The 20 WWE Superstars who will be participating in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal this coming Friday on Smackdown have been revealed.
Included in the list are Akira Tozawa, Andrade, Apollo Crews, Ashante “Thee” Adonis, Bronson Reed, Brutus Creed, Cameron Grimes, Cedric Alexander, Chad Gable, Elton Prince, Ivar, JD McDonagh, Julius Creed, Kit Wilson, Omos, Otis, Ricochet, Sanga, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Veer.
Reed was the runner up of last year’s battle royal after he was eliminated by winner Bobby Lashley.
Olympic gold medalist Tamyra Mensah-Stock made her NXT in-ring debut last night in Melbourne, Florida, at a non-televised live event.
She wrestled – and won – against BreAnna Covington in the eighth match of the 10-match card. Covington is a track and field athlete from Fresno who is also under a WWE developmental deal.
Mensah-Stock, who won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in the freestyle 68kg division, signed with WWE in May of last year and has been training at the WWE Performance Center ever since.
She had previously made an appearance at SummerSlam in Las Vegas with fellow gold medalist Gable Steveson.
The 31-year-old became the first black female wrestler to win a gold medal in women’s freestyle wrestling.
Cody Rhodes has confirmed in an interview on 8 News Now Las Vegas that he has signed a new multi-year deal with WWE and while he did not announce how long it is for, he said it goes past his 40th birthday and he’s 38 now.
“Not to like…give you a scoop, because it was widely reported, but I did sign a new contract with WWE. And it extends beyond my 40th birthday,” Rhodes told his interviewer Justin Walker.
Rhodes said that the plan is still to retire without it being a painful process when it’s time to step out. He mentioned that his father retired as an “old man wrestler” and while he loved it, as his son, it was hard to see.
“My daughter, she’s two going on three here shortly, there does have to be a time, just like he did with us, where I have to be home all the time and be there with her,” Cody said.
The American Nightmare continued to add that he hit his prime run “late in the game” so the end date is no longer 40, but he’ll update the number when he gets an idea!
Matt Cardona made a surprise appearance on Collision from London, Ontario yesterday answering Adam Copeland’s Cope Open challenge.
While this is not the first time that Cardona appeared on AEW television, it’s been a couple of years since the indie star showed up there. You have to go back to 2020 and the pandemic era to find his last appearance for AEW.
As you might probably expect, Cardona did not win the TNT title but he did give Copeland a good challenge and hit his finisher Radio Silence for a very near fall. Ultimately, he fell victim to Copeland’s spear to end the match.
Cardona, the husband of WWE Superstar Chelsea Green, is currently a free agent but keeps himself very occupied as the former Intercontinental champion has mastered the art of indie wrestling, becoming one of the most successful wrestling stars without any of the big brands behind his marketing.
Copeland out to start the show, to a huge response. They recapped how he’d beaten Cage. Nigel said Cage had quit in that match since his kids were watching at home and he didn’t want to put them through any more.
Crowd seems very hot, Copeland played to them and was quickly interrupted by a loud ‘Adam,’ chant. He said he’s finally closed the book on Christian and it’s time to go back to the Cope Open. But now the stakes are higher because his title’s on the line. He’s ‘here to fight.’
So asked who was up first. Music played, no one reacted because they weren’t familiar with it. Then Matt Cardona walked out and the crowd did react. Me, I wondered why the hell they keep feeling the need to give tv time to outsiders when they have such a bloated roster.
Riccaboni’s joined Nigel and Schiavone on comms for the show btw.
Adam Copeland vs Matt Cardona (TNT Title)
Backstory: It’s that staple of the overworked/underskilled booker – the open challenge!
Copeland ran him over with a shoulder, series of hip tosses, crowd already chanting TiA.
Lockup, Cardona headlock, whipped off but running through Copeland, stereo dropkicks to a draw and another cheer from the crowd. They stalled briefly and the crowd continued to go ape. Really hot fans so far.
Boos now though as Cardona choked Copeland in the corner; the vet slid under the ropes after a whip and made the new boy chase him, right into a lariat outside. Before they battled on the apron, Cardona raked the eyes and shoved Copeland off.
You know what that means!
Ads. So yeah if you don’t like AEW being criticized you ain’t gonna like this, but it is the most AEW thing in the world to respond to the worst rating in years by bringing out an indie wrestler.
