Author: Joseph Currier

Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade. In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.

Shawn Michaels addresses WWE backstage issues with The Rock

Posted on by Joseph Currier

According to Shawn Michaels, rumors that he and Triple H mistreated The Rock during the Attitude Era are “blown way out of proportion.”

Michaels addressed rumors of backstage heat between himself and The Rock while appearing on NBA legend Carmelo Anthony’s 7PM in Brooklyn podcast. During the appearance, Michaels was asked why he and The Rock never faced each other.

“He didn’t like me,” Michaels responded before laughing. “No, I will say this — there’s a big kerfuffle in the wrestling business about me and Hunter, you know, doing stuff to him and being mean and stuff like that. All of it way blown out of proportion, none of it even accurate. But things that when he was younger was fed a lot. But, again, later on and to this day, we get along and we talk about stuff.

“That’s one I think everybody would have liked to have seen. But by the time I came back, he was well off into his Hollywood career and stuff like that.”

Michaels noted that, when The Rock first started in WWE, there was some ribbing in the locker room over the “Rocky sucks” chants that he was getting. But Rock was able to turn things around with a character change and gain acceptance from fans, who no longer saw him as just being Rocky Johnson’s son.

When Michaels watched The Rock on Saturday Night Live for the first time, he could tell Rock was going to become a big star in Hollywood.

“What he’s done has been pretty damn impressive,” Michaels said.

Michaels, Triple H, and The Rock all now hold important positions within WWE/TKO. Michaels is in charge of NXT, Triple H is WWE’s Chief Content Officer, and Rock is a member of TKO’s board of directors.

Next Monday (April 13), a new documentary — titled “The Heartbreak Kid: Becoming Shawn Michaels” — will premiere on Peacock. It will cover Michaels’ career, his battle with addiction issues, and his NXT role.

Pat McAfee responds to WWE SmackDown fan backlash

Posted on by Joseph Currier

After controversially being inserted into the WWE WrestleMania 42 build on SmackDown, Pat McAfee stayed in character while addressing the situation on his ESPN show today.

McAfee looked back on the weekend in sports and named his alliance with Randy Orton as the biggest thing that happened. They joined forces on SmackDown with McAfee aiming to “save the business’ by having Orton defeat Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Bringing up that tickets to WrestleMania still aren’t sold out, McAfee called Rhodes a “puppet” champion and said the business he’s leading is “terrible.”

On The Pat McAfee Show, McAfee brought up that his daughter is about to turn three years old. He wants her to be a wrestling fan, but he wants wrestling to be what it’s supposed to be. That starts with elevating Orton back up to the top of the company.

“Somehow tickets are still available for WrestleMania. Just know that we got some things cooking, and you’re going to want to be in Las Vegas,” McAfee said. “It’s going to be spectacular. It’s going to be special. Future wrestling generation fans will have to look back on the night that was in Las Vegas and say, ‘That was the moment that that GOAT saved the entire business by becoming 15-time World Champion.’ Shout out to Randy Orton. Thank you, Randy, for doing that.”

McAfee acknowledged the backlash the segment received but said the fans who reacted negatively are the exact type of people he’s doing this for.

“These IWC dipsh*ts, they have no idea. This is for the good of them,” McAfee said. “They have no idea what they’ve been missing, they have no idea what it’s supposed to look like. Now we change that. That’s the Internet Wrestling Community. They’re not the biggest fans of what happened, they’re pretty upset about it. But they are a part of the problem. They are the ones that said, ‘Yeah, this is what it’s supposed to be, all this stuff.’ It’s like, ‘Nah, let us show you what it’s supposed to be whenever Randy Orton is at the top of the marquee.'”

The Rhodes vs. Orton Undisputed WWE Championship match is expected to main event night one of WrestleMania 42 on Saturday, April 18. That should be confirmed tomorrow morning when the cards for both nights are revealed on ESPN’s Get Up.

