Brock Lesnar has been away from WWE for over a year now and many were surprised that he wasn’t even brought in for a match at WrestleMania 37.

Since his contract with the company has expired as well, many have been wondering if AEW officials could be interested in bringing him in but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Lesnar’s status was discussed on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio and it was noted that there has been no talk of the former champion joining the AEW roster.

Brock Lesnar: Top Free Agent

We have seen stars like Jon Moxley and Paul Wight jumping ships to AEW and anything is possible in pro wrestling but as of now, there is no indication of the Beast Incarnate changing sides.

Brock Lesnar was last seen on WWE programming during the WrestleMania 36 event from the Performance Center where he defended the WWE championship against Drew McIntyre and lost.

There have been multiple rumors about his return since then but so far the company has decided not to use the former world champion in any angle in the absence of fans.

WWE officials have said that the company plans to start touring again in the second half of 2021. So Lesnar’s return at SummerSlam is a strong possibility but we will have to wait and see if it actually happens.

• Paul Heyman Discusses Potential Roman Reigns vs Brock Lesnar Match

The WWE management had a very interesting response to the Blood and Guts match from AEW and now Sean Waltman has revealed his thoughts on the reaction from the company officials.

On the latest episode of Pro Wrestling 4 Life podcast, the former WWE star sat down with MLW owner Court Bauer and MLW World Champion Jacob Fatu and discussed a number of things.

Reacting to the reports that WWE officials believed the Blood and Guts match set the business back 30 years; Waltman explained that they might have been talking about the sponsors:

“When you first told me about the reaction from them, I was like, ‘Really?’ But maybe if you’re just talking about dealing with sponsors because there’s big-time corporate sponsors involved in wrestling these days, well, WWE, and so I guess I can understand why they might feel that way because wrestling gets painted with a very broad brush.”

• Chris Jericho Reportedly Suffered Legitimate Injury During Blood And Guts

Though when asked about the complaints from some that the match was too violent, Sean Waltman replied negatively while also explaining that wrestling does not belong to any one company:

“No, but who am I to say? Some people like that, there’s a place for a lot of things. Wrestling doesn’t belong to any one company.”

While the WWE management was not happy with the Blood and Guts match, the talent had a different reaction and many stars expressed their interest in doing something similar.

It appears that the initial reports of all the participants of the Blood and Guts match coming out of the bout unharmed are not correct and Chris Jericho seems to have suffered a legitimate injury in the bout.

While the former AEW champion was not kept off TV and he was seen on this week’s follow-up episode of Dynamite, many fans noted that he had his left elbow in a brace and it was taped up as well.

In an update, Bryan Alvarez noted on the latest Wrestling Observer Radio that these things were not props and Jericho has suffered a legitimate elbow injury.

According to him, the former WWE star suffered the injury during his big spot falling off the Blood and Guts cage and he possibly fractured his elbow while doing the spot. Though there is no word on the severity of the injury.

The Pinnacle vs. Inner Circle feud continued on this week’s episode of AEW Dynamite and Chris Jericho’s stable confronted MJF’s group while the latter were trying to celebrate their victory in the extreme match.

• Chris Jericho Comments On The Ending To Blood & Guts

While Jericho was present for the segment, he did not get physical during it. If the reports are correct then he might stay away from action for a while.

MJF has since challenged the group to a Stadium Stampede match for Double Or Nothing and it would be interesting to see how Jericho responds to this challenge from the young star.

This week’s eventful episode of AEW Dynamite ended with a big championship match between the TNT champion Darby Allin and ‘the best man’ Miro. The finish of this hard fought main event saw Miro picking up the victory and becoming the new champion after he caught the title holder in his game over submission.

The cameras went off air with Allin still lying in the ring but it wasn’t the end of the show. After the feed went off air, Darby Allin cut an emotional promo addressing the fans. The now former champion said that people have been asking him when is he gonna win the AEW title but he doesn’t need that s***:

“When I became TNT Champion, I told everybody it was the only championship that meant anything to me, and I mean that one-hundred percent. People ask me, ‘When are going to win the big one? When are you going to win the AEW [World] Championship?’ I look them dead in the eye and said, ‘I don’t need that s***. I need the TNT Championship.’

