Our Dave Meltzer has an injury update on Cody Rhodes after this past weekend’s WrestleMania 42 and his immediate future.
Category: WWE News
Ricky Saints grades his AEW and WWE NXT runs
Ricky Saints compared and graded his AEW and NXT runs.
Speaking on Ringer Wrestling, Saints praised the women’s division in NXT and the creative liberties talents are given on the roster. He proceeded to discuss how his colleagues often approach him for advice.
“Yeah, it’s incredible only because first off, let me talk about the women’s division. I’m seeing that stuff weekly. I’m seeing them go out there and kill it weekly and and to me that’s just like this is what I was seeing in other companies before them being able to do this. Now it’s here. I think it’s a great thing for them because they’re not put in a box, so to speak. I love the creative freedom that they have about what this is and what they want to do and things of that nature. On the men’s side, it’s even crazier because I don’t see myself as that person, but I look around, I’m like, ‘Oh, there’s people coming to me for advice. There’s people talking to me about what should I do.’”
Saints was asked to rank his AEW and NXT tenures. He explained that he was grateful for contributions to his former promotion and graded it a B while NXT a B+.
“Dang, that’s hard. I love my run at AEW for all intents and purposes. You can say whatever you want about the other stuff but I think when you look at it in a totality form, I did enjoy it, just wanted more out of it. I think I would give it like a B. Maybe a B. Cause I have to remove certain personal things of accomplishments that I wanted that I didn’t necessarily get. I gotta remove that. I gotta look at what the actual work was. What actually was done. And now when we compare that to NXT, I would give my NXT run, just because I’m a perfectionist, I’d give it a B+. We’re edging out an A. I’m still doing it.”
Despite exiting AEW in 2025, Saints competed in his last match on the promotion nearly a year earlier. He debuted on NXT in February 2025.
Ahead of SNME in December, Saints and Oba Femi battled it out at Deadline for the NXT Championship. The additional stakes were that the winner would face Cody Rhodes at the special WWE event. Saints and Femi officially appeared on SmackDown the week before to greet Rhodes.
Pat McAfee: WWE ‘doesn’t need to be saved after all’
Pat McAfee is claiming to be done with pro wrestling after WWE WrestleMania 42.
Going into Mania, McAfee said he would leave the wrestling business forever if Randy Orton did not win the Undisputed WWE Championship. With Cody Rhodes retaining, McAfee claimed on his ESPN show today that he is sticking to that stipulation. McAfee gave Rhodes his props and said Rhodes proved that WWE does not need to be saved after all.
“The good news is, the business doesn’t need to be saved after all. And good for them. And for me, I finished my story,” McAfee said. “I came up in the indies, IWA East Coast. I went through development, NXT. I was a wrestler, trained by Rip Rogers, the same guy that trained everybody that’s retiring kind of currently, out of OVW…
“Get to WWE, commentated, lucky to do that. Did pre-shows, lucky to do that. Wrestled, lucky to do that. Reffed, lucky to do that. Managed, lucky to do that. It’s been a hell of a run. Thank you, wrestling. It was an honor to be over there.”
McAfee has kept kayfabe by wearing a neck brace since being put through a table by Jelly Roll during the Rhodes vs. Orton WrestleMania match. There was also a spot where Orton turned against McAfee and gave him an RKO.
“Maybe he didn’t know it was me,” McAfee said about the RKO. “[But] it felt like he knew.”
Whether McAfee is actually done with WWE for any considerable amount of time remains to be seen. The Rhodes vs. Orton feud was kept alive coming out of WrestleMania (once Rhodes is over his eye injury), but McAfee’s involvement in the angle looks to have ended.
“The wrestling business just kind of — rearview mirror,” McAfee said. “And to the wrestling business, I’d like to say: thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.”
What's done is done..
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 20, 2026
Thank you to the wrestling business #PMSLive https://t.co/rYyaIV73mA pic.twitter.com/LcSJjQh5j6
AJ Styles ‘wearing a couple of different hats’ in post-retirement WWE role
AJ Styles’ post-retirement WWE position is still fluid as he looks to settle into the right role for him.
Speaking with WWE Now during WrestleMania weekend, Styles said he’s “wearing a couple of different hats” as he settles into his new behind-the-scenes career after retirement. Styles is working on the recruiting end of things and helping out with WWE’s ID program for independent wrestlers. If he gets too busy with all that he’s doing, he’ll adjust and only focus on one thing.
