Earlier today, Arn Anderson shared the devastating news that his son, Barrett, has passed away at the age of 37.

Anderson tweeted “last night my family suffered a loss that should never be felt by any parent. Our older son Barrett passed away. I am struggling to write this. Tell those you love that you love them.”

Brock Anderson reacts

Anderson’s youngest son, Brock, reacted to his brother’s death on Twitter with a heartbreaking note. He tweeted with with the caption, “Love you Wimpster.”

In the note, Brock notes that “since the moment I found out, I have been in shock. It’s not clicking in my brain and idk if it ever will.” He said that seeing his parents get the phone call about Barrett was “the most excruciating and cruel thing I have ever witnessed.”

Brock shared a story about his older brother from when he was 7 along with a couple of photos of them.

We at SEScoops send our deepest condolences to the Andersons (Lundes) in this difficult time.

Last Sunday was AEW’s first pay-per-view of the year, Revolution. The card offered a variety of matches including The Final Burial, a 60-minute Iron Man Match, and a Texas Deathmatch.

The latter match had a lot of discourse around the amount of blood involved (sound familiar?) Hangman Page has been involved in three Texas Deathmatches in AEW, two of them when he was champion. Each match involved a lot of blood. Jon Moxley bleeds regularly, to the point that fans says it’s not a Mox match until he bleeds.

Matt Hardy’s Take

As he does every week, Matt Hardy weighs in on current topics in the wrestling world before moving on to that week’s topic on his Extreme Life of Matt Hardy podcast. Since he was at Revolution, he gave his opinions on several matches.

On the Texas Deathmatch, Hardy said that from a “story aspect and from a psychology standpoint, I thought it was great. I loved the story they told. I’m cool with the violence. There was a lot of blood in it. For some people, it was too bloody. It was maybe too violent. And I do get it, it’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but there’s some people who really, really enjoy that. I don’t mind that being offered on a variety show, so to say.”

“There’s some people who hate cinematic matches. I think cinematic matches every so often are okay if they fit in a variety show. So as far as that goes, I give huge props. They also they like were fucking badass, courageous warriors to go out and do that to one another. I take my hat off to both Jon Moxley and “Hangman” Adam Page.”

“And probably my favorite part of the whole match is Jon Moxley has been built as the heart and soul of AEW in the last couple of years. He’s the guy that’s really been the nucleus, kind of like the main — you have guys like Jericho, the established veteran, who’s more like the established guy who isn’t like the main worker of the show — but Jon Moxley is the nucleus. He is the main worker, kick-ass warrior of the whole show. And the finish of that match with him being beat by Hangman Page clean via tap out in a Texas Deathmatch. I think that was a great move and a truly elevating match for Adam Page.”

• Taya Valkyrie Addresses Speculation About Her Future (Exclusive)

What did you think of the Texas Deathmatch and do you agree with Matt Hardy?

The annual SXSW Festival is underway in Austin, TX. While many people think of music and movies when they think of SXSW, they also have panels focusing on a variety of media.

Today, WWE will host a panel hosted by Sportico. “Reigniting Fan Engagement at Live Events” is being moderated by Sara Fischer of Axios. WWE COO Paul “Triple H” Levesque will be joined on the panel by Rhea Ripley, Kofi Kingston, and Undertaker.

WWE topic at SXSW

According to the SXSW website, the panel description is:

“The importance of community and human connection was more prevalent than ever when WWE returned with its biggest event of the year, WrestleMania, in April 2021. This historic event featured the first Black female Superstars to main event WrestleMania, celebrity appearances, live music performances and the unveiling of WWE’s new signature, “Then. Now. Forever. Together.” to recognize and celebrate WWE fans, our community and the message of inclusivity.This coming April, WWE will host WrestleMania 39 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles where the WWE Universe will come together for another monumental event. WWE’s Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque along with WWE Superstars will discuss the road to WrestleMania, the importance of the WWE Universe and how this community has evolved.”

• Big E Opens Up on Wanting to Make The ‘Best Decision’ About Wrestling Future

WWE has been involved with SXSW in the past. Last year, Stephanie McMahon introduced WWE Moonsault, the company’s NFT platform. In 2013, John Cena was a panelist. Four years later, Xavier Woods hosted the 2017 SXSW Gaming Awards.

AEW announced a new reality television show recently, but it looks like they’re not done adding content for Warner Bros. Discovery.

This time, AEW and Warner are looking to add another one hour of weekly wrestling content to the television schedule. This would be the third weekly AEW wrestling show on Warner properties and give the company four hours of weekly wrestling content on cable. AEW Dynamite (two hours) currently airs on TBS, and AEW Rampage airs on TNT (one hour).

Per a report from Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Pro Wrestling Podcast, AEW and Warner have been working on an agreement for this prospective third AEW television show and are close to finalizing it. As mentioned, the show would be one hour in length.

While there is no confirmation yet on a day, network, or time for the show, there are strong indications that the show could air on TBS on Saturday evenings at 6:05 p.m. Eastern. Obviously for long time wrestling fans, this harkens back to WCW Saturday Night.

Zarian hinted at this story less than a week ago on Twitter.

There is no official timeline for an announcement of the new show, nor any indication yet on what it will be titled. However, Zarian reports that the announcement of the new show could come in about one month.

