The Return Of Steiner Math & An Update From Planet Stasiak: Ten Things You May Have Missed In Wrestling This Week

Last week was a rough one as WWE - one year to the day after they last cleaned house - wished ten of their Superstars well in their future endeavours.

It's always sad to see a performer you enjoy watching get let go, especially during challenging times like these, but some of the people WWE said goodbye to seemed (on the surface at least) to be genuinely baffling choices.

I'm sure they'll all go on to have success and do great things elsewhere, if they choose to after 90 days, but how could the company not figure out how to do anything with a dependable veteran like Mickie James, either member of the entertaining Iiconics or a talented and hard-working high-flyer like Kalisto?

All had held titles in WWE and had their share of fans, but I suppose business is business. Their loss could end up being another organisation's gain.

And I, like everyone else, find it positively perplexing that they gave a pink slip to Samoa Joe, of all people.

The Samoan Submission Machine had proven himself to be a true asset, a utility player that could be everything from a potential World Champion, a colour commentator, a coach at the Performance Centre or fifty other different things if desired.

It will be really interesting seeing where he ends up next.

The April 15 cull was certainly the talk of the wrestling week and provided some great reactions but, as always, there are plenty more stories, opinions and controversial comments to be found elsewhere...

10. Mike Chioda Almost Called An Audible During Goldberg Vs. Undertaker

WWE.com

Veteran former WWE referee Mike Chioda was the man in the middle for the disastrous Goldberg versus Undertaker match at Super Showdown 2019, and recently talked about that experience with Metro.co.uk.

Chioda - who had pretty much seen it all over his decades with WWE - became so concerned as the bout fell apart that he considered calling an audible and ending it early.

"I almost had to call an audible during the Undertaker/Goldberg match at Saudi Arabia. It went downhill after Goldberg got gashed open in the turnbuckle, got concussed. He was badly concussed and he got through the match, but barely. 

That’s when I was kinda worried because I thought 'oh my God!'. After the suplex, they almost broke their necks. 'Oh my God, let’s get this done'. He was so concussed."

There was an anxious wait to see whether or not the official would have to intervene for the safety of the performers.

"I was waiting to hear back from somebody to say, 'should I call this match or not because he’s not doing good at all?'. 

They just let them go. When you were an old school wrestler, you didn’t care if you were bleeding – you got through the match, whatever it took, you got through it. You wouldn’t see too many guys just saying, 'Oh I can’t wrestle no more' or 'I broke my finger', or 'I tore my knee out'. They still get through the match".

According to Chioda, one person could have overruled those backstage, and it was the man who was in the ring with him.

"That’s it, let it play out. Unless 'Taker’s gonna tell me something. Then I would’ve done it. That was it. 'Taker tells me something, I’m doing it. I don’t care if the office in the back didn’t like it or not! 'Taker is one of the bosses, that’s for sure". 

9. Xavier Woods Burns His Brock Shirt

Twitter

Xavier Woods shared a fun throwback picture that, based on the merchandise on display, must have been taken around 2003/04.

As you can see, he's proudly rocking one of Brock Lesnar's t-shrits in it, a t-shirt that he claims he 'burned' on October 4, 2019.

That was, of course, the date that his best friend Kofi Kingston lost the WWE Title to The Beast Incarnate within seconds after a single F5.

Clearly unconcerned about Lesnar seeing or hearing about his Tweet (lol Brock using a computer or caring what anybody else thinks), Woods doubled down by writing "Someone please remind me to quote tweet this on 10/4 every year. Thanks".

8. Ken Doane Announces Retirement

WWE.com

Former WWE superstar Ken Doane announced his retirement this week.

Doane - best known as 'Kenny' from the Spirit Squad and then Kenny Dykstra - was a former World Tag Team Champion and also worked on the independent scene for companies like Ring of Honor.

Writing on Twitter, Doane said:

"I’ve decided to retire from in ring wrestling. When I started at 13 I thought I’d retire at 40. But smart investments overtime have allowed me to be done now. I’m in my prime, and that will go towards my family and being a father. Thanks to the fans who stuck by me".

Once thought of as one of the top, young up-and-coming prospects in WWE, Ken worked with major stars like Triple H and Shawn Michaels and was even given a singles match victory over Ric Flair on pay-per-view (New Year's Revolution 2007).

However, his momentum stalled time and time again and his career there eventually fizzled out (he was brought back for a short run in 2016).

