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.

WWE and AEW stars meet up at Super Bowl Radio Row

Posted on by Joseph Currier

At Super Bowl Radio Row on Thursday, one of the top stars in WWE met up with the current AEW World Champion.

Seth Rollins and MJF were both in San Francisco on Thursday for Super Bowl week media appearances. While there, the two took some time to have a conversation that was captured in a brief clip by Bleacher Report. Another video showed Rollins and MJF jokingly facing off before then exchanging pleasantries.

@bleacherreport The multiverse is real šŸ‘€šŸ”„ #SuperBowl #SuperBowllx #wwe #aew #wrestletok ā™¬ original sound – bleacherreport

“I appreciate you, man,” MJF told Rollins.

“Somebody’s going to get mad. But, hey, it was awesome, dude,” Rollins responded.

Rollins is a huge football fan and has been branching out into sports media more over the past year. Currently sidelined with a rotator cuff injury, Rollins has used the free time to take on more of those opportunities. He was not able to compete at the Royal Rumble due to his injury but is hoping to make it back in time for WrestleMania 42 this April.

At Radio Row, MJF’s appearances included guest spots on Mostly Sports with Mark Titus & Brandon Walker and The K&C Masterpiece. MJF is coming off a loss to Brody King on Dynamite last night, which set up that he will defend his AEW World Championship against King at Grand Slam Australia on February 14.

CM Punk and Big E were among the other wrestling personalities at Radio Row this week for interviews. With so many eyes focused on the football game and an abundance of media outlets in town, celebrities from all forms of entertainment are brought in to promote their products.

Kota Ibushi out of hospital after surgery

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Kota Ibushi is out of the hospital after a shorter-than-expected stay.

On Instagram, Ibushi indicated this week that he’s undergone a second surgery to help with the broken femur he suffered in October 2025. A screw came loose but has now been firmly secured. Ibushi noted that he was originally supposed to be in the hospital for two weeks but was able to get out in just three days.

“A major screw came loose. This time, two spots are firmly secured,” Ibushi wrote. “Complete rest! I was told several times, ‘Mr. Ibushi, complete rest!!’ but I’ll do things my way. I’m grateful, truly grateful, that I’m allowed freedom in my rehab. Thank you for the surgery. Thank you, everyone. Thank you, AEW.”

Ibushi, 43, sustained the injury during a match against Josh Alexander that aired on an October AEW Collision episode. Though he was initially told that he would need to be out of action for two years, Ibushi is hoping to return quicker than that.

Earlier this week, The Young Bucks revealed that Ibushi’s injury derailed plans for them to face Ibushi & Kenny Omega in a tag match at AEW Full Gear 2025. Instead, a six-man tag bout took place with The Young Bucks & Alexander defeating Omega & Jurassic Express (Jack Perry & Luchasaurus).

Je’Von Evans felt like he ‘did amazing’ in WWE Royal Rumble

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Getting to compete in his first-ever Royal Rumble was a hugely positive experience for Je’Von Evans.

Evans entered the Rumble at number eight last Saturday and was in the match for more than 40 minutes before being eliminated by Randy Orton. On Busted Open Radio this morning, Evans reflected on the match and how he performed. He’s usually very critical of himself after competing, but that wasn’t the case this time.

“I felt great. Usually, I’m very — what’s the word? Not critical — when I look back at my work, I look at everything. I’m very, like, spot on. I’m very hard on myself when it comes to my matches, because I just want them to be so great,” Evans said. “But after the Rumble, I was like, ‘Yo, I felt like I did amazing.’ I was in the ring with people that I grew up watching, so that was fire. That was great. It was insane. It was insane.”

Evans said being in the ring with stars like Orton, Brock Lesnar, and Roman Reigns made him feel like he was a fan and wrestler at the same time. He wanted to do everything he could to make himself and others look good.

Among the spots Evans participated in was an eye-catching moment where Jacob Fatu threw him high into the air on a pop-up Samoan Drop. Going into the match, Evans’ mindset was to make his own mark instead of copying legendary spots that others have already done in the past.