“I don’t need to collect any other belts from anywhere else in this world. I need the TNT Championship. And I guarantee you — every single one of you here — this is not the last time I am TNT Champion. Thank you for all the support. It means the world to me.”

The team of Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky have been interfering in the business of Sting and Allin in recent weeks and the Icon had to fight them off after the main event match this week as well. This suggests that we are going to see a feud between these two teams in the coming time.

As for Miro, he was confronted by Lance Archer after his big win on tonight’s episode of Dynamite. While these two have not been feuding, the segment seemed a clear indication that we will see these two competing over the title in the upcoming times.

• AEW Dynamite Results (5/12): Three Title Matches, PAC vs. Orange Cassidy

The #1 contender match between Pac and Orange Cassidy on this week’s episode of Dynamite ended in double count-out after the latter got knocked out.

However, this wasn’t the planned finish for the bout and the officials had to call an audible during the show, according to PWInsider. The original plan was for the match to continue a bit longer and for the match to end in a 20-minute time limit draw.

However, Cassidy got legitimately hurt after taking the sunset flip powerbomb to the floor towards the ending of the match. While he still kept trying to get back in the ring and finish the match as intended, the decision was made on the spot to end the bout.

Though it didn’t change the plans for the championship match for Double Or Nothing and according to the report, the company always intended for the AEW world championship match to be a triple threat.

Regarding Orange Cassidy, it was noted that the young star was ok after the match and he was seen socializing with a number of talents after the show.

Kenny Omega will defend his AEW world championship against both Pac and Orange Cassidy in a triple threat match at the Double Or Nothing PPV on May 30.

• Updated AEW Double Or Nothing Match Card

Jim Ross not only got to witness the Wednesday night wars up close but he once again ended up on the winning side as NXT decided to switch its weekly programming to Tuesday nights.

The former WWE star recently had an interview with Jimmy Varsallone where he talked about a number of things like Paul Wight joining AEW and more.

Talking about WWE’s decision to move NXT to a different night, Ross claimed that they probably got tired of getting beaten by AEW in TV ratings every week:

“It was obvious, WWE goes on Wednesdays, head-to-head with us, in hopes it would hurt our growth. It didn’t happen. They probably got tired of getting their ass beat every week. They have a lot of stroke with USA, so they made a move.

It helped them and they have more viewers, we have more viewers, and fans don’t have to make a decision.” said Jim Ross “If it’s fan-friendly, it’s a good move. We have to protect our greatest assets (the fans),”

• Jim Ross Compares The Wednesday Night Wars To The Monday Night Wars

The legendary commentator also said that he thinks the AEW product in general was more fan friendly and NXT’s move makes it easier for fans as they don’t have to choose between the two shows anymore.

Apart from this, Jim Ross also talked about things such as the AEW president Tony Khan, being able to enjoy the wrestling business again and more.

Damian Priest made his main roster debut at the start of the year. Almost immediately he was put into a big storyline with Bad Bunny leading to their WrestleMania match against The Miz and John Morrison.

During his recent interview with Sporting News Australia, the former NXT star opened up about his experience in the main roster so far among other things.

Talking about his storyline with Bad Bunny, Priest explained how his confidence has grown due to the trust the company has shown in him before revealing that prior to the storyline, he was told that he would be done if he blew the angle:

“Yes it does give me confidence, it goes both ways. I can put in all the work I want, but obviously I also need the company to believe in me and have my back.

 A lot of people were honest with me and they told me ‘listen, you can’t blow this because if you do, you’re done’. All I said was you’re giving me the opportunity, I’m going to do everything to my abilities to knock this out of the park.”

• Damien Priest Reflects On Being Rejected By WWE, Honing His Character

While Damian Priest did not reveal the name behind the comment, he did reveal some names which have helped him since his arrival on the main roster:

“Everybody has been awesome to me, if I have a question or anything. I could go up to say one of the guys in The New Day and they’ll take the time to just sit with me and talk and explain stuff to me, and guide me the right way.”

Damian Priest signed a contract with WWE back in October 2018. He was moved to the main roster in January 2021 after a successful run with the North American championship in NXT.

