Former WWE wrestler Reginald ‘almost main evented WrestleMania’

According to former WWE wrestler Reginald, he was nearly inserted into Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair’s match at WrestleMania 37.

Banks and Belair made history in 2021 when they became the first Black women to headline WrestleMania. But the match apparently could have been a triple threat, with Reginald telling Rewind Recap Relive that Vince McMahon wanted to add him to the mix.

“Brother, I have a million,” Reginald responded when Rewind Recap Live asked if he had any stories about McMahon being high on him. “Just one that’s ridiculous off the bat, I almost main evented WrestleMania. It was an intergender match… If I would have been in this match, I would have got so much heat from everyone because this match had such — like, this was a huge match. This was a first… Vince wanted a triple threat between Sasha, Bianca, and myself.”

Around the time of WrestleMania 37, Reginald was involved in a storyline with Banks, Belair, and Carmella. He even worked a singles match against Banks earlier that year. The story was supposed to be Reginald splitting off from Carmella and getting close to Banks — only to reveal that he was joining her match at WrestleMania. Banks and Belair did not respond favorably when they found out the idea.

“So Carmella fired me and I was supposed to fall in love with Sasha, all of these different things,” Reginald said. “So Vince calls all of us into the office. Me, Sasha and Bianca, and we have some producers and writers there. He says, ‘This is what I’m thinking, Reggie, you buy her a dog, she loves you, and you’re playing every week in the middle, but the thing is you have an endgame. You will come out and announce that this is no longer a singles. This is a triple threat.’

“When he said that, Sasha had a look on her face, and Bianca had the same look on her face. And I’m just like, ‘I don’t know what the hell is happening right now. I’m not going to look at anyone, I’m not going to say anything.’ Vince said, ‘Because Sasha and Reginald, you guys have great chemistry.’ And Sasha kept asking Vince, ‘What do you mean? What is this chemistry?’ He’s like, ‘I don’t know, it’s just chemistry.’ She’s like, ‘But what makes us have this chemistry?’ He was like, ‘I don’t know, damn it. It’s chemistry.’ We just didn’t get an answer. It was just: chemistry.

“Lo and behold, they came to their senses. That would have been stupid to throw me in that match. And so they went on to have a great match that’s going to live in WWE history for a long time. Can you imagine? Can’t even, yeah.”

Even if he was added, Reginald might not have been able to compete —

It’s unknown if this triple threat actually would have gone on last had it taken place. And the WrestleMania plans likely would have fallen through even if McMahon did decide to move forward with them, because Reginald ended up testing positive for COVID the day of the show. He told Rewind Recap Live that he was supposed to accompany Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler for their WWE Women’s Tag Team title defense against Natalya & Tamina.

“I was supposed to debut in front of a live crowd that WrestleMania with Nia & Shayna, but I got COVID the day of,” Reginald said. “I drove to Tampa, tested, got horrible news. Legit been clean, negative the entire pandemic. First time I get to go, my first WrestleMania — COVID. I have to drive back home.”

During his WWE career from 2020-2024, Reginald (real name Sidney Bateman) was known as Reggie, Reginald, and Scrypts. He noted during the Rewind Recap Relive interview that he’s now “in the midst of getting a deal done” with AEW/ROH, where he’s already worked ROH tapings with his new character Soleil.

Ireland ‘well placed’ to present ‘competitive bid for WrestleMania’ 

Ireland seems to be keen and ‘well placed’ to put in a bid to host WWE WrestleMania in the future. 

Maurice Shortall, the Councillor for Kilkenny told Irish Mirror that Ireland is in a good position to put in a competitive bid for WrestleMania in light of their strong positioning as an international tourism brand.

“As a globally recognised event with the capacity to attract tens of thousands of international visitors and generate substantial international media exposure, WrestleMania presents a significant opportunity for Ireland to strengthen its position as a leading destination for major event tourism.”

“The wider regional benefit to counties such as Kilkenny would be substantial, with strong potential for tourism spillover, increased domestic travel, and enhanced international visibility for Ireland’s secondary tourism destinations.”

“Ireland is well placed to present a credible and competitive bid for WrestleMania, given our strong international tourism brand, proven track record in hosting major events, and global reputation as a welcoming destination.”

Next year, WWE will host the first WrestleMania internationally in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  A few days ago, Nashville also cited interest in hosting WrestleMania. 

FREE WOL! Medical issues, fan calls 911 on Punk, Strowman show, Mania 2028, more!

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Filthy Tom Lawlor is back with a FREE SHOW talking all sorts of topics, medical issues in pro-wrestling, fans calls 911 over CM Punk, more on 2028’s possible WrestleMania location, Smackdown back to two hours soon, Braun Strowman’s Eats Everything, and tons more! Best of all it’s FREE! If you love it, sign up today on whatever platform you’re listening on and enjoy 85 SHOWS EVERY MONTH as part of your subscription! A fun time as always so check it out~!