We will keep our readers updated on this situation as it develops. Are you looking forward to another hour of wrestling content from AEW? Let us know in the comments section below!

Check out the Top Rope Nation wrestling podcast for your weekly dose of pro wrestling talk featuring interviews, analysis and exclusive news. Apple – Spotify – YouTube. 

When you look at all the social media collages from pro wrestling companies celebrating “International Women’s Day,” there was one constant among many of them. It was Taya Valkyrie. Rather than take her ball and go home after her WWE release more than a year ago, she used the setback to fuel her fire, even more, to show the world what she could do. Rising like a phoenix from the ashes, Valkyrie was reborn. 

She became the Reina de Reinas Champion once again in AAA. She returned to Impact and won the Knockouts Tag Team titles along with her Death Dollz sisters Rosemary and Jessicka. The hard-working veteran continued to make history as the first-ever MLW World’s Featherweight  Champion. 

“I keep feeling like last year happened in a flash so to speak,” Valkyrie reflected. “I’m very proud of myself. I’m not going to apologize for that. I worked my butt off and got it done and proved myself. It has been exciting. I’m excited about what’s in the future as well.” 

Taya Valkyrie’s Next Move

Her future has been a hot topic lately if you look at the pro wrestling sites. And given all Valkyrie has accomplished in such a short time, it’s no surprise she is wanted by numerous companies. 

“Everyone wants to speculate and talk and gossip. I just want everybody to enjoy what I’m doing. That’s it,” she said. “No matter where I am or what I’m doing, I’m just trying to put out the best version of myself and performance, the best moments and best experience for the fans and the viewers. That’s what I want to do in the next year. Do I know where I’m going? No. Are people gossiping about it? Of course. That’s the nature of the beast. Keep them talking. I see no problem with that. Just wait. Everything will work out.” 

Speaking of talk, many fans have fantasy-booked Valkyrie to be the mystery opponent for AEW TBS Champion Jade Cargill. The undefeated title holder issued a challenge to the best Canada has to offer. “La Wera Loca” certainly would fit the bill. 

“Canada is notorious for having amazing pro wrestlers. Let’s be real here,” she responded when asked about the challenge. “There have been so many people from Canada, so, of course, she is going to try to call out someone from Canada. Guess what? We are some of the best in the world. All the best of luck to her because we are tough.” 

Her Time in MLW, Working Alongside Husband John Hennigan

One thing we do know is Valkyrie is set to defend the MLW gold against the newly signed Delmi Exo on April 6 at War Chamber. She is looking forward to this first-time matchup against someone known in the tag ranks as part of the Sea Stars. 

“It’s very exciting because I’m the first women’s champion in MLW history,” she said. …I don’t think I’ve ever faced it before…We’ll see what happens. I clearly have proven myself at MLW at building this division on my back and giving more opportunities for women to be seen. It’s exciting to be at the forefront of that.” 

Another fun aspect of being part of MLW is being able to work with her tag partner in life, husband John Hennigan. It has been a sort of Lucha Underground reunion of sorts with many alums finding their way to the company, which has been enjoying its best exposure with Underground airing on Reelz.

“[John and I] hadn’t tagged together or been in a faction together since the summer of 2019 when John worked for WWE. So much time has gone by. Just being there with Cesar Duran, having Willie Mack there, Matt Striker on commentary, I’m like, ‘Is it 2017?’ It’s really exciting,” Valkyrie said. 

“It feels very comfortable and fun. We play so well off each other. Just creating magic again. Lucha Underground was such a wonderful part of my career. I will always speak highly of it. It was really that first big break for a lot of us. When you look back on that show, it was groundbreaking. A lot of people have taken from that show without even acknowledging they have. This was a groundbreaking show with so many new faces, and those faces are everywhere on your television. It has been really fun to get the band back together.” 

Impact, NWA & Finding Her Spot in the Business

Valkyrie sees pro wrestling as creating art where there are so many ways to present this art form. In her eyes, everything doesn’t have to be for everyone. She feels creatively fulfilled being able to play in various places. This includes Impact where there is a supernatural tone to her character’s development these days.  

“The last few months working with the Death Dollz have been so much fun,” she explained. “I think it is written all over our faces. We’re having the best time learning from one another and working off one another. When we go to signings together, we call it the Death Dollz experience because there is just mayhem all the time.” 

Valkyrie has broken through many doors, forbidden or not, during this new era in her career. Add the NWA to the list where she is gunning for the new NWA Women’s Television Championship. During her time in the Billy Corgan-owned promotion, she has developed respect and admiration for Kamille, who has surpassed more than 600 days as Women’s Champion. For Valkyrie, the imposing figure hasn’t even scratched the surface of what she is capable of doing in the business. Adding that, “She is one to watch.”

Other names she passes along are Heather Monroe & Raelyn and the teenage prodigy Billie Starkz. Her advice to them is to work so hard, decision-makers can’t say no. 

“I have worked very hard to find my spot in the business,” she said. “Rejected over and over again. I had to really claw and find my way. For me, it’s always cool to meet people in the business that have the same respect for it as I do. I feel they are doing a phenomenal job.”

Wanting to Work with Mercedes Moné

One star the former Franky Monet would also love to tangle with is Mercedes Moné, who recently won the IWGP Women’s championship. Valkyrie has no problem adding another award to her stacked trophy case.

