Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including the death of the great Dennis Condrey, New Japan Cup and CMLL news, NXT injuries, Josh Alexander’s knee, another big change to the ratings, MMA and NCAA notes, the Smackdown report and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!
Timestamps: Start: Dennis Condrey passes away 19:06: Callum Newman wins NJPW Cup, CMLL notes 26:20: Josh Alexander, NXT injury updates 28:44: Nielsen updating methods yet again, ratings notes 42:20: Nate Diaz update, NCAA notes, Logan Paul & Tom Brady flag football 56:17: WWE SmackDown recap
The Bryan & Vinny Show is back with an unplanned FREE edition of the program, and we’ve got a lot to talk about! Bryan was gone all weekend at Relentless Wrestling in Spokane and has tons of stories, and Vinny is here to fill us all in on what happened on both Smackdown and the first hour of Collision Saturday! A fun show as always, so check it out, and if you love it, sign up through whatever service you’re watching or listening on and get 85 different shows every single month just like it! EIGHTY FIVE, for just pennies per day! A fun show as always so check it out~!
On the Sunday Wrestling Observer Live, Andrew Zarian talks about Randy Orton’s heel turn over the last two weeks on SmackDown, leading up to next month’s WWE WrestleMania.
He explains why this is one of the better angles they have done in a while and how it will help the match at Mania.
He also talks about Toni Storm being off TV indefinitely, what pivot AEW will make, and whether it will lead to Mercedes Mone coming back as a babyface.
He also elaborates on his report this week that Tama Tonga was fined for filming backstage footage at SmackDown last week.
Plus, the passing of Dennis Condrey, Dynamite ratings, and a Ronda Rousey update.
WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill has brought in some backup before her match against Rhea Ripley at WrestleMania 42.
Cargill and Ripley confronted each other in the ring in tonight’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown. Ripley finally decided she was done talking and wanted to fight, but Cargill declined and started to leave.
Her exit was blocked, however, by Michin and B-Fab. The duo teased a showdown with Cargill, but then stood beside her, and eventually the three of them surrounded Ripley in the ring.
Ripley stood her ground and hit B-Fab with a superkick but was soon overwhelmed and taken out. Jade finished her off with Jaded and posed over her prone body. Wade Barrett referred to Cargill as “the ringleader of the Tormentors,” perhaps hinting at the name of this new faction.
The new union came out of nowhere because Michin and B-Fab have been feuding with Cargill for the last several months. In fact, the last TV match for each of them was a loss to Cargill—last week for Michin, and in November for B-Fab.
Ripley earned a title shot against Cargill by winning the Elimination Chamber match on the last day of February. The two have never been in the same match before.
Kit Wilson says a new documentary on Netflix ties into his wrestling persona.
In an interview with The Independent, Wilson discussed Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere, which premiered earlier this month. The film explores online influencers promoting content about masculinity to young men. Wilson feels it addresses many of the same issues his character does.
Wilson said:
“I really enjoyed the documentary. And it kind of rings true to something I’m diving into, when it comes to my character in the WWE. I talk a lot about toxic masculinity, and I have a lot of problems with my fellow roster members because they are toxic!”
“Now, I don’t have a problem with masculinity and men in general. I think we should all rise up, but I do think there’s a certain problem that Louis highlighted massively. It could be due to a lack of education on the subject matter, naivety, maybe past trauma, but these men often enhance masculine personality traits.”
“I don’t know if it was in this documentary or an article I read, but Louis said their projected strengths are just compensations for their weaknesses. I think he expertly showed that in the documentary.”
He added how he views masculinity threw his WWE persona, emphasizing the importance of emotional openness.
“I view myself and the character I portray as very open to all aspects of personality – masculinity, femininity, vulnerability – and I think that openness makes us stronger as men. I think that’s true masculinity. The classic thing of ‘boys don’t cry’… You should cry; we should let these emotions out. These are healthy things. It’s like anger: I support anger, that’s a natural emotion; it’s aggression that I have a problem with.”
Wilson also spoke about the pearl necklace he wears. He discussed its significance in comparison to ‘hyper-masculine’ wrestlers wearing gold chains.
