TNA’s Slammiversary is less than four weeks away, and at this point, there is no main event. But one name on the roster thinks he should be challenging Mike Santana for the TNA World Championship on that show.
AJ Francis talked about Santana and Slammiversary in a conversation with pro wrestling/MMA interviewer Jim Varsallone.
“Me versus Mike Santana at Slammiversary for the world title would probably be one of the greatest matches in the history of TNA,” Francis said. “Me and Mike only ever had one other singles match and it was an instant classic, nominated for Match Of The Year—the only match that wasn’t a pay-per-view match that was nominated for Match Of The Year last year, might I add.”
Francis’ match against Santana was a street fight that aired on the episode of Impact that aired on June 26, 2025. TNA eventually named a Santana title defense against Mustafa Ali at Rebellion in April as its match of the year.
“To have that in my back pocket, to have that in the back of my mind, knowing that he went from that match with me to now being the world champion,” Francis added. “The fact that I’ve been putting on banger after banger after banger ever since and so has he—I genuinely think if you gave me and Mike Santana 25 minutes for the world title in the main event of Slammiversary, you would walk away from that thinking this is one of the best matches I’ve ever seen in my life and one of the greatest matches of all time.”
To date, Francis has only had one other shot at the TNA World Championship. He unsuccessfully challenged Nic Nemeth for the belt at Final Resolution in December of 2024.
TNA Slammiversary takes place Sunday, June 28, from the Agganis Arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Two matches have been announced for the show: Lei Ying Lee defending the Knockouts Championship against Xia Brookside, and Cedric Alexander defending the X Division Championship against Leon Slater and two other wrestlers in an Ultimate X match. Tickets are available here.
The most detailed look at the sale of New Japan, what happened, the glory days that Bushiroad built and why it came down and what led to the sale.
Business realities of Japanese wrestling today.
The reason for the surprising low sale price.
The shareholders lawsuit against Vince McMahon and the WWE Board of Directors is getting near. Judge Travis Laster orders sanctions against Nick Khan and Vince McMahon for destruction of evidence. Laster makes a ruling, and we look at it in detail, on how this changes the trial and the exact details of the destruction of evidence including when McMahon and company knew not to do it and ignored their own lawyers. Also we look at problems with the case.
AEW Double of Nothing coverage. Business notes, historical biggest gates in U.S. pro wrestling, three-time world champions by 30, how the PPV did, poll results, Mick Foley and more.
Did Ronda Rousey set a viewing audience record for MMA, plus coverage of Rousey vs. Carano, how everything goes forward, can things be sustained, can she fight, will she fight, her thoughts on AEW.
Scott Coker returns to MMA with a new promotion.
Marcel Barthel (Ludwig Kaiser) arrested.
A look at the career of Jerry Grey.
The most detailed look at the ratings for all the TV shows over the past two weeks.
Mistico injury update.
How CMLL is doing this year compared to last year.
Natalia Jiminez and J Balvin appear and are part of CMLL shows.
Wrestlers vs. media soccer game.
Grande vs. Grande match looked at.
Major return to Stardom.
Champion Carnival finals.
NOAH tag team tournament.
New Japan Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
Hana Kimura tribute show.
Phil Hickerson passes away.
WCW announcer is the final anchor as CBS News Radio closes its doors after 99 years.
Death of the Laguna version of Piloto Suicida.
Junior Hodge Trophy winner.
Advance ticket sales for all major events in AEW, WWE, TNA and other indies.
Pro wrestler/fighter on the Rousey-Carano undercard.
WWE stars purchase promotion.
Tony Khan media appearances.
More thoughts on how Paramount/Skydance can affect AEW.
What can affect the time slot of Collision in 2027.
Bracket for WWE Queen of the Ring 2026 tournament. (Image credit: WWE)
— Bryan and I will be back tonight talking about Raw, Ben Askren, Grande vs. Grande, Best of the Super Juniors and hopefully Ray Stevens.
— In the something I never thought would happen category, Ben Askren will return to the mat on 7/18 for an RAF match with former UFC champion Belal Muhammad on 7/18 in Milwaukee. Less than one year ago, Askren had a double lung transplant and was in a coma for more than one month. At the time it was said that he would never be able to compete in sports again. Askren said this was a one-time thing. RAF is freestyle wrestling rules and is legit competition. Askren announced this one-time return on today’s Ariel Helwani show.
