Americas

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WWE

Wrestlemania 41 Night 1
19/04/25
Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, USA
Company Announced Attendance: 61,467
WrestleTix Distributed Estimate: 60,151
Watch On: Peacock/ Netflix

The first night of this year’s Wrestlemania was a mostly subdued affair, with a crowd that lacked energy, noise and motion for most of the proceedings. For a lot of the matches, it reflected issues in the builds that the performers were unable to turn around in the ring.

The show opened with Jey Uso challenging Gunther for the World Heavyweight Championship in a match that had very little heat once Uso’s “yeeting” was completed in his entrance. Uso was able to capture the title by eventually beating Gunther at his own game and applying a sleeper. There was some celebration from the crowd for the Royal Rumble winner converting his shot into a title, but not the reaction you would perhaps have expected.

The match between the New Day and the Viking Raiders was completely heatless. The New Day’s heel turn was a major “happening” back in the Autumn but has petered out in regards of impact ever since and this match played out to silence for the most part before New Day won the match and regained the Tag Titles. The work may have suffered from the atmosphere, but can’t be described as any more than disappointing on this occasion.

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Jade Cargill defeated Naomi (in the first women’s single match without a title on the show since Wrestlemania 22) in a match that felt like it had been rehearsed to death from the onset and displayed a real lack of impact on moves, a theme which continued over into the LA Knight vs Jacob Fatu match that followed. Fatu and Knight was the first point in the show where you could actually see motion/ hear the crowd as they headed towards the finish, with Fatu executing a moonsault from the turnbuckle to take the US Title.

El Grande Americano was next up, once again announced as from the Gulf of America (in what WWE claim was a mistake) to the cheers of the Las Vegas crowd. With Rey Mysterio on the shelf following an injury obtained on Smackdown, it was Rey Fenix that took on the masked Chad Gable, making his first Wrestlemania appearance just two weeks after his debut.

The match was used to publicise the purchase of AAA that WWE announced earlier in the day, with El Hijo del Vikingo shown in the crowd and interacting with Americano momentarily. It wasn’t enough for the actual luchador to win on this occasion though, as Fenix was pinned and the gimmick got the win on the biggest stage. There will likely be an event where a Mexican wrestler is victorious over El Grande Americano but it will be at a much smaller event than this one.

There was a distinct focus on celebrities and branding throughout the show that was way more obnoxious than in previous years, with the entire ringside section south of the ring being fully for named guests, in a similar trend to what we have seen with Raw since moving to Netflix. Some got more positive receptions than others on the big screen, with UFC President Dana White booed on two separate occasions, and not looking too pleased by the reception.

The semi main event between Tiffany Stratton and Charlotte Flair did get some crowd response, as Charlotte was heavily booed from the onset in what was mainly a passable affair but did not break down in ways that their verbal duels have over the last few months. Stratton retained her title in what might be seen as a surprising result but was probably required after the events of recent promos. It would have made her look insignificant had she lost here.

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The main event was the only match that felt like “Wrestlemania” on this occasion. With all 3 men having star-like entrances, including Seth Rollins playing with fire and CM Punk’s theme being played out as a live rendition by Living Colour.

This was the match where the crowd knew it would not be over until Paul Heyman got involved but they were able to keep the crowd invested from the get go, as the action spilled out of the ring before developing into a series of finishers being hit followed by near falls. Seth Rollins continues to be involved in all of the strongest mens 3 way bouts in WWE you can think of and Roman Reigns was much more energetic in his performance in this one than at any other time since coming back last year.

The finish saw a triple turn by Heyman, as he first appeared to turn on Reigns before low blowing Punk and passing Reigns a chair. Punk, who was given the most in the build and in the first half of the match, was cast to the outside and was a non factor in the rest of the finish. Heyman would then point Roman’s attention to Seth Rollins, who was laid out on the ropes, ready to be struck, as they played on the events of the Shield turn that they had brought back to TV in recent weeks. Roman went to strike Rollins with the chair but was also low blowed, as Paul Heyman aligned himself with Seth Rollins, who then pinned Reigns for the win following an additional stomp.

The crowd didn’t boo the turn, instead choosing to cheer the moment and sing Rollins’ theme and that reaction would be carried over into TV in the weeks following.

