Christopher Daniels says he will be thanking people for a long time.
The Fallen Angel touched the lives of many wrestling talents and fans through his storied career. Both as a wrestler for three decades as well as in his role as the head of AEW talent relations, there are a lot of people who will credit Daniels for their success in one way or the other.
The wrestling veteran who retired from active competition just last month appeared on AEW Unrestricted podcast to talk about his career. When asked about the lives he has affected, CD got emotional and said that it’ll be him who will be saying thank you to all those people for letting him live his dream for so long:
“It gets me emotional honestly. I think about having to go to every guy in that locker room at some point and I’m still doing it. I haven’t finished. I haven’t even scratched the surface. But there’s going to be a moment where I’m probably going to walk up to every person I’ve ever wrestled in that locker room and be like, ‘Thanks for letting me wrestle.’
There’s a movie that I just watched called My Old Ass and it’s very poignant. There’s a scene where a guy goes, ‘You know, there’s going to be a day where you’re going to go out with your friends and you’re going to play pretend and you’re going to come home and that’ll be the last time you ever play pretend.’
That hit me really hard because I watched it right when I had retired, right when I had made the decision. I thought to myself like, I’ve spent my life playing pretend. So I’m going to go up to each one of these guys and let them know it meant so much to me to be able to share a ring with all of them and play pretend.”
Christopher Daniels said if he has inspired or helped anyone through his career then it’s only gravy on top of his own work. The former ROH Champion claimed that he cherishes even the worst wrestling match he has had because it was a moment that allowed him to do what he loved to do:
“Even the worst wrestling match I ever had was wonderful in that sense of doing what you love to do and doing what you felt you were sort of born to do. I got to do it for 32 years and each match I ever had, even the worst one was fun.
So I’m going to go up to each one of these guys and say I appreciate how much, we risk our lives, we risk our health to get in the ring and do this ridiculous dance called professional wrestling. It just means a lot to me to be able to have gone out there and affect the lives of fans like I have. If working with these guys has benefited them in any way, if I’ve made anyone happier or better as a professional wrestler, then that to me is just gravy.
I’m so happy that if I’ve had that experience with people, I’m thrilled to have done that. But honestly, they enriched my life by giving me the opportunity to do what I did for as long as I did. I think I’ll be thanking people for the next 10 years. I’ll be walking up to them and ‘Hey, I remember this match and I appreciate it and thank you.'”
Lex Luger has reflected on one of his most memorable moments in wrestling.
The retired wrestling star recently had an interview with Chris Van Vliet. He talked about things such as working on his recovery with DDP, being responsible for the death of Ms. Elizabeth, potential Hall of Fame induction, and more.
During the interview, the former WCW World Champion also discussed potentially his most famous moment in wrestling – the time when he body slammed Yokozuna. Lex Luger revealed that he was actually really nervous before the spot and it was Yoko who calmed him down:
“We’re supposed to be trash-talking, but I’m telling Yoko we can’t do it. I was panicking. I got no footing. Yoko actually was a cool as ice Samoan. We call him the dancing bear. He was so agile for a guy at 600 pounds. He looks at me and goes ‘No problem, brother. Just get a wide stance, I’ll do the rest.’”
Widely considered Lex’s star-making moment in wrestling, the spot happened in 1993 after the departure of Hulk Hogan. WWE was looking to replace Hulk with Lex and they tried to recreate the famous Hogan slamming Andre The Giant moment from WrestleMania III.
The whole thing took place aboard USS Intrepid where the nearly 600-pound Yokozuna challenged people to body slam him. After a number of WWF wrestlers as well as athletes from NBA and NFL failed to do so, The All American arrived on the deck by helicopter and finally did the impossible.
The Total Package revealed that they had done a walkthrough before but not practiced the actual spot. At the time of the actual performance however, Yokozuna took care of things:
“We did a walk through, but I’ve never slammed him. They didn’t want me in the walk through to hurt Yoko. I go hurt Yoko? What about me? I’m going to get double hernia trying to slam the guy. But we did it live first time in that ring, so I was really nervous. With no footing. Yoko just pushed himself around me.
I had to help turn him and that ain’t easy, so I played a part. I go, Yoko basically slammed himself. He was that agile. He flipped himself off of me by getting a wide stance. Unbelievable athlete. One of the best big men ever. He doesn’t get credit for one of the best.”
Apart from this, Lex Luger also talked about other memorable moments from his wrestling career including becoming the co-winner of the 1994 Royal Rumble with Bret Hart and much more.
The ever-controversial Eric Bischoff always finds himself in headlines due to his wrestling opinions and his remarks often lead to strained relations with superstars. Though he got to turn things around and make up with one such superstar during his recent wrestling appearance.
Donovan Dijak is one name that has made MLW his home in recent months just as the former WCW President has made appearances for the brand.
