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.
Store entry is free.
The first joint show between NXT and AAA, Worlds Collide, is just under 7,000 tickets distributed according to @WrestleTix, less than a week after tickets went on sale.
The Kia Forum in Inglewood, California is currently configured for 9,000 seats which is half of what the arena can hold in total.
Obviously, more seats can be added depending on the demand of the show but it’s very unlikely this will go in five digits with one month to go.
Worlds Collide will start at Noon PT or 3PM ET and will be followed by Money In The Bank at the Intuit Dome at 4PM PT or 7PM ET.
Tickets are available on Ticketmaster.com starting from just $71.
The Good Brothers – the team of Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson – will be returning to New Japan Pro-Wrestling for their first post-WWE match at tomorrow’s Resurgence show.
The former tag team champions will team up with their former Bullet Club team mates The Young Bucks as they take on David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Gedo, and Clark Connors in an eight-man tag team match.
“May 9 is day one at Resurgence,” Anderson said in a video posted by NJPW. “You are witnessing a total takeover.”
NJPW Resurgence will take place from the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California and airs on the NJPW World streaming service.
Gallows and Anderson were released from WWE in February of this year and their 90-day no-compete clause has just expired.
See you Friday @youngbucks #BulletlcubOGs
Day 1 of a total takeover begins on Friday May 9,2025 at #njresurgence @njpwglobal #wardogs pic.twitter.com/ooJ4LrNNeh— The Machine Gun (@MachineGunKA) May 8, 2025
A new theme song for Dynamite made its debut with last night’s episode.
The new theme is the song You Wanted War from the Canadian band Sum 41. The song is part of their last album, Heaven x Hell.
Khan licensed the song I’m So Excited by The Pointed Sisters at the start of 2025 when AEW launched on Max as well but that song did not last very long after some negative online backlash.
The AEW President thanked the Sum 41 band in a post on X prior to the show going live on air.
This week’s episode of NXT drew 652,000 viewers, down 22,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast, making it the second least-watched episode of NXT of 2025 so far. The show had a 0.14 rating in 18-49, matching the lowest of the year as well. Sports competition from NBA and NHL playoffs continued to take a chunk of viewers from all programming. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)
WWE EVOVLE introduced two new championships on last night’s episode on Tubi, presented by EVOLVE’s resident prime minister Stevie Turner.
Women’s and men’s titles were shown, with the inaugural champions to be crowned on May 28 and June 4 respectively following two fatal four-way matches.
The women’s four-way will feature Wendy Choo, Kali Armstrong, Kendal Grey, and an opponent to be named later. The men’s match so far has only Sean Legacy announced, with the rest to be announced over the next few weeks.
EVOLVE airs every Wednesday night at 8PM ET streaming exclusively on Tubi in the United States and on YouTube everywhere else.
Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful is reporting through his Select service that former Stardom wrestler Thekla has signed with AEW.
The 32-year-old Austrian star has wrestled for Stardom since 2021 and is also known by her nickname The Toxic Spider. She had her last match at the Stardom All Star Grand Queendom two weeks ago where she was fired after attacking Stardom President Taro Okada following her loss to Sayaka Kurara.
Speaking on spiders, a red and black animated spider appeared on last night’s Dynamite during the four-way eliminator match on multiple occasions, the first hints of Thekla’s arrival in AEW.
Dynamite is back on TBS tonight and streaming live on Max from Detroit, Michigan, the start of a double-header at the Masonic Temple Theatre.
Scheduled for tonight are Ricochet and The Young Bucks vs Swerve Strickland, Mark Briscoe, and Mike Bailey, Samoa Joe vs Claudio Castagnoli, Kazuchika Okada vs Kevin Knight in an AEW Continental title eliminator match, and Toni Storm vs Thunder Rosa vs Anna Jay vs Penelope Ford in a four-way AEW Women’s title eliminator match.
Will Ospreay, Hangman Page, and Jamie Hayter are also advertised to appear in various segments.
WWE champion John Cena appeared on Inside The NBA on TNT yesterday night to promote the upcoming season two of Peacemaker.
The 17-time world champ and record holder showed up in studio following the Warriors vs Timberwolves playoff match in a full suit and then wore a Peacemaker helmet for the appearance…and no, the WWE title was not with him!
Co-host Charles Barkley said that he was a big wrestling fan but did not appreciate Cena turning heel. Another co-host and another big wrestling fan, Shaquille O’Neal, then took on Barkley in a match, with the two sparring on the floor.
Season two of Peacemaker premieres on August 21 exclusively on Max and a full trailer will be released on Friday.
Shelton Benjamin was not too impressed with Hulk Hogan getting his name wrong multiple times in media interviews.