Full Results

WWE World Heavyweight Title:
Jey Uso defeats Gunther (c) (16:21)

WWE World Tag Team Titles:
The New Day (Kofi Kingston & Xavier Woods) defeat The War Raiders (Erik & Ivar) (c) (9:12)

Jade Cargill defeats Naomi (9:20)

WWE United States Title:
Jacob Fatu defeats LA Knight (c) (10:38)

El Grande Americano defeats Rey Fenix (7:55)

WWE Women’s Title:
Tiffany Stratton (c) defeats Charlotte Flair (19:09)

Seth Rollins defeats CM Punk (w/Paul Heyman) and Roman Reigns (32:39)

© WWE

Wrestlemania 41 Night 2
20/04/25
Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas, USA
Company Announced Attendance: 63,226
WrestleTix Distributed Estimate: 61,389
Watch On: Peacock/ Netflix

Night 2 of Wrestlemania started with the best match of the weekend, with a triple threat for the Women’s World Title, as Rhea Ripley and Bianca Belair challenged IYO SKY in the contest. This was one of the matchups where the story leading into the match bled through in a perfect way, as Rhea and Belair continued to look past SKY and focused on each other, and it led to their undoing. IYO SKY was phenomenal throughout the matchup and deservedly executed her moonsault at the end to get the win.

Next up was a “street fight” between Drew McIntyre and Damien Priest, who was played in by Slayer for his entrance. This was perhaps not the show stealer McIntyre would have liked considering his lower positioning on this card compared to the people he has been working with for most of the past year, but was a decisive win for the Scot, who won with a Claymore after Priest had been pushed through two tables on the outside from the top rope after attempting Old School.

© WWE

The biggest moment for the crowd this evening was Dominik Mysterio winning the Intercontinental Title in a 4 way. WWE seemed almost prepared for this one, with Judgement Day teammate Finn Balor aggressive towards Mysterio in the run up to the finish that saw the Title moved on from Bron Breakker, who now steps up into the main event picture.

Randy Orton was next out to offer an open challenge as a form of replacement for his once scheduled match with Kevin Owens being cancelled after Owens suffered a serious neck injury a few weeks before the event. The challenge was answered by TNA World Champion Joe Hendry, who was put away very quickly whilst the commentary team screamed “smile at the camera Joe Hendry, there’s your Wrestlemania moment!” It was a big spot for the viral TNA wrestler but was not made to put him or TNA over in any way. Orton added another RKO after the bout for good measure.

The crowd was not invested in the next matchup of AJ Styles and Logan Paul, with Paul getting some of his worst reactions since arriving in WWE and not feeling distinct in any manner. An attempted helping hand to Styles from Karrion Kross was passed over, with Paul hitting the Pulveriser for the win to set up a challenge to Jey Uso at Backlash on May 10th.

Lyra Valkyria awaited the arrival of her mystery partner as the IC Champion was set to take on Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez for the Women’s Tag Team Championships. Valkyria had teamed with Bayley in the weeks prior to earn a shot at the belts in a gauntlet but had found her partner attacked on the Saturday pre-show, opening the door for Becky Lynch to make her return. It was a cruel return for Bayley to be given this spot, despite the high likelihood that a program between Lynch and the San Jose native is likely to follow in the aftermath.

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There was a considerable pop for Becky Lynch’s return but the energy didn’t carry over as much into the match, which was centered around Lynch getting the hot tag. Lynch and Valkyria would defeat their Judgement Day opponents on this night but it would prove to be an incredibly short reign.

There was just time for Stone Cold to drive a quad bike so badly that Nick Khan could be seen running across to someone who had been knocked down next to the barrier, before the show moved on to its main event.

John Cena arrived into the arena with no video graphics or highly choreographed entrance. He stood fully in black clothing on a black background in what was to be his highlight over the next 30 minutes. He was strangely accompanied in part by the WWE commentary team laying out how little he had won in recent years instead of building him up for his “record breaking” 17th title win, as they listed off a last singles win being 7 years in the past, a last Wrestlemania singles win being a decade ago and Cena having lost his last 3 Wrestlemania matches. It definitely wouldn’t be what you would want to hear if you were Cody Rhodes, knowing the outcome of this match.