During a recent interview with Fightful Overbooked, Dijak was asked about meeting Bischoff in MLW after the two traded some harsh words during Donovan’s time in Retribution back in 2020. The former T-Bar said their previous exchange was all water under the bridge:
“Nothing too dramatic. He and I have no actual history before, that was the first time we had ever met, as far as I know, besides the time we were yelling at each other Twitter in 2020 when I was T-BAR, but it’s water under the bridge.”
The wrestling star explained that they were all on the edge due to the pandemic at the time. There is no ill will between the two because both him and Eric Bischoff were only doing their job:
“We were all going through COVID and it was a mess. His job is to talk about pro wrestling and my job was to defend what was happening at that point. It was a tall task for both of us, but there’s no issue there or anything like that. It was nice to meet him in person and tell him I was a big fan of his work.”
Donovan Dijak announced in June last year that he would be leaving WWE after the company had decided not to renew his deal. He has been wrestling in the indie circuit since then, and been a regular for MLW.
Jey Uso knows he has a lot to prove at WrestleMania 41.
The Bloodline member received mixed reactions online after winning the 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble match. Many people questioned the decision to put him ahead of other participants of the bout like CM Punk, John Cena and Drew McIntyre.
Uso acknowledged his doubters during a recent interview with CBS Sports. He noted that a lot of fans don’t believe him to be the right choice for the world title picture heading into Mania and Jey is determined to prove them wrong:
“This is do or die for me, I feel like I am doubted a lot. A lot of people are doubting me right now, Uce. I’m not supposed to be in this position. I know that. They know that. But I’m going to shut them all up.”
One of the big arguments against Jey Uso’s opportunity against World Champion Gunther is the lack of memorable singles performances. The Yeet Man got a chance to prove himself last year when he squared off against brother Jimmy Uso at WrestleMania 40 in what many considered a dream match.
The bout, however, ended up being a disappointment after time was cut from the match. After the debacle of his last Mania performance, Jey is definitely feeling the pressure to redeem himself:
“I always thought we put on great matches. If you look at it, we had great matches with The Wyatt Family, The Shield, The New Day. Now, I feel like I’ve had a couple of good matches but not ones that stick in people’s minds. This is redemption time on the big stage. The pressure is on.”
Though it’s not all bad for Jey Uso. Despite the online negativity, he continues to garner strong reactions from the crowd in arenas. Per the former IC Champion, people are rooting for him because they know where he comes from and he has grown in front of them.
The following article contains potential spoiler for NXT Roadblock event
A lot of people were concerned about Giulia’s status heading into the big title vs. title match at NXT Roadblock special.
It was reported that the bout was booked because the NXT Women’s Champion was dealing with an injury, making many question about the company’s decision to book her for the show at all.
PWInsider which originally reported the news of her health recently provided an update. Per sources of the site, the Japanese star is banged up from physicality associated with her style of wrestling.
The Women’s Champion is not dealing with a major injury but there are ‘bumps and bruises’ she needs time off to recover from. Though this is not expected to affect her standing for Roadblock and Giulia is 100% expected to work the match against the NXT Women’s North American Champion Stephanie Vaquer.
It’s believed that the former NJPW star will be dropping the title to Vaquer at the show. Though how long she will be out of action afterward is unknown.
Giulia will not be the only star wrestling in a champion vs. champion match at the upcoming March 11 PPV from The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
On this week’s episode of NXT, multiple NXT champion vs. TNA champion matches were made official for the upcoming event. You can check out more about it here.
WWE United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura has confirmed the passing of a Japanese wrestling legend.
The current WWE star took to X late on Thursday. He paid tribute to wrestling veteran Osamu Nishimura on his passing, saying that Nishimura was like an older brother to him:
“Rest in peace, Osamu Nishimura. You were as kind as an older brother and taught me so many things?”
Rest in peace, Osamu Nishimura. You were as kind as an older brother and taught me so many things? pic.twitter.com/jgCC9yQls1
Nishimura began his wrestling training in 1990 while still in high school when he joined New Japan Pro Wrestling dojo. He made his official debut after a year’s training, losing to Takayuki Iizuka in his first match. He then went on a foreign excursion to US.
The wrestling veteran would continue traveling between Japan and other countries throughout his career, primarily wrestling for different promotions in the US. He wrestled for many NWA territories in the 90s and also unsuccessfully challenged Shane Douglas for the ECW World Title.
In Japan, he had long runs with both NJPW and AJPW, even wrestling Ric Flair in a high-profile match that he lost back in 1996.
The late star was diagnosed with stage-four esophageal cancer in March 2024. Despite the struggles, he kept his spirits high and even teamed with Dory Funk, Jr. for the latter’s retirement match in August 2024.
There are a lot of people who had the best match of their career against Bret Hart and Sean Waltman is one of them.
The WWE Hall of Famer recently appeared on the No Contest Wrestling podcast. He talked about things such as DX invading WCW, the effect of the Curtain Call on the wrestling world, and more.
