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First match for WrestleMania 41 official

By
Colin Vassallo
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The first match for WrestleMania 41 was made official last night after Royal Rumble winner Jey Uso picked Gunther as his opponent as he goes after the WWE World Heavyweight title.

Gunther, who has promised to make Jey Uso’s life a hell until WrestleMania, interrupted the popular star’s entrance last night on Raw and laid the smackdown on Uso before being escorted out by referees.

It was then when Uso informed Gunther that he will meet him at WrestleMania. Uso has not managed to beat Gunther yet, and his last title shot a week before the Royal Rumble was close, but Gunther found a way over the line.

The Austrian star has been champion since SummerSlam. At last year’s WrestleMania, Gunther lost the Intercontinental title to Sami Zayn.

Miro released from AEW after four tumultuous years

By
Colin Vassallo
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Miro and AEW have parted ways after the Bulgarian star was released from his contract after coming to a mutual agreement according to PWInsider.com.

Miro was removed from the AEW roster page as well after news hit the Internet.

Miro joined AEW in September 2020 and after a stint as TNT champion he wasn’t used much on television in the following years. Injuries and outside projects kept him on the shelf for months at a time, wrestling only 11 times from 2022 onward.

His last match came at the Worlds End pay-per-view in December 2023, defeating Andrade El Idolo.

Miro’s ex-wife, CJ “Lana” Perry, wrote on X, “A very happy Miro Day!!!” after it was announced that he has departed AEW.

Bayley and Logan Paul advance to the Elimination Chamber

By
Colin Vassallo
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Bayley and Logan Paul advanced to the Elimination Chamber last night on Raw after winning their respective qualifying matches.

Bayley qualified first after she beat WWE Women’s Intercontinental champion Lyra Valkyria with a cradle and then in the main event of the broadcast, Logan Paul beat Rey Mysterio in the other qualifying with a new finisher.

Bayley joins Liv Morgan, Alexa Bliss, and Bianca Belair so far while Paul joins John Cena, CM Punk, and Drew McIntyre.

Seth Rollins vs Finn Balor and Roxanne Perez vs Raquel Rodriguez are the last two qualifying matches from Raw which will take place next week.

Malakai Black’s profile removed from AEW, officially a free agent

By
Colin Vassallo
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PWInsider.com is reporting that Malakai Black is now officially a free agent after his AEW deal expired yesterday.

His profile from the AEW website has also been removed completely.

The Dutch star arrived in AEW in 2021 after he was released from WWE but his time there was not as successful as originally thought it would be. Black was rumored to have asked for his release a year later and did spend some months away from in-ring competition.

His two former team mates, Buddy Matthews and Brody King, are now known as the Hounds of Hell, moving away from the House of Black name which has since gone away.

Black is rumored to be returning to WWE.

Ric Flair’s Wooooo! Energy drink now available through Amazon

By
Colin Vassallo
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The Ric Flair Wooooo! Energy drink is now available to purchase via Amazon.

Available in packs of 12, Amazon is selling the “adaptogenic mushroom drink” for $38.99 with the lemon and dragon fruit flavor in stock.

Wooooo! Energy was a sponsor on AEW television for several months before the relationship between Flair and the company ended abruptly.

Linda McMahon’s Senate hearing set for Thursday at 10AM ET

By
Colin Vassallo
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Linda McMahon will have her Senate hearing to become Secretary of Education this coming Thursday at 10AM ET.

Her role in the cabinet might be short-lived though as her boss, President Trump, has ordered McMahon to close the Department of Education.

“I told Linda, ‘Linda, I hope you do a great job and put yourself out of a job,'” Trump told reporters last week. “I want her to put herself out of a job.”

If confirmed, it will be McMahon’s second stint on Trump’s cabinet after she served as the Administrator of the Small Business Administration during his first term.

Mercedes Mone, Swerve Strickland, and Tony Khan at Super Bowl

By
Colin Vassallo
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AEW President Tony Khan, who also serves as the Jacksonville Jaguars Chief Football Strategy Officer, was obviously at the Super Bowl last night. Khan, along with his billionaire father, rolled into New Orleans onboard a $360 million yacht, a yacht they call home.

TBS champion Mercedes Mone was also in attendance, writing, “Guess who I ran into at the #SuperBowlLIX” along with an emoji covering its face. Fellow AEW star Swerve Strickland was also in attendance.

The Costco Guys were in town as well for the game and this time, they represented AEW well with Big Justice wearing AEW merchandise as they brought the “boom” to New Orleans!