Back to Copeland fighting out of a headlock but being run over. Crowd still ridiculously loud. Chin lock, the champ again trying to fight out, to his feet, shots to the gut, duck under, they crashed trying cross bodies, then lariats, then shotguns, both down.
More TiA.
Cardona crawling up in the ropes, Copeland up second but sweeping the challenger off the top buckle. Cardona returned the favor, catching Copeland up top and thinking superplex but being thrown down via front suplex, Copeland following up via bulldog, two count with the first pin of the match.
Cage ducked a pair of lariats into a reverse facebuster, Cardona rolling outside to escape the pin, making Copeland chase him this time and kicking the middle rope into Copeland’s junk, impaler, Copeland out at two.
Cardona then dragged him to the corner, talking smack and slapping him. More boos. They keep calling this ‘student vs teacher’.
Copeland missed a Spear but countered Cardona’s finish, hit a powerbomb, 1, 2… kickout. Cardona down, another Spear coming, this crowd is electric, Cardona countered into Radio Silence but Copeland kicked out.
Copeland down now, Cardona readying a spear, Copeland countered with one of his own for the very popular win. Solid match made to feel much more by an incredible crowd. Will Copeland ever wrestle somebody who isn’t ex-WWE? Stay tuned to find out.
Winner: Adam Copeland
Copeland was celebrating when the lights went out. Malakai Black appeared in the ring. Crowd chanted ‘Holy Shit,’ they stared at each other, Buddy Matthews attacked from behind, Mark Briscoe raced out but was immediately, immediately, taken out by the House. Until Eddie Kingston came out, the House stood back, lights down, House gone.
*****
Lexy spoke to FTR earlier:
She said they’re considered the favorites to win the tournament. Clearly the phrase ‘ton of momentum’ has been earmarked for the Infantry because she used it here after Excalibur kept repeating it Wednesday. It’s funny every single time.
Cash said he wouldn’t consider them favorites. They’ve been on a losing streak. Last time they wrestled they were choked out by the BCC.
Dax compared this to March Madness and said they wanted to become the most decorated team in history. And that there will be no Cinderella Story tonight.
*****
Schiavone then called the Acclaimed & Billy Gunn to the ring.
Supposedly BCG invaded their home last night or something. Course, we were never shown this. The crowd were chanting for Billy but he said he’s pissed off. And pissed off at Jay White. He’s fine with White hitting him in the head with a chair (he seriously said this) but isn’t with him coming into his house where he and his wife live.
He referenced Jay selling out MSG but bragged he’s done that a bunch of times. They’re facing Wednesday (if White doesn’t win that cleanly and convincingly…)
The Acclaimed addressed the Gunns. And said they should all stay in the back for that match. And keep an eye on each other. If they have faith in Jay White, they should be happy leaving him to go one on one. Caster called Jay ‘Twinkblade’.
How the hell are these guys so popular?
Bowens said he was right all along, Jay White is a coward. And something about Billy’s wife slapping pubes off someone’s face.
Bad wrestling companies have guys talk about an angle as serious as a home invasion without actually showing their audience what happened. They also don’t consider two in the space of four months overkill.
FTR vs the Infantry (Tag Tourney QF)
Backstory: Winner faces Starks&Bill/Top Flight in the semis
After the Infantry collapsed over the finish line covered in their own vomit last time, it’ll be ridiculous if FTR don’t polish them off quickly here. But then that wouldn’t allow for a ‘good match.’
Amazingly, they did decide to recap how the Infantry got here. Why on earth would you remind people of that?
Cash easily wrestled Dean to the mat then paint-brushed him. Headlock/headscissors exchanges, Dean got a pair of armdrags and dragged Cash to the corner to tag Bravo. He ran through Dax twice then hit a pair of dropkicks, he and Dean took down both FTR with dropkicks.
This crowd gave them the quietest response they’re capable of.
Cash back in, wailing away on Dean with chops until Dean fired back. And got two after a splash. Bravo back in, right into an awesome snap powerslam from Cash. Dax hit a superplex on Dean.
Ads.
Bravo was caught out of a dive; FTR kindly held him in place long enough for Dean to crash onto all three. Bravo hit a crossbody back inside, Dax rolled through to get two, they exchanged near falls, brdging in and out of pins and etc, backslide city.
