Nikki Bella believes that she could continue to wrestle in WWE past her current contract.
The experienced star returned to WWE last year, and she recently revealed that both she and her sister, Brie Bella, are under contract until 2028. Bella told “Casino Guru” that she could sign another wrestling deal once her current contract expires, stating that she will decide after assessing her condition.
“Never say never [on continuing past her current contract]. Honestly, it’s all going to depend on my body, how I feel, I look in the ring compared to others. I’m the most aware person ever, and I don’t ever want to take spots from people. I am there to elevate, bring equity, and if I feel like I can’t hang, guess what? I’m not going to go hang. I’m not going to go pretend I can. We’ll see how I am at that point in life,” she said.
The Hall of Famer said that she hopes to have a future in WWE following her in-ring retirement. She also opened the door to becoming an on-screen General Manager and wants to emulate Stephanie McMahon, while also supporting the other women stars in any way she can.
“If I feel like the body is like, ‘Okay, we’re good, but suit me up and let me run the show,’ I’d do that,” Bella added. “Or if there was some other position in the way of helping the women, I would do that as well. But I just think we’ll have to wait till we get there.”
Bella, who is currently out of action due to injury, recently said that she would love to be the General Manager of “WWE Raw,” a role currently occupied by Adam Pearce.
Former WWE star Chavo Guerrero has opened up about a potential return to the ring, as well as the possibility of facing Rey Mysterio.
Guerrero, who hasn’t featured in WWE since 2011, continues to wrestle on the indie circuit and even wrestled in TNA last year, when it took place in his hometown of El Paso. The veteran star stated on “Gabby AF” that he would be open to wrestling in WWE or AAA, claiming that Guerreros never truly walk away from wrestling.
“You know what? Guerreros never retire. We never really stop wrestling. We always keep it going. It’s just who we are. It’s just in our DNA. So, my last kind of big match was that TNA show, I don’t know if you saw that one in El Paso. That was awesome. It was great. I felt really good in the ring. I was in the ring with some really great guys and, you know, my hometown of El Paso. I really, really liked it. You never know. I never say never because it’s just a phone call. You think, ‘I’m never going to do this again,’ and all of a sudden you get a call and go, ‘Well, I guess I’m doing it again,'” he said.
When asked if he would be interested in facing WWE Hall of Famer Rey Mysterio if he were to have a retirement tour similar to that of John Cena, Chavo jumped at the opportunity. He added that he and Mysterio know each other so well that they would need very little time to prepare for a match against each other.
“Rey and I, I know Rey so well. He knows me so well. Right now, tomorrow — give me five days to get into cardio shape, and we’d tear the place down. That’s just how well we know each other. We’ve done it everywhere,” said Guerrero.
Chavo is currently involved with WWE through its sister promotion, AAA, where he works behind the scenes.
Mike Bailey is finding it difficult to come to terms with his split from former tag team partner Kevin Knight and has discussed how tough it was to face him on “AEW Dynamite.”
Bailey and Knight, former AEW World Trios Champions alongside Mistico, split after the latter turned heel and joined the Don Callis Family. The two faced off for the first time since their breakup on “AEW Dynamite,” where Knight — the current AEW TNT Champion — got the better of his former tag team partner. Before the match, Bailey spoke about his emotions on his vlog.
“It’s hard, man. It’s honestly hard. Kevin and I spent so much time together wrestling in so many countries, had so many matches. And now it’s for the TNT Championship. And I’m going to have to do everything in my power to just take his head off and win his championship,” he said.
After the match, Bailey reflected on the clash, claiming that Knight won it only because of the presence of Don Callis and his group.
“I’m a sad man. So, tonight was rough. It felt great to be out there with Kevin in the ring. We wrestled before and, man, again, he continues to be impressive and good and so explosive. And the last time we had a match was during the Continental Classic and I remember I won that match and I was so proud afterwards. So proud of the match, so proud of what we did, so proud of how good we were. And I don’t feel that way right now. It’s hard,” he said. “He won the match. He did. I don’t think it was a good victory. I don’t think he should be proud of that victory. In fact, I would hope that he feels ashamed of that victory. But he is the TNT Champion, and I am not, and that is because of Don Callis.”
In the match, Callis and the members of his group tried every trick in the book to help Knight win and retain the title, which they did.
Like many wrestlers who try to break through in the business, Anthony Bowens landed himself some work as an enhancement talent for WWE early on in his career. However, the sole match that Bowens had under the WWE umbrella ended in very scary circumstances.