Vince McMahon, Shane, and The Undertaker at the Super Bowl together

By
Colin Vassallo
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Vince McMahon, his son Shane, and WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker were all at the Super Bowl yesterday in New Orleans together.

This marked a very rare Vince public appearance as he has largely stayed out of public eye ever since he was removed from his position as Executive Chairman of TKO and hit with a very damaging civil lawsuit alleging sexual trafficking.

Both McMahons and especially The Undertaker are very familiar with the Superdome, the host of last night’s NFL Super Bowl game, as it was the host of two WrestleManias – 30 and 34 – and it is the location of where Taker ended his WrestleMania streak against Brock Lesnar.

Elektra Lopez released from WWE

By
Colin Vassallo
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Elektra Lopez, who was part of Legado del Fantasma, was released this weekend along with the others. Her profile was quickly moved to the Alumni section on WWE.COM.

The 32-year-old had a short stint with the company in 2018 but then joined in 2021 as part of NXT and eventually was moved to the main roster with Legado in early 2024.

Lopez joins AOP, Paul Ellering, Blair Davenport, Cedric Alexander, Sonya Deville, Isla Dawn, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, and Giovanni Vinci who were all let go in an unpleasant weekend at WWE.

Samu Anoa’i to undergo heart surgery, GoFundMe campaign launched

By
Colin Vassallo
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A GoFundMe campaign has been launched to help cover the medical expenses for Samu Anoa’i who is undergoing open heart surgery tomorrow.

Samu, the former WWF Tag Team champion as part of The Headshrinkers, has gone through a rough few years health-wise, including being diagnosed with liver cancer.

His daughter Leila started the GoFundMe campaign after doctors advised them that he requires surgery, including a double bypass. A $60,000 goal has been set.

Hologram returns after four months out

By
Colin Vassallo
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The popular Hologram returned to AEW last night at Collision, helping Komander from an attack by Rush, The Beast Mortos, and Dralisticio.

LFI were trying to rip the mask off Komander when the lights went out and a video played of Hologram “loading.” He came out and took out all three members of LFI one by one before he and Komander then teamed up and wiped out LFI with a double dive from the ring.

The young Mexican luchador got injured in October and has been out of action ever since. He was written off TV following an attack by LFI.

Harley Cameron gets TBS title shot against Mone next week at Grand Slam

By
Colin Vassallo
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The TBS title will be defended next Saturday at the Grand Slam: Australia event as Mercedes Mone takes on Harley Cameron.

Cameron has been trying to get a title shot for weeks but Mone kept shutting her down. Last night on Collision, Cameron got her way after she got under Mone’s skin for telling her that the most entertaining she’s been was when she was a puppet.

The champ retaliated by slapping Cameron but the Australian star decked Mone after clocking her with the microphone. Mone then agreed to give Cameron her shot in her home country.

This is the third title match on the five-match card so far.

Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, and Giovanni Vinci released from WWE as well

By
Colin Vassallo
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Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful Wrestling is reporting that Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, and Giovanni Vinci have all been released from WWE.

Gallows and Anderson returned to WWE in October 2022, two years after they were released the first time around. The duo joined AJ Styles and Michin as The O.C. but after not being used on TV much, they were moved to NXT last year. Their last televised match was in September of last year.

Giovanni Vinci also had a rough time after being split from Imperium. The Italian star was moved to NXT again before being recalled to Smackdown last year, only to lose his first match in three seconds. His last match was a dark match against Luke Gallows in December 2024. He had been working for WWE since 2017.

Isla Dawn released from WWE

By
Colin Vassallo
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Isla Dawn is the latest star to announce her departure from WWE.

In a post on social media, Dawn posted a photo backstage at a WWE show with the words, “Here for a good time not a long time. See you in 90.”

The 90 indicates the 90-day no-compete clause, where anyone released will still get paid for the next three months but they get to stay home.

The 31-year-old Scottish star was one-half of The Unholy Union with Alba Fyre. She joined WWE in 2018 as part of NXT UK. She is a former WWE and NXT Women’s Tag Team title holder.

WrestleMania 41 hovering around 45,000 tickets each night so far

By
Colin Vassallo
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WrestleMania 41

Both WrestleMania 41 Saturday and Sunday are hovering around the 45,000 ticket count according to ticket tracking service @WrestleTix.

WrestleMania Saturday is currently at 44,464 tickets distributed while WrestleMania Sunday is at 45,086. On both nights, the Allegiant Stadium is set for 51,481 seats.

There are less than a thousand combo tickets available for both nights, but plenty of single day tickets to choose from. A bulk of the single day tickets are limited view due to the stage and part of the entrance won’t be visible. That doesn’t mean the prices are cheap either as this WrestleMania continues on track to being the most expensive WrestleMania ever.

