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Mayu Iwatani joins Marigold, hopes to wrestle WWE Superstars in the future

By
Colin Vassallo
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Mayu Iwatani has joined Marigold after her departure from Stardom.

The former IWGP Women’s champion participated in a press conference with Marigold boss Rossy Ogawa today, where her first match with the promotion was announced.

Iwatani will be making her Marigold debut against Nanae Takahashi at the Korakuen Hall on Sunday, May 4.

It was rumored that WWE were interested in Iwatani and during the press conference, Iwatani told the press that joining Marigold, which enjoys a good relationship with WWE, will maybe get her to wrestle Giulia, Kairi Sane, and Iyo Sky again in the future.

Was the IWGP Women’s champion for a total of 735 days, winning it from Mercedes Mone at the All Star Grand Queendom on April 23, 2023. She lost it to Syuri in the same event almost two years later to the date, on April 27, 2025.

Charlotte Flair attends NBA game with Alex Rodriguez

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE Superstar Charlotte Flair was at the Lakers vs Timberwolves game yesterday at the Crypto.com Arena and rolled in with former MLB legend Alex Rodriguez according to Arash Markazi of The Sporting Tribune.

It’s unclear if Flair and Rodriguez are more than just friends at this point. Rodriguez dated former WWE star Torrie Wilson for a few years in the past.

Also at the game was Shane McMahon, who Markazi filmed having a long interaction with Flair backstage at the game.

Hulk Hogan’s Scores Sports Bar to open in New York later this year

By
Colin Vassallo
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Hulk Hogan unveiled his brand new sports bar yesterday in New York City, titled Hulk Hogan’s Scores Sports Bar.

The sports bar, which will have its grand opening later this year, is located just across the street from the entrance of Madison Square Garden, the iconic building which Hogan knows too well, at 416 8th Ave.

The venture is with Scores Sports Bar, spearheaded by Rich Rosen, President and CEO, who is planning to turn this into a franchise across the United States, with the NYC location being the flagship bar.

The company signed a 15-year lease for the New York location in 2023.

The bar is still in a renovation process, with several workers seen inside, transforming it from the previous business which was Brother Jimmy’s BBQ place.

Hogan was accompanied by Eric Bischoff and his son Nick in New York as they live streamed it on social media. A crew from Netflix were also present filming.

Liv Morgan cast in upcoming movie Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo

By
Colin Vassallo
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Liv Morgan will be having some time off from WWE television as she has been cast in a new movie titled Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo according to Deadline.

Morgan stars alongside Shun Oguri and Lily James in this movie, directed by Takashi Miike, the man behind the 13 Assassins film.

The film will be a U.S.-Japan co-production, produced by Jeremy Thomas for Recorded Picture Company, Sam Pressman for Pressman Film, Naoaki Kitajima for Nippon TV and Misako Saka for OLM. Neon will be releasing the film theatrically in the United States and it will be shopped for an international release at Cannes later this month.

According the Deadline, the plot revolves around the Bad Lieutenant (Oguri), who is a corrupt gambler in the Metropolitan Police Force, who finds himself thrown into a tangled case after an enigmatic FBI agent (James) arrives in Tokyo to investigate the disappearance of a politician’s daughter (Morgan).

Production will kick off this month in Tokyo, Japan.

Morgan is currently one half of the WWE Women’s Tag Team champions with Raquel Rodriguez.

AEW World title match at Beach Break now a steel cage match

By
Colin Vassallo
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The AEW World title match between Jon Moxley and Samoa Joe at the upcoming Beach Break themed episode of Dynamite will be inside a steel cage.

The feud between the two continues to have the involvement of The Death Riders and The Opps and a steel cage is supposed to keep the rest out of the factions outside.

It was Samoa Joe who made the suggestion for the steel cage stipulation last night on Dynamite, a stipulation which was later confirmed on the show.

Beach Break will take place on Wednesday, May 14 from the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

“Hangman” Adam Page advances to the Owen Hart Cup 2025 final

By
Colin Vassallo
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“Hangman” Adam Page booked his ticket for Double or Nothing and will now be facing Will Ospreay in the final of the men’s Owen Hart Cup tournament later this month.

Page defeated Kyle Fletcher with his Buckshot Lariat finisher on yesterday’s episode of Dynamite in the remaining semi final.

The winner of this final match will receive an AEW World title shot at the All In: Texas show in July.

The women’s Owen Hart Cup tournament final will feature Mercedes Mone vs Jamie Hayter and the winner will also get an AEW Women’s title match at All In: Texas.

WWE on A&E block (2025) ratings for week 10

By
Colin Vassallo
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Week 10 of WWE Superstar Sunday on A&E had two episodes of LFG, with no new episodes of Rivals and Greatest Moments airing. There was no episodes last week either due to WrestleMania.

Episode 10 at 8PM had 128,000 viewers and a 0.02 rating in 18-49, down 1,000 viewers from episode nine but the same in the 18-49.