The Infantry disrupted a spike piledriver to get another near fall on Dax. Cash returned and took out Dean. Dax powerbombed Bravo, Cash German into a Dax jackknife pin, Schiavone was convinced that was it. It wasn’t.
Dean then returned with a spear and Bravo got another near fall. Infantry hit double superkicks, Bravo neckbreaker to Dax, Wheeler made the save. Dean hit a floatover ddt. Infantry got another near fall, Bravo got another near fall, Dax crashed into Cash and Bravo got another near fall.
He fought off both FTR but turned around into a Shatter Machine and lost. We’re all shocked. If you like near falls…
On neither of their tv appearances have the Infantry appeared all that smooth.
So it seems all that silliness with the Infantry beating HOB the way they did was simply to avoid the latter having to lose cleanly. As usual. Don’t know why else you wouldn’t have that be the match here.
Winner: FTR
Back to Lexy with Bill and Ricky. She did at least note we haven’t seen them since they lost to Sting. Bill put Top Flight over but called them a #16 seed and themselves a #1 seed. They’re going to dance their way to becoming the two-time champs.
Starks said then they’re going to beat FTR. They’re ‘guaranteeing’ they’ll beat FTR again and prove they’re the best team AEW’s ever had. ‘I absolutely guarantee it’.
It’s so weird they waste tv time on Cardonas and Infantrys when they have guys this charismatic disappearing for weeks.
(For anyone outside the US, March Madness is a college basketball tournament that has its share of upsets since every game is win or go home. And it seems Tony Khan’s decided this tag tournament is along those lines.)
*****
Back after ads to a pissed Copeland with Kingston and Briscoe. He challenged the House to face them at Dynasty.
Briscoe said he and Kingston have to fight at the ROH ppv Friday first. He said they’d fight there but then team. Kingston finished: ‘You guys like to spit mist, do spooky stuff… after Dynasty you guys’ll be spittin blood and teeth.’
I heart Eddie. Give this man more mic time for god’s sake.
Kyle O’Reilly vs JD Drake
Backstory: NONE
Kyle got a decent response coming out but even this crowd couldn’t rouse themselves to make noise for this.
Drake hit a big enziguri early then headed up for a Vader bomb, missed, missed a cannonball too, O’Reilly began aiming kicks and strikes (the latter didn’t look great, former did), running forearm in the corner, hammerlock into a knee to the gut and discus shot, Drake down.
Brutal kick to the chest for two, right into an armbar. Tap.
Thank. God. More squashes like this please.
The Disputed Kingdom were out before the bell rang to put Kyle on their shoulders and celebrate.
Winner: Kyle O’Reilly
They played highlights of Will Hobbs’ last few matches contrasted with highlights of Ospreay’s recent wins. They’re facing Wednesday. They are legit calling it ‘A Battle of Wills.’
This is their response to crashing ratings? Throwing Will Hobbs, who has disappeared from tv for months now, out there to lose? This is why you need to keep people on tv and involved in storylines, so that they have value when you need them to attract an audience and put somebody over.
Big Bill & Ricky Starks vs Top Flight
Backstory: Winner faces FTR in the semis
Bill & Starks are a perfect example of one of AEW’s biggest weaknesses. They lost to Sting in February and just – poof – disappeared. We haven’t seen or heard from them since. With no explanation.
Starks and Darius to start, former aiming shots to the gut until being taken down twice by Martin. Who continued working the arm till being whipped off, Starks missed a stomp and was backslid into a pin for two.
Dante blind tagged in, lariat through the ropes, slingshot senton, Starks too close to the ropes for the pin. He broke a grapple and fled to tag the big man. Who got a nice reaction. Dante wary, sticking and moving, trying to avoid the big man until being cornered and smashed.
Though slid under a lariat, hit a dropkick, Darius in to help, they fought off a double chokeslam, a double dropkick staggered the big man who wobbled outside, they sent Starks out too and mocked his pose.
The ex-champs had a strategy sesh, Starks grabbed Dante’s boot, Big Bill pump kick, ads.
Back to Bill flinging Dante in through the ropes. Crowd are mostly cheering him though. Crushing splash in the corner, Dante avoided a second, cannonball off the top, crawling for the tag, Starks in, Darius too, lariats and rights, Manhattan drop, Pele kick off the buckle.
