AJ Styles is pushing for WWE to do more with one specific wrestler.
On his Phenomenally Retro podcast, the newest member of the WWE Hall of Fame had nothing but praise for Chad Gable, who lost the mask vs. mask match that took place at AAA Noche de los Grandes last weekend. Styles pushed for WWE to do something with Gable’s newfound momentum following the match.
“He’s a bigger superstar than he’s ever been at this very moment. And if we don’t capitalize, and I say we because because I’m a part of WWE, we don’t capitalize on this, we’re dumb. We’re dummies,” he said. “He can be heavyweight champion. He’s a legit freaking pro wrestler…there’s no way somebody in the crowd’s thinking ‘I could take freaking Chad Gable.’ Uh dude, legit, he will drop you on your head and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Gable appeared on SmackDown following mask loss
After feuding with the second El Grande Americano for most the year, the two had a dramatic match in front of a hot crowd. After Gable’s loss, he commended Americano for his efforts, saying that while he will always be the original Americano, there is now only one Americano. He promised to return to AAA one day.
Gable returned to WWE television on SmackDown this past Friday, apologizing to Rey Fenix over his recent actions. Fenix accepted Gable’s apology, but informed him that he’s not the only luchador that he needs to apologize to.
It was announced by TNA on Sunday that Maclin, as well as Myla Grace, had departed the company after coming to terms with their release. However, Fightful Select reported that Maclin had preferred to keep his TNA release quiet, only for the company to issue a short press release confirming his departure.
“We’re told Maclin had hoped to keep the word of the departure quiet, but TNA issued a press release announcing it. They rarely do that, and didn’t consult Myla Grace or Maclin ahead of the decision,” they wrote.
Additionally, Fightful noted that Maclin had been someone who was outspoken publicly about the company’s creative direction, and didn’t feel it had improved once the company moved to AMC earlier this year. The company’s pay scale was also an issue internally, but the majority of TNA talent are no longer on full-time deals, even after the move to a new network.
According to Fightful, both Maclin and Grace are expected have interest from companies outside of TNA.
Maclin had re-signed after being ‘fired’ in storyline
Maclin had re-signed with the company earlier this year following an angle that saw himself getting fired after grabbing one of the Feast or Fired briefcases. Despite this, he continued to appear on television and turned heel, attacking Mike Santana. Santana demanded Maclin be rehired so they could have a match. Director of Authority Santino Marella eventually re-signed Maclin in storyline and granted him a title match, which ended abruptly following an injury to Maclin.
Mexico City becomes the battleground of wrestling in September. We look at the strategies, the decisions going into a period when the city will host four major shows and seven major arena shows in eight days.
WWE attempts to counter program Forbidden Door with NXT Great American Bash. A look at the numbers the last time and trying to figure out why it would be tried again
The most publicized UFC show in history comes to the White House. Can it beat Rousey vs. Carano numbers, can it beat NFL numbers, how it got started and plans for the show.
AAA Noche de los Grandes, full review of the show and the make-up of the viewership and how it’s changed over the last year, as well as thoughts on the mask vs. mask match that tore down the house
The WWE stockholders lawsuit against the WWE key higher ups goes to trial this week. We look in depth of what is being asked, why, and give background on everything involved in the case
WWE Clash In Italy coverage and business numbers
Ben Askren wins Gaspard/Huber award and returns for one last match
Odds for King and Queen of the Ring
How much has Nielsen’s new ratings method hurt the value of pro wrestling on television? We have pretty much the figures, plus the shocking real comparisons for AEW Dynamite last week with recent years
Full ratings report for the pro wrestling programming, competition, comparisons, and more,.
Arena Mexico coverage with lots of big matches this coming week
NOAH tag team tournament news
Best of the Super Juniors coverage
Top young star getting shoulder surgery
Japanese MMA legend wins pro wrestling tournament
The future of Lucha Libre in 2036 on display this past week
Ticket sales for all the major upcoming pro wrestling shows this summer
A crazy indie story involving Jacques Rougeau
RAF booking a major event in Tbilisi
More on Damo & Nikki Cross buying Progress
Lots of Mick Foley AEW talk
How the Von Erichs viewed the A&E Biography
Another judge upset with TKO executives not saving evidence
McGregor return ticket prices go crazy, although not Knicks crazy
Robbiers in boxing or just bad judging
Notes on Smackdown going forward
Examing what Nick Khan said about 2024 WrestleMania plans
George Barrios claims he talked Vince McMahon into running Saudi Arabia after the Kashoggi death
Logo for UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest. (Image credit: UFC)
— Bryan and I will be back tonight talking about the WWE settlement, great weekend matches, Best of the Super Juniors, Jones vs. Cormier, Hulk Hogan documentary and more. Our week in review show with Garrett Gonzales is up on the site talking about WWE booking, Nick Khan comments, and much more.