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Nashville group confirms interest in hosting WWE WrestleMania

The race is on to host WWE WrestleMania in 2028 or perhaps a future year.

The Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp confirmed our Bryan Alvarez’s report from earlier this week that they were making a move to host WWE’s biggest week of the year, releasing a statement to Post Wrestling Thursday where they stated, “We are working on a future date with them.”

Alvarez reported on Wednesday that the city put in a $3.5 million dollar site fee bid in addition to tax incentives. The group did not confirm that number.

The event would take place at the new Nissan Stadium which will be completed in February 2027. Last week, those involved in the process said hosting WrestleMania didn’t work out for next year due to the date not working out.

As far as what year they are bidding for remains unknown. The 2027 edition is heading to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for the first time ever but there are no confirmed locations beyond that. New Orleans is still owed a WrestleMania after TKO changed course and brought this year’s event back to Las Vegas for the second straight year.

At a WWE town hall meeting this week, WWE president Nick Khan told employees, “Wait until you hear the announcement on where we’re going to be for WrestleMania in 2028,” indicating a deal is already done.

Nick Khan acknowledges challenge of consecutive WrestleManias in same city

Even though it was his home city, WWE president Nick Khan appears to have come around to realizing holding WrestleMania in Las Vegas in consecutive years was a bigger challenge than expected.

Revealed in audio obtained by Post Wrestling, Khan addressed the issue during a company town hall Monday, saying the decision to host WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium a year after holding WrestleMania 41 there “was ultimately my decision.”

“Maybe we don’t do that one again in terms of back-to-back, but ultimately it ended up being a successful event,” Khan said.

While WWE has yet to reveal their revenue for the weekend, it’s assumed that even with lower ticket sales for both nights, it was their biggest total financial windfall in company history.

New Orleans was originally slated to host WrestleMania 42, but the decision was changed. WWE will receive around $10 million alone in site fees and tax credits for bringing the event back in addition to ticket and sponsorship revenue.

While WrestleMania 43 has been announced for Saudi Arabia for the first time, Khan told those on the call, “Wait until you hear the announcement on where we’re going to be for WrestleMania in 2028.”

WOL: Matches almost changed at WrestleMania, Vince McMahon status, more

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm is back with tons to talk about including tons of notes on Vince McMahon from the WWE shareholder’s lawsuit, Vince’s status with the company, changes that almost happened at WrestleMania, Pat McAfee, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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Update on ‘targeted’ WWE WrestleMania 43 date

WrestleMania could be moving back to the end of March in 2027.

WrestleVotes reports that the weekend of March 27, 2027 is the “targeted” date for WrestleMania 43 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. That would coincide with the end of the annual Riyadh Season festival. WWE has not officially confirmed the date for the show yet — and WrestleVotes says the weekend of April 10 is also on the table.

Traditionally, most WrestleManias have been held in either late March or early April. WWE made a change starting in 2025 to push the event back to mid/late April so WrestleMania would avoid going against Final Four weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament.

The WrestleVotes report states that it’s possible but unlikely that, for one year only, WrestleMania could return to a one-night event for WrestleMania 43. Fightful adds that WWE’s broadcast partner ESPN is said to prefer two nights.

While there’s been some uncertainty amid the war between the United States & Israel and Iran, WWE is moving ahead with its plans for Saudi Arabia. The company announced today that Night of Champions 2026 will be held in Riyadh on Saturday, June 27.

WrestleMania 43 will be the first time WWE’s marquee event has ever been held outside of the United States or Canada.

Before Saudi Arabia was chosen, Nashville, Tennessee was in consideration as the host city.

Daily Update: WrestleMania ESPN viewership, ROH Pure title, Big Damo

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Wednesday Update

WWE

  • WWE uploaded the full Sol Ruca vs. Zaria Last Woman Standing match that headlined NXT last night.
  • NXT wrestler Brooks Jensen is set to challenge coach Steve Corino for the PWF Championship at the indie promotion’s event in Newport, North Carolina this Sunday.
  • Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports reported the viewership numbers for ESPN’s TV simulcasts of the first hours of WrestleMania 42:
    • Night one (ESPN2): 1.62 million viewers
    • Night two (ESPN): 1.82 million viewers
  • Joe Jonas, who sang the National Anthem at night two of WrestleMania, uploaded a vlog from the event.
  • Jelly Roll also has a vlog with some WrestleMania footage.
  • Rapper Cam’ron made an Instagram post issuing a SummerSlam challenge to Jey Uso and his entire family: 
    • All I can do is laugh at you @romanreigns staying for Monday Night Raw after WrestleMania is like eating thanksgiving leftovers on Monday after thxgvn The Rock would Never
    • But you’re @tripleh lil lil employee. You better do what he says
    • @uceyjucey bring ya whole family and let’s settle this in August at #SummerSlam
    • @rosenbergradio make it happen
  • Big E tweeted about meeting up with AEW’s Kevin Knight and TNA’s Leon Slater during WrestleMania weekend:
    • Ran into @Jet2Flyy & @LEONSLATER_ at the gym in Vegas a few days ago. Glad I got to tell those brothers what a joy it is to watch them do incredible things in this industry. Pro wrestling’s youth movement is a beauty to behold.
  • The Wrestling Classic interviewed Alba Fyre.