Bill back in and bridged right back out by Dante, Darius got a weird jackknife pin, the fans booed because it looked like the ref counted three. After brief double teaming, Darius hit a tornado ddt off his brother’s chest.
Ref counted three.
They started playing Starks’ music, then Top Flight’s, after a long delay the announcers finally started talking about what a big win this was.
This tournament has the worst finishes I’ve ever seen. Starks’ contract has to be up soon right?
Winner: Top Flight
We raced backstage to Christopher Daniels. He challenged Malakai Black for Rampage.
Thunder Rosa vs Lady Frost
Backstory: NONE
They are now saying Rosa is ranked #1. Because she beat Toni in that recent tag. Theme’s dope.
Crowd quiet again here outside of a few chants for Rosa, as the latter dominated down to the mat, they gator rolled back and forth several times as Rosa got a pair of twos.
Frost hit an attack in the corner, cartwheeled out and was blasted by a Rosa lariat. Nigel deliberately talked all over Tony to introduce the break.
Ads.
Back to another Frost cartwheel, she this time hit the corner shoulder charge afterward, tried for her finish, Rosa countered out, exchange for forearms, running one taking Frost down, back elbow, drop toe hold leaving Frost against the bottom rope, crowd coming alive for Rosa who played to them then hit a running dropkick, count of two.
She signalled it was over but Frost fought off a Tijuana Bomb and hit Chiller Driller. Rosa kicked out. Frost missed a spinning kick then took a Tijuana Bomb as Rosa won.
Nothing special.
She yelled to the camera that everyone needed to put respect on her name.
Baby once proudly rapped, ‘Shoot up anything except a school or a playground,’ he’s not someone to emulate, Rosa.
Winner: Thunder Rosa
Backstage to Toni and etc with Renee. Renee revealed Rosa and Mariah May are wrestling for a title shot next week. Toni asked if this was Mariah’s plan all along then called May a ‘magnificent bastard’ and a ‘genius’. After kissing her.
She asked May to do the actions for her catchphrase, Mariah was all smiley and happy.
So… why the hell is she in the title mix?
*****
They ran through everything for the week ahead and everything so far for Dynasty.
In slower fashion than usual.
*****
Then went to a package showing Will Ospreay’s career journey, lots of Rev Pro clips and etc. Voiced by Excalibur.
Including the line: ‘producing multiple matches of the year.’ Wrestling, competing in, battling through…
Backstory: The heels attacked Claudio after he beat Archer two weeks ago, BD & Shibata ran them off
Could not believe it when they said this was the main event. Riccaboni said the Righteous put people into a ‘hypnotic trance’, maybe ‘soporific’?
Some chants of ‘Shi-ba-ta’ as this got going. He and Archer wrestling very much New Japan style, stiff shots prior to a running dropkick and stiff kicks from the Wrestler. Archer caught one intended for the chest and teed off before attempting a suplex. Shibata countered into a sleeper until being snapmared off, each ducked a lariat, stalemate.
Dutch in, Claudio asked for the tag. They grappled, to another stalemate. Dutch aimed a cheap kick to the gut after a rope break and rebounded off the ropes into a stiff shoulder block. Claudio responded with a Cena special and a scoop slam. Then a stomp.
And tag to Danielson.
Forearms in the corner. Kicks now. Crowd chanting with every one. But Dutch exploded out to crash through the Dragon. And tag Vincent. Series of rights, Archer cheerleading since the crowd’s gone quiet with the heels on offense.
Danielson kipped over using the buckle, avoided Vincent, tope through the ropes to Dutch, double knees off the apron to Archer, Vincent came back and sent him to the barricade.
Cause ads and heels.
Back to Dutch beating down Danielson who was cut off from his corner. But snatched a LeBell, Archer straight in to break it. Schiavone said this was a ‘great move’. Illegal maybe? Cheating? Desperate? Something to put heat on the heels?
Danielson started making the crawl, Archer came in again to cut him off then took turns with Dutch slamming the other onto Danielson. Then flung him into a Bossman slam. For two.
Dutch prepped a superplex, Danielson fought back, shots to the gut, Dutch plummeting, Danielson taking aim via shotgun, crowd right behind him
Claudio in, he vs Archer, Claudio landed a rana, ten in the corner, big uppercut to end, cutter off the buckle, thinking swing, crowd to their feet. The Righteous cut him off to heavy boos. Shibata came in to fight them off, he and Claudio hit running attacks across one-another, Archer looked for a double chokeslam, they fought him off with a flurry of chops and uppercuts, big open hand from Shibata, into the swing, crowd going wild, good number of rotations, into the sharpshooter, Dutch broke it.
