John Cena attacked long-time fan and fellow WWE Superstar R-Truth last night during the press conference which was held following the conclusion of the premium live event.
Cena interrupted Triple H during the press conference and decided to answer some questions but R-Truth showed up to congratulate the champion before Cena could answer the first one.
Truth, who’s been on Cena’s side since day one, told him that he was proud of him even though others are saying he couldn’t wrestle and he sucked.
Cena warned Truth that if he says another word, he’s going to get decked. Truth tried to reason with Cena but Cena had enough and gave Truth an AA through the table in front of him.
Jeff Cobb made his WWE debut last night at Backlash, associating himself with Solo Sikoa an and unknowing Jacob Fatu.
Cobb interfered in the fatal four-way match for the WWE United States title, and took out LA Knight at ringside after Solo Sikoa appeared to try and help Fatu.
Fatu looked confused and did not appreciate the extra assist, leaving the ring alone.
Cobb, who Michael Cole described as one of the hottest free agents, is a former NJPW star who held the IWGP Tag Team titles three times, the NJPW TV title once, and the NEVER Openweight title once.
He made a couple of appearances in AEW in the past as well, the most recent one in May 2024 on an episode of Dynamite.
Here are the results from last night’s Backlash 2025 premium live event which took place from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
Jacob Fatu defeated LA Knight, Damian Priest, and Drew McIntyre in a fatal four-way to retain the WWE United States title; Lyra Valkyria defeated Becky Lynch to retain the WWE Women’s Intercontinental title; Dominik Mysterio defeated Penta to retain the WWE Intercontinental title; Gunther defeated Pat McAfee; John Cena defeated Randy Orton to retain the WWE title.
Hello everybody! It’s @TheMagnumDA here with another edition of the Pick’em report RIGHT HERE on Wrestling-Online.com (cheap pop!!)
Tonight, it’s time to feel the Backlash! WWE presents their first major event after WrestleMania, live from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
Speaking of WrestleMania, there was a changing of the guard after our last report! I took the WOPC Championship from Colin after a miraculous comeback in night two of WrestleMania XLI! Now Colin has returned for his title, but he’s going to have to win it via Confidence Pool! We will score the picks with our level of confidence (5 points for the most confident pick, and 1 point for the least confident pick), with a possible perfect score of 15. As always, if there is a tie, the champion retains. Will one of us hit 15? Who will walk out of Backlash with the WOPC Championship?
It’s time to answer all of these questions – ON WITH THE PICKS!
WWE Women’s Intercontinental Championship Lyra Valkyria (c) vs. Becky Lynch
Magnum: Around this time last year, it felt like Lyra was going to be one of the breakout stars that made the transition from NXT to the main roster. After she lost the Queen of the Ring Final, it felt like she took a step backwards…until the build for WrestleMania, when she and Bayley earned a shot at the Tag Team Championship. We all know what happened after that – Becky Lynch took out Bayley and when Lyra needed a tag partner, she turned to her fellow countrywoman for help. After winning and losing the titles in a 24 hour span, Becky took out her frustrations on Lyra, setting the stage for this title match. I feel like the purpose of this feud is to make Lyra a star, and if she retains the title tonight, then this feud is effectively over. I think it’s only beginning – give me Becky Lynch to win the IC Championship. One point.
Colin: Lyra’s Intercontinental title reign has been anything but memorable. Sometimes I even forget the title exists. Not Lyra’s fault, obviously. Does Becky need the title? Probably not. She’s one of the few stars who doesn’t need any title. Will a run with the title elevate this title? Yeah…but I’m going with the idea that Bayley will return to screw Becky out of the title and help Lyra win. One point.
Pat McAfee vs. Gunther
Magnum: This is a strange detour for our Austrian friend…I don’t think any of us expected his first program after Mania to be the current Color Commentator of Monday Night Raw. On the other hand, they had a spirited promo during their face-to-face last Monday, so I am looking forward to seeing what happens. Ultimately, I think the night belongs to the Ring General – this isn’t the win that puts him back into the #1 Contender’s Spot, but it’s definitely a palate cleanser after tapping out a month ago. Gunther takes it, but Pat will put up a fight. Two points.
Colin: I like Pat McAfee, I am thoroughly entertained when he’s on commentary. I get he’s not everyone cup of tea. The few times he stepped in the ring, he did an excellent job and no one can criticize him for that. Having said that, there’s no chance in hell he’s going to beat Gunther here. I just can’t see any scenario of that happening. Gunther wins. Four points.
