Dynamite this week drew 617,000 viewers, down 93,000 viewers from the prior week with the big AEW World tile switch. The show had a 0.10 rating in 18-49, down 0.02 from the previous show. This was Dynamite’s lowest numbers since March 11. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
Fired WWE Superstars comment on their release
A few of the released stars posted statements on social media hours after they received the dreaded call that they have been fired yesterday in a post-WrestleMania massacre.
Zelina Vega hosted a live stream and said that she got the call at 5:09PM and when the phone rang, it showed “TKO.” She said usually it says “Stamford” and her heart races a little bit when she gets those calls.
Those on the main roster will have a 90-day no-compete clause while those from NXT will have 30 days. If their deal was expiring and just wasn’t renewed, they’d be able to appear anywhere once the contract has expired. Anyone released will continue to be paid for those 30 or 90 days.
In total, WWE released 21 from their roster yesterday afternoon, just a few days after boasting record WrestleMania revenues and millions paid in salaries to top TKO executives.
Kairi Sane: “I’m truly grateful to have people like you by my side. Thank you for always being with me. I’ll set sail… in my own time Until then…I love you.”
Nikki Cross: “Goodbye and Thank you WWE. I’m really excited for whatever my next chapter will hold. Thank you all for the continued love and support. Special thank you to Robbie Brookside and William Regal for helping this dream come true. Thank you to the wrestlers, coaches, producers and all the backstage crew who make all this possible. To the amazing girls in locker room [love emoji].”
Joe Gacy: “90.”
Zelina Vega: “My fans mean the absolute world to me. I’ve lost a lot this year and in my life in general.. but I gained all of you. Thank you. Your support means more than you’ll ever know. I know I said it on stream but I also want to thank my co-workers, trainers and everyone who made it possible to do what I did in WWE. The amount of txts I got from all of you warmed my heart to tears. Thank you. I genuinely feel honored to have worked with you.”
Andre Chase: “One last TEACHABLE MOMENT!! I couldn’t have done it without U. Available for bookings, signings, and seminars starting in June. Let’s get to work.”
Zoey Stark: Thank you WWE, you made a young girls dream come true. You could not have been better and more supportive during my healing and I will be forever grateful. Thank you to all the girls in the back, the producers, camera men you were all incredibly kind and gracious. And a special Thank you to Terry Taylor and Coach Bloom for teaching me so much and being a shoulder to lean on. Its just the end of this chapter and the beginning of a new one. Falling Foward, onward and upward with God’s plan
Dante Chen: “Goodbye and thank you, WWE. 5 years, 147 matches. The list of names of people I want to thank is endless. I am proud to be the first Singaporean-born WWE Superstar, and I hope that inspires everyone that anything can be achieved. Stay tuned. Chen. Now. Forever. Together.”
Alba Fyre: “Kay Lee Ray would batter Alba Fyre. Just saying….”
Luca Crusifino: “What an amazing 4 years! Thank you so much to all of my coaches and friends that I have made along the way! Onwards and upwards! onlyfans here I come.”
Tamara Mae Steel: “Hey, I hope yall have a wonderful Friday! Be safe and know that I appreciate every single one of you people that follow me. I thank God all the time for my life, its been rough but I’ve always had faith. And Being with the man of my dreams is icing on the cake.”
Some other stars also paid tribute to their co-workers who today woke up without a job.
Asuka: “No matter what, I’ll always be in your corner, Kairi. I’ll never leave you feeling alone.”
Bayley: “I’m having a hard time finding words for this one. I love you and it was an honor to tell stories with you. #KAIRIMFNSANE”
Rhea Ripley: “Today’s been a very sad day… Absolutely guttered for my friends and comrades. Worst time of the year. Go prove them all wrong!”
Chelsea Green: “You guys didn’t get to see how talented KLR is. I know you saw bits & pieces, but trust me, there’s so much more to her. She’s a fearless wrestler… I’m sad to not have her on my side but this is just the beginning for my girl. Thank you for having my back, Slaygent A. Love you!”
