Chris Jericho\’s AEW status might be more complicated than first thought.
The wrestling future of the former AEW World Champion has been a huge topic of speculation over the last few months. The popular belief has been that Y2J was on his way back to WWE as soon as his contract with Tony Khan\’s promotion expired.
A recent update from Fightful Select, however, suggests that things might not be that simple. According to the site, the belief is that Jericho\’s deal was frozen when he took time off from AEW in April last year:
\”Chris Jericho is firmly under contract to AEW, and Fightful Select’s Sean Ross Sapp is told the belief from those around Jericho and in AEW is that his deal was frozen after he took time off in 2025.\”
In an interview last November, President Tony Khan had also suggested that Chris\’s AEW absence had to do more with working out dates of his deal rather than creative differences.
The wrestling veteran\’s contract with AEW was believed to run through 2025, so many expected him to become a free agent at the start of 2026. Though if the company paused his deal, it means Jericho can remain under contract until he returns to AEW to fulfil his remaining obligations, or the two sides come to an agreement for his release.
The NXT star had been involved in a feud with Blake Monroe in recent times. The two had a match on last week\’s episode of the show, which ended in a draw with both women getting counted out. A brawl that followed saw Jaida getting the upper hand, but not before attacking a referee and a security guard.
This week\’s episode of the development show then featured a backstage segment with new Interim GM Robert Stone chatting with Women\’s Speed Champion Fallon Henley. Monroe rolled in asking about Parker, and Stone first claimed that she was suspended for her actions last week.
The NXT official, however, then revealed that Jaida Parker was actually out of action with a neck injury. When Henley reminded them both of her presence, Stone decided that Blake was the perfect candidate to fill in the last spot in the announced Speed tournament. A match between Blake Monroe and Thea Hail was then confirmed for the show next week.
The severity of Jaida\’s injury is not known, but the company\’s pivot of putting Monroe in the Speed tournament suggests that the female star will be out of action at least a few weeks. Stay tuned for more updates on her status.
The first matches have been confirmed for NXT Vengeance Day.
This week\’s episode of the development show saw the NXT Champion Joe Hendry attacking Ricky Saints in the parking lot during the opening segment of the night.
The two stars then had a promo battle later on, where Saints called Hendry a meme champion. The former AEW star confirmed that the Vengeance Day PPV will be taking place on March 7. Saints went on to challenge Joe Hendry for the NXT title at the show and the former TNA star accepted the match.
Elsewhere in the episode, a vignette featuring The Culling\’s Izzi Dame, Shawn Spears & Niko Vance aired. The video package confirmed another match for the upcoming event, where Dame will defend her Women\’s North American Championship against Tatum Paxley.
Vengeance Day last year took place in Washington, D.C., but the company is yet to announce the venue and other details of the show this year.
Rusev has revealed how WWE got him to agree to the infamous Bobby Lashley storyline.
The former US Champion recently spoke to Chris Van Vliet for a new interview. He talked about things such as the best advice he got from John Cena, growing up in poverty, how match with Dolph Ziggler put him on the map in NXT and more.
During the session, he also opened up about the storyline involving his wife Lana and Bobby Lashley. When asked how it was originally pitched to him, Rusev revealed that he was originally told that the story would lead to a match between him and the All Mighty at WrestleMania:
“WrestleMania match. That’s how it was pitched to me. I said, Great, I can deal with that. We just never got there. But it was a good story. I understood the story. It was not my favorite story, but I understood it. And when they told me what the final goal was, I said, All right, that sounds good to me. We have a direction, we have a dip, we have a comeback. We have a good story to finish it.”
The storyline from late 2019 saw Lana having an affair with Bobby Lashley. When Rusev questioned his wife about it, the female star accused the Bulgarian Brute of being a controlling sex addict, leading to Lana divorcing her husband in a Raw segment. Rusev had multiple matches with Lashley during this rivalry including one at the 2019 TLC PPV but he was unable to beat the former WWE Champion. He was then released from his WWE contract in April 2020, only a few weeks after WrestleMania 36.
