On Sunday, April 25th, 2021, Rich Swann and Kenny Omega will go one-on-one with both the Impact and AEW title belts at stake. AEW’s Tony Khan recently revealed on Busted Open Radio that he plans on attending the PPV. Khan also said he plans on bringing AEW referee Aubrey Edwards along with him.

“I’m going to be coming up to Nashville to maintain order next weekend at [IMPACT Rebellion], that you moved at my suggestion [Laughs]. I’m going to go to UFC with my good friend Dana and then I’ll come to [Rebellion] and make sure that no funny business goes on in this title match. I’m going to bring my own referee, Aubrey (Edwards),” Khan said on Busted Open Radio (transcriptions via Fightful).

The following has been confirmed for tonight’s episode of Impact on AXS TV:

• Rich Swann and Kenny Omega contract signing
• Josh Alexander vs TJP
• Jazz’s retirement ceremony.
• Brian Myers vs Matt Cardona – Pick your Poison

Impact Rebellion Lineup:

• AEW World Championship vs Impact World Championship
  Kenny Omega (c) vs Rich Swann
• Impact Tag Team Championships
  FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) (c) vs. The Good Brothers (Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson)
• X-Division Championship
  Ace Austin (w/Madman Fulton) (c) vs. TJP vs. Josh Alexander
• Brian Myers vs Matt Cardona

CM Punk is doing media rounds to promote his new movie Jakob’s Wife. The film will be available on-demand and in select theatres beginning tomorrow. Punk recently spoke to Digital Spy and commented on the similarities between wrestling fans and fans of horror films.

“Horror fans, as well as wrestling fans, will almost die on hills that they normally wouldn’t die on, meaning, ‘I discovered this wrestler first, I discovered this movie first’,” Punk said. 

“And you’re almost not allowed to like it because you weren’t in on the ground floor. Horror movie fans and wrestling fans really are so passionate that they hold what they love near and dear to their heart and they almost want to protect it.”

“Whereas they should want everybody to like it – the more popular it is, the more eyeballs that are on it, the more content you probably get,” he continued.

CM Punk on Horror and Wrestling Fans

Punk continued to say that both horror films and wrestling get a bad reputation from some.

“I think the majority of people will view horror and wrestling as a lower brow entertainment, which, when it is done to the best of its ability, neither are.”

“I think that keeps those fans on the defensive, you know they’re used to having to defend what they love because other people will constantly remind them of, ‘Oh, that’s fake,’ or ‘Oh, that’s just a bunch of blood and boobs’ or whatever.”

The full interview with Punk can be read here. A trailer for Jakob’s Wife is below:

MLW Fusion 4/14 featured 3 championship matches. The Caribbean title, MLW tag-team titles, and the National Openweight Championship were all on the line.

The full show can be viewed in the player below:

MLW Fusion 4/14 Quick Results:

1. Caribbean Championship
   Richard Holliday (c) defeated Gino Medina
2. MLW Tag Team Championships
   Los Parks (c) defeated The Dirty Blondes
3. National Openweight Championship
   Alexander Hammerstone (c) defeated Mil Muertes

Richard Holliday Defends Caribbean Strap Against Gino Medina

This match has been months in the making. Several backstage altercations have taken place between Medina and Holliday, usually with the two disagreeing about how Medina left the Dynasty. Medina says he quit, Holliday says he fired him. They’d finally meet in singles action with the Caribbean title on the line this week.

Medina hit Holliday with his own version of the 2008 but was unable to pin his opponent with it. Shortly after, Medina went crashing face first into an exposed turnbuckle. This allowed Holliday to hit his version of the 2008 to gain the victory.

Los Parks Retain With Help From El Jefe’s Associate

The MLW Tag Team Championships were also on the line this week. Los Parks took on Aria Blake’s Dirty Blondes. Both teams would resort to under-handed tactics in an attempt to gain the advantage in the match. Ultimately, it would be the team from Azteca Underground who would gain the victory.

