The New Day’s legendary tag team run in WWE came to an abrupt end today following the news of their surprise release from the company.
Kofi Kingston, who has worked for WWE since 2006, and Xavier Woods, who has been there since 2010, have tag teamed together since 2014.
Together with Big E, the trio had some incredible feuds and title reigns, winning the WWE Tag Team titles 12 times and NXT Tag Team titles once.
For Kofi, his time as WWE champion also came when KofiMania swept WWE in 2019, winning the title from Daniel Bryan at WrestleMania 35.
Several WWE Superstars paid tribute to the duo after the news of their release became public. Even AEW’s MJF proclaimed on Instagram that it’s a new day.
The two reportedly refused to restructure their deals to conform with the TKO structure according to Bryan Alvarez of F4W and their departure came after a mutual agreement. It was stressed that it was them who decided to leave WWE. Fightful also adds that their peers were quite shocked at the news as the two were considered to be WWE “lifers.”
The June 9 episode of NXT live from the Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, Massachusetts has been canceled and will now take place at the Performance Center.
The event was canceled due to “unforseen circumstances” according to an e-mail sent to all ticket holders. Refunds will be automatically issued to everyone and no action is required from those who bought tickets.
The event had almost 2,000 tickets distributed so it’s unclear why it was called off.
Former WWE star Maven sats down with Chris Van Vliet at INSIGHT Live in Las Vegas to discuss the success of his YouTube channel, getting ribbed by Fit Finlay, if there are any plans for a 1 million subscribers celebration, whether he is still in the 2002 Royal Rumble, taking a bump on thumbtacks, who was the worst guest on his YouTube channel, possibly coming out of retirement to wrestle Chris Sharp, answering questions from the audience, and more!
Can you put into words how much YouTube has changed your life and your career?
“I promise, not more than you love you guys. Here’s why. I get emotional about this. Years ago, five years ago, I was getting up every morning at 6 am, rushing to take my dogs out, getting on a 6:36 train, two hours to work, working all day, two hours to get home, getting home at 7:30. I knew I had something, but I just didn’t know how to get that something out. When we started the YouTube channel, there were no promises. Zach didn’t tell me, ‘Yeah, this is going to be X amount and we’re going to make X amount of dollars, or this is going to get this many views.’ He just said, ‘Let’s take a chance.’ And now man, I don’t do a damn thing during the day I don’t want to do now, and that is because of you guys. Thank you. I don’t know if I deserve it, but I’ll damn take it.”
Do you feel like because of the way you came in? You’re the guy on the MTV show. You win Tough Enough. Is it just ribs for the first six months? Is it ribs for the first year? You have to win over the boys?
“Here’s what I think it was. I think it was, we’re going to see if we can run you out. We’re going to find out do you love the business, do you respect the business, or are you going to easily be ran out of the business? Because wrestling is tough. It’s hard to be on the road, it’s hard to be in pain, it’s hard to be away from your family, and if you don’t have just something on the inside that makes you be able to be okay with living uncomfortable, be okay with pain, you’re not gonna last. It’s just the WWE’s way and wrestlers’ way of just mixing out the people that think they want to be there, as opposed to the people who truly want to make a go of it. There were countless, muscled-up guys that would come in, roided-out freaks, look phenomenal, that thought they wanted to wrestle, and they would put them in the ring. You find out really quickly, when someone’s in there for six minutes, you’re making them just move, then they’re gasping for air, you find out really quickly who wants to wrestle and who doesn’t.”
So after winning Tough Enough, what’s the match where you felt like, I finally feel like a wrestler.
“It was years. It wasn’t immediate. I did a couple of house shows, a couple of weeks of house shows with Bob Holly. I did three weeks, Orton did eight, and after every match with Bob, he’s back behind the curtain waiting for me to bitch, and every time I went back there, [I said] ‘Thank you. Is there anything I can do better?’ That’s the way to get the respect of the boys. Because I have no doubt in my mind, they sent him out, ‘See what the kid’s got.’ And if you complain, that’s not the job for you. If you can get through Bob Holly, okay, that’s one rung of the ladder that you’ve climbed. That’s one step of just not being the Tough Enough kid. Okay, maybe that was when I saw okay, I belong.”