Alexa Bliss: “Bliss cross forever thank you @WWENikkiCross for all of the amazing times, fun car rides, laughs & for being Hendrix’s backstage bestie love you Nikki – can’t wait to see what’s next.”
B-Fab: “Yesterday was an extremely hard day. Seeing so many of my friends get released from their dream job is a horrible feeling. These are the moments when we dig deep and remember who we are at the core. Let nothing define you only you can define you. My heart is with everyone! Go kill it all.”
Tiffy Time! Tiffany Stratton wins the WWE Women’s United States title
It’s Tiffy Time again in WWE as Tiffany Stratton walked out of Smackdown with the WWE Women’s United States title last night.
Stratton defeated Giulia clean with the Prettiest Moonsault Ever to secure her first run with this title and ending Giulia’s second reign after 112 days.
The match was somewhat expected to be part of the WrestleMania card but incredibly enough, both were left out of it. Stratton had entered last year’s WrestleMania as the champion and defeated Charlotte Flair to retain it but found herself with no match a year later.
Giulia is currently top of the list with combined days as Women’s United States champion, holding it for a total of 245 days across two stints.
Cody Rhodes sends message to “outside forces” who keep interfering
In a fiery promo on Smackdown last night, WWE champion Cody Rhodes had a message to “outside forces” who keep interfering in his business.
Still sporting a black eye from his injury sustained at WrestleMania 42 in his match against Randy Orton, Rhodes said that he wasn’t medically cleared to wrestle yet but he wanted to appear and send a message.
“The most important message I want to send is to those outside forces that kept interceding and interjecting into my WrestleMania plans…that want to get involved in this Nightmare family party,” he said. “I’ll make it simple, you guys are 0-3. Send your best or count your money and mind your damn business.”
Rhodes then asked anyone from Raw, Smackdown, and NXT to show up if anyone wanted to face him because while he was easy to find, he is hard to beat.
Seth Rollins makes surprise appearance at AAW Wrestling event at Berwyn Eagles Club
Seth Rollins made a surprise appearance for AAW Wrestling yesterday in the penultimate show at the Berwyn Eagles Club.
Rollins, who used to wrestle at the location during his indie days, came out to his WWE theme song wearing a jogging suit. He greeted fans at ringside with high-fives and then did a six-minute speech, saying that a few of his students from the Black & Brave Wrestling Academy are participating in the show.
The former WWE champ went over the history between wrestling and the building and said he was honored to have wrestled there, leaving out his childhood dream.
Berwyn Eagles Club will no longer host professional wrestling events after a fight between a wrestler and a fan last month fueled rumors that someone was stabbed. The Chicago-suburb location is a popular one with indie promotions.
Ricky Saints and Blake Monroe moving to Smackdown
Ricky Saints, the former NXT champion, will be making his Smackdown debut next week, just days after his scheduled final match on NXT next Tuesday.
Former NXT Women’s North American champion Blake Monroe is also leaving NXT and moving to Smackdown, with a vignette airing on Smackdown saying that she will be arriving soon. Monroe lost a casket match against Tatum Paxley on this week’s episode of NXT.
The two are the latest NXT call-ups to the main roster following WrestleMania 42. They join Sol Ruca, Ethan Page, and Joe Hendry who moved to Raw and Fatal Influence who moved to Smackdown.
Fatal Influence leave a mark on Smackdown
Fatal Influence, the faction consisting of former NXT Women’s champion Jacy Jayne, Fallon Henley, and Lainey Reid, left a mark on Smackdown yesterday.
The trio first showed up by interfering in a WWE Women’s Tag Team title match between Paige and Brie Bella vs Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss, attacking everyone.
Later in the broadcast, they also interrupted Rhea Ripley’s Smackdown arrival and Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis made an impromptu match between Ripley and Jayne.