When asked how he felt about his wife making out with another guy, the WWE star pointed out that it was no different than Hollywood actors getting intimate with their co-stars on screen:
“It’s acting, though, it’s nothing else, all these Hollywood people, and she’s the only one. How many other WWE female Superstars have made out with so many people? It’s just part of the business. If you start selling it, of course it’s gonna go bad for you, but as long as you take it just to work, it’s nothing else than just to work.”
Rusev was featured in the Last Time is Now tournament last year. He has had several matches on Main Event since then, but the 40-year-old has not competed on Raw or SmackDown this year.
The former AEW star has surprisingly been kept off TV after his big Royal Rumble debut last month, leading to all kinds of speculations about his standing in the company.
WrestleVotes Radio recently provided some updates on the former TNT Champion and the potential reason behind his recent absence. The site revealed that the newest WWE signee was originally slated for a program with Damian Priest coming out of the Saudi PPV.
They couldn\’t provide an exact reason why Royce Keys has not been seen on the main roster after the PLE. Though they speculated that the recent change in top WrestleMania matches might have affected other programs heading into the Show of Shows as well. The report did say that Keys was still expected to end up on SmackDown whenever he did show up on TV.
WWE had teased a rematch between Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes at Survivor Series last year. The Head of the Table has since renewed his rivalry with CM Punk instead and the two are now set for a WrestleMania showdown. Rhodes on the other hand, looks likely for a rematch with Drew McIntyre at the PPV but this match won\’t be confirmed until Elimination Chamber.
Damian Priest in the meantime, has been featured in some segments with R-Truth on SmackDown in the past couple of weeks. He is set to compete in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match against Carmelo Hayes and Trick Williams this Friday.
While the New Day were not featured on the broadcast of this week\’s Raw from Memphis, Tennessee, they did make an appearance during a commercial break on the show.
Kofi Kingston, accompanied by Grayson Waller, cut a promo for the crowd. The former WWE Champion revealed that their other partner, Woods has been dealing with a shoulder injury for a while and doctors have now pulled him off the road for better recovery:
“We have some devastating news to report here tonight to you idiots. Xavier Woods has been injured. He’s been battling a shoulder injury quietly and bravely for the better part of three months now and the medical team and the doctors are now forcing him to take time off in order for the shoulder to recover.”
Waller then read a message from Xavier Woods for the people in attendance where the injured star mentioned how poor and ugly the residents of Memphis were.
The UpUpDownDown star last wrestled in a dark match during the Royal Rumble PPV from Saudi Arabia. He had taken part in the road to Royal Rumble and Christmas Live Event tours before that so it seems likely that he aggravated the injury more recently.
The main event of tonight’s Raw from Memphis, Tennessee, was another triple threat qualifying match for the Elimination Chamber, with Gunther, Dominik Mysterio and Evans battling for the spot.
The Ring General was the favorite going into the bout, and he looked to be in control towards the ending of the match. As Gunther went after Dominik outside the ring, however, Dragon Lee made a surprise appearance. The Masked Star took the former World Champion out using the ring bell as a weapon.
This effectively turned the match into a one-on-one with Mysterio going after the 21-year-old. After crawling back into the ring, Dirty Dom delivered a 619 to Je’Von, but he failed to connect with the Frog Splash. Je’Von Evans instead caught him with the OG cutter and pinned the IC Champion for the win.
Je’Von Evans qualifies for the Men’s Elimination Chamber match.
The former NXT star has become the fourth person to qualify for the Men\’s Elimination Chamber with this victory. He joins Randy Orton, LA Knight, and Cody Rhodes in the match with 2 spots remaining open.
Pinning Dominik Mysterio means that the WWE rookie now also has a claim over a potential title match against the Judgment Day star down the line.
The AEW World Champion recently took to X to share his feelings about the WWE Hall of Famer. The Salt of the Earth, who is proud of being a homegrown talent of Tony Khan\’s promotion, noted that the former WCW Champion has provided a blueprint for his own career.
