NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez still hopes to face her idol AJ Lee one day.
Perez grew up as a huge AJ Lee fan and saw her as an inspiration. In a picture that’s since resurfaced on social media, Perez got emotional when meeting Lee outside of a WWE show when she was younger. Lee now considers Perez one of her wrestling “daughters.”
Facing Lee would be a dream match for Perez. And though it’s been nearly a decade since Lee retired from the ring, Perez is still hopeful that the match could happen. Perez told Pro Wrestling Illustrated that she’s had conversations with Lee’s husband CM Punk about trying to get her back in the ring.
“Definitely, yeah. I try,” Perez said. “But [Punk] tells me that he’s doing the same thing. He’s trying to get her to, like, come back, pulling her in. But I hope one day she decides to come back and have a match with me.”
Lee (AJ Mendez) stepped away from WWE in 2015 following a neck injury. She’s since built a career as a writer and has been focused on mental health advocacy. In 2021, Lee was named as an executive producer and color commentator for Women of Wrestling. She departed the promotion in 2023.
CM Punk and AJ Mendez are both set to appear in season two of Heels.
Starz announced on Friday that the show’s second season will begin airing on Friday, July 28. Punk is listed to return as Ricky Rabies and his wife, AJ Mendez is set to debut on the show in the role of Elle Dorado.
Series creator Michael Waldron told TV Line in 2021 that the evolution of Kelli Berglund’s character (Crystal Tyler) in season one opens the door for women’s wrestling to be featured more in season two.
“You can argue that some of the best matches and storylines [in wrestling] are happening in the women’s division. There’s that same opportunity for growth and expansion within the DWL, so it’s going to be interesting to see what Jack does with them,” Waldron said. “Kelli Berglund is obviously incredible, and what it would be like to bring in some rivals for her could be a lot of fun.”
Mendez’s credits on IMDB already include 2019’s Rabid and The Madden 16 mini-series in 2015. She received her first writing credit in 2022 for her work on Blade of the 47 Ronin along with John Swetnam, and her longtime writing partner, Aimee Garcia.
Mendez and Garcia run Scrappy Heart Productions, which has produced a comic book based on the Netflix series GLOW, A Dungeons and Dragons comic book, and the upcoming Eastside Saints comic.
Season one of Heels consisted of eight episodes and aired from August to October 2021. It holds a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
WOW is returning to television with a familiar wrestling personality also returning to the business to help relaunch the brand.
AJ Mendez will serve as an executive producer and color commentator for the WOW – Women of Wrestling show when it returns to TV in syndication in September 2022 on ViacomCBS stations in the United States.
Mendez has not been involved in pro wrestling since her retirement from WWE in 2015, but she has fashioned a new career as an author, comic book writer and mental health advocate.
WOW announced their relaunch with a press release and a press conference on Wednesday. WOW and Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, WOW and GLOW’s original creator and Buss’s business partner David McClane, Mendez, Tessa Blanchard and The Beast were all part of the presser. A trailer for the new season of WOW can be seen here.
WOW last produced content in 2019. A series of tapings in 2018 and 2019 produced a season of WOW Superheroes that aired on AXS TV. When Impact’s parent company Anthem bought AXS, that signified the end of the partnership between WOW and AXS.
WOW began as a successor to GLOW and ran in syndication during the pro wrestling boom period in 2000 and 2001. It was dark for over a decade, then was relaunched in 2012. It has since sporadically produced content on a variety of platforms.
The WOW release trumpets the ViacomCBS deal as the largest distribution platform in the company’s existence.
Past seasons of WOW will be made available on CW Seed and Pluto TV channels beginning in December 2021 in advance of the relaunch, according to Entertainment Tonight.
Danni, Alex Gracia, Briana Montez, Kate Smith and Imo Akpan were other talent mentioned in the WOW press release.
Our annual WrestleMania issue of the Observer is out this week with full coverage of pro wrestling’s biggest event.
We go through all the news of the show, including the booking, the title changes, the finishes, the direction, what did and didn’t work, the difference between the two nights, after four examples how does two shows work vs one, the big money WrestleMania main events, the returns, the celebrities and business notes on the show. We also look at next year.
Also in this issue:
Match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results from both nights of WrestleMania and both nights of Takeover, to see how people saw all four of the WWE’s big events.
Stone Cold Broken Skull Sessions with Chris Jericho. We talk about the stories told, Jericho’s career, what they did talk about and what was avoided, how this went against usual McMahon policy and why we probably won’t be seeing another show like this very soon. We look at what was said about AEW, New Japan, WWE, some of Jericho’s frustrations with WWE that he talked about, the formation of AEW and much more.
The sale of FITE TV to Triller and why it happened this week.