Ric Flair’s recent storyline with Lacey Evans was criticized by a lot of people and now the wrestling veteran himself has admitted that he was not comfortable with the whole angle. The 16-time world champion recently appeared on the Ariel Helwani MMA Show where he talked about things such as his promo after winning the 1992 Royal Rumble and more.

Opening up about his romantic angle with Evans, Flair admitted that he wasn’t comfortable with the part but he still played it because he doesn’t want to be the one to turn down an angle:

“In this instance, I didn’t [feel comfortable]; the one thing I’ve learned is you’re not going to win a war when someone’s got their mind made up. She most definitely didn’t like it, but the one thing that I can say about me is I always said yes. I didn’t want to be that guy that was always going ‘Oh, that isn’t perfect for me.’”

• Ric Flair On Who Should Break His 16 World Championship Record

Ric Flair also admitted being mad about the whole thing when the storyline was pulled and explained how Vince McMahon had made his mind about it:

“When that was all over, I was mad but now I just look back and say it wasn’t it. This was something that when I got to TV, Mr. McMahon wasn’t there to argue the point with and he had stuff going on, I don’t like to put the pressure on someone if I can’t talk to him. He just made up his mind,

The former champion later claimed that a reason behind the storyline was that Lacey Evans is a former marine and Vince McMahon wanted her to be successful. According to him, the way to get successful sometimes “is to take two people that are doing really well and give them the rub.”

Ric Flair started aiding Lacey Evans in her feud against Charlotte Flair in January. The storyline continued for more than a month before the female star announced her real-life pregnancy and went on a hiatus.

Velveteen Dream’s presence backstage at this week’s episode of Raw became a topic of discussion among fans making many wonder if the company had any plans for him to appear on the show.

PWinsider has now provided some update on the situation and the site reports that despite his presence, there were no plans for Dream to appear on the show at any point.

He hasn’t been seen much at the Performance Center in recent months either and there is no word on why he was brought in at the tapings. Dream has not appeared on WWE programming since his match with Adam Cole during the December 23 episode of NXT.

On a related note, the site notes that Mansoor was originally scheduled to appear on this week’s episode of the red branded show but he was pulled from the episode after the plans changed.

Mansoor officially became a Raw star last week. He also made his in-ring debut for the brand during the show. He competed against Sheamus in a singles match. Mansoor lost the bout by DQ when Humberto Carrillo attacked the US champion.

• Triple H On Velveteen Dream’s Absence, Pat McAfee’s Future With WWE

Regarding this week’s match between Sheamus and Carrillo, the original plan was for Sheamus to win clean before the match had to be stopped by the referee due to a botched Sunset Flip Powerbomb.

Humberto has since been cleared to compete by the doctors and according to the report; he will only be missing ring time if the company decides to sell the finish of that bout.

The latest episode of the A&E’s Biography: WWE Legends series focuses on the wrestling career of Booker T. It looks at the various achievements and career highlights of the veteran wrestler. However, the documentary attracted some controversy over the omittance of his 2003 feud with Triple H for the world heavyweight championship held by the game at the time.

Booker T addressed the rumors about the feud intentionally being left out of the episode which originated from a tweet of writer David Dennis on his Hall Of Fame podcast. He claimed that he has never given the story a whole lot of credence:

“How can it be pulled from the bio, okay you talked about it – it wasn’t in there and it got pulled out, it never actually got in. To write it like that makes it seem like there was a whole lot of meat and potatoes on the bone of the story of Booker T, Triple H, WrestleMania 19.

Me personally, I’ve never given that story a whole lot of credence. They talk about the story that went into, and I understand that being a young black kid looking up to my heroes – trust me I understand that as well.”

• Booker T Says Miss Elizabeth Deserves To Be Inducted Into WWE Hall of Fame

The former world champion went on to say that he has never framed his career around one match and he got paid more money for the one match with Triple H than any other match in his life. T said that he understands why people have interest in the story. Though the former WCW star explained that for him, that’s not what his story is about:

“For me, I just want everybody to know that, that was not what my story was about at the end of the day. It’s not about the dark side of WrestleMania 19 and Booker T and Triple H. And for people to want to make it about that, I get it, I get it. I’m not naive or anything like that. I understand. But for me personally, that’s not what Booker T’s career makeup is all about.”