This one started slow and somehow only managed to get slower; It was accompanied by a rather brutal atmosphere, with both performers eliciting boos, and Rhodes’ being on the heavier side. The match just seemed to be waiting for something. If you caught the Wrestlemania pre show that WWE ran on Youtube, you would believe it was going to be the Rock, but in the end it was Travis Scott who came down to the ring, be it in what might have been the longest run in we have ever seen in wrestling. Scott posed at the top of the ramp for what felt like an age before slowly walking down to the ring, with Rhodes forced to simply lie there through the entire duration.

© WWE

He may have gotten a crossrhodes on Scott but this entire finishing sequence made Cody Rhodes look like a complete geek and undermined so much of the protection there has been for him in the booking and as a character over the last 3 years. That the Cody Rhodes that was brutally attacked at the end of Elimination Chamber couldn’t even use the title on his opponent in this instance did not help him. He didn’t look noble in his restraint, he looked like an idiot.

Cena would use a belt shot of his own to take the victory and celebrate with Scott in a subdued moment that did not feel like it had any of the importance that should have accompanied it. Cena’s final Wrestlemania ended with victory but also on a whimper.

Full Results

WWE Women’s World Title:
IYO SKY (c) defeats Bianca Belair and Rhea Ripley (14:26)

Sin City Street Fight:
Drew McIntyre defeats Damian Priest (13:54)

WWE Intercontinental Title:
Dominik Mysterio defeats Bron Breakker (c) and Finn Balor and Penta (10:30)

Randy Orton defeats Joe Hendry (3:10)

Logan Paul defeats AJ Styles (17:43)

WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles:
Becky Lynch & Lyra Valkyria defeat The Judgment Day (Liv Morgan & Raquel Rodriguez) (c) (8:38)

Undisputed WWE Title Match:
John Cena defeats Cody Rhodes (c) (25:03)

© WWE

WWE PLE and TV Notes

The non appearance of the Rock ended up as the lead headline post Wrestlemania, with his absence and non promotion of the event in the run up appearing to get the blame for the poorly received Night 2 main event. Rock was never advertised to be at the event but was widely expected, with fans able to point to Rock merchandise relating to the show being on sale in Las Vegas and a heavy handed pre show that built up the prospect in the immediate moments before the main card began.

Dwayne Johnson appeared to be aware of the response, as he went on Pat McAfee’s show the Tuesday following to seemingly tell his side. The appearance confirmed a number of stories from both Dave Meltzer and Wade Keller in recent months on his status and impact on the run up to Wrestlemania.

Rock explained his presence at Elimination Chamber being the result of contact from Ari Emanuel.

Rock runs between speaking in the first and third person throughout as he seeks to justify his involvement in the main event whilst confirming that Cena was indeed the second choice and that he had wanted Cody to turn in the buildup to Elimination Chamber.

There is some validity to Rock being asked to assist with Elimination Chamber ticket sales. The event from the Rogers Center in Toronto, Canada on March 1st sat at 27,544 12 days before the show, a far cry from the February 1999 number of 41,432 with 38,000 paid that an episode of Raw did in the same building. His appearance in New Orleans did lead to an above average increase in ticket sales for non Wrestlemania events, with 26.6% of tickets in the overall Wrestletix estimate of 37,538 being distributed over that period, a total of 9,994 tickets. The company announced an attendance of 38,493. Dave Meltzer had described ticket sales prior for the event as “not bad, but not great.”

It is in this sense, on top of sitting on the TKO board, where the Rock continues to hold significant power, even if his disruptions are more likely in the long haul to have negative consequences. WWE is now in an era where they must deliver for every event at a higher and higher price point and are looking to expand their destination event calendar outside of the Royal Rumble, Summerslam and Wrestlemania. This puts extra pressure on a constant requirement for immediate results that can lead to runs of shock booking and a reliance on “happenings” that can be difficult to uphold the more time that progresses.

© WWE

Rock was asked by McAfee if he was asked to be part of Wrestlemania:

The veiled shots at the layout of the main event he was not part of reveal the nature of the business rivalry between the Rock and current booker Paul Levesque, who should both receive criticism in the fallout from these shows. Rock also praised the Saturday main event highly in the same interview, which Levesque is less of a part of creatively than other storylines. A Netflix documentary on the WWE writers room that was announced this week may provide extra light on this period from Levesque’s perspective, as the two visions clashed for the second year in a row.