The Dirty Blondes had gained the advantage thanks to repeated low blows. El Jefe’s associate then lifted up the ring and allowed LA Park Jr. to illegally enter the match. He then gave both members of the Dirty Blondes a low blow and LA Park and El Hijo de LA Park then rolled up their opponents for the victory.

After the match, Salina de la Renta lost her composure and attacked Aria Blake. All the stress El Jefe appears to be placing on her seems to be getting the best of Salina.

Lio Rush vs Myron Reed 2 In The Works

We heard from Injustice’s Myron Reed this week. Reed mentioned that as the former middleweight champion, he’s owed a rematch against Lio Rush. He said he first needed to get Contra out of his way before he cashed in his rematch. Reed also said that going to war with Contra made him a better wrestler and more hungry for his rematch with Rush. Still, no date announced yet for the match, however.

Court Bauer To Appear Next Week

MLW announced this week that Court Bauer will appear next week’s show. They mentioned a potential new TV deal and update on the partnership with DragonGate as reasons for his appearance.

Alexander Hammerstone Defeats Mil Muertes

Alexander Hammerstone was able to defeat Mil Muertes in the night’s main event. He was able to retake possession of the belt he never lost after giving the Man of 1000s Deaths the Nightmare Pendulum. El Jefe will likely not be pleased with Salina regarding this loss.

After the match, Hammerstone cut a promo and said that next week he is going to hold a press conference to announce some very “Dynastic News.”

Coming Up In MLW

Here is what MLW has scheduled for next week:

• Court Bauer To Appear
• Alexander Hammerstone to announce some “Dynastic News”
• TJP vs Bu Ku Dao

Taya Valkyrie is now Franky Monet. She had been wrestling under her previous name for more than a decade. As is often the case, however, she changed it for her debut under the WWE NXT banner.

Monet recently took to Twitter to comment on her name change.

“Hey guys, I LOVE MY NAME…..maybe since I picked it. Go figure!” she Tweeted. “I could be called Sunshine Tuna and I would make it work!!! So take a breath, stop complaining and enjoy this evolution and ride with me. Thanks”

She also explained her reasons for the name.

“Monet for the French artist, Franky because I’ve always loved unisex names and I think it’s super cute, spunky and different,” she Tweeted.

The name “Sunshine Tuna” seemed to gain traction online.

“And for the record, nobody was going to name me Sunshine Tuna, it was just an example,” Monet continued. “The name does not make the wrestler. One that’s powerful and strong helps of course but just know we all think long and hard about these things. I’m me, la WERA LOCA. Always, now, forever.”

Her comments led Peyton Royce to reflect on what her WWE name almost was:

Matt & Nick Jackson, the Young Bucks, are now “bad guys” in AEW. They have aligned with Don Callis, changed their in-ring style, changed their gear, and have made what some might call a “full heel turn.”

The Young Bucks were recently interviewed by TSN, AEW’s Canadian broadcast partner. During the interview, Matt Jackson spoke about what wrestling fans are used to as it concerns “babyfaces & heels” in wrestling.

“I always want to be involved in weird, nuanced, multi-layered stories and maybe sometimes the subtleties that I like to have in my storylines won’t translate with a pro wrestling audience,” Matt Jackson said to TSN. “Pro wrestling audiences are so conditioned to [the idea] that it’s good or it’s bad. It’s babyface or it’s heel, and that’s the way it’s been historically forever and how dare you change that or try something differently because it’s like you’re breaking the laws of wrestling. It’s one of those things where you have to try to find a balance, where you want to tell compelling stories, but at the same time, you don’t want people to miss the things you’re trying to do.”

The Young Bucks on AEW’s PPV Schedule

Nick Jackson also spoke about AEW’s schedule of running 4 PPVs a year.

“We enjoy taking the three months to build a proper program and things like that because I feel like the payoff – which is the pay-per-view – makes it seem like a bigger thing,” said Nick Jackson. “I feel like that’s why we’ve kept getting 100,000-plus buys every three months because we make it feel special.”