The 21-year-old Evans was called up to the Raw roster last month and has earned high praise from some of his main roster peers. Evans told Busted Open that Reigns, Gunther, Rey Mysterio, and CM Punk are among the dream opponents he’s hoping to face.

Also during the Busted Open interview, Evans named Terry Taylor, Shawn Michaels, Matt Bloom, and Fit Finlay as coaches who were pivotal to his development in NXT. Taylor was blunt with Evans and always honest with his feedback, while Finlay taught Evans that it was important to have grit that he can pair with his fun-loving and high-flying nature.

Mercedes Mone announced for indie show in France

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Mercedes Mone’s wrestling hiatus isn’t going to last much longer.

Since losing the AEW TBS Championship to Willow Nightingale at the end of 2025, Mone has taken a break from the ring. We now know that she’ll be in action by next month, though, with Banger Zone Wrestling announcing that Mone will compete at their Apogee event on Saturday, March 14. The show is being held in Dreux in collaboration with fellow indie promotion Rixe Catch.

Mone’s opponent has not been named. The card includes a triple threat match with Minoru Suzuki facing Connor Mills and Georges Balzac.

The last time we saw Mone on television was a January episode of Collision where she appeared in a pre-taped video. Distraught over losing the TBS title, Mone cut a promo saying she was tired of being disrespected and would be taking a break. Mone vowed to collect more than just titles when she returns.

Mone accumulated many indie titles in 2025 with her Belt Collector gimmick where she traveled the world looking for gold. She still holds those titles and the CMLL Women’s World Championship but is no longer a champion in AEW.

During her break, Mone visited the VIP spa House of the Sun in Los Angeles and said she is feeling incredible after receiving treatment.

Referee Bryce Remsburg indicates he encouraged ‘f*** ICE’ chants on AEW Dynamite

Posted on by Joseph Currier

As the main event of AEW Dynamite was about to begin last night, it appears that referee Bryce Remsburg gave fans an extra moment to continue chanting before ringing the bell.

The Dynamite main event on Wednesday saw AEW World Champion MJF face off against Brody King in a title eliminator match. Before the bell rang, the fans in Las Vegas broke out in a “f*** ICE” chant, which has drawn attention today extending outside of the wrestling bubble. King is a vocal critic of ICE (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and has released merchandise calling for the law enforcement agency to be abolished.

Remsburg was the referee for last night’s match and indicated that he delayed signaling for the opening bell to ring so fans could have more time to chant.

“It seems like the referee may have waited to ring the bell so these could resonate longer?,” Remsburg tweeted in response to a clip of the moment. “Oh no. Whoops.”

The role of ICE has been a significant point of contention in Donald Trump’s second presidential term, with criticism of the organization ramping up following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis last month.

King was the victor of last night’s Dynamite main event, setting the stage for him to challenge MJF for the AEW World Championship at Grand Slam Australia on February 14.

Liv Morgan on why she forgot to point at WWE WrestleMania sign

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Liv Morgan is trying to be more present and savor her WWE accomplishments. However, that mindset shift had an unintended consequence at the Royal Rumble.

On TMZ’s Inside the Ring podcast, Morgan explained that, after her women’s Rumble victory last weekend, she forgot to follow tradition and point at the WrestleMania sign because she was trying to appreciate the moment. A referee who could be seen on camera had to instruct Morgan to point at the sign so WWE could get that visual.

“I think overall I’m just trying to be more present and more grounded. I feel like in this business it’s always about, ‘What’s next? What’s next? What’s next?’ And I feel a lot of moments, maybe I don’t get to appreciate enough or they kind of pass me by,” Morgan said. “Because I also am focused on, ‘What’s next? What’s next?’ I always want to outdo myself or be ahead of the curve and be prepared. But I’ve really tried to just settle, which is why I forgot to point at the WrestleMania sign [laughs]. I’m really trying to just, like, settle in the moment and be grounded and be grateful and acknowledge that these opportunities that I get to have are amazing. And, like, allowing myself to feel that in the moment.”

