WWE Superstar Natalya recently appeared on the Busted Open Radio show and discussed a variety of topics. The WWE veteran talked about Ronda Rousey and her willingness to “take risks” to make fans care about her character.

Natalya stated that “the thing about Ronda is that she has definitely put in the work. I like the fact that she is willing to take risks. She’s part of this WrestleMania main event for several reasons. One of those reasons is she’s willing to make people hate her to get people interested and watching the show.”

The Hart Family member elaborated further, saying that “you look at some of our most pivotal and polarizing characters in WWE. If everybody in the locker room was getting along, if Charlotte liked Becky, and Becky liked Charlotte, if everybody was just friends, would you pay to see that in the main event?”

Natalya also revealed what the RAW Women’s Champion had discussed with her recently. “Ronda said to me the other day, ‘I don’t care if people hate me, I don’t care if people like me. I want to help change this industry. I want to get everybody wanting to see this WrestleMania main event.'”

Ronda Rousey is set to defend her Championship in the WrestleMania main event next Sunday night.

*Credit to WrestlingINC for the transcription

Current one-half of the SmackDown Tag Team Champion Jimmy Uso was involved in an incident with the police in Detroit back in February. When Jimmy’s wife Naomi was pulled over for driving the wrong way on a one-way street, Jimmy took his shirt off and tried to square off with the cops, body cam footage showed.

Jimmy was arrested with disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice. Despite this, it looks like Jimmy will not be having any problems with the case anymore.

According to TMZ, Jimmy and his attorney, John Freeman have reached a deal with prosecutors for Jimmy to plead no contest to the charge of interfering with a government employee. In exchange, Jimmy had to pay $450 in fines.

During the time of the incident, Naomi took to Twitter and lashed out at fans, defending her husband’s actions, claiming, “as for my husband he’s more of a man you’ll ever be & I’ll leave it at that (sic)”

WWE didn’t punish Jimmy, but they released a statement on the incident, which read, “Jonathan Fatu is responsible for his own personal actions.”

The Usos actually went on to become tag team champions just a few days later at the Elimination Chamber event. They were also able to retain the titles at Fastlane in early March. The two were seen on this week’s episode of SmackDown where they forfeited their gauntlet match against Big E and Xavier Woods in support of Kofi Kingston’s WWE Championship pursuit. As of now, a match for the SD Tag Titles isn’t confirmed for WrestleMania.

WWE Hall Of Famer Undergoes Heart Surgery

It was reported recently that WWE Legend and Hall of Famer “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan was set to undergo a heart operation in Forest Acres, South Carolina yesterday.

Duggan’s Instagram account provided an update on his condition recently, and a post on it confirmed that the former WWE Star’s surgery was a success.

The post also featured a photo of Jim after the procedure and apart from thanking everyone for their prayers; it also revealed that the Legend will be going home today:

View this post on Instagram

Resting peacefully after a successful procedure. Going homw tomorrow, thank you everyone for the positive thoughts and prayers.

A post shared by Hacksaw Duggan (@wwehacksawduggan) on Mar 29, 2019 at 5:11pm PDT

Seth Rollins Says Brock Lesnar Has Held The Industry Hostage

Former World Champion Seth Rollins recently competed at the WWE Supershow live event in Pikeville, KY and before his match at the show, he also cut a promo on his WrestleMania opponent Brock Lesnar.

WWE posted a video of his promo from their Twitter account and in the video as seen below; Rollins claimed that the Beast Incarnate has held the industry hostage for too long:

Seth Rollins will be challenging the Beast Brock Lesnar at the upcoming WrestleMania PPV and he hopes to dethrone the Beast to become the new Universal Champion so he can inspire other stars backstage.

G1 Supercard, which will be brought by Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro Wrestling at the Madison Square Garden on April 6, will see ROH Champion Jay Lethal as one of the wrestlers in the main event of the show at the historic and important venue.

Lethal will be facing Marty Scurll and Matt Taven in a three-way ladder match for the ROH World Championship, which will be one of the main events in the card.

Lethal talked to the Tampa Bay Times about his opportunity to headline the first non-WWE event in nearly 60 years at MSG.

“Every wrestler from my generation thought that the only way to work in Madison Square Garden was to work for the WWE or fill out an application to work security,” Lethal said. “I get to go there without doing either of those two things.” ”

Lethal adds that he is more than happy with how his career is going and equates it to winning the lottery, to be going in as a champion at a sold-out show in MSG.

“I feel like my career is like winning the lottery. Everything just seems to go right.”

“I couldn’t write my story any better,” Lethal added. “We are wrestling a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden and I am champion. A few years ago, I would have said this is impossible. But it is a reality.”

WWE Superstar Dave Batista and Triple H are set to face each other at WrestleMania 35 in a No Holds Barred Match after the two had a face-to-face confrontation on Raw.

Now, WWE has announced that the Animal will be returning to the last Raw before WrestleMania, and he has a message for Triple H.