Shibata got rid of both Righteous but took an Archer boot. Claudio fought him off, Archer flipped out of a Neutralizer, Vincent hit a senton bomb, Claudio kicked out. Then avoided the heels, tag to Shibata, who annihilated Vincent with a boot in the corner, hanging dropkick, suplex, Vincent kicked out, Dutch saved the loss.
Time to end this now.
Vincent rolled up Shibata, no one bought it, Shibata absolutely nailed him, got a sleeper, fought off Archer, hit a PK to Vincent for the win.
Crowd loved the babyfaces, exchanges between Claudio and Archer were very fun, that guy’s so underutilized, no-one bought any of the heels’ pin attempts.
Samoa Joe & Swerve contract signing (didn’t get much of a reaction)
Jericho calls out Hook (this was booed so loudly I laughed. Also, why is he now ‘calling out’ Hook? Aren’t they friends?)
Next Collision (11.30 Eastern):
FTR vs Top Flight (Tag Semis) (I assume, don’t think they announced it)
Thumbs Up/Down
Like pairing Briscoe with Eddie and Copeland, gives him a ‘rub’
Fantastic crowd made for a lively atmosphere
*****
This tag tournament is utter trash, didn’t think the belts could sink any lower but these finishes have to be among the worst for any non-Russo tournament
Don’t know how you guys felt but this seemed another show full of obvious winners and losers ahead of time and mostly played out that way
Like Wednesday, and because FTR were so obviously winning, there was nothing here with any real stakes or drama, nothing you had to see
Appreciate you reading. Enjoy the rest of the weekend.
A WrestleMania Kickoff show will be held on Friday, April 5 starting at 5PM ET outside the Wells Fargo Center ahead of Smackdown.
Hosted by Michael Cole and Pat McAfee, the WrestleMania Kickoff will also feature Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE World Heavyweight champion Seth Rollins, WWE Women’s World champion Rhea Ripley, Intercontinental champion Gunther, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Becky Lynch, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso, and Sami Zayn.
The event will be streaming live on Peacock/WWE Network and on all WWE social media platforms.
The Kickoff name is usually reserved for the pre-show but this year the name of the two pre-shows leading to the event will be called Countdown to WrestleMania.
They will be two-hour events and will be hosted by Michael Cole, Pat McAfee, CM Punk, Big E, Wade Barrett, and Jackie Redmond.
Next Monday’s Raw will have the first hour commercial free as WWE continues to push for the biggest WrestleMania ever.
Raw will be held in Brooklyn, New York, and it will be the final stop for the red brand before the show of shows.
Both The Rock and the WWE Undisputed Universal champion Roman Reigns are both slated to be on the show as we’ll definitely see the fallout from last week’s crazy ending where Rock busted open Cody Rhodes and beat him up outside in the Chicago rain.
Brooklyn’s Barclays Center is almost sold out and will be by the time the show starts.
The WrestleMania Six-Pack ladder match has been completed after the final two teams moved on to the show after winning their last qualifying matches last night on Smackdown.
Grayson Waller and Austin Theory defeated The Street Profits first and then Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate defeated Humberto and Angel to clinch the second and final spot.
The match will now feature Damian Priest and Finn Balor defending the title against A-Town Down Under, The New Catch Republic, DIY, Awesome Truth, and The New Day.
A six-woman tag team match has been made official for WrestleMania after last night’s Smackdown.
After the main event of Bianca Belair vs Dakota Kai, the WWE Women’s Tag Team champions Kabuki Warriors attacked Belair and Naomi came out for the save. But with the numbers still favoring Damage CTRL, Smackdown’s newest signee, Jade Cargill, walked down to even the odds.
Cargill hit the big boot on Asuka, hit a pop-up power bomb on Dakota Kai, and then delivered the Jaded finisher to Kairi Sane. The faction then retreated as the faces stood in the ring staring them down.
Smackdown General Manager Nick Aldis then made the match official during a backstage segment filmed for WWE’s social media properties.
Rey Mysterio is looking to take on his son Dominik once again at WrestleMania, but this time in a tag team match.