Morgan, who was sidelined for months last year due to shoulder surgery, is now set for a big 2026 with her earning a title shot at WrestleMania 42. WWE has not yet announced which champion she will be challenging. Morgan is set to appear on SmackDown this Friday as she debates whether to challenge for the Women’s World Championship (currently held by Stephanie Vaquer) or WWE Women’s Championship (Jade Cargill).

On Inside the Ring, the 31-year-old Morgan said she hasn’t given any thought to how much longer she wants to wrestle. WWE has always been part of her life and she considers it home. Morgan hopes that there will always be a place for her in the company.

Andrade El Idolo to challenge for indie World title

Posted on by Joseph Currier

As he pursues the AEW World Championship, Andrade El Idolo also has indie gold in his sights.

House of Glory Wrestling has announced that Andrade will challenge Charles Mason for the promotion’s World Championship at No Turning Back on Friday, February 20. The show is being held at NYC Arena in Queens, New York and will be broadcast on TrillerTV+.

The official announcement of the match comes after Mason attacked Andrade in an angle that took place for House of Glory last week. The attack happened after Andrade faced Amazing Red at House of Glory’s City of Angels show in Los Angeles.

In his return to AEW after being released from WWE in 2025, Andrade has earned praise from Tony Khan for being the “very best” version of himself that he’s ever been. Andrade has notched successive victories over Swerve Strickland and Kenny Omega and is now set to face Hangman Page at AEW Grand Slam Australia on February 14. The winner challenges MJF for the AEW World Championship at Revolution.

Mason has held House of Glory’s World Championship since June 2025, when he defeated former champion Mike Santana and Tomohiro Ishii in a three-way match.

Tommaso Ciampa: ‘AEW was head and shoulders where I wanted to be’

Posted on by Joseph Currier

When Tommaso Ciampa entered free agency, he knew that AEW was where he wanted to end up.

The 40-year-old Ciampa debuted for AEW last week and has already won his first title for the promotion, defeating Mark Briscoe for the TNT Championship. His AEW deal came together “extremely fast” after departing WWE, but Ciampa told Bleacher Report that doing everything by the book was important to him. Once he was actually a free agent and contractually able to negotiate with other companies, Ciampa had his first conversations with AEW on the Tuesday before debuting on Dynamite.

“AEW was head and shoulders where I wanted to be,” he said. “I take everything pretty seriously when it comes to doing it by the book. And with my contract coming up the way it was, I was like, ‘Well, I can’t really have a conversation right now, so let me just wait this out.’

“I did put the statement out a week early because I wanted to, one, see what the response was online and in the industry, and two, I wanted people to go, ‘Oh, so that weird report that came out a month ago, there’s some truth to that.’ So that was definitely on purpose. When my wife and I had the conversation about what’s next, and obviously we’re done here with WWE and we’re going to move on and bet on ourselves and figure out this next chapter. A big conversation was AEW and how do I get there.”

Ciampa said he and his wife booked a family vacation to Blue Hill Ranch in Texas for the week his WWE contract was up. He knew AEW was in Texas that Wednesday and he would be able to drive to the show if he signed in time. If not, they could just continue to enjoy their vacation.

“We started to look at where they are after my contract is up and we saw Texas. Long story short, my wife for five years now has been eyeing up Blue Hill Ranch in Texas,” Ciampa said. “It’s like this giraffe safari where you get to have all these awesome animal experiences. And we just never had the time to come out there.

“So I was like, ‘Why don’t we just book a family vacation, and if things happen to work out and we can shock the world and show up two days later, we’re a two-hour drive away. And if it doesn’t work out, we still have this awesome family vacation.’

“And sure enough, it worked out fast. Tuesday I had a couple of quick conversations with QT Marshall and RD Evans, who used to work with me in ROH. We always had great chemistry and he’s a writer now. This thing worked out extremely fast. Faster than I would have ever guessed. I met Tony [Khan] for the first time Wednesday. His passion is contagious. His love for his roster, his fanbase, for AEW is just beaming off him. So we had a very quick conversation and it just felt really right.”