On the October 16, 2018 episode of SmackDown, which was the 1000th episode special, Batista reunited with former Evolution stablemates Triple H and Ric Flair. Batista showed hostility towards Triple H and teased a match claiming that The Cerebral Assassin has never beaten him in a singles match.

Rumors and speculation about the match became reality on the February 25, 2019 episode of Raw when Ric Flair’s 70th Birthday Celebration hosted by Triple H and Stephanie McMahon, was set to take place. Flair did not make it to the ring and it was because Batista attacked him backstage, to seek Triple H’s attention.

On the March 11 episode of Raw, the two came together in the ring and Batista
Batista challenged Triple H for a match at WrestleMania. Batista said that he wanted his final match to be on his own terms, and Triple H accepted and made it a No Holds Barred match. Batista stated that the reason behind his hatred was because Triple H had only used him and underestimated him, before their time in Evolution.

On this week’s Raw, Batista demanded Triple H to put his career on the line against him, or the match would be off. Triple H agreed to the stipulation and must retire as a wrestler if he loses.

WrestleMania 35 is set to take place on April 7, 2019 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Impact Wrestling presented a special branded show “Against All Odds” last night on Pursuit and Twitch.

Here are 8 Takeaways from Impact Wrestling 3/29:

Allie Killed Off In The Undead Realm

Rosemary traveled to the undead realm last night in an attempt to regain Allie’s soul. It was then revealed that Kevin Sullivan (or a being in Kevin Sullivan form) was the leader of the realm. During Sullivan’s speech to Rosemary, Su Yung struck and stabbed Allie in the neck.

As Allie lay dying, she became “whole again” and reverted back to the Allie of old.

Gail Kim To Face Tessa Blanchard At Rebellion

Gail Kim did resign from her position in Impact Wrestling as Tessa Blanchard wanted her too. What Blanchard likely did not want, however, is for Gail to announce she was coming out of retirement in order to come after her.

With Rebellion coming up next month from Gail Kim’s hometown, could we see the Hall of Famer face arguably the hottest women’s wrestler in the industry today? A match between the two was made official for the PPV later in the evening.

Taya Valkyrie Saved Her Title Against Jordynne Grace

Taya Valkyrie used her champion’s advantage at Against All Odds against Jordynne Grace. The champion missed a moonsault and Grace looked to capitalize but the champion chose to duck tail and run instead, with help from Impact World champion, Johnny Impact.

Grace might feel as though she is owed another shot at the Knockouts championship.

Johnny Impact Helped Killer Kross Defeat Brian Cage

There was some controversy at the end, but Killer Kross pinned Brian Cage this week. It looked as though Brian Cage kicked out after a Saito suplex at 2.5 but the ref called for the bell. After the match, Johnny Impact continued to deliver the beatdown to his challenger at Rebellion.

Taya brought out a chair which Johnny used to target Cage’s arm. It seems Impact and Taya will do anything to save each other’s titles. Johnny wants to make sure that Cage goes into Rebllion injured.

Scarlett Bordeaux Defeated Glenn Gilbertti

Scarlett Boardeaux defeated Glenn Gilbertti this week on Impact in inter-gender action. The Smoke Show is now showing she can get things done in the ring as well but will her success against the former Disco Inferno carry over when she enters the Knockouts division?

LAX Vs Lucha Bros – Full Metal Mayhem At Rebellion

Konnan warned each team against entering into this rivalry. Now, one team, the Lucha Bros, have turned their back on Konnan completely. This week, it was having Konnan in their corner which gave LAX the advantage. Konnan’s taunting of his former allies, allowed LAX to recover and put both Pentagon and Fenix through tables.

This feud has been contested 2-on-2 up until now. With Konnan now in the corner of LAX and pulling for their victory over Pentagon and Fenix, that could be all Santana and Ortiz need to regain their titles.

A match between the two teams was made later in the evening, under Full Metal Mayhem rules to take place at Rebellion.

Sami Callihan Introduces The Newest Member of OVE

Last week, Madman Fulton was introduced as the newest member of OVE. Fulton attacked Rich Swann following Swann’s successful X-Division title match against Callihan. This week, we saw backstage segments of OVE along with their newest and largest member.

With this new member of OVE in his midst, Callihan might be at his most dangerous.

United We Stand – April 4th

United We Stand takes place on Thursday. On the Twitch version last night, Rob Van Dam vs AJ Styles was shown as the GWN Moment of the week. RVD’s return to the promotion is now just days away. Here is the lineup for Thursday’s PPV on FITE:

• Extreme Dream Tag Match: The Lucha Bros (Pentagon Jr. & Fenix) vs Rob Van Dam & Sabu
• Knockouts Championship: Taya Valkyrie (c) vs. Rosemary vs. Jordynne Grace vs. Katie Forbes
• X-Division Championship: Rich Swann (c) vs Yamato (Dragon Gate)
• Ultimate X: Jake Crist vs Dante Fox vs Pat Buck vs Kotto Brazil vs Jack Evans vs Johnny Impact
• Monster’s Ball: Sami Callihan vs Jimmy Havoc
• Impact vs Lucha Underground
  Brian Cage, Moose, Eddie Edwards, & TBD (Impact) vs Drago, Aerostar, Daga, & King Cuerno (Lucha Underground)

Quick Results:

1. Scarlett Bordeaux defeated Glenn Gilbertti
2. Knockouts Championship: Jordynne Grace defeated Taya Valkyrie via DQ
3. Killer Kross defeated Brian Cage

Impact Wrestling’s Allie is no more. Her character was killed last night in the undead realm (not sure where she’ll end up now). During an intense battle which involved demons, zombies, and Kevin Sullivan being revealed as the leader of the realm, Allie was stabbed in the neck by former Knockouts champion, Su Yung.