“Mercedes bet on herself. I see a lot of similarities in both of us because that is what I feel I’ve done with myself over and over again. I feel she has such respect for lucha libre. Whenever I see her, we talk about Mexico and lucha libre. So I would love to get in the ring with her and have a shot at that New Japan Women’s Championship. She is at the top of the list for a lot of people right now She is on top of my list. So we’ll see.” 

Valkyrie has the same answer about if she wants to settle down with one company. She goes back and forth on the idea. 

“I’ve been having so much fun working everywhere,” she added. “It would be nice to be with one company. But I have never chosen the easy road. And I don’t know if I’m going to start now. We’ll see what happens.” 

MLW Underground airs at 10 p.m. ET Tuesdays on Reelz. MLW Fusion airs at 8 p.m. ET Thursdays on Pro Wrestling TV 

Vince McMahon was present at Raw backstage, and he also attended the 3/4 tapings in Boston. According to a recent report, it appears that McMahon does have some kind of input when it comes to running shows.

In Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter, it is noted that Vince McMahon was at the tapings in Boston to visit John Cena. However, he ended up staying for the entire show and was in Gorilla all night. Even though McMahon was there, it was Levesque who was giving the orders backstage and producing the show.

Levesque is in charge of creative for WWE. Many would believe that McMahon is no longer involved in the creative process by this point, but it seems that it may not be the case. The report notes that Levesque himself has said that he would be happy to take input from McMahon, who has a wealth of “knowledge and experience,” considering he’s been in the professional wrestling industry for decades.

Meltzer noted that things such as Gable being called “short and ugly”, and calling Johnny Gargano “short and a comic book fan” are “fingerprints” of Vince McMahon. Elements of his influence, if you will. However, Levesque is more focused on the wrestling aspect of the presentation in WWE.

What we can take away from this though, is that Vince McMahon’s ideas are still very much a part of the company. He is, after all, McMahon has left an indelible mark on every aspect of the company with his influence.

A picture of Vince McMahon backstage also went viral online, claiming that he has a mustache. Even though it is claimed that he really does have a mustache backstage at Raw, the picture itself was doctored.

Big E has been on the sidelines for exactly a year while away from in-ring action after suffering a career-threatening injury. 

On March 11, 2022, Big E suffered a broken neck when taking a belly-to-belly suplex from Ridge Holland and landing on his head during a tag team match on an episode of WWE SmackDown. 

Big E fractured his C1 vertebrae and C6 vertebrae. The positive news was that he didn’t suffer spinal cord damage or need surgery. He decided to wait a year before getting another check-up to see how his recovery was going. 

The Decision

Speaking to TMZ, Big E commented on how he feels as he prepares for the tests this month. 

“I just want to make the best decision. I have to see what the scans say, talk to doctors, go from there. Right now, before I know anything, I’m not going to make any rush to judgments. Just see how everything looks. No anxiety. Everything is in permanent. If it comes to an end, cool, if it doesn’t, cool. What will be, will be. I’m good with whatever,” he said.

H/T to Fightful for the transcription. 

Like Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley has mostly been used as a singles star for most of his wrestling career. There are some things that the two WWE stars have in common such as their backgrounds in the world of MMA. 

For years, Lashley pushed for a match with Lesnar and he had to wait for it. However, Lashley not only got a match with Lesnar but also three of them. They recently faced off once again at the Elimination Chamber premium live event.

Although they’ve made for good opponents for each other, Lashley is interested in potentially teaming up with Lesnar. 

The Idea

While speaking on Sony Sports Network’s show Next Stop Hollywood, Lashley proposed teaming with “The Beast Incarnate.” 

“This is completely far-fetched from a whole different angle. I thought me and Brock we fought a lot against each other. What if we were on the same team? We’ll be like the modern-day Road Warriors. It’ll probably be fun,” Lashley stated. “The crowd will probably get off on watching us go through dismantling people together. That would be pretty interesting.”

Lesnar will be wrestling Omos at WrestleMania 39, while Lashley is expected to wrestle Bray Wyatt. 

WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has had a glorious pro wrestling career. Vince McMahon played a major role to give a major push to ‘The Hulkster’ in the 80s and 90s. That doesn’t mean they never had a backstage disagreement during that time.

Hulk Hogan has faced some biggest names in the business. We witnessed one of the most iconic moments at WrestleMania 6 in 1990, when Hulk Hogan lost the WWE Championship to The Ultimate Warrior in a main event match in front of a record-breaking crowd of 67,678 fans.

This match was labeled as a “passing of the torch” moment, as The Ultimate Warrior was an up-and-coming star back in the day. The match holds massive significance in wrestling history as it cemented the legacies of both Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior. It has come to light that Hogan and Vince McMahon had a disagreement when the latter asked him to put over ‘The Ultimate Warrior.’

Hulk Hogan opens up on the matter

While speaking on Corey Graves’ After The Bell podcast, Hulk Hogan talked about the iconic match. ‘The Hulkster’ revealed that he had no problem putting over The Ultimate Warrior when Vince McMahon asked him to but they also had a disagreement prior to that.

“Vince and I had a disagreement. Vince had an opinion that Hulkamania had his run. And it actually went back to WrestleMania 6. When he asked me to put the Warrior over, I said, ‘That’s no problem at all, brother!’ but my question always is, if I’m putting somebody over, what are we doing after that? And, you know, there wasn’t really a clear-cut answer for that.