In AEW, Ciampa is determined to prove that he’s the best version of himself that he’s ever been. He has a TNT Championship defense coming up on Collision this Saturday in a three-way match against Claudio Castagnoli and Roderick Strong.

AJ Styles’ wife Wendy sends emotional message after WWE retirement

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The phenomenal times are just beginning for AJ Styles following his apparent in-ring retirement.

Just days after his WWE career was ended by Gunther at the Royal Rumble, Styles appeared on a new edition of Stephanie McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” podcast. The episode included McMahon reading a letter from Styles’ wife Wendy Jones congratulating her husband on all that he’s accomplished and looking ahead to the next stage of their lives together.

Wendy wrote:

  • To my loving husband whom I call Allen and the world calls ‘The Phenomenal AJ Styles,’
  • Growing up, who knew I would marry a wrestler? Sure, I would watch wrestling with my grandmother but I never had a desire to marry one. Well, we paid for our small wedding with money made by your short stint in the WCW when you started chasing this dream. You always told me to trust you that you would make it. Never once did you doubt yourself. As your bride, I trusted you and even encouraged you to go when the WWE came knocking very early in your career. I believe that required you to move to Cincinnati. I was in college at the time. As a young married couple, you refused. You chose me. Even when I was pushing you to go, you politely declined the offer.
  • You always said we would do this together and not apart. Together we have. You have traveled the world wrestling and conquered what many only dream of accomplishing. You have put God and your family first in this business. I truly believe God opened every door and allowed not just you but our family to walk through them. For that, I am eternally grateful. You wanted to beat the house. Well, you did. A phenomenal career. Four amazing and individually gifted kids. And a loving, always supportive wife who has stood beside you the entire time. You won. Come home. The phenomenal times are just beginning. I love you, babe.

Styles reacted to the letter by saying that he would be “nothing” without Wendy. Now that he’ll be home more often, he’s looking forward to doing things they couldn’t do before like going for morning walks and working out together.

The podcast episode also included messages from Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Damian Priest, Shinsuke Nakamura, Xavier Woods, Abyss, Sami Zayn, The Miz, and Finn Balor congratulating Styles on his career. Balor became emotional while reflecting on all that Styles has meant to him:

  • I feel so happy for him that he’s able to retire with his health. And AJ, I just want to say congratulations on such an incredible career. From a personal standpoint, I want to say thank you because you’ve always been such a constant source of inspiration for me. And I know we’ve had very similar career paths, but I hope you know that I’ve always, always looked up to you. For me, you are the benchmark for what it is to be a professional both inside and outside of the ring. I’m very grateful that I got the opportunity to share the last 10 years with you here in this company. I know we kind of dodged each other a lot on the indies. You were in TNA, I was in Japan. When you came to Japan, I went to NXT. So we missed each other for a long time. But I feel like getting to know you over the last 10 years on a personal level and in the ring and just witnessing how great and phenomenal you really are — I want to say thank you for being AJ Styles.

Despite losing his retirement match, it’s possible that Styles could return to the ring at least one more time in the future. Styles said on “What’s Your Story?” that he thinks every wrestler reserves the right to come out of retirement once. If one of his sons becomes a wrestler, having a tag match with him is something that Styles could be interested in.

AJ Styles explains putting gloves back on after WWE retirement

Posted on by Joseph Currier

AJ Styles lost his WWE retirement match, but he’s not closing the door on the possibility of returning at least one more time in the future.

Whether or not Styles is actually retired has been a huge discussion point since he lost to Gunther at the Royal Rumble last weekend. The stipulation was that Styles would retire if he lost. After being choked out by Gunther, Styles took his gloves off and was going to leave them in the ring. But he instead put the gloves back on, perhaps signaling that he’s not completely done.

Appearing on a new episode of Stephanie McMahon’s “What’s Your Story?” podcast, Styles was asked to explain what he meant by that moment. He responded that he’s not really sure. There will come a time when he takes his gloves off for good — and that might even be right now — but Styles thinks every wrestler reserves the right to come out of retirement once.

