WWE Rumors: Stephen Amell & Stardust Feud To Resume?
WWE may be looking to tap back into the celebrity pool while reigniting a feud from 2015. PWInsider is reporting that WWE is planning to shoot footage at the Heroes & Villains convention in Secaucus, New Jersey, this weekend, where WWE superstar Stardust and Stephen Amell will both be making appearances. Previous rumors suggested that the company was hinting at continuing a storyline between the two that could potentially culminate in a singles match.
At WWE’s major pay-per-view in August of 2015, SummerSlam, Stardust teamed with King Barrett in a tag team match against Amell and Neville. Amell, of course, plays the lead role in the television show Arrow, portraying comic book hero the Green Arrow, an alternative persona to Oliver Queen. WWE occasionally advertises Neville as a comic book hero in his own right, highlighting his aerial and acrobatic repertoire to portray his aerial assault. On January 15, WWE engaged Amell on Twitter, further suggesting the angle may start back up again.
Totally depends on whether or not he's recovered from the ass-kicking I gave him. https://t.co/aplF5edeWY
— Stephen Amell (@StephenAmell) January 15, 2016
WWE certainly has a history of involving celebrities in their big events, but if Amell were to compete in an actual match again, that would be a rarity. His athleticism accomplished what few before him were able to: look like a legitimate competitor. Sure, Stardust, Barrett, and WWE did their best not to overexpose the Arrow star, but when he was called upon to brawl and execute a hip toss, he answered the bell. In their SummerSlam tag team match, Amell’s shining moment came when he hit both Stardust and Barrett with a cross body off the top rope onto the floor. He then tossed Barrett back inside the ring, where Neville executed his patented finisher, the “Red Arrow,” and then pinned Barrett to pick up the win.
WWE’s annual Slammy Awards were presented at the December 21 edition of Monday Night Raw, and both members of that winning tag team from Summerslam took home hardware. Neville won for Breakout Star of the Year while Stephen Amell captured the Celebrity Moment of the Year for that dive off the top onto Stardust and Barrett. That award was not seen on television, rather presented by WWE.com before the show. The other nominees in Amell’s category were the cast of Entourage introducing Zach Ryder on RAW in Long Island, Machine Gun Kelly getting powerbombed by Kevin Owens on RAW in June, Jon Stewart involving himself in the John Cena-Seth Rollins WWE World Heavyweight Championship match at Summerslam, and Wayne Rooney slapping King Barrett on a November episode of RAW.
On the May 25 episode of WWE’s Monday Night Raw, Stardust confronted Amell, who was a special guest that evening, while losing to Neville. Then, on the July 13 episode of RAW, Stardust defeated Neville in a singles match. On the August 10 episode of RAW, where Amell was again a special guest, Neville defeated King Barrett but was then attacked by Stardust. Stardust then assaulted Amell, who entered the ring and attacked Stardust in return. Amell and Neville then persuaded Triple H backstage to make the tag team match at SummerSlam. Despite reservations and harsh warnings from WWE’s COO, the request was granted.
In the interim, Stardust has been involved in minor feuds with Neville and more recently, Titus O’Neil. It remains to be seen if Stardust will be competing in Sunday’s Royal Rumble. Amell continues to film and star in Arrow and is slated to play the role of Casey Jones in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, which is scheduled for a 2016 release.
[Image via George Napolitano/Retna Ltd./MediaPunch/IPX]