The Young Bucks On Why It Was Time To Turn Heel

As for why it was time for the Young Bucks to turn heel, Matt Jackson offered up the following explanation:

“Especially with us, because we’re executives at this company – we’re executive vice-presidents of AEW – and we told everybody that we helped put together the tag-team division, so it’s really hard for people to look at us as those same punk-rock Young Bucks that we were years ago, the ones that spat in the face of tradition – the ones that broke all the rules. It’s hard to break the rules when you’re the ones making the rules now.”

There is at least a 2-hour wrestling program on national television every night of the week at the moment. RAW on Monday, NXT on Tuesday, AEW on Wednesday, Impact on Thursday, and Smackdown on Friday. According to comments made on Wrestling Observer Radio, at least one more promotion is about to announce a national television deal shortly.

“There’s going to be at least one more pro-wrestling promotion’s going to have a national deal, any minute now too,” said Dave Meltzer. “So there are two deals that – I don’t know if they are signed signed, but there are two deals that are very, very close that should be announced any minute now, I guess, any minute, any week. Closer to a minute than a week.”

Nothing was said about which promotions he was referring to. Some speculation can be made, however. MLW’s Court Bauer has been teasing that his promotion has signed a new deal.

There have also been several rumors in recent months regarding a national television deal for New Japan Pro Wrestling as well. AXS TV as well as other channels were said to be in the mix.

“There are significant talks involving New Japan returning to AXS television. AXS was wanting the programming back, and it would likely involve more dealings with New Japan and Impact, as the Juice Robinson & David Finlay debut as regulars show,” wrote Dave Meltzer in late February. 

“Regarding the talks with AXS, the company is in talks right now with a number of U.S. stations, AXS being one of them,” wrote Dave Meltzer the following week. 

A new trailer has been released for the upcoming latest installment in the Fast and the Furious franchise. The film is tentatively scheduled for release sometime in June. The film is 1 of 3 involving Cena that is currently in post-production.

The film’s newest trailer can be viewed in the player below:

Cena plays the role of Jakob Toretto in the film.

“Cypher enlists the help of Jakob, Dom’s younger brother to take revenge on Dom and his team,” reads an IMBD description of the film.

The film’s premiere has been pushed back a year due to the pandemic.

John Cena in Fast & Furious 9

Cena wouldn’t say whether his character is the antagonist of the film during an interview with Entertainment Tonight.

“We’ll leave it for the audience, we’ll leave it for the Fast family around the world to decide who’s bad and who’s good,” Cena said. “Keep in mind, the trailer shows just enough for you to have a ton of questions — and me not to be able to answer any of them!”

“That’s fair,” Vin Diesel added. “You’re going to have to decide. Like, all the characters in this saga, they are multidimensional and there are no cookie-cutter characters. They all have layers, as we’ve seen… But we’re so excited about this!”

Paul Wight recently took part in an interview with Miro for the latter’s YouTube channel. During the discussion, Wight spoke about his character from Adam Sandler’s Waterboy, Captain Insano. According to Wight, we could see the character in AEW at some point.

The film was released in 1998 and according to Wight’s comments, Tony Khan is friends with one of the creators.

“You know, Captain Insano might be coming around again,” Wight said when asked about the character by Miro. “Tony Khan is really good friends with one of the writers or creators of Waterboy. The whole Captain Insano character, I think Tony’s trying real hard to get the rights to that and do something with it.”

Wight also mentioned that he told Khan he would be excited to portray the character in AEW.

“I told Tony if you get Captain Insano, I’ll rock the ever loving tits out of it,” Wight continued. “I’ll get the red boots, the whole 9 yards, Captain Insano shows no mercy, brother!”

AEW filed to trademark “Captain Insano” last month. The purposes of the trademark were listed as ““Entertainment services, namely, wrestling exhibits and performances by a professional wrestler and entertainer.”

Watch Paul White’s discussion with AEW star Miro:

Bad Bunny’s performance at WrestleMania 37 has drawn positive reviews from fans, wrestlers, and others in the industry. The Miz recently spoke to TMZ and praised the work his WrestleMania opponent did.

“Not only did he earn my respect, I think he earned the WWE Universe’s respect,” The Miz said regarding Bad Bunny. “I think he earned backstage’s respect. I think he earned everybody’s respect in what some are calling ‘The Best Celebrity Match at WrestleMania in History!'”