“I donā€™t know. I donā€™t know,” Styles said about putting his gloves back on. “Never say never, right? Thatā€™s the saying. I know there’s — I think everybodyā€™s allowed at least once coming out of retirement. Iā€™m not saying that Iā€™ll do it anytime soon. I mean, what if my son wrestles? The opportunity to tag with him once. You never know. Thereā€™ll be a time when the gloves never go back on and it may be now, but we’ll see.”

Styles said his second-oldest son is interested in pursuing a career in wrestling and is training with him for that possibility. It also wouldn’t surprise Styles if his daughter and oldest son got into wrestling one day. Of his four children, Styles’ youngest son is the only one who hasn’t shown any interest in sports.

“I never thought I would want my kids to wrestle, but it’s way different than it’s ever been and a lot better than it’s ever been,” Styles said. “It’s done right at this point. So I’d be happy if they wrestled.”

Though the Royal Rumble loss was an abrupt ending, it had already been known that Styles would be retiring at some point in 2026. Paul “Triple H” Levesque is hoping that Styles will continue his WWE career in a behind-the-scenes capacity.

Daily Update: CM Punk, Tommaso Ciampa, new John Cena movie

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

Latest YouTube Video

This Weekā€™s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

The new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter is up on the site right now. Some of the key stories being covered:

  • Royal Rumble thoughts, odds and direction
  • The business of UFC to Paramount, the numbers that were released, what they mean, and how much revenue does this mean vs. how much they paid for rights
  • Coverage of Saturday Night’s Main Event
  • UFC 324 coverage, the fights, the future and the business
  • The life and times of Kim Wood, football, weightlifting, perception of people, Ken Shamrock and Brian Pillman
  • How Smackdown and NXT did throughout 2025 on Netflix, the ups and the downs
  • The most complete look at the ratings for all the pro wrestling TV shows over the past week, demos, comparisons, drops from last year factoring out why it would and should drop with big data
  • A new record set for most sellouts by a main eventer in a given month
  • Huge CMLL business week and great matches
  • Major shows upcoming
  • Big events coming for New Japan
  • Fantastica Mania coming
  • Mayu Iwatani’s 15th anniversary show
  • Jesse Ventura suggest Minnesota should leave the U.S.
  • Chris Jericho on TV show
  • Jimmy Jacobs talks working for Vince McMahon
  • Mick Foey on his mother’s death
  • Controversial independent angle makes mainstream attention and gets wrestler fired
  • Former WWE champion in talks to become a weekly TV character elsewhere
  • Former WCW attitude era announcer about to come back to wrestling
  • Ticket sales for upcoming WWE, AEW and TNA shows
  • Looking at the AEW business with Triller
  • AEW executive there from the start leaving
  • Issues with spoliation of evidence in UFC case
  • More on the White House show
  • Lots of notes on Zuffa boxing contracts
  • Notes on WWE international deals
  • Injryu updates
  • New AEW & WWE signings