Allie is survived by her longtime ally, Rosemary. Real name Laura Dennis, Allie has signed with All Elite Wrestling and was featured on a recent episode of Road to Double or Nothing. She finished up with Impact Wrestling earlier this year.

Allie Killed On Impact Wrestling 3/29

Rosemary traveled to the undead realm last night on Impact in an attempt to regain Allie’s soul. Just when it appeared she had fought off all the evil demons, however, Kevin Sullivan was revealed as the leader of this alternative universe.

“You of all people, know how this works,” Sullivan said. “This is my realm, you are nothing but a serpent. Remember that. All of this that you’ve done is for nil. You don’t own this garden, I do.”

While Sullivan and Rosemary were speaking, Su Yung struck and stabbed Allie. As she lay dying, “Dark Allie” turned back into regular Allie and told Rosemary she was happy to be “whole again.”

Allie was a 2x former Knockouts champion.

Former Smackdown women’s champion Asuka has picked up a measure of revenge on Charlotte Flair. Asuka attacked Flair last night at a WWE house show in Pikesville, Maryland.

Flair had just defeated Becky Lynch in a match for the Smackdown women’s championship when Asuka hit the ring area. Flair had used the ropes for leverage and looked to be headed to the back when Asuka attacked and threw her back in the ring to take a stunner from the Man.

Charlotte Flair vs Asuka – Head To Head

Flair and Asuka have met 3x in single’s action on WWE programming (i.e not including house shows). The first match between the two was at WrestleMania 34 when Flair ended Asuka’s unbeaten streak. Asuka would then defeat Flair on a subsequent episode of Smackdown via disqualification.

The 3rd time they met in single’s action was last Tuesday on Smackdown when Flair defeated Asuka to regain the Smackdown women’s championship.

#WWEPikesville Results

1. WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Buddy Murphy (c) defeated Tony Nese
2. Smackdown Tag Team Championships: The Usos (c) defeated the Bar vs Rusev & Shinsuke Nakamura (Triple Threat)
3. United States Championship: Samoa Joe (c) defeated AJ Styles via DQ
4. Smackdown Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair (c) defeated Becky Lynch
5. Intercontinental Championship: Bobby Lashley (c) vs Finn Balor – Double Count-Out
6. Asuka & Naomi defeated Sonya Deville & Mandy Rose
7. Drew McIntyre & Baron Corbin defeated Seth Rolllins & Dean Ambrose
8. Kofi Kingston defeated Elias

• Fans are not happy that WWE is finally selling Asuka championship belt “Side Plates” – AFTER she dropped the title to Charlotte

WrestleMania is approaching fast and with less than 2 weeks remaining for the event, WWE has been filling up the match card for the event very fast.

However, there are two top names who have surprisingly been left out of the build-up for the event and they are John Cena and the Undertaker.

While the Undertaker seems to be completely off the card for this year’s show, there is still hope for Cena’s appearance and WWE has apparently presented him with an offer for the same.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, WWE has presented John with an offer for a match at the Shows Of Shows and while he hasn’t signed it yet, The Cenation Leader is expected to take that deal.

Meltzer didn’t reveal who will be Cena’s opponent in this bout but he noted that despite some people’s expectations, he won’t be replacing Baron Corbin in Kurt Angle’s farewell match at the show.

A possibility is that the company has offered him a match against the United States Champion Samoa Joe who is currently scheduled to face Rey Mysterio at the event.

Joe had cut a number of promos targeting Cena a while back and it’s possible that WWE alters Samoa Joe’s match against Mysterio or adds John to it, making it a triple threat.

Though with the thing not being official just yet, it’s possible that John Cena ends up not wrestling at the show after all and we’ll have to wait for WWE to confirm his status for the event to be sure.

Charlotte Flair’s shocking victory over Asuka is still fresh and while there is no solid news on the reason behind it, people have been speculating about it.

One of the top speculations is that the company is planning to unify both the Women’s titles and the triple threat match at WrestleMania will be winner takes all bout.

During a recent interview with CBS Local, ‘The Man’ Becky Lynch was asked about a scenario where one woman walks out with both the titles and Lynch said that if anyone’s going to do that, it should be her:

“If anyone’s going to do that, that should be me. That will be me. That sounds spectacular. And I would like to be able to defend both of them. Be the first-ever women’s champ champ. I think that sounds pretty freakin’ fantastic.”

The former Champion was also asked about being the main event and closing the show in a WrestleMania with such a stacked card.

Answering it, The former NXT Star also acknowledged that this card featuring
matches like Kurt Angle’s farewell bout, Batista vs Triple H and Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar is absolutely stacked to the brim.

Though continuing on the topic, the SmackDown Star said that she has been obsessing about this her entire life and she believes that this blow off is perfect.

Apart from this, Becky Lynch also revealed that she hasn’t heard about a special WrestleMania entrance for her and discussed SmackDown being labelled as the B Show.

Johnny Gargano is set to headline the upcoming NXT TakeOver: New York event in a two-out-of-three falls match against Adam Cole for the currently vacant NXT Championship.

Gargano talked about this match and revealed how important it is for him personally and for his career, and also gave his opinion on his opponent Adam Cole.

Gargano told WWE.com that the pinnacle of his time on the yellow brand will be to capture the NXT Championship.

“You can’t call yourself Mr. TakeOver and not deliver something special, right? One thing I’ve learned this past month is you can’t control the future. You can only control the now. Who knows what tomorrow may bring? So, for me and the NXT Championship, it’s now or never. I believe it is my destiny to be NXT Champion. I know it’s not going to be easy. It’s a 2-out-of-3 Falls Match against Adam Cole in a building where I’m 0 for 3. Plus, we all know that when you fight one member of Undisputed ERA, you’re essentially fighting all of Undisputed ERA, so this could essentially be four-on-one. The odds aren’t in my favor. But I’ve been an underdog my whole life – I wouldn’t have it any different!”

“This has been building for a very long time, and to return to the Barclays Center, which is the site of my very first TakeOver, with the whole world watching during the biggest wrestling weekend of the year, with my friends and family in the crowd, it’s shaping up to be the biggest match of my life. This has the potential to be the biggest night of my life. I’ve been dreaming of this night since I was a kid and the only thing I can guarantee, the only thing I can promise, is I’m going to give everything I have on April 5. I know it’s going to be a crazy atmosphere, but to the people riding with me in the Barclays Center, I won’t let you down.”

Gargano, while speaking on his opponent Adam Cole, said that he has an immense amount of respect for him and believes that he is one of the best in the business.

“I have nothing but respect for Adam Cole. I’ve known him for a very long time and he’s one of the best in the world. He not only has my respect, but he also has the fans’ respect, as he should. Cole’s earned that. Everywhere he’s been, he’s been successful, and he’s been a champion. Cole expects to be NXT Champion, and he has expected to be champion since the moment he debuted in the Barclays Center and held the title above his head. Adam Cole always felt like it was a matter of time. I never expected any of this. None of this was ever supposed to happen for me. Our paths here were vastly different, but destiny has brought us together for this match.”

NXT TakeOver: New York is to take place on April 5, 2019, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. You can check out the full card of the event here.

One of the coolest pieces of merchandise WWE sells are the replica championship belts. Fans who want to customize their belts even further have the option of purchasing “custom side plates” for their favorite Superstars.

In what some are describing as poor timing, WWE has recently started selling custom championship side plates for Asuka. Unfortunately, the side plates didn’t go on sale until after she lost the title to Charlotte Flair last week on SmackDown Live.

And as you would expect, the timing for this decision didn’t sit well with the already angry fans and a lot of them took on their Twitter to criticize the company for this move:

As we noted before, the decision to take the belt off Asuka and put it on Charlotte Flair 2 weeks before WrestleMania was a last minute call and WWE hadn’t planned it in advance.

It’s possible these custom plates were in production long before WWE made the call and they had no choice but to try and sell the plates that they have already made.

However, the timing still strikes odd considering the fact that Asuka was champion for three months before losing the title and the company could have started promoting these plates anytime then.

There is no news yet on what WWE is planning for Asuka now that she no longer holds the title and it will be interesting to see if she gets a rematch for her Championship after WrestleMania.

WWE has announced several stars that will be competing in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 35.

Those stars include Colin Jost and Michael Che, Braun Strowman, Andrade, Apollo Crews, Titus O’Neil, Tyler Breeze, Jinder Mahal, No Way Jose, Bobby Roode, Chad Gable, Kalisto, Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel, Heath Slater, Rhyno, Viktor, Konnor, Ali, Shelton Benjamin, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Otis, Tucker, EC3. There are now 28 Superstars confirmed for the match.

WWE presents the WrestleMania 35 pay-per-view event on Sunday, April 7, 2019 in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium that will air on the WWE Network. Here is the updated card:

Updated WWE WrestleMania 35 Card

WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair – Triple Threat Match

WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins

WWE Champion Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston

Batista vs. Triple H – No Holds Barred Match with Triple H’s career on the line

Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin – Angle’s Farewell Match

Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles

Shane McMahon vs. The Miz – Falls Count Anywhere Match

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax & Tamina vs. Beth Phoenix & Natalya vs. The IIconics – Fatal 4-Way Match

WWE United States Champion Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio

WWE Intercontinental Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Finn Balor

WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy vs. Tony Nese

6th Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal: Colin Jost and Michael Che, Braun Strowman, Andrade, Apollo Crews, Titus O’Neil, Tyler Breeze, Jinder Mahal, No Way Jose, Bobby Roode, Chad Gable, Kalisto, Gran Metalik, Lince Dorado, Bo Dallas, Curtis Axel, Heath Slater, Rhyno, Viktor, Konnor, Ali, Shelton Benjamin, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, Otis, Tucker, EC3.