Episode 11 which followed at 9:30PM had 99,000 viewers, which is the least-watched episode of the series so far. That had a 0.01 rating in 18-49, also the lowest. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

Rumor killer: Paul Heyman is not engaged to “22-year-old” model

By
Colin Vassallo
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A rumor which started spreading by a parody X wrestling account said that Paul Heyman is marrying his 22-year-old fiancee in June after a video on TikTok was uploaded of Chilean model Daniella Chavez dancing in front of the Wiseman.

For starters, Chavez is not 22, but a 35-year-old model. She is a client of Heyman and his Looking4Larry agency, where Heyman acts as her agent.

The video was originally posted by Chavez on her official Instagram account, writing that since 2018, Heyman has been her agent and has not betrayed her…yet! She added that he’s wise and knows what he’s doing!

Chavez also uploaded photos being present at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, where she reconnected with Heyman.

Steve Austin on crashing his ATV at WrestleMania: “I was embarrassed about it”

By
Colin Vassallo
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Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The Ariel Helwani Show, WWE Hall of Famer “Stone Cold” Steve Austin said he was embarrassed by what happened at WrestleMania when he crashed the ATV in the LED barricade.

Asked to explain what happened, Austin, who said he’s “pretty damn handy” when it comes to four-wheelers, pinned it down to a different throttle set up than what he’s normally used to.

Pressed if there was any fallout from the incident, the former champion added, “You know, I was embarrassed about it and I think everybody’s OK but I mean, you know, you go out there on the biggest night in wrestling and you you end up like that… it’s not the greatest day in the office.”

Austin said as a performer you always want to give people the best show and when you fall short of that, it’s not great.

The Rattlesnake took his time to come down the ramp because originally when he came out, he missed the large ramp and got stuck underneath the stage when he reversed his ATV.

Once he eventually made it to ringside, Austin crashed the ATV on the second spin around the ring, hitting the LED barricade and knocking off a fan.

Collision sheds over 1.3 million viewers from start to finish after NBA lead-in

By
Colin Vassallo
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While Collision did its best number in three years with 707,000 average, the show’s quarter hour numbers released by Wrestlenomics paint an ugly picture.

Helped by a big lead-in from the NBA Playoffs, the first 11 minutes of the show, which started at 8:49PM, drew 1,670,000 viewers but their lead-in viewers dropped a whopping 823,000 viewers by the time the second quarter started at 9PM.

Things got even worse along the way from there, with subsequent quarter hours drawing 730,000, 680,000, 630,000, 549,000, 503,000, and 419,000 viewers for the last quarter hour.

The final five minutes of the show from 10:45PM to 10:50PM drew just 365,000 viewers, meaning from start to finish, Collision shed a total of 1,305,000 viewers.

Pre-sale for two-night SummerSlam 2025 kicks off

By
Colin Vassallo
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Combo tickets for SummerSlam 2025 went on pre-sale today on Ticketmaster.com using the code WWEVIP.

This will be the first-ever two-night SummerSlam, taking place on Saturday, August 2 and Sunday, August 3 at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

As expected, only half the stadium is open, just like Lucas Oil Stadium was originally for the Royal Rumble. Eventually, WWE had to open up the full stadium for the Rumble after terrific ticket sales.

The cheapest seats available are marked $174 for both nights for seats in the 300 Level which are at the very top of the massive stadium. The most expensive ticket at ringside is $4,014 for both nights.

MetLife stadium holds up to 87,000 seats so it will be interesting how this show will sell over the next few months.

WrestleMania 41 fails to crack Netflix top 10 global chart

By
Colin Vassallo
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WrestleMania 41

Both nights of WrestleMania 41 failed to crack the Netflix Top 10 global chart without the added help of viewers from the United States, as the show aired on Peacock in the U.S.

The 2025 Royal Rumble remains the only premium live event to make the list so far since WWE’s arrival on Netflix in January.

WrestleMania 41 Saturday hit the top 10 chart in 28 different countries around the world including Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Ireland, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Oman, Panama, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and United Kingdom.

WrestleMania 41 Sunday was in the top 10 chart in 24 countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Egypt, Ireland, Israel, India, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malta, Maldives, Malaysia, New Zealand, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, and United Kingdom.

The show in the #10 spot did 1,800,000 views so WrestleMania around the world pulled less than that number this year.

Raw views for 04/21/2025

By
Colin Vassallo
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Raw

The Raw After Mania episode on Netflix was #5 in the global chart released yesterday, with 3,600,000 views and 8,700,000 hours consumed for a longer than usual show.

This would be the third-highest viewership on Netflix since it started, just below the second episode which did 3,700,000 views. It would be up 700,000 views from the April 14 show.

The show was in the top 10 chart in 20 different countries including

Bangladesh, Bahrain, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, Ecuador, Egypt, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, and United States.

#1 contenders for the NXT title and NXT Women’s title to be decided next week

By
Colin Vassallo
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The #1 contenders for the NXT title and the NXT Women’s title will be decided on next week’s episode on The CW.

The man who will face Oba Femi for the NXT title at Battleground next month will have to win a 25-man battle royal first. The match was announced by NXT General Manager Ava, who said that both NXT and Evolve talent will be featured in the match.