The match also ended in a DQ after Henley and Reid attacked the new champion.
21 WWE Superstars fired in post-Mania massacre
WWE fired a total of 21 Superstars from main roster and NXT in its yearly post-Mania massacre, including some surprising names.
Perhaps the biggest ones are Aleister Black and Kairi Sane, with Sane involved in an angle being bullied by Asuka for the past several months with now no apparent payoff.
Black just recently returned from AEW but failed to catch on. His wife, Zelina Vega, was also released.
The cuts started yesterday afternoon and it’s always a dicey time for Superstars after WrestleMania as the yearly layoffs comes and never misses.
The full list of those released in alphabetical order are:
- Alba Fyre
- Aleister Black
- Alex Shelley
- Andre Chase
- Apollo Crews
- Chris Sabin
- Dante Chen
- Dexter Lumis
- Joe Gacy
- Kairi Sane
- Luca Crusifino
- Malik Blade
- Nikki Cross
- Rowan
- Santos Escobar
- Tayra Mae Steel
- Tyriek Igwe
- Tyson Dupont
- Uncle Howdy
- Zelina Vega
- Zoey Stark
Smackdown preview for 04/24/2026
The Smackdown After Mania takes place tonight live from the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas and is the last broadcast to officially close WrestleMania.
As of this writing, there is just one match and several segments announced for the three-hour broadcast.
- Giulia vs Tiffany Stratton for the WWE Women’s United States title
- New WWE Women’s champion Rhea Ripley moves to Smackdown
- New WWE United States champion Trick Williams to celebrate with Lil Yachty
- New WWE Women’s Tag Team champions Paige and Brie Bella to appear
- Jacob Fatu to appear
Smackdown airs at 8PM ET on USA Network for viewers in the United States and on Netflix internationally.
Sneak peek at new seasons of WWE LFG, Biography, and Greatest Moments on A&E
WWE programming on A&E returns this Sunday, April 26 with all-new seasons of WWE LFG, Biography: WWE Legends, and WWE’s Greatest Moments.
Biography: WWE Legends returns with new specials offering an inside look at legendary WWE Superstars. Beginning April 26 at 8PM ET/PT, the two-part special “The Curse of the Von Erichs” delves into the history of the Von Erichs where Kevin Von Erich tells the powerful story behind his family’s wrestling dynasty and the tragedies faced in building their empire.
Following at 10PM ET/PT, in-ring competition series WWE LFG (Legends and Future Greats) returns for a new season with an all-new format, raising the stakes as rising talent battle for a shot at WWE stardom. Competitors face relentless pressure training at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida where there are no limits and one defining moment could advance a Future Great to NXT or end their journey in the program altogether. Guided by iconic coaches and special guests including Booker T, Bubba Ray Dudley, Kevin Owens, Natalya and others, the series spotlights the next generation of hopefuls as they battle it out in front of packed crowds for a chance at greatness.
At 11PM ET/PT an all-new season of WWE’s Greatest Moments offers fans a chance to count down the most iconic events in WWE history. Hosted by legendary play-by-play announcer Michael Cole, each half-hour episode pays tribute to WWE Superstars and Legends such as Chyna, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, Lex Luger, Seth Rollins and more. The series also delves into premium live events like Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber. The first two episodes celebrate WrestleMania and highlight some of the event’s most memorable moments from the 2000s and 2010s.
Billy Gunn talks AEW, wrestling Brock Lesnar, sons, DX, and more
Billy Gunn sat down with Chris Van Vliet in Indianapolis, Indiana to discuss still being in amazing shape at 62 years old, if he wants one more singles title run, if he plans to wrestle into his 70s, working with his kids Austin and Colten, if DX was a greater faction than the nWo, his hidden gem match with Brock Lesnar on SmackDown, his friendship with Mike O’Hearn, who was the best person he has been in the ring with, and more!
Do you want to wrestle into your 70s?