Women’s Battle Royal: Asuka, Carmella, Naomi, Lana, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Nikki Cross, Dana Brooke, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Mickie James, Zelina Vega

Kevin Eck’s Ring of Honor column, Eck’s Files revealed new participants for the Honor Rumble, which will air on the G1 Supercard pre-show. Kenny King, PJ Plack, The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas), and Cheeseburger have been confirmed. Jushin Liger was already revealed for the contest.

Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) are co-promoting the G1 Supercard event in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on April 6th during WrestleMania 35 weekend.

The G1 Supercard event will air live on pay-per-view via cable and satellite FITE TV for $39.99 as well as on HonorClub and NJPW World. The two promotions will be announcing more competitors for this match in the coming days. Here’s the updated card:

G1 Supercard From Madison Square Garden Updated Lineup

• IWGP Heavyweight Championship match: “Switchblade” Jay White vs Kazuchika Okada
• ROH World Championship Triple Threat Ladder Match: Jay Lethal (c) vs Matt Taven vs Marty Scurll
• IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs Kota Ibushi
• British Heavyweight Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
• IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship/ROH World Tag Team Championship 4-Way Match: Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) (c) vs PCO & Brody King (c) vs the Briscoes vs EVIL & SANADA
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship 3-Way: Taiji Ishimori (c) vs Dragon Lee vs Bandido
• NYC Street Fight Open Challenge: Bully Ray vs TBD
• WOH World Championship Match: Mayu Iwatani (c) vs Kelly Klein
• Dalton Castle vs Rush
• NEVER Openweight vs ROH TV Title Match: Will Ospreay (c) vs Jeff Cobb (c)
• Honor Rumble: Jushin Liger, Kenny King, PJ Plack, The Bouncers (Beer City Bruiser and Brian Milonas), and Cheeseburger

Brian Pillman Jr. has been making waves in Major League Wrestling (MLW) part of the new Hart Foundation faction.

Ahead of next week’s MLW double header at the Melrose Ballroom in NYC, Pillman appeared on the Talkamania podcast this week to discuss training at Lance Storm’s wrestling academy, the Hart Foundation being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and more

Here are some highlights from Pillman’s chat with Talkamania host Dezmino, followed by an audio embed of the interview.

Facing Rich Swann & MJF Next Week In MLW

Brian Pillman Jr. will be in action next Thursday at MLW Rise of the Renegades and the following night for Battle Riot II. As he prepares for one of the biggest weekends of his wrestling career, his top priority has been getting back into peak physical shape after a couple injuries derailed his progress.

“The biggest thing just getting ready for the weekend, is getting back in tip top shape. If I am completely honest, I kind of let myself get out of the ultimate shape I was in.

I started off my career in very, very good shape but as you all know, the struggles of the road can be very, very trying and trying to eat right and diet and do all these things, while still bumping on the mat and taking blows to the head and stuff like that, is really hard on your body.

I have had 2 injuries since I started my career, already and you know, I don’t think that’s due to my lack of any safety precautions. I like to think I’m a pretty safe guy out there in the ring but that’s just because of the large amount of workload and the demand for my matches and the demand for me to be booked every single weekend. And you know, you’re going to make mistakes and things are going to happen, but I’m very motivated. Motivated by the Full Gear Challenge that the AEW has proposed. So I decided I am not going to show up to WrestleMania in anything less than my best shape. Especially with two high level opponents.

Maxwell Jacob Friedman operating at a very high level and of course Rich Swann, ex-WWE, you’ve seen what he can do. You just go to be in real good shape when you go into the ring with these guys. You got to be in very good condition so you don’t get blown up and embarrassed out there.”

Being Part of the new Hart Foundation

Pillman is part of the new Hart Foundation faction, along with Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Teddy Hart. The group is arguably one of the top acts in MLW and Pillman says they came about almost due to necessity.

“Well you know, we had to do what we had to do. It was an organic union and we united against the evil that we were facing. We all had a common goal in mind and that was to rid the geezers of the business, rid those guys, those old schools guys that keep latching on. You know, they are latching on to young talent, trying to stay in the business.

Its like, how many times do they retire? They always retire because it gets a big pop, then they come back and then they retire again. It gets old and honestly its disrespectful to us guys that are trying to make a name for ourselves. You know, theres only so many spots on a card and when a guy like Kevin Sullivan or Tommy Dreamer takes up a spot on a card, its really just a spit in the face to the guys like the New Hart Foundation, who are still trying to get by.”

Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart Joining The WWE Hall of Fame

“That’s a big deal, yea. I think its great timing, you know, its good timing because not only are we doing our thing, but also you know, Natalya is doing her thing. Who knows, maybe TJ comes back to the ring in some wonderful, beautiful fashion. He has been trying to heal himself up for many years now.