WWE released a press release to celebrate the financial success of Wrestlemania, whilst releasing barely any actual numbers at all. The promotion claimed that 124,693 fans attended across the two nights and the largest gate in WWE history but did not include an actual number. There is little doubt in the gate being the largest with the lowest ticket price until the final week being higher than the average ticket price for Wrestlemania 39 in Los Angeles.

They also claimed that viewership was up 114% from last year in a figure which makes no sense no matter what math you produce. Wrestlemania was watched by 20 million people in India alone last year and has now seen that access replaced by being on Netflix and Peacock subscriptions were not anywhere close to making up that shortfall, despite the streaming giant announcing an increase to 41 million subscribers in Quarter 1 of 2025.

WWE received $4.2 million in tax credits from the Nevada Film Office after WWE estimated a $33.7 million budget was required to deliver the week’s Wrestlemania events in the city.

The WWE media blitz of Wrestlemania week ended up receiving just as much attention as the show itself and felt a lot less choreographed in its aims compared to the carefully controlled operation seen last year that did significant damage to AEW on the PR front.

© WWE

Triple H took to the High Performance Podcast to discuss how NXT wrestlers become “complacent” after making the main roster:

It was a strange attack for Levesque to make considering the lack of success stories to come from his developmental brand and the increased reliance on former AEW signings, especially when he appeared to champion the NXT structure when discussing further international development. Levesque confirmed that he has not abandoned plans for NXT Europe in an interview with the UK’s “Daily Mail”, echoing comments made by Stephanie McMahon on Pat McAfee’s show in late February.

Triple H would also take aim at those who post spoilers or reveal how the process works in an interview with Peter Rosenberg before WWE announced days later the production of a Netflix series that would do exactly that.

© WWE

Roman Reigns also had a feature released by Vanity Fair where he described the allegations against Vince McMahon as “embarrassing” and “stuff you don’t want to hear about” in an interview that also caught attention for the wrestler for him explaining why he voted for Donald Trump and revealing that his contract is up after next year’s Wrestlemania.

John Cena would go even further as he told the New York Times in regards to Vince McMahon that;

Nick Khan followed up by claiming that WWE remains an underdog and referring to AEW as a place where talent are mainly working in order to reach WWE.

“In terms of the other wrestling promotional company, they have a lot of talented wrestlers. And we’re happy about that. When contractually they’re available to be talked to and have conversations with – [I] assume a number of them will come over.”

Khan was helped in the validity of his comments by speculation in regards to Mariah May’s future, with several reports following Dave Metlzer’s initial, confirming that she had told AEW prior to their Revolution PPV that she would not be re-signing with the company.

Khan also claimed that WWE doesn’t “bench wrestlers” which is a completely ludicrous claim that was not pushed back upon during his appearance on the Bill Simmons Show.

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The first challenger for John Cena in his 17th World Title reign will be Randy Orton, who hit an RKO at the end of Cena’s first promo as Champion on the Raw the night after Wrestlemania; Backlash will emanate from Orton’s hometown of St. Louis on May 10th. Cena is listing the number of appearances he has remaining with the promotion in each promo as they look to drive ticket sales from his impending retirement whilst keeping him in the heel role.

The arena show will also feature Becky Lynch vs Lyra Valkyria, Gunther vs Pat McAfee and Logan Paul as the first challenger to Jey Uso.

The kayfabe injuries given to Bayley that kept her out of the Women’s Tag Team Titles match at Wrestlemania were a partial shoulder dislocation and an anterior labrum tear. Unsurprisingly, Becky Lynch was revealed as the attacker in the segment. Lynch turned on Lyra Valkyria just a single night after Wrestlemania to set up a match at Backlash. The Tag Team Titles returned to Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez in the process. Bryan Alvarez, on “Wrestling Observer Live” would report that the thinking behind the return and quick paced turn came from Becky Lynch herself.

Rey Mysterio suffered an injury during a six man tag on the Smackdown before Wrestlemania, leading to him being removed from the event and replaced by Rey Fenix. The wrestler confirmed on his Instagram a week later that he had suffered a torn abdicator and that the injury would require surgery.

