Full coverage of AEW Revolution, keys to the show, the returns and surprises, poll results and other business notes, thoughts on the matches
Notes on Tony Khan’s attempt to buy WWE in 2023 that came out this week
Updates on WrestleMania with confirmed matches, matches not announced but are on the schedule, the 31.6% off ticket sale, comparisons of demand for tickets with last year, potential matches and more on how matches were changed, as well as Steve Austin talks
AAA Rey de Reyes update, a look at the promotion and how it differs from WWE and CMLL and what comes next
A look at what happened in the ring when referee Dallas Edwards suffered a medical emergency in the ring during a match and the response issues
The most detailed look at the ratings for all the major television and streaming shows of WWE, AEW and TNA, demos, comparisons, competition numbers and placings
Claudio Castagnoli draws his first Arena Mexico sellout as CMLL world champion
Notes on the other major shows of the week in Mexico
Stardom Cinderella tournament finals and the top matches for the company’s biggest show of the year
Champion Carnival blocks
New Japan Cup notes
Manami Toyuota and never going to WWE and would it have mattered
Sareee talks her WWE stint
Kendo Kashin on Tadao Yasuda
45th anniversary of the Tiger Mask debut and the best woman wrestler in the world at that time is still holding a championship today
NCAA wrestling tournament notes
Ted DiBiase Jr. trial notes
Ticket sales for upcoming WWE, AEW, TNA, Tokyo Joshi Pro, Rousey vs. Carano and more shows
Mistico sells out San Jose three weeks in advance and thoughts on the show
Former WWE champion in boxing match
Ricochet, Gates of Agony and Mercedes Mone in Europe
TNA new business deal
Ricochet Twitter controversy
Former AEW and WWE champion appears this weekend on one of the most-watched TV shows
AEW contract notes
Zuffa makes choice not to accept a commission regulation and will do it themselves
Gina Carano talks about how UFC tried to stop the Carano vs. Cyborg fight from happening
WWE in Saudi Arabia thoughts
WWE’s deal with Front Office Sports and some thoughts
Kane wished his brother The Undertaker a happy birthday: “Happy birthday to the @undertaker! Yes, you burned down the family home, encased my real father, Paul Bearer, in concrete, and set me on fire…a couple of times…but otherwise you’re the best big brother anyone could ever hope for!”
Motorhead’s Lemmy will be added to the WWE Champions mobile game via a new event.
Academy Award-winning makeup artist Rick Baker shared a painting of CM Punk and AJ Lee’s dog Larry on social media: “A painting I recently did for a friend who’s beloved dog named Larry Talbot passed away.”
Eddie Kingston & Ortiz vs. Adam Priest & Tommy Billington has been added to this Friday’s ROH x MLP Global Wars event.
Red Velvet will also defend the ROH Women’s TV Championship on the show against Alice Crowley.
Paul Walter Hauser has been cast in the upcoming ‘Scooby-Doo’ live action series.
Bear Bronson talked to Sean Ross Sapp detailing how he signed with TNA: “TNA is a place that I’ve always loved as a fan. To me, it’s a place where people get to grow into being the best versions of themselves that they can. So right off the bat hearing those rumblings, I was like, ‘That sounds great.’ I was in a position then to where on the Indies, I’m having fun. I get to be me, I’m in full control myself, I’m having fun. I’m not even looking to get signed anywhere. But I heard that and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s that sounds really cool. If that is to happen, great. That sounds awesome.’”
Full coverage of AEW Revolution, keys to the show, the returns and surprises, poll results and other business notes, thoughts on the matches
Notes on Tony Khan’s attempt to buy WWE in 2023 that came out this week
Updates on WrestleMania with confirmed matches, matches not announced but are on the schedule, the 31.6% off ticket sale, comparisons of demand for tickets with last year, potential matches and more on how matches were changed, as well as Steve Austin talks
AAA Rey de Reyes update, a look at the promotion and how it differs from WWE and CMLL and what comes next
A look at what happened in the ring when referee Dallas Edwards suffered a medical emergency in the ring during a match and the response issues
The most detailed look at the ratings for all the major television and streaming shows of WWE, AEW and TNA, demos, comparisons, competition numbers and placings
Claudio Castagnoli draws his first Arena Mexico sellout as CMLL world champion
Notes on the other major shows of the week in Mexico
Stardom Cinderella tournament finals and the top matches for the company’s biggest show of the year
Champion Carnival blocks
New Japan Cup notes
Manami Toyuota and never going to WWE and would it have mattered
Sareee talks her WWE stint
Kendo Kashin on Tadao Yasuda
45th anniversary of the Tiger Mask debut and the best woman wrestler in the world at that time is still holding a championship today
NCAA wrestling tournament notes
Ted DiBiase Jr. trial notes
Ticket sales for upcoming WWE, AEW, TNA, Tokyo Joshi Pro, Rousey vs. Carano and more shows
Mistico sells out San Jose three weeks in advance and thoughts on the show
Former WWE champion in boxing match
Ricochet, Gates of Agony and Mercedes Mone in Europe
TNA new business deal
Ricochet Twitter controversy
Former AEW and WWE champion appears this weekend on one of the most-watched TV shows
AEW contract notes
Zuffa makes choice not to accept a commission regulation and will do it themselves
Gina Carano talks about how UFC tried to stop the Carano vs. Cyborg fight from happening
WWE in Saudi Arabia thoughts
WWE’s deal with Front Office Sports and some thoughts
— Bryan and I will be back with Wrestling Observer Radio tonight covering Raw and the rest of the news.
— TNA did 250,000 viewers and an 0.04 in 18-49 which is good considering NCAA men’s basketball tournament games did big numbers on numbers on CBS, TNT and TBS on Thursday.
— The Thursday night matches from the NCAA wrestling tournament did 366,000 viewers but an 0.12 in 18-49. With the exception of Gutfeld on FOX News in hour three, wrestling, on ESPN, was the highest rated show in its time slot aside from college basketball, on all of cable.
— Raw tonight is from Boston and one would expect a big number given Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar are both on the show, as are CM Punk and Becky Lynch. Matches include Penta vs. Dominik Mysterio for the IC title (this was scheduled for last week’s show but Dominik was injured in his match with El Hijo del Vikingo at Rey de Reyes), Bayley & Lyra Valkyria vs. Asuka & Kairi Sane and Je’Von Evans vs. Grayson Waller.
The last number we had was 12,200 tickets out so this should be sold out, if not it will be very close.
— New Japan Sakura Genesis on 4/4 at Sumo Hall:
Kushida & Masatora Yasuda vs. Tatsuya Matsumoto & Taisei Nakahara
Togi Makabe & Tiger Mask vs. Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita
Shingo Takagi & Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Jake Lee & Francesco Akira & Jacob Austin Young
Aaron Wolf & Toru Yano & Yoh & Master Wato vs. Don Fale & Douki & Sho &N Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi & Oleg Boltin defend the Never trios title against Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
Konosuke Takeshita defends the World TV title against Shota Umino
Yuto-Ice & OSKAR defend the IWGP tag titles against Zack Sabre Jr & Ryohei Oiwa
Yota Tsuji vs Callum Newman for the IWGP heavyweight title
— Variety reported that the television show Starfleet Academy on Paramount is being canceled. The second season, already completed, has been filmed. Becky Lynch was a regular cast member of the show.
— Titan suffered a broken right foot. No more word on the severity.
— Jeff Jarrett is now co-owner of the Nashville Kats Arena Football League team. President Jeff Fisher announced that Jarrett is now Managing Partern and co-owner oof the Arena Football One league team. The team opens its season on 4/17 and plays at FUM Bank Arena in Clarksville, TN.
— The Usos will appear Wednesday night at the Major League Baseball season opener on Netflix between the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees at Oracle Park. Something happened regarding Netflix and Anthony Bowens as apparently he was to be featured, and he will stil be there, but not featured.
He wrote, “I was looking forward to helping out The Giants again Opening Night on Wednesday but Netflix took over and unfortunately that got YEETED away. I’ll still be there though. I’ll see you at Oracle. Go Giants.” Yes, you think this doesn’t get petty?
— Nino Hamburguesa showed up on Friday’s Clash show in Tijuana using the name Burger Boy.
— 3/27 Global Wars at St. Clair College in Windsor, ONT is sold out with Ricochet vs. Rich Swann, Athena vs. Taylor Rising for the ROH women’s title, Rohjan Raja vs. Stu Grayson for the PWA title and an announcing team of Mauro Ranallo, Ian Riccaboni and Don Callis. It will be available on Triller PPV.
— Promociones Cantu tonight in Nuevo Laredo has Alberto El Patron & Jack Morris & Metalik (Gran Metalik in WWE) vs. Carlito & Galeno del Mal & El Texano Jr.,the Infamous Cuatrero & Mascara Ano 2000 & El Ijo de Mascara 2000 vs. El Hijo de Dos Caras & Super Nova & Mocho Cota Jr.
— Tomorrow at Arena Mexico is headlined by Atlantis Jr. & Templario & Mascara Dorada vs. Angef de Oro & Averno & Yutani.
— Hiroyoshi Tenzan turns 55 today. Tyson Tomko turns 50. Terry Ray Gordy Jr. turns 47. Duke Keomuka was born on this day in 1921. Omar Atlas/Buddy Moreno was born on this day in 1938. 70s woman star Heather Feather was born on this day in 1949. Villano III, the Hall of Famer, was born on this day in 1952. Skull Murphy was 39 when he passed away 56 years ago today. Wally Karbo was 77 when he passed away 33 years ago today. Brian Cox was 33 when he passed away 23 years ago today. (thanks to Tony Richareds)
— Gail Kim was inducted into the women’s wrestling Hall of Fame on Saturday in Brentwood, NY along with Melina Perez and Juia Hammer, Sweet Saraya, the mother of the current Saraya. as well as Mercedes Martinez, Debbie Maneko, Jasmin St Clair, Linda Dallas, Mickie Knuckles, Missy Sampson, Penelope Paradise, Carmela Foss, Mimi Hagiwara and Olympic wrestlers Nataia Vorobieva of Russia and Pang Qianyu of China, as well as Laurene Landon, the star of the movie “All the Marbles,” who was trained by Mildred Burke and did most of her own stunts in the movie.
— West Coast Pro and Pro Wrestling Revolucion did a joint show yesterday afternoon as part of the Warriors’ Mexican Heritage Night at the plaza in Thrive City outdoors outside the Chase Center. Alan Angels & Aaron Solo won the West Coast Pro tag titles from The Crush Boys, Titus Alexander & Starboy Charlie. The main event was Vinnie Massaro & Misteriso beat Los Suavecitos. Tthey would like to run Thrive City three times per year. (thanks to Derek Sousa)
— Insane Wrestling Revolution on 5/21 in Wyandotte, MI at Grizzly’s Bar and Grill with Trey Miguel, Jason Hotch, Sam Beale and more. (thanks to Paul Meade)
— Green Mountain Wrestling on 5/17 at the ElksLodge in Barre, VT headlined by Carlito.
Full coverage of AEW Revolution, keys to the show, the returns and surprises, poll results and other business notes, thoughts on the matches
Notes on Tony Khan’s attempt to buy WWE in 2023 that came out this week
Updates on WrestleMania with confirmed matches, matches not announced but are on the schedule, the 31.6% off ticket sale, comparisons of demand for tickets with last year, potential matches and more on how matches were changed, as well as Steve Austin talks
AAA Rey de Reyes update, a look at the promotion and how it differs from WWE and CMLL and what comes next
A look at what happened in the ring when referee Dallas Edwards suffered a medical emergency in the ring during a match and the response issues
The most detailed look at the ratings for all the major television and streaming shows of WWE, AEW and TNA, demos, comparisons, competition numbers and placings
Claudio Castagnoli draws his first Arena Mexico sellout as CMLL world champion
Notes on the other major shows of the week in Mexico
Stardom Cinderella tournament finals and the top matches for the company’s biggest show of the year
Champion Carnival blocks
New Japan Cup notes
Manami Toyuota and never going to WWE and would it have mattered
Sareee talks her WWE stint
Kendo Kashin on Tadao Yasuda
45th anniversary of the Tiger Mask debut and the best woman wrestler in the world at that time is still holding a championship today
NCAA wrestling tournament notes
Ted DiBiase Jr. trial notes
Ticket sales for upcoming WWE, AEW, TNA, Tokyo Joshi Pro, Rousey vs. Carano and more shows
Mistico sells out San Jose three weeks in advance and thoughts on the show
Former WWE champion in boxing match
Ricochet, Gates of Agony and Mercedes Mone in Europe
TNA new business deal
Ricochet Twitter controversy
Former AEW and WWE champion appears this weekend on one of the most-watched TV shows
AEW contract notes
Zuffa makes choice not to accept a commission regulation and will do it themselves
Gina Carano talks about how UFC tried to stop the Carano vs. Cyborg fight from happening
WWE in Saudi Arabia thoughts
WWE’s deal with Front Office Sports and some thoughts
— Our Friday show with Garrett Gonzales talked about news of the week including AEW’s big PPV and TV ratings numbers of the past week, WWE WrestleMania news, the ratings controversy, Ronda Rousey, New Japan Cup and more. Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Dennis Condrey, the weekend TVs, Arena Mexico, New Japan Cup and more.
— Very sorry to hear about the death of Dennis Condrey of Midnight Express fame at the age of 74. We’ll have a major story on him this week. Condrey was a very good wrestler practically from the start. Dennis Condrey & Phil Hickerson held multiple tag team titles in Tennessee and were one of the best teams in the country in the mid-70s, when Condrey was in his early and mid 20s. He was one of those guys on Georgia television when it went national where he was not a main eventer, but was an obvious great worker. He had all the mechanics down, and was good in every facet of the in-ring. His offense was solid and innovative. His selling was great for babyface comebacks. He could impart comedy, seriousness, aggression and drama if need be in his matches.
