Category: News

MVP takes jab at Triple H: How many people did ‘The Nose’ get over?

Posted on by Joseph Currier

On the latest episode of his Marking Out podcast, MVP took a jab at Paul “Triple H” Levesque while comparing him to The Undertaker.

MVP and co-host Dwayne Swayze debated whether Undertaker or Triple H were more valuable to WWE during their in-ring careers. Comparing the two, MVP said Undertaker was far more willing to get other talent over. MVP, while poking fun at the size of Triple H’s nose, said Randy Orton and Batista are the only two stars he can recall Triple H getting over.

“Undertaker had the Giant Gonzalez that he had to try to make something out of. Look what Undertaker did with Mr. Kennedy. You can go down the list and you can think of talents that Taker worked with that he elevated and got them over,” MVP said. “How many people you remember ‘The Nose’ getting over? Triple H, in his career, how many people can you associate with him? And I’ll give you two: I’ll give you Randy, I’ll give you Batista. Take them away, who else can you remember the ‘Triple Nose’ getting over?”

MVP said that, even when Triple H would lose to someone like Jeff Hardy, he would not truly put them over. Instead, Triple H would sell the loss like Hardy was lucky to get one over on him.

While outright admitting that he does not like Triple H, MVP did credit him for being a top guy who was able to draw a lot of money.

“Triple H, top guy, drew a lot of money, was a player. Undertaker, top guy, drew a lot of money, was a player,” MVP said. “If Undertaker made — let’s just say for the sake of our conversation, through the course of his career, 10 other guys. And ‘The Nose’ got two or three other guys over that he elevated them. In the big scheme of things, the big picture, who was more valuable for the company?”

In the past, MVP has said that he has “zero respect” for Triple H due to the personal interactions they’ve had. And while MVP has questioned some of Triple H’s booking of Black talent, that is not the reason why he does not like Triple H.

MVP departed WWE in 2024 due to frustration over the promotion’s refusal to relaunch The Hurt Business. The faction are now known as The Hurt Syndicate in AEW with MVP, Bobby Lashley, and Shelton Benjamin.

Chelsea Green shares new update one week after heart procedure

Posted on by Joseph Currier

One week removed from a heart procedure, Chelsea Green is already back up on her feet.

Green shared a new update today announcing that she is no longer on bed rest. She had an operation done on May 4 to correct an irregular heart beat known as SVT (supraventricular tachycardia), which is a common type of abnormal heart rhythm that starts in the upper chambers of the heart and causes it to beat too fast.

“1 week post op – off bed rest!,” Green tweeted this morning. “One thing about me: sitting still is my nightmare. Thank you to everyone who called, texted, dm’d, etc. I felt very, very loved this week.”

Along with the tweet, Green shared a photo of several flower arrangements that friends have sent during her recovery. One of the arrangements was from the “WWE: Unreal” docuseries team.

Green had been dealing with this heart issue for some time, but it wasn’t found until she suffered an episode around WrestleMania 42 where her heart rate rose to 228 beats per minute for a nearly 15-minute stretch.

Despite being on bed rest, Green’s presence was still felt on SmackDown last Friday in the form of a social media video that aired on the show. Green — who has been trying to make friends with Tiffany Stratton — said she’s been attempting to reach Stratton but hadn’t heard back. She apologized that she couldn’t be there for Stratton’s Women’s United States title defense against Kiana James.

Green is a two-time Women’s United States Champion, with her second reign lasting from November 2025 to January 2026. An ankle injury has kept Green out of action since February.

WWE Raw on Netflix viewership down for second straight week, Hulk Hogan docuseries update

Posted on by Josh Nason

Following the high of the post-WrestleMania 42 edition, last week’s WWE Raw on Netflix was down in viewers and global hours viewed for the second straight week.

Released by Netflix on Tuesday, the Monday, May 4 edition brought in 2.7 million global views and 4.6 million global hours viewed. It was the go-home edition before last weekend’s Backlash PLE that featured Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu in the main event.

The views are down 100,000 from last week and the lowest since February 16 while the hours viewed are their lowest since January 19. (Note that the January 26 show did not have reported numbers as it was out of the top ten).

The episode finished seventh globally, 400,000 behind sixth and 200,000 behind eighth. It finished in the top ten in 21 countries and eighth in the U.S.