Other Wrestling

Nashville tourism board says the date to host WrestleMania in 2027 ‘didn’t work out’

Even though WWE already announced that next year’s WWE WrestleMania 43 was heading to Saudi Arabia, there was apparently an idea of it heading to Nashville, Tennessee, at one point.

However, according to local tourism groups, that plan “didn’t work out” due to the dates involved, but they are looking to host it in future years.

Reported today by Fox 17 in Nashville, “leaders with the Tennessee Titans and Nashville tourism groups” had previously said the biggest event of the wrestling year would be coming to the new Nissan Stadium in April 2027, just two months after the venue is set to be completed and which would be one of the first big events to be hosted there.

However, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp (aka Visit Music City) told the outlet that, “the date didn’t work out, and we are looking at future years.”

It’s unclear where the comments and confidence from the city came from and at what point they were out of the running for 2027. The venue is where the NFL’s Titans will play after moving from the existing stadium in the city.

WWE touts business success of WrestleMania 42

TKO has issued its annual press release touting the business success of WWE WrestleMania weekend.

Though down from recent heights, TKO says WrestleMania 42 was still among the highest-grossing events in company history. A gate figure was not provided, but the press release claims an attendance of 106,072 across the two nights. That’s down from the attendance number of 124,693 that WWE self-reported for WrestleMania 41 last year.

Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas hosted both WrestleMania 41 and 42. Returning to the same city so soon is likely one of the reasons for the year-over-year attendance drop, with high ticket prices also playing a factor. WWE President Nick Khan, when asked about there being a downtick in business metrics, said the decreases are small and pointed to how WWE has focused on building for the future over the past year.

In the press release, TKO said WrestleMania 42 had record or near-record performances in sponsorship, merchandise, and digital metrics:

  • WrestleMania 42 featured a record 32 marketing partners, including Snickers, 2K, Riyadh Season, Ram, DoorDash, Wingstop, Wheatley American Vodka, Minute Maid, The General Insurance, PepsiCo’s MUG Root Beer and Chumba Casino.
  • At WWE World, a five-day interactive fan experience in partnership with Fanatics, paid experience sales reached all-time highs. WWE World also featured a lounge for attendees who signed up for Club WWE, the recently announced Gold membership experience for fans.
  • Additionally, WrestleMania 42 set a new digital record, generating more than 1.3 billion views across all social platforms – up 18 percent from the record set at WrestleMania 41.

This was the first time WrestleMania aired on the ESPN app (in the United States). The first hour of each night was also simulcast on television. Full viewership is not available, but the press release highlighted the success of those TV simulcasts:

  • WrestleMania Saturday was the most-viewed telecast of the year on ESPN2, while WrestleMania Sunday was the most-viewed telecast of the entire weekend on ESPN.

WrestleMania won’t be back in the United States until at least 2028, with Saudi Arabia set to host WrestleMania 43 next year.

B&V: WrestleMania 2026, Granny segment, BARREL ON THROUGH

The Bryan & Vinny Show is back with tons to talk about! We had MORE TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES which set Bryan off at the beginning of the show but thankfully GRANNY was on to cheer him up masterfully. Then it’s a full review of nights one and two of WrestleMania! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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WOL: WrestleMania weekend memories, RAW, Lesnar, WWE security, more

Wrestling Observer Live with Bryan Alvarez and Lance Storm is back with TONS to talk about as Bryan has returned from an amazing WrestleMania weekend where he had the time of his life. Thoughts on all sorts of different topics, plus what’s up with Brock, the RAW after WrestleMania, WWE security issues, and tons more! A fun show as always so check it out~!

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X-Pac says he was assaulted, stalked by fans during WWE WrestleMania weekend

Sean “X-Pac” Waltman also experienced some issues with fans at WWE WrestleMania 42 weekend.