They also talked about Waltman’s famous 1994 match with Bret Hart. Waltman who was very new to the business still, challenged Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Title. While he did not win the match, Sean gave an incredible performance and many believe the bout to be his star-making moment.
Sean Waltman, known as The 1-2-3 Kid at the time noted how Bret Hart worked the match as a heel despite being a babyface at the time to make sure the fans got behind him:
“Bret was so giving in that match man. I mean he didn’t turn heel, but like he was the heel in that fucking match. He was on me. He made sure that people were behind me. That was like, you know, I mean he’s the top babyface in the company so it’s like – thank you.”
The former WWE star discussed how despite being a veteran by that point, Bret Hart took all the offense Sean Waltman threw at him. Per the former DX member, it was the greatest match he ever had:
“He let me do all my shit man. He put it in the proper place but yeah, he let me do everything I wanted to do. Some of that shit I never even used to…like I jack-knifed him and yeah. That’s the greatest match I’ve ever had. For sure. There’s like seven minutes missing from the actual match itself. They chopped it up a little bit to fit it into, to fit it into that segment.”
Sean Waltman had recently revealed that he was also diagnosed with diverticulitis in 2024 and noted that Kenny Omega helped him through the disease. You can check out his comment on the matter here.
The wrestling veteran recently had an interview with Chris Van Vliet. He talked about things such as the passing of miss Elizabeth, his relationship with Eric Bischoff, making his debut on the very first WCW Nitro and more.
During the interview, Luger went into depth describing his health issues and revealed the moment he finally asked for DDP’s help. The former World Champion discussed being present for Sting’s retirement match at Revolution 2024 in Greensboro, North Carolina:
“I saw DDP back at Sting’s retirement match that we both were able to go to, which was awesome. I just said, ‘Hey, D. You think we could do maybe a little bit of work on getting a little more movement? I’m pretty much in this chair full time, I’m having trouble just doing everyday stuff and brushing my teeth and to shower, my quality of life’s dropped quite a bit, my energy levels, everything.’”
Lex Luger discussed how he had actually regained a lot of mobility following his original 2008 spinal cord injury after spending 2 years in a rehab center. After he fell down a few times, the doctors convinced him to start using mobility devices to avoid further damage. This change however, led to him losing his confidence and he became dependent for even the most basic day to day tasks.
Revealing how DDP reacted to his request, the former WCW star said that he was more than willing to help and their friendship has only grown strong since then:
“You know DDP, all you got to do is tell him that he goes, ‘Brother, I’ve been waiting for you to come to me on this.’ So we went to work, and we made amazing progress that we were going to reveal to everybody for his incredible partner, Steve and him are documenting, kind of filming it and the progress, and it’s going to be pretty cool. I’m real excited and thankful for what he’s doing with me. Our friendship was always there, but our friendship is growing. So he’s a special guy.”
Lex Luger seems to be making great progress in his recovery with DDP. A recent video showed that the wrestling veteran is able to stand up on his own and move his body a lot freely than he did before. During the talk, Luger noted that he is able to do the basic tasks like brushing his teeth or getting into the bathroom by himself once again as well.
Adam Cole has opened up about his match with Malakai Black.
The Undisputed Kingdom star recently had an interview with 107.7 The Bone to promote the upcoming Revolution PPV. He talked about things such as his ankle injury, making his AEW debut alongside Bryan Danielson and more.
During the interview, the AEW star was also asked about sharing a hug with Malakai Black after their Dynamite match last November and if he had any idea about the future plans for the former House of Black leader. Adam Cole explained that it was just two friends sharing a moment after his return from his long hiatus:
“No, I really didn’t. So again I do have a history of working with Malakai. [He’s] just an unbelievable opponent, an unbelievable guy to step in there with. We’ve shared a lot of really really cool moments together. So for me all it was, was this personal moment between two guys who have a lot of love and respect for each other.
I don’t know anything about or didn’t know anything about what his plans were and things like that. For me it was just a cool moment with a friend after getting to work together after a long time.”
Malakai Black is believed to be on his way out of AEW and reports suggest that he has already finished up with the promotion. If true then it would mean that the Adam Cole match was Black’s final 1-on-1 match in the company as he only wrestled in a few tag matches after that.
Cole is currently not booked for a match at the AEW Revolution PPV but the show features a lot of interesting matches including a couple added this week. You can check out more details about the PPV here.
Drew McIntyre had a nasty reply ready for CM Punk during their infamous promo battle referencing Vince McMahon last year.
The name of the former Chairman has essentially been banned from WWE programming after ex-employee Janel Grant filed a lawsuit against McMahon accusing him of sexual trafficking among other things.
This didn’t stop CM Punk from referencing his former boss during a promo battle with McIntyre on the March 25, 2024 episode of Raw. Punk startled his rival by asking him about being ‘The Chosen One,’ a nickname given to Drew by Vince during his first WWE run.