Meanwhile, the woman who will take on Stephanie Vaquer for the NXT Women’s title also on the same premium live event will be either former NXT Women’s champion herself Giulia or former TNA Knockouts champion Jordynne Grace. This will be their first one-on-one match.

Smackdown rating for 04/25/2025

By
Colin Vassallo
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The post-WrestleMania Smackdown drew 1,741,000 viewers, down 142,000 viewers from the prior week. The show had some tough competition in the form of the NFL Drafts and NBA and NHL playoff games. Smackdown drew a 0.51 rating in 18-49, down 0.04 from last week and was #3 on cable TV and #4 in all of television for the night. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, and Izzy Martinez launch Real American Freestyle Wrestling

By
Colin Vassallo
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Eric Bischoff, Hulk Hogan, and wrestling coach Izzy Martinez have teamed up to launch Real American Freestyle Wrestling, a new league which will launch in Summer 2025.

Real American Freestyle Wrestling will have eight weight classes for the men and four for the women, with the first show set for August 30 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Hogan and Bischoff teased a venture a few days ago with an nWo-inspired video.

“Eric jumped in with both feet, and he’s doing a lot to guide this ship right now, brother,” Hulk Hogan told the Associated Press. “He’s setting so much stuff up production wise — just moving us forward, light years ahead of where we could have been on our own.”

Martinez, a world-renowned freestyle wrestling and mixed martial artscoach, will be the league’s Chief Operating Officer while Hogan will be the league’s commissioner. Bischoff was named as the Chief Media Officer.

“I see this as an opportunity for me to get involved,” Hogan continued, “to get back, quit sitting on the couch, to get involved with a bunch of powerful athletes that I can relate to as far as championship material, guys that are on top of their game, and I just — I couldn’t pass on it.”

WWE Women’s World champion Iyo Sky to appear on NXT tonight

By
Colin Vassallo
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WWE Women’s World champion Iyo Sky will be appearing on tonight’s episode of NXT.

Sky has been targeted by Giulia and Roxanne Perez and yesterday on Raw she came out to save Rhea Ripley from the NXT duo, returning the favor from last week.

Two matches have been announced for tonight’s broadcast including Ricky Saints vs Lexis King for the NXT North American title and Hank and Tank vs Josh Briggs and Yoshiki Inamura for the NXT Tag Team titles.

Plus, TNA champion Joe Hendry is expected to appear after he was attacked by Trick Williams at Rebellion this past Sunday.

NXT airs on The CW starting at 8PM ET in the United States and on Netflix everywhere else.

Rusev returning to ring next week on Raw against Otis

By
Colin Vassallo
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Rusev will return to a WWE ring next Monday on Raw against Otis, his first match on WWE television since February 17, 2020.

A hype video aired on Raw for the Bulgarian star, who said once upon a time, he had it all.

“The gold, the fame, the tank at WrestleMania…then I lost myself,” Rusev said. “I left the WWE and on my way home to Bulgaria, I fell into the abyss.”

Rusev said that in the abyss is where he found himself, healed myself, redeemed yourself, and fixed myself.

“In that hell I realized I will no longer fight for a woman that isn’t mine, or flag that never was…an epiphany…I was finally free to crush people not because I was told to, but because I wanted to,” Rusev continued.

Rusev wrestled only 37 times since February 2020, 35 of which were in AEW and his last match was in February of this year against Alberto Del Rio in Qatar.

The Bulgarian returned to WWE on the Raw After Mania.

TNA announces new TV deal with Claro Sports in 17 South American countries

By
Colin Vassallo
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TNA logo

TNA Wrestling and Claro Sports announced a non-exclusive distribution agreement which will see the weekly Impact, monthly PPV events, and exclusive TNA+ specials delivered to millions of fans across 17 territories in South America.

The deal covers Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Programming will be available across Claro’s full suite of platforms and devices, including its pay TV channel, OTT service Claro video, digital platforms such as clarosports.com and YouTube, as well as through the Claro Sports mobile app and FAST channels on connected smart TV ecosystems.

“This partnership with Claro Sports is a powerful opportunity to extend TNA Wrestling’s reach across the Latin American market,” said Carlos Silva, President of Anthem Sports. “Claro is a leader in digital and linear sports distribution throughout the region, and we’re excited to bring our content to their passionate and diverse audience.”

“At Claro Sports we are very happy to reach this agreement with TNA Wrestling to bring all the excitement of their matches to a larger audience in Latin America, who, I am sure, will become fans of the TNA programming,” added José Antonio Aboumrad, Claro Sports CEO.

Collision rating for 04/26/2025

By
Colin Vassallo
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Helped by a huge lead-in from the NBA Playoffs, Collision on Saturday night drew 707,000 viewers, up 354,000 viewers from last week’s broadcast. The show had a 0.21 rating in 18-49, up 0.13 from the last episode. This was the third-highest number for Collision in the history of the show. The lead-in featuring the Nuggets vs Clippers drew 3,387,000 viewers and a 1.12 rating. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

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