In the aftermath of WrestleMania, one of the biggest stories has been the lack of effective security at the MGM Grand hotel, where WWE talent were staying in Las Vegas. CM Punk got into an altercation with a fan who followed AJ Lee & Bayley and was trying to film them. Booker T said the fan situation was the worst he’s ever seen, with one person even filming him in the bathroom.

Waltman posted a tweet today saying a fan stalked him in the bathroom as well, and Waltman also got “physically assaulted” and had a camera shoved in his face during the weekend.

“That guy & all the rest like him can get f***ed,” Waltman tweeted about the fan from the Punk incident. “It was insane how these people were. I got physically assaulted & camera shoved in my face, stalked in the bathroom, & more.”

In a follow-up tweet, Waltman added that he doesn’t have a problem with fans recording or taking pictures in public but takes issue when they invade wrestlers’ personal space. He added that the situation at the Horseshoe, a different hotel in Vegas where WrestleCon was held, was much better with fans being “totally respectful.”

The biggest security issue seems to be that not enough was done at the MGM Grand to protect wrestlers while they were in spaces where fans would be present like the hotel lobby.

Waltman, a Hall of Famer himself as a member of D-X and the nWo, helped induct NBA legend Dennis Rodman into the WWE Hall of Fame last weekend. Waltman also helps out behind the scenes in WWE by coaching indie talent in the ID program.

Nikki Bella: It was ‘extremely hard’ to miss out on potentially last WWE WrestleMania moment

Missing out on WrestleMania 42 was “extremely hard” for Nikki Bella, especially given that it might have been her last chance to have a real WrestleMania moment.

Nikki and her twin sister Brie were supposed to challenge for the Women’s Tag Team titles this past Saturday. But Nikki suffered an ankle injury prior to WrestleMania that prevented her from wrestling at the show. The event instead saw Brie team with the returning Paige to become the new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions. Nikki did end up factoring into the match, interfering and using a crutch to help Brie & Paige get the win.

On a new episode of The Nikki & Brie Show, Nikki reflected on not being able to compete at Mania. She and Brie are expecting to retire when their WWE contracts come up in early 2028. With next year’s event being held in Saudi Arabia, that means Nikki probably won’t get to compete on another WrestleMania in the United States.

“I don’t think a WrestleMania moment for me is going to come around. I get that I’ll probably have my last WrestleMania next year in Saudi maybe, but other than that, that will be it for me,” Nikki said. “So this would have been my last WrestleMania moment to share with family members and share with people here and, you know, really feel something.

“And I’ve worked really hard the past year and a half and I haven’t complained. I’ve done what I’ve been told. You know, I’ve helped put people over — even though I don’t care about that. But I’ve really, as far as my character and the impact that I can have, I’ve been very okay taking a step back and helping out and not bitching about it.

“So this was my moment that I worked really hard for this past year and a half. And for that to all go away is extremely hard.”

Nikki is currently expecting to miss 6-8 weeks after tearing, spraining, and fracturing her ankle. But if it takes longer than that, she’s okay with it. Her primary focus right now is on longevity and making sure she doesn’t negatively impact her quality of life going forward.

Pulling out of WrestleMania 42 is something Brie Bella considered after Nikki’s injury. But opportunities like this are rare, and teaming with Paige in her return was especially appealing because the Bellas consider Paige to be family.

Fan wants ‘an apology’ after CM Punk post-WWE WrestleMania incident

The fan who had his phone smacked away by CM Punk after WWE WrestleMania 42 is asking for an apology.

On Monday, TMZ Sports published video of an incident that took place in a Las Vegas hotel lobby after Mania. A fan was filming Punk’s wife AJ Lee and Bayley as they hugged and said goodbye to each other. In response, Punk knocked the man’s phone to the ground. Punk was visibly angry, but the incident did not escalate any further. Security and Punk’s mentor Ace Steel stepped in to help diffuse the situation.

The fan, asking to remain anonymous, has now spoken to TMZ and said he is not planning to sue Punk, instead asking for an apology and a handshake.

“I want an apology — shake my hand — I’m not gonna sue him or put him in jail,” the fan said. “I just want an apology.”

Punk has frequently spoken out against fans who show up at hotels and airports looking for wrestlers, and security was said to have been an issue all of WrestleMania weekend with not enough being done to give wrestlers privacy while they had to go through common areas where fans were going to be.

TMZ has also shared some more video of the incident between Punk and the fan. It shows that, before Punk slapped his phone away, Bayley and Lee had multiple fans filming them. The two then went into an elevator bank looking for privacy, but this man followed them.

“We love you, Bayley,” the fan said before Bayley responded by putting her hand up to block the man’s phone and telling him to get out of there. Punk then smacked the phone away.

The incident happened shortly after Punk main evented night two of WrestleMania 42 in a loss to Roman Reigns. Punk appeared on Raw last night and teased an upcoming match against Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes.