When Comic-Con International invades San Diego every year, the city is fully enveloped by the massive pop culture convention. It has gotten to the point that panels and meet-ups have spilled out beyond the convention center campus to places like the surrounding bars or hotels and even PetCo Field. In recent years, some of the con’s best external programming takes place at Zachary Levi’s Nerd HQ. Through his organization, Levi invites his famous friends and some cast members from the most popular shows and movies to participate in intimate panels with fans. The money raised from the panel tickets goes to Operation Smile, which provides reconstructive facial surgery for children.
This year, Stephen Amell joined the gang at Nerd HQ for a Conversation for a Cause moderated by Alan Tudyk of ‘Firefly’ and ‘Con Man.’ The ‘Arrow’ and ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Half Shell’ star discussed his place in the nerd community, stories from various sets, and even his experience in musical theater. So naturally, the recent rumors of his involvement at this year’s WWE Summerslam came up as well.
For those unaware, Amell is a life-long fan of World Wrestling Entertainment. Back in May, he appeared on an episode of Monday Night Raw and had a confrontation with the wrestler Stardust. This was meant to build to a match between the two at the company’s biggest event of the summer, but due to a number of unspecified reasons, reports emerged stating that the match had been cancelled. The actor addressed his involvement with the WWE and mentioned that it may not actually involve wrestling:
“I’m not not going to wrestle Stardust at Summerslam, and I know that double negatives in the English language are a no-no. I am probably going to do some stuff with the WWE. I don’t know if that means wrestling in a match, but we’ll see. I don’t know if it’s going to be wrestling.”
Many speculate that Amell could still appear at Summerslam, but chances are that it won’t be to face off against the wrestler formerly known as Cody Rhodes in the squared circle. For that to happen, the feud would have had to continue after the May altercation, but Stardust’s family (and the entire professional wrestling world) suffered a huge loss when his father WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes unexpectedly passed away. During that time, Stardust’s storyline with Amell was dropped.
One possible reason for this is because Stardust is meant to be a heel, which is pro-wrestling talk for “bad guy”. Had he come back too soon to face Amell in a match, the crowds likely would have cheered him and chanted for his fallen father known as the American Dream. Since that’s probably not the reaction that WWE wants for their villains, they elected to scrap their plans and save them for another time.
My guess is that WWE will revisit the idea when Stephen Amell debuts in the next TMNT movie, which also features WWE superstar Sheamus. But until we find out for sure whether or not the Green Arrow will step into a WWE ring, leave your thoughts on the situation in the comments and check out Amell’s Nerd HQ panel below.
Source: Collider