411’s WWE Backstage Report: Edge On His WrestleMania Match, Panel On Ronda Rousey’s “Fake” Comment, More

-Welcome to the latest edition of WWE Backstage. This week should be a good one as CM Punk is slated to return, and Edge will be joining the show for the first time. Let’s get to it!

-Show opening!

-Renee Young welcomes us to another social distancing episode of WWE Backstage and she is joined by her co-host, Booker T and on the panel we have CM Punk and Christian. Punk says he has been built for this as he has been practicing social distancing for years. He tells everyone to stay healthy and it will all be over soon as long as we stay inside. Flatten the curve people!

-On SmackDown Braun and The Fiend seem set for a Universal Title Program, Sasha/Bayley continues to get the slow burn, and Bliss/Cross continue to win. RAW sees Shayna bulldoze Logan, Charlotte and Becky speak and Rollins sets his eyes on Drew McIntyre.

-The panel discusses Seth vs Drew and Booker thinks it puts Drew right in the mix. Drew doesn’t need to sit on the sideline wondering what’s next and he likes the pairing. He thinks they can create magic together. Christian is a fan of the shift in Seth and needs him to grow in more chest hair. Ha! He brings up that he told a young CM Punk that if he wanted to be hated, he should grown in chest hair. He thinks this is good for Drew after wrestling Brock and Big Show. Now he has someone that can really go and he can’t wait to see what they can do. Punk feels this is the best spot for both of them and if done right could extend this rivalry to SummerSlam and maybe beyond. He thinks Seth has something to prove and Drew is an ass kicker that has a story fans can relate to. He would watch this match for sure.

-Next is Zelina’s new faction and Christian is a fan. He feels this stable is giving all of them credibility. Punk is obviously a fan and brings up again that she played his wife in Paige’s movie. He knows valet is a dirty word to some, but he loves seeing that aspect being brought back. He also likes seeing that the group doesn’t look like they all fit and brings up how Bobby Eaton looked out of place in The Dangerous Alliance. He wants to see the group add a few more members and keep Zelina as the nucleus.

-They discuss Braun/Fiend next and Punk isn’t a fan of this program. He thinks it is being rushed and possibly could have been saved for SummerSlam. He isn’t sure if Braun going up against a guy the fans like and think was kind of screwed is smart, but he admits it is only the first step. Christian likes the backstory, but leans towards how Punk is feeling. He wants to see Braun run with it and thinks they need to keep them separate for a bit. He also doesn’t think The Fiend needs the title. Punk isn’t sure how you get sympathy on The Fiend or Braun Strowman and thinks the timing is off on this one.

-Lashley/Lana drama is next and they flashback to Dec 10, 2019 where Punk mentioned that Lashley would get sick of Lana and lead to a divorce. Punk laughs and says who knew that he would know where they were heading. Renee wants Lio Rush back.

-Commercials!

-They show fan videos of reactions to Edge’s return. I love seeing videos like those. Edge joins Renee and Christian for this segment. Christian says the last clip was fake crying and Edge tells him that he would know about fake crying. Christian agrees as he says he is soulless. Edge says that it was odd at Mania this year for obvious reasons, but it felt amazing to get back in the groove. He knew The Rumble was one thing, but a singles match was a lot more. He had no clue that the match went 40 minutes and felt he could have gone another 2 hours. He says again that he needs to tone things back a bit and his wife wasn’t happy with some of the bumps he took, but he felt the match deserved it.

-Christian brings up doing promos with no fans and Edge loved it. It gives you a chance to pay attention to details and hone your craft. To Edge it felt like doing a monologue and that was fun. He misses the audience, but they are finding new areas to go to and that’s fun. Edge felt with no fans you have to look at the camera because that is who you are playing to. It just felt natural to speak to them and it made it more conversational and real. I wish more would do that instead of playing to a crowd that isn’t there.

-Christian asks about how seamless it was for him and Randy to put this together. Edge says it was natural and that when Randy can sink his teeth into something, there is nobody better. When Randy is motivated look out as he can take it to a level that he doesn’t know he has. Edge knew they had something more than he expected when he heard the crowd screaming when Orton attacked him the night after The Rumble. He also knew after a 9 year absence he might be rusty and there was nobody better to work than Randy.

-Renee brings up the amazing 24 Network Special that hit everyone right in the feels. I did the review for it and it is one of the best things the Network has ever produced. Do yourself a favor and go check it out. Renee admits she cried a few times watching it the morning of Mania Day 2. Edge says it was insane and that the producers crushed it. He brings up again that it was supposed to be life after wrestling and then became more. They just happened to be filming and catch surreal things that were happening. Edge was also blown away by fans recording their reactions because that wasn’t done when he left in 2011. It was humbling to him and reminded him why he became a fan. He credits Beth for being his rock and Renee shouts out that she loves her. Christian brings up how Beth reacted to Mania and Edge says she wasn’t totally pleased with some of things he did, but she is supportive. He says there is no way any of this happens without his team around him and they were all able to keep it secret and under wraps. They end the interview discusses Edge’s abs and Christian wants to throw up. Fantastic!

