wrestling / TV Reports

411’s WWE Backstage Report: Women Talk Money in the Bank Match, Maria Menounos on Nearly Being on Tough Enough, More

April 22, 2020 | Posted by Robert Leighty Jr.
WWE Backstage

-Welcome to your weekly Backstage Report as this week it is all about the women. For the first time we will have an all female panel on the show which fits in the with the block of programming FS1 has been playing all night. We have Money in the Bank to build, so let’s get to it!

-Show opening!

-Renee Young welcomes us and she is joined by Nattie, Ember Moon, and Beth Phoenix. Girl Power! Nattie has a stand up of Bret Hart in her room and she immediately points that out. Renee says there should be a TJ one and Nattie mentions TJ has had too much attitude lately.

-Week in recap: On SmackDown, Sonya cuts a strong promo on Mandy, Braun gets his black sheep mask back, Big E wins the Tag Titles for his team. On RAW, Black qualifies for MITB, Shayna kills more of the roster, and Drew continues to be booked like a beast.

-Back to the panel and they discuss the idea of having MITB at WWE HQ. Beth talks about how being in previous MITB match is no longer an advantage. She asks if elevators can be used and I will be disappointed if they aren’t. Renee wants to see the 24/7 Title run through the match somehow and considering Gronk is back in the NFL again that would get them some ink on ESPN again. Ember is happy to see Apollo in the match and brings up the idea of someone falling off the roof and that horrifies Renee. The Giant survived and that was 25 years ago and with the advances in science and medical technology today, there’s no reason to think they wouldn’t survive. Nattie likes seeing new faces getting a chance and brings up how her husband was in one and how it was a great for him.

-Asuka is preparing by playing Donkey Kong and it goes without saying that Asuka is awesome!

-Nattie brings up that they could fight in Vince’s office and mentions he has a T-Rex skull on the wall. Ember is shocked by this as I guess she never got invited. Renee is a fan and likes that the WWE is trying cinematic matches and is thinking outside the box again. Beth brings up that someone will on top of a ladder that will be on top of a building and how a fear of heights could get to someone. Ember says she feels more passion and aggression from the roster because of the lack of a crowd.

-Commercials!

-We get a hype video for Nattie and that leads to a group (Renee, Beth, and Nattie) watch of Nattie vs Charlotte at NXT Takeover on May 29, 2014. Ric is in Charlotte’s corner and Bret is in Nattie’s corner for this NXT Women’s Title Match. Nattie says this match was her WrestleMania and it was her chance to give back to the division. Her and Beth were both wanting a Revolution and this was a way to get that kick started. Renee slips and calls Charlotte by her real name as she asks about the nerves before the match. Nattie says she was told by HHH they had no time limit and he asks that she keep Charlotte calm.

-Beth says she has so much to say about Nattie, but wants to save them for when she goes into the Hall of Fame. She mentions this match is what lit the fire for the Women’s Revolution. She remembers watching this match at home and she loves it because it showed by Nattie could do and what Charlotte could become. She puts Nattie over for being one of the best wrestlers in the world no matter the sex.

-Renee brings up that Ric and Bret were at ringside and Nattie mentions they had no real story going into the match. She admits she wants to keep calling Charlotte by her real name. She says that Ric and Bret were nice accents as it have them a little more of a story to play off of.

-Commercials!

-Beth talks about how women were the valets and yet in this match, two iconic men are the managers supporting female wrestlers. Nattie puts over that both of them wanted to let the attention on her and Charlotte in the ring. She was honored that Bret made the trip down to Orlando from Florida. For those keeping track, Nattie does get in a Two Paws mention as we say goodnight to the cat.

-Nattie talks about working at Full Sail in front of the NXT crowd. She then talks about how big the match was and that she knew before the match even started people would be talking about this match for years. She calls Charlotte one of favorite wrestlers to work in the world and she hints that she wants more matches with her. She then discusses Charlotte holding the NXT Title again and how she is excited to see her face the current women in NXT. Beth wants to see Charlotte in a match with Dakota Kai and thinks we are just seeing her break-out. She also puts over Mia Yim and how she connects with the NXT Universe. Nattie talks about Mia being told no her first tryout with the WWE and Nattie telling her to not take no for an answer. Eventually she was signed by HHH.