Booker T had a feud with Triple H in 2003 leading to a match between the two at WrestleMania 19. The angle became controversial due to its racial overtone and the fact that Triple H ended up beating his opponent clean.

The issue became a topic of discussion when writer David Dennis, who appeared in the documentary, mentioned how producers filmed him speaking about the angle. However, in the since-deleted tweet, Dennis suggested that it won’t be included in the episode, which turned out to be the case.

CM Punk is known as one of the best wrestlers in the history of the business and he was never the one to shy away from a dangerous spot even if it scared him.

The former WWE champion recently appeared on The Movie Crypt to promote his upcoming film Jakob’s Wife where he talked about a number of things.

During the interview, Punk was asked if there was ever a wrestling spot that scared him heading into it and the former WWE star recalled a spot from his 2009 TLC match with Jeff Hardy:

“I remember wrestling Jeff Hardy in the Staples Center, and he was jumping off a very tall ladder onto me and I just had to kind of lay on a table for an extended period of time, which really makes you think about it, and it’s one of those things where I was just looking, I’m like, ‘Man, he’s really high up there. This sucks,’

And you stew in that moment. And I remember being like, ‘I should just get up and walk away. Why am I laying here? This is stupid,’ and then he finally jumped on me.” remembered CM Punk, “and I was like, ‘Yeah, that hurt. Alright, great,’”

• Keith Lee Shares Cryptic Posts Amid His WWE Absence

The former ECW champion was also asked when he realized that pro wrestling could become a career for him. He revealed that his first Japan tour was when he believed that he had made it.

CM Punk defended his world heavyweight championship against Jeff Hardy in a TLC match at SummerSlam 2009. This main event match was won by Punk.

Jey Uso has won the 2021 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

WWE had announced earlier that the battle royal this year will be taking place at the WrestleMania go-home episode of SmackDown instead of the PPV.

The bout took place during the main event of the Blue Branded show this week. It saw 21 WWE superstars from different brands competing for the prize.

Shinsuke Nakamura, King Corbin, Ricochet, Mustafa Ali, and Jey Uso were the final five contestants of the match. Mustafa Ali was eliminated first among them and he was followed by Ricochet.

King Corbin then got eliminated by the king of strong style and ‘main event’ Jey Uso went on to win the bout by eliminating the former NXT champion last.

This is the seventh Andre The Giant memorial battle royal since its introduction in 2014. The match did not take place last year after WWE had to move WrestleMania to the performance center due to coronavirus.

• Paul Heyman On When He Knew Roman Reigns Was A Star

Uso joins the list of the past winners such as Cesaro in 2014, Big Show in 2015, King Baron Corbin in 2016, Mojo Rawley in 2017, Matt Hardy in 2018, and Braun Strowman in 2019.

Jey Uso does not have a WrestleMania match but he is likely to be in universal champion Roman Reigns’ corner for his triple-threat title defence against Daniel Bryan and Edge on night two of the show.

“Road Dogg” Brian James is not only making progress on his road to recovery but he is already back to working with the NXT brand, according to Triple H.

The Game provided the latest update on the wrestling veteran’s health during his media conference call following the NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver event.

Triple H mentioned that James has been recovering at home the last few days. He also revealed that the former DX member is already back to work and he worked from his home for the latest TakeOver event:

“I want to mention that Brian James, Road Dogg, has been home the last few days, he is recovering, but he is healthy, he is good. He is recovering at home, doing well. We had him set up, so he was on a headset over the last two days, and you know, kind of being involved and stuff.

“As he gets his strength back and everything, feeling good, he will be back at it, back to being the Road Dogg in no time. I just wanted to give a shout-out to him, and we greatly miss him here. He’ll be back soon enough, but he is doing well.”

Brian James Health Scare

Brian James suffered an apparent heart attack towards the ending of last month. He had to be hospitalized for a couple of days before being released and he has been recovering at home since then.

James was working as the head writer of SmackDown until WrestleMania 35. He was repositioned within the company after he resigned from the role and he has been working backstage at NXT since then.

WrestleMania this year is once again going to be a two-night spectacle and it appears that the former women’s champion Alexa Bliss prefers it to be that way.

The former champion recently had an interview with Mike Jones from DC101 to promote the upcoming big event where she talked about a number of things.