“I said, ‘Well, how about this. When I put him over and hand him the belt and everybody’s cheering for him, I get halfway down the aisle. How about I just… turn around and just grind him? Just drop him and just drag him around the ring. And I want to be ‘Hollywood’ Hulk Hogan!’ I said, ‘I want to be HHH: Hollywood Hulk Hogan. The ultimate bad guy.’”

Hogan and Warrior remain to be two of the most notable names in WWE history.

We have an update on the health status of current NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez.

At Tuesday night’s NXT Roadblock, Perez had an intense match with the legendary Meiko Satomura that lasted nearly 14 minutes. Perez was successful in retaining her title against the former NXT UK Women’s Champion.

However, fans were scared of what went down following the bout. As soon as Satomura handed her the championship, Perez suddenly collapsed to the mat from apparent exhaustion.

Several medical officials, referees, Shawn Michaels, and even NXT commentator and WWE Hall of Famer Booker T rushed to the ring in order to check on her. The fans got a backstage sneak peek as Perez was taken away on a stretcher to an ambulance.

Medical update on Roxanne Perez

A medical update on Roxanne Perez has now emerged. According to a tweet from the official NXT account, Roxanne Perez was stable enough for discharge from the “medical facility”.

Writing on the official NXT account:

“Update: Roxanne Perez has been discharged from a local medical facility and is now at home resting.”

A short time later the Tweet was deleted and replaced with another, reading:

“Update: Roxanne Perez has been discharged from the hospital and is now at home resting.”

Perez has been NXT Women’s Champion since December 13, when she defeated Mandy Rose, ending her 500-plus day reign. She became the brand’s youngest-ever women’s champion with the win. Perez has successfully defended it five times since, including Tuesday’s contest against Satomura.

With NXT Stand & Deliver scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 1, we hope Roxanne Perez will be able to recover and make her return to the ring.

WWE United States Champion Austin Theory is set to face John Cena at WrestleMania 39. The clash is nothing less than a dream match for the fans. Theory has been arguably compared with Cena for a long time now. Austin Theory even revealed that he grew up idolizing Cena. He’s been also very vocal about wanting a dream match with the Cenation Leader. Finally, they will collide inside the ring.

On Monday night’s RAW, the 16-time WWE Champion made a huge return as the Boston crowd welcomed him with a massive ovation. He was engaged in a heated promo battle with Theory, who challenged him to a title match at WrestleMania 39.

Though Cena initially turned down Theory’s challenge, he agreed after the crowd urged him to accept it. To some, John Cena roasted Austin Theory, saying nobody in the crowd cared about the US Champion and his matches.

Now, WWE veteran Jim Cornette has weighed in on Austin Theory confronting John Cena on RAW and who he thinks should win at WrestleMania 39.

Jim Cornette believes Austin Theory must beat John Cena

On the latest edition of Jim Cornette’s Drive-Thru, the former wrestling manager commented on John Cena’s promo and stated that he could see it being the former WWE Champion’s way of motivating Austin Theory.

“Unless that this complete dressing down by Cena motivates Theory to change something, to do something that is demonstrably visible to the fans he’s going to come out and lay him out physically or he’s going to change his attitude in a way that he’s got a killer instinct or he suddenly does something even Cena remarks on, ‘that’s what I was looking for’ or something like that, I can see that,” said Cornette.

Jim Cornette added that Theory has to beat John Cena to live up to his words:

“If they start this way it would be a big swerve then or unexpected if Theory does win the match, which I still think would be possible without people setting the seats on fire and it’ll probably help Theory. But if they’re not gonna do anything like that between now and WrestleMania, I don’t know. They’ve got to, because they just left this guy flatter than a f**king turd in a punch bowl,” he added. 

If Theory manages to defeat Cena, it will certainly be a huge milestone boost the youngster’s career. Only time will what the future holds for the Theory.

One of the biggest names in the history of Japanese wrestling will be part of this year’s class of WWE Hall of Famers, it has been claimed.

Contrary to previous years, which have seen WWE announce inductees in the months prior to WrestleMania, the promotion has waited very late this year.

Yesterday, WWE confirmed that Rey Mysterio will be part of this year’s class, making him the third active Superstar to be inducted (behind Ric Flair in 2008, and Bill Goldberg in 2018.)

The Great Muta

Japanese wrestling legend The Great Muta will be joining Rey as part of this year’s Hall of Fame, according to PW Insider.

Muta, aka Keiji Muto, recently finished his wrestling career, losing to Masahiro Chono at a Pro Wrestling NOAH event last month.

Despite Muto’s success across various promotions both in his native Japan and internationally, the four-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion never competed in WWE.

For his retirement tour, WWE allowed Shinsuke Nakamura to compete in a match against Muta, which at the time was reported as part of a “trade-off” between WWE & NOAH.

There is no word on who will be inducting the legendary wrestler into the Hall of Fame.

Who Else Is In?

More inductees are expected to be announced in due time, though details are scarce as to who will be going into the Hall of Fame.

Trish Stratus who was inducted in 2013, said last month that Victoria and Impact Wrestling Knockouts World Champion Mickie James both deserve the nod this year.

It is believed that Batista will also be inducted this year, after withdrawing from the 2020 class due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mick Foley has said he has been contacted about inducting someone into the Hall of Fame this year, but has not said who.

