Latest news with #TheBloodline
Newsweek
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Drew McIntyre Reveals Something Vince McMahon Refused To Let Him Do
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Drew McIntyre has offered a detailed and fascinating comparison between the creative processes of former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon and current Chief Content Officer Paul "Triple H" Levesque. Speaking on the Impaulsive podcast, the former WWE Champion explained how the change in leadership has allowed him to develop a more complex and authentic character. McIntyre described Triple H's approach as more "modern thinking," which contrasts sharply with Vince's more singular and protective vision for his character. Vince's "Warrior" McIntyre explained that under McMahon's creative direction, his character was often presented in a more traditional, one-dimensional "warrior" archetype. He believes Vince's vision for him was meant to be protective, but it ultimately became limiting. "For Vince, I think for me, personally, he had a certain image of me, and he was always looking to protect me as this warrior character," McIntyre said (H/T to "And if I want to try something outside the box and stuff I'm doing now, like, for me personally, it probably wouldn't happen just because he was like, 'No, this is my Drew. This is my warrior. This is how I see it.'" This singular vision dates back to McIntyre's first WWE run, when McMahon personally dubbed him "The Chosen One," a label that ultimately failed to connect with the audience and led to his eventual release from the company. INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - JUNE 24: Drew McIntyre speaks while wearing CM Punk's bracelet during Monday Night RAW at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 24, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - JUNE 24: Drew McIntyre speaks while wearing CM Punk's bracelet during Monday Night RAW at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 24, 2024 in Indianapolis, Indiana. WWE/Getty Images More news: WWE Superstar Announces Retirement Match Creative Freedom With Triple H Under the creative direction of Triple H, McIntyre feels he has been given the freedom to be himself and explore more nuanced aspects of his personality. This has led directly to his current, critically acclaimed character who often blurs the line between heel and babyface. "Hunter is very much of the modern thinking," he explained. "We're going to try something different. We're going to let you... be yourself, and let this personality that he knew I had shine." He pointed to the success of The Bloodline saga as the prime example of the deep, layered storytelling that is now flourishing in WWE. "WWE shouldn't be black and white," McIntyre said. "We can grow these deep, layered, complex characters... I've been able to develop this McIntyre character where people know me inside and out." Learning From A Legend During the conversation, McIntyre also shared a classic story about receiving some cryptic but valuable advice from The Undertaker when he was a young superstar. He recalled asking for feedback after a match and being told something he didn't understand for years. "He was like, 'Stop playing the wrestler and be the wrestler,'" McIntyre recalled The Undertaker saying. "What the f--- does that mean?... It took so long to realize, 'Oh, he's saying, I'm trying too hard. I'm not present.'" More WWE News: For more on WWE, head to Newsweek Sports.
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
WWE Raw results, highlights (July 21): Roman Reigns and Jey Uso reunite
It's WWE SummerSlam season, and with two nights to fill with action, the company has continued to tease some big matches. "WWE Raw" in Houston was no exception, as Roman Reigns made his second straight appearance after Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker took him out on the "Raw" after WrestleMania 41. Well, the "Original Tribal Chief" has rekindled a positive relationship with his old Bloodline stablemate, Jey Uso. 🫂 Reunion of the Night It's not surprising, but it feels wrong for Uso, of all people, just to forget the past shared between him and Reigns throughout The Bloodline's saga. Yet, here we are. Before that, however, Paul Heyman noted that Rollins will be out for an extended period and offered to mend the fence by inviting Reigns to join his group. So, this is actually a perfectly slimy Heyman thing to do, and seed planted to dissolve Rollins' group as soon as he returns. He should be livid with Heyman for suggesting such a thing after their history. Reigns rightfully wasn't keen on the idea, claiming Heyman was the one to ruin The Bloodline. That's debatable, Reigns, but I get where you're coming from. Meanwhile, it's hilarious to see Breakker try to take over the old "Big Dog" moniker Reigns sported through his worst years. I'm not sure that's an advisable decision, WWE, considering how it went with Reigns. Things broke down after that, which led to Uso making the save and presumably setting up a SummerSlam tag-team match. This all admittedly feels like a very strong pivot from whatever was initially planned for Rollins before his injury. I don't love it because of the Reigns-Uso element, but let's see what WWE can salvage out of the unexpected change. 