Talking about the PPV being stretched to two nights, Bliss explained why it might be a good idea to continue this arrangement because it stops fans from getting exhausted:

“I’m really excited because I feel like the energy is going to be so much higher, when it was one night, there’s later matches at the end of the night,

And you’re just like, ‘oh man, we gotta wake these people up. they’ve been watching the show for about seven hours now!’ I’m excited, I’m happy that it’s two days and everyone can come back refreshed the next day.”

• Alexa Bliss Reveals When Her Contract Expires, Character Inspirations

Alexa Bliss also talked about matches she is excited for at WrestleMania. She mentioned the match between Bad Bunny and The Miz, saying that she is excited to see Bad Bunny perform because he has been training really hard.

While the female star does not have a WrestleMania match of her own, she has been a prominent figure in the feud between Randy Orton and The Fiend, and Bliss is expected to be involved in their match in some capacity.

Paul Heyman is one of the most influential wrestling managers of the modern era. He is a prominent figure on the current WWE programming as the special counselor to Universal Champion Roman Reigns.

However, the former ECW owner’s current contract with the company is set to expire in the next couple of months. A lot of people have been wondering how his negotiations with the company are going.

Heyman appeared on Sports Media with Richard Deitsch this week. He was asked if we will continue to see him on WWE programming for the foreseeable future. The wrestling mastermind is hopeful he will remain with the company.

“One would certainly hope so; I’ve always tried to avoid negotiating in public. I understand why some people do it though.”

Paul Heyman’s Negotiating Philosophy

Brock Lesnar’s former Advocate left WWE in 2006, but virtually nobody knew it at the time. Heyman and WWE kept his negotiations private. He explained why he believes it is best to conduct his business behind closed doors.

“I just don’t think it does WWE or Paul Heyman any good for me to negotiate a contract and agreement through the media in public. It doesn’t serve anybody. It’s not what I’m here to do. I’m an entertaining, or a director [and] producer of talent. I don’t think that’s what the public turns to me for.”

He continued by saying that he loves his current role with Roman Reigns. He also enjoys his role on the Talking Smack talk show. Heyman would be a hot free agent if he left WWE, but he is “boldly confident that I’ll be continuing in those roles.”

Paul Heyman’s signed a 3-year deal with WWE shortly after WrestleMania 34. Considering how vital he is to WWE storylines, the belief is that he will re-sign with the promotion.

• Paul Heyman Reacts To Eric Bischoff’s Hall of Fame Induction

The latest episode of the Icons documentary series on WWE Network takes a look at the career of WWE Hall Of Famer Beth Phoenix from her very first match in the company to all her accomplishments and more.

During the episode, the former women’s champion opened up about moments such as the time she broke her jaw during her first singles match on Raw.

Phoenix also revealed the origin of her Glamazon moniker and she explained that she first heard it while watching the TV show Sex And The City

 “I had to start over. I was looking for a way to repackage myself and catch everyone’s attention again like I had the first time. They knew I could wrestle, I needed something more. I was watching Sex and the City and I heard the term ‘Glamazon’ used and was like, ‘That would make a fabulous moniker.

I got a phone call that said, ‘You’re going back on the road,’ and it never stopped.” said Beth Phoenix, “I started creating the tiara look to stand out, to have one item that would brand me amongst the women. It was my Bret Hart sunglasses.”

• Beth Phoenix On Commentating For NXT, Why She Left WWE In 2012

Apart from this, the former Diva’s champion talked about the influence of wrestling icon Chyna on her saying that she was enamored when the former DX member first came on the scene.

Phoenix explained that she had seen female bodybuilders before but Chyna was more than that. She had the star power alongside all the men and Beth was inspired by the former WWE star.

Mustafa Ali is currently not expected to be part of the WrestleMania 37 match card but at one point he was building towards what could have been a show-stealing match at the Show Of Shows.

The former leader of Retribution recently had an interview with Metro where he talked about a number of things including the upcoming big event.

At one point the company seemed to be building towards a match between him and former WWE champion Kofi Kingston at Mania. During the interview, Ali admitted that he thought that to be the direction for him as well:

“The story was presented, and I really thought that was the direction we might be going for in this year’s WrestleMania. Things change and other things take priority sometimes. We almost got to it, so I will try to get to it again. There’s so much real emotion that I can just bring up and bring out in promos leading to that match.”