“Even with pearl necklaces,” he says, “you see a lot of hyper-masculine wrestlers wearing gold chains, and I think that can be attributed to bravado. A pearl necklace leans slightly more feminine, but I’m gonna do it in my own, powerful, masculine way.”
“I hope it can send a message. If there’s a boy or girl in the audience who wants to wear a pearl necklace and express themself… If I have a small part in someone feeling okay with expressing themselves, that’s what I’m here for.”
Wilson debuted his new entrance theme titled ‘Man Up’ on the January 2 edition of SmackDown this year which went viral. His Pretty Deadly tag team partner, Elton Prince suffered a neck injury in May 2025 and has been out of in-ring action since. Wilson’s new persona is based on calling out the “toxic masculinity” in WWE.
Giulia recently spoke about her real-life friendship with Nikki Cross in WWE and how Kiana James helps her with on-screen communications.
Speaking with Adrian Hernandez, Giulia spoke about her friendship with Cross and how she helped her cope with backstage struggles and called her “a treasure.”
“Oh, yes. Nikki Cross. She’s so nice. Oh, so scary. But she’s scary. But yeah, if she is not with me. Yeah, I always struggle, more struggle. But she helped me a lot.”
“She’s my treasure.”
The interviewer also asked Giulia about her friendship with James. Giulia said that the speed at which people talk in English is tough for her to decipher at times and James helps by making translations for her easier to understand.
“Also she helped me a lot because my English is bad, really bad. So, sometimes I cannot understand people who is talking so fast.”
Yeah, but some people super, super fast, super fast first and then she’s here. She’s standing behind me and translate easy English and yeah, she’s so nice and we, I think we respect each other and yeah, it’s really meaningful.”
Giulia also talked about going for English classes twice a week in addition to learning from her phone or YouTube whenever she gets the time.
“So, I go to English class twice a week and then also I take extra English class. And an app like on the phone. And YouTube. And if I have time, I sit down, study, study, study. So, every day because my English was zero when I came here.”
Giulia officially made her WWE debut on NXT at No Mercy in 2024 confronting then-NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez. At New Year’s Evil in January 2025, Giulia defeated Perez to win her first singles WWE title. Prior to this she had an extensive 4-year association with New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
That following April, Giulia made her main roster debut on SmackDown. In June she dethroned Zelina Vega for the Women’s United States Championship that she later lost to Chelsea Green after a 133 day reign. Earlier this year, Giulia won back the title from Green on the January 2 edition of SmackDown.
During her SmackDown stint, Giulia and Kiana James were teamed up on-screen with the latter as her manager. On the March 6 edition of the show, they challenged Alexa Bliss and Charlotte Flair to a No. 1 Contenders match for the Women’s Tag Team Titles but lost.
Drew McIntyre has shared a message addressing his frustrations ahead of tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown.
A matchup between McIntyre and Fatu is set to take place on SmackDown this Friday night. In a social media promo, McIntyre expressed his discontent over not walking into WrestleMania 42 as Undisputed WWE Champion. He voiced disappointment for his family, including his nephew who will attend the event without seeing McIntyre walk down the aisle as champion.
“Came for a check-in. Been a rough few weeks, right? Yeah. Same old story for Drew McIntyre,” he said. “Difference this time is that so many people are opening their eyes to the truth that I’ve been preaching and realizing it’s not whining, it’s not complaining. It’s just been fact this whole time. I don’t care how many of you are trying to jump on the bandwagon. It doesn’t make me champion, does it? I’m not gonna shy away from the fact that I should be walking into Mania as champion either. Family are all coming to America. Nephew, should be seeing his uncle walk down that aisle as champion but he’s not. I’m not gonna focus on how it all went down. I’ve done this dance so many times. I gotta keep fighting, I gotta keep pushing forward. But this time, I’m doing it my way.”
McIntyre then shifted focus to Fatu. He praised Fatu’s athleticism in the ring while mocking his past physique. McIntyre then dove deeper into his own WWE tenure where he was once on the same roster with the likes of Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair, and Umaga.