On the March 25, 2024, edition of RAW, CM Punk asked Drew McIntyre who gave him the nickname "The Chosen One."
During a recent interview with Inside The Ropes, Drew McIntyre revealed that he wanted to respond to CM Punk by saying the man [Vince McMahon] "that fired you on your… pic.twitter.com/1CdvbEWZpV
The Scottish Warrior opened up about what was going through his mind at the time during a new interview with Inside the Ropes. He revealed that he had an equally bold response that he refrained from saying out loud:
“What’s going through my mind is: ‘The same person that fired you on your wedding day.’ But I’m a professional.”
CM Punk infamously got the papers of his WWE firing after his 2014 walkout on the day of his wedding with AJ Lee. In an interview with Steve Austin, Vince McMahon later claimed that the whole thing was an accident and apologized to Punk.
Drew McIntyre claimed that the whole promo battle was off the cuff with two guys who genuinely disliked each other going at it. Still, he refrained from the retort for the benefit of the company:
“It was a choice for me to make. Do I go back and then we see where we end up? Or do I bite my tongue and say OK, this round belongs to you. I’ll be a professional. I’ll do it for the company as well as the de facto babyface, even though I’m really the real babyface of the situation. So I let him have it. For the company, not for him.”
Drew McIntyre will be competing in the Elimination Chamber match this Saturday. This comes only days after the former champion had to get his knee drained. You can check out what McIntyre said about his knee before the PPV here.
WWE will be making a change to their Saudi schedule this year to accommodate bringing Royal Rumble to the Kingdom next year.
The company has held two PPV events on Saudi soil since the beginning of its 10-year deal with the country in 2018, with the exception of the COVID years in 2020 and 2021.
During the 2024 TKO fourth quarter earnings call this week, however, CFO Andrew Schleimer revealed that the company will only hold one event in the Middle East this year, and make up for it in 2026:
“Our guidance for 2025 includes one PLE in Saudi Arabia, compared to two PLEs in 2024. This results in an unfavorable impact to our 2025 plan of approximately $55 million of total company revenue. We expect to host three PLEs in Saudi Arabia in 2026, including Royal Rumble,”
WWE has already announced the 2026 Royal Rumble event from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as part of Riyadh Season. So far, the company has not confirmed the date for the 2025 Saudi event.
TKO Group Holdings, the parent company of WWE is expanding its partnership with the Saudi government in other ways as well. Their other major promotion UFC held their second big Saudi event in UFC Fight Night 250 earlier this month.
Apart from this, the company is also nearing an agreement to start a brand-new combat sports league with the help of the country’s Public Investment Fund. You can check out more details on the matter here.
WWE has opened the door for collaborations with other promotions since Triple H took over creative but this new approach will be reaching a whole new level when Karrion Kross appears alongside AEW talents for a show.
Future Stars of Wrestling announced on Twitter that the former NXT Champion will be returning to the company for their March 23 show. The event titled ‘Benefit For Bey’ will be raising funds to assist TNA star Chris Bey after his neck injury last year in October:
FSW is excited to announce that current WWE Superstar @realKILLERkross will be appearing at Beynefit for Bey. This is his first appearance inside an FSW ring in more than 3 years. An announcement will be made regarding his opponent shortly. For more info lvfuturestars@yahoo.com pic.twitter.com/rBsdo4wsd5
The show will also feature multiple top AEW stars in the lineup including former AEW Champion Swerve Strickland and Brian Cage. Other names announced for the event include John Morrison, Rich Swann, Sam Adonis, Rhyno, Ace Austin and more.
Chris Bey suffered the neck injury during last year’s post-Bound For Glory TV tapings. He was competing in a tag team match against The Hardy Boyz while an awkward fall resulted in him having to be stretchered out of the arena.
The 29-year-old star had to undergo emergency surgery for the injury that had left him temporarily paralyzed. He spent a week in ICU after undergoing operation for spinal cord fusion (C6-C7 and C6-T1).
The TNA star provided a positive update on his recovery earlier this month, revealing that he is able to stand up and walk on his own again. Bay still has a long way to go in his recovery. You can check out ways to help the injured star here.
Sonya Deville has commented on her wrestling future following the abrupt end to her decade-long WWE career earlier this month.
The now-former WWE star appeared on Made It Out podcast recently. She talked about things such as growing up in a small town, how she got her break in wrestling, coming out on WWE TV and more.
Talking about her future, Deville noted that she is still processing her release and does not have all the answers yet. The former Absolution member revealed that she booked her first big movie project the same week she got released, and the former champion is not sure if she will be returning to the ring or not:
“I don’t know if wrestling is over for me yet, so that’s something that I’m figuring out right now too and I’m giving myself the time to really decide what the next moves are. But we have some really fun things in the works that I’m excited to share with everybody.”