Fight Forever, the much-anticipated console video game has yet to hit shelves, and Game Changer Wrestling may have played a role in this.

AEW: Fight Forever was first announced in late 2020 and will mark the promotion’s first foray into the world of console gaming.

Tony Khan’s promotion has two other games, AEW Elite: GM, and AEW Casino: Double or Nothing, both of which are available on mobile devices.

Fight Forever Dispute

During last weekend’s post-AEW Revolution media scrum, Tony Khan indicated that the game was finished, but stopped short of giving a release date.

Now, close to one week later, we still have no word on when the game will launch and GCW may have played a role in the holdup.

Paperwork filed with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office reveals that GCW is formally opposing AEW’s registration of its “Fight Forever” trademark.

The two sides are said to be in settlement talks, with Michael Dockins, who has aided wrestlers in both companies with trademarks, representing GCW.

GCW did host their own Fight Forever event in January 2021, which was a 24-hour event with zero fans due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The show’s purpose was to highlight indie wrestling during the pandemic, and GCW filed a trademark on the Fight Forever term last year.

AEW: Fight Forever

With an eight-digit investment into their gaming department (at least $10 million), a lot is riding on the success of Fight Forever.

For many wrestlers in the All-Elite promotion, the game will mark their first time being a playable character in a game, as opposed to a CAW.

The game will feature wrestling game staples, including singles matches, tag matches, ladder matches, and battle royales, as well as more unique match types including the Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch and Intergender wrestling.

At this time, there is still no word on when the game will be released.

Edge may have established himself as the ‘Rated-R Superstar’ but he now believes that a current WWE Superstar is deserving of the moniker.

In late 2005, Edge debuted his nickname as the Rated-R Superstar, and alongside Lita would perform more and more headline-grabbing actions on TV.

Perhaps the most infamous came in January 2006, when Edge and Lita had a ‘live-sex celebration’ that was interrupted by both Ric Flair and John Cena

The Rated-R Superstar of Now

In 2021, Edge, just over a year after his return from retirement, began a feud with Seth Rollins, with the two men trading victories.

That feud saw Edge win at that year’s Summerslam, while Rollins would get his win back during an episode of SmackDown.

In the rubber match, Edge would return to Hell in a Cell, besting Rollins inside the barbaric structure at Crown Jewel 2021.

Speaking on the latest episode of the After The Bell podcast, Edge heaped praise on Rollins, calling him worthy of the Rated R moniker.

“we’re so damn similar. We look at things in a very similar way. You know, he’s carved his own path.

“To me if I look at it, and if I make the comparisons to rosters of yesteryear, like he is the Rated-R Superstar of now, he is firmly his own thing.”

Edge.

Continuing the Feud

Edge and Seth Rollins haven’t faced off in years but that doesn’t mean that a fourth match between the pair could not happen.

On the show, Edge explained that he remains open to a match against the former Universal Champion.

“Seth Rollins is a guy that we’ll never fully be through with each other.

“I just you know, to be honest anytime I can get in there with him I know what it feels like we both know what feels like the minute we touched I was like ‘Ooh okay, all right, we got something here. So hell yeah, I mean I do that in a heartbeat,’ you know, we had a trilogy that doesn’t mean can’t be more.”

Edge.

If Edge is planning a rematch, then the window of time is running out, as the Hall of Famer teased last year that he will be retiring the next time WWE comes to Canada in 2023.

h/t – Inside the Ropes

Damage CTRL’s Bayley will achieve a lifelong dream when she faces Lita at WrestleMania 39, and this is a match the Role Model has been preparing for decades.

On this week’s Raw, a six-woman tag-team match was made official for WrestleMania 39, pitting new WWE Women’s Tag Team Champions Lita and Becky Lynch, as well as Trish Stratus, against Damage CTRL.

During an edition of the Broken Skull Sessions, Bayley named Lita as her dream opponent from any era of wrestling.

Studying

Before becoming the heel Role Model we know today, Bayley was WWE’s premiere Super-Fan, and this wasn’t just her character.

A lifelong WWE fan, Bayley grew up watching Lita, and (according to the former SmackDown Women’s Champion) knows her weaknesses.

Taking to Twitter, Bayley shared an essay she wrote in her youth, showing that she has been studying the WWE Hall of Famer for decades.

Instead of returning from a career-threatening neck injury in March 2003 as young Bayley had hoped, Lita would return to action that September.

WrestleMania 39

This year’s WrestleMania will be an especially special one for Bayley, and now just because she’s facing her hero on the card.

Bayley hasn’t competed at WrestleMania since 2020, as she missed last year’s event due to an ACL injury that forced her to miss over a year of action.

For 2021, Bayley was simply not used for a match, which angered fans given how much work she’d done during the crowd-less Pandemic era.

Instead, Bayley had an on-stage segment where she was attacked by the Bella Twins.

Given that WrestleMania 36 in 2020 took place without live fans, Bayley’s most recent match at WrestleMania with a crowd was back in 2019.

Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions The Usos are back on the same page and have reached another milestone in the annals of tag-team history.

At WWE Royal Rumble 2023, Jey refused to attack Sami Zayn, seemingly leaving the Bloodline and raising questions about the future of The Usos.