— WWE King and Queen of the Ring started today. There was a lot of confusion. They are doing a series of four-way matches to advance which started on today’s show. Joe Tessitore last night started the confusion announcing a Penta vs. Oba Femi match for today on yesterday’s post show. It was actually to be Femi vs. Penta vs. Solo Sikoa vs. Carmelo Hayes. WWE today announced Jey Uso vs. LA Knight vs. Finn Balor vs. Drew McIntyre, and then apparently there was a mistake in the sense either McIntyre is not in the tournament or will be announced later, as his name was later removed.
— Matches for Raw tonight which is already over and results are up on the site:
Penta vs. Oba Femi vs. Carmelo Hayes vs. Solo Sikoa – King of the Ring qualifier
Rey Mysterio & Dragon Lee vs. Ethan Page & Rusev
Iyo Sky vs. Lash Legend vs. Roxanne Perez vs. Giulia – Queen of the Ring qualifier
Seth Rollins vs. Bron Breakker
— Next week Raw will also be early, from Paris:
Rollins vs. Je’Von Evans vs. Talla Tonga vs. Ricky Saints – King of the Ring qualifier
Liv Morgan vs. Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Chelsea Green – Queen of the Ring qualifier
— Even with the highest ticket prices in UFC history, the 7/11 show with Conor McGregor returning against Max Holloway has very few tickets left. Those that remain range from $1,622 to $92,258.
— The NBA Finals start Wednesday with the Knicks vs. San Antonio. The Finals are expected to draw the biggest ratings for NBA Finals games in more than a decade.
Game one goes against Dynamite on Wednesday.
Game two goes against SmackDown on Friday.
Game three is the same day as Raw, but Raw will be over live before the game starts. However, when people in the U.S. traditionally watch Raw is when the game is going on.
Game four goes against Dynamite.
Game five, if needed, goes against Collision.
Game six goes against NXT, if needed.
Game seven goes against SmackDown, if needed.
— Based on deductive reasoning which has been confirmed as being accurate, AEW Grand Slam Mexico will either be 8/5 or 8/12. I don’t know which date yet but it should be announced somewhat soon.
— A judge ruled that BJ Penn is mentally fit to proceed to trial for criminal cases against him. Penn will be back in court on 8/28. Penn is accused of several counts of abuse of a family or household member and violating multiple restraining orders by Lorraine Shin, his mother, who Penn had claimed was killed and replaced by an imposter.
— CMLL tonight in Puebla has Mascara Dorada & Flip Gordon & Star Jr. vs. Difunto & Soberano Jr. & Zandokan Jr., plus Stigma & Xelhua vs. Los Calaveras Jr. I & II and Jarochita vs. Lady Frost.
— Brandon Thurston reported that the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit against WWE for moving their PPVs to ESPN Unlimited, telling people they were free and then actually costing most $30 (I think this lawsuit is a real stretch by the way), are moving to get discovery going. WWE has attempted to stall that out and they have filed an argument that WWE can’t be trusted to preserve evidence, citing last week’s ruling in the shareholders lawsuit. WWE is attempting to get the case moved to arbitration based on a clause in the ESPN Unlimited subscribers agreement that says issues have to be resolved through arbitration.
— If you have any questions about Ray Stevens or Stevens stories please send them to [email protected].
— We’re looking for your thoughts on Clash in Italy and the Saturday AAA show, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].
— Netflix has put up the Grande Kaiser vs. Grande Gable AAA mask vs. mask match from Saturday.
— Mistico appeared in the celebrity video announcing the members of Mexico’s World Cup men’s team that came out today.
— Best of the Super Juniors continues tomorrow morning at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time:
A Block: Robbie X (8) vs. Daiki Nagai (0)
B Block: Kushida (4) vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru (6)
A Block: Ryusuke Taguchi (6) vs. Francesco Akira (8)
B Block: Daisuke Sasaki (6) vs. Sho (8)
A Block: Valiente Jr. (4) vs. Nick Wayne (8)
B Block: Robbie Eagles (8) vs. Jakob Austin Young (6)
A Block: Master Wato (10) vs. Jun Kasai (8)
B Block: Taiji Ishimori (8) vs. Hyo (6)
A Block: Titan (10) vs. Kosei Fujita (8)
B Block: Yoh (8) vs. El Desperado (10)
— I still haven’t seen the Stephanie Han vs. Holly Holm boxing match from Saturday. But had Holm won, she would be the first boxer in history to win a world title after being inducted into the Hall of Fame and the second-oldest (44) women’s world champion of all time. Almost everyone who saw it felt Holm was robbed of the decision. The fight was live on ESPN and ratings for this should come out tomorrow along with SmackDown and Raw ratings.
— Ram has expanded its sponsorship with WWE to include AAA. The Ram logo will appear on the mat and the big screens, and AAA wrestlers will be doing Ram marketing.
