Wrestling Roundup: April 7, 2020

The Wrestling Roundup is here to bring you all the news and rumors you need to know in one place.

Raw After Wrestlemania Results

WWE is still working under the old adage of “the show must go on”. This week’s Raw was taped ahead of time, and didn’t feature the same energy as your usual Raw after Mania for understandable reasons. We still got lots of action and some Wrestlemania recap. Here are the results for Monday’s Raw:

• Asuka def. Liv Morgan
• Street Profits (c) def. Austin Theory & Angel Garza by disqualification to retain the Raw Tag Team Championships
• Street Profits & Bianca Belair def. Austin Theory, Angel Garza & Zelina Vega
• Aleister Black def. Apollo Crews
• Cedric Alexander & Ricochet def. Oney Lorcan & Danny Burch
• Seth Rollins def. Denzel Dejournette
• Nia Jax def. Deonna Purrazzo
• Humberto Carrillo def. Brendan Vink
• Drew McIntyre (c) def. Big Show to retain the WWE Championship

I know it’s great to have a working and defending champion again, but a Big Show title shot was a very strange sight. At least it was until you remember that his Netflix sitcom just dropped. It all makes sense in the context of the WWE machine.

Seth Rollins looked angrier than we’ve ever seen him. Poor Denzel didn’t stand a chance.

Nia Jax returned! So between Nia and Big Show we did get two post-Wrestlemania returns. It’s almost like the old days. Jax won quickly with the RamPaige. Does this mean we’re getting a Paige return down the line, or was it an homage to one of Jax’s close friends? For now it’s just paying tribute according to both women:

https://twitter.com/NiaJaxWWE/status/1247349778343702528

Bianca Belair is on Raw now, so Becky Lynch better hold on to that Raw Women’s Championship a bit tighter.

Michael Cole Gets Promotion

WWE has recently given a promotion to longtime announcer Michael Cole. According to PWInsider, Cole has been promoted to the Vice President of Announcing at the company (h/t Fightful). Cole has been with WWE since 1997, and recently has been one of the figures in the company hiring and training the new crop of announcers. 

Tampa Bay Hosting Wrestlemania 38?

Obviously Tampa Bay did not get to host Wrestlemania 36 this year at Raymond James stadium due to the ongoing pandemic. Wrestlemania 37 has already been booked for Los Angeles. The rumour now is that WWE may look to Tampa Bay once again for Wrestlemania 38 in 2022. WrestleVotes has reported as much on Twitter, and it all makes sense. WWE and Tampa Bay already have much of the logistics in place from this year’s non-event. Moving those things two years later in the calendar seems reasonable.

Now that the weekend that “was to be” has passed, I can say that Tampa Bay will be in the running to host #Wrestlemania⁠ ⁠ 38 in 2022.

All the initial legwork is obviously done, with the city still very much eager to host the event. Might be a shoe in. Time will tell.

— WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) April 6, 2020

One for the Road:

The Firefly Funhouse match was excellent, and explored so many parts of John Cena’s character in WWE. Indie wrestler Jay Walker broke down all the psychology pieces on Twitter in a thread you should definitely read through:

WrestleMania 30 is the most pivotal night. It’s why we’re here. Bray had the whole world in his hands. Cena had a chance to make a star BUT, he chose not to and it hurt Bray. So now Cena must look at his past to see the errors of his ways… pic.twitter.com/VOXnYRHVP1

— Jay Walker (@iamjaywalker) April 6, 2020