In the United States, WrestleMania 42 will be broadcast live on the ESPN Unlimited app. The first hour of each night will also air on ESPN’s TV channel. In international markets, the show will stream live on Netflix.

AEW to make Maine debut next month

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Next month, AEW is holding a show in the state of Maine for the first time ever.

It was announced today that the Wednesday, May 20 episode of Dynamite will be held in Portland, Maine at Cross Insurance Arena. This is Dynamite’s go-home show for Double or Nothing 2026.

Tickets are going on sale to the general public this Friday (April 10) at 10 a.m. Eastern time. AEW World Champion MJF, Women’s World Champion Thekla, Willow Nightingale, and Will Ospreay are featured on promotional material for the episode.

While this is AEW’s first-ever event in Maine, the promotion’s World Championship was defended on an indie show in the state earlier this year. MJF retained against Alec Price in January at a show for Limitless Wrestling, an indie promotion founded in Maine. That same night, Price and his tag team partner Jordan Oliver were presented with AEW contracts.

A new Collision date has also been added to the AEW schedule. That episode will take place from the Wicomico Civic Center on Saturday, May 16 — one night after the venue hosts ROH Supercard of Honor 2026.

AEW has its Dynasty pay-per-view coming up this weekend and will then start the build toward Double or Nothing, which is being held in New York City on Sunday, May 24.

WWE to announce WrestleMania 42 cards on ESPN

Posted on by Joseph Currier

It won’t be long until we find out how WWE is dividing up the cards for each night of WrestleMania 42.

Paul “Triple H” Levesque sent out a tweet this morning announcing that WWE commentator Joe Tessitore will be on ESPN’s Get Up this Tuesday at 9:35 a.m. Eastern time. During the appearance, Tessitore will break down the WrestleMania card and reveal which night each match will be happening on.

“Every match on this year’s #WrestleMania card has the opportunity to steal the show and both nights are STACKED,” Levesque wrote. “SmackDown’s @JoeTessESPN will be on @GetUpESPN tomorrow at 9:35am ET to break down which matches will be featured on Saturday and Sunday.”

It’s expected that Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton will be the night one main event, with World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns closing out the weekend in the headlining spot on night two. The show is being held at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas for the second straight year.

Heading into tonight’s Raw, there are 12 matches officially announced for WrestleMania. Two more bouts are likely to be added to the April 18-19 event, giving each night a seven-match card.

These are the bouts that have been confirmed so far:

  • World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defends against Roman Reigns
  • Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defends against Randy Orton
  • Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer defends against Liv Morgan
  • WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill defends against Rhea Ripley
  • Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi
  • Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
  • Unsanctioned match: Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu
  • Women’s Intercontinental Champion AJ Lee defends against Becky Lynch
  • United States Champion Sami Zayn defends against Trick Williams
  • Ladder match: Intercontinental Champion Penta defends against Je’Von Evans, Dragon Lee, Rusev, JD McDonagh
  • Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Lash Legend defend against Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss, The Bella Twins, and Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
  • Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio

NJPW sets date for Tiger Mask Junior Heavyweight title challenge

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Before he retires from the ring, Tiger Mask IV will attempt to become IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion one last time.

NJPW has announced that the main event of Wrestling Hizen no Kuni will see Tiger Mask challenge DOUKI for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title. The show is happening on April 29 as part of the Road to Wrestling Dontaku tour.

Tiger Mask is a six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, with his most recent reign having been in 2009-2010. He confronted DOUKI earlier this month and issued the challenge for a title match. They were then on the opposite sides of an eight-man tag bout at Sakura Genesis where Tiger Mask’s team got the victory.

The longest-serving Tiger Mask in history, Tiger Mask IV (Yoshihiro Yamazaki) is retiring from the ring soon with his final NJPW date set for July 7. He may need to work some already scheduled international dates after that, but that will be his final event in Japan.

July 2026 marks the 31st anniversary of Tiger Mask IV’s debut. He initially competed for Michinoku Pro before later joining NJPW.