💭 Epiphany of the Night CM Punk laid out the biggest problem with WWE's current schedule — and I had started to notice it, but didn't fully realize it until his promo at the start of "Raw." First and foremost, he and Gunther delivered their words in vintage fashion. They were strong and confident, but ultimately substanceless for their match — because there will be next to no build with SummerSlam in two weeks. And that's the problem. The amount of time, or lack thereof, between PLEs is so short that some of these title matches don't have any story outside of a contender match being won. Punk won last week's gauntlet match to earn his title shot — the only match he's had since losing his other title shot to John Cena. Oh, and in that five-person match, he only had to beat one person. Listen, the match will be great. However, there's no way to be invested in it unless you know both are good wrestlers. That's good in pure sport. This, however, is not that, and when you think about it, there are only a select few longterm stories going on in WWE right now. Coincidentally, one of those does involve Punk. It just isn't with Gunther. Even when he had some history with Cena, that was also rushed and short-lived. Gunther overall feels somewhat directionless, only meant to be a great wrestling champion. Meanwhile, Punk's recent existence has been largely about losing because of Seth Rollins, or simultaneously preventing Rollins from winning. 🗑️ Volcanic Boiling Trash of the Night The Women's Tag Team title match between the champions The Judgment Day and challengers Bayley and Lyra Valkyria might be the dumbest thing I've seen in WWE in a long time. Even if you pretend to exist in the kayfabe world of this story beat, it still doesn't make any sense. And it was almost as if WWE knew it and played into it by having Valkyria question it to Bayley. Then there's the fact that they have literally been the opposite of a team, wrestling each other as recently as last week. This. Was. Dumb. Let's start with the non-kayfabe perspective and what happened on "SmackDown" last Friday. Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair were officially booked to challenge The Judgment Day at SummerSlam. Earlier in the week, Valkyria — off her win over Bayley — earned her title match at SummerSlam against the Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch. So, if Valkyria and Bayley became tag-team champions, that would then mean Valkyria wrestles twice at SummerSlam. Sure, it could've theoretically been possible, but it was utterly absurd to remove Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez from the second biggest WWE event of the year. I'm going to rip my hair out the more I think about this. In the end, The Judgment Day won because duh. And with shenanigans. Just get rid of this stupid tag-team "division" concept, Triple H. You clearly do not care about it whatsoever. It's being used as a joke. Before this, Lynch and Valkyria had a brief promo, which was fine. It added the countout and no DQ stipulation to their match, along with a Valkyria loss meaning she can never challenge for the Intercontinental title again. The whole tag-team title match booking overshadowed the promo and match entirely, though. It was a mind-numbingly dumb idea. 🤬 DQ of the Night Don't make a match if you don't want someone to lose, Triple H. Nothing was more predictable than a DQ in the Iyo Sky vs. Stephanie Vaquer rematch. This "Raw" was designed to frustrate me, folks. Because this match, as should always be expected, was phenomenal — until the finish. More Sky wrestling is always good, and it was a pleasant little surprise to see these two go at it again. You can really tell they have fun working together, and it was a straight-up wrestling match to start. They are such an excellent pair, and we need a proper resolution to a match between them at some point. Vaquer got the win by DQ when attacked by ... The Secret Hervice and Chelsea Green. This was the ultimate buzzkill to a flawless match. Naomi and Rhea Ripley eventually showed up to even the odds and have something to do on this show. But man, the repetition of this type of match ending is so unbelievably lazy. 👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑 There was a lot that went on with the tag-team triple-threat title contender match. Generally, WWE doesn't have three wrestlers as the active members of their teams in multi-team matches like this, so this was an interesting but pretty fun wrinkle. And while this match wound up overbooked as hell at the finish, it fully highlighted the winners, the LWO, but mostly Joaquin Wilde. Wilde's hot tag, which ultimately led to his team's win, was awesome. The way he glided around the ring to take everyone out was gorgeous. This was an unexpected move, and surely the LWO will lose their title match due to the storylines that were woven into Ludwig "El Grande Ameri-kaiser." 👍 MONDAY NIGHT MONEY 👍 1. Naomi interrupted Vaquer's backstage interview to tease their potential match at Clash at Paris. This encounter was short and sweet, further highlighting how great this version of the Women's World Champion is. Unfortunately for her, I can't imagine we'll see that match, but this was a nice little tease. 