“I don’t. So I want to do it while I still can, and while I’m still having fun. I mean, you can ask my wife, she hates watching me, because I’m just such a goof. I’m such a goof because I just don’t have any stress anymore. There’s no stress for me to go out there and have everybody go, Oh, watch, it’s going to be an unbelievable wrestling match. They’re going to go, we’re about to have so much fun and be interactive in what we do, because that’s what he does. So that’s what I’m doing. Do I want to? No, I don’t want to work until I’m 70. But is it possible? Sure, anything’s possible. But I’m getting to the point where I’m kind of slowing down a little. I think it’s because the gym is taking over my life.”
Do you want another run at a singles title?
“No, I’m not a singles guy. I know that, and I’ve always known that. Plus, I really don’t have the air for that anymore, just being older and stuff. I guess it’s because I don’t really put an effort into that, because it’s not something I want to do. I feed better off of more chaos, and I can work better like that than I can working on my own. Can I direct a little better? Yeah, I can direct a little bit, but I can also direct in tags or trios or whatever that looks like as well. I’ve always been a tag guy, because I love the structure of how to get all these pieces together and put it together so it makes something good. Yeah, singles negative.”
What do you think of this discussion that goes on in wrestling so often of what was the better all time faction, DX, or the nWo?
“It’s people’s opinion, and you can have one of those, right? Of course, I say DX is number one. Kevin [Nash] is going to say nWo. They were both super impactful that literally, I don’t think, even as today, there’s not one wrestling person that doesn’t know what each one of those are. Because it was so impactful and it was so good. I know the only thing that hurt the nWo is it was so good, and then everybody jumped on. Where DX was so good, and you couldn’t get on board with, I don’t care if you had a golden ticket from Willy Wonka, you weren’t getting on that ride.”
I don’t know if you know this or not, but WWE Vault just uploaded one of your matches from February 26, 2004. It was a SmackDown match with Brock Lesnar. Do you remember that?
“So I do a little bit, and somebody sent it to me, and it’s not bad. It’s pretty good. The people don’t realize that if he likes you, he would work with you, and me and him always got along. He is awesome. I’ve worked him a couple of times, I think that was one of the only times I really worked him on TV. But we would do some house shows together, and he was amazing. He really was, and he was good because he was one that would never take over either. It was kind of like he let me kind of put some stuff together, then we kind of just kind of went where he wanted to go. That’s how stuff happens. When lead guys, and I’m talking like the most experienced one of the one that thinks he’s got to control everything and call everything and not listen, is not how you have good things. It’s okay, this is the direction we’re going. It’s not working. If you have something, give it to me, let’s go. I’m super open to go there. What’s the worst? It doesn’t work either. We just go another direction. That’s the working part of what we do.”
Brooke Hogan says WWE did not invite her for WrestleMania 42 weekend
Brooke Hogan, the daughter of the late WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan, said that she did not attend WrestleMania weekend like her brother because she was never invited by WWE, and her invitation was later done through her brother, but her brother never told her to come.
“So when I said something on Instagram where I was like for everybody giving me crap for not being there, like I wasn’t invited, um and Nick Khan called me personally and said that he extended the invite through my brother and that was kind of it,” Brooke said during an appearance on the Bubba “The Love Sponge” show this week,
“So I mean I would imagine that if I were, I would probably have to be invited by Nick (her brother),” she continued.
Brooke added that she was really hurt to see Andre The Giant’s daughter at the Hall of Fame but there was no place for her.
“Because the thing is right now at the point in life I’m at…I could not be more disappointed and hurt and just, what’s the word for just out of gas, like, I’m just flabbergasted, I just, I have no more tears to cry, defeated, I have no more gusto in me and the truth is I fought so hard for my dad until I literally was about to lose myself,” Brooke continued.