— The first Wednesday Arena Mexico Mitos del Ring show has top matches of Neon & Star Jr. vs. Averno & Euforia, Dragon de Fuego & Dragon Legendario & Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Cobarde & Felino Jr. & El Hijo de Stuka Jr., and El Hijo de Blue Panther vs. Virus.
— UFC announced for 7/25 in Abu Dhabi:
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. – main event
Umar Nurmagomedov vs. David Martinez – co-main event
— Maple Leaf Wrestling TV tapings on 6/12 and 6/13 at St. Clair College in Windsor, Ontario feature Stu Grayson vs. Jonathan Gresham for the MLP title, plus Gisele Shaw, Billy Gunn, Rhino, Johnny TV, Dani Luna, Jay Lethal, Mascara Dorada, Bishop Dyer, Capitán Suicida, Evil Uno and more.
— Shoko Nakajima vs. Shotzi will be on Saturday’s MLW Fusion show for the women’s title.
— David Schultz turned 71 today. Brian Adias turned 66. Jackie Fulton turned 63. Ian Rotten turned 56. Scott Andrews turned 59. James Storm turned 49. Ross Von Erich turned 38. Big Bully Busick was born on this day in 1954. Diamond Lil was born on this day in 1944. Angie Minelli was born on this day in 1962 (who is the niece of Donna Christanello). Sylvester Ritter, aka Junkyard Dog, died 28 years ago today at 45. James Dudley died 22 years ago today at 94. Cal “Prince Pullins” died 20 years ago today at 72. Tommy Rogers of The Fantastics died 11 years ago today at 54. Rockin’ Rebel Chuck Williams died eight years ago today at 52. Melanie Pillman died four years ago today at 56. (thanks to Tony Richards and Ken Raftery)
— Arman Tsarukyan was reported in places as saying he’s fighting Charles Oliveira in September. He later said that was a misinterpretation and said that he may be doing that, but it was not final.
— MJF wrestled for WrestlePro yesterday in Rahway, NJ at the Rec Center, beating Pat Buck in the main event. He won via submission. Among those also on the show were Richard Holliday, Dan Maff, Mark Sterling, Jordan Oliver, Alec Price, Bear Bronson, Jay Lethal, Janai Kai and Max Caster. (thanks to Joseph Ruggiero)
Mick Foley is excited to join an environment in AEW where everyone is encouraged to take risks and swing for the fences.
In a video posted to his social media accounts on Monday, Foley reflected on now being more than a week removed from his AEW debut at Double or Nothing. Foley thanked everyone who made it a special night, including the fans who gave him more than just a nostalgia pop. To Foley, the reception felt like fans truly believe he can make a difference in AEW.
The 60-year-old hardcore wrestling icon, who chose not to renew his WWE Legends contract due to political differences, expressed how grateful he is for every opportunity WWE has given him. He then looked toward the future by sharing why he thinks Tony Khan is such a unique boss.
“In no way am I here to throw stones at WWE. I love the company, I always will. I will always be deeply appreciative for every opportunity they afforded me,” Foley said. “But there’s something unique about seeing the owner of the company just so obviously happy and excited. Mr. McMahon had a different way of doing things, but it wasn’t with that type of joy [laughs].”
Foley said AEW feels like WWE felt in the Attitude Era — everyone is pulling for each other and knows that failure is inevitably going to happen sometimes when you’re trying to hit a home run.
“It just seems like, to me, the AEW wrestlers are out there and they are playing to win because it is understood that failure is part of the process,” he said. “I’ve seen so many people over the years almost petrified to walk through that curtain because they didn’t know whether they would get the thumbs up or the thumbs down, figuratively speaking. Tony’s excited. Tony loves what he’s doing. He’s happy to be there, and I think that type of enthusiasm makes me feel enthusiastic.”
Mick Foley on his AEW role —
At Double or Nothing, Foley co-hosted the preshow alongside Renee Paquette. He has officially signed an AEW deal for that broadcasting role but considers himself a “Swiss army knife” who can help in a variety of ways.
“I consider myself a Swiss army knife, and I can be used in a lot of different ways,” he said. “I’m excited about the future. And I’m excited about wrestling in a way that I haven’t been in a few years. And I want to thank AEW fans and the AEW product for helping me fall in love with wrestling all over again.”
It remains to be seen how physically involved Foley will get in AEW. He did take part in an angle at Double or Nothing where MJF gave him a low blow.
We now have official confirmation that Finn Balor is a member of the WWE SmackDown roster.