It's always nice to see someone go out on their own terms, especially before they hit 40, a true rarity in wrestling.

7. Give Batista What He Wants

WWE.com

Speaking of people who went out on their own terms, former WWE Champion and current Hollywood heavyweight Dave Batista was in the news this week, relaying a story about how he told executives at Warner Bros. that he was going to play Batman's nemesis Bane in a film.

Replying to a question about who he would like to play in the DC extended universe during the Spotlight on Dave Bautista section of JusticeCon, The Animal said:

"Oh, it would be Bane all day long. I've made no secret about this. I want to play Bane so bad I went to Warner Bros., had an appointment with them, had an appointment with DC, walked in the door and said, 'I want to play Bane.' I'm not kidding. They were a little like 'Woah, we're not even casting Bane.' I was like 'I don't care, I'm playing him'".

Sadly, he didn't get what he wanted, later tweeting out:

"I wasn’t joking. But in all honesty they did have a good giggle and show me the exit. At least I gave it a shot. My life seems to be a continuing mission to find an alternative route to get to where I want to be. I’m good with that.. #DreamChaser"

6. Meanwhile On Planet Stasiak...

WWE.com

Former WWE and WCW star Shawn Stasiak (who now works as a chiropractor) shared an interesting post on Instagram this week, showing a picture of himself with both a version of the modern WWE Title belt and the version his father Stan 'The Man' Stasiak wore in the 1970s (a superimposition supposedly shared with him by a fan).

In the post, the former Meat wrote about how he has been trying to get back to WWE for the last several years, to no avail.

"There's never been a father/son duo in the history of WWE to become WWE Champion. I had pitched and campaigned a come out of retirement come back story, one last run kind of thing to the company for years and namely to Vince McMahon (One phone conversation a few years ago) but the door of opportunity never opened and came to fruition! 

There's an old saying in that company..."Never say Never! but I've come to grips with the probability that it will most likely never happen. I tried folks, I really did but sometimes in life you just have to accept what is and how the cards fall and just be sure to pick up form it and carry onward and upward towards other inspired dreams, goals and visions!"

All I want is to live in a world where Batista gets to play Bane and Shawn Stasiak is WWE Champion.

Is that really too much to ask for?

Considering Stasiak hasn't been on the books for almost two decades, is fifty years old (though still in great shape) and was never more than a comedy midcarder, I'd say the chances of him unseating Roman Reigns or Bobby Lashley anytime soon aren't great.

5. Charlie Haas Talks WWE Creative Frustrations

The Hannibal TV

One of the more surprising wrestling comebacks of late has been the re-emergence of Charlie Haas, who is the current Heavyweight Champion of Texas-based promotion SWE.

The three-time WWE Tag Team Champion was a guest on the Wrestling Inc. Daily and opened up about his frustrations when working for WWE.

While he was thankful for the opportunity to work for them and enjoyed his time teaming with Shelton Benjamin and Kurt Angle, Haas felt like his hard work wasn't acknowledged or properly rewarded by those in charge:

"They never build you up when you’re up there. They just kept picking on you, picking on you, picking on you. You’re just like, ‘Man, did I really suck? Maybe I do'.

Shelton and I would get to the ring first before the shows. We’d be in there all day working out with Arn [Anderson], and we would stay late. You would put in the hard work. Man, that doesn’t pay off. The tag team did. When they split us after that, it really didn’t.

When you have a work ethic that you developed in amateur wrestling and were successful there and you apply it to that, these agents see it like Arn, Dean [Malenko] and Jerry [Lynn]. Vince and Triple H, how come they don’t see it? I’ve been in the ring with Triple H. I just think my style at the time just wasn’t what they wanted. There’s no hard feelings". 

Charlie talked about using his experience to help the next generation, particularly the SWE talents that had an eye on going to AEW or WWE in the future.

4. Petey Williams Brings Back Steiner Math

Impact Wrestling

It is often forgot that while Scott Steiner was delivering his legendary 'Steiner Math' promo ahead of his triple threat TNA World Title match at Sacrifice 2008, his sidekick and tag partner Peter 'Big Petey Pump' Williams was standing right next to him, doing his absolute best next to corpse on camera.

Well, Peter recreated the infamous spiel on last week's edition of Impact Wrestling, busting out the chain mail and shades to hype the upcoming three-way X-Division Title match between TJP, Ace Austin and Josh Alexander at Impact Rebellion.