The two biggest stops on the Road to Wrestling Dontaku tour are Wrestling Redzone and Wrestling Hizen no Kuni. On the Redzone card, the IWGP Heavyweight and Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles will each be defended.

NJPW Wrestling Redzone (Saturday, April 25) —

  • IWGP Tag Team Champions OSKAR & Yuto-Ice defend against either Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI or HENARE & Great-O-Khan (those two teams are facing off in a number one contender’s match on April 20)
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champions Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X defend against Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles
  • Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Gedo & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Yuya Uemura & Tomoaki Honma vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
  • Tiger Mask, Oleg Boltin, Aaron Wolf & Togi Makabe vs. DOUKI, Ren Narita, Don Fale & Dick Togo

NJPW Wrestling Hizen no Kuni (Wednesday, April 29) —

  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI defends against Tiger Mask
  • Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira & Zane Jay
  • Oleg Boltin, Aaron Wolf & Mistico vs. Ren Narita, Don Fale & Dick Togo
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. HENARE, Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young
  • Yuya Uemura, Taichi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Masatora Yasuda vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles
  • Toru Yano & Tomoaki Honma vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Shota Umino, YOH, Master Wato & Taisei Nakahara vs. Chase Owens, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Both shows are living live on NJPW World.

NJPW reveals Wrestling Dontaku 2026 lineups

Posted on by Joseph Currier

With Sakura Genesis now in the rearview mirror, NJPW’s attention turns to Wrestling Dontaku 2026.

The two-night Dontaku event is being held in Fukuoka on Sunday, May 3 and Monday, May 4. Headlining the second night is an IWGP Heavyweight Championship defense by Callum Newman, who is putting his title on the line against Shingo Takagi. Newman — the 2026 New Japan Cup winner — dethroned Yota Tsuji for the belt at Sakura Genesis this past weekend.

At 23 years old, this is Newman’s first IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign. He’s one of the top foreign wrestlers in NJPW and the leader of United Empire.

United Empire has a big night at Wrestling Dontaku night two. In the semi-main event, the group is challenging for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles. The match has AEW’s Will Ospreay — who is returning to Japan once again for both nights of Dontaku — teaming with HENARE & Great-O-Khan against champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin.

Tsuji still holds the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship and will be defending that title in the night one main event. His challenger is Gabe Kidd, who is now waging war on NJPW after joining AEW.

Plus, there is more international representation on the cards with top CMLL star Mistico competing in tag matches.

The shows will stream live on NJPW World. Here are the announced lineups:

NJPW Wrestling Dontaku 2026 —

Night one (Sunday, May 3):

  • IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Gabe Kidd
  • NEVER Openweight Champion Ren Narita defends against Oleg Boltin
  • Aaron Wolf vs. Don Fale
  • Shingo Takagi, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori, Robbie X & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino vs. Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
  • Yuya Uemura, Taichi, El Desperado & Mistico vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
  • Tomoaki Honma & Masatora Yasuda vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato vs. Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi & Taisei Nakahara

Night two (Monday, May 4):

  • IWGP Heavyweight Champion Callum Newman defends against Shingo Takagi
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin defend against Will Ospreay, HENARE & Great-O-Khan
  • Yota Tsuji, Drilla Moloney, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Jake Lee, Francesco Akira, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
  • Yuya Uemura & Taichi vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
  • El Desperado & Mistico vs. Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita
  • Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, YOH & Master Wato vs. Ren Narita, Don Fale, DOUKI, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
  • Ryusuke Taguchi & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Gedo & Daiki Nagai
  • NJPW World Television Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Chase Owens
  • Pre-show: Masatora Yasuda vs. Taisei Nakahara

Mick Foley doing voiceover work for A24 deathmatch documentary

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Hardcore legend Mick Foley has some involvement with A24’s upcoming documentary on deathmatch wrestling.