-Commercials!

-We are back with Renee and she tosses to “Wrestling with Your Feeling with Rachel Bonnetta.” Oh man, they actually found time to film one of these. Again, not my favorite part of this show, but we will see how this one goes. Becky Lynch is on the couch this time and it seems she feels this is a crock of shit. Becky refuses to talk about Charlotte and calls Rousey a weirdo. Becky feels she is the best thing in the wrestling industry and she wants to punch Rachel in the face. She then rips apart an action figure and that ends this session. Again, not a fan!

-The entire panel is back to discuss Rousey’s comments about WWE fans being ungrateful. She loves performing and the girls, but fuck the fans. She then went on a rant calling wrestling fake and how those who are offended have never been in a real fight. Bliss fought back with “was out for almost a year. Must have been fake.” Nia tweeted she would “risk my job 2 go down in history as the one from this biz that knocked her the fuck out. #testmebitch.” Punk is losing it listening to Renee read that tweet. They go to Punk first as he has been in both arenas. Punk feels Rousey is doing her job and he loves that people are biting on it. He doesn’t care if it ends up real or scripted but this is chaos and he loves it. Wrestling is best to him when the lines are blurred. He thinks they will get in trouble when one says I am real and they are phony as you have to tip-toe around that.

-Booker says he knows about ungrateful fans. He puts over Rousey for what she accomplished. Booker doesn’t want to see her come back and do wrestling. He wants to see her go back to UFC. He mentions wrestling embraced her after she suffered two devastating losses. He feels what she said was a slap in the face to all the women, including Renee.

-Christian thinks Rousey is a lightning rod and that she took it personal that the fans booed her. He thinks she thrives when people don’t like her. He knows the word fake is what bothered people and he finds that word offensive. McGregor said something similar and people jumped all over him. Booker says the difference is that McGregor didn’t cash a big check from the WWE and Punk laughs back “not yet.” Punk says he can sink his teeth into this and that the genesis for MMA came from pro-wrestlers in Japan leading to Pride. Punk thinks this could all be leading to a 4 Horsewomen Battle for the honor of pro-wresting vs MMA. They all agree that it is all entertainment in the end.

-Renee plus next week’s WWE block on FS1 as from 7-10 PM they will run a bunch of shows focusing on WWE women.

-Commercials!

-Some video from The Bone Yard Match, Fire Fly Fun House, and Gargano/Ciampa are shown.

-Renee talks to Punk about these types of matches. Punk says it is good and bad. He loved the Bone Yard match as Taker has enough currency to do stuff like that. He gives that match a big thumbs up and just wants them to avoid running it into the ground.

-Commercials!

-We flash back to RAW from 17 years ago where Booker T decked Shawn Michaels and then mouthed something to Nash. Booker says we don’t want to know what he said. Moving on the panel gets to discuss Money in The Bank Memories. Renee mentions that Punk is still the only person to win two of them. Renee asks what goes into putting this match together and Punk says to ask Christian. He puts over Christian for being in 7 of them and as one of the generals that leads other guys through this match. Punk mentions he was just young and hungry and did stupid things to show that. Booker on the other hand has only ever been in one and he says it’s because he sucks at this match. Everyone loses it with that comment! Sadly, my satellite feed kicked out for some reason and I didn’t catch the rest of that segment. Sorry about that!

-It comes back on in the middle of commercials!

-The panel is back with Renee plugging the Netflix WWE film, “The Main Event.” Renee was part of the movie and mentioned she had a ball. She admits she got the acting bug and wants Punk to call her up when he does another movie to hook her up.

-YES! They bring up Booker being in Ready 2 Rumble and make it seem like they will show footage, but instead they show him doing his Mania 21 Pulp Fiction short with Eddie. That’s great, but man, I was kind of excited to see them somehow break out Ready 2 Rumble footage.

-Renee wraps things up and we are out for another week.

-This show is starting to find itself again with the stay at home format. This week was a lot of fun as Edge is great at interviews and having Christian there to throw in some humor was great. I continue to enjoy Punk in this role because it’s nice to see him enjoying talking about pro-wrestling. I also appreciated that they didn’t ignore Rousey’s comments and it made sense for them to offer their thoughts. There was nothing earth shattering as they all said what I expected, but still good on them for bringing it up. Punk losing it with Renee “test me bitch,” still has me cracking up for some reason. As always a fun and easy show to watch. Thanks as always for reading and catch my latest Dark Side of the Ring review about Jimmy Snuka.