— The shareholders’ lawsuit against Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, Paul Levesque, George Barrios and Michelle Wilson, that was to start tomorrow, has been settled, although not completely formalized. Brandon Thurston reported that the parties have informed the court that they will present the settlement for approval by Judge Travis Laster. The McMahon side really had to settle for a number of reasons that include the fear that a trial would end up worse for them, while the plaintiffs removed the risk of the trial going badly for them. The judge’s recent ruling showed that he felt the defendants lost a great deal of credibility due to their erasing messages after their own lawyers told them to preserve them. It looked bad for the WWE side but it was not a lock. The other from the McMahon side is that in the story of the sale, the Janel Grant lawsuit would have come up and he, and perhaps others, would perhaps give testimony that would hurt McMahon in that case.
— A lawsuit has been filed by Paul Romano, a retired Air Force Sergeant and Vietnam veteran, and Susan Douglas, a civic activist and organizer attempting to stop this coming Sunday’s UFC show. They claim it is a violation of federal law for profit sports promotions to run on the White House lawn. They claim it is a violation of national park service agreements which prohibit sports events on federal parks lands and that the staging set up on the White House lawn has had no congressional authorization, a requirement for building on federal parklands. They also complain about the cost to taxpayers of repairing the lawn. They also in the suit note that Trump purchased TKO stock. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, DC. They are not suing Trump or TKO, but suing the National Park Service, Regional Director of the National Park Service Jen Nersesian, Acting Director Jessica Bowron, the U.S. Department of the Interior and Doug Burgum, the secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
— Yoh won the Best of the Super Juniors tournament earlier today at the Ota Ward Gym in Tokyo over Kosei Fujita. It was an excellent match, very hot pro-Yoh crowd. The match was actually a much better technical version of A.J. Styles vs. John Cena from last year. Well, on the Yoh side where he did move after move of the top stars. Fujita did the usual Fujita. Yoh will face Douki for the IWGP jr. title soon, probably Dominion on 6/15. Also added to Dominion was Jake Lee vs. El Phantasmo in a no DQ match after an angle today.
— Hiroshi Tanahashi announced the fan awards for the tournament. Jun Kasai was voted Most Outstanding overall, Daiki Nagai was voted Best Fighting Spirit and Robbie X was voted Best Technical.
— Obviously if Steve Maclin asked for a release from his TNA contract, which he did last week and was approved, he’s likely headed to WWE or AEW.
— Arman Tsarukyan claimed today that he placed a $1 million bet on Justin Gaethje to win the UFC lightweight title from unbeaten Ilia Topuria at the White House show. Tsarukyan was on a live stream talking about betting $50,000 on the fight, but then got talked into making it $1 million. After all the issues with UFC fighters and gambling, this is not something that should be allowed.
— The best matches I’ve seen this weekend are Komander vs. Soberano Jr. from Friday night at Arena Mexico, Komander & Templario vs. Angel de Oro & Volador Jr. from last night at Arena Coliseo, Mistico & Mascara Dorada & Neon vs. Zandokan Jr. & Furia Roja & Difunto from Friday night which was Mistico’s return, and Yoh vs. Fujita.
— Challenges were issued on Friday for a Sammy Guevara & Beast Mortos ROH tag title defense against Villano III Jr. & El Hijo de Villano III. My impression is that match will take place this coming Friday night, but the lineup won’t be out until probably Monday or Tuesday.
— Komander goes for the hat trick tonight teaming with Mistico against Volador Jr. & Black Tiger in tonight’s main event. Tonight’s show also has Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr. vs. Mortos & Guevara in a non-title match. Lady Frost from MLW has been on the CMLL major shows all weekend.
— Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows won the A block in the NOAH Neo Global Tag League with a win over Tetsuya Naito & Bushi today in Hirosaki. They will face the B block winners on 6/16 at Korakuen Hall. Right now there is a three-way tie for first in the B block with Yoshiki Inamura & Stallion Rogers, Naomichi Marufuji & Kenoh, and Yuki Iino & Manabu Soya.
— Jun & Rei Saito won All Japan’s world tag team titles from Talos & Ren Ayabe yesterday in Kakuda.