You taking the thumbtacks is your most viewed video. It has almost 6 million views. I gotta ask you, you took the thumbtack bump at the end of the video. Why’d you do it with a shirt on?
“You want the honest answer? Because I’m about 15 years too old to be going on a bunch of cycles to be taking my shirt off for anybody anymore. But I knew, and when we were talking about the thumbtacks, Zach said it kind of as a joke. He was like, ‘Yeah, the video would just do better if you took the thumbtack bump.’ I said, ‘Well, if you can find a ring, I’ll do it.’ I’m thinking there’s no way he’s gonna find a ring. 30 minutes later, text me, ‘I got a ring. I got people that are gonna let us do it.’ And at that point, I’m like, sh*t. But that’s another one that it wasn’t as bad as I [thought]. I built it up into my head. I mean, it wasn’t great, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was gonna be.”
How did the thumbtacks compare to the staple in the head? You took a staple gun right to the forehead:
“The thumbtacks hurt worse in the shower later that night, because I went back to our Airbnb, I took a thing of alcohol in my shower, and I dumped it down my back, and I felt every thumbtack. Whereas the staple was just [once]. So the thumbtacks hurt worse later.”
Two new matches were announced for Backlash 2026, with the card now featuring five matches. Typical WWE PLEs which are not part of the big five are usually five matches so the card could be complete.
The United States title will be on the line as Trick Williams defends against former champion Sami Zayn, plus The Miz and Kit Wilson team up to take on Danhausen and a partner he has to find.
These two matches join Seth Rollins vs Bron Breakker, Iyo Sky vs Asuka, and Roman Reigns vs Jacob Fatu for the WWE title.
Another round of releases is taking place at WWE and follows the Friday after WrestleMania firings which saw the end of employment for 22 Superstars.
Perhaps the biggest names in this round are Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods of The New Day, who Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reported that the two departing was a mutual decision from all parties.
So far the list of names released are:
Kofi Kingston
Xavier Woods
Tanga Loa
JC Mateo
The list will be updated as more names become known.
NBA and NHL playoffs continued to wreak havoc on wrestling viewership with Wednesday’s Dynamite drawing 596,000 viewers, down 21,000 viewers from the prior week. This was the lowest audience since January 21. Dynamite had a 0.08 rating in 18-49, down 0.02 and placed #9 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
Gunther made his presence felt on Smackdown last night, attacking WWE champion Cody Rhodes after he defeated Ricky Saints.
The Ring General quickly disposed of the champion, locking him in the sleeper hold and sent Rhodes to Lala land. Several officials tried to interfere and get Gunther off of Rhodes but to no avail.
After he decided it was enough, Gunther grabbed Rhodes’ title and hoisted it up above his shoulder, clearly signifying what’s next for the American Nightmare.
Gunther has not appeared since WrestleMania 42 and his match against Seth Rollins, which he won.
AEW star Rebel revealed in a video posted on social media that she was diagnose with terminal ALS.
Real name Tanea Brooks, she said she’s been battling something for the past two years and they couldn’t get to an answer…until now.
She was recently also diagnosed with lung cancer and while she was getting ready to undergo surgery, doctors found something worse.
“While I was waiting to have lung surgery for the masses on my lungs, the doctors at Mayo found…finally found, what’s going on,” she said. “The doctors have diagnosed me with terminal ALS.”
She said that the ALS finally explains why she has trouble walking and talking and was told that her basic functions will soon decline.
“I wanna say thank you to Tony Khan and AEW for supporting me on this medical journey. It has been a blessing that is unheard of. And from the bottom of my heart, thank you,” she added. “And thank you to all of you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for a peaceful journey and a peaceful passing. I love you.”
Just like WrestleMania 42, the first hour of the next WWE premium live event, Backlash, will air on linear television and ESPN2.
The first hour of WrestleMania 42 Saturday aired on ESPN2 and drew 1,600,000 viewers and a 0.62 rating in 18-49 and they are hoping to replicate the same success here with Backlash.
What’s interesting is that the first hour is listed to start at 6PM ET, which is an hour earlier than usual WWE PLE kick off times. Both WrestleMania 42 nights also started at 6PM ET.