“I’m wearing a couple of different hats right now and we’ll see which one sticks,” he said. “And things change quite often. So when I get too busy to do all these different hats that I’m trying to wear and I have to focus on one, I’ll let you know which one that is. But it is recruiting, it is working with WWE ID.
“That’s a big part of the things that I know a lot about, the independents. And I know there’s a lot of talent like me who didn’t have a lot of money. So if we can get them a little bit more experience, a little bit more cash in the pockets, they’re able to get that, it’ll be a big thing for them.”
Styles, who retired from the ring at Royal Rumble 2026, was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame last Friday. As much as he enjoyed wrestling, Styles told WWE Now that it’s nice to know that he doesn’t have to hurt himself for a living anymore. As he got older, wrestling started to hurt more and more. He does not miss competing in the ring and is happy to help shape the future of the industry in his new role.
This job on the recruitment side of things is a position that Styles landed on after sitting in on creative and production meetings, which did not end up being the correct fit.
TMZ publishes video of CM Punk fan incident after WWE WrestleMania 42
An altercation between CM Punk and a fan took place in Las Vegas overnight after WWE WrestleMania 42.
TMZ Sports has published video of Punk smacking a fan’s phone away in an incident that took place in a hotel lobby in Vegas. It appears that Punk got upset over the fan filming his wife AJ Lee and fellow WWE star Bayley as they were hugging and saying goodbye to each other after Mania. In the video, security can be seen stepping in to stop the altercation from escalating any further. Punk’s mentor Ace Steel is also there and helps to diffuse the situation.
The fan can be heard apologizing to Punk, who is still visibly angry and replies, “No, you’re not.” The video then ends with Punk and Lee leaving together.
“Punk was captured on video just after midnight Monday, getting into it with the fan, who was filming Punk’s WWE friend, Bayley, as she was hugging someone in the lobby of the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino on the Vegas Strip,” TMZ wrote.
“Punk steps right up into the face of the fan before slapping down his phone. Security promptly jumps in between Punk and the other dude to prevent things from really going awry. Punk then coldly stares at the man, who is so terrified that he runs off while apologizing profusely.”
Speaking out against fans who show up at airports and hotels is something that Punk has done repeatedly. As recently as October 2025, he posted a message telling fans to respect wrestlers’ boundaries.
The main event of WrestleMania 42 night two on Sunday saw Punk drop the World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns. Appearing on ESPN SportsCenter after the event, Paul “Triple H” Levesque praised both Punk and Reigns and called it one of the greatest matches he’s ever seen.
CM Punk smacks away fan's phone after WrestleMania loss to Roman Reigns. 😬 https://t.co/4XueMMpb6u pic.twitter.com/UwKU3Ut1EH
— TMZ (@TMZ) April 20, 2026
Drew McIntyre reacts to IShowSpeed’s ‘incredible’ WWE WrestleMania 42 performance
IShowSpeed made his WWE in-ring return at WrestleMania 42. He kicked off Night One teaming up with The Vision against LA Knight and The Usos.
Drew McIntyre applauded IShowSpeed’s performance at the Premium Live Event in an interaction shared on his Instagram Story. During the WrestleMania bout, IShowSpeed followed Austin Theory’s instructions to run the ropes and set up an attack on Knight. However, that was botched when Knight shoved Theory into IShowSpeed, and hit him with the BFT followed by the pin to win for his team. Paul was infuriated and attacked IShowSpeed. With help from The Usos and Knight IShowSpeed hit a massive splash off the ringpost onto Paul laid out on the announcer’s table.
“When I was watching the end, the splash was unbelievable. I thought he broke his ribs, you bounced off him. The hardest thing to do – Logan has done the same thing, you and Logan are so similar – the hardest thing you can learn is just to be yourself on screen. You just know who you are.”
“Anybody can learn the moves, maybe not be as good at executing them, but I think that’s easy for you. The personality, knowing who you are, the between the moves s**t, that’s the important stuff. Yourself and Logan, you just got it instantly. The fans know who you all are, the fact that they can connect with you is because you know who the f**k you are. Plus you can do the moves.”
The match came about after IShowSpeed accidentally cost The Usos the World Tag Team Championship on Raw last month. Later, Knight crashed one of IShowSpeed’s livestreams at his home and attacked him.
On the other hand, McIntyre faced Jacob Fatu in an unsanctioned match the same night. Their rivalry intensified earlier this year when Fatu’s return and interference in McIntyre’s Undisputed WWE Championship reign. In the brutal showdown at WrestleMania 42, Fatu walked away with the victory.