On Smackdown last night, the WWE Hall of Famer challenged Dominik and the leader of Legado del Fantasma, Santos Escobar, for a tag team match next weekend against himself and a partner of his choosing. Fans inside the arena chanted for Carlito, which popped a smile from the Puerto Rican.
“Which one of you dorks are going to be the one?” Dominik responded among the boos from the crowd.
“It’s the newest member of the LWO,” Mysterio responded, and former NXT North American champion Dragon Lee came out.
With both factions standing across each other, it was Elektra Lopez who ran her mouth at Zelina Vega, and Vega responded with a massive slap across the face. All hell then broke loose as a brawl ensued between all members of the factions.
The Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal will be returning during WrestleMania weekend and just like it has been in the past few years, the battle royal will be part of the Smackdown on the eve of night one of WrestleMania.
The match was introduced in 2014 as part of the actual premium live event but in 2021 it was moved to Smackdown the night before. Bobby Lashley won the last one, eliminating Bronson Reed.
Among the nine winners of the battle royal, five of them are no longer with the company and one was sent back to NXT.
A short-lived women’s WrestleMania battle royal was also introduced in 2018 and but it was held only twice. Naomi and Carmella are the only two winners.
Smackdown opened with showing what the Rock did to Cody Rhodes at the end of Raw.
Paul Heyman, Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa are shown arriving as is Bianca Belair, then Damage Control.
Randy Orton & Kevin Owens VS. Pretty Deadly
While Pretty Deadly was battling Randy outside, Logan Paul snuck in the ring and punched Kevin with the brass knuckles and Pretty Deadly ran in and pinned Kevin. Paul went back hiding under the ring.
Winners: Pretty Deadly
As the replay was shown. Orton saw Paul crawl under the ring and then he went out and pulled Paul out. As Randy sets up Paul for an RKO on the announce table, Pretty Deadly comes back out and gives Randy a block in the back of the knee. Pretty Deadly end up back in the ring and receives a stunner and an RKO as Randy goes back out after Logan Paul. Randy chased Paul clear back to the parking area where Paul shoves two people and pulls out in a Corvette.
Bayley attacked Iyo Sky after Iyo talked about their match at WrestleMania.
Nick Aldis is in the ring to take care of what he says is a monumental piece of business to take care of. He announced the newest member of the Smackdown roster Jade Cargill. Jade signed her contract and said the storm had arrived.
AJ Styles talking to Nick Aldis and AJ asked if he is sure LA Knight was not here tonight, and Nick said he asked Knight not to be here tonight and AJ said you should have told him.
Austin Theory & Grayson Waller VS. The Street Profits in a WrestleMania six-pack challenge qualifying match.
As Ford was going to the top rope, they show Karrion Kross and Scarlett talking about them missing a good party in the back and by the time Ford launched with the frog splash, Theory got his knees up and rolled Ford up for the pin.
Winners: Austin Theory & Grayson Waller
After the match the AOP attacked the Profits and Kross and Scarlett joined them as Bobby Lashley limps out to fight Kross again. But AOP helped Kross leave Lashley lying in the ring as well.
Legado Del Fantasma are next to the ring to thank Dominik Mysterio. Dominik said he will always do anything to make his dad’s life a living Hell. Rey comes out with the L.W.O. Rey challenged Santos & Dominik to a tag match with him and a partner of his choosing at WrestleMania. Rey said it’s the newest member of the L.W.O. Dragon Lee. A fight began.
L.W.O. clears the ring of Legado Del Fantasma.
Bianca and Naomi in the locker room and Naomi tells Bianca she has her back.
The Judgment Day is shown and asking Dominik what he is doing. Dominik says he needs to go see the doctor and he is sorry. JD took Dominik to the trainer and Priest said this WrestleMania is important for the Judgment Day and them as individuals and Rhea said you need to tell me something and Finn jumps in and says we need to own WrestleMania.
Humberto & Angel VS. New Catch Republic in the WrestleMania six-pack challenge match.
Dunne and Bate hit the Double Tyler Driver on Angel and got the win.
Winners: New Catch Republic
We are again shown a recap of what the Rock did to Cody Rhodes on Raw and then we are shown extra footage of the Rock whipping Cody more after they were off the air.
Paul Heyman said The Rock took out Cody Rhodes on the order of the Tribal Chief and Jimmy says to Jey, he will not make it to WrestleMania on orders of the Tribal Chief.