Tama Tonga is also on the shelf. The PWN outlet reported an undisclosed injury that may require surgery that was then confirmed by other outlets.

The top headline from the Raw after Wrestlemania was the formation of a new top heel unit, with Bron Breakker joining Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman in taking out CM Punk and Roman Reigns. The group are struggling to get heel heat at the start, particularly during this week’s Raw promo where Rollins was heavily cheered and his attempts to get CM Punk chants going were not met with enthusiasm and even some boos for the babyface name mention.

J.D. McDonagh returned to TV at the same show, assisting Dominik Mysterio in successfully making a first defense of the Intercontinental Title against Penta. McDonagh suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung during a match in January.

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The much expected returns of Rusev and Alistair Black occurred on WWE TV last week. Rusev continued with what has seemingly become his standard segment, as he laid out Alpha Academy and then left, whilst Black attacked the Miz, who was donned in a full white suit a la Cody Rhodes in 2021. The length of Miro’s contract was leaked to Deadline, who reported it as two years. Lana has also signed a Legends deal with the company and both are now represented by the Paradigm Talent Agency, alongside multiple other WWE talents.

A perhaps more exciting main roster debut on the post Mania episode was that of Stephanie Vaquer, who immediately was placed in a match with WWE Women’s Champion IYO SKY. The match was the in ring highlight of the broadcast, before an attack by Guilia and Roxanne Perez. There is expected to be multiple call ups from the NXT Women’s division to the WWE main roster in the very near future. Fraxiom have also moved up to the main roster.

In NXT news, Noam Dar picked up the NXT Heritage Cup for the 4th time, defeating Lexis King in the process. Joe Hendry continues to be a guest on NXT TV, and is now involved in an issue with Trick Williams that is crossing between NXT and TNA programming.

WWE announced their Slammy Award winners from the WWE World Convention on Wrestlemania Sunday, streaming the mini ceremony across all social channels. Roxanne Perez was named NXT Superstar of the Year, Jade Cargill and Bianca Belair the Tag Team of the Year, Liv Morgan the Female Star of the Year and Cody Rhodes won Male Superstar.

Sol Ruca defeated Candice LeRae for the WWE Women’s Speed Championship in a match that screened on 16/04. LeRae had held the belt for 189 days.

WWE News

There was an update in the Ring Boys Lawsuit that was filed in Maryland this week as three new plaintiffs joined the case, with an amended lawsuit filed on Monday to the District Court of Maryland. The original suit, which claimed negligence on the part of Vince McMahon, Linda McMahon and WWE in knowingly allowing and not reporting sexual abuse by former WWF employee Mel Phillips has been now extended, with an new allegation towards Pat Patterson, who previously acted as an Executive in the company.

The three defendants had attempted to have the suit dismissed two weeks ago, citing a lack of jurisdiction over them by the State of Maryland, with WWE arguing in addition that the current company is not liable for events which took place under a separate entity.

The amended lawsuit contains new allegations from 3 new plaintiffs, who are referred to as John Doe’s 6,7 and 8 as well as adding other issues which challenge the defenses raised by the defendants last week in regard of jurisdiction and liability.

John Doe 6 makes the new allegation against Pat Patterson. He alleges that he was told to stay in Patterson’s hotel room after a WWF House Show on July 14th, 1989 whilst the other ring boys stayed with Phillips. He was then given alcohol, subjected to Patterson watching pornograhy on television before being forced to give and receive oral sex.

John Doe 6 also claims that he was grabbed by the crotch in a WWF locker room by Koko B. Ware with Phillips, Patterson, Tony Chimel and referee Danny Davis in attendance amongst others. Chimel is the only one who raised any objection to the occurrence, with the complaint stating that he later told the John Doe to run from being a ring boy. Post Wrestling approached B. Ware for comment but did not receive one.

Additional abuse by Mel Phillips outside of state jurisdiction in Portland, Maine is also listed within the complaint by Doe 6, with the date needing clarification as it appears to be after Phillips had left the WWF.

John Doe 7 states that he met Phillips in 1974 in Philadelphia, when he was around 14 or 15 years old and that he was sexually abused by Phillips during his time as a ring boy, including in a Baltimore hotel room where he was given alcohol before being forced to give oral sex. Doe 7 also claimed to have been abused by Phillips outside of WWE events and that Phillips would record the abuse on a video camera.