The 29-year-old wrote that it\’s ok to not like his work on the commentary table, but to disrespect a legend like Booker T is unacceptable:
\”@BookerT5x in a lot of ways is a blueprint to me. A completely homegrown top guy with massive drawing power on Warner TV without having to have worked for McMahon. If you dislike what he does in the booth, that’s fine. But You guys talk crazy on legends. Show some respect, he’s earned it.\”
.@BookerT5x in a lot of ways is a blueprint to me. A completely homegrown top guy with massive drawing power on Warner TV without having to have worked for McMahon.
If you dislike what he does in the booth, that’s fine.
This comes after the wrestling legend was voted the worst Television announcer in the most recent Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards. This led to a lot of discussion about Booker\’s work, and the sanctity of the awards as well
Bryan Alvarez himself has since commented on the choice of their readers, saying that he was aghast by the voting. He claimed that the wrestling veteran is not even the worst announcer on the NXT broadcast team.
Late 1996 was an interesting time for the wrestling world. WCW was dominating the Monday Night Wars with the help of Hulk Hogan\’s recent heel turn, while WWF was also starting to experiment with their programming more. A recently resurfaced interview of then-WWF Champion Shawn Michaels gives us an intriguing look at that era.
Below are some of the highlights from this interview where HBK is promoting his Survivor Series main event match against Sycho Sid:
If he will ever go to WCW: \”Nah, I don\’t think so, of course, you\’re never supposed to say never, in this line of work. But I\’m comfortable where I\’m at. I mean, the outlook that the WWF has on our business today and mine are the same, and I can\’t say that\’s the same for the other group. So I\’m happy where I\’m at. I\’d like to see this through. I\’d like to be one of the few guys that you know sticks around, and gives back to the company that has given him so much. You know, I don\’t know a whole lot of guys that would do that in our line of work. I\’d like to do it. Bret Hart has obviously made that choice, which I think is great, and I\’d just like to follow in his footsteps. I think there\’s some of us that believe that WWF has been very kind to us and we\’d like to someday be able to give something back.\”
Is the ticket-buying public buying the Hollywood Hulk Hogan persona: \”Well, I don\’t know if in the last couple years, they were buying any persona he\’s been putting forward. With all due respect to him, it\’s just because our business, finally, you know, is starting to evolve. People are accepting the fact that, just like in every other line of work or sports franchise that you know, the younger athletes are going to come up and they\’re going to get better, and they will start to steal the spotlight. That\’s finally what\’s happened. A number of wrestlers from years ago have stuck around and have tried to hold on to what they once were, but time takes its toll on everybody. That\’s not to take away from those guys, doesn\’t mean they don\’t have something great to give to the business, but none of them seem to want to give back, they\’re still in position to where they want to take. They don\’t really have the ability to be taking anymore. I think it\’s probably time for them to make the decision to, if they\’re going to continue to be around this line of work, they should start to do it in a different capacity.\”
If he finds regular drug testing demeaning: \”Given the past, and with everything that the WWF has been up against in the past, and who knows in the future? I don\’t, because it\’s just one of those things where you have to prove to people. Even though I don\’t think we\’re in a position where we should have to, because it wasn\’t my generation that got in trouble for all this. It was another generation. We\’re sort of paying the price for it. But if that\’s what it takes to get a clean slate with everybody, then that\’s fine. It doesn\’t really affect me anyway. I was never of that genre in the first place, and I\’m obviously not now, so.\”
What if someone were to tell him that wrestlers were cartoon characters and not real athletes: \”Well, I mean, it\’s something that you get used to hearing. But I\’m certainly, I\’m not a cartoon. I mean, I\’m far from cartoon. I\’m a working human being. But I would ask the guy, what exactly he\’d like me to do to try to change his mind. I\’ll put myself, my schedule, my training regimen, anything that makes up who I am as an athlete, what I feel I am as an athlete. I will put up against any other athlete, doing anything else. I can pretty much guarantee anybody, I was, as in good a physical condition as any athlete they see on Sunday afternoon, easy.\”
Apart from this, Shawn Michaels also discussed the potential of Randy Savage making a WWF return, the Brian Pillman – Steve Austin gun angle and more. You can check out the full interview below:
The Australian native entered tonight\’s AEW Grand Slam event from Sydney as champion after defeating Tommaso Ciampa for the TNT Title at this week\’s Dynamite.