Triple H comments on Brock Lesnar WWE retirement tease
Paul “Triple H” Levesque didn’t offer much clarity while addressing Brock Lesnar’s apparent retirement at WWE WrestleMania 42.
After losing to Oba Femi on Sunday night, Lesnar left his boots and gloves in the ring before becoming visibly emotional as he seemed to bid farewell to the crowd. There has been no official confirmation of a retirement yet — and Levesque claimed during an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter that he did not have a conversation with Lesnar backstage after the match.
“Well, it certainly seemed that way,” Levesque responded when asked if this was the end for Lesnar. “Brock is not a walk back through the curtain and have a long conversation guy. Brock is a walk back through the curtain very angry and go to his bus and that is the end of it. So there was not a discussion had after. I will say this — [Lesnar is] probably the most famous combat sport athlete of our generation. One of a kind, nobody like Brock Lesnar.”
It was expected that Lesnar would be retiring soon, with him admitting recently that he was only back in WWE for a short time. Most rumors suggested that Lesnar would retire at SummerSlam this August given that the PLE is being held in his former home state of Minnesota.
Levesque, keeping kayfabe, suggested to SportsCenter that the retirement decision was one Lesnar made in the moment after losing to Femi. Praising Femi, Levesque called this result a changing of the guard.
“The one thing that nobody gives him credit for is the intelligence of a fighter. They see Brock as this hulking brute. ‘The Beast,’ right? They see him as all that,” Levesque said. “There comes a point in time when somebody comes along that’s bigger and badder and just pushes you to a place that you can’t come back from. The smart ones know when that happens, and they call it a day.
“I don’t think that was a planned thing. I think Brock went to the ring, he walked into a wall called Oba Femi. Brock walked up to the next big thing and ran into a brick wall. And the intelligence in him said, ‘Maybe I should call it a day.’ And he took his boots off and he put his gloves down and he walked away. That is not a statement of Brock being afraid of it. That is an intelligent man meeting something that cannot be stopped. It is as much of a statement of Oba Femi as it is Brock Lesnar. You witnessed a changing of the guard at the apex of our business.”
Femi vs. Lesnar aired on the ESPN TV simulcast portion of the WrestleMania night two broadcast, with WWE clearly pushing Femi as one of the company’s biggest stars for both the present and future. It was Femi’s first-ever WrestleMania match after being called up from NXT at the start of 2026.
John Cena ‘truly enjoyed’ WWE WrestleMania 42 from different perspective
John Cena returned to host WWE WrestleMania 42 after retiring from in-ring competition in December 2025.
On Night Two of the PLE, Cena had a segment with The Miz, Kit Wilson and Danhausen. The Miz interrupted him addressing fans expressing gratitude for their support. Danhausen showed up with a group of little people dressed exactly like him. Following WrestleMania, Cena tweeted that he enjoyed the experience from a host’s perspective and gave Danhausen a special shoutout.
“An incredible weekend! Truly enjoyed WM thru a different perspective. What a turnout of 106,072! To ALL those who saw it live …. Thank you for the Hausen”
Danhausen made his WWE debut at Elimination Chamber and continued his comedic tactics by cursing whoever opposed him.
WrestleMania 42 culminated with five new champions emerging. Paige returned on Night One to replace Nikki Bella in the Women’s Tag Team Title match given her foot injury. Paige and Brie Bella ended up winning the titles.
Later in the night, Liv Morgan defeated Stephanie Vaquer to become a 3-time Women’s World Champion. Trick Williams’ WrestleMania debut was eventful as he won his first singles WWE title – the United States Championship. Rhea Ripley ended Jade Cargill’s reign as WWE Women’s Champion.
WrestleMania Sunday’s main event saw Randy Orton unable to capture his 15th World Championship win. However, post match he attacked Cody Rhodes and left him with an orbital injury, forcing him out of in-ring action in the near future.
On Night Two, Roman Reigns was triumphant over CM Punk to become the new World Heavyweight Champion.
Trick Williams addresses whether he’ll continue WWE US title open challenges
Weekly open challenges have been a staple of the United States Championship, but it doesn’t sound like Trick Williams plans on continuing the tradition.
The United States title changed hands at WrestleMania 42 with Williams defeating Sami Zayn. Appearing on SportsCenter after his victory, Williams said he doesn’t know about defending the belt every single week. He wants it to be a big deal whenever he puts the championship up for grabs.