This Weekā€™s Back Issue

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Wednesday Update

WWE

  • WWE uploaded the full seven-man ladder match from NXT last night where Joe Hendry was crowned the new NXT Champion.
  • Hendry appeared on Busted Open After Dark following his title win.
  • Leah Van Dale (former WWE wrestler Carmella) sent out a tweet showing interest in the vacant NXT general manager role.
  • Bayley showed support for the idea while responding to Van Daleā€™s tweet: ā€œMELLA DA MANAGER!!!!!!!! GIVE ME WHAT I WANT!!!!!!!! @WWENXT @ShawnMichaels #bookmeā€
  • In an interview with GQ, CM Punk was asked about the remark Paul ā€œTriple Hā€ Levesque made in WWE: Unreal where Levesque said he knew Punk was ready to come back to WWE because he saw that Punk was a different person than he was before:
    • I havenā€™t the slightest. I really donā€™t. Thatā€™d be a question for him. I just think I watched guys like Bret and Shawn or Hogan and Warrior hold on to these grudges. And I think what it amounts to is just life is too short.
    • Triple H had a serious heart issue that he woke up in the hospital with one day. I thought about that a lot and how anything between us didnā€™t matter at all. And Iā€™m super fortunate now that we can laugh about everything and I can just let a lot of stuff go, because everything to me, I looked at it like itā€™s a hot coal and Iā€™m just holding on to it. And after a while, Iā€™m just hurting myself.
  • United States Champion Carmelo Hayes told the Beyond The Bell Podcast that Punk is a dream opponent of his:
    • I definitely want to wrestle CM Punk. I had made a joke on Twitter, though. I was like, if we do itā€™s gotta be winner takes all.
    • Punk, heā€™s actually a guy, man, like, Iā€™ve been watching him obviously since I was a kid, right? So Iā€™ve looked up to CM Punk and heā€™s been a mentor to a lot of the younger guys backstage, despite what people want to say. Heā€™s always been a mentor to a lot of us, and heā€™s always excited to see us have our first moments.
    • I remember when I won the title, he was in Gorilla with a tear in his eye. I couldnā€™t believe it, Iā€™m like, ā€˜Bro, why do you care so much?ā€™ But I think just him seeing other people have these accomplishments for their first time and remembering where he was when he had his first accomplishment, itā€™s just very cool that heā€™s like that, right?
    • But as far as getting in the ring with him, Iā€™d probably run circles around him, honestly. I think CM Punkā€™s a great in-ring performer, but I donā€™t think heā€™s ready for what I got. Because, man, Iā€™m just going right now, bro. Like, week to week to week with it.
    • Iā€™m very much so looking forward to that match. And I challenge CM Punk to really bring the heat, man. And like I said, heā€™s on a roll too and heā€™s having a great title reign, but we can go title reign for title reign. And I donā€™t think heā€™s touching Melo.
  • Punk was a guest on The Jim Rome Show today from Super Bowl Radio Row.
  • PWinsider reports that Drew McIntyre was at WWE headquarters this week filming for future projects.
  • ā€œMatchbox: The Movie,ā€ which stars John Cena, is set to premiere on Apple TV on October 9. The film is described as an ā€œaction-packed, globetrotting adventure about a group of friends since childhood who have their lives upended when undercover CIA agent Sean (Cena), their long-absent former leader, returns to their small town and unwittingly gets them embroiled in a frantic international pursuit to save the world.ā€
  • Entertainment Tonight spoke with Cena about the movie.
  • K&C Masterpiece interviewed Big E at Super Bowl Radio Row.
  • A new episode of the Nikki & Brie Show premiered today with The Bella Twins discussing Brieā€™s WWE return.
  • Philadelphia Eagles star Cooper DeJean called Nikki Bella ā€œa good friendā€ when asked about their dating rumors during an appearance on Up & Adams.
  • SHAK Wrestling has an interview with Paul Heyman.