Mark Briscoe had challenged the 27-year-old for a rubber match after his victory, as both stars had 3 wins each against the other. Fletcher agreed to the bout on condition that it will be a ladder match.
The brutal bout saw the native star taking a lot of punishment, but in the end, Kyle Fletcher defeated the Conglomeration member to retain his title.
This wasn\’t the last of Fletcher fans in attendance saw during the night, however. Kyle seemingly made another appearance after the main event of the show and introduced a new pink colored TNT title belt:
Before this, MJF successfully defended his AEW World Title against Brody King, and he was then confronted by the new #1 contender Hangman Page. Loud \’Fuck ICE\’ chants were heard in the arena before this bout, and you can check out a video of it here.
AEW presented the Grand Slam: Australia event from Sydney tonight, with King challenging MJF for the World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of the show.
Before the bout began, fans showed support for the challenger as loud \’Fuck ICE\’ chants were heard in the arena after the recent controversy:
A Dynamite segment involving Brody King had gone viral a couple of weeks ago. The AEW star has been a vocal critic of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency\’s recent actions. The loud \’Fuck ICE\’ chants from the fans before his match had received a lot of mainstream attention.
Fans started speculating about King\’s status when he did not appear on this week\’s episode of the Wednesday Night show. Rumors suggested that AEW\’s broadcast partners, Warner Bros Discovery could have decided to keep him off TV over fear of angering the current US administration.
WBD has since denied the allegations with an official statement however, and reports have revealed an alternate reason for King missing the show. You can check out more about it here.
After weeks of competition among Kenny Omega, Adam Page, Andrade, and Swerve Strickland, tonight\’s AEW Grand Slam Australia event finally featured a big #1 contender\’s match. The bout saw Andrade fighting Page for a shot at the AEW World Championship. Don Callis was at the ringside for this.
Following a tough fight between the two competitors, Callis tried to help his client by getting up on the ramp and arguing with the referee. Andrade looked to deliver a low blow to Page to gain the upper hand using the distraction, but Hangman proved to be too smart for him.
The former AEW World Champion ended up countering the move with a kick of his own. Hangman Page then delivered a big Buckshot Lariat to the former WWE star for the win:
It\’s unknown when Page will get his world title shot against MJF. It\’s possible that the two competitors will meet at the Revolution PPV on March 15.
Tonight\’s show also featured a hair vs. hair match involving Australian native Toni Storm among others. You can check out the results of the bout here.
Tonight\’s AEW Grand Slam Australia event featured a mixed tag team match between the teams of Toni Storm & Orange Cassidy and Marina Shafir & Wheeler Yuta. The stipulation of the bout stated that the person who gets pinned will have to lose their heir.
Unfortunately for the Death Riders, it was Yuta who lost the match for his team. Luther, who accompanied Storm for this match, then ended up shaving the head of the former Trios champion:
The show also featured a big #1 contender\’s match between Andrade and Hangman Page. Don Callis was at ringside for this bout.
The ending of the match saw Callis distracting the referee as Andrade tried to take Page out with a low blow. The former AEW Champion, however, countered with a kick of his own. Hangman then delivered the buckshot lariat to become the new #1 contender for MJF\’s title.
Cody Rhodes will be entering the Elimination Chamber.
The main event of this week\’s SmackDown featured a triple threat qualifier match among Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, and Jacob Fatu. WWE Champion Drew McIntyre made an appearance towards the ending of the bout, attacking Fatu when the Samoan Werewolf looked to have the match won.
The Scottish Warrior sent Fatu crashing into the announce table, effectively taking him out of the match. McIntyre then focused his attention on Cody, delivering a big Claymore to Rhodes and then putting the lifeless body of Sami Zayn into the pinning position.
The referee, however, was out of the ring checking on Jacob Fatu, and the few seconds\’ delay in the pin allowed the American Nightmare to kick out. A frustrated McIntyre entered the ring again to beat the former Undisputed Champion some more.
Though Sami had recovered by this time and he ended up delivering a Helluva kick to McIntyre. In the end, Cody Rhodes took advantage of this chaos and he finally hit Zayn with a Cross Rhodes for the victory.