“That’s why Trick Williams, you know, I’m a superstar and I wear that very seriously,” he said. “So I don’t know about these free matches every single Friday night. When the people see Trick Williams, he’s going to be in the main event. It’s going to be a show when I defend this title.”
Zayn instituted weekly open challenges after winning the United States Championship in August 2025. Ilja Dragunov and Carmelo Hayes then picked up the mantle during their reigns before Zayn dethroned Hayes leading into WrestleMania.
In the SportsCenter interview, Williams said he’s on cloud nine after his first main roster title win. He’s grateful for how the fans have responded to him and thanks God every day for the position he’s in.
Williams, when asked about a potential title match against Hayes, did tell SportsCenter that he’s open to defending against all comers.
“Man, whoever wants some of Trick Williams, you better strap your boots on tight because you’re going to get the best version of Trick Williams,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who signs up.”
Triple H praises WWE WrestleMania 42 main event: ‘One of the greatest matches I’ve ever seen’
Appearing on ESPN after the conclusion of WrestleMania 42, Paul “Triple H” Levesque had very high praise for the show’s main event.
Night two of Mania concluded with Roman Reigns defeating CM Punk to become the new World Heavyweight Champion. Levesque told SportsCenter that it was among the greatest wrestling matches he’s ever seen.
“Just epic,” WWE’s Chief Content Officer said. “You can see the passion and the pride of two guys that absolutely to the very core of their soul believe that they are the best in the world. And they’re out there to prove it to each other, they’re out there to prove it to the 55,000+ fans that were here tonight. Everything about them screamed, ‘I have to show I am the best.’
“And you see it all the way down to the end. Knock-down, drag-out fight that just someone won’t give. And you finally get to the end of it, no one really loses. But Roman Reigns comes out the winner. Roman Reigns is the new World Heavyweight Champion. To me, one of the greatest matches I’ve ever seen, doesn’t get bigger.”
The match went nearly 34 minutes before Reigns got the win, beginning his first title reign since dropping the WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 40. Reigns said after the show that he will not be a part-time champion and plans to be around all summer.
Roman Reigns reflects on WWE WrestleMania 42 main event against CM Punk
In the main event of WWE WrestleMania 42 Night Two, Roman Reigns defeated CM Punk.
Reigns became the new World Heavyweight Champion after keeping Punk down for the three-count in Las Vegas, Nevada. Shortly after celebrating his title win with his family, Reigns appeared on the WrestleMania 42 post-show.
Responding to Oba Femi’s challenge and revealing his Summer 2026 schedule, Reigns also reflected on his match against Punk.
“It feels good. It feels as it should. That’s what’s so pure about our business is we know right away, there’s nothing like this,” Reigns said.
“That’s the beauty of how subjective this is, you have two extreme examples of professional wrestlers and sports entertainers in me and CM Punk, and somehow we can go out there and find a middle. That’s how I love this business.”
He further opened up and answered whether he gained any respect for Punk after their match. “The fact that I’m the Tribal Chief and I still hear people out here chanting for CM Punk, I have to respect that. Do I respect the man and his personal life? I don’t know.
“But when it comes to when he steps into the arena, when the ring’s set up, when the pyro is gonna go off, I got a lot of respect for the man that steps into the arena and performs in front of all these people because he puts his heart and he puts his soul, he puts his physicality on the line. Do we see eye-to-eye? Hell no. Are we cut from the same fabric? Hell no. But at the same time, we’re a part of the same fraternity, just like you (Corey Graves) and I, just like me and (Big) E. There’s very few of us. So, when you can go out there and you can main event, and you can put it on the line, and you can actually hold your own. CM Punk didn’t just run his mouth. He backed it up. He just ran into a better man today.”
In a match lasting over 30-minutes, Reigns defeated Punk after executing two spears and stood tall to close the night.
Report: Original scrapped plans for Randy Orton at WWE WrestleMania 42
At WWE WrestleMania 42, Randy Orton paired up with Pat McAfee to take on Cody Rhodes; however, such was not always the plan.
According to a recent report from PWInsider, the original pitch for Randy Orton’s WWE WrestleMania 42 story involved Aleister Black. Black was originally planned to be in McAfee’s spot.
“The role would have involved Aleister Black tormenting Orton, trying to bring out the old Apex Predator version of Orton. The idea was that if Black succeeded, it would prove Orton had never changed or evolved and was still the old Orton deep inside,” the report from PWInsider read.