John Doe 8 met Phillips in 1982 and claims that Phillips sexually abused him and another underage ring boy in Baltimore on April 10th, having also been offered pills and cocaine.

The suit also lists out a number of occasions where the plaintiffs interacted with both Vince and Linda McMahon, challenging the statements made in the attempts to dismiss, especially from Linda McMahon, that she was never aware of any of the parties, and shows that lodgings were paid for the ring boys by the WWF.

WWE have signed a new agreement with Mattel that was described as a “multi year extension” in the joint press release between the two companies. The toy brand produces replica belts, action figures and playsets and has been the main toy partner for WWE since 2010.

WWE have announced much of their summer calendar, with additional date announcements in July for Nashville, Birmingham, Houston and Cleveland as well as two dates in Quebec in August. The location for the July 12th “Saturday Night’s Main Event” taping is still yet to be announced. The “Clash at the Castle” event in Paris, France went on sale this past week with a heavy pricing structure. John Cena has been confirmed for the show as well as for the dates in Perth, Australia in early October. The PLE for the Australian weekend will carry the “Crown Jewel” branding in the absence of a Saudi show this Autumn.

The company is selling combo tickets for the “When Worlds Collide” show between NXT and AAA in Los Angeles on June 7th and the “Money in the Bank” PLE despite the shows emanating from different venues. The Intuit Dome and the Kia Forum are a short walk from each other, with there likely to be an hour window for fans to get between the two events if they wish to do so.

The Sports Business Journal has revealed that the Orange County Commissioners have approved the city of Orlando’s bid for significant funding to host the Jacksonville Jaguars, UFC and WWE events. The County will distribute $29 million to the city in the aim of bringing in events that assist with driving increased tourism. The city had assigned $18 million in their application to bringing in events under the TKO banner, with planned bids for both a Royal Rumble and the 2031 Wrestlemania event included in the document.

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London Mayor. Sadiq Khan, has reaffirmed his wish to bring a Wresltemania to London, citing a potential £230 million impact on the local economy, but there does not appear to be any significant moves as of now in making his statement a reality.

Cardi B will be the host of the Summerslam events on August 2nd and 3rd at Metlife Stadium in New Jersey. The spot was confirmed this week after the musician had been included in previous promotional material.

Fanatics have launched podcasts with both Stephanie McMahon and Cody Rhodes. McMahon is becoming increasingly visible amongst WWE support programming as of late with her “What’s Your Story?” Podcast an immediate follow up to her ESPN+ streaming series.

John Cena will star in “Heads of State” opposite Idris Elba. The film is due to be released on Prime video on July 2nd.

Bill Eadie and Barry Darsow, collectively known as Demolition, have signed new Legends deals with WWE.

© AEW

AEW

The Finals of the Owen Hart Cup are set for “Double or Nothing” in Phoenix, Arizona on May 25th.

On the women’s side, Mercedes Mone will face Jamie Hayter after getting past Athena and Kris Statlander in recent weeks respectively. Mercedes will start as the heavy favourite for the final, with a potential Mercedes Mone- Toni Storm matchup one of the biggest possible matchups available to the promotion right now.

Hayter, on the other hand, has struggled to find prominent spots since returning on the pre show at last year’s “All In” but has the more personal story with Storm to build off if they decide to go in that direction.

The men’s final will be between Will Ospreay and Adam Page, in what will be Page’s second Owen Hart Cup Final in a row.

Ospreay is widely regarded as the future centerpiece of the promotion and has been treated as a main eventer from the offset. A win over perennial gatekeeper Page may be seen as the makings of a torch passing moment from the previous protagonist of the first few years of the promotion to the British man.

Page, who has had his momentum hampered on numerous occasions since 2022 and has had his face turn sped up earlier on in the year after a creative but somewhat squandered heel run, has been surging in recent weeks and months across a number of metrics and is a much stronger fit, from a storyline perspective, to end the Death Rider angle. He is also the member of the roster with the strongest ticket sales record in Texas.