When the King of the Ring 2026 bracket was unveiled, Balor was curiously listed as a member of the SmackDown brand. That was addressed during today’s Raw in Turin, Italy, where WWE stated that Balor has been “traded” to SmackDown. The announcement was made during a commercial break segment where Byron Saxton was interviewing Judgment Day’s Dominik Mysterio & JD McDonough.
It wasn’t stated if Raw will be receiving a SmackDown wrestler in return for Balor.
Balor was formerly a member of Judgment Day before splitting off from the faction and turning babyface. Joining SmackDown moves Balor away from that Judgment Day story and into a new direction.
Finn Balor in WWE King of the Ring —
Balor’s first-round match in King of the Ring will pit him against Jey Uso, LA Knight, and Royce Keys. The winner advances to face either Seth Rollins, Je’Von Evans, Talla Tonga, or Ricky Saints in the semifinals.
IYO SKY is moving forward in her quest to be crowned WWE’s Queen of the Ring for 2026.
The tournament began on Raw in Turin, Italy today with SKY winning a fatal four-way match to advance to the semifinals. Her opponents in the bout were Giulia, Roxanne Perez, and Lash Legend — and a moonsault onto Giulia got the victory for SKY.
In the next round, it will be SKY facing either Bayley, Raquel Rodriguez, Jacy Jayne, or Kiana James.
SKY is attempting to become the third-ever Queen of the Ring in WWE history, following victories by Jade Cargill and Nia Jax in 2025 and 2024. Zelina Vega also won a similarly named Queen’s Crown tournament in 2021 before WWE secured rights to the Queen of the Ring trademark.
This year’s Queen & King of the Ring are set to conclude at WWE Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia on June 27. World title shots at SummerSlam will be awarded to the winner of each tournament.
Thirteen competitors are still in contention to win Queen of the Ring: SKY, Bayley, Rodriguez, Jayne, James, Liv Morgan, Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, Chelsea Green, Sol Ruca, Lyra Valkyria, Charlotte Flair, and Cargill.
The updated bracket can be seen below:
WWE Queen of the Ring 2026 bracket. (Image credit: WWE)
WWE is hoping to get as many eyes as possible on the El Grande Americano mask vs. mask match from Lucha Libre AAA.
The rivalry between El Grande Americano (Ludwig Kaiser) and Original El Grande Americano (Chad Gable) culminated with Kaiser getting the victory at AAA Noche de Los Grandes this past Saturday. The match has become an instant classic, earning Kaiser and Gable praise from fans and their WWE peers. WWE management apparently thinks very highly of the match as well, with it being announced during Raw today (June 1) that, immediately after the episode ends, WWE will be airing an encore presentation of the mask vs. mask match on Netflix.
Kaiser vs. Gable originally aired on WWE’s YouTube channel, where AAA’s TV is broadcast for free every week for viewers outside of Mexico, Central America, and South America (except Brazil). AAA airs on Fox Mexico in those markets.
The Kaiser vs. Gable rivalry is likely to be in strong contention for 2026’s Feud of the Year in all of professional wrestling. Though Gable originally introduced the character, Kaiser assumed the Americano gimmick last year when Gable was forced out of action due to injury. The two started feuding after Gable returned, and Kaiser became a huge babyface in Mexico during the process.
Kaiser’s May arrest briefly put this mask vs. mask match in jeopardy, but the state of Florida did not object to his motion to continue traveling domestically and internationally while the battery case plays out. A pre-trial conference in the case, where the alleged victim is a male resident of Kaiser’s apartment complex, is scheduled for July 16.
AAA’s next major events —
Coming out of Noche de Los Grandes, AAA has Triplemania 34 — its biggest annual event — set to be held over two nights on September 11 and 13. Night one is set for Las Vegas, with night two being held in Mexico City.
AAA could potentially add another big show to its upcoming schedule with Verano de Escandalo 2026 rumored for July 25.
It didn’t take Oba Femi very long to bounce back from his loss to Brock Lesnar at WWE Clash in Italy.
The 2026 King of the Ring tournament began on Raw today with Femi defeating Solo Sikoa, Penta, and Carmelo Hayes in a fatal four-way match to advance to the semifinals. His opponent in that round is set to be either Dominik Mysterio, Bron Breakker, Trick Williams, or Damian Priest.
Femi got the victory with a Fall From Grace on Sikoa. During the match, WWE teased that interference from Talla Tonga was going to remove Femi from contention — but Femi was able to return after Tonga had sent him into the crowd. He emerged from the barricade and took out Tonga, Hayes, and Penta before pinning Sikoa.
In a post-match promo, Femi addressed his loss to Lesnar from Sunday. He took Lesnar’s best shot and is still standing the next day. He reminded Lesnar that they are tied up at 1-1, and he’ll see Lesnar down the line.