The former AEW star will be joining Randy Orton and LA Knight in the upcoming Chamber match, with 3 more spots left to be filled after tonight. WWE has announced another qualifier among Trick Williams, Damain Priest and Carmelo Hayes for next week.
The former Damage CTRL member was seen as a future star when she returned to the company at SummerSlam 2022. Her run following her big arrival, however, was riddled with injuries. Despite multiple chances, she was never able to gain momentum, and the former NXT star was ultimately unceremoniously released from her contract in May last year.
The New Zealand native opened up about her underwhelming main roster run during a recent interview with Busted Open Radio. Talking about her release from the company, Dakota Kai admitted that injuries played a role in it, among other things:
“I think that definitely had a part to play. Obviously, with the change in management that probably had a big part to play too. It was surprising only because we were just coming off of the Intercontinental tournament. Obviously, plans changed. It’s one of those things where I was constantly fighting a glass ceiling and even when I was, I thought I was going to break through it.”
Dakota Kai also discussed taking a break from wrestling after her WWE exit. She said that she needed the time off to rebuild her confidence as a wrestler. The former Stardom star noted that she was not even sure if she had a place in the wrestling world after her unexpected release:
“I think I just really needed to take a step back and sort of rebuild myself in terms of confidence and what I thought about myself as a wrestler in this world. I didn’t really know if I still had a place in this world. Going forward, it’s just making sure that I’m good health-wise more than anything and that’s mental and physical as well.”
The former WWE star now going by the name Charlie is set to make her in-ring return at the Wrestle Queendom 8 event next month on March 8. She will be facing Kris Statlander in her comeback match.
Mercedes Mone\’s in-ring return has been announced.
CMLL posted a video on their social media this Thursday where they confirmed that the AEW star will be competing at their upcoming show on March 6. The female star who holds the CMLL World Women’s Championship will be defending the title at the event celebrating International Women\’s Day:
?? ?#CMLLInforma || ¡CEO! ¡CEO! ¡CEO! Mercedes Moné estará de regreso al CMLL para exponer el Campeonato Mundial Femenil del CMLL ante una retadora por designar…
The former WWE star has not wrestled since the December 31 episode of Dynamite last year. Willow Nightingale beat Mercedes at the show to win the TBS Championship, ending her historic 584-day reign.
The wrestling veteran recently provided an update on her status, revealing that she has been undergoing stem cell therapy in Mexico during her absence. Mercedes Mone had noted in her update that March will be a busy month for her, so it appears that the upcoming CMLL date would not be her only title defence.
AEW will be holding Revolution 2026 from Los Angeles on March 15. It\’s likely that we will see the former TBS Champion returning to TV after the Grand Slam Australia event this week to start building her match for the next AEW PPV.
Killer Kross and Scarlett are happy being independent.
The former WWE duo spoke to TV Insider for a new interview after Kross recently won his first world title since leaving the Endeavor-owned promotion last year. They talked about things such as their first date, separating work and personal life, and more.
When asked how their perspective has changed since leaving WWE, Killer Kross first mentioned that they\’re experiencing things they were not able to while being part of the big machine. Scarlett then jumped in to say that their priority right now is finding the best stories and having fun:
\”We are also not desperate for a contract. We weren’t sure if we wanted to jump straight into another major company. The thing is we are enjoying ourselves right now that we realized what we are looking for is the best story and having the most fun. Wherever we go, as long as we’re enjoying ourselves and telling a great story and the audience is enjoying themselves, that’s where we want to be.\”
Killer Kross later noted that being able to work independently has been good for their mental health as well. They have been able to foster trust and equity with various companies which has been great for them.
The former WWE star won the MLW World Title in a 40-man battle royal also involving names such as Austin Aries, Donovan Dijak, Bishop Dyer, and Matt Riddle. You can check out the full event featuring the match below:
The former TNA World Champion had been booked by French indie promotion APC CATCH for an appearance at their upcoming show on Match 22nd, 2026.