Ricky Saints made his Smackdown debut last night, interrupting his friend and WWE champion Cody Rhodes in the opening segment of the night.
Saints welcomed Rhodes, and everyone, to Friday Night Saints and claimed to be the hottest Smackdown free agent.
With Rhodes cleared to compete again after a nasty black eye and going through concussion protocol, he challenged Saints to a one-on-one match for later in the show.
This was Saints’ main roster debut after spending just over a year in NXT. He is a former NXT and North American champion.
Former Wyatt Six member Dexter Lumis uploaded a video on his Instagram reuniting with his “NXT wife” Indi Hartwell, getting a makeover.
In the video, Lumis is shown looking at a mirror and Hartwell walks in from behind and says, “It’s time.”
Hartwell then proceeds to shave his hair, cutting off his dreadlocks and then Lumis himself shaves his beard.
The date of 7.4.26 then appears on screen, which is the date he, and the others released, will be legally able to show up anywhere following the expiration of the 90-day no-compete clause.
Lumis, along with the rest of the Wyatt Sicks, were released from WWE this past Friday. There were a total of 22 who ultimately lost their jobs.
A fan is accusing former WWE World Heavyweight champion CM Punk of chopping him on his chest during WrestleMania weekend in Las Vegas.
The unnamed individual, who called 911 to report the incident, said that on April 20, he was at the MGM Grand Hotel waiting for WWE Superstars to get a pictures and autographs and when he got close, Punk pushed him and chopped him.
The fan says the incident happened at 12:31AM, and April 20 at that time would be the night after WrestleMania Sunday where Punk main evented the show with Roman Reigns.
He also said that Punk’s eyes were red and he was full of anger and had a briefcase in his left hand.
TMZ published the call from 911, which is in Spanish, and then translated by someone who is with this particular fan.
Punk was also involved in another altercation with a different fan a day before, slapping the phone off someone who got too close to film AJ Lee and Bayley while sharing a personal moment.
WWE had a lot of issues with entitled fans at the hotel and many WWE Superstars complained, even online, about their behavior.
Nick LoPiccolo, an agent to several WWE Superstars and constant foe of AEW President Tony Khan, is claiming that Warner Bros. Discovery informed Khan that they will not be renewing the AEW television deal.
He said that WBD actually informed Khan about the decision back in August.
“I confirmed it directly and triple sourced it,” he wrote on X.
He asked podcasts hosts who will have Khan on their respective shows to ask him why he “has been acting like nothing is wrong for the last 8 months.”
“Because the only distributor left that will take AEW is Google/YouTube,” he continued.
“Paramount is not real for AEW. WBD passed back in August. CW/Roku is now off the table. Amazon and Fox do not want AEW,” LoPiccolo stated in a long post.
WBD is merging with Paramount Skydance in a $110 billion deal.
The network owns a minority stake in AEW and LoPiccolo’s statements have not been confirmed by other sources yet.
Combo tickets for SummerSlam 2026 went on general sale this morning on Ticketmaster.com.
Prices are $150, $200, $300, $400, $500, $600, $700, $900, $1,000, and $3,000 plus taxes and fees. Dynamic prices will be in effect for this show so prices will vary depending on demand.
The show will take place from the U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota on August 1 and 2.
NXT this week drew 541,000 viewers, down 50,000 viewers from the prior week and the lowest since March 10. The show had a 0.07 rating in 18-49, down 0.03 rating as it faced stiff competition from NBA and NHL playoff games. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
AEW star Anna Jay, who is returning to the ring on tonight’s Collision for the first time since November, revealed that her contract is still coming up and offered no hints on her future.
During a stream on Twitch, Jay addressed the recent rumors about her and said the source of those rumors was someone who she used to work with, but no longer does.
“The only thing out of everything that’s been posted that’s true is just that my contract is coming up, but that is it,” Jay said. “That’s it. No big deal. That’s it.”
The same rumors suggested that Jay would be departing AEW for WWE’s NXT.
“Everything else that you guys have seen is pretty much BS,” she continued.