“There’s a bunch of stuff I’ve got to focus on, but right now let’s just focus specifically on Jacob. You cannot move around WWE without bumping into a nepo baby or a fraud — Jacob happens to be both. I’ll say this about him, he’s an animal. Freakishly athletic for a guy that used to resemble a bumblebee and move like one. But [he’s] a pretty jacked bumblebee these days, I’ll give him that. He’s quick and he’s strong, he’s legitimately a bad man. He’s a man in a world full of boys. This used to be a man’s business. And as a bad man, I like that. But I’m quicker, I’m stronger, I’ve got the experience fighting the best this industry has to offer for a long time, hell I was in the same roster as Triple H at one point and Shawn Michaels. And that same day when I was looking around at those two, I went ‘My God, there’s Ric Flair in the corner.’
“I was in the ring with one of the best members of The Bloodline. I didn’t need anyone to fight my battles. I fought Umaga in WWE. That’s how long I’ve been around and yet I’m still one of the youngest grizzled young veterans. This point I should be way more grizzled [with] all the crap I’ve been through. But I am the original athletic freak in this game.”
Lastly, McIntyre said that he was not intimidated by Fatu’s criminal past and prison time. McIntyre proceeded to confirm his appearance for SmackDown despite claiming last week that he was “quitting” the show.
“Just cause you did time Jacob, means nothing to me. Nobody knows my whole story, they don’t know anything about me. They know what I put out there. Everyone says they’re a gangster until the real gangster walks in the room, right?”
“What does my future hold? I really don’t know. I really don’t know at this point. But what I do know is I’ll see you this Friday on SmackDown, Jacob.”
The road to WrestleMania 42 saw McIntyre drop the Undisputed WWE Championship to Cody Rhodes after Fatu got involved in the match. Rhodes will now defend the title against Randy Orton at Mania.
Though McIntyre and Fatu are facing off on SmackDown tonight, it’s expected that their rivalry will continue into WrestleMania.
Jade Cargill has Charlotte Flair on her radar after checking Rhea Ripley off her list of dream opponents.
On Complex Grabs The Podcast, Cargill was asked about the fantasy match bookings fans were conjuring up after WWE announced her signing with the company in 2023. In the interview, she also discussed who was the dream opponent she expected to face on a stage like WrestleMania out of Rhea Ripley and Charlotte Flair.
“Of course, she’s the top girl. She’s the number one girl in our company currently. You know, she’s placed at such a high position and I’m going to reach the top, the highest of heights within this company. I mean, in what five years now, I have a title. I’ve been a champion three times over. I never worked the indie scene. I’ve been blessed to create such splash and to be the type.”
“So, yes, she was one of my opponents. I mean, one of the dream matches I wanted to have amongst others like Charlotte Flair. And I thought that’s actually the opponent I thought I was going to face at Mania was the likes of Charlotte Flair. You know, we’ve been teasing it for so long. And I think that’s a money-making match. I mean, she’s a Queen of home, right? And I am as well. And I think we have such similar aesthetics sometimes that I think it’s more of a like who’s who? Like who’s really like that Queen or whatever you want to say. I didn’t really dream book Rhea as being the person I would have had my ‘Mania match with this year.”
Cargill’s answer remained the same when questioned on feuds for the second half of the year particularly if Bianca Belair and Naomi made their returns. She reiterated Flair still being the No.1 dream opponent noting that SummerSlam would be the perfect stage for it to happen.
“Well, when I retain, we’re gonna, yeah, assuming that in the air. I think well I would love to go on to face Charlotte at SummerSlam, but if Bianca returns, I don’t know what ‘cause the way the big three kind of split up was, like it was like a missing piece.”
“So, I think it’s a storyline we need to embark on when everybody’s healthy and ready to go. I think everybody will want to see that story line. it’s so many avenues you can go with that storyline, right? But the person I would want to see at SummerSlam since I’m not seeing them at Mania will be Charlotte. It’s already there.”
Cargill gave further backing on her reason for choosing Flair.