The Original Midnight Express was Condrey & Randy Rose in the Gulf Coast, and later Norvell Austin joined the group with the gimmick there were three of them but any pairing of the three could wrestle. The Midnight Express of Condrey & Bobby Eaton managed by Jim Cornette was put together in the famed talent swap of Jerry Jarrett and Bill Watts in late 1983 that led to Mid South Wrestling having the best year in its history.
The Midnight Express feuded with Magnum TA & Mr. Wrestling II, The Rock & Roll Express, The Fantastics and had their record setting feud with Bill Watts & Stagger Lee (Junkyard Dog) which was the most successful few week period in the history of the territory including drawing more than 26,000 fans to the Superdome in New Orleans. They went to Jim Crockett Promotions during the hottest period in that company’s history as well.
Condrey disappeared and Stan Lane replaced him on the team. Condrey had said he wanted them to take the offer to go to WWE and the others didn’t want it, but he just left and later just talked abouot being burned out. Stan Lane took his place. Condrey & Rose resurfaced as the Original Midnight Express in the AWA, managed by Paul Heyman. Eventually they did a Condrey & Rose with Heyman feud with babyfaces Eaton & Lane & Cornette in WCW.
Condrey continued to wrestle after that program but was never really in a national high profile situation after that. Eaton & Condrey were one of the greatest tag teams of all-time. If you wanted ot say they were best ever in the U.S., I would not argue. If you want to say they were not one of the ten best ever, I would argue. They were so innovative with their moves, but they were two excellent and completely different stye wrestlers with one of the three greatest managers of all-time at this peak. They had the ability to have good matches with everyone, and with teams like The Rock & Roll Express and Fantastics, had the best tag team matches of that era and some of the best ever in the U.S.
— We have a story on the high rating for Wednesday’s show up on the site in our premium story lists.
— There is a giant story in television that we touched on Friday. Essentially, new data has shown that more people are watching television than streaming, contradicting data from the past year. Changing of methodologies for ratings has led to a lot of weirdness dating back to September when wrestling and UFC numbers fell badly for reasons unclear since that was not the case for other sports.
While other programming did drop, there was no real pattern of what did and didn’t including on the same stations and time slots. Then at the end of January, there was the adjustment to where wrestling total viewer numbers are back to what they were previously, and in the case of AEW, actually ahead, but 18-49 numbers are still far lower.
This latest change in calibrations would not have affected individual ratings of pro wrestling shows, but TV in general was undercounted by about 15 percent. The Wall Street Journal on Thursday noted this. The new figures weren ‘t released on 3/17 but there were complaints from streaming platforms, as YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Roku, where overall viewers dropped significantly under the new method.
Then Neilsen did not release the numbers at all, And the word is they won’t release this new info until the fall. This has then led to those in the linear television business to say they are losing credibility by holding back info that shows television is far more watched than believed. However, streaming is expected to continue gaining and television decreasing, just that the figures that showed streaming ahead in the past are believed to now be inaccurate.
— For stuff that will impact wrestling, we are told Nielsen’s next adjustment is likely for April and we are told this will also be a major change. How wrestling is affected by this won’t be known until a few weeks after the change.
— One person who knows and understands Nielsen better than anyone I know, and who knows people at Nielsen, said those at Nielsen realized streaming numbers were too high and there are shifts in algorithms being done. Nielsen used the term methodological innovation but the person said that was a euphemism for the actual term of “we f***ed up.”
— Collision is on tonight at 11 p.m. or later after the NCAA basektball game on TNT
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Lio Rush
Orange Cassidy & Roderick Strong vs. Lee Johnson & Jay Lethal
Megan Bayne & Lena Cross vs. ?
Mistico & Kevin Knight & Mike Bailey vs. Josh Alexander & Konosuke Takeshita & El Clon for the trios titles. This is the match where Alexander injured his knee.
— Chris Jericho guest stars on the highly rated CBS show Tracker tonight at 9 p.m. Jericho plays a lead villain on the show.
— In Friday’s update, we mentioned the UBS Arena would be the site of TNA Slammiversary according to Carlos Silva. A Silva interview saying that came out on Friday but by the end of the day it was noted that things had changed and that was no longer in the plans.
— Bandido does have a visa issue and is missing some non-AEW appearances. President Trump in January granted a number of sports leagues exemptions from needing visas for its performers to come into the country. AEW, UFC and WWE were all on the list, so that would seem to mean he would be okay to work in AEW.
We do know even if there is an issue, that athletes and entertainers can perform in Canada without visas and with TV’s in Edmonton and Winnieg and the PPV in Vancouver, if they wanted him on those shows he would be able to do there.
— In a crazy thing noted to us, after the UFC show last night in London at the O2 Arena, not one reporter asked Dana White about Ronda Rousey. White was asked a few days ago about Nate Diaz, and said that Diaz was offered a ton of money to fight on the 5/16 Rousey vs. Carano show and White said he should take it.
I odn’t know if Joe Rogan is reliable on this or not, but he said he heard the number was $10 million for one fight. White said that after the fight they are still open to using Diaz.
— White was asked about Jon Jones claiming UFC offered him $15 million to face Alex Pereiera on the White House show and White said that while people in the company may have negotiated with Jones, that he was never going to allow Jones on the show. It is so weird with White constantly saying he wouldn’t be on the show and all the negotiations that did take place for it to happen.
— Yesterday’s main event was a No. 1 contender for the featherweight title fight between unbeatens Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy, which Evloev won 48-46, 48-46 and there was a 47-47 score. However, media scores were that 71 percent had it a draw and 29 percent had Murphy winning and none scored it for Evloev.
Fan scores on MMA Decision had 44 percent had it as a draw, 26 percent for Evloev and 24 percent had Murphy. Ben Cartildge had Evloev winning one, three and five, four as even (due to a foul point) and Murp0hy winning round two. Derek Clearly had it the same. Clement Werner had Murphy winning one and two and Evloev taking three and five.
— Sareee’s 15th anniversary show took place today in Yokohama with Saree & Takumi Iroha over Chihiro Hashimoto & Syuuri plus Natsupoi ver 90 star Kaoru Ito.
— Alexxis Falcon beat Alex Windsor today to win the British women’s title inRevPro. Falcon beat Mercedes Mone and Windsor on successive days.
— Penn State not only won the team title at the NCAA tournament that took place Thursday through Saturday in Cleveland, but set the all-time record for most tournament points, and had four national champions. Even more notable is that a major feud has stated with Penn State, headed by Cael Sanderson, and Oklahoma State, headed by David Taylor.
Younger stars were not born during the Sanderson heyday and have no connection to his career,but do know of Taylor as the best U.S. wrestler from a few years back. Three Oklahoma State freshmen, Sergio Vega, Landon Robiedeau and Jax Forrest all won titles. Vega and Forrest both went undefeated. Vega was never taken down all season.
Forrest’s story is crazy. He was a high school senior in the fall semester, but graduated early and enrolled in Oklahoma State in January. He joined the team during the season and won the NCAA title.
— Sanderson would not mention Oklahoma State when talking about winning the title but how bad things are happening, noting a high schooler was pulled out of his senior year to be in the tournament and was unhappy about how his wrestlers were being actively recruited to leave.
He also noted that Taylor did not mention Penn State once during the tournament while other coaches congratulated them on winning the national title and setting the record.
— The flag football games that involved Tom Brady and Logan Paul took place yesterday in Los Angeles. Originally, it was to be in Riyadh. Brady, after catching a pass over Paul, threw the bell in Paul’s chest which got a lot of attention.
The Los Angeles Times outright speculated all of this is a build for WrestleMania, saying that coordinated promotional stunts by Brady, Paul and Rob Gronkowski are designed to boost viewership and social media engagement to both the game and Mania, and called it all fake.
— We don’t have more details, but on Friday in Lakeland, FL, in a match with Lexis King & Stacks Lorenzo & Charlie Dempsey & Uriah Connors vs. Elio LaFleur & Tavion Heights & Eli Knight & Kale Dixon there were two injuries. King was rocked in the match.
Reports live were that people thought he suffered a concussion but that diagnosis has not been confirmed. But the match continued. LeFleur then suffered an arm injury, they did the “X” and the match was stopped suddenly.
— Also in NXT, former UFC and Rizin fighter Ulka Sasaki, on loan from NOAH, debuted in the ring on both NXT shows.
— SmackDown numbers for Friday outside the U.S. on Netflix were way down for whatever reason, but the show was No. 1 for the day in Canada, Mexico and New Zealand.
— The first ever meeting of Konosuke Takeshita vs. celebrity wrestler Kaisei Takechi will be a main match on 8/11 for a DDT show at Sumo Hall. Takeshita wrestled on today’s show agrainst Kazuki Hirata.
He won in seven seconds. Hirata wanted a rematch and Taeshita won in ten seconds. Takeshita ripped Hirata, saying this was so bad that we’ll probably only get a tiny photo in Weekly Pro Wrestling and said that I wouldn’t even rate a match so bad.
Anyway, to make it fair, they did a third match where Hirata would only need a two count pin to get the pin and Takeshita would need a 20 count pin to win. Takeshita won that match via submission.
— Regarding weekend Google searches, the flag football game involving Logan Paul and Tom Brady where they shot an angle was No. 24 with 100,000 searaches. The UFC show yesterday had 82,000 searches. The NCAA wrestling tournament had 28,000. Logan Paul had 10,000 Dennis Condrey had 5,000 and John Cena had 2,000.
— Ivy Nile will be competing in a bodybuilding contest in seven weeks.
— Masato Tanaka vs. Mark Davis, Bandido vs. Galeno de l Mal, Latigo & Toxin vs. Danny Black & Joe Lando vs. Ben K & Hyo vs Starboy Charlie & Star Man, Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Anderws vs . Lee Johnson & Blake Chrsitian, Headbangers vs. Rhino & Heath Miller (Slater) are on the 4/16 Mark Hitchcock Super Show in Las Vegas.
— Kirk White’s Big Time Wrestling from Friday night in Newark, CA in a show that sold out well in advance:
Jheri Giggalo b Hunter
Vinnie Massaro b Marcus Lewis
Los Sauavicotos b Cajun Catch Revival
QT Marshall b Alan Angels
Aarn Solo b Alpha Zo
Vert Vixen b Sara Leon (said to be excellent, standing ovation)
Viva Van b Siren Veil
Andrade b Bad Dude Tito (said to bde excellent as well) (thanks to Jim Davis)
— Wayne Bloom/Beau Beverly turns 68 today. Eddie Dennis turn s40. Beat Priestley turns 30. Hisashi Shinma was born on this day in 1935. Villano V was born on this day in 1962. Joe Blanchard was 83 when he died on this day 14 years ago Captain Ed George, the son of The Sheik, was 76 when he died on this day five years ago. Bill Mercer was 99 when he died one year ago today (thanks to Tony Richards)
— Ricky Morton will be teaching this week at the Performance Center.
— House of Glory from last night in Suffolk County:
Angel Jacquez over JJP, Jodi Aura, Rahemem Royal, Tiny Giant, Papadon and KB Prime Indi Hartwell b Deonna Purrazzo Daron Richardson b Jey Silva to keep the cruiserweight title The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) b Midas Black & Jay Lion Sammy Guevara b Amazing Red Mina Shirakawa b women’s champion Shotzi in a non-title match Dijak b Charles Mason-DQ so Mason Retained the HOG title
They run 4/16 in as Vegas (thanks to Samuel Rosenthal)
— Jason Kincaid said that his final match for Innovate Wrestling will be 4/11 in Kingsport, TN at NetPro Studios.
Full coverage of AEW Revolution, keys to the show, the returns and surprises, poll results and other business notes, thoughts on the matches
Notes on Tony Khan’s attempt to buy WWE in 2023 that came out this week
Updates on WrestleMania with confirmed matches, matches not announced but are on the schedule, the 31.6% off ticket sale, comparisons of demand for tickets with last year, potential matches and more on how matches were changed, as well as Steve Austin talks
AAA Rey de Reyes update, a look at the promotion and how it differs from WWE and CMLL and what comes next
A look at what happened in the ring when referee Dallas Edwards suffered a medical emergency in the ring during a match and the response issues
The most detailed look at the ratings for all the major television and streaming shows of WWE, AEW and TNA, demos, comparisons, competition numbers and placings
Claudio Castagnoli draws his first Arena Mexico sellout as CMLL world champion
Notes on the other major shows of the week in Mexico
Stardom Cinderella tournament finals and the top matches for the company’s biggest show of the year
Champion Carnival blocks
New Japan Cup notes
Manami Toyuota and never going to WWE and would it have mattered
Sareee talks her WWE stint
Kendo Kashin on Tadao Yasuda
45th anniversary of the Tiger Mask debut and the best woman wrestler in the world at that time is still holding a championship today
NCAA wrestling tournament notes
Ted DiBiase Jr. trial notes
Ticket sales for upcoming WWE, AEW, TNA, Tokyo Joshi Pro, Rousey vs. Carano and more shows
Mistico sells out San Jose three weeks in advance and thoughts on the show
Former WWE champion in boxing match
Ricochet, Gates of Agony and Mercedes Mone in Europe
TNA new business deal
Ricochet Twitter controversy
Former AEW and WWE champion appears this weekend on one of the most-watched TV shows
AEW contract notes
Zuffa makes choice not to accept a commission regulation and will do it themselves
Gina Carano talks about how UFC tried to stop the Carano vs. Cyborg fight from happening
WWE in Saudi Arabia thoughts
WWE’s deal with Front Office Sports and some thoughts
WWE SmackDown 3/20/26 graphic (Image credit: via WWE)
— Garrett Gonzales and I have our week in review show and there is a ton of news to cover this past week, from the Revolution fallout, to the 2023 Tony Khan bid on WWE, New Japan Cup, WrestleMania updates and a giant weekend of major shows. Bryan and I will be back Sunday night covering the weekend shows
— So here’s a very Nielsen story. It came out with the new figures from the 1/26 changes in Nielsen that television’s gains and streaming losses were part of updated research. The new data was going to be released as the biggest swing of television vs. streaming in history in the direction of television according to reports. Now the data will not be released as such. Michael Mulvihill on X said that “the streamers whined and Nielsen caved. Under pressure following this WSJ (Wall Street Journal) story Nielsen has elected to put on these improvements until the fall. Meanwhile, the hard-earned credibility of the important Gauge report is shot until Nielsen moves to the new method as promised.”