King of the Ring is Femi’s immediate focus, though, with the tournament set to play out on Raw and SmackDown over the next few weeks in advance of the finals taking place at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia on June 27. The Queen of the Ring finals are also being held at that PLE, with the winners earning World title shots at SummerSlam.
Femi, Dominik, Breakker, Williams, Priest, Seth Rollins, Je’Von Evans, Talla Tonga, Ricky Saints, Jey Uso, LA Knight, Royce Keys, and Finn Balor are the competitors still in the running to win King of the Ring.
WWE King of the Ring 2026 bracket (Image credit: WWE)
Mistico, the top star in CMLL, helped play a part in announcing Mexico’s team for the 2026 World Cup.
The official 26-man squad for Mexico has now been unveiled ahead of the World Cup kicking off on June 11. In one of the two announcement videos released, a variety of athletes and celebrities made appearances and listed off the names of the players included in the squad. Mistico and boxer Canelo Alvarez were among those to appear. Fullback Mateo Chavez was the name unveiled by Mistico.
Mexico’s Group A match against South Africa is the opening game of the World Cup. South Korea and Czech Republic are the other teams in the group.
Mistico’s participation in this video comes just a few weeks after CMLL and its wrestlers Mascara Dorada & Soberano Jr. collaborated with the NFL to announce a San Francisco 49ers vs. Minnesota Vikings game that’s taking place in Mexico City this November.
CMLL is currently on a hot streak that saw it voted Promotion of the Year and Mistico named Wrestler of the Year in the 2025 Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards. With Arena Mexico becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination, we’ve seen celebrities show up to events and CMLL even put on a Pokemon-themed show last year.
— Selección Nacional (@miseleccionmx) June 1, 2026
Mistico’s injury status —
A knee injury has kept Mistico out of action since the middle of May, but he’s hoping to make his CMLL return later this week. He is under a dual contract with CMLL/AEW and also competes for NJPW in Japan, where he currently holds the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles with El Desperado.
Bayley was happy to see her friend Chad Gable get a chance to shine at AAA Noche de Los Grandes.
In a career highlight, Gable (as Original El Grande Americano) headlined the May 30 event in a mask vs. mask match against Ludwig Kaiser (El Grande Americano). Gable lost and is now forced to give up the Americano gimmick — but Bayley is confident that only great things are in his future. She was in Mexico for the show and made an Instagram post joining in on the chorus of praise for the main event.
“It’s not everyday that you get to watch your friend create magic in front of the most pure and passionate fans in the world!!,” Bayley wrote. “I’m so proud to know you, @wwegable! You take control of your opportunities and have always made everything count. It’s only up from here my dude!!”
Bayley and Gable came up together in the same era of NXT and have both now been with the company for more than a decade. When part two of Noche de Los Grandes airs this coming Saturday (June 6), a six-woman tag match with Bayley, Lola Vice & La Catalina vs. Flammer, Maravilla & La Hiedra will be part of the lineup.
Chad Gable comments on Noche de Los Grandes match —
It’s been less than two days since the match, but Gable took a moment to make his own Instagram post reflecting on the moment and how much the crowd meant to him.
“What an atmosphere. What a crowd. What a moment,” he wrote. “Thank you Mexico.”
Gable also shared an Instagram stories post from Finn Balor, who called the mask vs. mask match a “masterpiece” and said he’s already watched it multiple times.
“So good I already had to watch it twice,” Balor wrote. “I encourage you also. Masterpiece.”
Cody Rhodes would like to see WWE turn back the clock to 1993 when the company placed a wrestling ring on the deck of a decommissioned Navy ship.
To celebrate the Fourth of July that year, WWE held a bodyslam challenge on the USS Intrepid in New York City, where Lex Luger slammed Yokozuna on the road to SummerSlam 1993. WWE’s attempt to turn Luger into its next Hulk Hogan-level star ultimately wasn’t successful, but the Intrepid slam is still one of the most memorable WWE moments of that early 1990s era and of Luger’s Hall of Fame career.
Rhodes pointed back to the moment when TMZ asked — with UFC’s White House event coming up — if there are any “wildcard” venues he would like to see WWE run.
“Ohh, I would like to do a decommissioned — what do they call them? Where you put the planes on it,” Rhodes responded. “Luger did the slam on Yokozuna on the Intrepid, basically a decommissioned battleship. That’s a really great outlook. I would hope so, that would be really cool. Unique locations is always fun because then you can play them in the [WWE 2K] game.”
When asked what’s next for him in WWE, Rhodes claimed to TMZ that he did not know. An Undisputed WWE Championship rematch against Gunther looks like a possibility after Rhodes retained in controversial fashion at Clash in Italy on Sunday. WWE is also teasing Rhodes and World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns picking back up their rivalry.
Cody Rhodes on ‘Street Fighter’ movie —
Rhodes (playing Guile) and Reigns (Akuma) both have roles in the upcoming “Street Fighter” movie from Legendary Entertainment, which is set for an October 16, 2026 release. Rhodes spoke to TMZ about the project.
“Street Fighter is an absolute hit. [Director] Kitao Sakurai did a great job with that movie — great job. I saw a piece of it the other day. [You’ll] be very impressed,” he said. “It’s amazing. I hope people go and see it, October. Really fun time making it.”
NJPW wrestler Hirooki Goto is also in “Street Fighter,” playing the character E. Honda.
When the Women’s World Champion’s name appeared on the bracket for this year’s Queen of the Ring tournament, it left many confused, as the winner of the tournament will get a title match at SummerSlam. But during the Clash in Italy post-show, Morgan made it clear why she’s in.
“It had me thinking of all the people that say Liv Morgan isn’t worthy of being champion, and you know what that made me think? That made me think that I am entering the Queen of the Ring tournament because I want it all,” she said. “I want it all, so I’m taking it all. Because I am the greatest Women’s World Champion of all time.”
Elsewhere, Sol Ruca will face Lyra Valkyria while Ric Flair faces Jade Cargill. The other side of the bracket has a four-way match pitting Roxanne Perez against IYO SKY, Giulia, and Lash Legend. Bayley will face Raquel Rodriguez, while Jacy Jayne faces Kiana James.
The most detailed look at the sale of New Japan, what happened, the glory days that Bushiroad built and why it came down and what led to the sale.
Business realities of Japanese wrestling today.
The reason for the surprising low sale price.
The shareholders lawsuit against Vince McMahon and the WWE Board of Directors is getting near. Judge Travis Laster orders sanctions against Nick Khan and Vince McMahon for destruction of evidence. Laster makes a ruling, and we look at it in detail, on how this changes the trial and the exact details of the destruction of evidence including when McMahon and company knew not to do it and ignored their own lawyers. Also we look at problems with the case.
AEW Double of Nothing coverage. Business notes, historical biggest gates in U.S. pro wrestling, three-time world champions by 30, how the PPV did, poll results, Mick Foley and more.
Did Ronda Rousey set a viewing audience record for MMA, plus coverage of Rousey vs. Carano, how everything goes forward, can things be sustained, can she fight, will she fight, her thoughts on AEW.
Scott Coker returns to MMA with a new promotion.
Marcel Barthel (Ludwig Kaiser) arrested.
A look at the career of Jerry Grey.
The most detailed look at the ratings for all the TV shows over the past two weeks.
Mistico injury update.
How CMLL is doing this year compared to last year.
Natalia Jiminez and J Balvin appear and are part of CMLL shows.
Wrestlers vs. media soccer game.
Grande vs. Grande match looked at.
Major return to Stardom.
Champion Carnival finals.
NOAH tag team tournament.
New Japan Best of the Super Juniors tournament.
Hana Kimura tribute show.
Phil Hickerson passes away.
WCW announcer is the final anchor as CBS News Radio closes its doors after 99 years.
Death of the Laguna version of Piloto Suicida.
Junior Hodge Trophy winner.
Advance ticket sales for all major events in AEW, WWE, TNA and other indies.
Pro wrestler/fighter on the Rousey-Carano undercard.
WWE stars purchase promotion.
Tony Khan media appearances.
More thoughts on how Paramount/Skydance can affect AEW.
What can affect the time slot of Collision in 2027.
— Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Grande de los Noches, Clash in Italy, Holly Holm, Ray Stevens, Collision, King & Queen of the Ring, Copa Juniors, and assorted other topics with Wrestling Observer Radio.
— I’ll save the talk of today’s show for tonight. I will say that if you have not seen the main event from Noche de los Grandes, you should drop everything and do it as quickly as you can. The Grande Kaiser vs. Grande Gable match is a candidate for best match and a probable winner for best feud of 2026. But that is not the big news from the show.
— The big news is that WWE is now taking direct aim at CMLL, which should surprise nobody. With CMLL announcing its anniversary show for 9/18 at Arena Mexico, WWE has now announced a SmackDown on 9/11, TripleMania on 9/13 and Raw on 9/14 all at Arena Ciudad in Mexico City. Mexico City is the No. 1 pro wrestling market in the world by leaps and bounds, but even that is stretching things. TripleMania should sell out and the anniversary show will sell out, and I think Raw will as well. SmackDown I’m not sure about. But just the fact WWE will book TV in Mexico City, and specify it the week before the anniversary show indicates something that eventually was going to happen, but is happening now. The TripleMania show is traditionally in August and was clearly moved back a month because September is anniversary month, but adding the tapings was something more as WWE had been okay with AAA vs. CMLL, but adding WWE to the mix takes things up. I suspect there will be AEW talent on the CMLL shows both of those weekends.
— At last night’s show they announced the first night of Triplemania would be in Las Vegas at the Luxor Hotel’s HyperX Arena which, depending on the setup, holds 650 to 1,000. Fans in Monterrey last night were mad because they thought they “deserved” it. Why you are doing Triplemania in a building that small is a question for sure.
— The final three-hour episode of SmackDown for the next several months will be on 6/26. Many thought it would be this past weekend. But it is another month. The Braun Strowman Everything on the Menu show will be starting at 11 p.m. until July, when it likely moves to 10 p.m.
— We’re awaiting more of an update on Octagon Jr., who was injured on last night’s show in a match taped for later. But he was hurt significantly.
— Atlantis Jr. was taken off all shows through the end of the month.
— Jacob Fatu was injured in Liverpool on Thursday night. On the broadcast they tried to act like that wasn’t the case. It may play into why today’s match wasn’t nearly as good as the first Roman Reigns vs. Fatu match.
— We’re looking for your thoughts on Clash in Italy and Grande de los Noches from AAA last night. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle for each show as well as a best and worst match of each show to [email protected]
— Paul Levesque before the show claimed something would happen on this show that would change the foundation of WWE. I have no idea what he was talking about.
— Nice tribute to Dennis Condrey at last night’s Collision show in Huntsville, AL. Condrey was living in Huntsville when he passed away in March. Bobby Eaton grew up in Huntsville. The Midnight Express was the best tag team of its era.
— For the shows and topics this weekend, here are the Google searches as of earlier today:
Clash in Italy – 52,000 Holly Holm vs. Stephanie Han boxing for the world lightweight title – 22,000 UFC in Macau – 40,000 AAA Grande de los Noches – 10,000 Real American Freestyle – 10,000 Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship – 5,000
— Steveson debuted in RAF last night and beat Alexandr Romanov via tech fall in the second round. Colby Covington beat Chris Weidman 5-4 in the semifinal. FOX Nation did stream the show for free live last night. Steveson challenged both Abdulrashid Sadulaev and Amir Hossein Zare to wrestling matches in RAF.
— With the win, Covington will face Arman Tsarukyan.
— Merab Dvalishvili suffered a broken nose in his tech fall win over Frankie Edgar. The two bonked heads, causing the broken nose. He had just recovered from a broken nose in training.
— For WWE on A&E tonight:
8 p.m. – WWE Rivals on the feud between The Miz and Daniel Bryan
9 p.m. – Seth Rollins vs. Triple H
10 p.m. – LFG featuring Mike Derudder (Dorian Von Dux now) vs. Elio LeFleur
11 p.m. – WWE Greatest Moments on ladder matches
11:30 p.m. – WWE Greatest Moments on Bret Hart
— Best of the Super Juniors updated standings:
A Block
Titan and Master Wato – 10
Jun Kasai, Nick Wayne, Kosei Fujita, Robbie X and Francesco Akira – 8
Ryusuke Taguchi – 6
Valiente Jr. – 4
Daiki Nagai – 0
B Block
El Desperado – 10
Sho, Yoh, Taiji Ishimori and Robbie Eagles – 8
Daisuke Sasaki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Hyo and Jakob Austin Young – 6
Kushida – 4
— Dralistico returned to action during the ROH tapings for AEW last night in Huntsville. He teamed with Lee Johnson, Blake Christian and Jay Lethal in a loss to The Outrunners, Dalton Castle and Adam Priest.
— The MVPW show with Han vs. Holm for the title drew the largest combat sports gate in the history of the El Paso County Coliseum, drawing a sellout of 7,000 fans. Many people believe Holm should have won the title and it was another robbery coming off the poor judging in the Oleksandr Usyk vs. Rico Verhoeven heavyweight title fight last week. Holm outlanded Han by a significant margin but two judges gave it 96-94 to Han and one had it 95-95. I’ll probably talk about it either tonight or tomorrow night, but Holm did have a sizable edge in strikes landed.
— Former NFL star Greg Hardy, who fought in UFC for years after his NFL career ended, missed weight by 25 pounds. Hardy weighed 292 pounds and lost via third-round stoppage.