Next Year, You’re Mine

Mustafa Ali has since posted the following on Twitter about being left off the WrestleMania card. “Another year, another WrestleMania that I’m not going to compete in,” he wrote. Despite getting snubbed again, Ali remains positive and is confident he’ll be on the big show next year.

Mustafa Ali was attacked by members of Retribution during the Fastlane PPV after the former leader of the group kept blaming them for his losses. At this point, it doesn’t seem likely that he will be a part of the WrestleMania event.

Kofi Kingston on the other hand, won the Raw tag team championship with his New Day partner Xavier Woods. They are now scheduled to defend the titles against AJ Styles and Omos at WrestleMania.

• Mustafa Ali Says His PCL Tear Will Not Require Surgery

Former NJPW star Bea Priestley is finishing her stint in Japan and latest updates are suggesting that the young star might have a WWE run in her future. The 25-year-old unsuccessfully challenged Utami Hayashishita for World Of Stardom Championship during the Yokohama Dream Cinderella 2021 in Spring event.

The match was followed by Priestley cutting an emotional promo saying goodbye to both Stardom and Japan. She has already finished her stint with NJPW last month. Dave Meltzer provided some update on her status in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter and he noted that the female star had made the decision to leave Japan some time back.

While Meltzer did not confirm where Priestley is headed next, he claimed that the former World of Stardom Champion is not going to All Elite Wrestling. Since the former NJPW star is keeping quiet about her future, the general conclusion is that she is not allowed to say where she will be going which is a trope associated with WWE.

Bea Priestley made her wrestling debut in 2012. She has competed for promotions such as NJPW and WCPW in her career. She signed a contract with AEW in 2019 after turning down a WWE offer. However, she was released from her AEW contract in August last year because the company was not able to use the UK star amid the travel restrictions put in place due to coronavirus.

• Bea Priestley On Why She Didn’t Sign With NXT UK

Christian Cage made his return to in-ring action as a surprise entrant in the 2021 Royal Rumble after saying away from the action for more than 7 years. However, while the plans for his return were only finalised days before the show, the journey for his comeback started months before the PPV.

During his recent appearance on the Talk Is Jericho podcast, the former world champion detailed the steps he took that led to his Royal Rumble appearance. He recalled how Edge’s return a year prior had made him think about his own future. Christian revealed that he made an appointment with the doctor. His thinking was that if the results were positive then he would have opened the doors. If they were not then he would be in no different situation than he already was:

“I went to the University of South Florida and saw a specialist there, and I went through the physical training, went through the testing on the computer. They even said the testing had advanced some, obviously since I took it last, and when I sat in with the doctor, after I did all the tests, he was like, ‘Man, your test scores were great. You were average or above average on everything. You didn’t fail. You weren’t below average on any of these scores. Your physical tests were great, so let’s have a conversation.’ We started talking.”

• Edge Reacts To Christian Cage Joining AEW

Christian eventually got to the point where the doctors started asking him about his plans. The former WWE star told them that he wanted to go back and finish his career on his own terms. Once the doctors told him that it was a possibility, he brought it to the attention of WWE. The company then sent him to Pittsburgh for more rigorous testing towards the ending of October:

“I brought it to WWE’s attention that I had got this clearance, and obviously, they were very excited about it and was told they wanted to keep it close to the vest, quietly, [they] sent me up to Pittsburgh, I believe, towards the end of October. They sent me up there, and same thing, I just went through tests, but it was a harder test. It was more thorough tests, and it was probably about five hours long to be honest. And I saw about three or four different specialists for different things. Did a full in the gym physical workout.”

However, while the WWE doctors had cleared him for a return, Christian hadn’t heard anything about his future until January. According to him, the officials called him on the Friday night before the Royal Rumble. They told Captain Charisma that they thought there wasn’t a big enough surprise in the Battle Royal. The current AEW star thought about it for a second and despite having no contract with the company at the time, he said yes to the offer.

Singer and songwriter Ozzy Osbourne is going to be inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame during the upcoming ceremony, according to reports from F4wonline.