The listed runtime was 1:36, shorter than in recent weeks.

The leader for the week was Man on Fire with 12.6 million global views and 70.2 million global hours viewed.

On the Hulk Hogan: Real American docuseries front, it dropped out of the global top ten after two weeks.

Last reported 10 weeks of WWE Raw on Netflix viewership:

Episode date (ascending)Global ViewsGlobal Hours
May 4, 20262.7 million4.6 million
April 27, 20262.8 million5.2 million
April 20, 20263.3 million6.6 million
April 13, 20262.9 million5.6 million
April 6, 20262.9 million5.5 million
March 30, 20263.0 million5.5 million
March 23, 20262.9 million5.5 million
March 16, 20263.0 million5.9 million
March 9, 20262.8 million5.0 million
March 2, 20263.0 million5.4 million
Average for last 10 weeks (rounded)2.93 million5.48 million

‘Beyond the Mat’ director Barry Blaustein passes away at 72

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Barry Blaustein, the filmmaker behind one of the most popular and well-received pro wrestling movies of all time, has passed away at 72 years old.

His death was announced on Tuesday following a battle with pancreatic cancer and Parkinson’s disease. Blaustein was the writer, director, producer, and narrator of “Beyond the Mat” — a documentary that was fortuitously released in 1999 during wrestling’s Attitude Era pop culture heights. A comedy writer with experience working on “Saturday Night Live” and collaborating with Eddie Murphy, Blaustein was able to make “Beyond the Mat” a documentary that balanced comedy with respect for the wrestlers putting their bodies on the line, while offering an inside look into the traditionally closed-doors industry.

Mick Foley, Terry Funk, Jake “The Snake” Roberts, and New Jack were some of the performers that “Beyond the Mat” focused on. WCW refused to grant Blaustein access for the project. WWE and ECW both gave their permission, but Vince McMahon ultimately regretted doing so and refused to promote it.

The climax of the film is Foley’s “I Quit” match against The Rock from Royal Rumble 1999, where Foley takes repeated chair shots to the head as his wife and children watch on from the crowd. Foley is later shown watching the footage and says he feels like a bad person for making his family experience that.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Blaustein — a long-time wrestling fan — described “Beyond the Mat” as “the favorite thing he had ever done.” The film was not nominated for an Academy Award but was among the 12 finalists for best documentary.

Blaustein was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2017 and found out last month that he had stage four pancreatic cancer.

Cuatrero sentenced to nearly 13 years in prison for domestic violence against Stephanie Vaquer

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Former AAA and CMLL wrestler Cuatrero has been sentenced to more than a decade in prison for attempted femicide against WWE star Stephanie Vaquer.

After being found guilty earlier this month, Cuatrero (Rogelio Reyes) was sentenced today to 12 years and eight months in prison. He has already served two of those years, meaning he has 10 years and eight months left to serve. El Planchitas reports that Cuatrero could potentially only serve four-plus more years if he is able to receive a sentence reduction for good behavior.

El Planchitas adds that Vaquer’s side is expected to appeal for a tougher sentence.

The domestic violence incident took place in March 2023 while Vaquer was wrestling in Mexico and in a relationship with Cuatrero. Vaquer claimed that an argument turned physical, with Cuatrero grabbing her violently by the throat and throwing her into a wall, which caused an object to fall off the wall and onto her.

On International Women’s Day this year, Vaquer shared a message vowing to keep fighting for truth and justice in the case. When the incident first happened, there were people in wrestling who tried to protect Cuatrero and convince Vaquer not to go to the police. One of those was said to be AAA wrestler La Hiedra, who was dating Cuatrero’s brother at the time.

Cuatrero, who is the son of wrestling legend Cien Caras, had gotten out of jail in 2025 as he awaited the resolution of this case. He returned to the ring for indie matches this year.

Sting to make first convention appearance since retiring face paint

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Sting is ready to start taking convention bookings again after retiring his iconic face paint.

In 2025, Sting embarked on a year-long convention tour where fans could meet him in full “war paint” and costume for the last time. He’s taken a break from conventions for the first part of 2026 but has now been confirmed for WrestleCon in Minneapolis this July.