Sonya Deville had been talking to WWE about a potential new contract and given the impression that she would be re-signed shortly before officials told her that her deal would not be renewed. Despite how things turned out, however, the former NXT star is not bitter about the situation:
“I’m very in the mentality of nothing happens to you, it happens for you. So I don’t have an ounce of anger, regret. Even the sadness, the sadness is just missing the moments, but the sadness isn’t like, ‘Oh my God, I want to be back there right this second.’ It truly isn’t. It’s Like ‘No, I’m so at peace with What’s happening because I’m such a strong believer in the Universe.’ Whatever the powers that be are, I’m a believer. Because I know that everything is going to be okay.”
While Sonya Deville herself does not sound too worried about her WWE departure, the abrupt end of her run has led to concerns among other female roster members. You can check out an update on how the locker room feels here.
Matt Morgan has revealed that his horrible stuttering gimmick was originally meant for The Beast Incarnate Brock Lesnar.
The wrestler-turned-politician recently had an interview with Jonathan Coachman on his YouTube channel. They talked about things such as Morgan’s journey to sobriety, his time in WWE and TNA, and more.
During the interview, the 48-year-old recalled the stuttering gimmick given to him back in 2005. He told the story of Vince McMahon pitching the gimmick and his initial reaction to it:
“He goes, ‘Could you imagine? You, six feet, whatever you are, six ten, six eleven, you’ve all these physical, body perfections, and you have that Achilles’ heel to you that nobody sees coming. And you start to stutter.’ And I’m like, ‘With respect sir, I graduated top of my class in college with a public speaking degree. Are you sure?'”
During the interview, Matt Morgan also discussed how Vince had been obsessed with the gimmick for some time. According to him, the boss originally wanted to give the character to Brock Lesnar:
“Vince trying to sell the stuttering character, he actually wanted to put this on Brock Lesnar as God as my witness. He wanted to find somebody that’s jacked and has all these great physical attributes. That looks like a warrior as he put it. But that when they opened their mouth there was this verbal imperfection. Coach we could have had ‘The next Big Stutterer.'”
Morgan debuted the stuttering gimmick in April 2005, defeating then-unknown Matt Cardona in his debut. He then aligned himself with Carlito as his backup in May. The gimmick did not last long and Morgan was released from his contract in July that year after Carlito was drafted to Raw.
Mercedes Mone has detailed her mental health struggles following her WWE departure.
The current AEW star recently had an interview with fellow Mandalorian star Katee Sackhoff. She opened up about her departure from the promotion then owned by Vince McMahon during the talk. Mone noted how it was not an easy decision because it meant potentially saying goodbye to the Sasha Banks character forever.
Mercedes Mone explained that she wasn’t sure what to do even after her departure and her run in Japan was a way for her to figure out if she still wanted to continue wrestling. When asked if she considered leaving the business for good, the wrestling star revealed that she did have those thoughts:
“I did. I did because of how hurt I was by it and how much it drove me into a place of darkness. I couldn’t believe something that brought me so much light in my life, that saved me so many times when I was a kid, brought me so much darkness.
I was just like ‘I don’t want to feel like this.’ I don’t want to have so much stress where I’m legit killing myself because of all the stress that I’m creating or the sadness that I’m bringing to myself because of this bad constant mental talk in my head.”
The former Sasha Banks had been frustrated with her booking for a long time before she finally decided to quit WWE in May 2022. The decision was not an easy one, however, and the former WWE star struggled with it for a long time.
Thankfully in the end, Mercedes Mone decided not to give in to those voices. She decided that she would continue pursuing her dreams instead of letting people who wanted her to quit win:
“So just a lot of healing. Just a lot of healing and I told myself ‘No, this is still what I freaking love. I love wrestling. I still have the same goal of when I was 10 years old. No one’s going to take that away.’ I felt like at this time maybe they want to see me gone forever.
Maybe people want to see me disappear and I’m like ‘I can’t give that to people. I can’t give up on myself and I can’t give up on my dream. I still have so much light and passion for this and such a chase and a drive.'”
Mercedes Mone also discussed potential retirement from wrestling and noted that she wants to start setting up her post-retirement career soon. You can check out her comments on the matter here.
Mercedes Mone is not thinking about hanging her wrestling boots anytime soon but she definitely wants to take more time off to pursue her other interests and set up a post-wrestling career.
The wrestling veteran had already started exploring outside roles during her time in WWE, staring in Star Wars series The Mandalorian. She has only expanded her scope following her departure from the company in 2022, having made both her modelling and film debut since then.
The TBS Champion was asked if she has thought about her retirement from in-ring action during a recent interview with Katee Sackhoff. Mercedes Mone claimed that she is scared of the thought of hanging her wrestling boots, though she does want to start taking more time off to try out new things:
“You’re giving me goosebumps. That scares me, I don’t want to think about the word retirement but I do think about slowing down because I’ve been doing it for so long and aches and pains start to catch up and different dreams start to happen.