— AEW Dynamite on Wednesday did 730,000 viewers and a 0.13 in 18-49, the most viewers for an AEW television show since the last two sets of changes were put in place. In a weird stat, over 50 viewers were the most since late 2022 or early 2023, even more significant because those years did not include streaming on MAX while these numbers don’t include the HBO MAX numbers.
— There is an article in the issue covering the PPV numbers but we don’t have an estimate yet regarding how big the show did. Apparently word of mouth was such that replay buys are very high.
— Carlos Silva announced TNA Slammiversary would return this summer at the UBS Arena on Long Island.
— SmackDown tonight in Raleigh, NC has Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu, Tama Tonga & Tonga Loa vs. Damien Priest & R-Truth for the tag titles, Nia Jax & Lash Legend vs. Bella Twins for the women’s tag titles, Motor City Machine Guns vs. Fraxiom plus Randy Orton appears and Kit Wilson and Jelly Roll will continue their angle. There were 12,601 tickets out as of last look so the show will be close to sold out if not sold out.
— All In tickets were put on sale today to the public as were G-1 Climax tickets for 7/11 at the NOW Arena in Chicago. We don’t have any update on sales at this time past that G-1 tickets were not selling well at all. There are lots of tickets left for Wembley Stadium but there could be lots of tickets left and it would still be a good first day.
— Callum Newman beat Shota Umino and Yuya Uemura beat Oleg Boltin in today’s New Japan Cup semifinals. I loved Uemura vs. Boltin. If you like a wrestling match where they actually wrestle and struggle and come off legit, this is your match. Not flashy, just high-level pro technical style. Newman vs. Umino went 30:03 and was very good after the 22:00 mark but the period building to that was just okay. The finals are tonight from Nagaoka starting at 1 a.m. Eastern and 10 p.m. Pacific time: • Masatora Yasuda vs. Taisei Nakahara • Konosuke Takeshita defends the TV title against a surprise wrestler • Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Taichi & El Desperado & Satoshi Kojima • Yoh & Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Douki & Sho & Yoshinobu Kanemaru • Shota Umino & Tomoaki Honma vs. Great O’Khan & Henare • Oleg Boltin & Aaron Wolf & Toru Yano vs. Ren Narita & Don Fale & Dick Togo • Yota Tsuji & Yuto-Ice & Oskar & Daiki Nagai vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson & Kosei Fujita • Uemura vs. Newman for the New Japan Cup
— Ted DiBiase Jr. was found not guilty today of all charges as part of his trial of misappropriations of Mississippi welfare funds. DiBiase was facing 13 counts related to conspiracy, wire fraud, theft and money laundering.
— CMLL has one of its biggest events of the year tonight, El Homenaje a Dos Leyendas at Arena Mexico. The show will honor Salvador Lutteroth, who founded the company in 1934, and El Satanico, an all-time great, who retires tonight after almost 53 years as an active name pro wrestler. It is available on the CMLL YouTube page as part of the subscription, and is also a Triller PPV, starting at 9:30 p.m. Eastern tonight: • Dark Silueta & Lluvia & Valkiria & Zeuxis vs. Catalina & Jarochita & Persephone & Skadi • Ultimo Guerrero vs. Rey Bucanero vs. Toscano vs. Averno vs. Mephisto vs. Euforia in the Copa Infernal • El Satanico vs. Atlantis vs. Blue Panther in Satanico’s retirement match • Marcela vs. Magnifica vs. Princesa Sugehit (loser loses their hair) • Hombre Bala Jr. vs. Max Star vs. Calavera Jr. I vs. Calavera Jr. II vs. Virus vs. Cancerbero vs. Polvora vs. Coyote (loser loses their hair or mask) • Mistico & Mascara Dorada & Neon vs. Jon Moxley & Daniel Garcia & Wheeler Yuta for the CMLL trios titles • Claudio Castagnoli vs. Hechicero for the CMLL heavyweight title
— Arena Coliseo goes for its 13th sellout in a row tomorrow night with Atlantis Jr. & Flip Gordon & Titan vs. Averno & Cavernario & Volador Jr. in the main event. Sunday’s Arena Mexico has Titan & Mascara Dorada vs. Cavernario & Difunto on top, which is likely to be great, plus Angel de Oro vs. Esfinge.
— AAA on YouTube at 9 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night has Rey Fenix & Mr. Iguana & Lola Vice vs. Money Machine & La Hiedra, Psycho Clown & Pagano vs. War Raiders for the AAA tag titles
— UFC runs tomorrow at 1 p.m. Eastern on Paramount+ from the O2 Arena in London: • Shantelle Dyer (116) vs. Ravena Oliveira (116.5) – Oliveira missed weight by 0.05 pounds • Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady (156) vs. Shem Rock (156) • Louis Sutherland (264) vs. Brando Pericic (264) • Mantas Kondratavicius (185) vs. Antonio Trocoli (185) • Mario Pinto (257) vs. Felipe Franco (227) • Nathaniel Wood (146) vs. Lerone Murphy (146) • Mason Jones (156) vs. Axel Sola (156) • Danny Silva (145) vs. Kurtis Campbell (145) • Roman Dolidze (186) vs. Christian Leroy Duncan (186) • Ivo Baraniewski (206) vs. Austen Lane (205) • Michael Venom Page (171) vs. Sam Patterson (170) • Luke Riley (146) vs. Michael Aswell (145) • Movsar Evloev (146) vs. Lerone Murphy (145)
— NCAA tournament in Cleveland tonight has Penn State having eight wrestlers in the semifinals, which I believe is an all-time record. The show airs on ESPN2 tonight: • 125 – Luke Lilledahl (Penn State) vs. Troy Spratley (Oklahoma) • Jacob Moran (Indiana) vs. Jore Volk (Minnesota) • 133 – Jax Forrest (Oklahoma State) vs. Aaron Siede (Virginia Tech) • Marcus Blaze (Penn State) vs. Ben Davino (Ohio State) • 141 – Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) vs. Luke Sainich (Lehigh) • Brock Hardy (Nebraska) vs. Sergio Vega (Oklahoma State) • 149 – Shayne Van Ness (Penn State) vs. Chance Lamer (Nebraska) • Lachlan McNeil (Michigan) vs. Aden Valencia (Stanford) • 157 – PJ Duke (Penn State) vs. Landon Robideau (Oklahoma State) • Tyu Watters (West Virginia) vs. Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) • 165 – Michael Mesenbrink (Penn State) vs. Cesar Alvan (Columbia) • Mikey Caliendo (Iowa) vs. Joey Blaze (Purdue) • 174 – Levi Haines (Penn State) vs. Patrick Kennedy (Iowa) • Christopher Minto (Nebraska) vs. Cam Steed (Missouri) • 184 – Rocco Welsh (Penn State) vs. Brock Mantanona (Michigan) • Max McEnelly (Minnesota) vs. Angelo Ferrari (Iowa) • 197 – Josh Barr (Penn State) vs. Joey Novak (Wyoming) • Stephen Little (Little Rock) vs. Cody Merrill (Oklahoma State) • 285 – Yonger Bastida (Iowa State) vs. AJ Ferrari (Nebraska) • Taye Ghadiali (Michigan) vs. Isaac Trumble (NC State)
— Among the birthdays today are Sting (67), Sick Boy (53), Homicide (49), Matt Taven (41), Jonathan Gresham (38) and Damon Kemp (27). Former NCAA champion and top pro Ralph “Ruffy” Silverstein was born on this day in 1914. Paul Christy was born on this day in 1939. Johnny Powers was born on this day in 1943. Referee Rick Hazzard was born on this day in 1954. John Studd was 47 when he passed away 31 years ago today. Sailor Art Thomas was 79 when he passed away 23 years ago today. Baron Mikel Scicluna was 80 when he passed away 16 years ago today. Sir Oliver Humperdink was 62 when he passed away 15 years ago today. Perro Aguayo Jr. was 35 when he passed away 11 years ago today. (thanks to Tony Richards)
— 1 Fall Wrestling (QT Marshall’s group) is doing an Arn Anderson Homecoming show in Rome, GA, where he grew up as Marty Lunde, tomorrow night at the Forum River Center. Appearing are Andrade, Jeff Jarrett, Jay Lethal, Brock Anderson, Harley Cameron and Paul Walter Hauser. There will be an Anderson meet and greet.
Updates on WrestleMania, how we got to Rhodes vs. Orton and feuds that are starting
A look at the UFC White House show and how we got here
Full UFC 326 coverage including the most viewers of a TV UFC show since Paige Van Zant vs. Michelle Waterson
A look at the new AEW streaming service
NXT Vengeance Day coverage and poll results
Odds on upcoming pro wrestling matches
Logan Paul’s grandstand challenge to football players gets several takers, including some big names, but nothing can transpire and how it ended
Full coverage of the 16 Carat Gold tournament in German featuring many of the best independent wrestlers in the world
A complete look at the TV ratings from all the pro wrestling shows over the past week, including breakdowns in various categories, placings, how Raw did on Netflix, competition and more
CMLL’s lineup for its No. 2 show of the year next week
Full rundown of the CMLL all women’s show onFriday
Konnan news
Behnid the Nino Hamburguesa firing
Rey de Reyes notes
Stardom Cinderella tournament news
New Japan Cup and anniversary show news
Pro wrestler and MMA star looks back at a fixed fight and more comments including the Japanese attempt to get a major WWE star to job in an MMA match to theri guy
Notes on a new promotion debuting
Attendance updates for future WWE, AEW, TNA and other shows including Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano.
Giant weekend in Europe including the two big Eve shows and the controversy
TNA future direction
Notes from the Tony Khan media call
Putting recent Collision numbers into perspective
How Zuffa boxing’s biggest show did
Rousey vs. Carano and Rousey’s promotional tactics as well as responses from other fighters
Lots of new UFC fights
Jake Paul’s women’s boxing group makes ESPN deal
Changes to the WWE writing team
ESPN reporting side does exactly what they said they wouldn’t do regarding pro wrestling
Logo for Amazon’s “American Gladiators” revival. (Image credit: Amazon)
WWE
Sports Business Journal reports that WWE is revamping its online auction platform and will be offering more event-used items:
WWE is revitalizing its auction platform with event-used products, starting by auctioning off a Stone Cold Steve Austin event-worn knee brace from WrestleMania 38 — the site of his final match. That piece sold for $58,000. The new auction platform will give fans access to purchase historically relevant and impactful products. WWE plans to auction more exclusive content during WrestleMania 42 weekend, set for April 16-20 in Las Vegas. More unique products will be announced at a later date.
If you grew up in the 80s and 90s like I did… you watched American Gladiators.
As a kid, there was nothing bigger than WWE and American Gladiators. The Superstars and the Gladiators were larger than life.
So to not only be a @wwe Superstar for the past 20 years… but to now be the host of this reboot… I’m incredibly proud and honored.
And let me tell you, this was a true team effort.
From the absolute powerhouse Gladiators… to the contenders with stories you’ll fall in love with…to @crose127 on commentary bringing the perfect mix of professionalism and humor…and @rocsidiaz absolutely knocking it out of the park.
Everyone brought their best to honor what you remember… and take it to a whole new level.
It’s a privilege to be part of it.
American Gladiators premieres April 17th on @primevideo.
Trust me… this is most must-see.
One week after his new persona was unveiled in a vignette, Luca Crusifino, a former member of the D’Angelo Family in NXT, was interviewed on WWE Evolve this week. Crusifino called himself the life of the party and said his rave-inspired character is all about PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity, and Respect).
WWE Vault uploaded a full house show that took place at the Boston Garden on March 8, 1986. It featured Hulk Hogan & Junkyard Dog facing off against Terry Funk & Dory Funk Jr.
Willow has been asking for weeks if she could perform my entrance… well, last night the crew went above and beyond to make her wish come true.
And she CRUSHED it!
Not only did the kid have no fear at all, but she even came up with an entire ‘dance routine’ to go along with each beat. The air guitar was my personal favorite.
After filming her full rehearsal with music and lights (no fire)… I was able to bring Willow into the truck to see how everything works behind the scenes. And they even surprised her once again by placing her name on the lower third graphic.
When I say, I found my wrestling home, I’m 100% sincere. I love this family.
On Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Candice Michelle said she hopes her new backstage role as an agent in TNA leads to her making an in-ring comeback for the company as well:
Being called to TNA as an agent, I think was a hope spot for me. And it brings me longevity. And when I can get in there and help these men and women win their dreams and their championships, that lasts a lifetime for me. And I always believe, like, when I teach my kids something, I don’t ever tell them to do something I’m not willing to do. And so if I get to have the opportunity to start over again and have a comeback, it will be one hell of a comeback.
Updates on WrestleMania, how we got to Rhodes vs. Orton and feuds that are starting
A look at the UFC White House show and how we got here
Full UFC 326 coverage including the most viewers of a TV UFC show since Paige Van Zant vs. Michelle Waterson
A look at the new AEW streaming service
NXT Vengeance Day coverage and poll results
Odds on upcoming pro wrestling matches
Logan Paul’s grandstand challenge to football players gets several takers, including some big names, but nothing can transpire and how it ended
Full coverage of the 16 Carat Gold tournament in German featuring many of the best independent wrestlers in the world
A complete look at the TV ratings from all the pro wrestling shows over the past week, including breakdowns in various categories, placings, how Raw did on Netflix, competition and more
CMLL’s lineup for its No. 2 show of the year next week
Full rundown of the CMLL all women’s show onFriday
Konnan news
Behnid the Nino Hamburguesa firing
Rey de Reyes notes
Stardom Cinderella tournament news
New Japan Cup and anniversary show news
Pro wrestler and MMA star looks back at a fixed fight and more comments including the Japanese attempt to get a major WWE star to job in an MMA match to theri guy
Notes on a new promotion debuting
Attendance updates for future WWE, AEW, TNA and other shows including Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano.