Foley made an Instagram post today revealing that he is doing voiceover work for the feature-length project, which is from A24 and Australian filmmakers Danny & Michael Philippou. The twin brothers are behind the YouTube channel RackaRacka and have directed the horror films “Talk to Me” and “Bring Her Back.”

“DEATHMATCH DOC!,” Foley wrote. “Doing voiceovers for upcoming @a24 documentary #Deathmatch — I’ll do my best to be at the premiere! @michael_philippou @therackaracka”

Michael Philippou himself has stepped into the ring to get deathmatch experience as part of the filming for the documentary. Last month, GCW promoter Brett Lauderdale tweeted that people are going to be blown away by the final project.

“This documentary is going much further than anyone imagined and it is going to blow people away,” Lauderdale wrote. “It shows indie wrestling in a diff light and will change the way you look at deathmatch wrestlers. can not wait to see the finished version and cant wait for these stories to be told”

Foley currently has multiple Hollywood projects in the works, including a limited series where actor/wrestler Paul Walter Hauser is attached to play the role of Foley.

A24 is the studio that produced “The Iron Claw,” the 2023 biopic on Kevin Von Erich and the Von Erich family.

Road Dogg addresses WWE departure

Posted on by Joseph Currier

During a virtual signing with Signed By Superstars, Brian “Road Dogg” James addressed his recent departure from WWE.

James was co-lead writer of SmackDown before departing his position on the WWE creative team in early March. He told Signed By Superstars that the company was moving “too fast” for him, and he also wanted to spend more time at home with his family.

“It was moving too fast. It was just moving too fast for me,” James said. “We talked about my brothers and their grandkids, and I didn’t get to spend a whole lot of time with mine. So I’m going to do more of that now.”

This was James’ second stint as a top writer on SmackDown, having already left the position in 2019 before later returning.

James was asked during the virtual signing if he had any input in WWE’s upcoming WrestleMania 42 card.

“Yeah, I did. A lot,” James responded. “I think it’s strong. I think it’s as strong as you’re going to get. I really do. I’m excited about Brock and [Oba Femi]. Look, I got nothing bad to say. I think they’re moving fast and they are growing expeditiously. Financially, they’re setting records. Like, you can’t say nothing bad. It just was moving too fast for me. I’m getting older, and it’s a young man’s game. They’re running fast, and they’re running fast internationally.”

James mentioned during the virtual signing that he’d be interested in getting back into the podcast world again after previously hosting the show “Oh…You Didn’t Know.”

Updated WWE SmackDown preview for April 3

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Update —

WWE has announced that Rhea Ripley vs. Michin will take place on SmackDown tonight, with Ripley looking to get revenge after recent attacks by Jade Cargill, Michin, and B-Fab. Ripley is challenging Cargill for the WWE Women’s Championship at WrestleMania.

Plus, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss will take on Bayley & Lyra Valkyria.

**********

New United States Champion Sami Zayn will be on SmackDown tonight one week after his title win.

WWE has announced that we’ll hear from Zayn on tonight’s show. He regained the United States Championship from Carmelo Hayes last Friday and is now headed toward a title defense against Trick Williams at WrestleMania 42.

Over the past week, there’s been some backlash on social media with fans unhappy over Hayes dropping the U.S. title and not being factored into WWE’s WrestleMania plans. We’ll see how WWE handles that tonight, and we’ll find out if Zayn plans to continue the United States title open challenge series that he instituted during his August-October 2025 title reign. Ilja Dragunov and Hayes continued that tradition during their respective U.S. title runs.

Williams appeared on the Mornings with Mero radio show this week and said he believes Hayes “deserves” a WrestleMania moment and hopes that Hayes ends up getting one.

Counting tonight, there are only three SmackDown episodes left before WrestleMania. The Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri is hosting tonight’s show.

WWE SmackDown (Friday, April 3) —

  • Cody Rhodes looks to spoil Randy Orton’s homecoming
  • Rhea Ripley vs. Michin
  • Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss vs. Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
  • We’ll hear from Drew McIntyre and Jacob Fatu
  • We’ll hear from new United States Champion Sami Zayn

Colten Gunn cleared for AEW return

Posted on by Joseph Currier

After more than eight months out of action, Colten Gunn has been cleared to return to the ring.

