Stephanie McMahon Tweets Rob Gronkowski, Aleister Black & Ricochet Talk Title Shot, How Old Is Ali?
- As noted, Ricochet and Aleister Black defeated The Forgotten Sons in the finals of the 2019 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic on this week's WWE NXT episode. They will now go on to challenge NXT Tag Team Champions The War Raiders at the big "Takeover: New York" event on Friday, April 5 during WrestleMania 35 Weekend.
Above is video from the finals and below is post-show video of Sarah Schreiber talking to Black and Ricochet about the win. Schreiber asked them what it was like to win the tournament. They both mentioned the legacy of WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes.
"How do you describe something that you have no words for? This meant the world and obviously anyone watching NXT knows how important the legacy of Dusty Rhodes... winning this cemented us in future Hall of Fame [inaudible]... this is such a substantial win that, I'm... I'm out of words," Black said.
Ricochet added, "I will say, just to be able to etch our names on the list of all the past winners, is so good. Because like he just said, we all know the legacy that Dusty had, not just on NXT, but on the industry alone. So, to be able to be a part of something that Dusty has left behind for all of us to enjoy, is an amazing feeling."
Schreiber also asked about the post-match confrontation from The War Raiders, and how they will prepare for the title shot.
Black responded, "Let's answer that first part of your question first, alright. You bring up the fact that The War Raiders came out. If The War raiders, with all their skills and all their talent, because we know they're absolute animals, if they were not intimidated they would have not come out to face us. So, this tells me that they feel we pose a threat, and rightfully so because we do. We went through multiple teams to obtain that trophy. So, they're coming out thinking that they're playing mind games, actually gives away a lot of them."
"We're just there to be the best. Whether it's singles or whether it's tag teams, we want to be the best," Ricochet said. "Whether it's RAW, SmackDown or NXT, we want to be the best. And The War Raiders, I consider them friends, we've traveled the road all across the world, but at Takeover, you're gonna have to push all those feelings aside, because to be the best you have to beat the best, and right now they're the champions. They have what we want, and at Takeover, all bets are off."
- WWE SmackDown Superstar Ali turns 33 years old today while former WWE star Rory McAllister turns 43 and The Warlord turns 57. Also, today would have been the 46th birthday of former WWE Intercontinental Champion "Umaga" Eddie Fatu and the 61st birthday of WWE Hall of Famer "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig.
- Stephanie McMahon took to late night and tweeted WWE celebrity friend and former New England Patriots player Rob Gronkowski, telling him that the WWE doors are always open for him.
We've noted how Gronk, who retired from the NFL on Sunday, attended the USO MetroDC 37th Annual Awards Dinner on Tuesday night. The same event was attended by Braun Strowman, Mickie James and Mojo Rawley, who were there representing WWE. Gronk appearing in a photo with the WWE crew fueled the rumors on Gronk possibly working with WWE now that he's retired from pro football. Gronk's good friend Mojo spoke with TMZ Sports earlier this week and predicted that we will see Gronk in a WWE ring again.
Stephanie wrote, "Congratulations @RobGronkowski, this is a tremendous honor by one of my favorite organizations, @USOMetroDC, dedicate to serve those who serve and their families. Thank you for all that you do and good luck with your retirement! Doors are always open @WWE! :)))"
You can see Stephanie's full tweet below:
Congratulations @RobGronkowski, this is a tremendous honor by one of my favorite organizations, @USOMetroDC, dedicate to serve those who serve and their families. Thank you for all that you do and good luck with your retirement! Doors are always open @WWE! :))) https://t.co/nLYssgCJdV
— Stephanie McMahon (@StephMcMahon) March 28, 2019