“Our first guest announcement for Minneapolis is the Icon Sting! His first appearance after retiring the war paint will be in Minnesota,” WrestleCon announced. “He will be appearing exclusively on Friday July 31st from 4pm-8pm (Day 1).”

WrestleCon is being held at the Hilton Minneapolis during the same time that the city is hosting WWE SummerSlam weekend. For his appearance at the convention, Sting is advertised with a look from his Main Event Mafia run in TNA.

Despite retiring it for conventions, Sting still wears his face paint and gear when making appearances for AEW, where he’s popped up a couple of times recently. Sting was there for Darby Allin’s AEW World Championship win on April 15 and for the company’s tribute to Ted Turner on Dynamite last week.

Sting retired from the ring with his final AEW match happening in March 2024. His sons Steven Borden and Garrett Borden are both now pursuing careers in the ring, with Steven already regularly competing in dark matches for AEW.

London not in ‘specific discussions’ for WWE WrestleMania 44

Posted on by Joseph Currier

At least at the moment, London, England is not in active discussions to host WWE WrestleMania 44.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has expressed his desire to bring WrestleMania to the city and even met with Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Nick Khan a couple of years back. It doesn’t sound like there has been much movement on the possibility, though, with a spokesperson for the mayor’s office telling Post Wrestling that there are no “specific discussions” as of now regarding London hosting WrestleMania in 2028.

“There are general discussions with WWE, but at present no specific discussions around bringing the 2028 WrestleMania to London,” said Tom Degun of the Mayor of London’s Press Team. Degun noted that the mayor remains committed to bringing worldwide sports attractions like WWE’s biggest events to London and continues to discuss future opportunities for that to happen.

Potential future WrestleMania host cities —

WWE has yet to confirm where WrestleMania will be heading in 2028 after WrestleMania 43 is held in Saudi Arabia in 2027. The city of Nashville, Tennessee has interest in hosting the 2028 event and is reportedly already involved in the bidding process. When getting WrestleMania, any host city would likely have to provide a site fee and other tax breaks.

WrestleMania was held in Las Vegas in both 2025 and 2026. Indianapolis and New Orleans are owed future WrestleManias per agreements the cities have with WWE. There has recently been talk that Ireland is hoping to host its first WrestleMania, though that is considered more of a long-term project.

Former Ridge Holland explains how new NWL promotion is a ‘coming out party’ | Exclusive

Posted on by Josh Nason

As confirmed by Luke Menzies himself on Monday, the former Ridge Holland in WWE has his next destination set: the new National Wrestling League.

In exclusive comments released to our website, Menzies opened up about joining the new group, how he’s still figuring out the rules, and why he feels like it’s a “coming out party” of sorts as he begins this next stage of his career.

The 37-year-old announced in April that he has been fully cleared for an in-ring return after recovering from a Lisfranc injury in addition to neck surgery and that he is accepting indie bookings for the UK this summer.

Enter the NWL, a UK-based promotion inspired by European football/soccer leagues with six teams of wrestlers competing for points in a standings-based format. Dates for August (Newcastle) and October (Glasgow) have already been announced.

“The National Wrestling League will be kind of like a pretty much a coming out party, and I’m really looking forward to it. You know, getting there and getting my hands dirty and obviously helping it grow,” he said.

The West Yorkshire native will be part of Team Yorkshire, something he said “that’s close to my heart.”

“It’s just interesting, you know, obviously kind of like a group stage, tournament style. Obviously, we’ve got a few teams now. I’m sure there are some more names to be announced as well, but it’s just exciting. It’s something different, and I think obviously something that bringing football and wrestling together,” he said, also noting he is still figuring the rules out and that he’s likely to be the first to score “a yellow card or a red card for not following the rules.”

His next match will be his first since late-September 2024 when he took on Moose in a TNA dark match where he suffered the Lisfranc injury while still under contract with WWE. In November, WWE informed him that contract would not be renewed. Menzies then notably went public about his issues with how things went down, especially given his financial and family situation at the time.

With the NWL, he is hoping for a fresh start.

“I think (the NWL) is ready made for success in Britain and, hopefully, it will bleed over into international markets as well. I just think it’s something exciting to be a part of, and I’m looking to add some value to that as well, and then help it kick off in a big way.”

WWE ID signee details ‘bone-chilling’ elbow injury and recovery 

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Jack Cartwheel recalled his GCW match which led to the elbow injury on April 17 in Las Vegas.