The report noted plans for Black and Orton to face off during WrestleMania weekend, where Orton would hesitate on the Punt Kick and likely lose. He would later attack Rhodes, using the Punt kick to revive his “Apex Predator” persona and prove Black right.
However, WWE did not move along with this story, and instead, it evolved into McAfee aligning with Orton.
Roman Reigns says he will be in WWE ‘all summer’
Moments after winning at WWE WrestleMania 42, Reigns revealed his schedule for 2026.
In the main event of WWE WrestleMania 42 Night Two in Las Vegas, Nevada, Reigns defeated CM Punk to become the new World Heavyweight Champion.
Later, Reigns stopped by at the WrestleMania 42 post-show to talk about his new title win, reflect on his match with Punk, and respond to a challenge from Oba Femi. However, Reigns was soon met with “part-timer” chants.
He immediately responded to the chants and shared a positive update by revealing his schedule for the summer of 2026. “I’m gonna take you all to Monday Night Raw tomorrow night. All this part-time c**p? We’re gonna fix that. Y’all better make some room, because you’re gonna see my a** all Summer!“
Fresh off his title victory, Reigns is now scheduled to appear on the April 20 edition of Monday Night RAW at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Roman Reigns responds to Oba Femi’s challenge following WWE WrestleMania 42
At WWE WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas, Nevada, both Oba Femi and Roman Reigns emerged victorious in their respective matches.
Shortly after, at the post-show, Femi, oozing confidence after defeating Brock Lesnar, called out the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Roman Reigns. “I think tomorrow is a celebration. I think in the coming weeks is the establishment of a new main event player. And I think at the end of the year, the OTC [Roman Reigns] can get some!”
Later during Reigns’ appearance at the post-show, the crowd behind started chanting Femi’s name as well as the chant, “Oba’s gonna kill you!” Reigns took notice of it and responded to Femi.
“Oba [Femi] had a big night. Oba, you gonna kill me? You still seem a little fresh in this business. You did a big thing tonight, but I’ve done that many times. I did that with the title on the line. Let’s see how you do in the Summer, then we’ll see if you can step to the Greatest of All Time.”
Femi recently made his way to the main roster a few months ago. Despite his dominating win over Lesnar at WrestleMania 42, he still has a long way to go before challenging Reigns for the World title.
Roman Reigns defeats CM Punk for World Heavyweight title at WWE WrestleMania 42
After a 1300+ day undisputed WWE title run that ended at WrestleMania 40, Roman Reigns can once again call himself World Champion two years later after Sunday’s WWE WrestleMania 42.
Reigns defeated CM Punk in the night’s main event to win the World Heavyweight title, pinning Punk after a spear after a 30+ minute match.
The end sequence came when both men were exhausted in the ring. Punk hit a GTS and Reigns fell on top of him in position for another GTS but Punk dropped in exhaustion and so did Reigns. They struggled to get up and Reigns hit the spear to end the match.
It was Reigns’ first match since January’s men’s Royal Rumble match and his first singles match since October 2025. It was Punk’s first true WrestleMania main event and his second run with the title ends after four successful defenses and 170 days.
There was no outside interference and no allusion to Pat McAfee after he and Punk feuded verbally over the last week with a Reigns alliance even teased at one point.
After introductions, the match started just before 9 pm Eastern.
As he did in during his Ring of Honor days and then again for his AEW dog collar match with MJF, Punk came out to Miseria Cantare by AFI. He also wore a ring jacket adorned with the names of several WWE employees who passed away in the last year in addition to an ode to his longtime dog, Larry.
The back of the jacket featured an homage to New Orleans who was supposed to host this year’s WrestleMania. Reigns entered to his old “Head of the Table” entrance song with a female singer setting the stage beforehand.
The match itself was sponsored by Saudi Arabia for Riyadh Season which some saw as ironic given Punk’s past feelings about the country and subsequent apology last year.
**********
The match was a brawl early on, heading to the outside of the ring. Punk jumped off the ringside barricade with a clothesline followed by Reigns recovering with tossing Punk off the announce table he was standing up on afterward. Punk was later powerbombed through the Spanish announce table while Reigns later took an elbow drop from the top rope while laid out on the English announce table.
It featured the usual array of finishing moves and nearfalls, including both men teasing and hitting signatures moves from the others. It also featured blood as Punk juiced after being hit with ringside steps while in the tree of woe position on the outside apron.