Other Wrestling

  • Tommaso Ciampa spoke to Bleacher Report about how his AEW theme music came together:
    • Mikey Rukus [AEWā€™s music composer] is a collaborative genius. I’ve never had an experience working with a music artist like the one that me and Mikey had. This all came together in less than 48 hours. My contract expired at midnight the 26th. Me and Mikey are on the phone Tuesday [Jan. 27].
    • And luckily I’ve had some time, quite a bit of time, six to eight weeks at home to really deep dive and dig and prepare. And I had four songs ready. We had a 20-minute conversation and I got off the phone and I was like, ‘Man, we’re clicking. This dude gets it. He’s hearing me and he’s listening.ā€™
    • And he got that rough draft to me so fast. I want to say that final take was take seven. For anyone who has never gone through the process, that’s insanely fast. You don’t get to that kind of finished quality product in seven takes.
    • When we finally got to that, I’m listening to it in my car and my seven-year-old daughter continues to ask, ‘Can you play it again?’ She was humming to it, and I was like, we’re onto something. Kudos to Mikey. He just crushed it on all elements.
  • Bleacher Report asked Ciampa who he’s been impressed by in AEW:
    • An insane amount. I’ve never shared a ring with Will Ospreay, Kenny Omega, Jon Moxley, MJF, Cope, Christian. Even people I crossed paths with but never shared a ring with.
    • And then there are guys that I’ve done stuff with, but I’ve never had a program with. I’ve never had a singles match with Ricochet, which to me kind of sounds silly to say. That’s kind of the thing that has followed me for a lot of my career.
    • When I was in Ring of Honor, there was this laundry list of guys. I never got to wrestle Generico. I never got to wrestle Bryan Danielson and Samoa Joe. There were just all these top guys I never had a singles match with, and in WWE, I felt similar. Me and AJ Styles worked on a couple of live events but never on television. Randy Orton, never had a match with him. Seth Rollins. There are just so many of them that I didn’t, so coming to AEW, that was actually a massive goal of mine, to not leave the checklist unchecked.
    • I just want to mix it up with all of these different people, and I think that’s what brings out the best in me. I have a real passion and drive for first-time matchups, specifically when they’re in front of big audiences. There’s no prior chemistry and no feeling-out process. I think that’s where the artform really is.
    • Anyone can go and rehearse matches and have seven matches together before they ever do it live, and that’s not the artform. There’s still a skill set needed for that. So when I started looking at the roster and making that list, it didn’t end. It kept going.
  • Mercedes Mone visited VIP spa House of the Sun in Los Angeles and noted that she feels ā€œincredibleā€ after having treatment done.
  • Willow Nightingale has been announced as a special guest for Denise Salcedoā€™s live show at the Hollywood Improv on March 14 during AEW Revolution weekend.
  • MLW will be holding a show at Cicero Stadium in Cicero, Illinois on November 7. Tickets go on sale next Monday (February 9) at 10 a.m. Eastern time.

CM Punk doesn’t ‘really differentiate’ between WWE WrestleMania nights

Posted on by Joseph Currier

To CM Punk, there is no real difference between nights one and two of WWE WrestleMania.

Punk headlined WrestleMania 41 night one in 2025 when he faced off against Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins in a triple threat match. This year, Punk vs. Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship will take up one of the main event spots. But it doesn’t sound like Punk cares very much whether that match happens on night one or two. He appeared on Up & Adams at Super Bowl Radio Row today and was asked what the difference between the two nights is.

“This is often debated. I think WrestleMania is so big, and I think our roster is so deep, it’s hard to spotlight all the talented people who deserve those spots. To me, two nights, it’s better than one. I don’t really differentiate between night one and night two,” Punk responded.

“I look at it like a Lollapalooza or what’s another huge [music] festival? They’re multiple nights, you’ve got a headliner every single night, you know what I mean? Lucky for us, you get to wake up again and do it the next day. Last year, night one afforded me the ability to be completely stress free night two and I got to be a fan and I got to sit and watch the show, so I loved that. I absolutely loved it.”

Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas hosted WrestleMania last year and will be the venue again for WrestleMania 42. The show is taking place on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19.

Tetsuya Naito reacts to Hiromu Takahashi leaving NJPW

Posted on by Joseph Currier

In an interview with Tokyo Sports, Tetsuya Naito reacted to the news that Hiromu Takahashi is leaving NJPW.

It was confirmed this week that Takahashi will have his final NJPW match at the New Beginning in Osaka on February 11. He becomes the latest former Los Ingobernables de Japon member to depart the promotion, after Naito, BUSHI, and EVIL have already left. What’s next for Takahashi and EVIL remains to be seen as we await their next move.

Naito and BUSHI are now freelancers and hold the GHC Tag Team titles in Pro Wrestling NOAH. In the Tokyo Sports interview, Naito said he did not tell Takahashi what to do during this process.

“[Takahashi] was deeply committed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling. I never imagined him leaving; it’s sad. Well, maybe I felt that way too,” Naito said. “I had heard that other options were emerging for him. That said, I didn’t tell him anything like ‘You should do this.’ Honestly, my feeling is that he took a step forward. I want to support that step he took.”