Bad Bunny will be focussing on his music again for at least the foreseeable future. Miz is hopeful to see him back in a WWE ring sometime soon, however.

“Ya never know when he’ll come back! I think he had a great experience, I think everyone had a great experience with him.”

“This guy has a hundred dates of music concerts that he has coming up. I imagine he wants some time off, too! But, look … what he did out there at WrestleMania opens the door anytime he wants to come back at WWE. Maybe I’ll get a round 2!”

Recently, it was reported that Bad Bunny reported to the WWE Performance Center months ago to prepare for the match. Damian Priest is also said to have wrestled the match with a bad back, possibly leading to Bad Bunny taking a larger role in it.

Over WrestleMania 37 weekend, 2K announced that WWE 2K22 is “Coming Soon” although few other details were revealed. After WWE 2K20 was met with negative reviews, 2K Sports announced WWE 2K21 would not be released. Instead, the team would spend additional time developing WWE 2K22. A rumor that the upcoming game will not be available for next-generation consoles is currently gaining steam online, however.

After WWE 2K1 was canceled last year, a former writer for the game posted to his YouTube channel that WWE 2K22 would not make the jump to next-generation consoles. That belief has been bolstered recently by an online thread from Twitter users stating ads on Instagram stories for the game only mention PS4 and Xbox One.

“I got an ad (the ones you get when you go through IG stories) from 2K that advertised 2K22 and it only showed PS4/XBOX One. Also, Playstation released the trailer on their YT channel and at first it was titled as “WWE 2K22 Trailer | PS5” but changed to PS4 soon after,” the thread continued.

Developing Games For Different Consoles

As 2K Sports looks to re-build the franchise after a disastrous WWE 2K20 edition, it is being speculated that developing games for both current and next generation consoles would make this more difficult. Additionally, next generation consoles have been difficult for many people to obtain due to lack of availability.

“Do you think 2K had enough time to make a PS4 version with everything people wanted and ALSO a PS5 version with more features?” Another Tweet read.

Sports Gamers Online reached out to 2K regarding this rumor and received the following response:

“We have nothing to share at this time. We’ll share more information on WWE 2K22 soon.”

If 2K does not release a game for next generation consoles, that could make the pending AEW video game the first on the new devices. The AEW console game is rumoured for an early 2022 release.

CM Punk’s new horror film “Jakob’s Wife” is available on-demand and in select theatres beginning April 16th. He recently sat down with Uproxx to promote the film and during the conversation, he talked about what would have to happen for him to return to wrestling and who he would like to face if he does so.

“I think the right combination could maybe be figured out, but it’s also not for me to figure out. It’s not my world anymore,” Punk said when asked about potential getting back in the ring. “I’m certainly not Hulk Hogan, where I’m going to show up somewhere and like, ‘no, this is how it’s going to be.’ The wrestling world doesn’t necessarily need CM Punk and that’s absolutely fine. Everyone seems to be doing great. I don’t know, it’s like flavors of ice cream. I walk into an ice cream shop one time and I’m like, ‘Oh, that seems like a good flavor. Give me two scoops of that.’ It’s just gotta be the right time, right place, right situation.”

Punk also spent some time talking about possible future opponents he could face in either AEW or WWE. Kenny Omega and Triple H’s names were both mentioned.

“From a creative mind standpoint, stepping back and looking at the landscape of everything, there are people in WWE that I have wrestled before that maybe, in a certain situation could be interesting,” Punk continued. “There’s also the business side of things. What’s the biggest possible match for CM Punk? I think there’s Kenny Omega on the one side. And, you know, unfortunately, ironically enough, for me to go back to WWE, who’s the biggest match for me? It’s probably Triple H. That’s ironic because it’s nothing I’m interested in. It’s just what it is. Am I going to be a businessman and say that’s the match, that’s the big-money match? Well, it’s not my money, so it’s not for me to say.”