Fatal 4 Way – WWE United States Championship Jacob Fatu (c) vs. LA Knight vs. Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre
Magnum: At its surface, you’d think that Fatu would face the tallest obstacle of all current champions. A Fatal 4 Way means that Jacob would only have a 25% chance of winning the match. If I were to do a little Steiner Math on this, though…I think that Jacob has a 133 1/3% chance to take it all. This guy’s run is just getting started – there’s no way he’s dropping the belt this quickly. Fatu retains. Five points.
Colin: This should be a banger as all four men can go. McIntyre and Priest had an entertaining match at WrestleMania even though I wasn’t really sold on it much at the beginning. Fatu is, just incredible. Future WWE champion for sure. Knight continues to defy the odds and remains over like rover, but his reign with the title was dull. Give me the Samoan Warewolf to retain please. Three points.
WWE Intercontinental Championship Dominik Mysterio (c) vs. Penta
Magnum: This should be great – Dominik is really starting to come out of his shell as a performer. Penta, of course, is Penta. Dude is one of the best additions to the WWE roster in a long time. Fans love him, and they’d love to see him win a championship. I think he will…in due time. Not tonight – Dominik retains. Three points.
Colin: This is a rematch from Raw a few weeks ago which Mysterio won with interference. I hate they put Penta in this position again. I can’t see him winning it and taking the title off Dom so soon. But Dom needs a good, clean win, and I don’t like that it has to come at the expense of Penta. But if that’s what it takes to solidify his position as IC champ, then I guess it is what it is. Dirty Dom wins. Two points.
Undisputed WWE Championship John Cena (c) vs. Randy Orton
Magnum: I’ll share my voice with the other contrarians out there – I wanted to believe that Cena’s heel turn was going to be fortified with backup. I thought The Rock would put the entire machine behind him – instead, we get John Cena doing Batista’s 2010 entrance, a cameo from Travis Scott, and a handful of misguided and directionless promos. Personally, I think the one thing that could get Cena back on track is his old rival RKO. This should be an incredible homecoming for Randy, and he should receive a hero’s welcome. Unfortunately, that’s where the fun ends. The Last Real World Champion will likely retain and take his title to MITB for a rematch with Cody. Cena wins – four points.
Colin: Who knew in 2025 we would be revisiting this iconic feud from years gone by but with roles reversed! The crowd will certainly be behind The Viper considering it’s in his backyard. Another title run for Orton? Sure, just…not today. I can’t see Cena dropping the title until the last match, which I think should be the way to go. Cena wins.Five points.
All right everybody, that’s going to do it for us here at the Pick’em report. @TheMagnumDA signing off – we will see you at Money in the Bank in Los Angeles!!
Week 11 of WWE Superstar Sunday on A&E had another double header of LFG, with the show drawing to a close for the first season.
Episode 12 started the night at 8PM with 125,000 viewers, up 26,000 viewers from the previous episode and had a 0.04 rating in 18-49, up 0.03.
Episode 13 followed at 9:30PM and drew 71,000 viewers and a 0.02 rating in 18-49. This was the least-watched episode of LFG this season so far. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
The 300th episode of Dynamite will be coming to you live on Wednesday, July 2 from Ontario, California.
The Toyota Arena will hold this special occasion and this will be a double taping as Collision will also be taped immediately following the conclusion of Dynamite.
The pre-sale for this show kicks off on Thursday, May 15, with the general public sale starting on Monday, May 19.
The Toyota Arena sits around 11,000 fans and it was the site of last night’s NJPW Resurgence show. The last time AEW were in the same location was in November 2023 for an episode of Dynamite where just under 3,500 fans showed up.
WWE is running a buy one get one free ticket for the May 27 NXT television tapings from the Yuengling Center in Tampa, Florida.
This particular episode is at the tail end of a four-day WWE residency at the Yuengling Center where Saturday Night’s Main Event, NXT Battleground, and Raw will also take place prior.
Tickets for this NXT on CW taping start from $35.60 and you get two for that price. Only a couple of sections of the arena will be open for this taping. They’re available now through Ticketmaster.com.
Saturday Night’s Main Event has pretty much sold out, with Battleground and Raw also having sold a very good amount of tickets.
Live tonight from the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, WWE presents Backlash 2025. The full card is as follows:
John Cena vs Randy Orton for the WWE title; Lyra Valkyria vs Becky Lynch for the WWE Women’s Intercontinental title; Jacob Fatu vs LA Knight vs Damian Priest vs Drew McIntyre in a fatal four-way match for the WWE United States title; Dominik Mysterio vs Penta for the WWE Intercontinental title; and Pat McAfee vs Gunther.
The show starts at 7PM ET on Peacock in the United States and Netflix everywhere else.