The celebrity was part of the combined Hall Of Fame ceremony for the class of 2020 and 2021 which was taped earlier this week and will air next Tuesday.

While Osbourne did not appear in person during the shoot, he recorded a video message for the show. Ozzy’s induction has been rumored since he was featured in a Hall Of Fame commercial on SmackDown.

The television personality has had a relationship with WWE for a long time. He has made appearances for the company going as far back as WrestleMania 2.

During the second WrestleMania event, Osbourne and Captain Lou Albano helped The British Bulldogs in defeating the team of Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine to win the WWF tag team championship.

• Sean Waltman On His Experience At The 2021 Hall Of Fame Ceremony

His recent WWE appearances include a live performance during a SmackDown taping from Baltimore in May 2007 and an appearance as a guest host for Raw in November 2009.

Ozzy Osbourne joins the 2020 and 2021 class of Hall Of Fame featuring names such as Davey Boy Smith, JBL, Jushin Liger, The nWo, The Bella Twins, William Shatner, Warrior Award winner Titus O’Neil, Molly Holly, Eric Bischoff, Rob Van Dam, Kane, and The Great Khali.

WrestleMania 37 will be the first big wrestling event in over a year to feature a live audience in a major capacity since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

With the event being only days away, WWE is preparing for the show in various ways including the planning for the security of the performing stars and more.

Another important aspect of the preparation is the building of the grand set to live up to the hype. A new drone video from Action Jax FPV gives us the first look at the WrestleMania set construction as seen below:

WrestleMania 37 Match Card

This year’s edition of the Show Of Shows will once again be a two-night event and the company is expected to hold 25,000 fans on each night of the show.

The announced matches for WrestleMania include big championship matches such as the Universal title match among Roman Reigns, Edge, and Daniel Bryan as well as the WWE title match between Drew McIntyre and Bobby Lashley.

• Backstage News On Internal Reaction To WrestleMania 37 Ticket Sales

Other matches which are expected to draw attention are Shane McMahon vs. Braun Strowman in a steel cage, Randy Orton vs. The Fiend and Bianca Belair vs. the SmackDown women’s champion Sasha Banks.

WrestleMania 37 will take place from the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on April 10 and 11. Check out an updated WrestleMania match card here

AJ Styles had been lobbying for a match against Triple H at this year’s edition of WrestleMania but the plans couldn’t come together for this dream match.

During his recent media call to promote the upcoming NXT Takeover: Stand & Deliver event, The Game talked about a number of things and explained why he turned down the offer for a bout against the Phenomenal One.

Triple H explained how AJ Styles wanted the bout and he kept asking for it from the former world champion as the Show Of Shows came closer. He revealed that in the beginning, he hadn’t said no to the match:

“He pestered with me every time I saw him! He would ask me about it and ask me about my schedule and as we got closer, man, I’ve said this before, getting ready for WrestleMania is a different thing. And the older you get, the harder it gets.

“When he first came to me, I said, ‘AJ, I’m not going to tell you no. Personally, I’d love to work with you and at this point, you can carry me to something.’ So, I’d love it.”

• Triple H Shares His Opinion On The Undertaker’s ‘Soft’ Comments

However as time passed by, Triple H realised that he wouldn’t be able to get in the shape for a match at the show. Even though Styles was still hoping for it until last minute, the King Of Kings decided to cancel the plans:

“There’s a part of me that wants to do it, and then there’s just a bigger part of me that says, ‘I’m so busy 24/7, that to even try and contemplate how to train in the way I would want to train and get in-shape – and by shape, I don’t mean look—in-shape ring wise so you don’t embarrass yourself once you get in there at 52.

“It’s a lot of work and I don’t know that I have – I’m not afraid of the work. If I could make more hours in the day, I could find time to do it. It’s just time.”

After getting a negative answer from Triple H, AJ Styles is now scheduled to compete in a tag team match. He will be teaming with Omos to challenge The New Day for the Raw tag team championships on night one of WrestleMania 37.

• WrestleMania 37 Title Match Stipulation Announced, Updated Card

Drew McIntyre main evented last year’s WrestleMania where the 2020 Royal Rumble winner defeated Brock Lesnar to win the WWE championship for the first time in his career. While the former champion may not be in the position to close the show this year, he is ready to take on another similarly enthralling opportunity if he is presented with it which is opening the big event.