Jay has not wrestled since the November 19 episode of Collision, losing a tag team match with Tay Melo against Marina Shafir and Megan Bayne in the AEW Women’s Tag Team title tournament.
There was a time, not such a long time ago, when British mixed martial arts were viewed with more than a little…shall we say… weary scepticism? To the uninitiated, it was a “cage fighting” curiosity relegated to dimly lit sports halls; to the American powerhouses, British fighters were often seen as one-dimensional strikers with a glaring lack of wrestling pedigree. Fast forward to now, and that narrative has been utterly dismantled.
Anyone who has followed it for a long time knows that this really has changed how the sport is consumed at home. As the audience has become more sophisticated, so has the way they engage with the weekend’s cards, often meticulously dissecting match-ups and MMA betting lines with the same analytical rigour once reserved for the Premier League.
The Story
The journey from the periphery to the podium didn’t happen overnight. It began with the stubborn persistence of pioneers like Ian Freeman and Michael Bisping. Bisping, in particular, served as the proof of concept. When he captured the middleweight title in 2016, it wasn’t just a personal victory; it was a signal to every gym in Manchester, Birmingham, and London that the ceiling had been shattered. It proved that a kid from a Lancastrian council estate could outwork the best in the world.
But, as we all know, inspiration alone doesn’t build champions. The real transformation occurred in the “foundries” of the domestic scene. Promotions like Cage Warriors became the essential bridge between amateur dreams and professional reality. By providing a platform that mirrored the professional standards of the major leagues, they allowed talent to sharpen their tools in a high-pressure environment.
This “proving ground” meant that by the time a UK fighter reached the global stage, they weren’t just talented – they were battle-hardened and strategically mature.
The Current Lay of the Land
We are now seeing the fruits of this structural evolution. The current crop of elite British talent, spearheaded by the likes of Leon Edwards and Tom Aspinall, represents a new breed of athlete. These aren’t just tough fighters; they are tacticians. They possess a holistic understanding of the game, blending world-class striking with a defensive wrestling base that was once our national Achilles’ heel.
The cultural shift is equally significant. MMA has moved out of the shadows and into the bright lights of mainstream sports media. It is discussed on national radio, featured in broadsheets, and integrated into the daily fitness routines of thousands. The stigma has faded, replaced by an appreciation for the discipline, sacrifice, and high-level athleticism required to compete at the summit.
This really stands as testament to what happens when raw talent is supported by a robust professional framework. We’re not the underdogs hoping for a puncher’s chance on the preliminary card, but a talent factory that the rest of the world’s fighters can’t longer afford to overlook.
USA Network announced that the second season of Everything on the Menu with Braun Strowman will premiere on Friday, June 5.
The date is important because the show will follow Smackdown, and that is the date that Smackdown reverts to a two-hour broadcast. WWE has a deal with USA Network where the first half of every year, Smackdown turns into a three-hour show until new seasons of their own shows are ready return on the air in that 10PM time slot.
Everything on the Menu, which did surprisingly well in the first season, was renewed in January and received a 12-episode order, up by four episodes from season one.
It was the ninth most popular new cable show of the year in 2025 according to Nielsen and was filmed while Strowman was still under a WWE deal. WWE is a producing partner on the show.
WrestleVotes Radio is reporting that WWE is currently in negotiations with Nashville, Tennessee, to bring WrestleMania 44 to the New Nissan Stadium in 2028.
Set to open in Summer of 2027, the $2.1 billion project will replace the current Nissan Stadium, the home of the Tennessee Titans of the NFL.
The new stadium is set to seat around 60,000 fans, slightly less than the current stadium which seats 69,000. The current Nissan Stadium was the host of SummerSlam 2022. Almost 49,000 fans attended that show.
Butch Spyridon, CEO of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, said a few years ago that the city had a verbal deal with WWE to bring WrestleMania 43 to the new stadium when it opens, but next year’s show went to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and the new stadium is not set to open till a few months after WrestleMania 43 is set to take place.
Bryan Alvarez of F4WOnline.com also wrote that the city has submitted a bid of $3.5 million as a site fee plus tax incentives to bring the show to Nashville. In comparison, Las Vegas paid around $6 million to get WrestleMania 42 and $5 million for WrestleMania 41.