2. Sheamus beat Rusev with the Brogue Kick in their rematch after the great match they had a few weeks ago. So this match was good enough to be an overall plus, despite the parts I didn't like at the end, particularly Rusev's attempts to cheat to win. Michael Cole's criticism of Rusev's previous win as "controversial" was also lame. That was a brilliant finish, and I'll entertain none of that silly slander. 3. The only good thing about the Women's Tag Team title match was that it continued the hilarious antics between Dominick Mysterio and AJ Styles, with his several disguises. The match is on for SummerSlam. 🤷 IT HAPPENED 🤷 Karrion Kross beat Sami Zayn in their rematch, with the help of his steel pipe when the referee was distracted by Scarlett. It's great that Kross won by any means, but this felt like a moment of little significance. 👎 RAW DEAL 👎 WWE no-showed Kross' entrance. He has one of the best in the business, man. Come on. 👑 Awful booking killed this show. I give tonight a Crown score of: 4/10. 👑
Time of India
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Roman Reigns Confronts Paul Heyman on Raw to Sow Seeds for a Huge Clash at SummerSlam
Images via WWE YouTube (Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, Paul Heyman, Bronson Reed and Bron Breakker The July 21st episode of Monday Night Raw delivered fireworks from Houston, Texas, as Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman found themselves face-to-face in a tension-filled segment that had fans on edge. With Seth Rollins out of action due to a knee injury, Heyman appeared to be laying the groundwork for a shocking reunion, hoping to lure the former Tribal Chief back into his corner. But just when it seemed like old alliances might be rekindled, chaos erupted. One thing became clear: SummerSlam is about to get personal, and the road there just took a wild turn. What Did Roman Reigns Say to Paul Heyman's Reunion Offer? Roman Reigns made one thing crystal clear on Raw. The former Undisputed title holder hasn't forgiven Paul Heyman for betraying him at WrestleMania 41. During the final moments of Monday night's show, Heyman approached Reigns with a bold offer: take charge of his new faction, which includes Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed, while Seth Rollins recovers from a knee injury. Heyman added that he still loved his Tribal Chief, and believed that the duo could fix things once again. Reigns listened for a while and then took the mic to say, 'You're not a wiseman anymore, you're just a dumba*s.' Instead of accepting, Reigns reminded Heyman that he was the one who tore The Bloodline apart. He then told Breakker that Heyman was going to do the same to him as well and betray him at his weakest. Reigns gave credit to The Usos, Sami Zayn, and even Solo Sikoa for helping him to keep the title for 1316 days. However, he lambasted Heyman and said that he didn't have anything to do with keeping the gold. Jey Uso Backed Up Roman Reigns to Point Towards a Tag Team Match at SummerSlam After Reigns was done, Breakker took a direct shot at the former Undisputed title holder, calling him 'worthless' and claiming he's the real prize, someone Heyman would never turn on. Reigns, completely unfazed, acted like he didn't hear a word. Then, in classic fashion, he offered Breakker the mic, only to follow it up with a brutal Superman Punch. Reigns tried to go after Reed next, but the numbers quickly caught up to him. Just when things looked bleak, Jey Uso's music hit and the crowd erupted. Uso stormed the ring, took out both Reed and Breakker, and teamed up with Reigns to hit a devastating double spear to close the show. In a hilarious moment, Reigns and Uso did a 'YEET' dance after the show went off the air, which was uploaded by WWE on their social media with the caption, 'The Tribal Yeet'. Reigns even commented under the video, 'Definitely AI.' But it is safe to say that 'The OTC1' was feeling a little Ucey tonight. All signs now point to a tag team clash at SummerSlam: Roman Reigns and Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed. It's a smart booking move, giving Reigns a strong spot on the card without putting too much wear and tear on him. And with Seth Rollins out due to injury, WWE is keeping his faction in play, buying time until he makes his return. Also read: WWE RAW Results & Highlights (7/21/25): Latin World Order wins, Judgment Day retains Tag Team title, Roman Reigns faces Paul Heyman, and more Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
WWE Raw results, highlights (July 21): Roman Reigns and Jey Uso reunite