During this week’s Raw, Jey reunited with Jimmy and the rest of the Bloodline by attacking Sami Zayn.

New Milestone

Since WWE Money in the Bank in July 2021, The Usos have dominated as the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champions.

Last May, the brothers defeated then-Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro to unify the titles, though WWE has since allowed the titles to be defended separately.

This week, The Usos (already the longest-reigning Tag Team Champions in history) reached 600 days of this latest reign as SmackDown Tag Team Champions.

If you count the combined number of days The Usos have held tag gold in WWE, the brothers have dominated for 1,527 days.

The End?

The Usos may have held the SmackDown Tag Team titles for 600 days (and counting) in their latest reign with the Championships, but will they reach 700?

It has been reported (though not confirmed by WWE) that the plan is for the brothers to defend their Undisputed WWE Tag Team Titles at WrestleMania 39 against Zayn and Kevin Owens.

There have been calls by some for the match to headline Night One of the event, given the popularity of the storyline featuring Zayn and the Bloodline.

AEW‘s latest edition of Rampage (3/10/23) is ongoing from the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California! Nyla Rose takes on Riho, The Acclaimed are in action, and Sammy Guevara faces Action Andretti!

Live Coverage

Sammy Guevara def. Action Andretti

We then hear from ‘Jungle Boy’ Jack Perry, who says now that Christian Cage is in the past, he’s now keeping a close eye on everybody with gold around their waist.

TNT Champion Powerhouse Hobbs is shown backstage with QT Marshall. Hobbs says that the next chapter in the Book of Hobbs is his reign as TNT Champion.

The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) (with Billy Gunn) def. Starboy Charlie & Jack Cartwheel

Konosuke Takeshita def. Preston Vance (with Jose The Assistant)

We then see Swerve Strickland backstage. Swerve says he’s far from done with his former tag team partner Keith Lee despite he and Parker Boudreaux losing to Keith and Dustin Rhodes last week.

Mark Briscoe then made his way down to the ring to announced the Reach for the Stars Ladder Match, which will take place at ROH: SuperCard of Honor to determine the new Ring of Honor World Tag Team Champions in honor of his late brother Jay Briscoe. Mark revealed that Pentagon Jr. and Rey Fenix of the Lucha Bros will be the first team to enter the match.

Riho def. Nyla Rose (with Marina Shafir)

April will be an important month for WWE, with the company holding WrestleMania 39 and meeting with potential buyers. 

In February, WWE CEO Nick Khan stated that if a sale were to happen, it could be quick and threw out, “maybe three months.”

When Vince McMahon returned to the company in January as the Executive Chairman of WWE’s Board of Directors, exploring a possible sale and helping with the negotiations for the next round of TV rights were his reasons given as to why he forced his way back into the company. 

The Meeting

CNBC reports WWE is set to meet with potential buyers for the company next month in preparation for first-round bids. However, there is no guarantee that a sale will happen.

Also, in February, it was reported that McMahon was seeking as much as $9 billion in a sale. As of this writing, WWE has a market value of about $6 billion.

WWE announced on January 12 that they had “engaged with outside advisors to review strategic alternatives in relation to upcoming media rights negotiations.”

One of their strategic alternatives is a potential sale of the company ahead of their TV rights talks for WWE Raw and WWE SmackDow. FOX CEO Lachlan Murdoch said this week that they’re ready to talk with WWE about the media rights, but the talks have yet to take place.

Rey Mysterio has been officially announced as the first inductee into this year’s WWE Hall of Fame. 

The SmackDown star was confirmed to be part of the class during Friday’s episode of SmackDown with a video package. Rey came out to the ring for a promo, but before he could make a statement, Dominik Mysterio came out with Judgment Day where he questioned WWE inducting a washed-up man into the Hall of Fame. 

He reminded Rey of all the things he missed while Dom was growing up. Dominik said he was ashamed to be his son. Legado Del Fansasmo then came out for a six-man tag team match. 

Career

Rey began his professional wrestling career in 1989 at age 14. Throughout that successful career, he has worked for promotions such as CMLL, NJPW AAA, WCW, ECW, and WWE. 

While in WCW, he won the WCW Cruiserweight Championship five times and the WCW World Tag Team Championship three times. In WWE, he’s won the Cruiserweight Championship three times,  World Heavyweight Championship, the Intercontinental Championship, and the United States Championship twice for each title, the WWE Championship once, and the Tag Team Championship four times. 

The WWE Hall of Fame ceremony will take place after SmackDown goes off the air from the Crypto.com Arena on March 31.

Many expected to see Batista, real name Dave Bautista, be confirmed as the first inductee. Pwinsider.com reported earlier in the day that Great Muta (Keiji Muto) would be among the names inducted this year.

WWE‘s latest edition of SmackDown went down on (3/10/23) from the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn returned the favor to Jimmy and Jey Uso following the latter’s attack on Sami this past Monday night on RAW!

Live Coverage

The show begins and see a video package of Jey Uso turning on Sami Zayn this past Monday night on RAW. We then see Jimmy and Jey Uso arrive to the arena and exit a truck. Paul Heyman is awaiting The Usos and gives Jey a big hug. Jey asks where The Tribal Chief is and Heyman tells Jey that Roman Reigns (and himself) are both proud of him. Heyman exits and Kayla Braxton comes in and asks Jey why he turned on Sami Zayn this past Monday night on RAW. Jey says he’ll say everything that he needs to say in the middle of the ring later tonight.

