As the WCW acquisition came, so too did the very rushed and hollow Invasion angle pitting an Alliance of WCW and ECW invaders against the gatekeepers of WWE. 

Austin had been getting into his heel character in the months leading up to it, but in the face of the invasion McMahon had been calling upon the man that had been fawning for his affection to embrace the Austin of old — the old “Stone Cold.” Austin relented eventually, slapping all of the Alliance members with stunners and leading Team WWE into the Invasion pay-per-view. 

Then, and only then, did he choose to stick it to McMahon and turn heel again, joining the team representing the company that had unceremoniously fired him while injured in 1995, believing him to be unmarketable. 

Now, the benefit of hindsight is a bonus, but it would surely have been better for the opposite to happen; Austin should have aligned with McMahon only when the future of the company that had given him space to grow into who he was had come under threat. Austin eventually wound up pinned by the Rock at Survivor Series 2001, spelling an end to the Invasion angle, and McMahon tried to strip him of the title. 

Ric Flair returned as a storyline co-owner of WWE, aligning with Austin to help him keep the title and turning Austin face once more against McMahon. And then Austin lost the title to Chris Jericho on his way to unifying it with the WCW World Heavyweight Championship that was held by the Rock at the time. 

It just feels as though the path of least resistance in all of the aforementioned would have been to maintain Austin as the top babyface in the company. In fact, everything of significance that did occur during his time as heel likely would have made a lot more sense if he had stayed a face. 

Roman Reigns laid into his WrestleMania rival CM Punk just days out from their WWE World Heavyweight Championship match. 

In a video posted to X, Reigns was sat in the back of a car listening to Punk give an interview on being a fighting champion, as opposed to the “Original Tribal Chief.” Reigns turned to the camera after seeing and hearing enough, noting that he had only defended the title three times since winning it November. 

“You’re not a fighting champion. You’re not even a fighter. We’ve seen how that went,” he continued. He said that he had told the company from the beginning he was an “unsigned billion dollar check” and called Punk coddled by management.

“You don’t have that type of confidence because you’re not the type of man I am. You’re not cut from the same fabric as me. It blows my mind you think we’re f***ing equals. In which way?” Reigns said as he promised it would only take the first couple of minutes to establish they’re not equals. 

He continued, “The whole industry coddles you just by having you in it. You talk about the old timers, those were tough guys. We’ve seen what happens when you try to be a tough guy. We put our whole reputation, the whole art-form on the line for you. Because what, a 100,000 internet marks love you?” 

On Sunday, It’s Over For You.#WrestleMania pic.twitter.com/OX6XkraU4l

— Roman Reigns (@WWERomanReigns) April 16, 2026

Reigns said that Punk’s run on the independent circuit was “the s***s” and an embarrassment, and there wasn’t a legend in his family that respects him. 

“You’re the reason we don’t let marks in the business. Keep my f***ing name out of your mouth.”

Reigns is looking to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career, having held the WWE and Universal Championships at a combined total of six titles.

Two weeks ago during her match with Raquel Rodriguez on “WWE Raw,” IYO SKY accidentally tripped over the top rope while attempting a routine suicide dive to the outside of the ring, causing her to land head first on the ground. Although many fans were concerned for SKY’s health immediately after the accident, she thankfully avoided injury and was able to return to the ring the following week. Despite SKY being more susceptible for injury being a high-flyer, AJ Styles, who was no stranger to dangerous maneuvers, believes specific stunts shouldn’t be avoided just because they’re more high-risk.

“I know it’s dangerous and stuff, but it’s supposed to be. And things like this are going to happen cause it is high risk. That’s why we call it high risk. High risk, high reward. High risk, you could just lay on your head. It happens to the best of us,” he explained on “The Phenomenally Retro Podcast.” “You got to think of all the thousands of times she’s done this and hit it perfectly and that one time, she clips her foot … sometimes you can get thrown off running to those ropes if the ropes are different colors or if someone’s a little bit too far away, then you think you got to put a little extra into it and by doing that you’re throwing your whole thing off.”

Styles claimed that SKY is “so freaking tough” and is the most athletic person he’s ever seen, while explaining that the entire women’s roster in WWE is strong. Styles is set to be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame on Friday ahead of WrestleMania 42 this weekend.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “The Phenomenally Retro Podcast” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.