— We’re looking for reports on the NXT weekend shows in Davenport, FL and Citrus Heights, FL as well as TV tapings for TNA in Denver, results, finishes and angles to [email protected]
— Not much in the way of Google searches this weekend with no major events. Yesterday’s UFC show did 110,000 searches. Nobody in general was talking much about wrestling as regarding active wrestling, Myla Grace was the most searched item with 2,000.
— Grand Slam Mexico, CMLL Anniversary, WWE Raw, WWE Smackdown and AAA TripleMania tickets all went on sale in the next two days. For Grand Slam Mexico, the cheapest seats are almost double that of last year, at $36, while the most expensive is up from $655 U.S. to $1,312. Anniversary tickets are $22 to $260. Raw and Smackdown are $73 to $891. TripleMania is $36 to $537.
— UFC has announced a new rankings system in the works that will reward performance and reflect results inside the Octagon and based on measurable performance instead of opinion or popularity. Good luck with that.
— Last Saturday’s Collision did 351,000 viewers and 0.07 in 18-49 in Nielsen panel ratings, a rare case for wrestling of being down in total audience but still up in 18-49 from the 360,000 and 0.05 from panel + Big Data.
— WWE returns to the U.S. tomorrow in Baltimore with Raw with Penta vs. Rey Mysterio for the IC title, and previously announced qualifying matches with Seth Rollins vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Talla Tonga vs. Ricky Saints and Liv Morgan vs. Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Chelsea Green.
— Jerry Jaffe, who was also Crazy Luke Graham Jr., is 79 today. Mick Foley turned 61. Ed Farhat, the original Sheik and one of the best drawing heels in history, was born 100 years ago today. His longtime manager, Abdullah Farouk/Grand Wizard/Ernie Roth, was born on this day in 1929. Superstar Billy Graham was born on this day in 1943. Howard Finkel was born on this day in 1950. Bulldog Don Kent passed away 33 years ago today at the age of 59. Charlie Harben passed away 33 years ago today at the age of 79. Earthquake John Tenta was 42 when he passed away 20 years ago today. Rocket Monroe was 69 when he passed away 16 years ago today. Mark Starr was 50 when he passed away 13 years ago today. The Iron Sheik was 76 when he passed away three years ago today.
We have now gone through the pages of my book DragonKingKarl’s Pioneer Era Pro Wrestling Omnibus and finished the timeline of the pioneer era of pro wrestling. So, today is a good time to pause and answer any listener questions this week and I have several of them discussing William Muldoon, Col. James H. McLaughlin, Evan ‘Strangler’ Lewis, John McMahon, Harry Hill, Prof. Theibaud Baur, and much more.
An agreement in principle has been reached in the WWE shareholders lawsuit.
On Sunday, Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics reported that Court Administrator for the Delaware Court of Chancery Tamara Burton said the parties have reached an agreement in principle.
Thurston wrote:
“Burton this afternoon tells me the parties have reached an agreement in principle. ‘At the parties’ request, the trial is cancelled. The parties have advised the court that they will present the settlement for approval in due course.'”
The lawsuit had been set for a four-day trial scheduled to begin on Monday, June 8. However, Bloomberg reported Friday that the trial was no longer scheduled on the Delaware Chancery Court’s calendar. Thurston reported shortly after that the trial had been canceled, but as of Saturday, it had not been confirmed whether a settlement had been agreed to.
In the lawsuit, shareholders alleged that WWE’s sale process was not designed to seek maximum value for shareholders, but instead was structured in a way that would lead to the company being sold to someone who would keep Vince McMahon in charge.
McMahon, Nick Khan, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Mark Shapiro, Ari Emanuel, and others had been scheduled to testify at the trial.
Burton this afternoon tells me the parties have reached an agreement in principle.
“At the parties' request, the trial is cancelled. The parties have advised the court that they will present the settlement for approval in due course.” https://t.co/ncdwqR0uhm
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) June 7, 2026
“Last week I requested my release from TNA. I put my blood, sweat, and tears into everything I’ve done over the last 5 years and I’ll always be thankful for my time there. But now, it’s time to STACK BODIES. See you soon”
Maclin last wrestled for TNA at its May 15 tapings at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, where he lost a TNA World Championship match to Mike Santana.
Prior to that, Maclin was injured in the main event of TNA Sacrifice on March 27. He appeared to be knocked out from a superkick early in the bout, and it was called off after two minutes and 18 seconds. However, it was later revealed that Maclin had not suffered a concussion.