Life starts to grow and I just have so many more dreams that I want to go pursue and chase and go accomplish while I still can, being young and feeling good and having my body feel good.”
I Really Enjoy The Process of Creating: Mercedes Mone
Mercedes Mone later explained that she wants to stay connected to the wrestling world long after she has stopped competing. The current TBS Champion noted that she enjoys the creative process of putting together matches and it’s something she’d like to continue doing:
“I don’t want to put a time frame of when that exact moment I will slow down, but I know sooner than later, I definitely want to take more time to pursue other things and just really set that place of what am I going to do when I’m done wrestling.
What’s going to bring me the most joy, what is still my passion, and I still love this business so much so I always want to be a part of it whether that’s being a producer or a coach which is putting the matches together and creating something or just always being involved with that,
I really enjoy the process of creating and forming matches and I feel like I’m really good at that, especially for a women. So I feel like when I’m done with wrestling, that’s an aspect or avenue that I want to go into.”
The legendary tag team returned to WWE programming on this week’s NXT. The duo defeated Tavion Heights and Myles Borne in their NXT debut.
They were asked how they feel about the return in a backstage interview after the show. Matt Hardy was the first to comment and said that it feels like being back home where their historic career began:
“It feels incredible. It’s extremely flattering. I mean, we returned home. We’re back at our birthplace. WWE will always be our home. It will always be our birthplace.
Without WWE, we wouldn’t be who we are and we are blessed to have had this 33-year-long career and coming back in NXT, making our debut, wrestling on live television. It was an absolute honor, an absolute blast and thank you for having us.”
Jeff Hardy then said that it’s very surreal to be back where it all began for them. Hardy, who has been open about his desire to end his career in WWE, claimed that it might be where it all ends:
“Amen. Yeah, this is very surreal. It’s good to be back. It’s where it all began. Maybe it’ll all end here, but for right now we’re Total Nonstop Action, baby. Mixing it up with NXT and the WWE. It don’t get much better.”
The Hardy Boyz were confronted by NXT Tag Team Champions Axiom and Nathan Frazer after their bout. Santino Marella then announced that the TNA tag team champions would defend their titles at the upcoming Roadblock event. You can check out the other matches that were made official for the show tonight here.
The Hardy Boyz are set for Madison Square Garden return.
NXT is set to hold the Roadblock event from The Theatre at Madison Square Garden on March 11. The company made multiple big matches official for this show during tonight’s episode of the development brand.
After Moose successfully defended the X Division Championship against Lexis King, the current NXT Champion Oba Femi came out to confront the TNA star. Femi announced that the former NFL star would be facing him for the NXT title at the upcoming show.
Elsewhere in the show, Women’s Champion Giulia came out to confront the NXT Women’s North American Champion Stephanie Vaquer after the latter defeated Karmen Petrovic in a title match.
The Japanese star first congratulated Vaquer and then declared that she wanted to know who the best champion was. She then challenged the Mexican star to a title vs. title match at the upcoming show.
Potentially the biggest match that was announced during the night was of The Hardy Boyz. The TNA tag team champions defeated Tavion Heights and Myles Borne in their WWE in-ring return at the February 25 show.
The NXT tag champs Axiom and Nathan Frazer came out looking for a fight with the legendary tag team after this. TNA Director of Authority Santino Marella then announced that The Hardys will defend their titles against the NXT team at the upcoming PPV.
With multiple crossover matches, the upcoming event is becoming a must-watch show. It’d be interesting to see if the Hardy Boyz stick around WWE programming after Roadblock.
Many wrestlers from the Attitude Era battled with issues like addiction but a lot of them do not like to talk about it. Kurt Angle is different, however, as the Olympic Gold Medallist does not shy away from discussing his past mistakes. He is very open about his pill and alcohol addiction through his early WWE and TNA days.
The WWE Hall of Famer recently had an interview with TribLive to talk about a new movie about his life that is in the works. The film will focus on Angle’s journey from his childhood through his victory in the Olympics.
During the interview, Kurt Angle also talked about his past demons and explained that he always talks about it in hopes that people will learn from his mistakes:
“It is important I use that platform to be able to talk about my life story and hopefully help people out by talking about mistakes I’ve made about my addiction, how I overcame that, and what I had to do to make that happen,”
Kurt Angle explained that he wants people dealing with similar issues to take inspiration from his own journey and know that they can also get their life in order if they try:
“I am a pretty open book about my life. I want to share that with people to hopefully give them motivation to go ahead and get their lives in order if it has turned into a mess.
I tell them my story and how I have been clean and sober for more than 14 years. I get a lot of great responses. I am just happy to be able to motivate people to better their lives.”