I think it’s great. You know, everybody is like “Your Dad should be in and Owen and everybody else that was in the 97 Hart Foundation,” but in my opinion it doesn’t really matter because we all know what their contributions are. We all know that the hall of fame is more or less symbolic and it’s just a way to honor people even more than they already are. So, it’s not like I don’t realize that my father is remembered for what he’s done, obviously he is. Otherwise I wouldn’t have had such an amazing support system coming into the business, you know what Im saying?

So It doesn’t affect me at all if he’s put in the Hall of Fame or not and I don’t think he would have cared either, had he been here today.”

All Elite Wrestling & Cody Rhodes

Pillman says right now he’s scheduled to appear at Starrcast during Double or Nothing weekend in Las Vegas. He suspects AEW will want to use him for the pay-per-view.

“Well I think I’ll know more in Vegas, because I’ll be down here in Vegas. So far I’m confirmed for Starrcast, which is the main meet and greet but I don’t know 100%, but I would venture they would like to use me on the show, if they are going to be flying me down there for the meet and greet.”

When asked if he knows Cody Rhodes, Pillman said he met him early in his career and had a great talk with Cody about what it means to be a second generation wrestler.

“Its funny, I actually I got very lucky to meet Cody while I was in Canada training with Lance. So there was a pro wrestling show in Calgary known as PWA (the Prairie Wrestling Alliance) and they have a very high level wrestler there, who actually had a short ride in NXT as well. His name is Michael Blais and they brought in Cody Rhodes to wrestle him for the title and Cody brought in a great draw and did a lot for the company and Brandi was there.

I got to sit down and I actually had a conversation with Cody about you know, what to expect to coming into the business as a legacy and we sat down on the floor and talked for like a good 20-30 minutes, you know he was very, very generous with his time for me.”

Once former UFC Lightweight and Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor announced his retirement from MMA competition, there’s been some speculation as to what his motives were behind the decision.

Some think that it all comes down to a negotiation tactic in order to get more money for his next fight under the UFC banner. What his future holds remains to be seen.

One landing spot for McGregor should he choose it would be the WWE. This is something that Roman Reigns was asked about when he recently made an appearance on ESPN Deportes.

The former WWE Universal Champion thinks McGregor would fit well on the WWE 205 Live brand as he has fought between 145 and 170 pounds during his MMA career.

“We got the best spot on 205 Live, Reigns said. “He is a cruiserweight, no doubt, and we’ll let him go in there and flip with all those guys.”

If a deal was worked out between WWE and McGregor, the chances of him appearing on 205 Live are not likely. Instead, he would appear on their flagship show, Monday Night RAW.

For all of your latest UFC news, make sure to check out our sister site, MMANews.com.

The updated card for the ROH Road To G1 Supercard: Baltimore has arrived. This is a big event for Ring of Honor as the show serves as the final event before the big upcoming G1 Supercard special.

The show, titled Road to G1 Supercard: Baltimore, will stream live for Honorclub subscribers on Sunday, March 31st in Baltimore, Maryland at the UMBC Event Center. Here is the updated card:

ROH Road To G1 Supercard: Baltimore Updated Card

Jay Lethal & Jeff Cobb vs. Juice Robinson & Bandido vs. Vinny Marseglia and TK O’Ryan – Triple Threat Tag Team Match

ROH World Tag Team Champions Villain Enterprises (PCO & Brody King) vs. The Briscoes

Marty Scurll vs. Shane Taylor

Sumie Sakai & Jenny Rose vs. Kris Stadtlander & Tasha Steelz vs. Gabby Ortiz & Karissa Rivera – Women Of Honor Triple Threat Tag Team Match

Rush vs. Tracy Williams.

Silas Young vs. Mark Haskins.

Kenny King vs. PJ Black.

Shadow Squad (Cheeseburger, Eli Isom and Ryan Nova) against Coast 2 Coast (LSG and Shaheem Ali) and Colin Delaney – Six-Man Tag Team match.

Ring of Honor Wrestling (ROH) and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) are co-promoting the G1 Supercard event in New York City’s Madison Square Garden on April 6th during WrestleMania 35 weekend.

WWE announced that female stars from RAW, SmackDown Live, and NXT will compete in the second annual Women’s Battle Royal at WrestleMania 35.

The following Superstars are confirmed for the all-out melee:

• Asuka
• Carmella
• Naomi
• Lana
• Mandy Rose
• Sonya Deville
• Nikki Cross
• Dana Brooke
• Ruby Riott
• Liv Morgan
• Sarah Logan
• Mickie James
• Zelina Vega

Naomi, who was originally supposed to be part of a match to earn a shot at (former) SmackDown Women’s champion Asuka, wrote:

WWE presents the WrestleMania 35 pay-per-view event on Sunday, April 7, 2019 in East Rutherford, NJ at MetLife Stadium that will air on the WWE Network.