Gunn suffered a knee injury on Collision in July 2025 and has been sidelined since. His AEW return could be on the horizon, though, with Gunn’s father Billy revealing that Colten is now medically cleared.

“He just got cleared yesterday, so he’s good,” Billy Gunn said when asked about Colten’s status during an April 2 virtual signing with Signed By Superstars.

The injury happened in a four-way tag match where The Gunns (Colten and his brother Austin) faced Gates of Agony, Big Bill & Bryan Keith, and Lio Rush & Action Andretti. It derailed plans for The Gunns to participate in a Tag Team title eliminator tournament to determine who faced The Hurt Syndicate at Forbidden Door 2025.

Colten & Austin Gunn are former AEW Tag Team Champions, having held the titles for 56 days in 2023. The belts are currently held by FTR.

The Gunns are members of The Bang Bang Gang in AEW with Jay White, Juice Robinson, and Ace Austin. White, the leader of the faction, has been sidelined for a significant amount of time due to hand and shoulder injuries. March 2025 was when White’s most recent match took place.

John Cena excited for ‘incredible group’ of WWE WrestleMania debuts

Posted on by Joseph Currier

John Cena — the host of WWE WrestleMania 42 — is excited to be in the building to experience several wrestlers’ first Mania.

In a tweet promoting WrestleMania tickets, Cena wrote that he’s looking forward to being in Las Vegas for the WrestleMania debuts of Lash Legend, Je’Von Evans, Trick Williams, Oba Femi, and Stephanie Vaquer. Both Legend and Vaquer are entering the April 18-19 event as champions, while Evans and Williams will be challenging for gold. Femi is booked in one of the top matches on the show against Brock Lesnar.

“Since retirement I’ve met so many wonderful people who’ve shared with me that they saw my first WrestleMania match … and my last,” Cena tweeted. “I’m so excited to be able to say ‘I was there!’ for the WM debuts of this incredible group! @LashLegendWWE @WWEJeVonEvans @_trickwilliams @Obaofwwe @Steph_Vaquer”

Cena, who retired from the ring with a loss to Gunther in December 2025, now serves as an ambassador for WWE. Evans and Femi took part in undercard matches on Cena’s retirement show, with Cena aiming to spotlight some of the up-and-coming wrestlers in WWE. Evans and Femi were in NXT at the time but joined the main roster shortly after.

In addition to hosting WrestleMania, Cena is set to appear on a live recording of The Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast at WWE World on April 18.

Here are all of the matches that have been officially confirmed for WrestleMania so far (nights to be determined):

WWE WrestleMania 42 (Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas) —

  • World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defends against Roman Reigns
  • Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defends against Randy Orton
  • Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer defends against Liv Morgan
  • WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill defends against Rhea Ripley
  • Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi
  • Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
  • Unsanctioned match: Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu
  • Women’s Intercontinental Champion AJ Lee defends against Becky Lynch
  • United States Champion Sami Zayn defends against Trick Williams
  • Ladder match: Intercontinental Champion Penta defends against Je’Von Evans, Dragon Lee, Rusev, JD McDonagh
  • Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Lash Legend defend against Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss, The Bella Twins, and Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
  • Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio

Scott D’Amore: Tony Khan has ‘changed wrestling for the better’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Working with AEW and Tony Khan has been an enjoyable experience for Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling boss Scott D’Amore.

At the end of March, D’Amore and Khan worked together as ROH and MLP co-promoted their Global Wars Canada event. D’Amore spoke with Late Night Grin about the experience and praised Khan for how he’s made a positive impact on the wrestling industry. He described Khan as being a fun and happy guy, which balances well with D’Amore’s more analytical approach.

