes, congratulations to my cousin Roman Reigns on an incredible three-in-a-half-year run, maybe even four years, just incredible, iconic, and historic. I’m very proud of you, uso. Also congratulations to the real MVP of the entire WrestleMania weekend, Seth Rollins. What an honor it was to share the ring with you three. What an honor it was for us to break records. And now my sights are set on the next WrestleMania. But that’s down the road.”

WWE recently announced two new matches for the card of next week’s WWE RAW show on April 22nd in Columbus, Ohio:

WWE World Tag Team Championship – DIY (Tommaso Ciampa & Johnny Gargano) vs. Awesome Truth (R-Truth & The Miz)
Vacant WWE Women’s World Championship – TBA vs. TBA

WWE recently announced one new match for the card of tonight’s NXT show:

Authors of Pain (Akam & Rezar) vs. Malik Blade & Edris Enofe