McIntyre talked about potentially being in the opening match for the Show of Shows this year during his recent interview with Wrasslinews. He said that he wouldn’t mind being the opening bout because then he will be able to experience the first reaction of the fans after staying away from shows for more than a year:

“I mean, I would be happy opening the show or closing the show. This year is so unique in the sense that the last match — every match at WrestleMania is a main event. Let’s be realistic, if you’re on WrestleMania, you’re in a main event, but when you’re fighting for the championship, generally it’s cool to close the show. This is such a unique WrestleMania, without having the fans there for an entire year, that first reaction is gonna be so, so special.

So that’s why I said if I finish last, the last match — that’s phenomenal! That’s fantastic! That’s tradition! But if I’m in the opening match, to me that’s also just as big because if you get to walk out in that first match and get the crowd full of energy and all those pent up reactions that we’ve been keeping inside for a year, that’s gonna be special too. So, either way I’m happy!”

• Drew McIntyre On Which Night Of WrestleMania He Wants To Have His Match On

Drew McIntyre will be challenging Bobby Lashley for his WWE championship at WrestleMania 37. The match will take place on night one of the event on Saturday, April 10, 2021, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. You can check out the updated match card for the big event including the lineup for both nights of the show here.

UK indie wrestler James Riley has been jailed for two years after attacking aspiring wrestler Rob Wilson during a wrestling match and causing serious injuries to his head, according to reports from Metro.co.uk.

Wilson was training under Riley to become a pro wrestler. Part of his training included competing in indie shows to gain experience and the incident took place during one such event in February last year.

The victim explained the attack as a receipt for a botched kick from the trainee wrestler during their bout and he said that he was expecting Riley to hit him in the back:

“The assault was a result of his prior instruction. He was down on the floor and because I was the antagonist he said to me I should stay on top of him when he was down. I caught him with a kick to the gut area. He hissed at me “receipt” which is terminology for payback.

I positioned myself on my hands and knees and I was expecting him to hit me on the back but instead he kicked me in the face as if taking a goal kick in football.”

He went on to detail how he felt after receiving the kick from his opponent. The indie wrestler claimed that his face ‘exploded’ and it was the worst pain he had experienced in his life:

“It was the worst pain I had experienced in my life. My face just exploded and I realised it was a lot more than a broken nose. Blood was coming out like fountain and the canvass was red. I could hear the audience yelling to stop the fight.”

According to Paul Bray, a friend of Rob Wilson who was in attendance for the show, Riley was heard telling other wrestlers in his training school that he had ‘deliberately kicked Mr Wilson because he had hit some nerve damage.”

The injury has led to Wilson suffering from PTSD which caused him to lose his sales job. The young star now works as a warehouse operative.

Though Riley did send a text to his student the next day apologizing for his mistake and admitting that he acted like an animal. As per his lawyers, he has also retired from wrestling since then.

Apart from the prison sentence, the court has also issued a restraining order preventing James Riley from contacting the Wilson family for 10 years.

Photo: James Riley (left) and Rob Wilson (right)

Stone Cold Steve Austin has known Vince McMahon for a long time and their iconic rivalry helped WWE in winning the ratings war against WCW. However, it appears that their friendship has weakened a bit over time and they are not as close as they once were.

The Texas Rattlesnake recently had an interview with WrestlingInc where he discussed things such as the Monday Night Wars and more. Talking about the boss, Austin made the revelation that he doesn’t stay in contact with Mr. McMahon like they used to but he does reach out every now and then:

“He don’t even take my phone calls but let me tell you, back when I was working on top, when I called Vince, that phone didn’t ring a half time before he picked it up, Now I’ll send him a text message and I’ll get an answer back in a couple of days.”

• Steve Austin Talks His Favorite Rising WWE Stars, Vince McMahon

Though Vince McMahon does reply to the former world champion when it’s something important. The most recent instance of it was when Stone Cold reached out to ask him about bringing Chris Jericho in for an interview on the Broken Skull Sessions.

Apart from this, the former WWE star talked about things such as how the inception of AEW is a good thing for the wrestling world and more.