Anthem Entertainment’s purchase of Invicta, plans for Invicta on AXS, and a sale that was talked about for Invicta that didn’t happen.
WWE cuts, person by person, their strengths and weaknesses and where they would fit in.
WWE international plans, hiring of Adnan Vink as an announcer, new members of the WWE Board of Directors, how much WWE’s top executives earned in 2020 and where it came from, Edge and Paul Heyman building Mania, changes in WWE announcing, WWE International numbers and where Raw & Smackdown rank with sports shows of the past week. We also look at WWE’s most-watched streaming clips and a star about to return, as well as the current market value of WWE.
Coverage of Saturday’s UFC show, comments on the winning fighters and upcoming booking, along with business notes on the show.
A feature on John Da Silva, who was the biggest babyface and a national hero in New Zealand in the 70s.
More on Ethel Johnson and sister Babs Wingo, who integrated women’s pro wrestling in the Billy Wolfe stable in 1951.
More detail on ratings than any other source, we have how every segment on NXT and AEW did as well as how it did with different age groups, genders and more, plus a look at all other wrestling shows of the past week.
Results of the major pro wrestling events of the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
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TUESDAY NEWS UPDATE
WWE
Ivar spoke to WWE in a new video on his neck injury and road to recovery.
Karrion Kross spoke to PWInsider on his current run in NXT, his entrance, and future WrestleMania aspirations.
Damian Priest spoke to DAZN on Bad Bunny’s appearance at WrestleMania. “It was all worth it,” he said. “He had no issue putting in the work. I knew he would surprise a lot of people because though again like you said, nobody expected it. Nobody knew. You hear that he’s training. Anybody can train. That doesn’t mean you’re going to be any good. It doesn’t mean you’re taking it to the fullest seriously. There’s been other celebrities, and they train, but they didn’t train to the level he did mentally. He took this very prideful. He didn’t want to embarrass himself, the company, his fans, our fans, me, and anybody else in the ring because the first thing he was worried about was earning respect. He didn’t want to disrespect anybody.”
In an interview with Metro, Rhea Ripley credited Scotty 2 Hotty with helping her and Raquel Gonzalez getting through rough times.
Jim Steinman, a producer for the likes of Meat Loaf and Bonnie Tyler, has passed away at the age of 73. He also produced The Wrestling Album, which included what would eventually become Hulk Hogan’s theme music, “Real American”.
In an interview with Sportscasting, Xavier Woods talked about eventual retirement. “Until I feel like I can no longer perform at a level that’s acceptable to the fans,” he responded when asked. “So once that happens, then I’m done. So I’ll probably jump out right before that happens so I don’t have to accidentally find it. But at this point in my career, I’m so focused on making sure that other people are taken care of and that other people are getting the chance to shine, whether that’s in the ring or outside of it. “For me, I want to make sure that I’ve done everything in my power to get a couple of pages of the next chapter written before I get there because I don’t want to have to pick up the pen and scramble to write.”
Bianca Belair on YouTube showed how she made her gear that appeared at WrestleMania 37.
Bebe Rexha, who sang ‘America the Beautiful’ on night one of WrestleMania 37, expressed interest in having a WWE match in an interview with ET Canada.
The company’s social media team has been nominated for the “General Social: Sports” category in the 25th annual Webby Awards. WrestleMania 36 has also been nominated in the “Social Content Series & Campaigns: Events and Livestreams” category. Additionally, The Undertaker’s Last Ride docuseries received honorary status in the “Video Series & Channels: Sports” category.
Hiromu Takahashi did a Q&A on the US NJPW website. In regards to his current status, he said he was doing well, but “If 100 percent means what I feel it should, then honestly it would be 2% right now. To me being 100 percent means being able to do what I set out to do, win championships, make dreams happen. It’s not enough just to get back in there. So with that in mind, yeah, two percent.”
CM Punk told Stephanie Chase of DigitalSpy that he has an interest in facing Will Ospreay, who recently called him out. “I don’t want to give people false hope in answering Ospreay,” Punk said. “But he’s for sure somebody that I’ve never wrestled before that interests me a lot more than, I guess, the corporate side of professional wrestling nowadays. New and different things are going to interest me more than doing the same old, same old. I always need new goals. I don’t know,” he added. “Let’s see if he has it at the end of the summer and then ask me the question again.”
Britt Baker, Jungle Boy, and Sting will be a part of the Wales Comic Con Convention at the International Centre in Telford on November 20 and 21.
Chris Van Vliet spoke to Chris Masters about his addiction to painkillers, his Master Lock submission, and the NWA.
Chelsea Green filed for trademarks on the terms “Chelsea Green” and “Hot Mess” on April 15.
Warrior Wrestling announced that Deonna Purrazzo will face Ray Lyn on their June 5 Stadium Series event.