-Beth brings up how cool it is that instead of just debating the best wrestler, they are debating which brand has the best women’s roster. Beth also puts over Bull Nakano and Alundra Blayze and what they meant to building what there is with the division now. She talks about how with the technology today you can see women wrestling all over the world and fans are familiar with them when they get to the WWE. Nattie is thrilled the WWE is embracing women from every walk of life no matter race, size, etc. They all agree that there is no longer a mold for the women.

-Renee asks Nattie for her dream match left and she wants win the Tag Titles with Beth Phoenix. She brings up working with Rhea/Bianca or The Kabuki Warriors. Beth is down for a tag match and jokes that Nattie is never going to get rid of her. They get back to the match as Charlotte wins the match and Nattie brings up that Charlotte dedicated the match to Reid. It was their way of honoring Reid, while also building a new star, and for Nattie, showing she could still go.

-Commercials!

-Back with video of Maria Menounos cutting her Dusty Rhodes “Hard Times” promo to show she is a wrestling nerd. Maria joins Renee, Nattie and Beth as I guess Ember is on an extended break. Maria discusses her Mania tag match that involved Beth and how as a life long fan that made her happy for life. Beth can’t name anyone who has the enthusiasm that Maria has and credits her for the work she put in. She also thanks her for getting them mainstream attention and a longer match than what women were getting at that time. I should mention Maria is rocking a Stone Cold shirt, as again, she is a wrestling nerd. Nattie talks about Maria being part of the WWE family and how she has a passion for what they do. She has a great deal of respect for what they do and that makes it easy to be friends with her.

-Maria talks about Sonya Deville being a host for one of their shows and she was friends with Kevin. They went out to see her in a MMA bought and hit it off. Maria was actually pitched to be a contestant on the rebooted Tough Enough (USA’s idea) and she didn’t think she was ready for that, but felt it would be perfect for Sonya. Renee is blown away that Maria was supposed to be a contestant. I recapped that whole season and you can find my reviews right here on 411mania.com. Everyone thinks Maria would have been able to handle it.

-Commercials!

-Next week’s block of WWE content looks great as we get Best WrestleMania Matches: John Cena, HHH, The Undertaker, and Shawn Michaels. Nice!

-Back with the original panel which means Ember is finally back on the show. Renee brings up Fire and Desire falling apart and we see part of Sonya’s killer promo. Nattie says she watched and found herself taking sides, but was able to see things from each perspective. To her it has shades of Becky vs Charlotte as Becky was tired of being second fiddle like Sonya is right now. Beth talks about how each girls has put in the work and has been waiting 5 years for a chance like this. It’s one think to ask for a chance and another to nail it like they did. Beth feels Sonya became a star in that moment. Ember talks about all the history they have built up and calls the promo fire. She loves that people are killing promos with the fans being absent.

-Renee admits there is no easy way to transition and brings up the loss of Howard Finkel. They play the memorial video package again and it’s fantastic. As I have mentioned millions of times I grew up on 80s WWE and Howard’s voice is burned into my brain. His introduction of Randy Savage is my personal favorite and saying “and once again” before announcing him as WWF Champion when he beat Flair at Mania VIII is just an awesome little detail. Rest in Peace good sir!

-Commercials!

-Back with Jay Glazer tweet about The Gronk returning to The NFL as he was traded to Tampa Bay to play with Tom Brady. That means we have an active NFL player holding a WWE Title. I will also mention Gronk is a local kid as he played his senior year of high school ball at Woodland Hills High School which is just outside of Pittsburgh. I always like to work in local plugs. That leads to R Truth congratulating Gronk, but the problem is he still has his title. He promises to show up wherever he needs until he gets his baby back. Please let them set something up where Truth tries to win the Title back after Gronk scores a TD!

-Renee thanks us for watching and we are out for another week.

-As always I enjoy this show and this one was fine. I like that they brought back the watch a match feature as I enjoy hearing wrestlers talk about their matches. I know some aren’t keen on them, but I’m always a sucker for them. Everything else was solid as they hyped Money in the Bank a bit and Maria is always fun when she pops up on WWE programming. Throwing Truth in at the end was a nice way to finish things as it makes sense to hear from him considering Gronk is back in the NFL. As always thanks for reading!

article topics :

WWE Backstage, Robert Leighty Jr.