Updated WWE WrestleMania 35 Card

WWE RAW Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair – Triple Threat Match

WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins

WWE Champion Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston

Batista vs. Triple H – No Holds Barred Match with Triple H’s career on the line

Kurt Angle vs. Baron Corbin – Angle’s Farewell Match

Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles

Shane McMahon vs. The Miz – Falls Count Anywhere Match

Roman Reigns vs. Drew McIntyre

WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Bayley & Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax & Tamina vs. Beth Phoenix & Natalya vs. The IIconics – Fatal 4-Way Match

WWE United States Champion Samoa Joe vs. Rey Mysterio

WWE Intercontinental Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Finn Balor

WWE Cruiserweight Champion Buddy Murphy vs. Tony Nese

6th Annual Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal: Braun Strowman, SNL’s Michael Che and Colin Jost

Women’s Battle Royal: Asuka, Carmella, Naomi, Lana, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Nikki Cross, Dana Brooke, Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan, Sarah Logan, Mickie James, Zelina Vega

What are your thoughts on this match being added to the card? Sound off in the comment section.

Former WWE Superstar Torrie Wilson recently appeared on the Ross Report podcast to discuss her upcoming WWE Hall Of Fame induction. Wilson stated that she was surprised to get the phone call for her to be entered into the WWE Hall Of Fame. Torrie also spoke to Jim Ross regarding how far the WWE’s women’s division has advanced over the years.

When asked about her induction Wilson stated that “yes, I was [surprised about the induction]! Actually, Mark Carrano called me and I was on a retreat. And I thought he was calling me to invite me to watch the show and he kind of threw me for a little loop there.” Wilson then added “yeah, I was definitely surprised!”

Torrie also discussed how times were different when she was in the WWE. “During my time, there really wasn’t a ton of women before us kind of showing us the way, so we were kind of, like, learning as we were going” Wilson elaborated further, saying that “Vince [McMahon] was asking for 10s, but he wants them to be able to wrestle and all of that. so we kind of, like, started creating our own thing.”

Wilson went on to say that “a lot of the girls there now were young. Not to age ourselves, but they were watching us and watching us just getting in ring enough and wanting to be that. And, whereas before, we pretty much, I know for myself, I learned in front of all the fans. Like, I was thrown out there. Of course, I showed up early in practice, but basically I was learning in front of the fans.”

*Credit to WrestlingINC for the transcription

WWE recently confirmed a number of matches for WrestleMania Axxess and one of the more interesting names included in the star list was Luke Harper.

Harper hasn’t been on TV since his then partner Erick Rowan suffered a biceps injury during last year’s SummerSlam PPV and had to take time off for surgery.

Shortly after being taken off TV, Harper also decided to take care of an injury of his own, and he underwent surgery due to a wrist injury.

While he returned to in-ring competition earlier this month, it was during a Live Event and the company didn’t acknowledge the former Wyatt Family Member’s comeback.

Now it appears that his announced Axxess match against Dominik Dijkaovic will be dubbed as his return bout and commenting on his spot, Harper himself mentioned on Twitter that he will be making his return during WrestleMania weekend:

He later shared a longer statement on the matter and by the looks of it, it appears that going from being a champion on SmackDown to being booked for Axxess is something that has taken a toll on his heart:

At this point, there is no news on when the former Intercontinental Champion will make his on-screen return but it’s likely to happen after WrestleMania.

As we noted before, WWE will be holding a Superstar Shakeup on April 15th and 16th and it would make sense for Luke Haprer to make his return during that time and be assigned to a new brand.

Becky Lynch will face Charlotte Flair and Ronda Rousey in the main event of WrestleMania 35. She’s come along way from almost getting cut from WWE developmental only a few years back.

Lynch spoke to CBS News recently about how close she came to getting cut from WWE. She mentioned that she got texts from people in the company recently letting her know she was almost fired several years back.

“I got a couple of text messages this week from people here at work and NXT or worked in the office side of things. (They said) I don’t know if you knew this, but there are some people that wanted to fire you when you were in NXT. Congratulations on the main event.”

Lynch would continue to say that she was already aware she had been close to getting cut.

• Becky Lynch: I’m Still Not The Face Of This Company No Matter How Much I Do

Becky Lynch On Fan Support

Lynch would also say she sometimes suffered from a lack of confidence but the fan support she received always gave her the boost she needed.

“If it wasn’t for those fans making their voices heard…” Lynch said. “It comes back to the beginning. No matter what, they’ve always been there. They’ve always supported me. Now it’s on such a bigger level, but I think what happened is that Money In The Bank, every time I stepped on that ladder they went crazy. It just made people pay attention.”

Lynch would continue to say that she started strategizing how to get into the WrestleMania main event as soon as her character started to get hot.

“Just as soon as I got hot, I was just strategically planning this. How could I make the story so compelling? How could I get people so invested that they have to see this as the main event because they’re just so invested? Even though it feels like this build has been happening for about 12 years now, I think the blowoff at WrestleMania is perfect.”

The full interview can be read here.

32 years ago today Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat and “Macho Man” Randy Savage stole the show at WrestleMania III. The Intercontinental championship clash between the two has long been heralded as one of, if not the greatest match in WrestleMania history.

Steamboat sent the following out on Twitter today in recognition of the anniversary.

