The 5 News Week: Backstage News On Asuka’s Challenger At Wrestlemania?, Mustafa Ali On Overcoming Stereotypes.

Hello, my fellow wrestling fans and welcome to the 5 news week. The post where I report 5 major or minor news of the week that I don't have time to do it separately. Without further ado, here are the 5 news week.

Backstage News On Asuka’s Challengers At Wrestlemania? 

If you have been watching Smackdown Live as of late then you’ll know that Asuka right now has no creative direction going into Wrestlemania but that could change according to the Wrestling Observer. 

The plan as of a few weeks ago was for Lacy Evans of all people to challenge Asuka for the Smackdown Live Women’s Championship and it was internally listed officially for Wrestlemania but that got nixed. 

Why you might ask? Well, Vince McMahon has an interest on Lacy Evans and she might get a push after Wrestlemania because of her big star potential. 

If this is the plan then WWE is gonna have a hard time convincing (get it? Vince? conVINCING? ) to the audience that Evans is a championship contender right now considering that Lacy Evans hasn’t done anything valuable. 

Mustafa Ali On Overcoming Stereotypes.

Brian Campbell over at CBSsports.com had Mustafa Ali as his guest on his “State Of Combat” podcast and there was a lot of time taken for Mustafa Ali to talk about the obstacles Ali had to encounter to become the person he is right now. Here’s are the highlights (transcript via the article on CBSsports.com): 

"I'm a kid who is trying to chase his dream, and the first decision I have to make is do I cave into these preconceived notions about what a guy that looks like me and has a name like mine is supposed to be in the world of pro wrestling." 

"It was a very weird time for me because I was in high school when 9/11 happened and I immediately felt the disconnect that I'm not one of us. I was born and raised in Chicago but somehow felt very alienated."


"Sometimes you have to create your own chance, These promos I was filming, I shot them and had them filmed in a very specific way to make them look different than everybody else. No one was doing these stylized vignettes, which is what we call them now, but me. We shot them the wee hours of the morning. If I wanted to talk about rising to your feet again, we made sure to film it at 5 a.m. with the sun coming up. When they see that dedication and see that you are being so intricate about all the small details, it resonates."

Four Horsemen Along with The American Dream and The American Nightmare Had Been Filed. 

In some minor, minor AEW/wrestling news, there were some wrestling related trademarks being filed. On March 10th, Cody Rhodes trademarked “The American Dream” and “The American Nightmare” (don’t know how he got the rights for the “American Dream” nickname but it’s interesting). Arn Anderson (real name Marty Lunde) trademarked the Arn Anderson name. Finally, a company called “Toot Toot LLC” trademarked the name “Four Horsemen”. 

Triple H Will Talk About The State Of The NXT Championship This Wednesday. 

Tomasso Ciampa had neck surgery last week and an article from Rothmannorto.com suggests that the recovery process for anterior cervical fusion surgery which is the surgery Tommaso Ciampa recently underwent, will take 3 to 6 months but that depends on the person so keep that mind. 

Anywho, because of that, Triple H will address the NXT Championship scene this Wednesday on NXT. Should be a noteworthy show. 

Kofi Kingston Could Make History This Coming Episode Of Smackdown Live. 

By the end of this past week’s episode of Smackdown Live, Vince McMahon announced that Kofi Kingston will compete in a Gauntlet match against Randy Orton, Samoa Joe, Rowan, Sheamus and Cesaro. 

This, by the way, makes this the third gauntlet match of 2019 so far (If you forgot the second one, it involved all the tag teams on RAW including Heavy Machinery which the duo in Otis and Tucker Knight lasted all the way through). 

Anyways, a twitter account by the name of WWE Stats and Info brought up an interesting observation basically stating that if Kofi lasted that match all the way through then he’ll be the first WWE Superstar with the most gauntlet match eliminations:

No @WWE Superstar has ever won a Gauntlet Match in which they were responsible for eliminating more than 4 opponents in a row all by his/herself.

In 1999, @steveaustinBSR eliminated 5 straight members of The Corporation on #RAW before falling to the 6th opponent - @VinceMcMahon. https://t.co/x0pOsqBuCT

— WWE Stats & Info (@WWEStats) March 13, 2019

Well, I hope you're caught up with the news and let me know your thoughts on the news I just reported. Follow the blog for honest pro wrestling opinions and stay safe smarks. 

Additional Sources: 
www.sescoops.com/kofi-kingston-could-make-history-on-wwe-smackdown-live/
www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2019/03/four-horsemen-and-other-new-trademark-filings-by-cody-652014/