AJ Styles said Nick Aldis asked LA Knight not to be there, but he knows he is there. A guy jumps the barricade and security quickly catches him and Styles comes out and takes his mask off and it’s not Knight. Styles continues and then we see Knight standing by the announce table with a hat and glasses with a WWE shirt on looking like he is part of the camera crew. As Knight takes his hat off, Styles sees this on the big screen and a fight begins. Knight gets a chair, Styles jumps the barricade and runs away.
Knight gets a microphone and stands on the announce table and tells AJ, he can run and hide but at WrestleMania he will show you who’s game it is with everybody say in, “LA Knight YEAH.”
Next was a Tiffany Stratton video package.
Bianca Belair VS. Dakota Kai
Belair hits the KOD to get the win.
Winner: Bianca Belair
It did not take long for the Kabuki Warriors to come in and attack Belair and Naomi comes out and Damage Control beat down Naomi and Bianca until Jade Cargill comes out. Jade takes out all of Damage Control.
Smackdown goes off the air as Naomi, Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair stand in the center of the ring looking down at Damage Control reeling from what Jade did to them.
Smackdown tonight will be moving away a little bit from the whole Bloodline saga as it focuses on other matters leading up to WrestleMania next week.
The last two teams in the mini tournament for a spot in the WrestleMania six-pack ladder match will be determined tonight with The Street Profits taking on A-Town Down Under while The New Catch Republic battle Legado del Fantasma. Each winner of those matches advance to WrestleMania.
The only other two matches announced are Bianca Belair vs Dakota Kai and Kevin Owens teams up with Randy Orton to take on Pretty Deadly.
Jade Cargill will be making her much-awaited debut on Smackdown live tonight on FOX.
While the former TBS champion has appeared on WWE television in multiple backstage segments after she signed, she only made her in-ring debut in the women’s Royal Rumble in January and took out Nia Jax. But after that, she was gone again and the company never followed up with the Jax/Cargill confrontation.
WWE has delayed the 31-year-old’s full debut to prepare her better in the ring and she has undergone extensive training at the WWE Performance Center under the watchful eyes of experienced coaches.
Cargill wrote on X that “weather reports say a storm is coming” tonight on Smackdown and earlier thanked her fans for sticking with her journey throughout “the small” of her career.
Matt Hardy revealed on his podcast that he has been offered a new contract with AEW to stay “for a few years,” with his current one set to expire at the end of this month.
“I’m looking through it,” Matt said. “I’m like deciding what I want to do going forward. There’s obviously still some options. I got to make sure that I’m aware of the ins and outs of the contract, and I want to make sure everything is up to par as far as like what I want it to be.”
Matt noted that since he only has a couple of more years left in him doing this, he wants to make the most out of those years, and wants to be optimized in whatever he is doing.
“So I’m very happy to be invited to return to AEW and work for AEW for the foreseeable future, but we shall see. Because right now I’m just currently weighing out the options. There’s a couple things out there, and I would say in the next month, I should probably know what my immediate future’s going to hold,” he concluded.
Matt last competed in an AEW match on the January 5 episode of Rampage, teaming with his brother Jeff and Mark Briscoe to take on The Butcher, The Blade, and Kip Sabian.
Three more VIP Superstars have been added to the WWE World festivities at WrestleMania week.
With all 11 previously-announced stars all sold out, WWE added Bayley for Thursday, Dominik Mysterio on Sunday, and LA Knight on Monday, each costing the usual $200 a pop. A general admission ticket is also required for the day.
Many other WWE Superstars will be appearing throughout the week for meet and greets without additional payments including the likes of Pete Dunne, Dragon Lee, Grayson Waller, Chelsea Green, Zelina Vega, The Creed Brothers, Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Cora Jade, and many others.
The @WrestleVotes X account is reporting that the NXT Battleground premium live event has been moved from May 26 to June 9.
The show was originally scheduled to take place from the Enmarket Arena in Savannah, Georgia and was going to be followed by a live Monday Night Raw the next day. With the date change, the location is also moving.
The new location for the show is rumored to be the UFC APEX, the live events and production center for UFC located in Las Vegas.
Opened in June 2019, the APEX was the home of the UFC during the COVID pandemic and still hosts the UFC Vegas series.