Maclin was reported to have signed a new contract with TNA in January, although the length of the deal was not disclosed.
Maclin also won a briefcase in the 2026 Feast or Fired match that contained a pink slip. However, after various storyline developments, he was not fired from the company and instead received the TNA World title match against Santana at Sacrifice.
Steve Maclin has been granted his release from TNA
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) June 7, 2026
Nic Nemeth has announced when he will cash in his Call Your Shot trophy.
TNA published a video on Sunday with Nemeth revealing that he will challenge whoever is TNA World Champion at Slammiversary on June 28 at Agganis Arena in Boston, Massachusetts.
Nemeth said:
“I am going to Slammiversary, and I don’t care who my opponent is. X wrestler versus Y wrestler will be fighting yours truly, the wanted man, Nic Nemeth, as I call my shot. I don’t care if it’s Eric Young, I don’t care if it’s your champ, Santana.”
Nemeth continued:
“As a gentleman, a man of my word, I am saying it right now. I am calling my shot at Slammiversary. That’s where the money is. That’s where your boy is. That’s where everyone’s going to be talking the next night about a brand new champion.”
As for who the champion will be at TNA Slammiversary, Santana will defend the belt against Eric Young on next week’s edition of Impact.
WWE Raw General Manager Adam Pearce has announced the lineup for Monday’s show.
In a video posted to social media on Sunday, Pearce revealed a new match and the opening segment.
Oba Femi will kick off the broadcast. Also announced, Sol Ruca will defend her WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship against Lyra Valkyria.
Previously announced for the show were four-way matches in both the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments, as well as Penta defending the Intercontinental Championship against Rey Mysterio.
WWE Raw this week is set for the Accor Arena in Paris, France.
The updated lineup is below:
WWE Raw lineup for Monday, June 8, 2026:
WWE Intercontinental Championship: Penta (c) vs. Rey Mysterio
WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Sol Ruca (c) vs. Lyra Valkyria
King of the Ring first-round match: Seth Rollins vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Talla Tonga vs. Ricky Saints
Queen of the Ring first-round match: Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Chelsea Green
Oba Femi kicks off the broadcast
Your OFFICIAL #WWERaw Mini-Preview for TOMORROW NIGHT in Paris, France! 🇫🇷
He defeated last year’s tournament winner Kosei Fujita in a rematch of last year’s final on Sunday in Ota City.
After the match, IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI made his way to the ring. As YOH and DOUKI were staring each other down, SHO attacked YOH from behind. DOUKI joined in the attack but YOH gave them both low blows and cleared the ring.
YOH then brought out Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, and Toru Yano to celebrate with him as the show came to a close.
YOH’s BOSJ 33 win is his first singles tournament or championship win in New Japan Pro Wrestling.
He is a six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, having held the titles five times with SHO and once with Master Wato. YOH and SHO also won the Super Junior Tag Tournament three years in a row from 2017 to 2019, and YOH is a two-time NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champion as well.
A hard-fought victory over Kosei Fujita in the BOSJ 33 Final sees YOH finally capture the Best of the Super Jr. trophy in Ota!#BOSJFinal report:https://t.co/8BzwGKIXm8
A flag flew off the WWE building in Stamford on Saturday night and caught fire.
Greg Thompson of News 12 Connecticut posted footage showing a power line sparking and catching fire in downtown Stamford.
“The flag flew off the WWE building, hit a power line and caught on fire in downtown Stamford tonight (video courtesy Sunny) @News12CT,” Thompson wrote.
While it is not clear if this was the flag in question, WWE announced in November 2023 that it would raise “one of the largest American flags in the country” atop its new headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
“WWE today announced that in honor of Veterans Day and on behalf of all Americans the company will raise one of the largest American flags in the country atop the new WWE headquarters in Stamford Conn. The flag which measures a massive 3 040 square feet at 76 feet wide and 40 feet tall will fly as a beacon of patriotism – inspired by and in honor of all of our veterans especially those troops killed in action,”WWE’s press release about the flag reads.
The flag flew off the WWE building, hit a power line and caught on fire in downtown Stamford tonight (video courtesy Sunny) @News12CTpic.twitter.com/nGjNwVEW0T
AEW is reportedly set to sign new talent in the coming months.
According to a report from Fightful Select on Saturday, the promotion will be adding “nationally televised talent” to its roster this summer. The report did not add any further details.
“AEW will be adding nationally televised talent to their roster this summer,” Fightful wrote.
WWE’s post-WrestleMania 42 roster cuts will officially become free agents later this summer after their 90-day non-compete windows expire.