Hogan mentioned Benjamin’s name while promoting his new Real American Freestyle Wrestling league when discussing how some wrestlers found their calling by transitioning to pro wrestling.
But The Hulkster called him “Benjamin Shelton” on more than one occasion, seemingly unaware that his name is the other way round.
Reacting to it on X, the now-AEW star wrote, “You lost me forever with your ‘don’t get caught’ …or as you would call it ‘apology’ speech. So rather than screw up my name and pretend we ever had any sort of camaraderie which we never had. Please do me a favour &…”
He then added a GIF of Will Smith at the Oscars a few years back telling Chris Rock to “keep my name out of your f*cking mouth.”
The “don’t get caught” dig was when Hogan was told to apologize to the WWE locker room after he returned from a ban following the release of a video where he said racist remarks. In his speech, Hogan cautioned the boys and girls in the back to be careful of what they say and not get caught because everyone has a cell phone and could be filming nowadays.
Benjamin’s team mate, MVP, also chimed in on X describing Hogan as a “pathological lying piece of human excrement.”
Collision last Saturday, which aired on TBS instead of TNT, drew 341,000 viewers, down 366,000 viewers from the prior week which had the NBA lead-in. The show had a 0.06 rating in 18-49, down 0.15. TNT aired NBA Playoffs which won the night. (Ratings credit: Wrestlenomics)
On November 4, 2025, Random House Worlds, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House, will publish THIS BOOK IS ALL ELITE by New York Times bestselling author Keith Greenberg and All Elite Wresting.
THIS BOOK IS ALL ELITE is a celebration of the icons of professional wrestling who created All Elite Wrestling (AEW), a company that revolutionized professional wrestling under the visionary eye of Tony Khan. From the company’s unassuming beginnings in 2019 to the record-breaking Wembley Stadium debut, AEW’s pulse-pounding, death-defying, and high-flying action has defied industry norms and changed the world of professional wrestling forever.
Illustrated with dazzling photography and written with exclusive access to the cast and crew of AEW, THIS BOOK IS ALL ELITE is a definitive history of AEW that delves into the innovative storytelling, inclusive ethos, and passionate fanbase which propelled the company to compete with industry giants. From the triumphant final run of the icon Sting, side by side with his firebrand protégé Darby Allin, to the madcap melee of the first Stadium Stampede, readers will experience the epic moments that defined the first five years of AEW.
Written by New York Times bestselling author and TV producer Keith Greenberg, THIS BOOK IS ALL ELITE allows fans to relive the biggest moments in AEW—every breathtaking match, shocking twist, headline-making moment.
THIS BOOK IS ALL ELITE will publish on November 4, 2025 and is available for pre-order wherever books are sold.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Keith Elliot Greenberg is a New York Times bestselling author and television producer. His many books include Menudo, To Be the Man, Erik is Homeless, and Zack’s Story. He is a regular writer on professional wrestling for a number of newspapers and magazines, and has co-authored a number of biographies of professional wrestlers, including Freddie Blassie, Ric Flair, and Superstar Billy Graham. A father of two children, he currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.
ABOUT RANDOM HOUSE WORLDS:
Random House Worlds is an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, and is dedicated entirely to licensed book publishing, acting as a home for the largest pop culture brands across genres and media types. Our role is to enrich and expand worlds beyond their original source material, helping to grow a popular brand into a multimedia universe. Our team has the knowledge and talent to publish any style of book imaginable—from classics to contemporary fiction and nonfiction, to novelty formats like coloring, cookbooks, and tarot.
The WWE Universe walked with Elijah again yesterday on NXT as the TNA star made a surprise appearance at the WWE Performance Center.
Elijah, who worked in WWE under the name Elias and Ezekiel and as The Drifter in NXT, was the last man to enter the 25-man battle royal to determine the #1 contender for the NXT title.
The PC crowd erupted with the first guitar string heard over the speakers as they sang “Oh walk with Elias.”
“Hello, my name is Elijah,” he said, before proceeding to sing a little song and asking NXT to walk with him. The crowd chanted “Welcome home,” certainly happy to see him again.
Elijah eliminated Trick Williams from the match, thanks to a little distraction from Joe Hendry, but he was eliminated by Shawn Spears.
He was released from WWE in September 2023 and joined TNA in February of this year.
The April 28 episode of Raw finished the week with 3,000,000 views on Netflix, down 600,000 from the Raw After Mania episode.
Netflix listed 5,800,000 hours in total consumed, and the numbers were good enough for the #4 spot on the Netflix global top 10 chart.
Raw was in the top 10 chart in 12 countries including Bahrain, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Ecuador, Egypt, India, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, and United States.