Giant weekend in Europe including the two big Eve shows and the controversy
TNA future direction
Notes from the Tony Khan media call
Putting recent Collision numbers into perspective
How Zuffa boxing’s biggest show did
Rousey vs. Carano and Rousey’s promotional tactics as well as responses from other fighters
Lots of new UFC fights
Jake Paul’s women’s boxing group makes ESPN deal
Changes to the WWE writing team
ESPN reporting side does exactly what they said they wouldn’t do regarding pro wrestling
It’s so taboo to talk about like, ‘Oh, he’s a wrestler and he’s talking about wanting to go from wrestling to acting.’ Yes, for sure, my body won’t be able to do this forever. So, for those who hate hearing it, yes, I want to get into acting. Who cares? I loved acting. I loved [CW’s] Wild Cards. I loved the whole experience. I thought it was really good, and it really gave me a sense of something that I’m able to do after this. [When] this life is over, and so, you know, the hope is more of that to come. And the network, they love me. They really did. They enjoyed me. They cherished me. All my fans. They said, ‘well, Ricky, you did great. You were a natural.’ And I say, ‘Yeah, can’t help it.’
I’ve always said I think I could play a really, really good Gambit [from X-Men]. I just need to learn how to throw cards and, you know, shuffle a deck. But, yeah, that’s like the top of the list. If I can get Gambit, it’s a wrap or Blade. Imagine me as Blade. I think I look good in leather.”
Sgt. Slaughter told Going Ringside that he was the only wrestler to go to Iron Sheik’s funeral when Sheik passed away in 2023:
In 2023, he passed. And I was the only wrestler at his funeral, which I thought was pretty horrendous, that I was the only wrestler to go to his funeral. And he lived in Atlanta where all the wrestlers lived, so I thought that was kind of a slap in the face. [Sheik did] so much not only for wrestlers but for the professional wrestling business.
Lilian Garcia was a guest on Busted Open Radio today. She noted that she’ll be doing some ring announcing at WWE’s summer 2026 European tour and will be in Las Vegas for WrestleMania 42 weekend:
To be able to get called back, to come back and still have a role. You know, Saturday Night’s Main Event, Worlds Collide. I’ll be doing some of the Europe tour now, they just let me know. And some things here at WrestleMania. It’s just always fun. It’s just in my blood.
When asked how WWE has changed across her different stints with the company, Garcia pointed to how much the Wellness Policy has cleaned up things in the locker room:
I just listened to the podcast with Chris Masters and Chris Van Vliet actually, and he was talking about some of the things that were happening with the Wellness Policy and how things have changed now and the partying that was before and the Wellness Policy, how it cleaned up a lot. And so it changed.
I think for me, that was really great to see too. Obviously, I think for all of us. You know, Tommy [Dreamer], you and I have experienced the loss of so many wrestlers dying way too young. When I started counting it one day, I’m like, ‘I’ve lost my fingers. All my fingers are gone. All my toes are gone. It’s crazy.’ And so I think that’s the biggest thing, that the wellness is better in there. And you’re not expected to be this monster of a wrestler to be able to be effective.
Liv Morgan will be appearing at a live podcast taping for Cody Rhodes’ “What Do You Wanna Talk About?” during the Wednesday of WrestleMania week.
He’s such an amazing partner. I love that I can speak my love language with my husband while training together. That’s a different level of trust. He understands who I am, and I understand who he is.
There’s so much going on outside of my bubble that I can’t control… It’s a lot. So I take it one week at a time.
We really try hard to carve out time for our son, too. Soccer practice, going to the farmers market, and just making time for family.
During an Instagram Q&A, Maki Itoh was asked what her biggest career goal is right now: “Go to the Tokyo Dome with STARDOM. And suddenly show up in AEW again..make the crowd want me, and leave for Japan right away lol”
Updates on WrestleMania, how we got to Rhodes vs. Orton and feuds that are starting
A look at the UFC White House show and how we got here
Full UFC 326 coverage including the most viewers of a TV UFC show since Paige Van Zant vs. Michelle Waterson
A look at the new AEW streaming service
NXT Vengeance Day coverage and poll results
Odds on upcoming pro wrestling matches
Logan Paul’s grandstand challenge to football players gets several takers, including some big names, but nothing can transpire and how it ended
Full coverage of the 16 Carat Gold tournament in German featuring many of the best independent wrestlers in the world
A complete look at the TV ratings from all the pro wrestling shows over the past week, including breakdowns in various categories, placings, how Raw did on Netflix, competition and more
CMLL’s lineup for its No. 2 show of the year next week
Full rundown of the CMLL all women’s show onFriday
Konnan news
Behnid the Nino Hamburguesa firing
Rey de Reyes notes
Stardom Cinderella tournament news
New Japan Cup and anniversary show news
Pro wrestler and MMA star looks back at a fixed fight and more comments including the Japanese attempt to get a major WWE star to job in an MMA match to theri guy
Notes on a new promotion debuting
Attendance updates for future WWE, AEW, TNA and other shows including Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano.
Giant weekend in Europe including the two big Eve shows and the controversy
TNA future direction
Notes from the Tony Khan media call
Putting recent Collision numbers into perspective
How Zuffa boxing’s biggest show did
Rousey vs. Carano and Rousey’s promotional tactics as well as responses from other fighters
Lots of new UFC fights
Jake Paul’s women’s boxing group makes ESPN deal
Changes to the WWE writing team
ESPN reporting side does exactly what they said they wouldn’t do regarding pro wrestling
— Bryan and I will be up tonight talking about AEW Revolution as well as the rest of the weekend news including SmackDown, New Japan Cup, Rey de Reyes, CMLL, Al Snow, and other news topics of the weekend.
— Regarding WWE and Saudi Arabia, while nothing has been said officially nor decided 100 percent, most are of the impression the July PPV there is unlikely to happen. Unless things change in the world, WWE won’t be going there due to the risk. There were two more shows scheduled this year plus Mania next year. All are contingent on the situation changing as right now big events scheduled for the country are not happening, wheter it be Formula 1, UFC, boxing or WWE. For WWE, it’s a significant loss of expected income.
— I want to make mention here of the death of Dave Newhouse, who was a major name in Bay Area sports dating back to his starting with the Oakland Tribune in 1964. Newhouse passed away yesterday at the age of 87. For decades he was the star sports columnist with the Tribune and among the most influential figures in Bay Area sports media for decades. He was a great writer and was one of the great sports historians when it came to the Bay Area sports scene. I worked with NIewhouse in the sports section from 1980-1985 and he was a guy who was a great influence on me because of how well he treated everyone. I think because we both went to San Jose State that he was very encouraging to me in this profession from the sport, even though he always encouraged me not to go into wrestling. I hadn’t seen him since we sat together at the second Strikeforce MMA show in San Jose in 2006. I can only recall once being a guest on his Sportsphone 68 radio show on KNBR. He wrote 19 books on sports, from boxing, baseball, basketball, football and track.
— Davey Coates, who was the International Tour Manager for WWE events in Europe, passed away yesterday. He had been batling cancer.
— AEW Revolution takes place tonight from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and it feels to me this show has the most interest of any AEW show since All In Texas. It has a strong match lineup in the sense that a number of different bouts have a shot at being match of the year place winning contenders (I’m going with the idea that no matches in all of 2026 have the potential to actually win match of the year as that race looks to be over). At press time there are 12,458 tickets out. It will be called a sellout. Not sure of stage size but WWE’s sellouts with full staging have been 14,000 and I originally saw 13,800 potential tickets. It’s a good number.
Zero Hour on YouTube and HBO MAX at 7 p.m.
Blackjack Battle Royal for National title: Ricochet, Tommaso Ciamap, Jack Perry, Rocky Romero, Trent Baretta, Rush, Dralistico, Scorpio Sky, Daniel Garcia, Anthony Bowens, Hook, Katsuyori Shibata, Juice Robinson, Austin Gunn, Ace Austin and six others
Big Boom AJ & QT Marshall vs Carlie Bravo & Shawn Dean
Willow Nightingale vs. Lena Kross for the TBS title
PPV at 8 p.m. • Darby Allin & Orange Cassidy & Roderick Strong vs. Gabe Kidd & Clark Connors & David Finlay • Willow Nightingale & Harley Cameron vs. Megan Bayne & Lena Kross for AEW tag team titels • Toni Storm vs. Marina Shafir everyone banned from ringside • Kazuchika Okada & Kyle Fletcher & Mark Davis vs. Mistico & Kevin Knight & Mike Bailey for trios titles • Thekla vs. Kris Statlander 2/3 falls for AEW title • Swerve Strickland vs . Brody King • Andrade vs. Bandido • Jon Moxley vs. KonosukeTakeshita no time limit for the Continental title, everyone banned from ringside • FTR vs, Yung Bucks for tag team titles • MJF vs. Adam Page for AEW title in a Texas death match. If Pager loses he can never get another shot at the AEW title for the rest of his career
— It’s a very tough night for business with the Academy Awards tonight, which last year drew more than 20 million viewers and was the most watched television show of 225 in the U.S.that was not a major football game. In addition, the U.S vs. Dominican Republic baseball game is expected to do a large audience, and both the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball championship brackets are being announced, with the men at 6 p.m. (just before the show starts) and women at 8 p.m.
— Looking for your thoughts on the 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]
— Marissa McMahon, the wife of Shane McMahon, was involved with the movie “Train Dreams” which is up for several Academy Awards tonight, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Cinematography. She was one of the producers of the movie.
— NXT will not be airing live in Chicago this week either. They have an election there so it will be news coverage of WGN. NXT is scheduled for 10:30 p.m. but culd start laer than that (thanks to Lance LeVine)
— Mila Smidt beat Mercedes Mone to win the EWA tite on Saturday.
— Missy Hyatt noted to us that her account has been hacked with people trying to push Bitcoin, and that her new Twitter account is @RealMissyHyatt
— This was a big weekend for great matches already. I did not see the AAA show yet, but New Japan tournament bouts of Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ryohei Oiwa (best I’ve seen in the tournament so far) and Yuya Uemura vs. Shingo Takagi, the Claudio Castagnoli vs. Ultimo Guerrero match where Castagnoli retained Friday at a sold out Arena Mexico, Andrade vs. Mascara Dorada aired last night (taped Wednesday) and every bit as good as these were a match last night in San Jose with Festuz vs. Rayo Star. The latter match reminded me of Will Ospreay Best of the Super Juniors matches of the 2010s. It was that good. Top tier if it was on a PWG show. I also heard the Rey de Reyes final from last night’s AAA show was great.
— Nattie vs Maxxine has been added to Raw tomorrow.
— New Japan Cup today in Yamanashi had quarterfinals with Oleg Boltin over Ren Narita and Yuya Uemura over Shingo Takagi in what I was told was a great match. Boltin vs. Uemura will be a semifinal match on Friday in Nagaoka.
— I was at last night’s Pro Wrestling Revolucion show in San Jose, CA which sold out with about 1,200 fans. The atmosphere at this show was completely different from any show I’ve seen in the Bay Area before. The closest is AAA shows in the early 90s here when they were loaded with talent. Mistico as a lead star is very different from anyone else today and quite different from seeing Blue Demon or Mil Mascaras as well. Maybe Perro Aguayo was the best comparison. More Bruno Sammartino than a Hulk Hogan or Rock or Roman Reigns. Mistico beat Misterioso to win the PWR title in the main event in 21:00 of a match with super crowd reactions, total face vs. heel with a heel ref in Sparky Ballard dressed up like Tirantes and totally over the top. It worked in this situation based on where they were going with all the slow counts as Mistico had it won via pin until he hit La Mistica and got the submission. Cucuy won a four-way over Esfinge, Mascara Dorada and Capitan Suicde whcih was great but short. Los Espantapajaros vs La Cruz Negra & Necrosis was also a great match. All four were trained at the PWR school in San Jose.
Their next show will be 3/22 in San Francisco at the Chase CenterThrive City.
— For Google searches, Kevin Vallejos, who looked great in beating Josh Emmett in the UFC main event last night, was No. 42 for searches for the weekend with 50,000. Jim Ross was No. 249 for his saying that Steve Austin won’t be wrestling at this year’s WrestleMania. That had 10,000. Drew McIntyre had 5,000. The UFC show overall did 65,000.
— Roxanne Perez is back training after surgery to remove a benign growth in her back. the surgery took place last mnth.
— Many were calling yesterday’s UFC show as the best UFC event so far this year. Viewership on Pramount+ was only down five percent from last week’s show. It was the third most watched television show on Paramount + yesterday behind South Park and Yellowstone, and including Movies, No. 5 overall. It was No. 1 among TV shows in Mexico and most of South and Central America for the day yesterday. But it was only No. 8 for the day in the U.S.
— CMLL sold out Arena Mexico Friday with 16,000 and Arena Coliseo last night with 6,000. I heard Neon vs. Yutani last night was great.
— Claudio Castagnoli defends the CMLL world heavyweight title against Hechicero this coming Friday.
— There were a lot of rumors when Soberano Jr. didn’t wrestle on Friday night at Arena Mexico that he might be jumping, but he did a public appearance yesterday for CMLL and is booked on shows there this week. He said he was sick on Friday and he’s not going anywehre..
— AAA sold out Rey de Reyes in Puebla last night. Domiinik Mysterio retained the Mega title over El Hijo del Vikingo and Grande Americano Kaiser won Rey de Reyes, plus Flammer tjhe women’s title over Bayley. Right now AAA the last few weeks have been easily the best WWE television show.
— Natsupoi will be appearing on Lady Luck II on 4/19 in Las Vegas at Noon at the Hyper X Arena.
— Geza Salmani, the former Rezar, scored a second round knockout over Dan Curtin last night at a Bare Knuckle Fighting show.