Wrestlers who have been speculated to draw interest from AEW include Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods, as well as Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley of the Motor City Machine Guns.
The Young Bucks teased Kingston and Woods potentially signing with AEW on a recent episode of Being The Elite. During the episode, Matt and Nick Jackson contemplated how whenever you wake up in the morning, it is the start of a “new day.”
Matt Jackson said, “Every day is a new day. That’s a great point. Everytime you wake up, and the next day is a new day. I’m never afraid about the new day. When a new day is coming, I’m excited.”
Young Bucks on BTE today:
“Every day is a NEW DAY. That's a great point. Everytime you wake up, and the next day is a NEW DAY. I'm never afraid about the NEW DAY. When a NEW DAY is coming, I'm excited.”
WWE has announced the list of judges for their upcoming Mr. NXT pageant.
WWE NXT General Manager Robert Stone recently announced on social media the list of judges for the Mr. NXT pageant.
The June 9, 2026, episode of WWE NXT will host a pageant contest between Shiloh Hill and Tristan Angels. The event will now be judged by EVOLVE Champion Aaron Rourke, Kit Wilson, and comedian Matt Mathews.
The three judges for the event will mark the competitors in three categories: attire, talent, and public speaking.
Apart from the Mr. NXT pageant, the upcoming NXT episode will also feature a WWE Women’s North American Championship match.
WWE NXT updated lineup | June 9, 2026
Mr. NXT Pageant: Shiloh Hill vs. Tristan Angels
Mason Rook vs. NARAKU – Number one contender match for the NXT Championship
Kelani Jordan vs. Kendal Grey – Number one contender match for the NXT Women’s Championship
Tatum Paxley (c) vs. Zaria for the NXT Women’s North American Championship
Brandon Thurston of Post Wrestling is reporting that the trial has been canceled, with no further details currently avaliable.
“The WWE merger trial has been cancelled, Court Administrator for the Delaware Court of Chancery Tamara Burton confirmed to me this evening,” Thurston wrote on social media Saturday. “We haven’t confirmed whether a settlement has been agreed to or is being worked on. The trial was previously scheduled to start on Monday.”
Original story:
The trial for the WWE shareholder lawsuit seems to be in flux.
According to Bloomberg, attorney Greg Varallo, who represents the shareholders, said that the four-day trial that was planned to start this Monday was no longer on the Delaware Chancery Court’s calendar. What specifically led to the case being removed from the court’s schedule isn’t currently known.
The trial was to feature testimony from Vince McMahon, Nick Khan, Paul Levesque, Ari Emanuel, and Mark Shapiro among others involved in the deal.
Shareholders accuse McMahon of not seeking the best deal
In the lawsuit, shareholders allege that the process to merge WWE and UFC to form TKO under parent company Endeavor was designed by McMahon in order for himself to retain power within WWE. Because of that, shareholders felt that McMahon didn’t seek out the best potential value of a WWE sale.
Last month, defendants were dealt a blow when a judge ruled that McMahon and Khan “acted recklessly” by using the messaging app Signal to discuss information while adjusting their auto-delete settings so messages would delete after a short period of time.
The WWE merger trial has been cancelled, Court Administrator for the Delaware Court of Chancery Tamara Burton confirmed to me this evening.
We haven’t confirmed whether a settlement has been agreed to or is being worked on.
The trial was previously scheduled to start on Monday.
— Brandon Thurston (@BrandonThurston) June 7, 2026
Qualifiers for the Survival will begin soon, and we now know some of the participants.
On Saturday, Hikaru Shida, Kris Statlander, Mina Shirakawa, Harley Cameron, Zayda Steele, and Queen Aminata all made their claim to be in the upcoming qualifying matches. The winners of these matches will advance to the multi-person Surival of the Fittest elimination match for the vacant TBS title that will take place on the July 1 edition of Dynamite in San Diego.
Shida and Statlander have history, recently competing in a Lights Out Street Fight that saw Statlander emerge as the winner. Both Shirakawa and Cameron had dealt with Shida in the weeks leading to her betrayal of Statlander at Double or Nothing which led to the match that took place last month.
Nightingale forced to vacate TBS title
The TBS title was suddenly vacated shortly before Double or Nothing when Willow Nightingale was forced to vacate the championship due to injury. Nightingale was also supposed to take part in the women’s Owen Hart Foundation tournament; instead, Mercedes Mone took her place and advanced to the semifinals on Wednesday after defeating Alex Windsor.