— Villano III Jr. beat Zandokan Jr. Friday night at Arena Mexico to win the Copa Juniors. Atlantis Jr. was to face Villano III Jr. but he’s out with an injury. Very good match, many called it the best of the weekend. It wasn’t for experimenting with flashy moves, but that’s not all of pro wrestling. It did have great heat as well.
— Jushin Liger will be appearing for TMart Promotions at The Gathering from 7/22 to 7/26 in Charlotte, NC at the Hilton University Place. Liger will be there on 7/26.
— 72-year-old Tony Atlas won the ISPW Tri-State Championship in a tag team match last night in Wallington, NJ. Atlas and Joe Clean beat Anthony and Angel Reyez, and if Anthony was pinned he would lose the title. Atlas will defend the title on 7/23 in Wildwood, NJ.
Jade Cargill has found a target following Clash in Italy.
As Charlotte Flair was seen leaving the arena, Cathy Kelley asked Flair about her relationship with Rhea Ripley. Before she could respond Cargill, B-Fab, and Michin attacked. The 3-on-1 beatdown continued until security ran in to break things up. Flair recovered enough to tell Cargill and her group to continue the fight.
Flair helped Rhea Ripley retain at Clash in Italy
Flair played a pivotal part in the WWE Women’s title match that took place at Clash in Italy on Sunday, wiping out both Michin and B-Fab at ringside after they interfered. Back in the ring, Cargill hit Ripley with Jaded, but Flair put Ripley’s foot on the ropes. Ripley then gained the advantage, pinning Cargill after hitting the riptide.
After Cargill lost the title to Ripley at WrestleMania 42, she took time off before returning and making it clear she was coming back to take the title away from Ripley. But she and her group have also crossed paths with Flair and Alexa Bliss, who have formed an uneasy alliance with Ripley following confrontations with Fatal Influence. Cargill went further on Friday’s SmackDown, sending Bliss onto a chair with Jaded.
Cody Rhodes & Roman Reigns are teasing following Clash in Italy.
After the show went off the air, WWE on social media posted a video of the two having a brief staredown. Rhodes nodded during their interaction before quickly walking past the World Heavyweight Champion.
Reigns took a shot at Rhodes after Clash in Italy
Reigns retained his title on Sunday, defeating Jacob Fatu in a Tribal Combat match. But after the match, he had pointed words for the WWE Champion, making it clear who he felt was at the very top of WWE.
“Now they know who the head of the table is, who the capitan of the ship is…QB1? F*** that noise. It’s the Tribal Chief,” Reigns declared as he made his exit.
Later in the post-show, Rhodes gave his response.
“I think it’s a unique position for me to be in, for me to say something negative or for him to say something negative about me, and for the simple fact that he doesn’t have two wins over me, I don’t have two wins over him. He beat me once, and I beat his a** once. So, I don’t know. Add him to the list,” he said. “We said Gunther can get a rematch whenever he wants it, come and get it. Easy to find, hard to beat, that goes for Roman Reigns as well.”
Rhodes was also successful Sunday in Turin. In the opening match, he defeated Gunther, albeit in a controversial way, as the referee counted three despite Gunther managing to get his foot on the ropes.
The brackets for the King and Queen of the Ring tournament are now out.
On the Clash in Italy post-show, WWE officially announced the men’s and women’s tournament brackets. The finals will take place at Night of Champions on June 27 in Saudi Arabia. The winners will then earn title matches that will take place at SummerSlam.
The brackets include two four-way matches
The 2026 men’s King of the Ring bracket (Image credit: WWE)
The men’s side will open tomorrow on Raw with a four-way match that will feature Penta, Oba Femi, Solo Sikoa, and Carmelo Hayes. The other bracket features Dominik Mysterio taking on Bron Breakker, Trick Williams, and Damian Priest.
On the other side of the men’s bracket, Seth Rollins will face Je’Von Evans, Tama Tonga, and Ricky Saints. The other match has Jey Uso, LA Knight, Royce Keys and Finn Balor.
Brackets for the Queen of the Ring tournament (Image credit: WWE)
The women’s side will have Liv Morgan, who is already the Women’s World Champion, squaring off against Becky Lynch, Alexa Bliss, and Chelsea Green. The winner of that will face the winner of the Sol Ruca, Lyra Valkyria, Charlotte Flair, and Jade Cargill match.
The other side of the women’s bracket features Roxanne Perez, IYO SKY, Giulia, and Lash Legend while Bayley will face Raquel Rodriguez, Jacy Jayne, and Kiana James.
Last year’s winners were Cody Rhodes and Jade Cargill. Rhodes went on to defeat John Cena at SummerSlam for the WWE title while Cargill was initally unsuccessful against Tiffany Stratton, only to win it later in the year.