It's WWE SummerSlam season, and with two nights to fill with action, the company has continued to tease some big matches. "WWE Raw" in Houston was no exception, as Roman Reigns made his second straight appearance after Seth Rollins and Bron Breakker took him out on the "Raw" after WrestleMania 41. Well, the "Original Tribal Chief" has rekindled a positive relationship with his old Bloodline stablemate, Jey Uso. 🫂Reunion of the Night It's not surprising, but it feels wrong for Uso, of all people, just to forget the past shared between him and Reigns throughout The Bloodline's saga. Yet, here we are. Before that, however, Paul Heyman noted that Rollins will be out for an extended period, offering to mend the fence by inviting him to join his group. So, this is actually a perfectly slimy Heyman thing to do, and seed planted to dissolve Rollins' group as soon as he returns. He should be livid with Heyman for suggesting such a thing after their history. Reigns rightfully wasn't keen on the idea, claiming Heyman was the one to ruin The Bloodline. That's debatable, Reigns, but I get where you're coming from. Meanwhile, it's hilarious to see Breakker try to take over the old "Big Dog" moniker Reigns sported through his worst years. I'm not sure that's an advisable decision, WWE, considering how it went with Reigns. Things broke down after that, which led to Uso making the save and presumably setting up a SummerSlam tag team match. This all admittedly feels like a very strong pivot from whatever was initially planned for Rollins before his injury. I don't love it because of the Reigns-Uso element, but let's see what WWE can salvage out of the unexpected change. 💭Epiphany of the Night CM Punk laid out the biggest problem with WWE's current schedule, and I had started to notice it, but not realize it until his promo at the start of this "Raw." First and foremost, he and Gunther delivered their words in vintage fashion. They were strong and confident, but ultimately substanceless for their match — because there will be next to no build with SummerSlam in two weeks. And that's the problem. The amount of time, or lack thereof, between PLEs is so short that some of these title matches don't have any story outside of a contender match being won. Punk won last week's gauntlet match to earn his title shot — the only match he's had since losing his other title shot to John Cena. Oh, and in that five-person match, he only had to beat one person. Listen, the match will be great. However, there's no way to be invested in it unless you know both are good wrestlers. That's good in pure sport. This, however, is not that, and when you think about it, there are only a select few long-term stories going on in WWE right now. Coincidentally, one of those does involve Punk. It just isn't with Gunther. Even when he had some history with Cena, that was also rushed and short-lived. Gunther overall feels like a somewhat directionless champion, only meant to be a great wrestling champion. Meanwhile, Punk's recent existence has been largely about losing because of Seth Rollins, or simultaneously preventing Rollins from winning. 🗑️Volcanic Boiling Trash of the Night The Women's Tag Team title match between the champions The Judgment Day and challengers Bayley and Lyra Valkyria might be the dumbest thing I've seen in WWE in a long time. Even if you pretend to exist in the kayfabe world of this story beat, it still doesn't make any sense. And it was almost as if WWE knew it and played into it by having Valkyria question it to Bayley. Then there's the fact that they have literally been the opposite of a team, wrestling each other as recently as last week. This. Was. Dumb. Let's start with the non-kayfabe perspective and what happened on "SmackDown" last Friday. Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair were officially booked to challenge The Judgment Day at SummerSlam. Earlier in the week, Valkyria — off her win over Bayley — earned her title match at SummerSlam against the Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch. So, if Valkyria and Bayley became tag team champions, that would then mean Valkyria wrestles twice at SummerSlam. Sure, it could have theoretically been possible, but it was utterly absurd to remove Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez from the second biggest WWE event of the year. I'm going to rip my hair out the more I think about this. In the end, The Judgment Day won because duh. And with shenanigans. Just get rid of this stupid tag team "division" concept, Triple H. You clearly do not care about it whatsoever. It's being used as a joke. Before this, Lynch and Valkyria had a brief promo, which was fine. It added the countout and no DQ stipulation to their match, along with a Valkyria loss, meaning she can never challenge for the Intercontinental title again. The whole tag team title match booking overshadowed the promo and match entirely, though. It was a mind-numbingly dumb idea. 🤬DQ of the Night Don't make a match if you don't want someone to lose, Triple H. Nothing was more predictable than a DQ in the Iyo Sky vs. Stephanie Vaquer rematch. This "Raw" was designed to frustrate me, folks. Because this match, as should always be expected, was phenomenal — until the finish. More Sky wrestling is always good, and it was a pleasant little surprise to see these two go at it again. You can really tell they have fun working together, and it was a straight-up wrestling match to start. They are such an excellent pair, and we need a proper resolution to a match between them at some point. Vaquer got the win by DQ when attacked by ... The Secret Hervice and Chelsea Green. This was the ultimate buzzkill to a flawless match. Naomi and Rhea Ripley eventually showed up to even the odds and have something to do on this show. But man, the repetition of this type of match ending is so unbelievably lazy. 