The full interview can be read here. The trailer for Jakob’s Wife is below:

2x and current X-Division champion Ace Austin will defend his title against both TJP and Josh Alexander at Rebellion later this month. He sat down for an interview with Chris Van Vliet recently. During the discussion, Austin spoke about which stars from AEW he’d like to face now that the “forbidden door” has been opened.

Austin noted Sammy Guevara, Darby Allin, and PAC as potential future opponents.

“I know the Twitter-verse wants to see me and Sammy Guevara. That’s a match that has never happened one-on-one. We did have a triple threat once for XWA with Anthony Henry. A lot of people want to see me and Darby too. PAC also for sure, we are both ultimate athletes. But Kenny Omega, that is inevitable”

Austin also spoke about meeting AJ Styles at a TNA Meet and Greet in 2014.

“For $20 I got a photo of me and AJ Styles in the ring when I went to an IMPACT Show in 2014. I had never been in a ring before that. As soon as I stepped on the canvas, it was like nothing I stepped on before. I lost my balance, total fail. That was January 2014,” Austin continued. He would also mention that he started training not long after that.

While Austin has a big title defence upcoming, he says he’s got his eyes on a bigger prize. Austin is hoping to get into the Impact world title picture once again.

“I haven’t taken my eyes off of the World Title since Slammiversary. When I ended up back in the X Division picture, I have option C. I knew that becoming X Division champion meant that there was a sure fire way I could get a title shot. After Rebellion, who knows what that might mean?”

The full interview can be viewed in the player below:

Randy Orton defeated the Fiend to kick off night 2 of WrestleMania 37. Bliss ended up costing Fiend the match when she appeared atop the jack-in-the-box with a black ooze dripping down her forehead. Orton then hit Wyatt with the RKO and pinned him to win.

According to a report from Fightful, the original plan was for the Fiend to defeat Orton on the show. Then over the weekend, Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard are said to have changed the finish to Orton going over. Those involved in the angle were not given an idea where the story was headed beyond that it was supposed to be used to write Orton off from television for some time.

Orton would wrestle last night in a triple threat to determine a #1 contender to Lashley at WrestleMania backlash. It’s possible Prichard and Vince wanted Orton to win at Mania so that he could be involved in that match and ultimately take the pin so that Strowman wouldn’t have to.

Prichard and McMahon were said to have been happy with how the angle played out at Mania. On RAW last night, Bliss cut a promo saying she has realized she doesn’t need “the Darkness” anymore. She also introduced a new doll friend and appears to be keeping her new persona but moving away from the Fiend. Wyatt meanwhile, appeared in a FireFly Fun House segment and claimed he has now been re-born.

WWE Hall of Famer Jeff Jarrett is the latest wrestling great to start a podcast along with Conrad Thompson. The first episode will air on Tuesday, May 4th, 2021.

“For years I’ve been asked, ‘If I could do a podcast with anyone in wrestling today, who would it be?’ And I’ve always been consistent that one of those names is Jeff Jarrett,” Thompson said in a press release. “If Jarrett’s life was a movie script, nobody would believe it. I can’t wait to dive into Jeff’s story and hear directly from one of the most accomplished and controversial people to ever be in the wrestling business. ‘My World’ is going to be a can’t-miss podcast.”

The 53-year-old is a former WCW World Champion, NWA World Champion, and AAA Mega Champion. He is in both the TNA and WWE Hall of Fames.

“The King of the Mountain and the Podfather finally coming together,” Jarrett said. “I’ve been aware of Conrad for quite some time now, and he’s obviously a skilled interviewer with great passion for the wrestling business. He not only does his homework but asks the questions the fans really want to know the most.

“I can’t wait to get started on May 4.”

Randy Orton vs the Fiend kicked off night 2 of WrestleMania 37 on Sunday night. Orton pinned the Fiend following an RKO, delivered as Wyatt had just been distracted by a black-ooze-leaking Alexa Bliss. Bliss sat atop a giant Jack-in-the-Box as ooze dripped down her face. It was somewhat reminiscint of when Papa Shango put a curse on The Ultimate Warrior and caused a similar-looking black goo to drip down his forehead.