The number one contenders for the NXT title and the NXT Women’s title were revealed last night on NXT on CW.
Myles Borne of No Quarter Catch Crew won a 25-man battle royal which included stars from NXT, TNA, and EVOLVE. The final four were Borne, Ethan Page, Shawn Spears, and Je’Von Evans, with Evans being eliminated first by Page and Spears, Page then eliminated Spears, before Borne eliminates Page for the win and the title shot.
The match also Ashante Adonis, Brad Baylor, Brooks Jensen, Charlie Dempsey, Chris Island, Elijah, Josh Briggs, Lexis King, Niko Vance, Ricky Smokes, Ridge Holland, Sean Legacy, Shiloh Hill, Tavion Heights, Timothy Thatcher, Trick Williams, Tyriek Igwe, Tyson Dupont, Wes Lee, Yoshiki Inamura, and Zachary Wentz.
Then in the main event, former TNA Knockouts champion Jordynne Grace defeated former NXT Women’s champion Giulia to earn a shot at the NXT Women’s title.
Grace defeated Giulia clean with the Beast Mode finisher and then had a stare down with the NXT Women’s champion Stephanie Vaquer to end the show.
For the first time ever, the TNA World title will be defended on an NXT premium live event.
It was announced last night on NXT on The CW that TNA World champion Joe Hendry will face Trick Williams and the TNA gold will be up for grabs at the upcoming Battleground show.
Hendry has been appearing regularly on NXT ever since WrestleMania 41 and entered into a feud with the former NXT champion.
A contract signing for this match will be taking place on next week’s episode of NXT.
In a bid to boost ticket sales for tomorrow’s Dynamite and Thursday’s Collision, AEW is offering 40% and 50% off select tickets at the Masonic Temple Theatre in Detroit, Michigan.
Tickets for Dynamite using this promo start from $23.40 using the 40% promo code PROMO40 while tickets for Collision start from just $12.50 using the 50% promo code PROMO50.
To take advantage of these offers, go to the AEW shows page on AXS.COM, click on “See Event”, and then click on “Buy Offer” in the Special Offers table. Enter the appropriate code as written above to each show and the discounted prices will come up.
Both shows have struggled a little bit to attract an audience, with Collision suffering more than Dynamite.
Becky Lynched cooked both Bayley and Mercedes Mone in a hilarious segment on the Raw Recap show which ended with the two hosts laughing and Lynch herself fighting to keep a straight face.
Discussing the whole attack on Bayley, Lynch said, “Bayley is so confused about this she’s probably paying a hundred dollars a month to her best friend to text her!”
That prompted hosts Sam Roberts and Megan Morant to burst out laughing while Lynch started to crack a smile and then had to put up her over her face to cover.
The dig was at Mone who recently started a $99.99 a month service where fans could “text her” and get replies from the CEO.
During the same interview, Lynch also discussed how certain online fans call her Becky Hogan, refuting the comparisons to “the scummiest person on earth.”
“My nose doesn’t like sit perfectly straight anymore. My shoulder is popping out. I’ve got scars on my arms. All of this because of what I’ve given to this industry. Like I wear the scars of what I’ve done on my body. I wear them,” Lynch said. “I wear them with pride because of all I’ve given back. And these people go around, they compare me to this scummiest person on earth? After everything I’ve done? After everything that I’ve done for them?”
Becky Lynch trying not to break character after cooking Bayley & Mercedes is hilarious #WWERAW pic.twitter.com/gYdc7C9bpV
— FADE (@FadeAwayMedia) May 6, 2025
Individual tickets for Worlds Collide and Money In The Bank went on pre-sale this morning on Ticketmaster.com using the code WWETIX.
Worlds Collide takes place from the Kia Forum at Noon PT / 3PM ET while Money In The Bank will follow from the nearby Intuit Dome at 4PM PT / 7PM ET on Saturday, June 7.
Not the whole Kia Forum is open for the NXT/AAA Worlds Collide show, in fact, the majority of the seats remain closed. Tickets start from $58.90 while the most expensive are $925.30 at ringside.
Money In The Bank tickets start from $247.20 and go all the way up to $6,087.70 for ringside. There will be no stage setup and most of the arena is open.
Big E made a big move and popped the question to his girlfriend, Kris Yim.
“I can’t wait to be your husband,” E wrote in a post on Instagram, along with photos of his now-fiancee and the ring.
The two have been dating since early 2024, with E posting photos of the two together writing, “My neck is broken but my heart is whole,” while announcing their relationship.
Yim is the sister of WWE Superstar Michin.
The former WWE champion remains sidelined due to his neck injury, an injury he suffered in 2022.