We then go to the arena where our commentary team of Michael Cole and Wade Barrett welcome us to tonight’s show and it’s time for our opening contest of the evening.

Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. Xavier Woods vs. LA Knight vs. Karrion Kross — Number One Contenders Match, Intercontinental Championship

Woods attacks Knight right as the bell sounds. McIntyre and Sheamus dump everyone out of the ring and meet face-to-face in the middle of the ring. McIntyre tells Sheamus that it didn’t have to come to this and everyone else rushes the ring and returns the favor on McIntyre and Sheamus and the two former teammates are sent to the outside as we head to a commercial break. Back from the break and Kross and Woods are double teaming Woods in the corner. Woods fights back but the numbers are too much for the New Day member. McIntyre comes into the ring but Kross dumps the former WWE Champion right back to the outside. Sheamus rushes the ring and tosses Knight to the outside and fires him into the barricade. Kross comes over and takes out Sheamus and launches McIntyre into the ring post. Kross and Knight head back into the ring and continue their attack on Woods. A double slam plants Woods, McIntyre comes in and lights Knight up with some chops to the chest but Knight knees McIntyre below the belt and he and Kross plant him with a double suplex.

Sheamus goes up top and lays Knight out with a diving clothesline but Kross shoves Sheamus into the corner as he and Knight continue to dominate the balance of the matchup. Knight nails Sheamus with a swinging neck breaker and goes for the cover but Kross breaks it up. Knight laughs it off but cheap shots Kross as Woods rushes back in the ring to take control. Woods lays Kross out with a slam and plants Knight with a back body drop. Woods goes up top to a raucous of ‘New Day rocks!’ chants and comes crashing down on Knight with a diving elbow drop into a cover but Sheamus, McIntyre, and Kross all rush in to break it up as we head to a commercial break.

Back from the break and McIntyre lifts himself up from a tree of woe position and slams Kross, who’s holding onto Knight all down to the mat and everyone is down either inside of the ring or on the outside. McIntyre is the first to his feet and lays Kross out with a lariat, Sheamus comes in and tosses McIntyre to the outside before slamming Knight down to the mat. McIntyre and Sheamus come face-to-face in the ring and argue. Woods comes diving in off the top rope but Sheamus drills him with Brogue Kick in mid-air, Knight comes in and eats a Claymore Kick from McIntyre. Sheamus pins Woods, McIntyre pins Knight, they both get the three count and the referees talk it over while McIntyre and Sheamus argue in the ring but it looks like we have two winners.

Winner(s) – Drew McIntyre & Sheamus

After the match, Kayla Braxton catches up with Paul Heyman backstage. Heyman says Roman Reigns will have no trouble dispatching of Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 39.

It’s then announced that the first member of the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2023 will be announced during tonight’s show and we head to a commercial break.

Back from the break and we see highlights of Drew McIntyre and Sheamus getting the simultaneous pinball victories earlier tonight. McIntyre and Sheamus are arguing backstage and Butch and Ridge Holland break them up before making Sheamus exit.

It’s then announced that Rey Mysterio will be inducted into this year’s WWE Hall of Fame. Rey’s music hits to a massive pop and out comes the first inductee into this year’s Hall of Fame class. Before Rey can say much, Dominik Mysterio, alongside Rhea Ripley, Finn Balor, and Damian Priest of The Judgment Day make their way down to the ring. Dominik says Rey doesn’t deserve this induction and Santos Escobar’s music hits and out comes Santos as well as Cruz del Toro, Joaquin Wilde, and Zelina Vega of Legado del Fantasma interrupt. Santos says he knows Legado and Judgement Day are supposed to fight tonight, so why waste anymore time and have that match, right here, right now? A referee rushes down to the ring and we’ll have the six-man tag team match after the break.

The Judgment Day (Finn Balor, Dominik Mysterio, and Damian Priest) (with Rhea Ripley) def. Legado del Fantasma (Santos Escobar, Cruz del Toro, and Joaquin Wilde) (with Zelina Vega)

After the match, Dominik Mysterio gets back on the microphone and tells his father, Rey, that he should’ve been Eddie Guerrero’s son instead of his (Rey’s).

The Viking Raiders (with Valhalla) def. Braun Strowman & Ricochet

After the match, we see Intercontinental Champion Gunther backstage. Gunther approaches Adam Pearce and says what happened between Drew McIntyre and Sheamus to begin the night isn’t acceptable and Pearce needs to figure it out. Pearce says McIntyre and Sheamus will face off in a one-on-one match next week to determine Gunther’s opponent for an Intercontinental Title match at WrestleMania 39.

We then see SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair make her way down to the ring. Adam Pearce make this way onto the stage and says that Charlotte’s opponent tonight is Shotzi.

Charlotte Flair def. Shotzi

After the match, Rhea Ripley gets in the ring and confronts Charlotte. The SmackDown Women’s Champion tells her WrestleMania 39 opponent that she’s ran through everyone in her path…except for her, and that won’t change at WrestleMania as we head to a commercial break.

Back from the break and the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Champions, Jimmy and Jey Uso make their way down to the ring as we see a video package of what went down between The Usos, Sami Zayn, and Cody Rhodes from this past Monday night on RAW.