According to recent online posts, horror special effects legend Tom Savini was behind Bliss’ ooze-dripping. Savini’s team has been behind The Fiend’s look and masks and designed Bliss’s headpiece and special effects for Mania as well.

Savini’s partner, Jason Baker, took to Twitter to credit those involved.

In 2019, Baker took part in an interview and spoke about working with Wyatt on his new character.

“That man is… what’s that old saying? The razor’s edge between genius and insanity? And that man walks that razor’s edge constantly,” Baker said. “Very, very smart. Smarter than a lot of people give him credit for. Great to collaborate with. You think you’re gonna throw an idea at him, he comes back with eight. You think you’re gonna hit him up with a piece of trivial knowledge, he’ll hit right back. He’ll see your trivial knowledge and then raise ya. He is a unique, unique human being. It’s been an absolute pleasure and an honor to get to collaborate with this gentleman — with someone who just puts such a thought process into his craft.”

The WWE RAW announce team moving forward will be Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, and the newly hired Adnan Virk. The broadcaster is from the Toronto area and has worked for TheScore, TSN, ESPN and for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. WWE announced that Virk will continue his work for the MLB Network in addition to performing on RAW.

“I’m elated to be joining the premier sports-entertainment company in my new role with WWE,” said Adnan Virk.  “As a kid who grew up idolizing WWE Hall of Famers like Bret Hart and Ric Flair, the opportunity to call modern legends like Drew McIntyre, Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton, Charlotte Flair and so many others alongside Corey Graves and Byron Saxton is truly humbling.”

Virk also had this to say about this historic career milestone:

What will happen to Samoa Joe and Tom Phillips?

With Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, and Adnan Virk as the new RAW announce team, that seemingly leaves Tom Phillips and Samoa Joe without roles. According to the Athletic, Phillips will stay on as the host of 205 Live and work on special projects for the WWE Network.

As for Samoa Joe, he might be headed back to the active in-ring roster. WWE stated the following in today’s press release as it concerns Joe.

“Samoa Joe remains part of the WWE talent roster.”

Sheamus defeated Matt Riddle for the United States Championship on Night 2 of WrestleMania 37. According to recent comments on Wrestling Observer Radio, Riddle had never been planned to win the title. It was something WWE felt they had to do after Keith Lee was pulled from shows.

“Riddle was never supposed to be champion,” said Dave Meltzer. “They had to do it because Keith Lee was supposed to win it but then Keith Lee for whatever the reason, whatever the reason is, was pulled. They had to get the belt of Bobby Lashley because they were giving the WWE title to Bobby Lashley.”

Riddle won the US title from Bobby Lashley at Elimination Chamber in a triple threat match that also involved John Morrison.

“So, Riddle got the belt because there was no other choice and this rectifies it. It’s too bad because Riddle had a great match and Riddle can be a star but he’s just going to be R-Truth and that’s all there is.”

Sheamus’ win at WrestleMania 37 was the 171st time the United States Championship has changed hands since its inception in 1975. Lex Luger holds the record for most combined days spent with the title with 950 days spent across 5 title reigns.

The episode of Steve Austin’s Broken Skull Sessions with Chris Jericho is currently streaming on the WWE Network. Early on during the conversation, Jericho explained to Austin his decision to sign with AEW in 2019.

“I never thought that I would really work anywhere outside of WWE in the states, for example, after being there for 19 years or so,” Jericho said on the show.

“When AEW was about to start and Tony Khan had this idea,” Jericho continued. “Now, you’ve been around longer than I have but you hear this all the time, ‘oh, there’s going to be a new promotion, there’s a guy whose got money,” whatever, you hear it all the time. So, when I started talking to him, I started realizing that there was something different here about this opportunity to start a new company.”

Jericho then started talking about AEW and Tony Khan having the things needed to be successful with a new wrestling promotion.

“What you need for that, is you need 3 things: finances and passion, that’s one. You need a television contract, and you need talent. You need about 4-6 guys you can build a territory around. Talking to Tony, he had the finances, he had the passion. Then when we started sniffing around, we realized there was a group of guys whose contracts were all coming up at the same time.”

“Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega, Young Bucks, Chris Jericho, Hangman Page, guess what? There’s your six guys right there, you can start a company on that. 6 legit guys you can build around and Jericho’s got the name value. These other guys, Cody to an extent, but nobody had really heard of the Young Bucks in the mainstream, or Kenny, or Hangman. So, when you see these guys, you’re like ‘where have these guys been?”

“All 3 of those factors all came together in a perfect storm to where we’re like we have a chance to really do something here. The contract with TNT was big because I think at first we were thinking maybe Showtime, or HBO, or Netflix, all these different ideas. But you have to have network TV to get off the ground and TNT provided that.”

The full episode is streaming on the WWE Network now.

WWE fans likely know Vladimir Abouzeide’s face if they don’t know his name. For over 30 years, he’s been a fixture at WWE events. WWE announced yesterday that a documentary on the superfan is in the works. The film will feature interviews with Hulk Hogan, Shawn Michaels, Jimmy Hart, Bruce Prichard, and others. It will air on Peacock and the WWE Network.

Triple H also recently revealed that Vladimir is now the company’s first-ever officially certified superfan.

“[Vladimir] carved himself a niche of popularity among the Garden faithful by showing his support for the Superstars who appeared in the World’s Most Famous Arena,” late WWE Hall of Fame announcer Howard Finkel wrote in a 2015 article about WWE’s most famous fans.

“I felt like he was at just about every show that I watched,” Sam Roberts says in the newly released Superfan trailer.

“The relationship that Vladimir has with WWE, it’s part of his moral fiber,” Jeff Jarrett says in the Superfan trailer. “It is part of his identity, and that was taken away.”

Bad Bunny impressed a lot of fans last night with his performance at WrestleMania 37. He teamed with Damian Priest and defeated John Morrison and the Miz in tag-team action. According to a report from Wrestling Observer Radio, the recording artist has been training for months for his WWE in-ring debut.

“Bad Bunny, I mean you have to give him all the credit in the world,” Dave Meltzer said. “He went down (to the WWE Performance Center) in like December or early January. He’s basically been training for this match ever since.”

“The match was way better than it had any right to be. It was really actually one of the better matches on the show,” Meltzer would later add.

The report also stated that Damian Priest was working with a bad back. Meltzer noted that this might be the reason why Bad Bunny did much of the work for his team.

“Priest has a bad back so that is perhaps some of it. I guess the idea of why they were talking about a singles match was because of Priest’s injury. I thought it was Morrison’s injury but it was Priest’s injury but he was just cleared,” Meltzer said.

Night 1 of WrestleMania 37 is in the books and history has been made. Bianca Belair is the new Smackdown Women’s Champion after defeating Sasha Banks in the main event. The show ended on the WWE Network/Peacock with Belair celebrating with the title. There was more that took place than what the fans at home saw, however.

As captured by fan-recorded videos, while Belair was celebrating, her husband Montez Ford joined her in the ring. Ford would celebrate with her before again leaving the ring to allow Belair to celebrate on her own once again. She then went to her family who was ringside and celebrated with them as well. Finally, she made her way up the ramp and eventually to the back.

Other fans caught video of the defeated Sasha Banks enjoying Belair’s post match celebration.

What Did Bobby Lashley Do After Defending His WWE Championship?

Bobby Lashley successfully defended the WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre last night. Following his match, and after cameras had cut away from him, Lashley is reported by Fightful to have gone to the endzone area of the field and bowed to the fans.

Following his victory in the night’s opening contest, Lashley took to Twitter to post the following:

Paul Heyman recently appeared on the Pat McAfee show and talked about Roman Reigns’ upcoming match at WrestleMania. During the discussion, McAfee asked Heyman when he knew that Roman Reigns was going to be a top guy.

“When Roman Reigns was 3 years old, his father was working in the Continental Wrestling Federation. Which at the time, the creative was being head by Eddie Gilbert and I was Eddie Gilbert’s assistant. There was a show in Panama City Florida, and Roman Reigns’ father, the legendary WWE Hall of Famer Sika came into the locker room and he brought Roman Reigns with him,” Heyman said.