Ricky “the Dragon” Steamboat vs “Macho Man” Randy Savage – WrestleMania III

Steamboat also spoke to the WINCLY podcast in 2018 about the match.

“Randy and I never really got to work (before WMIII),” Steamboat said. “The first time was when we hooked up at WrestleMania, so we didn’t have a chance to have a bunch of matches under our belt to get ready for the big show and try some stuff.”

In storyline, Macho Man had damaged Steamboat’s throat by hitting him with the ring bell from the top rope onto the guardrail below. Several vignettes were shown featuring Steamboat learning to speak again on WWE programming.

“Everything that was put together for the match was strictly based on our gut feeling on the story we were trying to tell. We tried to make it a championship match and that’s the bottom line.”

• News Regarding the Undertaker and John Cena At WrestleMania

Randy Savage and Ricky Steamboat Plan WMIII Match

One of the stories surrounding this match was that Savage wanted it entirely planned out in advance. Steamboat would later say this was a far cry from how he was used to doing things at that point.

“We took notes on a legal pad, a yellow legal pad, and, God, I can’t remember how many steps we had, but once we got the match down, I’ll give you an example, at night, I would get with Randy and say, ‘okay, number 32 is this, this, and this. Tell me the rest of the match.’ And he would go, ‘number 33 is this, this, and this. 34 is…’ and we would quiz each other back and forth, back and forth, just so we would have it.”

Linda McMahon’s time spent in the Presidential Administration appears to be over. Multiple sources close to the White House are reporting that McMahon plans to step down from her current position and rejoin the private sector.

One source, however, stated that McMahon still plans to play a role with Donald Trump’s quest for re-election in 2020. According to this source, McMahon will serve in a fundraising role for the President as he seeks re-election next year.

The move is being seen as a surprise to some who expected her to replace Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who is also expected to resign at some point.

• Smackdown To 3 Hours? Stock Analyst Says WWE Should Do It

Linda McMahon Political Career

McMahon was appointed to the Connecticut Board of Education in 2009 by Governor Jodi Rell. She ran for Senator in 2010 and 2012. McMahon is considered a major Republican fundraiser and donor. She donated $6 million to “Rebuilding American Now” in 2016. Following the 2016 Presidential Election, McMahon was given a role in the Trump Administration, being named the head of Small Business and Administration.

Shortly after being named to the Trump Administration, McMahon stated she would not be involved with WWE.

“I will not participate personally and substantially in any particular matter that to my knowledge has a direct and predictable effect on the financial interests of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., unless I first obtain a written waiver,” she wrote.

Raise your hand if you want to see WWE expand SmackDown Live to three hours every week. Anybody?

If you’ve ever considered purchasing WWE stock, one highly-reputed Wall Street analyst says now is the time to buy. One reason they listed for having this belief that WWE has big money ready to grab if they expand SmackDown Live.

Guggenheim analyst Curry Baker met with WWE recently and believes the company’s stock is going to continue rising. Baker listed multiple reasons the company will see continued growth in the near future. Increased content and a potential new pricing system for the WWE Network likely represent the biggest opportunities for the company.

“Additionally, we see incremental content deals (‘third hour’ of SmackDown), sponsorship growth, and the WWE Network re-launch as significant opportunities not currently reflected in our estimates,” Curry wrote.

Curry estimated the value of a 3rd hour of Smackdown at $75 million.

In terms of a change to the WWE Network, a new tiered-pricing system has been talked about for some time. WWE sent out a survey to fans in order to get feedback last fall.

• Possible Changes To The WWE Network Coming Soon

Curry also believes WWE is under-performing in terms of sponsorship deals. The analyst believes the company could add an additional $50-$100 million over the next 3 years by improving its sponsorship deals.

As a public company, WWE has an obligation to its shareholders to maximize revenue. On the other hand, a 3rd hour of Smackdown might be damaging to the brand in the long-run.

An additional $75 million per year would be hard for WWE to turn down. Whether or not Fox is willing to offer WWE that third hour is another story entirely.

WWE legend The Undertaker recently dropped 25 pounds thanks to a meal prep delivery service.

With WrestleMania 35 just over a week away, it’s all but guaranteed the Dead Man will be sitting out this year’s show. However, he’s been working hard behind the scenes getting into peak physical shape.

The Undertaker posted a photo on Instagram, which you can see below. He looks amazing, thanks to Nutrition Solutions.

He wrote, “The reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated!! I’ve made some serious lifestyle changes in an attempt to offset the years of physical abuse my body has endured. One of the major changes was losing 25lbs. Goal reached!”

Taker thanked Nutrition Solutions for helping with his diet and used the hashtags: #iaintdoneyet #neverstopworking #rentsdue #restinpeace #goals #wwe #deathvalley #makeithappen #goodfood

It’s unclear if “I ain’t done yet” is a reference to losing more weight or his in-ring career.

The Undertaker is not the only WWE personality to utilize Nutrition Solutions to drop fat and build lean muscle mass. The company’s website displays Rey Mysterio, Jinder Mahal and Michael Cole as clients.