The wrestling legend had recently detailed his mindset during those times and opened up about the passing of his sister due to drug overdose. You can check out his comments on the matter here.
Drew McIntyre has opened up about getting his knee drained and his status for Elimination Chamber this Saturday.
The Scottish Warrior wrestled a singles match against Jimmy Uso on this past Friday’s SmackDown. In an Instagram story, the WWE star revealed that he had to get his knee drained 45 minutes before the bout that opened the show.
The former World Champion was asked if he has any concerns about the knee during a media call to promote Saturday’s PLE. McIntyre noted that the doctor was not thrilled about the whole thing but he does not have a lot of concerns:
“I mean, I have no concerns with the knee personally. I couldn’t bend it fully, unfortunately, and I told the doctor, ‘Listen, like let’s get this fluid out.’ He wasn’t exactly over the moon about it, but medically it was safe or I wouldn’t have done it in the first place. But it was legitimately 45 minutes before the match. I told him, ‘This is going to hinder me in the match.'”
Drew McIntyre unfortunately ended up losing the bout against Jimmy Uso. He then brutally attacked the Bloodline member after the bell. Talking about his post-match actions and the upcoming Elimination Chamber match, he said that he wouldn’t miss the PPV even if he had to duct tape himself together for it:
“I’m not one to make excuses, I’m not going to say that’s why Jimmy got himself the biggest victory of his damn career and had his WrestleMania moment at my expense, but yeah, to put it simply, I’m not a pussy. A lot of the guys are now.
I said get that out. I’ve got a show to put on. I’ve got a performance to do and this is affecting me, so we took that fluid out. I got in the ring and I did my job. I left Jimmy not looking like a winner, that’s for sure. I’ll be good by Elimination Chamber.
If I have to tape myself together to get in the ring with the likes of Punk, Seth, and John Cena, people I really want to be in there with. Show the world that Drew McIntyre belongs on top. You don’t have to hand me a thing, I’ll keep taking and taking and taking and showing why I belong on top. That’s a match I’m not going to miss, if I have to hold myself together with duct tape.”
Drew McIntyre will be entering the Elimination Chamber cage hoping to win a shot at Cody Rhodes’ WWE Championship at WrestleMania. You can check out more details about the show here.
Kayla Braxton has detailed her reaction to her only bump in WWE.
The former WWE broadcaster recently had an interview with After We Wrap podcast. She talked about things such as working with Roman Reigns in WWE, her love for horror movies, and more.
During the interview, Braxton also told the story of her only bump in WWE. She revealed that announcers used to have to take bump classes to protect themselves from any unforeseen incidents in the ring:
“The announcers used to have to take a bump class just in case we’re in the ring and something went wrong we had to learn how to fall without getting hurt, in our high heels.
So I put on, I don’t know if you ever saw tough enough, but I had a tough enough helmet to make sure I was all locked in. Michael Cole was watching me with his camera because he thought it would be really funny to show everybody.”
Unfortunately for Kayla Braxton, she forgot the basic rule for taking bumps and ended up getting the wind knocked out of her:
“Then I fell on my back and I didn’t tuck, you have to tuck your chin and I didn’t tuck my chin so my neck snaps back. Felt like I got hit by a truck. I crawled away whimpering.
That was the only time I ever took a bump. Anytime someone’s like, ‘Would you ever consider getting in the ring and wrestling?’ ‘No, absolutely not.’ It’s terrible. But they make it look easy.”
Kayla Braxton ended her 8-year-long WWE run in July last year. According to her, she had outgrown her role in the company and decided to end her tenure to be able to pursue other projects.
WWE has been experiencing a period of record growth and posting unprecedented profits but the benefits of this boom do not seem to be far-reaching within the organization. A new report from Wrestlenomics has chronicled multiple issues that have led to a decline in employee morale behind the scenes since the WWE-UFC merger in September 2023.
A big reason for this merger was to consolidate services under the branding of Endeavor, which resulted in significant layoffs in multiple departments at the time. Since then, the workload for the remaining employees has increased significantly with some people saying that they’re working 50 to 60 hours per week, particularly during the WrestleMania season. In addition to the responsibility in their WWE role, many have also been assigned additional UFC-related tasks.
The compensation for employees has not kept up with the increased workload, however, with multiple staff members saying that they’ve received a meagre 3% cost-of-living raise this year. Many with strong performance reviews, have been told they would not be receiving comparable raises due to budget constraints set by upper management.
The same constraints do not seem to apply to the top brass, however. In addition to bonuses received by top executives at the time of the merger, the nearly 50% increase in Endeavor Group Holdings shares since the time has helped people in administrative positions amass more wealth. The TKO Group Holdings CEO Ari Emanuel has reached billionaire status for the first time thanks to this significant increase in share values this month. This is in stark contrast to the cost-of-living raises given to employees which many argue hardly keeps pace with the rising living costs around the areas of WWE Headquarters in Connecticut and New York
In addition to the limited increase in pay, reducing employee perks has also led to staff members increasingly feeling undervalued, while the management continues to emphasize the value of its workforce in town hall meetings. Some significant perks that have been discontinued include the removal of the peer-recognition initiative called ‘WWE Superstar’, as well as the elimination of complimentary live event tickets for employees.