A former Impact Knockouts Champion has left Impact Wrestling and may be competing with another promotion soon.

Wrestling free agency is becoming an interesting topic for fans. Talent that has signed with promotion fans are familiar with is exploring free agency to find a new home. One of the free agents expected to sign with a different wrestling promotion is former New Japan Pro Wrestling star, Jay White. Another potential free agent from All Elite Wrestling is reportedly looking at the free agency market soon.

A new report from PWInsider claims that a former Impact Knockouts Champion has wrapped up with the company and is now a free agent.

Spoiler on Former Knockouts Champion

The report shared that former Impact Knockouts Champion Taya Valkyrie has left Impact Wrestling and will be with a new promotion.

“Taya Valkyrie has finished up with Impact Wrestling as of their TV tapings in Las Vegas. As we noted at the time, Taya was not signed to Impact, and the word is that she is believed to be signing elsewhere,” said the report.

She is also the current MLW Women’s Featherweight Champion, and she teased a feud with Billie Starkz in a recent episode. If Valkyrie is to sign with a new promotion, she could drop the title soon.

Where Is She Expected To Go?

On the March 8 episode of AEW Dynamite, TBS Champion Jade Cargill issued an open challenge to a Canadian opponent for next week’s episode. It’s worth acknowledging that Valkyrie is Canadian, which makes sense for her to accept the challenge. AEW hasn’t revealed if she is signed with the company. However, based on her history with WWE, AEW seems to be where she could sign, especially if it happens soon.

Where do you think Valkyrie will sign, and are you excited about her becoming a free agent?

While WWE stars prepare for WrestleMania 39 in a few weeks, Alexa Bliss will seemingly not be part of the show while she is reportedly away from television. 

Bliss was last seen on WWE programming at the Royal Rumble this past January when she lost to Raw Women’s Champion Bianca Belair. After the match, WWE aired a video of a playground and Uncle Howdy, indicating that Bliss would once again be aligned with Bray Wyatt in the near future. 

Coming out of the show, it was reported that Bliss was on hiatus from the company, something WWE knew going into the match with Belair. She later refuted that. 

Fast forward to today, a new report by Dave Meltzer noted that Bliss is on another hiatus and will be gone for a while. 

The Tweet

Bliss took to Twitter to make it clear that she is not on hiatus because they know where she is. She wrote the following: 

“Tired of seeing these tweets. I am not on a hiatus. They know where to find me.”

If that is the case then Bliss could return to WWE at any time. Perhaps, she will be figured into the build-up in the feud between Wyatt and Bobby Lashley at WrestleMania 39 next month. 

Kofi Kingston’s road to WWE WrestleMania has taken a major hit due to an injury that has put him on the sidelines. 

Kingston was sidelined when he suffered an injury on last week’s episode of SmackDown while doing a segment to set up this week’s fatal 5-way match.

Now, Xavier Woods has replaced him with the match now seeing Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus vs. LA Knight vs. Karrion Kross vs. Xavier Woods. The winner will earn the right to challenge Gunther for the Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 39. 

The Latest

Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that Kingston’s ankle injury is only expected to keep him out of the ring for about 5 weeks. 

Meltzer wrote, “Kingston suffered an ankle injury when McIntyre did a running flip dive on several people. It was just a fluke deal. The time frame we are hearing is five weeks. There was concern earlier it could be longer because he may have needed surgery and if he does need surgery it would be lengthy.”

The impression is that Kingston won’t need surgery. Unfortunately, it looks like Kingston will be missing WrestleMania though. 

AEW Revolution marked the first pay-per-view event of the new year for All Elite Wrestling. 

The show was headlined by a 60-minute Iron Man match pitting AEW World Champion MJF defending against Bryan Danielson.

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer reports the show did between 120,000 to 129,000 buys, though Meltzer notes, “that number will probably grow to just under or a little over 130,000 with late buys.”

To compare, last year’s show drew between 165,000 and 173,000 buys. It was headlined by Hangman Page defending the AEW World Title against Adam Cole, but the biggest match featured on the card was CM Punk vs. MJF in a dog collar match.

The previous PPV event held by AEW was Full Gear in November, which drew 140,000 buys. The show was headlined by MJF, challenging Jon Moxley for the AEW World Title.

Other Metrics

The ratings for both Dynamite and Rampage dropped heading into the show. Streaming and international numbers are also down right now for the promotion, although those two metrics can be hit-and-miss. 

Regarding the Google searches, they were “big twice last year, after Double or Nothing and All Out with the brawl aftermath.” Revolution did 50,000 searches and was No. 12 in the United States for the day.

This week on Top Rope Nation, SEScoops Site Manager Ryan Droste and Justin Joynt discuss John Cena’s big return to WWE Raw this past Monday night (and some of the criticism it prompted online).

Each week, the video version of Top Rope Nation streams live to the SEScoops YouTube channel. You can join the live streams by subscribing to the channel and turning on notifications so you never miss a live broadcast. This will include a regular weekly edition of Top Rope Nation (typically Thursday nights), as well as reviews of all major WWE and AEW PLE/PPV shows.

Also on this week’s show, Ryan and Justin discuss Jey Uso’s turn on Sami Zayn, the WrestleMania card, AEW Dynamite this week, a question and answer segment and much more!

You can subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever podcasts are found. You can listen to the podcast via the player below as well.