WWE honored Hogan with a life-size bronze statue at WWE World and had the Hulkamania exhibit as well. On Friday night, Hogan and Andre were both honored with the Immortal Moment at the Hall of Fame for their WrestleMania III match, an honor which Jimmy Hart, Andre’s daughter, and Nick Hogan were involved in.
Pre-sale for AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door 2026 pay-per-view now live
The pre-sale for the AEWxNJPW: Forbidden Door 2026 pay-per-view is now live on Ticketmaster.com using the code INS4FB.
The very affordable tickets start from $37.40 and go all the way up to $767.60 for ringside seats. All Elite VIP seats are also available for $1,109.20.
For now, only the 100 level of the SAP Center in San Jose is available for tickets, with the 200 level all closed off. That will obviously change depending on the amount of tickets moved throughout the next couple of months.
Forbidden Door will take place on Sunday, June 28.
Report: Former IWGP Heavyweight champion EVIL signs with WWE
PWInsider.com is reporting that WWE has signed former IWGP Heavyweight champion EVIL.
The former member of the Los Ingobernables de Japón faction departed the company in late January after he did not renew his contract.
Real name Takaaki Watanbe, the 39-year-old has worked for New Japan Pro-Wrestling for 15 years and is a former IWGP Heavyweight, IWGP Intercontinental, IWGP Tag Team, NEVER Openweight, and NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team champion.
He is engaged to current WWE Superstar Iyo Sky.
TNA President Carlos Silva reimburses WrestleCon after pulling Leon Slater from match
In a post on social media, WrestleCon said that TNA President Carlos Silva reimbursed the company after he pulled Leon Slater from his WrestleCon match against Ricochet.
All TNA talent were pulled from wrestling AEW stars during WrestleMania weekend, in a move which many believe was WWE’s doing, protecting their partnership with TNA.
Others believe that Silva was not happy that AEW put Collision head-to-head with Impact on a Thursday a few weeks ago and decided to get revenge.
“He took a beating the last few weeks, so I want to give Carlos Silva his props today,” WrestleCon founder Michael Bochicchio wrote.
“A week ago, he called me personally to explain his reasoning for pulling the match. He then asked if there was anything he could do to make up for it. I simply asked that he reimburse me for Leon’s flights/hotel since he was no longer wrestling for us. Today, I was reimbursed for the flight/hotel as promised. Thank you Carlos,” the statement continued.
Silva pulling all his talent from matches did not go down well with fans and other promoters, with one particular promoter even going as far as saying that he will never work with TNA talent again in the future.
NXT rating for 04/21/2026
NXT Revenge week two drew 591,000 viewers, up 6,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had a 0.10 rating in 18-49, up 0.01 and the highest since February 10. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
TKO top brass salaries for 2025 revealed in SEC filing
The annual TKO proxy statement filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission revealed the salaries of the top brass of TKO Group for 2025.
WWE President Nick Khan had an annual salary of $24.29 million. Khan had a $2 million base salary for the year and $10,761,640 in bonuses for reaching certain targets throughout the year. $3.7 million from that total bonus sum was for his role in Zuffa Boxing. Khan also received $11,526,561 in TKO stock awards.
TKO President Mark Shapiro had a base salary of $4 million and an additional $12,500,000 in bonuses plus $25,846,781 in stock awards, sending his 2025 total to $42.65 million
TKO Chief Executive Officer Ari Emanuel had a $3 million base salary and $20 million in bonuses in addition to $43,982,672 in stock awards, with a final tally of $67.36 million for the year.
WrestleMania 42 Saturday charts in 33 different countries on Netflix
WrestleMania 42 Saturday did not chart in the Netflix global top 10 without United States viewership, but numbers released this week showed that the Saturday event cracked the top 10 chart in 33 different countries.
The countries include Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Ireland, Italy, India, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, and United Kingdom.
The WrestleMania 42 Sunday numbers will be released next Tuesday.
So far, the only WWE premium live event to chart in the Netflix top 10 global chart since the international move is the 2025 Royal Rumble.