“It’s about breaking her. She’s stoic. Like I’m stoic, but she’s very like, you know, so I think it’ll be a great match. And I know Charlotte’s a woman for pulling people up and making them better. And that’s the people I want to work with.
Earlier this month, a social media encounter began when Ripley posted a throwback of her championship matches at WrestleMania over the past six years. Cargill took notice and responded by calling her a “second option.”
Ripley instantly clapped back by sharing throwback interviews of Cargill labeling her a “dream opponent.” As the back-and-forth continued, Ripley claimed that all Cargill did was talk. Eventually, Ripley showed up to the March 6 edition of SmackDown to confront the champion and set up their title match for WrestleMania 42.
In a new interview with TV Insider, Jacob Fatu reflected on his WWE journey and how he’s adapted to the company’s environment.
Fatu opened up about moving on from his troubled past where he spent time in jail for armed robbery. He never thought this kind of success was possible and hopes his story can inspire others to realize that they’re capable of doing anything they put their mind to. Despite already having extensive experience on the indies, Fatu is still learning in pro wrestling, particularly from his family members.
“It would be learning,” Fatu responded when asked what the biggest part of getting acclimated to WWE has been. “Learning from family. Learning a lot from Solo [Sikoa]. Learning a lot from ‘Big’ Jim. A lot from Jey Uso, Roman [Reigns]. It’s really about learning a lot from others. I think Rey Mysterio said this on a podcast after tagging with John Cena and Sheamus. He learned a lot. You’re never been in the game long enough to act like you know it all. So, I think learning the game, structure, all of that.”
Fatu addressed the growth in his mic-skills while revealing that WWE permits him to be his authentic self in promos.
“Nah, the improv…yeah, you know they can hang with that. They are still trusting with the process, but it’s also something I love about WWE. They are letting me be who I am,” he said. “They ain’t here to change me. I’m going to say it again. They ain’t here to change me. They ain’t doing none of that. They are letting me be me and tapping into what people like me. Just to let them know anything [is] possible. It has been going good.”
Fatu also discussed his rivalries with Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre and what it’s been like to work with each of them.
“I enjoy working with both. They each bring something different to the game,” he said. “It just seems like my career is always elevating and elevating. I was just speaking with Tyler Breeze in the back, you have to treat people good because you’ll see the same people up and the same people on the way bad. Make sure everyone’s good, even when you’re bad.”
Fatu, Rhodes, and McIntyre were intertwined in a feud ahead of WrestleMania 42. That ultimately led to Rhodes winning the Undisputed WWE Championship back from McIntyre. He’s now set for a title defense against Randy Orton at WrestleMania. A singles match between Fatu and McIntyre is scheduled for SmackDown this Friday, and we’ll see if that results in their program extending into Mania.
Friday night’s episode of WWE SmackDown averaged 1.419 million viewers on the USA Network, up 19.2% from the previous week. It’s the second largest audience for the show since September 5th of last year.
SmackDown averaged a 0.32 rating in the 18-49 demo. That’s up 18.5% from the prior week and was the third highest rating the show has done in that category since the September 26th episode.
The show went head to head with FOX’s coverage of the World Baseball Classic as well as various college basketball conference championship games across several cable stations. The show finished 4th on the prime time cable charts in the 18-49 demo, trailing three separate basketball broadcasts on ESPN.
As compared to the same week in 2025, the overall viewership was down 9.7% while the 18-49 rating was down 38.5%.
Listed below are the last 11 weeks of overall viewership and 18-49 demo ratings for WWE SmackDown as well as the 10 week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 23.2% in overall viewers and 14.3% in 18-49 as compared to recent averages.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about as we go very in-depth on AEW Revolution, the mostly pros but some cons in what was maybe AEW’s best PPV of all time, plus notes on the Randy Orton heel turn on Smackdown, WrestleMania, Rey de Reyes, the OVW referee injury and more! A really packed show so check it out~!
Timestamps: Start: Fallout from AEW Revolution, Dave’s pre-show notes 20:25: AEW Revolution rundown 1:15:34: Randy Orton heel turn on WWE SmackDown 1:19:13: WWE Raw lineup, AAA Rey de Reyes notes, Al Snow statement on OVW incident
It’s the Saturday Wrestling Observer Live with Jim Valley.