Stage A is where the show would be held, a 12,425-square foot studio which pretty much holds less number of people than the WWE Performance Center where NXT is taped weekly.
Online gambling has never been more popular than it is right now. “Her yeni gün, her ikisinde de kumar oynamak için iyi optimize edilmiş bir platform olan Pin Up kazino TR daha fazla insan keşfediyor masaüstü ve mobil cihazlar. Onu daha da büyük yapan ise Türkiye’deki spor kültürüne ve sporculara olan bağlılığıdır. Stratejik sponsorluklar ve ortaklıklar da dahil olmak üzere bunun birçok farklı kanıtı var.” – one of PinUp’s regular players told us.
Why This Website Is So Important For Sports Fans?
Turkey has a rich sporting heritage, with soccer being the biggest obsession for locals. Pin-Up online recognizes the demand among people when it comes to catching up with live events. This is why it is promoting Turkish football at various levels. Among the company’s most well-known contributions is the sponsorship of major football clubs like Fenerbahçe, one of the country’s most successful and widely supported teams.
Such deals are important because they allow the company to promote the team on all of its digital platforms and have a full statistic on display for users who would like to use the online-casino PinUp for betting. It is also a good source for building a solid fan base and proceeding toward the club’s development programs, ensuring a steady pipeline of rising future talents.
Embracing Tradition: Pin-Up Kazino’s Support for Turkish Wrestling
Pin-Up Kazino’s dedication to Turkish sports extends beyond mainstream favorites like soccer, encompassing traditional sports like wrestling. In Turkey, wrestling holds deep cultural significance, with events like the Kırkpınar oil wrestling festival dating back centuries. By including wrestling in its platform, Pin-Up not only caters to enthusiasts but also contributes to preserving Turkey’s rich sporting heritage.
More Than Just a Soccer
Pin-Up kumarhane Turkey support for sports extends beyond soccer alone. The company also covers many other types of sports, including the Basketball Super League and Turkish Volleyball League. It helps the platform evolve, thanks to the growing number of active users interested in specific competitions.
The company also tries to advocate for all players, no matter their gambling tastes. If they are interested in sports themes, many PinUp slots are inspired by soccer, tennis, basketball, or specific talents in general. It helps the website engage with fans on so many more levels and supports the industry everyone in Turkey knows and loves.
Social Media Activities
To make the life of an ordinary user even more convenient, the company has several pages on social media platforms. They allow the company to communicate with fans and provide them with news on the most important events in the sports entertainment business. Fans just need to subscribe to the Instagram page of Pin Up or join the Telegram channel for promotions inspired by the most attractive upcoming matches.
The Responsibility of the Pin Up Casino
The company understands its responsibility before the fans. This is why it covers all the major events in the best possible fashion. In some sense, it aligns itself with the nation’s sporting passion. It has strengthened the brand presence on the market and contributed to the growth and development of Turkish sports at all levels.
The Turkish sports scene continues to evolve by producing world-class athletes and hosting prestigious events. Pin Up Casino unprecedented support remains a driving force that ensures the country’s sporting culture thrives and inspires future generations.
Dynamite this week drew just 747,000 viewers, down 53,000 viewers from the previous show and the least-watched episode on a Wednesday night since April 2021. The show had a 0.23 rating in the 18-49 demo, down 0.04 from last week and the lowest since June 2020. It was #3 on the top 50 cable chart for the night. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)
Vince McMahon has sold an additional 3,484,006 TKO shares according to a filing with the United Sates Securities and Exchange Commission.
The transaction was recorded on March 5 and says that McMahon entered into a “variable prepaid forward sale agreement with an unidentified bank” on March 24, 2020.
“The physical settlement contemplated by the Agreement were divided into 15 components, each of the first 14 of which were with respect to 232,267 shares of the Issuer’s Class A common stock and the last of which was with respect to 232,268 shares of the Issuer’s Class A common stock, and took place on each weekday between March 5, 2024 and March 25, 2024. Upon such physical settlement, the Reporting Person received, in the aggregate, approximately $100 million from the Bank,” the SEC filing says.
McMahon has made three large transactions to sell TKO stocks over the past few months as his involvement with the company came to an end after he resigned in January.
The former WWE chief has received over $1 billion from these sales.
McMahon still owns over 11 million worth of TKO shares which at today’s value are worth just under $1 billion.