Nikki Bella details her ankle recovery plan, wants to return as a heel
On today’s episode of SiriusXM’s The Nikki and Brie Show, Nikki and Brie Garcia continue to unpack WrestleMania 42.
During the episode, Nikki Garcia details her recovery plan, shares her goals for her last run and says she wants to return as a heel. Brie also shares her dream bucket list moments and matchups as she continues her run solo.
Nikki Garcia details her recovery plan & says she wants to return as a heel (16:34-19:25)
Nikki Garcia: So what I want is I want to, I’m going to take this time to really, one, mentally mindset wise regroup and know like, “Here’s the game plan, here’s your end date and these are the things that I want to achieve before that end date, so how do I get there?” That’s mindset, and as far as my body, I’m going to work with Katie, our trainer on keeping my arms and shoulders strong, my core strong. What can I do for my quads and my glutes to keep that strong while I’m rehabbing my ankle. To be with my therapist all the time on rehabbing my ankle and knowing my bones growing the strongest. What I’ve already done is I already have talked to a doctor and I’ve already gotten the peptides already at my house. The peptides, he told me all the vitamins to take that will help my ligaments and my bones grow as strong as possible so I’m just going to focus on that especially for the next six to eight weeks and I’m going to get an x-ray in eight weeks. If it’s not ready yet, I’m just going to keep doing all those things and, you know, but it might be ready yet and then I might be back but I’m going to take these next six to eight weeks to focus on that and I still want to achieve with you. I really have that dream with like our kids and we have those moments and the moments that you and I want like I really want the full circle moment with you of course and I really would love to do maybe one more solo run and I’m kind of excited for you because you’ve been crushing it in the ring. I think this is going to be a great time for you, Brie, to really showcase what you have, so I think people get focused on Nikki and Brie, Nikki and Brie and so I think right now will be Brie, and then I think people will be really excited for the comeback, but I want this comeback to be epic because it’s going to be my last one in the ring.
Brie Garcia: Yeah, well it was really funny because our life coach, Carrie, she came to WrestleMania and I was asking her, I’m like “What is it?” Why is it, you know, it was just Nikki’s solo and I just feel like a lot of it’s been like, I get pregnant, Nikki’s solo or before that, before I got pregnant it was your neck surgery and then all of a sudden I get pregnant. I don’t know. It just kept going back and forth, back and forth of these solo things and I go, “And here we are back at it again,” where it was like Nikki had her year, I come back, all of a sudden she’s injured and I’m just like, feels like a lot of solos.
Nikki Garcia: And I got to admit, I just want to do my last run as a heel. I don’t want to be a baby face. I don’t like being a baby face.
Brie Garcia: Well, it’s hard for you.
Nikki Garcia: It’s very hard. But I want character work. I want to be heel and if you and I are together, I want to be Team Bella. I want to do what we were doing then. That was fun. That was epic and we have the stuff that you can do that with. Do you know what I mean? We have the resources and it’s very easy to come at us with things to be a big baby face.
Brie Garcia: And we don’t care.
Nikki Garcia: And we don’t care, so I really want that.
The Nikki & Brie Show hosted by Nikki & Brie Garcia is available anytime on the SiriusXM app. New episodes every Monday and Thursday. Listen to the full episode here.
John Cena teases something “epic” for Backlash 2026 in Tampa
John Cena has teased something “epic” for the upcoming Backlash premium live event which takes place on May 9.
“Man if only it were 2023 again!! I might have different business at @WWE #Backlash. Alas, the years pass,” Cena said in a post on X.
“I am still gonna try to do something epic in Tampa for 5/9. I promised Club WWE something special… stay tuned.” he continued.
Cena is still settling in in his new role with WWE, although it’s not known what his official role with the company is. Cena signed a long-term deal with WWE to continue past his retirement and just recently hosted WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas.
Backlash takes place from the Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida. Tickets are available now on Ticketmaster.com starting from $101.30.