OVW referee Dallas Edwards released a positive message from the hospital regarding his unfortunate, dangerous and scary incident at OVW in Kentucky on Thursday.
On Friday’s WWE SmackDown, was Cody Rhodes being annoying on purpose during the contract signing with Randy Orton? He was so syrupy sweet and nice to Orton, so it was no wonder part of the crowd booed him. Is this the direction to WrestleMania or just for the angle?
Also, Jim talks about Rey de Reyes night one on Saturday and who is leaving AAA: Dom or Vikingo?
Plus, CMLL, New Japan Cup, AEW Collision, Jelly Roll, Danhausen, Kit Wilson and lots more. Another packed Saturday so here we go.
Danhausen’s debut in WWE could not have gone much worse. But his success and attitude since then have reportedly impressed his new peers and colleagues.
A report by Fightful Select says the reaction to Danhausen backstage has been positive. “Those who Fightful Select spoke to in WWE were happy with the quick turnaround of Danhausen,” the report reads. “Most in the company knew that the debut was a flop, but said that the situation didn’t rattle him, and he responded well.”
Danhausen made his first appearance for WWE at Elimination Chamber on February 28, popping out of a mystery crate that had been allegedly shipped back and forth between Raw and SmackDown for weeks. Accompanied by a squad of dancers wearing his facepaint, Danhausen paraded down to and into the ring, where the performance was capped with one small poof of pyro.
It appeared few in the United Center crowd knew he was, and he was mostly met with confused boos.
Danhausen later discussed his debut in an appearance on Raw Recap.
“Oh, it was thunderous applause,” he said. “It was great. I came out and they yelled, ‘Yes! Finally, Danhausen has arrived,’ and I could hear each and every one of them hop off their seats and get up and applaud, and say, ‘Up yours, Dracula. Danhausen did it first,’ because Danhausen shipped himself in a crate across the seas first but it was to WWE. It was not the Last Voyage of the Demeter or whatever it’s called.”
Since then, Danhausen has appeared in backstage segments on both Raw and SmackDown. He put curses on both Dominick Mysterio (who went on to lose the Intercontinental Championship) and El Grande Americano (who was not able to compete in his scheduled match later that night).
Already announced for Friday’s show are a MizTV segment with Jelly Roll, Jade Cargill vs. Michin, and a contract signing for Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 42.
Tonight’s show is set for the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The updated lineup is below:
WWE SmackDown (March 13, 2026):
Contract signing between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton for their WrestleMania 42 title match
Nia Jax & Lash Legend (The Irresistible Forces) defend the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles against Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair
Solo Sikoa & Tama Tonga vs. Uncle Howdy & Erick Rowan
Friday night’s WWE SmackDown episode averaged 1.19 million viewers on USA Network, down 13.7 percent from the previous week. It’s the lowest audience total the show has done on USA since January 23, which was prior to when Nielsen adjusted the way it determines ratings using the Big Data + Panel measurement system.
The show featured the fallout from Elimination Chamber and included a WWE Championship change with Cody Rhodes defeating Drew McIntyre. It drew a 0.27 rating in the 18-49 demo, which is down 20.6 percent from last week and is also the lowest rating SmackDown has done in that category on USA since the January 23 episode.
The show had tougher-than-usual sports competition, going head-to-head with an NBA game on ESPN that topped the cable charts with a 0.40 rating in the 18-49 demo and nearly 1.7 million viewers overall. SmackDown was also up against Fox’s coverage of the World Baseball Classic which averaged nearly 2.8 million viewers and a 0.72 rating in 18-49.
As compared to the same week in 2025, SmackDown’s overall viewership was down 31.7 percent while the 18-49 rating was down 48.1 percent.
Listed below are the last 11 weeks of viewership totals and 18-49 demo ratings for SmackDown, along with the 10-week average in both categories. This week’s show was up 3.8 percent in viewers but down 3.6 percent in 18-49 as compared to the recent averages.