Speaking with Wrestling Pedigree, Cartwheel revisited the elbow injury at GCW Gringo Loco’s The Wrld. He recalled the series of events after a botched springboard phoenix splash off the top rope. 

“The thing that’s so interesting about what happened is if you watch it, you watch it in slow-mo, my right foot slips a little bit on the rope, and I come down at a little bit of an angle, which isn’t how you’re supposed to do it, but all things considered, it didn’t seem that bad of a landing as well until, yeah, it must have been. There just was too much force, too much pressure going down into that elbow that all of this kinetic energy was supposed to go down right onto Galeno Del Mal. It all came down on my elbow instead, and it was a very scary moment. I never thought I would look down at my elbow and see the imprints of a different part of my bone that was there.”

“I think that was the most bone-chilling part, is looking down and not seeing that point that you’re usually used to, this point wasn’t there that this point was over this way. So I was seeing the end of this arm over here. It was or this bone. Bone chilling stuff, but what I have to do as Jack Cartwheel is be ready to be upside down for a little bit that I might be upside down, but I’m going to start on my feet and I’m going to end on my feet. This might be just a hitch in the road and these wheels are still rolling.”

He suffered the injury during his match against Galeno del Mal on April 17 and is looking at significant time away from the ring.  

While mostly competing for GCW, AAA and other independent promotions, Cartwheel was signed to the WWE ID Program in 2024. 

Sting’s son Garrett Borden to make pro wrestling debut

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Both of Sting’s sons are now attempting to continue the Borden family legacy in pro wrestling.

It’s been announced that Garrett Borden, the eldest of Sting’s two sons, will make his pro wrestling debut this weekend for Rhodes Wrestling Association in Leander, Texas. Garrett is facing off against Brandon Barretta at the Sunday, May 17 Final Reckoning event.

Rhodes Wrestling Association and the Rhodes Wrestling Academy are both run by AEW wrestler/coach Dustin Rhodes.

“The son of the legendary @stinger makes his in ring debut at Final Reckoning!,” the promotion announced. “Standing in his way is up and coming midwest native @brandonbarretta98! Brandon is looking to rain on the parade of @garrett_borden, and make his mark in RWA!”

Like his brother Steven Borden, Garrett did not show any interest in becoming a wrestler until catching the bug during Sting’s retirement tour. Steven Borden is further along in the process than his brother, already competing on the indies and wrestling in dark matches at AEW events. Garrett and Steven Borden are both in their 30s.

Garrett’s wife Katelyn Borden works in community outreach for AEW and is also pursuing an in-ring career, having trained at the Rhodes Wrestling Academy. She competes as Jael but has been on hiatus from the ring since 2025, when she and Garrett welcomed their son Bronson into the world. During her pregnancy, Katelyn posted that she missed the ring and was excited to return when she was able to.

Though he hasn’t posted any new content since 2024, Garrett has a YouTube channel with videos and live streams mostly focused on the game Destiny 2.

‘Serious’ talk about Stephen A. Smith WWE crossover | Exclusive

Posted on by Joseph Currier

There has been “serious” talk about ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith getting involved with WWE.

On the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez discussed Kevin Nash’s comments where Nash urged TKO to stop messing with WWE’s creative. Meltzer noted that TKO does not actually get involved much, but they seem to do so at the worst times, like Pat McAfee being inserted into the WrestleMania 42 build. We’ll have to see how WWE/TKO adjust to the criticism McAfee’s role received, but Meltzer knows there are people internally who have been favorable to the idea of McAfee’s ESPN colleague Smith crossing over into pro wrestling.

“They really don’t do a lot, but as I was told, they don’t do it much but they seem to always do it at the most inopportune times,” Meltzer said. “It happened this year at WrestleMania, it sure did, yeah. We haven’t seen anyone forced on them. I mean, we haven’t seen anything with Stephen A. Smith — yet, although, boy, that name has been talked about. And I know it’s serious talk. Put it this way, a lot of the people who were not happy about Pat McAfee in fact are favorable to Stephen A., as far as internally it goes.

“But we’ll have to wait and see. I mean, it’s like, we haven’t had — other than Lil Yachty, he’s around a lot — but other than that, we haven’t had any celebrities since right after WrestleMania, I guess.”