“I think it’s been really enjoyable. One of the things is — Tony Khan has a love and a passion for professional wrestling that is near-unmatched,” D’Amore said. “He is a superfan, and he’s very proud of that fact. And the enjoyment he gets out of being around wrestling, creating wrestling, and really making a difference in the business is huge for him.

“I mean, he’s a good guy. You know, people complained about this and that and anything else. And that’s cool. But when you look at it, here’s somebody who has changed wrestling for the better. People make more money in wrestling because of what he’s done and what AEW has done. More people are getting opportunities. And people genuinely get treated extremely well. You’ve got someone who’s taken the pro sports approach to how you treat your athletes and applied that to professional wrestling — and that’s an amazing step forward in our industry.”

It was announced during Global Wars weekend that MLP has agreed to a television deal with TSN in Canada. D’Amore told Late Night Grin that, when launching the promotion, his goal was to create something that would make a difference in pro wrestling and shine a spotlight on Canadian talent. Getting this TV deal is a big step toward that.

“For people that don’t know, in Canada, TSN — that’s The Sports Network. That’s what TSN stands for. It’s basically our ESPN,” D’Amore said. “It was the very first all-sports network in Canada. It’s legendary here. It’s the equivalent for American fans of being on ESPN or UK fans back in the day, the equivalent of being on Sky Sports. So It’s huge.”

D’Amore noted that, like NJPW caters toward the Japanese market, MLP is geared toward Canadian fans but welcomes viewers from all around the world. The promotion is holding an event in Las Vegas during WrestleMania week as part of Palms Slam Fest.

NJPW announces Sakura Genesis card change

Posted on by Joseph Currier

To help build toward an upcoming Junior Heavyweight title match, NJPW has made a slight change to the Sakura Genesis card.

Tiger Mask IV and Master Wato have swapped places on the April 4 lineup, with Tiger Mask now set to compete in an eight-man tag match opposite IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI. The match pits Tiger Mask, Aaron Wolf, YOH & Toru Yano against DOUKI, Don Fale, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru.

As for Wato, he will now team up with Togi Makabe against Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita.

The change comes after Tiger Mask confronted DOUKI earlier this week and challenged him to a title match. A date for that bout has not been set yet. Tiger Mask, who only has three months left before the end of his in-ring career, wants to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title and retire as champion.

Sakura Genesis is being held at Sumo Hall in Tokyo and will stream live overnight at 3 a.m. Eastern/midnight Pacific.

NJPW Sakura Genesis 2026 (Saturday, April 4) —

  • IWGP Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji defends against Callum Newman
  • IWGP Tag Team Champions The Knock Out Brothers (Oskar & Yuto-Ice) defend against Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa
  • NJPW World Television Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against Shota Umino
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Oleg Boltin defend against Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
  • Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan & HENARE vs. Yuya Uemura, Taichi & El Desperado
  • Tiger Mask, Aaron Wolf, YOH & Toru Yano vs. DOUKI, Don Fale, SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Shingo Takagi, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Jake Lee, Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young
  • Togi Makabe & Master Wato vs. Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita
  • Pre-show: KUSHIDA & Masatora Yasuda vs. Tatsuya Matsumoto & Taisei Nakahara

Daily Update: Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Persephone

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Among the topics covered:

  • A look back at the career of Dennis Condrey of Midnight Express fame
  • Update on WrestleMania, both the matches, business update the ticket demand at the present time
  • An updated look at AEW’s All In on 8/30 at Wembley Stadium as well as a look at the Dynasty show and ticket demand for the show
  • Coverage of El Homenaje a Dos Leyendas, CMLL’s second biggest show of the year, with El Satanico’s retirement at 76, The Death Riders appear, the heavyweight title changes hands and Mistico returns
  • A look at the NCAA Division I tournament including a look back 79 years when future pro wrestling legends dominated the heavyweight division and how it ties into the most recent tournament. We also look at the rivalry that could define college wrestling for years to come between a coach and his former pupil, a guy who was in high school in December and wins the NCAA title in March, as well business notes on the show, both attendance and television ratings
  • A look back at Sid Vicious, Badnews Allen and Dennis Rodman’s pro wrestling days
  • Trying to explain the latest controversy in television ratings and how this related to pro wrestling
  • How ratings differ from a sports survey about wrestling fans
  • The most complete look at the ratings for all the pro wrestling television shows over the past week,including competition, demos and comparisons with one year ago, as well as competition in the time slot.
  • Notes on CMLL talent coming to WrestleMania week
  • Major injury to arguably CMLL’s best worker
  • Notes on the 83rd anniversary of pro wrestling in one of its most famous arenas
  • Notes on tentative plans for a major mask vs. mask match
  • Callum Newman and Yuya Uemura tear it up in the New Japan Cup finals
  • Next major New Japan show thoughts with Ospreay’s returnh
  • Tanahashi talks goals to turn the company around
  • Kazusada Higuchi retirement notes
  • Thoughts on Satoru Sayama and his impact on pro wrestling
  • Aja Kongs 40th anniversary show
  • Gable Stevesn and RAF
  • Ted DiBiase Jr acquitted in his case
  • The end of CBS News Radio and what former WCW announcer was an anchor there
  • Notes on the announcing at the orignal When Worlds Collide AAA show
  • Lots of WrestleMania week show notes
  • FantasticaMania comes to the U.K.
  • Update on WBD sale to Paramount Skydance
  • Update on Revolution PPV buys
  • Jeff Jarrett becomes co-owner of a sports franchise
  • Jericho talks about working today
  • More on the Ali Revival Act
  • A list of a lot of PPV buy numbers for UFC
  • Ari Emanuel’s role in getting President Trump to stop the case against Ticketmaster/Live Nation.
  • WWE star training for a bodybuilding contest soon
  • Jesse Ventura rants but his timeline makes sense

This Week’s Back Issue

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Thursday Update

Drew McIntyre WWE
Drew McIntyre makes his WWE entrance.

WWE

  • Cody Rhodes is featured on the cover of the March/April 2026 edition of Cigar Aficionado magazine. He discussed how pro wrestling is a much healthier place financially than it used to be: 
    • I’m blessed that it’s so much healthier now, in a sense…Everyone’s getting paid more than wrestlers were ever getting paid, which means you can take care of yourself more than every wrestler ever. You can have that great nutritionist, have that great trainer.
  • On The Nikki & Brie Show, Rhodes said there are three episodes of his “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast that will never be released because he was too drunk during the recording. They include interviews he conducted with Alexa Bliss and Big E:
    • I will apologize now. I’ve said this, so I’ll make no secret of it. I will apologize to Alexa Bliss, Big E, I’m not going to name the other one because she’ll go ham with it. But three of these episodes will never make it because of how deep those pours were.
    • It’s never their fault, it’s always my fault. I already have a lisp. So if you’re starting out that way and then you watch it, like, ‘I thought it was okay.’ It’s rough, it’s rough. So I wanted those to be better for them.
  • Drew McIntyre – who recently mourned the death of his cat Chaz – told Insight with Chris Van Vliet that he’ll never use the passing of CM Punk’s dog Larry as a way to get heat:
    • There’s one thing I never make fun of Punk for. When Larry was gone, my heart broke for him and AJ. Because those little guys are just full of love and nothing else.
  • Jacob Fatu and AEW’s Swerve Strickland were among those in attendance at this week’s training session at Nattie & TJ Wilson’s Dungeon. Nattie wrote about the four-hour practice:
    • Tonight was so fun! Another incredible week of work in The Dungeon. A four hour practice with 30 of my friends- pouring their heart, soul and SWEAT onto the mat. Energy matching energy. So proud of this group!
  • At Raw on Monday, Roman Reigns granted a Make-A-Wish by meeting a 12-year-old fan named Javion.
  • Sam Roberts has an interview with Wade Barrett.
  • Former college basketball stars The Cavinder Twins appeared on the latest episode of Stephanie McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” podcast.
  • WWE’s YouTube channel uploaded the full John Cena vs. Rock matches from WrestleMania 28 and 29.