Watch and learn.

Also, it should definitely be noted that Impact star Johnny Swinger, of all people, has been incredibly entertaining of late and that he, along with Charlie Haas, has to rank as one of the most unlikeliest of recent pro wrestling comebacks.

3. Zayn Wants Waltman At SummerSlam

WWE.com

He's a two-time WWE Hall of Famer as a member of both D-Generation X and the New World Order, but despite being active on the international and indie scenes as recently as 2019, Sean 'X-Pac' Waltman hasn't worked a WWE match since he was released back in 2002.

It came to light this week that Sami Zayn pitched working with him at SummerSlam 2019, but that it ultimately didn't happen (and The Great Liberator wasn't even booked on the show).

Waltman responded to the tweet, writing:

"I had a few health/injury issues that needed addressing at that time. Now that I've taken care of them, there's always next #SummerSlam...if that's something people want to see. #wwe".

He then clarified that he meant next year's SummerSlam. 

The former 1-2-3 Kid recently underwent surgery to repair a torn ACL and meniscus, an injury he suffered in 2007, and should be ready to wrestle again in early 2022.

It would be great to see him get a proper sendoff against an opponent like Zayn, someone whom he no doubt inspired as one of the first wrestlers to bring a distinct, light-heavyweight style to WWE TV.

2. Who Has The Chicken Suit?

WWE.com

The first 'Ask Kurt Anything' edition of the Kurt Angle show was a terrific listen, as the WWE Hall of Famer answered questions from fans and touched on everything from his days in WWE developmental, wrestling with Vince McMahon on an airplane, his backstage fight with Eddie Guerrero, an in-ring lesson he taught John Cena one night the Doctor of Thuganomics decided to go off-script and much more.

One interesting tidbit that came to light was that Angle and his wife are currently in the process of trying to by back his own merchandise.

The Olympian had neglected to save anything from his time in wrestling, giving most of it to charity and other good causes, meaning that he has few original keepsakes to show his own kids and grandchildren.

While Kurt doesn't expect to get his old ring-worn singlets back (since he donated those one of a kind items to charity for a reason), he is interested in tracking down and successfully bidding on t-shirts, vests, hats and other ephemera from his Hall of Fame career.

If you're reading, Kurt, I have 800 unboxed Shield Kurt Angle action figures that could be yours for the right price.

Collection only.

1. The Highest Compliment

WWE.com

Rob Van Dam has been talking about the experience of being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame during WrestleMania week, appearing this week on Busted Open Radio to explain what it meant for him, writing his speech and the compliment he was paid by Vince McMahon and Triple H during the ceremony.

“Obviously, it’s an incredible honor. I knew going in that this is some serious sh*t, headlining, cemented in with this prestigious group of people that influenced me and people that have ruled the entire business. Whether I deserve it or not, that’s always going to be subjective to whoever is saying that. For years, I’ve heard, ‘Hey, future Hall of Famer’, and I’m like, ‘Well that’s cool if they think that of me’. 

Now, subjective to Vince and to WWE, they think that I’m worthy, so that adds a lot of honor to it. When I heard the speeches were going to be short, I was a little bit bummed because everyone was saying, 'I can’t wait to hear your speech’. I was putting out there to people I talked to, to lower your expectations because I knew it was going to be short.

We had a lot of people to go through. When I went out there, I was trying to think of what to write before, and I kept pulling out my pad of paper. I would start daydreaming or whatever. I would start to write something, and just like everywhere in life, for me, what works for me, I can’t force it. I have to wait until everything just drops into place. It ended up, like, I didn’t know what I was going to say. I haven’t heard it back in its entirety, so I’m not really sure what all I said, but I went out there to speak from the heart. I was very pleased to see that people seemed to enjoy the speech. I was hearing some of the comments. Some of them were saying it was their favorite speech and it was so genuine. I didn’t think I was going to be the whole f’n show in three to five minutes. That was awesome. The whole night was awesome. 

Having Vince and Hunter tell me that I changed the business, that will stick with me forever. That’s great. At first I joked, ‘For better or worse?’, and they both said, ‘For better’. That’s something that means a lot to me, and I know a lot of people were happy. I could feel the energy. If they’re happy for me and I’m happy for them, then everybody’s happy".

All of those in favour of RVD coming back for at least one more match in WWE say 'dude, whatever'.

Perhaps he could have his retirement match against his idiot son Riddle?