The Countdown to Backlash pre-show kicks off at 5PM ET and airs live on WWE’s social media properties as well as on Peacock.
Nia Jax became the number one contender for the WWE Women’s title after she defeated Jade Cargill last night on Smackdown.
The finish had some interference in the form of Naomi, who came out to attack the champion Tiffany Stratton who was at ringside. The distraction by Naomi was enough to get Cargill’s eyes off Jax, who took advantage of the situation and finished off Cargill with The Annihilator.
Stratton defeated Jax for the title after she cashed in her Money In The Bank briefcase in January of this year.
It was not announced when Jax will be getting her title shot.
Dynamite this week drew identical ratings as last week’s broadcast. The show had 629,000 viewers on average watching on TBS and a 0.16 rating in 18-49, good enough for #4 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. NBA and NHL playoffs took the top spots. The numbers do not include Max. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
Mercedes Mone has one less title to carry around now as the CEO lost the NJPW Women’s Strong title last night at the NJPW Resurgence show in Ontario, California.
The match featured Mone vs AZM vs Mina Shirakawa in the main event but Mone was not involved in the actual finish and was never pinned, with AZM pinning Shirakawa to gain the title.
The CEO blamed Mina for her loss and after throwing a temper tantrum, she shoved her down. AZM then proceeded to chase Mone to the back.
This ends Mone’s 314-day reign as champion, having won it originally from Stephanie Vaquer at the Forbidden Door pay-per-view in June 2024.
She remains the TBS champion and RevPro’s Undisputed British Women’s champion and has a chance to go for the AEW Women’s title if she can win the Owen Hart Cup tournament final.
Alexa Bliss returned to Smackdown last night and was Zelina Vega’s mystery tag team partner in her match against Chelsea Green and Piper Niven.
Bliss, who returned at the Royal Rumble after a very lengthy absence, disappeared from TV after the Elimination Chamber again and was not used until last night.
The former five-time women’s champion received a huge pop from the Dayton crowd and got the victory for her team after she hit the Sister Abigail on Green.
Bliss was also involved in a backstage segment later in the show with Charlotte Flair. After Flair was complaining with Nick Aldis about the fan reaction and was about to enter a car to leave, someone slammed shut the door and when the camera panned out, it was Bliss.
WrestleCon announced that the smaller Destination WrestleCon will return during SummerSlam weekend in Newark, New Jersey.
The convention will be held on Friday, August 1 and Saturday, August 2 at the Newark Liberty International Airport Marriott. It will have hours of 2PM to 6PM on Friday and 10AM to 2PM on Saturday.
Tickets to access the two-day WrestleCon are available now to purchase through WrestleCon.com for $21.
A limited number of hotel rooms are also available for $199 a night for those still looking for accommodation for SummerSlam.
WWE revenue smashed all previous quarter results, with a whopping $391.5 million compared to the $316.7 million of the prior quarter year.
All four segments which made up this figure were up nicely, with media rights up $251.6 million vs $221.1 million in Q1 2024, live events at $76.3 million vs $50.2 million in Q1 2024, partnerships and marketing up $25.6 million vs $13.8 million in Q1 2024, and consumer products at $38 million vs $31.6 million in Q1 2024.
TKO attributed the increase in media rights, production and content revenue due to the timing of the previously disclosed format expansion of WWE’s weekly program, Smackdown, as well as the contractual escalation of media rights fees, notably the impact of WWE’s global content distribution agreement with Netflix.
The increase in live events and hospitality revenue was due to higher ticket sales revenue, related to an increase in both price and attendance despite fewer total events, which more than offset a decrease in site fees, primarily due to revenue recorded in the prior year period related to an international premium live event.
The increase in partnerships and marketing revenue was primarily related to new partners and an increase in fees from renewals compared to the prior year period.
The increase in consumer products licensing and other revenue was primarily related to higher video gaming and collectibles revenue compared to the prior year period.
Last night on Impact, the new TNA Tag Team champions, Nic and Ryan Nemeth, challenged The Hardys to a tag team title match at the upcoming Under Siege special on TNA+.
But Jeff will not be able to compete as the show is in Canada, with his legal problems from the past preventing him from entering the country.
Santino Marella called out the Nemeths for issuing the challenging even though they knew Jeff would not be able to participate, but still made the match official, giving Matt the opportunity to find a tag team partner that he wants.
The Nemeth Brothers won the titles at Rebellion in Los Angeles, California late last month, ending the Hardys’ 183-day reign as champs.
With Dynamite from the Chicago area next week, AEW will pay tribute to former Four Horsemen Steve “Mongo” McMichael and Ric Flair will be in attendance for it.