On the December 21, 2016 episode of “WWE NXT,” Bowens teamed up with Jonathan Ortagun as they attempted to halt the runaway train that was The Authors of Pain. The match was only 75 seconds long, primarily because Bowens legitimately had a seizure in the ring after Ortagun was powerbombed on to his head, knocking him out cold. Despite getting a bad concussion, Bowens recalls that day quite well, and during a recent interview with Adrian Hernandez where he was asked what the scariest bump of his career was, Bowens already knew what his answer would be.
“I remember taking the powerbomb and then I remember the guy coming down, and this it was just lights out. I was completely unconscious. I had that little seizure, and then I woke up in their finish, and thankfully Eddie who was the referee stopped the match. Then I blacked out again on the floor and then woke up to the doctors around me. So I wouldn’t call that painful, I would say that was definitely the scariest [bump].”
Fortunately, Bowens was able to get back in the ring fairly quickly after his appearance on “NXT,” wrestling the likes of Drew Galloway (now Drew McIntyre in WWE), Brian Cage, and Sonjay Dutt in the first half of 2017. He was reportedly set to join WWE on a full-time basis in 2017 but nothing ever materialized, and he was eventually picked up by AEW in 2020, and as we know by now, the rest is history.
Please credit the original source when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
WrestleMania is the event that is supposed to make matches feel bigger. The entrances are longer. The stadium looks different. The video packages make every feud feel like a career turning point. The commentary tells viewers that what they are watching matters. And sometimes, that works beautifully. But it also creates a danger. A match is no longer being judged as a match. It is being judged as a WrestleMania moment. Fans do not just want good wrestling. They want the image they will remember years later. They want the finish, the reaction, the shock, the feeling that the months of waiting were worth it. That is why “good enough” often feels small at WrestleMania.
A Bad Match Is Not Always A Disappointment
There is a difference between a bad match and a disappointing one. A bad match usually tells you what it is pretty quickly. The crowd is quiet, the timing is off, the idea is weak, or the wrestlers simply cannot do much with it. Fans may complain, but there is not always much mystery. A disappointing match is more frustrating. It has the pieces. A strong build. A major star. Maybe two. A crowd ready to care. A place on the card that tells everyone this is important. Then the match happens, and it never quite catches. That is often worse than a match everyone expected to be poor.
Hype Can Work Against The Match
WWE is very good at selling the idea of a match. Sometimes the idea becomes stronger than the reality. A great video package can make a feud feel more emotional than it really is. A few intense promos can make a match feel like it has years of history behind it. Two famous names can be placed across from each other and suddenly the audience starts imagining the best possible version. That can be dangerous. Goldberg vs Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XX looked huge on paper. Two powerhouses, both presented as monsters, finally meeting at WrestleMania. But the crowd knew both men were leaving WWE, and that knowledge changed everything. Instead of reacting to the match WWE wanted to present, the fans reacted to the situation around it.
Star Power Does Not Guarantee Chemistry
Some WrestleMania matches fail because the names are bigger than the connection between them. Star power can sell the ticket. It cannot create timing. It cannot force two styles to blend. One wrestler may need pace while the other needs control. One may work best in a wild fight, while the other needs structure. If they do not meet in the middle, the match can feel heavy no matter how big the feud is. Triple H vs Randy Orton at WrestleMania 25 had a heated story behind it. The build was personal and angry. The match, though, felt more careful than explosive. It was not the worst match in WrestleMania history, but it did not feel like the release fans expected. That is where disappointment lives. Not always in failure, but in the gap between the story and the match.
Why These Matches Stay In The Conversation
The lasting impact of a disappointing WrestleMania match can be significant. Analyses such as TheSportsGeek’s look at the worst WrestleMania matches of all time show how certain bouts remain talking points years later, often because expectations were far higher than the final result. That is the strange thing about WrestleMania. The classics live forever, but so do the missed chances. Fans remember the match they thought they were getting. They remember the better finish, the louder crowd, the version that should have happened. Sometimes that imagined version becomes stronger than the real one.
Modern Fans Expect The Whole Package
Today’s wrestling audience watches differently. Fans know the history. They know the backstage reports. They compare finishes, match structure, crowd reactions and booking decisions almost instantly. A WrestleMania match now has to satisfy the story, the live crowd, the online audience and the memory of every classic that came before it. That is a lot for one match to carry. Some matches still manage it. Others collapse under the weight.
The Missed Chance Is What Hurts
The most disappointing WrestleMania matches are not always the worst ones. They are the ones that should have worked. They had the story. They had the names. They had the stage. But for one reason or another, the final result felt smaller than the promise. At WrestleMania, that is enough to be remembered for the wrong reason.