— Warrior Wrestling from Friday night in Chicago: Trevor Outlaw b Sam Beale, Tootie Lynn b Masearati, Jason Hotch b Musata Ali in a great match, Janai Kai b Lili, Mad Dog Connellly b Tinmothy Thatcher in a dog collar match, both bleeding. In n a series of matches for the Lucha title, Mortos & Spider Fly & Vengadora & Gringo Loco b Electro & Noisy Boy & Rafael Quintero & Magico, Gringo Loco & Vengador b Mortos & Spider Fly, leading to Gringo Loco b Vengador to win a great match and the Lucha title (thanks to Lance LeVine)
— Hanan beat her sister Rina to win the Stardom Cinderella tournament earlier today at the Yokohama Budokan. Hanan beat Aya Sakura in one semifinal and Rina beat Miyu Amasaki. Hanan will challenge Wonder of Stardom champ Konami.
— Mercedes Mone will be on the TV show Bar Rescue tonight on Paramount at 10 p.m.
— Tokyo Joshi Pro announced 3/29 at Sumo Hall they would have Miu Watanabe defending the Princess of Princess title against Yuki Arai, a tag title match with Yuki Kamifuku & Waka Uehara vs. The Iinspiration, Mirai vs. Suzume and Konosuke Takeshita & Yuka Sakazaki vs. Hyper Misao & Super Sasadango Machine.
— MJF turns 30 today. JD McDonagh turns 36 today. Hall of Fame promoter Lou Daro was born on this day in 1884. Cowboy Bob Ellis was born on this day in 1929. The Iron Sheik was born on this day in 1942. Argentina Rocca, one of the top draws in U.S.history, died on this day 49 years ago at the ageo of 55. Jeff Gaylord was 64 when he died on this day three years ago. 70 years ago today was the famous match where Whipper Billy Watson beat Lou Thesz via count out at a sold out Maple Leaf Garden in Toronto with Jack Dempsey as referee to end the longest NWA world title reign in history of seven years. Lou told me he wanted a break from the schedule so dropped it to Watson, who Thesz won the title back from in November that year in St. Louis, also via count out. (thanks to Tony Richards)
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.
Updates on WrestleMania, how we got to Rhodes vs. Orton and feuds that are starting
A look at the UFC White House show and how we got here
Full UFC 326 coverage including the most viewers of a TV UFC show since Paige Van Zant vs. Michelle Waterson
A look at the new AEW streaming service
NXT Vengeance Day coverage and poll results
Odds on upcoming pro wrestling matches
Logan Paul’s grandstand challenge to football players gets several takers, including some big names, but nothing can transpire and how it ended
Full coverage of the 16 Carat Gold tournament in German featuring many of the best independent wrestlers in the world
A complete look at the TV ratings from all the pro wrestling shows over the past week, including breakdowns in various categories, placings, how Raw did on Netflix, competition and more
CMLL’s lineup for its No. 2 show of the year next week
Full rundown of the CMLL all women’s show onFriday
Konnan news
Behnid the Nino Hamburguesa firing
Rey de Reyes notes
Stardom Cinderella tournament news
New Japan Cup and anniversary show news
Pro wrestler and MMA star looks back at a fixed fight and more comments including the Japanese attempt to get a major WWE star to job in an MMA match to theri guy
Notes on a new promotion debuting
Attendance updates for future WWE, AEW, TNA and other shows including Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano.
Giant weekend in Europe including the two big Eve shows and the controversy
TNA future direction
Notes from the Tony Khan media call
Putting recent Collision numbers into perspective
How Zuffa boxing’s biggest show did
Rousey vs. Carano and Rousey’s promotional tactics as well as responses from other fighters
Lots of new UFC fights
Jake Paul’s women’s boxing group makes ESPN deal
Changes to the WWE writing team
ESPN reporting side does exactly what they said they wouldn’t do regarding pro wrestling
— We did our week in review show with Garrett Gonzalez today, talking about AEW Dynamite, the WrestleMania build, Gedo’s booking, Ronda Rousey and UFC missing one of the things Vince McMahon was most adamant about, Dwayne Johnson discovering Austin Idol, best matches ever in San Jose, and next week’s Arena Mexico show. Bryan and I will be back Sunday night covering AEW Revolution.
— Many of you have seen the video from last night’s OVW show where referee Dallas Edwards went into convulsions during a match. He took a planned bump off a crossbody by Brendan Balling and laid there. Everyone kept doing what they were scheduled to do. Then he started convulsing. They continued to do what they were scheduled to do including Evans using his feet to move Edwards out of the way so he could keep doing whatever it was he planned to do. Edwards was convulsing and it was very clear they needed to stop everything. Eventually, way late, everyone stopped what they were doing in sensing the magnitude of what happened. His girlfriend posted about a brain injury later but didn’t go into further detail.
OVW is run by Al Snow,and there is the natural inclination to blame him even more because it was under his watch and because he’s been such a critic of safety standards in AEW under Tony Khan and it literally couldn’t make him look worse. It was inexperienced guys who just didn’t react fast enough to what was happening. Usually it’s the job of the referee in these situations to call it off, but it was the referee who was having the emergency. But the video is around, everyone reacted too slow and Evans in particular looked very bad. Going forward, this should be used as a learning tool at all levels of pro wrestling for what not to do. If someone is having a clear medical issue,the match needs to be stopped immediately. They did stop wrestling but the reaction took far too much time.
— Dynamite on Wednesday did 619,000 viewers with a 0.09 in 18-49. It was a tougher than usual Wednesday with the World Baseball Classic, the NBA, big news numbers due to the war, and multiple college basketball league tournament games. It was 15th for the night, 9th in the first hour and 4th in the second hour. It was behind several shows it usually beats.
— Tomorrow’s Revolution show has topped $1 million at the gate.
— In addition to the usual places internationally for AEW PPVs, DAZN will be streaming them live in 180 countries starting with Sunday’s show.
— I was at the Collision tapings that took place Wednesday night in San Jose. The Andrade vs. Mascara Dorada match was outstanding. We talked a lot about the tapings on today’s show and Wednesday’s show.
— There are some clips going around of President Trump talking with Jake Paul today. It is hilarious and sad on so many levels. Trump kept going on and on about how wonderful Dana White was and how great the White House show is while Paul just stood there. Paul always criticizes White and knocked the White House card, as almost everyone has done. Paul said he wanted to start fighting guys his own size, maybe do MMA, and Trump said he should fight Khabib. And he just stood there.
— Arena Mexico tonight at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time has Claudio Castagnoli vs. Ultimo Guerrero for the CMLL heavyweight title, Atlantis Jr. & Templario & Titan vs. Angel de Oro & Soberano Jr. & Volador Jr., Esfinge & Flip Gordon & Xelhua vs. Barbaro Cavernario & Yutani & Gran Guerrero. Arena Coliseo goes for its 12th straight sellout tomorrow night with a battle of three rudo teams with Ultimo Guerrero & Gran Guerrero & Stuka Jr. vs. Averno & Mephisto & Euforia and Barboza & Difunto & Furia Roja, plus Neon vs. Yutani. Sunday at Arena Mexico has Atlantis Jr. & Esfinge & Titan vs. Angel de Oro & Cavernario & Volador Jr.
— So the notable thing is Mascara Dorada is not booked so he could be in the Blackjack Battle Royal.
— Colby Covington said he was mad about being left off the UFC show at the White House. Bo Nickal said that he has not signed for his fight with Kyle Daukaus on the show and said he would fight Covington instead if they wanted him to.
— We’re looking for reports this weekend from tomorrow night’s MLW show in Atlanta, NXT in St. Petersburg,FL and Gainesville, FL as well as tnight from Phoenix with any dark matches to [email protected]
— We are doing our usual PPV poll on Sunday for Revolution. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
— Today in the New Japan Cup in Kanaoka saw Callum Newman beat Hartley Jackson and Hirooki Goto beat Jake Lee to advance. This leads to Newman vs. Goto on Tuesday.
— El Homenaje a Dos Leyendas week starts Monday in Puebla, runs Tuesday in Guadalajara and the big show is Friday in Mexico City. Monday has Atantis Jr. & Templario vs Volador Jr. & Soberano Jr., and Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja defend the CMLL tag titles against Dorada & Neon.
— AAA Rey de Reyes from Puebla tomorrow night airs one hour live on YouTube at 10 p.m. Eastern with Dominik Mysterio vs. El Hijo del Vikingo for the AAA Mega title, a Flammer open challenge for the Reina de Reinas title and the Rey de Reyes final with Grande Americano Kaiser vs. Grande Americano Gable vs Santos Escobar vs. La Parka.
— Vikingo in an interview with Denise Salcedo and in other interviews this week teased the idea of going to WWE.
— UFC is from the Apex tomorrow starting at 5 p.m.Eastern time
Piera Rodriguez (116) vs. Sam Hughes (116)
Elijah Smith (136) vs. SuYoung You (136)
Bia Mesquite (135.5) vs. Montes Rendon (135)
Luan Lacerda (136) vs. Hecher Sosa (135.5)
Bolaji Oki (155.5) vs. Manoel Sousa (155)
Chris Curtis I170.5) vs Myktybek Orolbal (170.5)
Brad Tavares (186) vs, Eryk,Anders (186)
Charles Johnson (126) vs. Bruno Silva (126)
Vitor Petrino (248.5) vs. Steven Asplund (265.5)
Marwan Rahiki (146) vs. Harry Hardwick (145.5)
Andre Fili (145.5) vs. Jose Miguel Delgado (146)
Ion Cutelaba (205) vs. Oumar Sy (205.5)
Amanda Lemos (116) vs. Gillian Robertson (116)
Josh Emmett (146) vs. Kevin Vallejos (145.5)
— For the last month, this was the approximate male/female percentages of viewers in 18-49 for the different TV shows.
NXT 63.8 percent male
Dynamite 64.9 percent male
SmackDown 63.8 percent male
Collision 60.4 percent male
So there’s no great discrepancy or disparity
— Candice Michelle was signed by TNA to become an agent and producer. for women’s matches. Beats me.
— Mistico and Mascara Dorada will be headlining tomorrow night in San Jose, CA, at Mount Pleasant High School.
— MLW is taping at Center Stage in Atlanta tomorrow which is almost sold out. Teddy Long is advertised as a special guest. No matches announced but Matt Riddle, Shotzi Blackheart, Kushida, Austin Aries, Titan, Karl Anderson, Doc Gallows, Isla Dawn, Priscilla Kelly, Donovan Dijak, Alex Hammerstone, Paul London, Matt Justice, Ikuro Krown and Okumura are on the show.
— My longtime friend Kurt “Vandal Drummond” Brown turns 64 today. Masakatsu Funaki turned 57. Matt Jackson of The Young Bucks turned 41. Len Montana, a headliner who became a fairly well known actor, was born on this day 100 years ago. Geoff Portz, one of the great British wrestlers of the 60s and father of Scott McGhee, was born on this day in 1935. Magnificent Maurice/Gene DuBurque wsa 46 when he died 42 years ago. Kurt Von Hess was 56 when he died 27 years ago. Arnold Skaaland, a former part-owner of WWWF, storyline manager of Bruno Sammartino and Andre the Giant, longtime wrestler and promoter, was 82 when he died on this day 19 years ago. Andrew “Test” Martin was 33 when he died 17 years ago today. Dennis Stamp, a former college star who was a solid pro best known for Beyond the Mat, was 70 when he died nine years ago.(thanks to Tony Richards)
— Kirk White’s Big Time Wrestling on 3/20 at the Newark, CA, Pavilion is sold out with Andrade vs. Bad Dude Tito, which sounds like a great indie match, Aaron Solo vs. Alpha Zo, QT Marshall vs. LJ Cleary, Viva Van vs, Siren Vell, Vinnie Massaro vs. Marcus Lewis, VertVixen vs. Valentina Rossi and more.
— Innovate Wrestling has the Smoky Mountain Cup tonight and tomorrow night in Kingsport, TN as the Beautiful Bobby Eaton Arena at Netpro Studios. The tournament celebrates the 24th anniversary of the promotion.
— Warrior Wrestling runs Logan Square Auditorium for the first time tonight since the brewery they usually run at has roofing issues that needed emergency repairs. Mustafa Ali and Beast Mortos are the headliners.
More on the Paramount purchase of WBD and details of when it goes through, if it goes through and details on how it helps or hurts UFC, AEW and Zuffa Boxing as well as a cost efficiency look at the three properties for 2027 if plans go through as stated.
The road to WrestleMania and why Paul Levesque is in a position where it’s impossible for him to do the job people want and impossible for him to fail, business notes on the show, and a look at the Elimination Chamber show, how it did on Netflix, the good and the bad.
Preview and updates on AEW Revolution and interest level
Odds on upcoming wrestling matches
Coverage of the New Japan New Beginning USA show in Trenton with two title changes
A look at the Demolition tag team as they go into the WWE Hall of Fame
The most detailed look at the ratings of all the pro wrestling TV shows, including demos, competition and comparisons with last year.
Johnny TV in the most heated match so far this year with Angel de Oro
Why AAA television is so entertaining
Stardom Cinderella tournament notes
Brothers face off in NOAH jr. tag tournament final
New Japan Cup first two days
Final night of Fantastica Mania notes
Jeff Jarrett documentary
Wrestler out of prison starts working on indices this week
Real American Freestyle angle
Update of the robbery of the Canadian promotion and the Davey Boy Smith Jr. Hall of Fame ring
John Laurinaitis wants back in to wrestling
16 Carat Gold weekend in Germany
Pro Wrestling Eve has biggest show of its history this week
Brodie Lee Jr. first singles match date
Steph De Lander talks why she and Mance Warner quit TNA
Notes on David Finlay signing with AEW
ROH first TV tapings in a studio
UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight title updates
Lots of new UFC fights
Updates on WWE front office news and changes
The story behind leaking fast nationals
WWE accused of deleting key information in a lawsuit
More notes on the WWE deal with Endeavor and how it went down
Janel Grant speaks in favor of changing Connecticut law on NDAs
Bianca Belair update
WWE sends out unchecked email to network subscribers causing a panic
WWE and White Hat Studios have partnered together to launch the casino game “WrestleMania: Road to Gold” that is now available through the Fanatics Casino app:
WWE, part of TKO Group Holdings, and White Hat Studios announced the official branded slot, WrestleMania: Road to Gold, will launch exclusively with Fanatics Casino beginning today.