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Samoa Joe will challenge Jon Moxley for the AEW World Championship in a steel cage match in Chicago, Illinois on May 14th after Joe’s group, the OPPs, triumphed over the Death Riders for the Trios Titles at “Spring BreakThru”, with Powerhouse Hobbs replacing HOOK in the days before the match. There is currently no update on HOOK’s health status.

Nick Wayne defeated Komander on the RoH portion of the Collision taping on April 17th to win the RoH World Television Title. This was Wayne’s first singles title in AEW/ RoH. Christian Cage returned to AEW TV in the same week.

Another returnee was Trent Baretta, who is back with the Don Callis Family and this time with Rocky Romero alongside his former Roppongi Vice tag team partner on the heel side. Another addition to the Don Callis Family is Josh Alexander, who wrestled Adam Page in the quarterfinals of the Owen Hart Cup in his debut match in the promotion.

Jeff Jarrett is back on AEW television and back with his vow to capture singles gold in the company before he retires. Jarrett took a series of shots at MJF on his “My World” podcast, labelling the younger wrestler “selfish” and blaming him for the content of the promos between them in the early part of the year that had been criticised. The comments felt much more “work” like the longer you persisted in listening to them.

FTR have added Stokely Hathaway as manager to their heel group. Their first action as a three piece was to destroy the Rock’n’ Roll Express. They will now be known as “The Living Legend Killers”.

In what many felt was a surprise, both the Righteous and the Kingdom are back in the Ring of Honor fold. Adam Cole’s group of which the Kingdom was previously part of has been renamed “Paragon”.

The tournament for the RoH Women’s Pure Title, that was originally to conclude on May 2nd, is now following a much slower course, with first round matchups on RoH television over the past few weeks.

Tuuka Rask, of the Boston Bruins, and the Stanley Cup both made appearances at Spring BreakThru to highlight TNT’s coverage of the ongoing NHL Playoffs. Rask and the Bruins won’t be part of it though, having failed to qualify for the postseason.

Musician Master P appeared in the opening segment of the April 23rd Dynamite, alongside the OPPs, Death Riders, The Elite, Kenny Omega and Swerve Strickland. Master P is a beloved public figure in New Orleans, where the show was broadcasting from, and has invested in wrestling companies in the past.

TNT’s schedule lists Collision airing on Thursday on May 8th and May 22nd to make way for playoff coverage on Saturday night on those weeks.

© AEW

AEW News

AEW put tickets on sale for “Grand Slam Mexico” last weekend and saw immediate success, with the show at Arena Mexico selling out the lower level of the building almost immediately, with only limited spots remaining in the general admission balconies.

The show is now heavily likely to sell out in Mexico City and will be the largest audience for an AEW television taping for the year globally and ahead of any shows in the US market by a wide margin. Local feedback has emphasized the price points for the onsale being attractive and that this is the first tapings by a US company in Mexico as a whole since 2011.

The move was AEW’s most successful new venture in regards to live ticketing since the announcement of the first “All In” and illustrated that large turnouts for AEW talent at CMLL shows in the recent past were indeed a strong indicator of potential demand for a self promoted show in the country.

The “Forbidden Door” PPV, due to be held at the O2 in London on Bank Holiday weekend in August, also went on sale this week. It is much more difficult to suggest a ticket sold number for the venue so far due to multiple ticket outlets, an irregular ticket release pattern and the usage of dynamic pricing.

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter reported that AEW claim that they have already crossed $1 million in ticket sales but it is a difficult guide in regards to an overall number as current pricing makes the event the highest priced arena event in AEW’s history so far. Like with WWE’s “Clash at the Castle” event in Paris a week later, it might be some time before we know how this show is doing in regards to a full picture.

The Now Arena in Chicago will now have two tapings on May 14th after the Collision show in Wichita, Kansas was cancelled. Both shows will use the “Beach Break” branding, even if the Now Arena is a little far from the city’s solo beach adjacent to Navy Pier.

Also temporarily removed from the schedule was “Supercard of Honor” from Atlantic City in New Jersey. The Show was cancelled 10 days before it was due to run with the RoH PPV moving to “All In” weekend instead. Both shows in Wichita and Atlantic City that were removed from the schedule had an estimate of 1,100 tickets out at the time of cancellation.