Smith mentioned last month that WWE President Nick Khan had once talked to him about getting involved on-screen, but the 58-year-old Smith was not interested in a role where there would be any kind of physical involvement. A fan of old-school heel managers like Bobby Heenan, that would likely be the type of character Smith would play if he were to appear for WWE.

One of the biggest personalities in sports media, Smith hosts ESPN’s First Take every weekday and is one of the faces of the network. He originally started out as a basketball reporter before really making his name on sports debate shows. Smith has even crossed over into pop culture with a recurring role on the soap opera “General Hospital,” along with teasing potential political aspirations.

WWE has had a regular presence on ESPN since the two sides began their PLE deal in September 2025. During WrestleMania week, WWE was more prominently featured on ESPN’s daytime lineup than all other sports except for the NFL and NBA. There was also cross-promotion leading into Backlash with WWE stars like Danhausen, Seth Rollins, and more appearing on ESPN.

TKO announces new multi-year deal in Arizona for WWE, UFC, Zuffa boxing & PBR events

Posted on by Josh Nason

TKO — the parent company of WWE, UFC, Zuffa Boxing and Professional Bull Riding — announced a multi-year deal with the Arizona Sports & Events Alliance on Tuesday that will bring seven events to the state.

No further information was announced in terms of what events, when they could begin to take place or even where they could be held. No financials were disclosed to this point either.

For those perhaps looking ahead at potential WWE PLEs being held in a stadium or baseball park, WWE held the Royal Rumble at Chase Field in 2019 with 2010’s WrestleMania XXVI held at what is now known as State Farm Stadium in 2010. Several events have been held at indoor venues as well. UFC has also held events at the Footprint Center like UFC 274 in May 2022.

The agreement is the latest in TKO’s effort to secure guaranteed site fees and financial incentives (what TKO head Mark Shapiro recently coined as financial incentive packages) from municipalities for bringing their various events to town.

TNA Impact does lowest ratings to date on AMC

Posted on by Paul Fontaine

Last week’s TNA Thursday Night Impact averaged 164,000 viewers on AMC, down 21.5% from the previous week and was the lowest audience for the show since debuting on the network in January.

The show averaged a 0.02 rating in the 18-49 demo, down 33.3% from the prior week and the lowest rating it has ever done in that category on AMC.

The show went head-to-head with an NHL playoff game on TNT that topped the cable ratings with a 0.43 rating and 1.6 million overall viewers on an overall less competitive night than usual in terms of sports.

Impact tied for 98th on the cable charts in 18-49 and was 106th in terms of total viewers.

Recent TNA Impact ratings

Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for TNA Impact on AMC as well as the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was down 28.7% in overall viewers and 50% in 18-49 as compared to recent averages.

Date18-49Viewers
2/26/20260.03233,000
3/5/20260.04249,000
3/12/20260.04259,000
3/19/20260.04250,000
3/26/20260.05256,000
4/2/20260.05200,000
4/9/20260.04257,000
4/16/20260.05212,000
4/23/20260.03175,000
4/30/20260.03209,000
5/7/20260.02164,000
*10 wk avg (through 4/30)0.04230,000

Donovan Dijak reveals WWE quietly tests wrestlers for attitude problems 

Posted on by Rosanne Raphael

Donovan Dijak revealed WWE sometimes quietly tests wrestlers by assigning certain matches to determine how easy they are to work with. 

Responding to an X post about Femi’s wins on NXT against talents no longer associated with WWE, Dijak revealed it does not surprise him. He linked it with WWE’s silent test on wrestlers’ mindset going into certain matches to assess how they deal with the assignment. 

“I don’t even know if this is true or not, but it wouldn’t surprise me. WWE will often quietly test wrestlers to see if they have an attitude problem, especially if they have big plans in store. Oba obviously passed with flying colors, I never heard anything even remotely negative and he was a pleasure to work with,” tweeted Dijak. 

Femi transitioned to the main roster this year after four years on NXT. He competed and won his first WrestleMania match against Brock Lesnar last month. Since then Femi announced open challenges on Raw. Otis confronted him on the May 5 edition of the show and Femi defeated him within minutes.

This week on Raw, Adam Pearce announced there were no challengers to step up to Femi. He lashed out at Angel and Berto to make an example out of them.