The promotion, however, released a statement on social media yesterday, announcing that they were cancelling this booking. They cited some accusations against the former champion as the reason behind the move:
\”After being informed by members of the community of past events involving wrestler Moose, the management of APC has made the decision to cancel his participation in our show on March 22nd. We wish to clarify that neither the management nor the creative team of APC were aware of these accusations at the time of scheduling the event.\” [Translated through Google]
The TNA star, real name, Quinn Ojinnaka, was arrested in Gwinnett County, Georgia, back in 2009 on domestic battery accusations. He reportedly had an argument with his then-wife over a female friend on his Facebook. Ojinnaka had said that his wife tried to stab him with a pen, while she accused the former NFL star of throwing her on stairs before tossing her out of the house.
The promotion did not specify the allegations so it\’s hard to say if the 2009 arrest is the reason behind them cancelling Moose\’s appearance. We will update you about any developments in the story.
The Puerto Rican superstar became the first solo Spanish artist to headline the Super Bowl halftime show this year from Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The performance also fuelled some debates due to the current political climate in the US.
In a brief interaction with TMZ, the WWE quarterback was asked about the halftime show as well as the rumors of Bad Bunny\’s WWE return. Cody Rhodes claimed that Prince\’s 2007 Super Bowl performance might still be his favorite, but said that Bunny\’s performance was an all-timer too:
“Oh, he killed it. So good. I hope we get him back. He did a wonderful job. He’s on top of the world right now. That show is an all-timer. Prince might still be my favorite, but that’s an all-timer.”
The former WWE Champion was also asked about a potential WrestleMania opponent for Bad Bunny, and The American Nightmare threw in the name of Logan Paul before making his exit.
The six-time Grammy-winning artist has received praise for his performance inside the squared circle in the past as well. Though he has not entered the ring since his May 2023 Backlash match with Damian Priest, so it\’s hard to say what an in-ring return would look like for the 31-year-old.
WBD denied blocking the heavyweight star from making an appearance on AEW TV after reports of the broadcast giant\’s concern over the viral anti-ICE segment became a topic of discussion yesterday. This came after the 38-year-old missed the Wednesday night show despite being set for a World title match just 2 days later.
Providing an update on the matter, PWInsider is now reporting that the Hounds of Hell star was never scheduled to make an appearance on Dynamite, and it was the travel schedule that led to him missing the show:
\”PWInsider.com has confirmed with multiple sources that Brody King was never scheduled for last night\’s AEW Dynamite taping. King and others flew out of LAX last night to Australia, requiring them to miss Dynamite due to the travel schedule.\”
AEW will be presenting the Grand Slam Australia event from Sydney on February 14, where King will be challenging MJF for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship.
The show will also feature a ladder match involving Australian native Kyle Fletcher as well as a big #1 contender match for the AEW title. You can check out the full card for the event here.
The wrestling veteran provided an update on her status on Instagram recently, revealing where she has been during her recent hiatus from the wrestling world. The former TBS Champion noted that she has been using the time off to take care of herself, as she has been undergoing stem cell treatment in Mexico:
\”If you saw a couple of my videos at the House of Sun, oh my God, my back, my neck feel so amazing. I’ve never felt my spine just feel so straight. Now I’m here in Cancun, Mexico for stem cell treatment. I came down to RejuvStem because a lot of my co-workers came down here and told me about their results, so I’m super excited for feeling the best version of myself.”
Mercedes Mone has been away from the ring since the December 31 episode of Dynamite last year, where Willow Nightingale ended her historic 584-day reign with the TBS Championship. While the former WWE star did not reveal the exact date for her return, Mone noted that she will be very busy in March, since she has a lot of championships to defend.
The AEW star had collected 10 championships of various brands as part of her Último Moné gimmick before the TBS title loss. She lost the RevPro Undisputed British Women\’s Title to Alex Windsor before the match with Nightingale, but Mone still holds 8 different titles which she will be defending upon her return to the ring.
WWE is still figuring out their WrestleMania plans.
The company made some creative adjustments to the plans heading into the Show of Shows in January, leading to Cody Rhodes losing the WWE title to Drew McIntyre and Roman Reigns winning the Royal Rumble.
While the title plans for the men\’s division seem clearer than before coming out of the latest WWE PLE, the plans for the Women\’s title are apparently still in flux.