The tribute was announced last night on Collision by Tony Schiavone, who also revealed that 16-time world champ and Hall of Famer Ric Flair will return to AEW television specifically for it.
McMichael, himself a Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, passed away last month at age 67 after a bout with ALS.
He formed part of the Four Horsemen in WCW between 1996 and 1997 and worked for WCW between 1995 and 1999. He played in the NFL for the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers for one season each, but played for the Chicago Bears between 1981 and 1993, making him one of the most famous and beloved Chicago sports personalities.
Former WWE star Zach Gowen appeared on Collision last night and got involved in an angle with Ricochet which led to a match being announced for the Beach Break episode of Dynamite next week.
Gowen was at ringside for the Ricochet vs Angelico match and following the conclusion of the match, he jumped the security rail to stop Ricochet from harassing one of the security guards. Things did not go well for Gowen, who got laid out by Ricochet, and to make matters worse, Ricochet stole Gowen’s prosthetic leg.
That was enough to book a match between the two for next week, the third one announced for the card so far.
Gowen, who used to wrestle on the independent scene, became famous when he joined WWE in 2003 and was involved in some memorable angles with Vince McMahon, John Cena, Hulk Hogan, and the most memorable one with Brock Lesnar.
TKO Group Holdings, Inc. yesterday announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2025.
“TKO is off to a good start in 2025 with both UFC and WWE delivering solid financial results,” said Ariel Emanuel, Executive Chair and CEO of TKO. “Given the strength and momentum of these businesses and no material change to our overall business outlook, we are raising our guidance. At the same time, we are updating guidance to reflect the addition of IMG, On Location, and PBR. Our conviction in our portfolio of assets is strong and we are now focused on integration, driving synergies, the domestic media rights deal for UFC, and our capital return programs.”
Revenue increased 4%, or $46.4 million, to $1.269 billion. The increase primarily reflected an increase of $74.8 million at WWE, to $391.5 million, and an increase of $46.7 million at UFC, to $359.7 million, partially offset by a decrease of $73.4 million at IMG, to $476.3 million.
Net Income was $165.5 million, an increase of $400.0 million from a net loss of $234.5 million in the prior year period. The increase primarily reflected the increase in revenue and a decrease in operating expenses. The decrease in operating expenses reflected a decrease in selling, general and administrative expenses of $305.0 million, a decrease in direct operating costs of $38.0 million, and a decrease in depreciation and amortization of $21.6 million. The decrease in selling, general and administrative expenses was primarily related to the absence of a preliminary legal settlement charge of $335.0 million related to a UFC antitrust matter that was recorded in the prior year period.
Adjusted EBITDA increased 23%, or $78.5 million, to $417.4 million, primarily due to an increase of $53.7 million at WWE, to $193.9 million, and an increase of $32.3 million at UFC, to $227.4 million, partially offset by a decrease of $7.8 million at IMG, to $73.5 million. Corporate and Other was essentially flat as compared to the prior year period.
Cash flows generated by operating activities were $162.8 million, an increase of $117.9 million from $44.9 million, primarily due to higher net income and the timing of working capital, including approximately $100.3 million of pre-payments held in escrow related to the 2026 FIFA World Cup. These increases were partially offset by a payment of $125.0 million related to the UFC antitrust lawsuit as well as payments related to transaction costs in connection with the Acquired Businesses and the timing of bonuses. (See “Other Matters” for further details.)
Free Cash Flow4 was $135.5 million, an increase of $128.0 million from $7.5 million, due to the increase in cash flows generated by operating activities and a decrease in capital expenditures.
Cash and cash equivalents were $470.9 million as of March 31, 2025. Gross debt was $2.776 billion as of March 31, 2025.
The full press release is available at TKOGrp.com.
Collision will be airing live tonight from Detroit, Michigan, as TNT has an Avengers movie marathon set for Saturday and there’s also WWE Backlash which would have gone head-to-head with the AEW show.
Announced for tonight so far are Kris Statlander vs Willow Nightingale, “Speedball” Mike Bailey vs Dralistico, a member of FTR vs Daniel Garcia, and Lee Johnson vs Anthony Bowens.
Collision, taking place from the Masonic Temple Theatre, airs at 8PM ET on TBS and streams on Max.
The Backlash store has opened in St. Louis this morning ahead of this weekend’s Backlash premium live event.
Located at The Victor at 1717 Olive Street, the Backlash Store features the largest collection of official Backlash merchandise under one roof including championship titles, mini titles, Superstar apparel, collectibles, and so much more.
Store hours are today from 10AM to 7PM, tomorrow from 10AM to 7PM, Saturday from 10AM to 6PM, and Sunday from 10AM to 2PM.