Available only in the United States, the new online casino game for real money wagering in regulated markets will harness the star power of 20 marquee names from the WWE, including fan-favorites Cody Rhodes and Rhea Ripley just in time for WrestleMania 42, which will return to Las Vegas, on April 18-19, 2026.
The Unlock Trail gameplay takes players on a journey through WWE Premium Live Events, with progressive bonus mechanics inspired by SummerSlam, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, and Money in the Bank. Each milestone intensifies excitement and win potential before culminating in the legendary WrestleMania showdown. The action in WrestleMania: Road to Gold, is further elevated by the unmistakable voice of Michael Cole, transporting players ringside and ensuring the entire storytelling experience is underpinned by authenticity.
The breadth of personalities and events integrated makes WrestleMania: Road to Gold one of the most comprehensive and immersive IP games brought to market. Drawing on more than 70 years of entertainment heritage, WrestleMania: Road to Gold is designed to capture the spirit of WWE’s iconic brand, providing WWE fans across regulated US iCasino markets with a new way to interact with the global brand.
On the Rich Eisen Show, New York Giants star Cam Skattebo addressed the WWE Raw appearance he made at Madison Square Garden last November, which drew some criticism from the New York media due to Skattebo getting physically involved shortly after undergoing season-ending surgery:
I got some plates and screws in there. I mean, at that point, it’s already screwed in and put plates on. So I felt like I was okay to do whatever I wanted to. You know, it’s not like it was going to break or anything. I was behind a wall, having a good time with my boys, teammates were out there backing me up. If something really broke down, I know I had my boys behind me that were going to start going with me.
It was pretty sweet. Yeah, I used to watch WWE with some family members, [with] my grandpa growing up. I actually haven’t watched it in a really long time up until this point. It was pretty cool to be a part of it.
Obviously John Cena was one of them [Skattebo’s favorite wrestlers]. It was actually pretty cool to work with Dom Mysterio because his dad was somebody that I kind of watched all the [time]. You know, the 619 was something we did in the house off the couches and stuff. So it was something fun for us.
Charlotte Flair spoke with Sports Business Journal about becoming an angel investor in Self-Care Is For Everyone, a clothing and lifestyle brand that promotes mental wellness:
As a female that’s approaching 40, I started thinking about what’s next for me and what feels organic and real. A lot of my career, I felt like I had to hide whether I had anxiety or mental health issues that are taboo to talk about. Whether I make money or don’t, for me right now, I’m investing in something that’s going to help other people. I hope that investing and spreading awareness really does help.
While doing media to promote May’s Clash in Italy PLE, Chelsea Green was asked what she would do if she were named WWE general manager for one night:
My first official move as general manager would be to have as many women on the card as I possibly can. And I want to mix it up. I want you to see, you know, a girl you might call a top girl wrestle someone lower on the card.
I want to switch things up. And I want to make sure that U.S. title has a spotlight. We’ve actually seen Giulia do amazing work with the U.S. title, but you know me, as your first, fourth, and almost final United States Women’s Champion, I want even more. I want to see more of that U.S. title. So I think that’s what I would do. You know, who cares about the boys? I care about the girlies.
Jade Cargill made an appearance on the Hawks AF podcast from the Atlanta Hawks.
This week’s AEW Unrestricted episode is a Revolution preview featuring an interview with Konosuke Takeshita.
MJF had (mostly) kind words for indie wrestler “Fancy” Ryan Clancy in an interview with Undisputed:
I’ve had my eye on [Clancy] for quite some time now. He’s very special. A traditionalist and a minimalist bell to bell, much like myself. He’s strategic and athletic, also much like myself. Unfortunately, he’s quite ugly. But if he gets signed to a major wrestling promotion, that’s what money is for–he’ll find himself a good plastic surgeon and he could be a top guy.
Fabian Aichner, who has not wrestled anywhere since his release from WWE in February 2025, has returned to social media after a long absence. He captioned a new Instagram post with “New chapter.”
More on the Paramount purchase of WBD and details of when it goes through, if it goes through and details on how it helps or hurts UFC, AEW and Zuffa Boxing as well as a cost efficiency look at the three properties for 2027 if plans go through as stated.
The road to WrestleMania and why Paul Levesque is in a position where it’s impossible for him to do the job people want and impossible for him to fail, business notes on the show, and a look at the Elimination Chamber show, how it did on Netflix, the good and the bad.
Preview and updates on AEW Revolution and interest level
Odds on upcoming wrestling matches
Coverage of the New Japan New Beginning USA show in Trenton with two title changes
A look at the Demolition tag team as they go into the WWE Hall of Fame
The most detailed look at the ratings of all the pro wrestling TV shows, including demos, competition and comparisons with last year.
Johnny TV in the most heated match so far this year with Angel de Oro
Why AAA television is so entertaining
Stardom Cinderella tournament notes
Brothers face off in NOAH jr. tag tournament final
New Japan Cup first two days
Final night of Fantastica Mania notes
Jeff Jarrett documentary
Wrestler out of prison starts working on indices this week
Real American Freestyle angle
Update of the robbery of the Canadian promotion and the Davey Boy Smith Jr. Hall of Fame ring
John Laurinaitis wants back in to wrestling
16 Carat Gold weekend in Germany
Pro Wrestling Eve has biggest show of its history this week
Brodie Lee Jr. first singles match date
Steph De Lander talks why she and Mance Warner quit TNA
Notes on David Finlay signing with AEW
ROH first TV tapings in a studio
UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight title updates
Lots of new UFC fights
Updates on WWE front office news and changes
The story behind leaking fast nationals
WWE accused of deleting key information in a lawsuit
More notes on the WWE deal with Endeavor and how it went down
Janel Grant speaks in favor of changing Connecticut law on NDAs
Bianca Belair update
WWE sends out unchecked email to network subscribers causing a panic
PWInsider reports that, prior to his appearance on NXT last night, William Regal had not been seen at the Performance Center for some time and also had not been on the road with the main roster for an extended period. The report says it’s expected that Regal and Fit Finlay will be regulars on NXT going forward for their role with NXT’s Birthright faction.
Cody Rhodes appeared on a new episode of Complex’s Graps podcast. He’ll also be the guest on a new edition of Insight with Chris Van Vliet this Friday.
Three months ago I fractured my nose, and that’s why you haven’t been seeing Chantel Monroe in action these past couple of Wednesdays… but don’t worry divasss I’m officially fully cleared, back, and ready to give EVOLVE the sparkle it’s been missing #wwenxt #wwe
Renee Paquette spoke to TV Insider about how much she enjoys passing on knowledge to up-and-coming female broadcasters in the wrestling industry:
I love to be able to help the other girls. That’s something I didn’t have as much time to do when I was in WWE. With the time I spent there, and the things I learned there and the experience I have for the duration of my career, I love being able to help these other girls out. Someone like Lexi [Nair] I think has grown so much. She is so great and awesome to work with. She always has a good attitude. She always wants to learn more. She will be doing Ring of Honor tapings till whatever time in the morning. She wants to be there and get better.
It’s the same for Arkady Aura. I’m not a ring announcer, so I can’t contribute with that, but with all the prep she does wanting to get all the names right and pronunciations right, especially when you have all these wrestlers coming in. You have guys from CMLL and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, so you want to make sure you’re on your game with that stuff. To see these girls grow and develop, I love that. Even with the WWE side, to see what Jackie Redmond has been able to do over there. Her and I go way back, so it’s really fun for me to see her in that role at WWE.
TV Insider asked Paquette if her daughter Nora understands what her mother and father (Jon Moxley) do for a living:
Oh yes. She is very into it. She has really gotten into watching women’s wrestling, which is really fun for me to get to show her some stuff. She doesn’t love watching dad wrestle so much because it’s much scarier. It’s cool to see her soak it all in. One day she is like, ‘Mommy, I want you to teach me everything about broadcasting.’ The next day she’ll tell me she wants to be a wrestler like dad. I think she has a good comprehension of what we both do. Maybe not the gravity of it or the magnitude, but she has an understanding. It is funny being a parent and watching your kids soak up that environment. I sort of pull myself out of it wondering what her first memories are going to be of walking into the women’s locker room with me, and there are all these amazing female athletes and characters, and all the people who see backstage getting there earlier in the day. She sees the stage and set and how the show comes together. I wonder if she is going to think about that when she is older.
I’m a massive control freak. It’s like, these are the colors. This is my logo. I design it. I was working with somebody and I was telling him it’s gonna be a mix of a spider with a hazard sign, right? So, it’s all me. I’m great on ideas and then connecting with people and telling them this is exactly what I want.
I get hyped when I go out and I think the fans can really feel this. There’s those two things. The person and the music really make sense together. Those are small artistic details that I’m crazy about.
Pro Wrestling Eve promoter Dann Read put out a statement addressing the backlash over Paul Robinson working for the promotion as a producer. During the Speaking Out movement in 2020, Robinson was accused of having kissed a 16 year old girl and getting close with her until the mother of his children found out.
Taiji Ishimori will be in action at Fantastica Mania USA in Charleston, South Carolina on April 12. The event is being put on by MLW in collaboration with NJPW and CMLL.
More on the Paramount purchase of WBD and details of when it goes through, if it goes through and details on how it helps or hurts UFC, AEW and Zuffa Boxing as well as a cost efficiency look at the three properties for 2027 if plans go through as stated.
The road to WrestleMania and why Paul Levesque is in a position where it’s impossible for him to do the job people want and impossible for him to fail, business notes on the show, and a look at the Elimination Chamber show, how it did on Netflix, the good and the bad.
Preview and updates on AEW Revolution and interest level
Odds on upcoming wrestling matches
Coverage of the New Japan New Beginning USA show in Trenton with two title changes
A look at the Demolition tag team as they go into the WWE Hall of Fame
The most detailed look at the ratings of all the pro wrestling TV shows, including demos, competition and comparisons with last year.
Johnny TV in the most heated match so far this year with Angel de Oro
Why AAA television is so entertaining
Stardom Cinderella tournament notes
Brothers face off in NOAH jr. tag tournament final
New Japan Cup first two days
Final night of Fantastica Mania notes
Jeff Jarrett documentary
Wrestler out of prison starts working on indices this week
Real American Freestyle angle
Update of the robbery of the Canadian promotion and the Davey Boy Smith Jr. Hall of Fame ring
John Laurinaitis wants back in to wrestling
16 Carat Gold weekend in Germany
Pro Wrestling Eve has biggest show of its history this week
Brodie Lee Jr. first singles match date
Steph De Lander talks why she and Mance Warner quit TNA
Notes on David Finlay signing with AEW
ROH first TV tapings in a studio
UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight title updates
Lots of new UFC fights
Updates on WWE front office news and changes
The story behind leaking fast nationals
WWE accused of deleting key information in a lawsuit
More notes on the WWE deal with Endeavor and how it went down
Janel Grant speaks in favor of changing Connecticut law on NDAs
Bianca Belair update
WWE sends out unchecked email to network subscribers causing a panic
— Bryan and I will be back tonight talking about a ton of news including the White House show and how we got there, WWE court cases updates, WrestleMania, AEW’s new service, Jon Jones, NXT Vengeance Day, Raw and a lot more.
— Francis Ngannou vs. Philipe Lins, a 40-year-old former UFC light heavyweight, has been added to the 5/16 Gina Carano vs. Ronda Rousey Netflix show that MVP Promotions is putting on. Rousey, in promoting the fight, said on X, “That what happens when you put fighters and fans ahead of shareholders. PS. UFC”S White House card sucks!” There will be a press conference for this show tomorrow at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles and tickets go on sale Tuesday. Ticket sales will be interesting. I expect the show to do very good numbers on Netflix, but I’m not as certain about live ticket sales if they are charging high prices. Nobody has drawn a big house for MMA in this country except for UFC probably dating back to the Strikeforce heyday in San Jose.
— After Dana White said that Jon Jones was never in the plans for the White House card, and he said he told Jones lawyer some time back when Jones wanted on the show that it was never going to happen, ever, Jones claims he was in talks as late as Friday. He said they were in real talks and real negotiations and said he came down from his original number, but was lowballed. Stories out indicate Jones wanted $25 million and UFC offered $15 million. He said he got stem cell treatment last week to get ready to train. He said if UFC thinks he’s done, then please give him his release. Right now with the nature of Netflix and MVP Promotions, Jones probably could make more with a fight with Francis Ngannou than any fight in UFC now. So I don’t know if the UFC would be willing to release him for that.
— The new AEW service looks to me as something they are setting up as a replacement for Triller, which has major financial issues. This has nothing to do with the U.S. television situation and this service is not even available in the U.S., because the contract with WBD would not allow it to be.
— Raw tonight is from Seattle with a Gauntlet match for a women’s IC title shot with Bayley, Lyra Valkyria, Asuka, Iyo Sky and Raquel Rodriguez, Oba Femi vs. Rusev and Penta vs. Grande Americano Gable. Neither Roman Reigns nor Brock Lesnar are scheduled, but both will be regulars on Raw starting next week in San Antonio. They had 8,755 tickets out as of earlier today, so again a good crowd but far from a sellout.
— Wrestletix lists AEW Double or Nothing for Louie Armstrong Stadium as having moved 6,545 tickets so far.
— TNA Impact on Thursday did 249,000 viewers and an 0.04 in 18-49. It was the second best viewer number, tied for fourth best 18-49 number since they started on AMC. This was a live show from Atlanta.
— NXT tomorrow has Joe Hendry & Myles Borne vs. Ricky Starks & Ethan Page, Lainey Reid vs. Sol Ruca, Wren Sinclair vs. Thea Hail, winner faces Speed champion Fallon Henley next week, Tavion Heights & Charlie Dempsey vs. Lexis King & Uriah Connors and Jasper Troy vs. Eli Knight vs. Sean Legacy.