This decline is in addition to frustration within the talent side, specifically among the female roster members. It’s been reported recently that female talents have been frustrated with their WrestleMania build and a recent WWE departure has left many feeling insecure about their position. You can check out more about it here.
The Rock returned to WWE last week to cut an awkward promo on Cody Rhodes and help kick the SmackDown ratings into the WrestleMania gear.
The months after Royal Rumble is usually the period that sees an increased interest in WWE programming as the company builds storylines for the Show of Shows. This hadn’t been the case for SmackDown whose ratings had more or less been steady in the past few weeks but it changed with the February 21 show.
Despite The Rock’s WWE return coming together very quickly, the Great One’s comeback generated enough buzz for The Blue Branded show to garner 1,736,000 viewers overnight per Programming Insider.
This is a huge increase for the show from last week’s 1,384,000 overnight viewers, which featured multiple qualifying matches for the Elimination Chamber and an appearance from Cody Rhodes.
The show also saw an increase in the key 18-49 demo which rose up to 0.51. This is a significant increase from last week’s 0.42 rating.
The Rock is not advertised for this week’s episode of SmackDown but the company will continue to unravel the meaning of his promo on the show.
The People’s Champion will return to WWE programming the night after. The Hollywood star has been announced for the Elimination Chamber PPV on March 1, where he will expect an answer from The American Nightmare on his proposal.
Carmella has broken her silence for the first time since the unceremonious end of her 12-year run with WWE earlier this month.
The former Women’s Champion posted a short video on Instagram thanking fans who have reached out and shown their appreciation since the news broke. She also mentioned how there’s a lot of uncertainty around her future. The female star noted that she has ‘a lot’ to say and promised to jump on a podcast this week to address her WWE departure in more detail:
“Hi guys. I am aware I’ve been MIA for the last week. If you can’t tell I’m so sick. I’ve been sick for over a week now. There’s also obviously been a lot happening. Some news broke last week and I just wanted to let you know that I’ve seen all of your texts and tweets and messages and DMs and like oh my god, you guys are just the best.
I’m so grateful for you and everything that you’ve been saying about Carmella and my career and I’m so blessed. So thank you. I know there’s a lot of questions and uncertainty around everything. I will be going on a podcast later this week, answering some of those questions and telling my side because I have a lot to say about the situation. So yes, stay tuned, I’ll give you the details later when I can and I can’t wait to fill you guys in.”
The news of Carmella’s WWE deal expiring first broke out earlier last week. The company then moved her to the alumni section of their website. The former champion herself also changed her name on various social platforms to essentially confirm that the two parties were no longer working together.
The Staten Island Princess had not been active in the ring since March 2023, when she took maternity leave from the company. She gave birth to a son in November 2023, but health complications arising from childbirth have prevented the wrestling veteran from making an in ring return.
Sami Zayn has revealed how his relationship with WWE creative has changed over the years.
Whether it’s giving a celebrity like Johnny Knoxville a good match or putting over young stars like Bron Breakker, Zayn is a name that WWE officials always seem to rely on more than most veteran talents on the roster.
During a recent interview with Flamesnation, the Underdog from The Underground was asked if the creative ever hear no from him for anything they throw at him. Sami Zayn explained that they don’t hear no but they always hear different ideas:
“I don’t think they hear no, but they hear ideas, that’s for sure. They hear a lot of them. I think I’ve been pretty fortunate over the years to have a pretty decent success rate to where it’s given me a certain amount of equity with them that my ideas will be heard. And again, I’ll also give a little bit of credit to the sort of change in creative and the creative shift over the years.
Last couple of years under Triple H, but even a little bit prior to that, just with my relationship with the creative team to where just my voice feels heard. They’re not gonna do everything I suggest but they don’t look at it like ‘Gosh, these wrestlers giving us these ideas.’ Some wrestlers might give bad ideas. I hope I’m not throwing anything bad out there.”
Sami Zayn explained that the equity he has built with the creative over the years has allowed the two parties to be more communicative. His positive reputation is one of the reasons why the former IC Champion is always factored into plans:
“So I’ll throw a lot out there and I really appreciate having a voice that’s heard and being met or if an idea doesn’t work, they kind of explain why and ‘Hey we want to do this idea instead’ or whatever and you just go with it.
But even that’s sort of like a privilege that’s earned over time. Because they don’t write everybody into stories all the time. I feel like over the last 4-5 years I’ve been consistently written into a story at all times. Then it’s incumbent on me to just make it work. So that I don’t know, that’s not lost on me.”