Dutch Mantell Talks Cesaro’s Departure, Hulk Hogan’s Top 5 Rivals, New AEW Trading Cards | Fight Size

Here is your fight size update for Friday, March 11, 2022

– Dutch Mantell spoke with WrestleZone about Cesaro‘s WWE departure, Dutch Mantell was briefly Cesaro’s manager when he was Zeb Colter in WWE and Cesaro was one part of the real American tag team with Jack Swagger:

“They just couldn’t make their mind up on the guy. Now where’s he gonna go now? I don’t know. AEW, maybe. But hey AEW can only sign so many people. Some of the ones they’ve already signed, now you don’t hardly ever see them. And I guess [Tony Khan is] just warehousing them, for what I don’t know.

“It’s a crazy business, you can’t figure it out. You can sit just back and say ‘well I think this and that and the other thing.’ You’re along with a million other people doing the same thing. And nobody’s really right.”

– Upper Deck has announced new AEW “Dated Moment” cards:

UPPER DECK CELEBRATES AEW REVOLUTION WITH THE LAUNCH OF THE FIRST AEW MATCH DATED MOMENTS CARDS
NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN AEW CARDS WILL RELEASE EXCLUSIVELY ON UPPERDECKEPACK.COM

CARLSBAD, CA (March 11, 2022) – Upper Deck the premier global sports and entertainment trading card, memorabilia, and collectibles company, announced the launch of the first AEW Match Dated Moments e-Pack product that showcases top moments from AEW’s recent event, AEW REVOLUTION. The exclusive trading card set follows AEW’s pay-per-view events in a similar format to the current e-Pack product called Game Dated Moments, which is available only on UpperDeckEpack.com.

Available starting today through March 18, 2022, at 11:59 a.m. PST, AEW Match Dated Moments highlights top AEW wrestlers such as Hangman Adam Page, Jade Cargill and Dr. Britt Baker, who defended and retained their championship titles, in addition to Sting, Sammy Guevara and Darby Allin, who defeated The AHFO. Collectors will have the opportunity to obtain an exclusive silver variant of CM Punk’s win or a rare gold variant featuring William Regal’s AEW debut, both of which will fall as a bonus card in select packs.

“With the high demand for AEW trading cards, we are excited to launch the first AEW product that focuses on AEW’s pay-per-view events, exclusively available on e-Pack,” said Upper Deck Senior Sports Brand Manager Paul Zickler. “Fans all over the world can add these memorable moments to their growing AEW trading card collection and get closer to their favorite wrestlers than ever before.”

Upper Deck e-Pack is a patent-pending online platform that allows collectors to buy, open, collect and trade digital and physical trading cards with fans around the world. Collectors can visit UpperDeckEpack.com to sign up for news and product announcements, including future product releases.

– Eric Bischoff shoots on Tony Khan buying Ring of Honor

– WWE 2K22 is officially available on all platforms starting today.

WWE 2K22 AVAILABLE NOW AND PACKED WITH CONTENT THAT HITS DIFFERENT
Featuring cover Superstar Rey Mysterio, the biggest video game in WWE history boasts redesigned game engine, new controls, stunning graphics, and all-new game modes

2K today announced WWE 2K22, the newest installment of the flagship WWE video game franchise developed by Visual Concepts, is available now for PlayStation4 (PS4), PlayStation5 (PS5), Xbox One, Xbox Series XS, and PC via Steam. Featuring Rey Mysterio on the cover in celebration of his 20th anniversary as a WWE Superstar, the game features a top-to-bottom overhaul, including a redesigned engine and gameplay, the most stunning WWE 2K graphics to date, intuitive and accessible controls, multiple new game modes, and an immersive presentation and camera angles throughout. WWE 2K22 also features a diverse soundtrack curated by Executive Soundtrack Producer Machine Gun Kelly, who will be available in a future downloadable content pack* as a playable character.

“The last two years have been full of focus and passion from an incredible team at Visual Concepts who set out to create a WWE experience that delivers what fans have been asking for,” said Greg Thomas, President at Visual Concepts. “WWE 2K22 and all its achievements are a direct result of this team’s energy and hard work on building a massive game with a long and storied history. I’m very proud both of what we have been able to accomplish with this release, and what it signifies for the bright path ahead for the WWE 2K series.”

Game Modes Galore

WWE 2K22 features the return of several popular game modes, as well as the introduction of several new additions:

2K Showcase Starring Rey Mysterio: Players will relive the iconic moments behind Mysterio’s most famous matches spanning his 20-year WWE career and beyond. Documentary style interviews with Mysterio frame each match, and new Slingshot Tech allows for a seamless transition from gameplay to live-action footage as players complete objectives to live out some of his most iconic historical moments;

MyGM: In this new, fan-requested mode, players will select one of five GMs or create their own, draft a roster, manage budgets, sign free agents, choose various match types, arena locations, production elements and more, with the goal of beating a rival GM in weekly ratings battles and culminating at WrestleMania;

MyFACTION: A new, single-player take on a classic team-building mode in which players collect, manage, and upgrade an array of WWE Superstars and Legends to create their ultimate four-person factions. Managers and Side Plates boost performance, while Logos, Wallpapers, and Nameplates allow for creative customization. Additional rewards can be earned in every MyFACTION sub-mode, including Weekly Towers and Faction Wars, where exciting, limited-time rewards refresh on the first of every month. New themed card packs will also roll out frequently, offering players a legion of current Superstars and beloved Legends to add to their collections;

MyRISE: Players chart their own paths to superstardom, from the humble beginnings of a Rookie at the WWE Performance Center to the challenge of becoming a Superstar, to being immortalized as a WWE Legend. With unique men’s and women’s division storylines available, players will encounter an array of WWE Superstars and Legends as they embark on the journey;
Universe: Offers players the ability to fully customize their WWE experiences down to the smallest details. From taking control over brands, premium live events, match results, rivalries, and more, Universe includes both the Classic and Superstar sub-modes. In Superstar Mode, players follow their chosen Superstar through matches each week, develop rivalries, start a tag team, create a custom match, compete in a championship match, and more;

Creation Suite: The industry-leading creation suite returns with all new cross-platform community creations, a featured creator section that highlights players and their content, community creation upvoting, a Create a Superstar wizard for quicker creation, and more. Players can create themselves or be someone entirely different with a myriad of in-depth options to choose from.
WWE 2K22 Editions and Pre-Order Bonus

WWE 2K22 features four editions of the game: Standard Edition, Cross-Gen Digital Bundle, Deluxe Edition, and – in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the New World Order faction – nWo 4-Life Digital Edition:

– Hulk Hogan, while speaking to The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, reflected on his top 5 opponents:

Andre The Giant, Not number one, but one of five then Macho Man Randy Savage, Rowdy Roddy Piper, King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd.

– Mikey Rukus has revealed he is working on an album that will take a look at AEW theme songs performed by a symphony.

Back working on this. Time to wrap this one up and bring you AEW Themes presented in a way that’s never been done.

LFG pic.twitter.com/3qLtRZwBtp

— RUKUS (@MikeyRukus) March 11, 2022

– JEFF HARDY GUESSES THE MOST POPULAR WRESTLING THEME SONGS OF ALL TIME!

– DDP & Jake the Snake Roberts on working in Japan

– Pre-orders are open now for the collectible figurine for Sasha Banks as Koska Reeves.

– Drew McIntyre talks about transitioning to live from ThunderDome (via AL.com):

It’s obviously a lot more difficult without our live fans there. They’re such an important part of our product. We’re such an interactive product, and we thrive on that real-time feedback. If something’s not working, we can hear it as we’re performing, be it on the microphone or in the ring, and we can adjust to give the crowd what they want. So it was a bigger adjustment losing the crowd. So getting them back, it was awesome to have that energy back, that real-time feedback. The biggest thing would be not to get too overexcited. I know for myself having the fans back and walking out with my sword for the entrance I do where I raise my sword and scream at the top of my voice with the fire around me, I got myself so amped up knowing the crowd were out there. There were a couple of times I legitimately almost passed out. I saw blackness in front of my eyes. If you’ve ever passed out before, you know what it’s like right before you go down. That happened to me about three or four times initially when we had the audience back. It was just overwhelming, just how loud and excited they were to be back. It’s amazing, since we came back all the way until now, I think everybody remembers what it was like not having live entertainment and have carried that energy on. I feel like they don’t any shows for granted. Our WWE superstars certainly don’t either. I guess relaxing is the big thing for superstars with the live fans back.

Things that have carried on from the ThunderDome, I can speak for myself personally. I guess when it comes to the microphone work and speaking to the crowd, I try to remain as much myself as I was during that time in the ThunderDome. I really learned to relax without the fans being there and feeling the urge to play to them every two seconds, which I like to do. I’m a very interactive superstar. I was constantly looking at them every two seconds for approval rather than just relaxing, being in the moment, being present, focus on what I’m saying and then involving the fans when it was the right time. I’m very conscious of that now, and I’m so much more relaxed on the microphone because of my experience in the ThunderDome.

– Throwing Hands with Malakai Black & Marina Shafir Ep. 2

– When the market closed today, WWE stock was trading at $56.63 per share

– Female Superstars’ first singles wins: WWE Supercut

– Johnny Gargano has been enjoying MyGM in WWE 2K22.

We played MyGM mode last night in #WWE2K22. I of course signed a free agent janitor named Mr. Higglesby and proceeded to put him in big matches.

This part broke @CandiceLeRae. pic.twitter.com/8ISfs6WFxl

— Johnny Gargano (@JohnnyGargano) March 11, 2022

– In case you missed it, Fightful Select reported on why the Briscoe Brothers will not be showing up in All Elite Wrestling anytime soon. Make sure you are subscribed to Fightful Select. A subscription grants you early access to interviews, Q&A opportunities, early looks at breaking news, and more. Also, make sure to check us out on YouTube and Twitch.

– Big E & Kofi Kingston look for payback against Sheamus & Ridge Holland: WWE Now, March 11, 2022