— Eddie Hearn, as a guest on Ariel Helwani’s show, in his feud with Dana White said that he’d knock White out in three rounds or less if they boxed and said that when White does interviews with UK outlets, that the reporters are told ahead of time what they are allowed to ask and that UFC asks to see the interview before it can go out.
— Chelsea Green was on the Bellas podcast and said Michael Hayes has apologized to her over what he said months ago on WWE Unreal.
— Raven posted a photo of himself with Rosemary and The Bunny (who also returns to TNA meaning she was not given an AEW contract renewal) as a preview for the already shot show on Thursday.
— CMLL, with no advance warning, streamed last night’s Arena Mexico show featuring the return of Mascara Dorada. Dorada & Templario & Neon beat Angel de Oro & Hechicero & Barbaro Cavernario in the main event. Tomorrow night’s show at Arena Mexico which does stream live has Dorada & Templario vs. Difunto & Hechicero, Neon vs. Flip Gordon and Corbade & El Hijo de Stuka Jr. & Felino Jr. face Blue Panther Jr. & Dark Panther & El Hijo de Blue Panther for the Mexican national trios tites. Blue Panther vs. Stuka Jr. and Atlantis Jr. & Titan & Xelhua vs Angel de Oro & El Hijo del Villano III & Soberano Jr. will headline in Guadalajara tomorrow.
— Claudio Castagnoli vs. Ultimo Guerrero for the CMLL heavyweight title in a rematch will be on Friday’s Arena Mexico show. Their first match was good, nothing compared to Castagnoli’s big AEW singles bouts though.
— The New Japan Cup continues in Okayama at 4:30 a.m. Eastern tomorrow morning has Shingo Takagi vs. Don Fale and Drilla Moloney vs. Yuya Uemura.
— Norvell Austin turns 75 today. Nikita Koloff turns 67. Rick Steiner turns 65. Tiger Ali Singh turns 55. Melina Perez turns 47. Aubrey Edwards turns 39. Eddie Creachman, the manager of The Sheik, was 66 when he passed away 32 years ago today. Wally Yamaguchi (Yamaguchi-san in WWF) was 60 when he passed away seven years ago today. (thanks to Tony Richards)
More on the Paramount purchase of WBD and details of when it goes through, if it goes through and details on how it helps or hurts UFC, AEW and Zuffa Boxing as well as a cost efficiency look at the three properties for 2027 if plans go through as stated.
The road to WrestleMania and why Paul Levesque is in a position where it’s impossible for him to do the job people want and impossible for him to fail, business notes on the show, and a look at the Elimination Chamber show, how it did on Netflix, the good and the bad.
Preview and updates on AEW Revolution and interest level
Odds on upcoming wrestling matches
Coverage of the New Japan New Beginning USA show in Trenton with two title changes
A look at the Demolition tag team as they go into the WWE Hall of Fame
The most detailed look at the ratings of all the pro wrestling TV shows, including demos, competition and comparisons with last year.
Johnny TV in the most heated match so far this year with Angel de Oro
Why AAA television is so entertaining
Stardom Cinderella tournament notes
Brothers face off in NOAH jr. tag tournament final
New Japan Cup first two days
Final night of Fantastica Mania notes
Jeff Jarrett documentary
Wrestler out of prison starts working on indices this week
Real American Freestyle angle
Update of the robbery of the Canadian promotion and the Davey Boy Smith Jr. Hall of Fame ring
John Laurinaitis wants back in to wrestling
16 Carat Gold weekend in Germany
Pro Wrestling Eve has biggest show of its history this week
Brodie Lee Jr. first singles match date
Steph De Lander talks why she and Mance Warner quit TNA
Notes on David Finlay signing with AEW
ROH first TV tapings in a studio
UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight title updates
Lots of new UFC fights
Updates on WWE front office news and changes
The story behind leaking fast nationals
WWE accused of deleting key information in a lawsuit
More notes on the WWE deal with Endeavor and how it went down
Janel Grant speaks in favor of changing Connecticut law on NDAs
Bianca Belair update
WWE sends out unchecked email to network subscribers causing a panic
— We have two new shows up for subscribers this weekend. We had an interview on Friday’s Wrestling Observer Radio with former WWE and TNA producer David Sahadi talking about his book, “Backstage Pass” that comes out this week. This was a fun interview that many have called it among the best we’ve done. We talk a lot about both companies, from the Attitude Era to the present, and even some RAF, Dwayne Johnson, Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, Lou Sahadi, and many others. Our weekend WOR is also up, covering the news of the week as well as Konnan, Cody Rhodes, UFC, Smackdown, Collision, CMLL Friday at Arena Mexico and much more.
— We’ve looking for your thoughts on last night’s NXT Vengeance Day. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected].
— Dana White said that they have been in talks with Conor McGregor, but not for the White House show. “We are definitely talking to Conor obviously. Not even close. We have no date for Conor right now. Not even close,” he said.
— As things are planned, Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes is scheduled for WrestleMania 42 and not a three-way or four-way.
— For those who have asked about the Bella Twins, they are expected back to television very soon.
— There was a crazy story this weekend where Logan Paul challenged any NFL football player for a $1 million challenge boxing match. The idea is both sides put up $1 million. Two players, Breiden Fehoko, who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers but is now retired, and Le’Veon Bell, a former all-pro running back who retired and has had three pro boxing matches and several exhibitions, both answered his challenge.
When I saw it, I thought it was just a grandstand challenge and nothing would come of it because no NFL team is going to allow one of its players to do a boxing match, but I wasn’t thinking about retired players. Maybe Paul wasn’t either. But since Feihokio and Bell aren’t active any longer, that wouldn’t apply to them. But, it never got that far.
Yesterday, after all the trash talk challenges for doing three minute rounds until one person quits and then accepted by both sides, Paul was “caught” with a conversation with Chris Legentil, WWE’s EVP of Talent Relations and Head of Communications. The conversation was shared on social media so I would presume that would mean it was planned because if not, I can’t even imagine Legentil would want to have this conversation air everywhere, but Paul probably could get away with breaking protocol to that degree.
Bell accused the call of being staged to get Paul out of the challenge. In the conversation, Legentil told Paul that WWE would not allow him to do any boxing matches. He pleaded to do so. They said there’s an injury risk, he said they are a bunch of football players who can’t box, but Legentil said WWE would not allow him to do it.
— Jordynne Grace was injured on Friday doing a Main Event match taped before SmackDown. She is currently in a walking boot. Not sure of the nature of the injury.
— UFC last night was pretty much dominant in Google searches for the weekend. There were UFC topics that finished No, 3, No. 4, No. 22, No. 25, No. 49, No. 51 and No. 54. No. 3 was the UFC show at the White House. No. 4 was the show from last night headlined by Charlies Oliveira beating Max Holloway to retain the BMF title. The total searches for last night’s show were 885,000, which is below the usual PPV number. Other numbers included the Big 10 wrestling championships at 50,000, Cody Rhodes had 20,000 and NXT Vengeance at 5,000.
— The difference between a regular Saturday UFC show and a “numbered” show has now been watered down as last night’s show was only up two percent in views from the show the week before. As far as what happens if you put the PPVs up without a paywall, the reality is that at least last night’s show would do only slightly more than a regular show. If you had a marquee event, that’s different.
— UFC announced that the Zhang Weili vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk fight from March 7, 2020, will go into the Hall of Fame this year. This was the best women’s fight in any discipline that I’ve ever seen and easily among the best UFC fights, men or women, in history, winning almost all the fight of the year awards for that year. Weili retained the strawweight title in that fight.
— The best matches I’ve seen this weekend were FTR vs. The Rascalz and Claudio Castagnoli vs. Konosuke Takeshita from AEW Collision last night. The only other recommended stuff was Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles vs. Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X, and Oskar vs. Callum Newman from the New Japan anniversary show.
— AEW Dynamite on Wednesday in San Jose has Jon Moxley & Claudio Castagnoli vs. Hechicero & Konosuke Takeshita, Young Bucks & Mark Briscoe vs. FTR & Tommaso Ciampa, Willow Nightingale vs. Persephone for the TBS title, Darby Allin & Orange Cassidy vs. David Finlay & Gabe Kidd, and footage from a press conference with Adam Page and MJF. They are shooting that for television with legit press in San Jose a few hours before the show.
— I’ll only say the 6/14 UFC White House show card reveal was a huge disappointment:
Ilia Topuria vs. Justin Gaethje in a lightweight title unification bout
Alex Pereira vs. Cyril Gane for the interim heavyweight title
Sean O’Malley vs. Aimann Zahabi
Mauricio Ruffy vs. Michael Chandler
Bo Nickal vs. Kyle Daukaus
Diego Lopes vs. Steve Garcia
People were teased by months of Conor McGregor, Jon Jones, Colby Covington and others saying they wanted on the show. There was a fight that fell through at the last minute, but Dana White wouldn’t say what it was. Most speculated it was Pereira vs. Jon Jones, but White denied that. Jones and White had totally conflicting stories with White saying that Jones was never ever considered for the show and he even told Jones’ team that despite Jones saying that they were in negotiations for the show. White said that Jones has a bad hip that would need replacing and probably will never fight again.
Jones wrote on X, “So all of this negotiating was complete bullsh*t, is that what you want me to agree to publicly. I’m released from the UFC!!”
— White was asked about the brawl with Arman Tsarukyan and Georgio Poullas at last Saturday’s RAF show. He said he didn’t love it but that was somebody else’s problem. But, he said he wasn’t thrilled with Tsarukyan right now and that there are a lot of different reasons and not just the stuff you see publicly.
— As far as the judging went, in the Cody Garbrandt vs,. Xiao Long split decision, Michael Bell had 28-27 Garbrandt with them splitting the two rounds and Long winning round three but losing two penalty points. Ben Cartildge had 28-27 for Garbrandt with Long winning one and two and Garbrandt winning three plus getting the two penalty points. Ron McCarthy had it 28-27 for Garbrandt as well, with Garbrandt winning round one, Long two and three, but the two penalty points. 63.6 of reporter cards had it 28-27 for Long with only 27.3 percent for Garbrandt and the rest had it a draw.
— The judges had straight 30-27s for Caio Borralho over Reinier de Ridder. I thought de Ridder clearly won one round although had him down 29-28 86 percent of media scores were identical to what I had.
— Mercedes Mone lost two titles this week, dropping the CMLL Women’s title to Persephone Friday night at Arena Mexico as many had expected. Today in Italy, she lost the BestYa women’s title to Swan.
— Alex Windsor beat Syuri today to win the New Japan Strong Women’s title on the Pro Wrestling Eve show at the Indigo at the O2 Arena in London. We’re looking for complete reports on today’s show as well as Friday’s Eve show to [email protected]. Windsor has the British and New Japan Strong belts and will no doubt be getting a shot soon at the AEW Women’s tag team titles alongside Jamie Hayter.
— The first NCAA women’s wrestling championship tournament in history took place this weekend in Coralville, IA. Bella Mir of North Central, the daughter of former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, who has also fought in MMA, pinned Reese Larramendy of Iowa in 2:26 to win the tite at 145. Kennedy Blaydes, who has wrestled for RAF, pinned Tiffani Baublitz in 1:19 to win at 160.
— In the New Japan Cup today in Amagasaki, Shota Umino beat Chase Owens and Ryohei Oiwa beat Yuto-Ice. Tuesday in Okayama has Shingo Takagi vs. Don Fale and Yuya Uemura vs. Drilla Moloney. Thursday in Takamaatsu has Satoshi Kojima vs. Ren Narita and Oleg Boltin vs Henare. Friday in Kanaoka has Hirooki Goto vs. Jake Lee and Callum Newman vs. Hartley Jackson. Saturday in Nagoya has Yujiro Takahashi vs. Shota Umino and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ryohei Oiwa. Well, at least that last match looks great on paper. Uemura vs. Moloney should be great and Henare vs. Boltin should be as well.
— Last night’s CMLL show at Arena Coliseo in Mexico City sold out, which makes 11 weeks in a row, the longest streak of the modern era.
— Stardom Cinderella tournament matches in round two today at Korakuen Hall
Hanan b Ranna Yagami
Rian b Natsupoi
Hina b Azusa Inaba
Sayaka Kurara b Tomoka Inaba
Rina b Ami Sohrei
Miyu Amasaki b Saya Iida
— House of Glory sold out show at the Logan Square Auditorium in Chicago before about 325 on Friday night: Myron Reed b Ken Broadway, Infamous b JJ Doze to keep the cruiserweight title, Shotzi b Killer Kelly to keep the women’s title, Gringo Loco b Trik Davis, Zilla Fatu b Bishop Dyer to keep the Crown Jewel title, Private Party b Bang & Matthews, Charles Mason NC Bryan Keith to retain the heavyweight title. Next show is 3/21 in Long Island, NY.
They also announced a HOG Culture Cash show on 4/16 at 8 pm. at the Pearl Theater in Las Vegas with Zilla Fatu vs. Brody King.
— Birthdays today include Maki Ueda, the Japanese women’s star of the 70s, who turned 67, Ursula Hayuden the Farmer’s Daughter from GLOW turned 57, Michael Tarver turned 49, and Chad Gable turned 40. Wild Bull Curry was 71 when he died 41 years ago today.
— Trish Stratus will be doing a Fan Experience at Flanker Kitchen and Sports Bar in Las Vegas from 4/13 to 4/20-, with merchandise, food, podcasts, panels and other talks.
More on the Paramount purchase of WBD and details of when it goes through, if it goes through and details on how it helps or hurts UFC, AEW and Zuffa Boxing as well as a cost efficiency look at the three properties for 2027 if plans go through as stated.
The road to WrestleMania and why Paul Levesque is in a position where it’s impossible for him to do the job people want and impossible for him to fail, business notes on the show, and a look at the Elimination Chamber show, how it did on Netflix, the good and the bad.
Preview and updates on AEW Revolution and interest level
Odds on upcoming wrestling matches
Coverage of the New Japan New Beginning USA show in Trenton with two title changes
A look at the Demolition tag team as they go into the WWE Hall of Fame
The most detailed look at the ratings of all the pro wrestling TV shows, including demos, competition and comparisons with last year.