“At 3 years old this young man already had so much personality & so much charisma you could tell he was going to be a top level A1 top tier star no matter what he did in his life”

“I knew when he was 3-years-old, there you go, he’s the future.”

“How did the Shield come into WWE? The Shield came into WWE to protect the championship reign of CM Punk. Who was CM Punk’s special advisor, who was CM Punk’s advocate, who was standing next to CM Punk? Paul Heyman. Who brought in the Shield? Paul Heyman. I’ve been seeing this in Roman Reigns since before anybody realized I was seeing this in Roman Reigns.”

A clip of Heyman from the show cane viewed in the below Tweet:

Becky Lynch hasn’t wrestled a match since WrestleMania 36. She defeated Shayna Baszler on the 1st night of the 2-night event last year. Not long after, it would be revealed that Lynch was pregnant and would be taking time away from the company.

According to a report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, one idea that has been discussed for WrestleMania this year is Becky Lynch returning to the company during a talking segment with Bayley.

A “Ding Dong Hello” segment featuring Bayley would take place with Lynch returning in some type of big vehicle, i.e Austin driving the beer truck, Angle with the milk truck, etc. “That also explains Bayley seemingly not booked for the show after a year when she was women’s MVP,” Meltzer wrote.

Tonight’s Smackdown is the go-home show for Mania, and if a Bayley talking segment is going to be announced ahead of time, it would have to be announced tonight.

• WWE President Confirms Becky Lynch & Ronda Rousey Are Returning Soon

Update: Becky Lynch has since dropped a major hint about her upcoming return.

The Man posted the following photo on Twitter late Friday afternoon. The caption reads, “Nothing is guaranteed here tonight, only now eternally.” This appears to be a rather generic inspirational quote, until you realize the first letter of each word spells out, “N-I-G-H-T-O-N-E.”

A recent poll conducted by Piplsay has found that 46% of Americans would support Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson running for President. The poll surveyed Americans’ opinions of various celebrities running for office and the Rock was by far the most popular.

Other celebrities that achieved high results include Angelina Jolie with 30% approval, Oprah Winfrey with 27% approval, and Tom Hanks with 22% approval.

The Rock commented on the news recently on Twitter. He said that if the

“Not sure our Founding Fathers ever envisioned a six-four, bald, tattooed, half-Black, half-Samoan, tequila drinking, pick up truck driving, fanny pack wearing guy joining their club – but if it ever happens it’d be my honor to serve the people,” Rock Tweeted.

The premise of NBC’s Young Rock is that the Rock is running for President in the year 2032.

In a recent article with USA Today, The Rock stated he would run for office if it is what the people want.

“I would consider a presidential run in the future if that’s what the people wanted,” the Rock said. “Truly I mean that, and I’m not flippant in any way with my answer. That would be up to the people…So I would wait, and I would listen. I would have my finger on the pulse, my ear to the ground.” 

Stephanie McMahon recently appeared on the Bill Simmons podcast to promote WrestleMania 37 this weekend. During the discussion, Simmons wondered allowed if Becky Lynch would be returning to the company at Mania.

“Who Knows?” Stephanie said. “Anything can happen.”

Stephanie then revealed that she’s been in contact with Becky throughout her time away and talked about an angle Lynch pitched to her following the birth of her child.

“It’s funny, I kept talking to Becky all during her pregnancy and then after, she was actually pitching somebody jumping her in the maternity ward.”

“Maternity ward match!” Simmons yelled with enthusiasm.

“Oh yeah, that’s coming. It’s the second part of the women’s evolution,” Stephanie joked.

Stephanie also spoke about how much credit Triple H deserves for the women’s evolution.

“It’s something that I’d always been fighting for a very long time. Not just me, but a lot of people,” she said.

“It started with the way we started recruiting and training our female stars in the Performance Center. So really a lot of the credit goes to my husband. He started recruiting elite athletes both male and female. He would give the women the same amount of match time as the men, he was training them the same as the men,” Stephanie continued.