Other Wrestling

  • Thunder Rosa had high praise for Persephone while speaking with The Takedown on SI:
    • I’m just excited, I’m just excited for her present and for her future. That woman has worked her ass off and from many, many women that I’ve seen that came through Mission Pro, she was one of the ones who worked from the ground up to have the opportunities that she has in Mexico and in the United States.
    • And she hasn’t taken shortcuts, she keeps growing, she keeps learning and the one thing I love about her, she stays humble and she’s super professional. Something that I think is important in professional wrestling is to be professional and she’s one of those and I have so much respect for her.
  • Rosa added that she’s looking forward to an eventual match against Persephone:
    • And when the time comes for us to do this, I think it’s gonna be a banger because she’s mouthy, I’m mouthy, We have really good energy, we’re both from the border. She’s from El Paso, I’m from Tijuana, you know, so we both know what’s up.
    • Like I was saying earlier, if you were born in a border town, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. And as you can see, she was born in El Paso, she made it. I was born in Tijuana, I made it, so I know we can really, really do something amazing for everyone.
  • Shop AEW released a new Chris Jericho T-shirt and hoodie following his return.
  • Black Girl Wrestling interviewed Willow Nightingale.
  • After Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X retained the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles today, they were confronted by Kosei Fujita, who issued a challenge on behalf of himself and Robbie Eagles.
  • The Sportster interviewed TNA World Champion Mike Santana.
  • Santana acknowledged yesterday being the two-year anniversary of his AEW departure:
    • 2 years ago today, I was granted my release. I put a plan together for myself and began to execute. It was the best thing I did for my life and career. 
    • Idgaf how long it was going to take but I knew I was going to get sh*t done! I’ve sacrificed too much and after everything I went thru the last few years, I had a fire burning inside that I wasn’t going to let anything extinguish. But above all, my daughter gotta eat! And that she will, by any means! 
    • 2 years later, it’s amazing to see what I’ve been able to accomplish. It’s been such an amazing ride and to think that this is just the beginning, is so exciting. 
    • Follow your heart. That sh*t never lies.
  • Lance Storm looked back on his last-ever match, which was against Matt Hardy on this day in 2016:
    • 10 years ago today I had my final match. I glad this photo is from behind, it feels like a final goodbye. Thank you @matthardybrand
  • Wrestling legend Tully Blanchard recently got married for the third time.

LA Knight crashes IShowSpeed stream after WWE Raw angle

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The WWE WrestleMania 42 build continued on Thursday — not in the ring but on an IShowSpeed live stream.

On Raw earlier this week, an angle took place where Speed — one of social media’s biggest personalities — accidentally laid out LA Knight with a brass knuckles shot. They followed up on that today with Knight crashing Speed’s stream. Speed apologized to Knight and claimed that he did not want to get involved. But Knight gave him a receipt by throwing him into his streaming equipment.

Speed was doing a bit where he would not end the stream until someone was able to make him laugh or cry. The video went off the air with Speed crying after being attacked by Knight.

Prior to the attack, Knight said he’s arranged for Speed to come to Raw in Houston next Monday (April 6) to fix things.

A six-man tag match with Speed, Logan Paul & Austin Theory vs. Knight & The Usos is scheduled to be added to the WrestleMania 42 card, though it could end up being a two-on-two tag match with Knight and Speed in the respective corners if Speed is not prepared to wrestle in time. His only WWE match so far was an appearance in the 2025 Royal Rumble.

Speed also appeared on the March 23 episode of Raw and was cursed by Danhausen in a backstage segment. Since then, Speed has played up the storyline with him having bad luck in WWE and his daily life.

On YouTube, Speed has more than 50 million subscribers. He also has 50 million followers on TikTok and 46 million on Instagram.