Due to the size of the stadium and excluding WrestleMania 37 during the COVID pandemic, this WrestleMania is tracking to have the smallest attendance since the show moved to stadiums yearly after WrestleMania 22. The sections behind the stage are all closed off at the moment so unless those are opened, it will not surpass WrestleMania XL in terms of attendance.

TKO Executive Chairman Ari Emanuel on The Pat McAfee Show

By
Colin Vassallo
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TKO

TKO and Endeavor Executive Chairman Ari Emanuel was a guest on The Pat McAfee Show yesterday to discuss a variety of subjects, including of course, WWE.

When it came time to discuss the Elimination Chamber, Emanuel let out a little hint.

“I think there’s some pretty good things gonna happen there,” Emanuel said.

Questioned by McAfee if he’s now in the writers room or how much he’s involved, Emanuel said he’s involved to a certain extent.

“I’m not in ’em like, I don’t pick the fights and I don’t pick what’s going on in WWE, but in the business side, yeah, I hear things!”

Emanuel also described Netflix as “incredible partners” and they’re all happy that their Raw numbers are up. Emanuel said that originally, they gave Netflix a presentation on NXT but then they quickly shifted to Raw and a few months later they were signing their biggest television deal ever.

Three more qualify for Elimination Chamber 2025 matches

By
Colin Vassallo
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Three WWE Superstars qualified for the Elimination Chamber last night on Friday Night Smackdown.

Bianca Belair was the first one to punch her ticket to Toronto after she went through Piper Niven in the first qualifying match of the night. Belair won after hitting her KOD finisher for the pin.

Drew McIntyre also qualified after a triple threat match which involved Jimmy Uso and LA Knight. McIntyre won after a Claymore Kick to Knight who was ready to hit the BFT on Uso. The two played up their Royal Rumble bust-up which caused McIntyre to storm out of Lucas Oil Stadium after his elimination.

And the third and last qualifying match of the night was another women’s match where the returning Alexa Bliss defeated Candace LeRae with the Sister Abigail to move on to the EC.

Next week, Chelsea Green will take on Naomi and Damian Priest vs Jacob Fatu vs Braun Strowman in the two qualifying matches on Smackdown.

Sonya Deville, Cedric Alexander, AOP, and others gone from WWE

By
Colin Vassallo
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Several WWE Superstars were given the axe yesterday including AOP, their manager Paul Ellering, Blair Davenport, Cedric Alexander, and Sonya Deville.

Alexander, the former member of The Hurt Business, announced via social media he is no longer part of WWE and will be a free agent in 90 days. He was recently part of the NXT roster.

“Thank you for the last 8 1/2 years! Being a professional wrestler has been a dream of mine since I could form memories and I will continue to do so till the good Lord says otherwise,” Alexander wrote.

AOP and Ellering were part of The Final Testament with Karrion Kross and Scarlett but that didn’t go anywhere much. They were brought back to the company in 2023 and were sparsely used on television.

Davenport has not been used on WWE television since November and lost her way in the pack after she was called up from NXT. The 28-year-old British star has been under a WWE deal since 2021.

And the last, and somewhat surprising, departure is Sonya Deville. Deville is part of the Pure Fusion Collective with Shayna Baszler and Zoey Stark and has been with the company since 2015. PWInsider reports that her situation is that the contract is not being renewed so she will become an instant free agent when her deal expires in a few weeks.

Drew McIntyre and Alexa Bliss move to Smackdown

By
Colin Vassallo
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Both Drew McIntyre and Alexa Bliss will be moving to Smackdown effective tonight.

McIntyre has been a staple on Raw for quite a while now but needed a change of scenery after long feuds with the likes of Sami Zayn, CM Punk, and Seth Rollins. McIntyre is rumored to enter in a feud against Cody Rhodes in the near future over the WWE championship.

Meanwhile, Alexa Bliss is also moving to the blue brand as plans remain to have her involved somehow with the Wyatt Sicks faction. The Wyatts have been off TV for a bit due to an injury.

Bliss returned to WWE at the Royal Rumble after a two-year absence and has signed a new five-year deal with the company.

Dynamite rating for 02/05/2025

By
Colin Vassallo
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Dynamite logo

Dynamite this week drew 605,000 viewers, up just 1,000 viewers from the previous week. This was the third least-watched Dynamite of 2025 so far. The show had a 0.17 rating in 18-49, the same as the prior week and was #5 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. These numbers do not include viewers on Max. (Ratings credit: Programming Insider)

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