👑 Uncrowned Gem of the Night 👑 There was a lot that went on with the tag team triple-threat title contender match. Generally, WWE doesn't have three wrestlers as the active members of their teams in multi-team matches like this. So, that was an interesting, but pretty fun wrinkle. And while this match wound up overbooked as hell at the finish, it fully highlighted the winners, the LWO, but mostly Joaquin Wilde. Wilde's hot tag, which ultimately led to his team's win, was awesome. The way he glided around the ring to take everyone out was gorgeous. This was an unexpected move, and surely, the LWO will lose their title match due to the storylines that were woven into Ludwig "El Grande Ameri-kaiser." 👍MONDAY NIGHT MONEY👍 1. Naomi interrupted Vaquer's backstage interview to tease their potential match at Clash at Paris. This encounter was short and sweet, further highlighting how great this version of the Women's World Champion is. Unfortunately for her, I can't imagine we'll see that match, but this was a nice little tease. 2. Sheamus beat Rusev with the Brogue Kick in their rematch after the great match they had a few weeks ago. So, this match was good enough to be an overall plus, despite the parts I didn't like at the end, particularly Rusev's attempts to cheat to win. Michael Cole's criticism of Rusev's previous win as "controversial" was also lame. That was a brilliant finish, and I'll entertain none of that silly slander. 3. The only good thing about the Women's Tag Team title match was that it continued the hilarious antics between Dominick Mysterio and AJ Styles, with his several disguises. The match is on for SummerSlam. 🤷IT HAPPENED🤷 Karrion Kross beat Sami Zayn in their rematch, with the help of his steel pipe when the referee was distracted by Scarlett. It's great that Kross won by any means, but this felt like a moment of little significance. 👎RAW DEAL👎 WWE no-showed Kross' entrance. He's got one of the best in the business, man. Come on. 👑Awful booking killed this show. I give this show a Crown score of: 4/10.👑
Newsweek
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Newsweek
Scrapped WWE Storyline For Roman Reigns' Tribal Chief Title Revealed
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. WWE has released a new, high-end "Tribal Chief Championship Replica Title Belt" on its official shop. According to a new report, the title was originally intended to be part of a major on-screen storyline for Roman Reigns before the company changed its creative direction. The new replica belt is available on for $599.99. While it is now a collector's item, it was once slated to be an official part of The Bloodline saga. The Scrapped WWE Storyline According to the wrestling news account WrestleVotes, WWE had internal discussions back in December 2024 about introducing a physical "Tribal Chief Championship." The report states the new title would have been presented to Roman Reigns and used in the storyline involving the power struggle with Solo Sikoa. This would have been the title presented to Reigns on Netflix had that decision gone through back in December. Now it's a commemorative item, priced at a cool $600. — WrestleVotes (@WrestleVotes) July 15, 2025 "This would have been the title presented to Reigns on Netflix had that decision gone through back in December," WrestleVotes reported. "Now it's a commemorative item." The plan was ultimately altered, and the physical belt was never introduced on television. A History of Custom WWE Titles While a "Tribal Chief" title may seem unusual, WWE has a long history of creating custom championships to enhance the characters of its top superstars. The most famous example is Stone Cold Steve Austin's "Smoking Skull" version of the WWE Championship during the Attitude Era. Other notable custom belts include John Cena's "Spinner" belt, Edge's "Rated-R" version, and Daniel Bryan's "Eco-Friendly" title made of wood and hemp. INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 02: (L-R) Roman Reigns wrestles Cody Rhodes for Undisputed WWE Universal Title Match during WrestleMania Goes Hollywood at SoFi Stadium on April 02, 2023 in Inglewood, California. INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 02: (L-R) Roman Reigns wrestles Cody Rhodes for Undisputed WWE Universal Title Match during WrestleMania Goes Hollywood at SoFi Stadium on April 02, 2023 in Inglewood, introduction of a physical championship for the "Tribal Chief" would have been a significant move. It would have turned the symbolic leadership of the Anoa'i family, represented by the Ula Fala necklace, into a literal, physical prize for members of The Bloodline to covet and fight over. More news: WWE News: Steve Austin Reveals Real-Life Vince McMahon Confrontation The Head of the Table Returns While the storyline for a physical Tribal Chief title was scrapped, the actual Roman Reigns made his shocking return to WWE at the Night of Champions premium live event in June. After a multi-month hiatus following his loss at WrestleMania 41, Reigns returned to attack both John Cena and CM Punk. His return immediately reignited his legendary rivalry with Cena, setting the stage for a blockbuster main event match at SummerSlam. The Tribal Chief may not have a new physical belt, but he has returned to reclaim his spot at the Head of the Table. More WWE News: For more on WWE, head to Newsweek Sports