Johnny TV in the most heated match so far this year with Angel de Oro
Why AAA television is so entertaining
Stardom Cinderella tournament notes
Brothers face off in NOAH jr. tag tournament final
New Japan Cup first two days
Final night of Fantastica Mania notes
Jeff Jarrett documentary
Wrestler out of prison starts working on indices this week
Real American Freestyle angle
Update of the robbery of the Canadian promotion and the Davey Boy Smith Jr. Hall of Fame ring
John Laurinaitis wants back in to wrestling
16 Carat Gold weekend in Germany
Pro Wrestling Eve has biggest show of its history this week
Brodie Lee Jr. first singles match date
Steph De Lander talks why she and Mance Warner quit TNA
Notes on David Finlay signing with AEW
ROH first TV tapings in a studio
UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight title updates
Lots of new UFC fights
Updates on WWE front office news and changes
The story behind leaking fast nationals
WWE accused of deleting key information in a lawsuit
More notes on the WWE deal with Endeavor and how it went down
Janel Grant speaks in favor of changing Connecticut law on NDAs
Bianca Belair update
WWE sends out unchecked email to network subscribers causing a panic
— Garrett Gonzales and I will be doing our show later this afternoon covering all the news of the week in the new issue and there is a lot of it. We will also be back talking more news tomorrow night with a big weekend of activity including the all-women’s show tonight, the UFC show tomorrow night, NXT Vengeance Day, AEW Collision, Smackdown and whatever else breaks.
— The lineup for the UFC show on 6/14 at the White House will be announced tomorrow night on the UFC PPV show. White said it will be only a six-fight show but there may be a seventh fight. But six fights will be announced tomorrow.
— Jake Paul’s MVP Promotions announced an all-women’s promotion called MVPW, along with announcing a three-year deal for the promotion with ESPN. The debut show will be 4/5 in London, and it will also air on Sky Sports. It will air on ESPN Unlimited in the U.S. The first ESPN television date will be on 4/17 and Alycia Baumgardner (17-1) vs. Bo Mi Re Shin (19-3-3) for the super featherweight title at the Theater in Madison Square Garden. They also announced a 5/30 show from El Paso headlined by Stephanie Han (12-0) defending the lightweight title against Holly Holm (34-3-3)
— AEW Dynamite on Wednesday did 650,000 viewers with an 0.12 in 18-49 and an 0.20 in 25-54. That tells you how ridiculous the 50-54 number is. I don’t have the number yet but it’s likely around 100,000.
— Today is crazy talk day. Logan Paul and NFL player Le’Veon Bell have agreed to a boxing match with no headgear with no time limit and three-minute rounds, ending only via knockout or someone giving up. Meanwhile, Dana White and Eddie Hearn are both saying that they are up for a boxing match against the other. White had made a comment about their feud saying they could do a boxing match. Hearn said he would accept. This is the crazy grandstand stuff that Eric Bischoff did in 1998 with Vince McMahon, that McMahon didn’t accept, nor should he have, although McMahon did counter that if they wanted a fight they could do it but not on a WCW show. Of course, that went nowhere. We’ll see where this one goes.
— SmackDown tonight from Portland, OR, features the Drew McIntyre vs. Cody Rhodes WWE title match that theoretically determines who faces Randy Orton at WrestleMania. Rhea Ripley is on the show. There will be a tag team turmoil match to determine who faces the MFTs for the title next week. There are 8,000+ tickets out.
— Hearn, who is now managing Tom Aspinall, noted that he was stunned at how little Aspinall, the UFC heavyweight champion, was making.
— New Japan’s 54th anniversary show was earlier today at Korakuen Hall: Drilla Moloney & Daiki Nagai b Yuya Uemura & Masatora Yasuda Great O’Khan & Henare & Francesco Akria & Jakob Austin Young b Hirooki Goto & Oleg Boltin & Toru Yano & Tatsuyua Matsumoto Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa b Yuto-Ice & Gedo Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi b Don Fale & Yoshinobu Kanemaru Ren Narita & Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi & Sho & Dick Togo b Satoshi Kojima & Shota Umino & Aaron Wolf & Tatsumi Fujinami & Leona (Fujinami) Jake Lee b Yoshi-Hashi in the New Japan Cup Callum Newman b Oskar in the New Japan Cup Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori b Kosei Fujita & Robble Eagles to win the IWGP jr. tag titles Douki b Master Wato to retain the IWGP jr. title
— Stardom also had the first day of the Cinderella tournament in Aichi: Rian b Yuma Mizumori Aya Sakrua b Fukigen Death Ranna Yagami b Waka Tsukiyama Natsupoi b Tabata Hanako DCOR Yuria Hime Maki Ioh b Kikyo Furusawa Saori Anou DCOR Fuwa-Chan Hana b Momo Kohgo It’s a single-elimination tournament that runs over the next week. The women in the double count-out matches are both eliminated from the tournament.
— It’s a pretty big weekend but the only show we are doing polls on is NXT Vengeance Day tomorrow night. You can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down, or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
— CMLL tonight at Arena Mexico has an all-women’s show available as a PPV through Triller at $9.99 or $7.99 if you have a Triller subscription. It will likely be one of the largest crowds for an all-women’s show outside Japan in history. The show starts at 9:30 p.m. Eastern. Based on the advance, it is not going to sell out. It needs just over 9,000 to break the Mexico record and 10,900 to break the North American record. Catalina & Sanely vs. Garra Negra & Keyra Maika vs. Dark Silueta Mina Shirakawa vs. Zeuxis Megan Bayne vs. Olympia Princesa Sugehit vs. Marcela vs La Magnifica for the Copa Irma Gonzalez Kira & Skadi vs. Candela & Metalica for the Mexican national women’s’ tag team titles Jarochita & Lluvia vs Starlight Kid & Mei Seira for the CMLL women’s tag team titles Mercedes Mone vs. Persephone for the CMLL women’s title
— The Pro Wrestling Eve show at the Indigo at the O2 Arena in London is Sunday, which will be before the largest crowd to ever witness an all-women’s pro wrestling event in the U.K. with a lot of AEW talent working the show including Willow Nightingale, Kris Statlander and Harley Cameron. Nightingale defending the TBS title against Nina Samuels is now official for the EVE show on Sunday at the Indigo. The show will air on the EVE streaming service.
— The Arman Tsarukyan vs. Georgio Poullas wrestling match for RAF from last Saturday which Tsarukyan won via decision ended in a wild brawl where Tsarukyan threw a number of punches after it was over. Instead of Tsarukyan being punished, they are being booked for a rematch ASAP, meaning on the 3/28 show in Tampa.
— Francis Ngannou and the PFL have parted ways before the expiration of their contract together.
— UFC 326 starts at 5 p.m. Eastern on Paramount Plus from the T Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It should be noted that from 8-10 p.m. Eastern and 5-7 p.m. Pacific that four fights scheduled as the Johnson fight through the Rodrigues fight, will be airing on CBS. This will be the first time in history that two main card fights from a “numbered” show will be airing on television. Luke Fernandez (205) vs. Rodolfo Bellato (204.5) Rafael Tobias (204) vs. Diyar Nurgozhav (205.5) Sumudaerji (126) vs. Jesus Aguilar (125.5) Cody Durden (125.5) vs. Nyamjargal Tumedemberel (125.5) Ricky Turcios (146) vs Alberto Montes (145.5) Donte Johnson (185.5) vs. Cody Brundagde (185.5) Cody Garbrandt (136) vs. Xiao Long (135.5) Gregory Rodrigues (186) vs. Bruno Ferreira (184) Drew Dober (156) vs. Michael Johnson (155.5) Rob Font (136) vs. Raul Rosas Jr. (135.5) Caoi Borralho (186) vs. Reinieer de Ridder (185.5) Max Holloway (155.5) vs. Charles Oliveria (156) The Jeong Yeong Lee vs. Gaston Bolanos fight was canceled due to Lee having a weight issue.
— Buff Bagwell was at the TNA tapings last night in Atlanta. He’s on the show that will air next Thursday, and said he would wrestle with TNA. Frankie Kazarian shoved him down. Elijah made the save. Bagwell had his right leg amputated form above the knee. Yoshiaki Yatsu wrestled in that condition and Zach Gowen did as well.
— Nic Nemeth will be on tomorrow’s Memphis Wrestling TV show.
A detailed look at the WBD/Paramount/Netflix situation, what the latest decision of WBD to Paramount entails, the keys to why this is happening, business notes, how this affects AEW and can it get approved.
A look at the UFC and WWE business in 2025 and in the final quarter of this past year. We look at the numbers, what they mean, why WWE was more profitable in 2025 than UFC and the key thing that can change that in 2026, Mark Shapiro talks ESPN value to WWE, lots of news about the business of the White House show, UFC fighters upset over pay, why WWE wrestlers are so underpaid but not publicly upset over, and business initiatives going forward
The violence in Mexico and tons of wrestling shows canceled this past week
We look in depth at the Janel Grant speech from last week, what we learned, what she said, and where everything stands.
Update on the build for WrestleMania, Elimination Chamber, business notes, ticket sales and favorites for the weekend.
An updated look at AEW Revolution and business notes
The retirement of AJ Styles looked at
The most detailed look at the television ratings from the past week, including comparisons with a year ago, competition, demos and much more.
Notes from Arena Mexico
CMLL attempts to break a North American record next week
Cinderalla tournament in Stardom
Fantastica Mania notes
The life and times of former Olympic wrestler Bobby Douglas, his coaching career, his beating Dan Gable, and two notable pro wrestlers he coached
College wrestling sets an attendance mark already this season
Who had the most top ten matches of the year over a career according to Cage match.
City builds a bust memorializing top 80s star
WrestleMania week schedule
Former MMA fighter and pro wrestler running for Governor
Robbery of the ring truck for an indie group
Ticket sales for upcoming WWE, AEW and TNA shows over the next two months.
How many subscribers does Paramount need to make up for UFC expenses
More talk on Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano
Stand & Deliver moves and why
When Roman Reigns and Brock Ldesnar are booked for TV in the Mania build
Pro wrestler who is active in Japan competes this weekend for the U.S.national team in anther sport
During an appearance on the Beyond The Bell podcast, Nia Jax gave a kayfabe response to CM Punk’s promo line from Raw where Punk said he’s going to bury Roman Reigns next to his father Sika:
I think small men bark loud. And so in that moment right there, he was probably feeling a little confident. It’s funny because you see him walk away right after he says that line. That doesn’t bother me because I know what my family is physically capable of. We’ve shown it over the last three decades what our family is capable of, the Samoan Dynasty. So that’s fine. He can speak all he wants. But when it comes down to it, the person who’s going to be reigning over Phil will be none other than The OTC.
Paul “Triple H” Levesque shared the official poster for Punk and Reigns’ World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania 42.
Ahead of their upcoming WrestleMania match, Stephanie Vaquer and Liv Morgan both attended a training session at Natalya and TJ Wilson’s Dungeon last night. To keep kayfabe, they did not appear in photos together. Natalya tweeted that the session might have been her favorite ever at the facility: “Maybe the best practice we’ve ever had in The Dungeon. Four hours of sweat equity. So incredibly proud of this group tonight.”
Trish Stratus told Wrestlezone that there were plans for her to do more with WWE last year, but her mother passing away changed that. Stratus would like to come back and get closure on her career:
The 25th anniversary year was a special year. [WWE and I] worked together to see how we can celebrate it. It turned out really good with the homecoming moment, where I could team up with Tiffy. Being part of Evolution, all women’s pay-per-view, obviously, was amazing. Coming back to the Royal Rumble as 25. So, we kind of like plotted it out.
My mom got sick last year, and she passed. So there were plans [for more]. So, I do think there should be a bit of a finale moment. I’m very much about closure. So I feel like that I would need a little bit of closure. And I think maybe you guys need some closure on your Stratusfaction as well. Maybe.
AEW produced an eight-minute video with Renee Paquette & RJ City detailing everything that new fans need to know about the promotion:
Looking to join in as a fan of All Elite Wrestling, but not quite sure where to start? Do you have a friend who wants to become a fan and you’re trying to help them out? We’re here for you. Here’s everything you need to know about AEW in 8 minutes to get you up to speed, from our most prominent wrestlers to our championships and more.
Mick Foley will be doing an auction at his upcoming comedy shows to raise money for Brian Knobbs, who has been battling health issues for a while and shared last month that he was back in the hospital due to an infection:
In our dysfunctional, yet loving extended professional wrestling family, I believe we have to look out for each other, especially when one of us is going through a difficult time. Brian is going through that type of time now and can use a little help from all of us.
Knobs is one of those legends in wrestling that other legends talk about. To say he’s an inimitable force would be an understatement. But he’s really hurting now and can use a hand. I’m going to be doing my shirt off my back auction and all five of my upcoming #40YearsOfFoley shows in March – #NewOrleans #Lafayette #ColumbusOH (two shows in Columbus) and #DundeeIL. If you’re at one of these events, please consider placing a bid. For everyone else, please take a look at the GoFundMe site that has been set up for Brian
The last time you asked me, what I said was only a percentage of what it means now. TNA has given me the opportunity to change my life. Back then, we hadn’t worked with WWE yet. I grew up watching WWE, so getting to reunite the Rascals, do great matches for four months with my brothers. That was special.
And everything I’ve been through recently, the way TNA showed loyalty to me, loyalty I’ve always tried to show them. It feels good to work for people who care about you. We’re all more than wrestlers; we’re humans. Humans go to bed with worries: ‘Is this going to work out? Can I keep doing this?’
For a moment, I doubted I’d ever wrestle again. I had announced I was wrapping things up. TNA called and offered me an opportunity not to do that. That showed me that the company I’ve given my best to for seven years feels the same way about me. That deepened the connection I have with TNA.
I had numbness in my right hand, so I got an MRI of my cervical spine, but nothing abnormal showed up. I’m not even a baseball pitcher, but my elbow is deformed and it hurts!! Treatment injections… It’s scary