Specifically, it\’s the WrestleMania opponent for Jade Cargill that is yet to be decided, according to Fightful Select. Per the site, names such as Charlotte Flair and Tiffany Stratton have been considered as opponents for the Women\’s Champion of the blue brand, but a final call is yet to be made.
While not directly stated, it likely means that Liv Morgan is pencilled to face the Red Brand\’s Women\’s Champion Stephanie Vaquer at WrestleMania 42, even if the 2026 Royal Rumble winner is yet to officially announce her pick for the Show of Shows.
Jade Cargill is set to defend her title against Jordynne Grace at this Friday\’s SmackDown. This will be her first title defence since winning the championship from Tiffany Stratton back in November last year.
After enjoying a couple of years of record-breaking business for every venue, the abysmal ticket prices and lack of an overarching storyline seem to be catching up with the company in the form of lower interest in the show of shows for its return to Las Vegas.
Fightful Select recently provided an update on how the officials are reacting to it, and revealed that WWE held a multi-department meeting this Wednesday to address these concerns.
While the specifics of the meeting are not known, various departments have been assigned duties to help boost the momentum heading into the biggest PPV of the year. The company has also been trying to prohibit WrestleMania watch parties at professional establishments within 50 miles of the Allegiant Stadium, to hopefully draw local fans to the venue.
As of this past week, about 36,000 tickets had been distributed for each night of the wrestling extravaganza. This is considerably lower than last year, when the company had sold about 10,000 more tickets per night by this point. Though despite the concerns, the report says that WWE is not looking to lower ticket prices for the PLE atleast for now.
Roman Reigns vs. CM Punk has been announced as the Night 2 Main Event for WrestleMania 42. This means the winner of the Men\’s Elimination Chamber will be facing Drew McIntyre in the other world title match at the show. Liv Morgan has yet to pick her opponent for Mania, so the women\’s title plans remain in flux.
WBD has denied reports that it blocked Brody King from appearing on AEW Dynamite this week.
The heavyweight star was notably absent from the February 11, 2026 episode of the Wednesday Night show despite being set for a World title match against MJF at the Grand Slam Australia event on February 14. This came a week after the segment involving the two names went viral for anti-ICE chants from fans, gaining the attention of mainstream media.
On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer suggested that these two stories are connected. According to the wrestling journalist, WBD blocked King\’s appearance on AEW\’s flagship show this week in fear of more chants against the current US administration:
\”This is again not a Tony call. This is from above. You know what it is, nobody wants to get on Trump\’s bad side. If it wasn\’t for that, nobody would care, it\’s just a chant, but unfortunately, they\’ve got a company they\’re trying to sell and get regulatory approval from a guy who is gonna take that stuff personal. That\’s just how it is.\”
This is referencing the pending deal in which Netflix has agreed to acquire Warner Bros. and HBO Max from WBD for $82.7 Billion. The merger is yet to be approved by the government.
WBD has since denied this report, with a statement issued to Fightful: \”Warner Bros. Discovery did not have any involvement in Brody King\’s upcoming AEW schedule. Any speculation to the contrary is categorically false. Brody is scheduled to appear during the next AEW event, which will air this Saturday on TNT and HBO Max\”
The Psycho Killer suffered an unexpected loss at this week\’s episode of Dynamite. Kyle Fletcher beat him at the show, ending the former WWE star\’s reign with the TNT Championship at just 11 days.
The wrestling veteran broke his silence on the loss on Instagram, posting a photo of himself with the belt. Tommaso Ciampa noted that he is giving himself just one night to sit with his emotions, and he is going to get back to work the next day:
\”11 days. I’ll give myself one night to reflect. One night to sit with my emotions. But when that sun rises, we get back to work. No excuses. No what ifs. No regrets. Any given Sunday. AEW. Where the best wrestle. Congratulations, Kyle Fletcher.\”
AEW will be travelling to Australia for the Grand Slam event after Dynamite, and having the Australian native Fletcher walking into the show as champion was probably the biggest reason behind the title change.
There is no word on what the company is planning for Ciampa after this loss and we will have to see if he gets another shot at the championship anytime soon.