Takahashi has described his departure as “super positive” and said it did not result from dissatisfaction with NJPW. He is leaving to pursue a “new dream,” though it is not yet known if he’s heading to an overseas destination like WWE or AEW or becoming a freelancer like Naito.

During the Tokyo Sports interview, Naito questioned why so many wrestlers are leaving NJPW and said he fears the pattern will continue unless NJPW investigates why this is happening. He also expressed optimism that the departures could allow the remaining wrestlers to step up and seize an opportunity that they otherwise might not have gotten.

Cody Rhodes: Popularity of The Bloodline made it ‘very hard’ to get attention outside of WWE

Posted on by Joseph Currier

When The Bloodline saga was gaining steam, Cody Rhodes felt like it was difficult to “turn heads” with the work he was doing outside of WWE.

Rhodes was with AEW when The Bloodline story began but later became part of the saga himself, dethroning Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 40 in 2024. Rhodes also had a brief Tag Team title reign with Jey Uso — and those two linked back up on this week’s episode of Rhodes’ “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” podcast.

During their conversation, Rhodes credited The Bloodline for being a “massive” part of WWE’s recent business boom, comparing it to some of the biggest storylines in wrestling history. The popularity of what was going on with The Bloodline made it difficult to get fans to pay attention to anything else.

ā€œI was away trying to turn heads with what I was doing, and it’s very hard to do that when the Tribal Chief is becoming a thing, when the Ula Fala is becoming a thing, all of that,” Rhodes said.

Uso noted that, when the story started, they didn’t know how big it was going to become. Whenever it felt like things were maybe getting stale, a new element like Sami Zayn’s involvement would be added to reinvigorate things. Uso feels one big factor in their popularity was Roman Reigns trash-talking during matches, and it was important to keep that going when audiences returned after the pandemic era.

ā€œHim talking, like, just elevated the product more, I think,” Uso said. “And when the people got back, I felt like we have to keep some of that style. And also for the live people, we gotta go too. I think that’s what made the WWE style today — and you know what they say today? It was like cinema, right? That’s all they kept calling us: ‘cinema, cinema, cinema, cinema.’ And I didn’t even know, we were just cooking every week.”

As for the future of The Bloodline, Uso said he believes there is still more story to be told whenever things pick back up.

ā€œIt’s still alive,” Uso said. “I don’t think it’s dead.”

Cody Rhodes reveals house show pitch he made to WWE

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Cody Rhodes misses the old WWE house show schedule — and he’s even made a pitch for the company to get back on the road more often.

In recent weeks and months, Rhodes has expressed several times how beneficial he feels live events are for wrestlers. He spoke about the subject again on the latest episode of “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” and revealed that he once made a pitch for WWE to bring back one house show loop per month.

ā€œI had suggested some of the top brass in the company for a myriad of reasons: camaraderie, the reps, the general sense of working here,” Rhodes said. “It’s hard to think you work somewhere if you’re only there a couple of days a week, right? Versus the schedule for when we first started, where it was full tours, live events, then you come to TV, and then you’re home less time…

ā€œI had suggested to them, I said: run one weekend a month, call them house shows, make them almost — poke the fourth wall a little bit in terms of what they are. They’re canon, but they’re not. You’re going to see some of the stuff you see on TV, but it’s going to be a bit more of a mixed bag. And maybe you’re going to see some people you’ve never seen before who are getting their first rep in front of you. Run them that way where there’s an intimacy to them that’s advertised. ‘This is a house show. That’s what you guys are getting, and it’s going to be awesome.’ They’re so fun, so fun.”

Rhodes did not say how WWE responded to his suggestion. He admitted that, if implemented, we could look back in a year and think this was a bad idea. But he does believe it would help create a team-like feeling in WWE and keep the roster in a rhythm by wrestling more often.

Jey Uso was the guest on this “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” episode. Uso agreed that house shows are really fun for wrestlers and said he misses wrestling as often as he used to under the old schedule.

WWE does still run some house shows, though they are usually on international tours. Domestically, WWE still holds its annual Holiday Tour during the Christmas season every year.