Tony Khan announced on “The Way of the Blade” podcast that AEW will be partnering with Action Wrestling to produce a second and third tribute to Dean Rasmussen, who sadly passed away in 2023.
“DEAN 2” will take place during “Double or Nothing” weekend in the form of an outdoor show whilst “DEAN 3” will take place in September at the 2300 Arena in early September during AEW’s brief residency, which will also include 3 episodes of Dynamite, 3 episodes of Collision and the RoH “Death Before Dishonor” PPV between August 27th and September 11th.

HOOK will be featured in a short film entitled “money talks” that will be premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. The film is directed by Tony Mucci.

Eddie Kingston is expected back to TV in the near future after a year-long stay on the sidelines. He is training with Cezar Bononi ahead of his return.

© TNA Wrestling

TNA

Rebellion
27/04/25
Galen Center, Los Angeles, USA
Watch On: TNA+, Triller PPV

TNA’s “Rebellion” show was a step up from the “Unbreakable” show in Las Vegas the previous week but ended up in the news in the strangest ways.

TNA announced on Sunday morning that the show was “Sold Out!”, which would be some achievement considering the Galen Center is a 10,000 seated building that could hold 7-8,000 with a full stage setup. This sort of attendance would challenge some of their biggest ever numbers and be on the border of the Wembley Arena attendance of 8,000 that is still their live event record.

It was soon clear that something was amiss. Tickets were still on sale for the event and fans arriving in the arena could see large areas tarped off or empty in the stands. The inaccurate claim was taken as fact by multiple news sites, despite an actual attendance number never being released and estimates suggesting it may have been more in the 3-4,000 range.

Claiming higher attendance than what is in the building has been a standard practice in wrestling for decades but we are seeing much more selective number usage as a pattern in recent months across American companies that this is another example of. The need to aggregate without analysis has made this a much easier practice and makes for easy PR wins, even if the information is completely inaccurate.

The second focus coming out of the show was a spot during the “Ultimate X” match where Leon Slater dove from 15 feet, pulling off a 450 into a swanton on the 6 men below. Only, none of the six men caught him. Slater was able to get up relatively quickly after a nasty landing but it brought focus on the responsibility of catching in such spots to protect the performer carrying out the move as well as to those who are supposed to break the fall.

It was perhaps better that this was what got the attention from the match as this one had a completely botched finish. TNA said that you couldn’t win the match unless your feet touched the floor after retrieving the belt from up high. Slater did retrieve the belt and then his feet did touch the floor, but they weren’t supposed to. They had planned for Moose to spear him in mid air, with the title falling from Slater’s grasp and ending up with Moose in the process, however, the timing was off and Slater was on the ground before he was speared. Everyone in the building simply ignored that the wrong man was given the win and everyone moved on.

© TNA Wrestling

In what would normally be the main talking point of a show like this, Joe Hendry retained his TNA World Championship in the main event, pinning Ethan Page in the three way with Frankie Kazarian before being attacked by Trick Williams; Williams and Hendry will now feud across the two sets of programming. The match was decent at best but Hendry does have the will of the crowd.

Elsewhere, Mike Santana and Mustafa Ali had the match of the night with their No DQ, Falls Count Anywhere bout that could be described as a chaotic mess with tonnes of interference which somehow worked. One of those that was just enough on the crazy side to end up good kind of matches. Santana was the victor on this occasion.

Ryan and Nic Nemeth were able to beat the Hardys for the TNA Tag Team Championships in what was a basic match with a low blow on Jeff leading up to the finish, whilst Masha Slamovich retained the Knockouts Title, beating Tessa Blanchard in a match that went overly long and gave the loser a little bit too much.

TNA also announced the signing of Indi Hartwell during the PPV.

Results

Fallon Henley, Jacy Jayne & Jazmyn Nyx defeated Lei Ying Lee, Rosemary & Xia Brookside v (9:02)

Elijah defeats Shane Haste by pinfall (5:59)

TNA X-Division Title Ultimate X:
Moose (c) defeats Leon Slater, Matt Cardona, KC Navarro, Sidney Akeem and El Hijo del Vikingo (15:23)

TNA Knockouts World Tag Team Title:
Ash By Elegance & Heather By Elegance (c) defeat Gigi Dolin & Tatum Paxley, Lash Legend & Jakara Jackson, Jody Threat & Dani Luna (9:22)

Ace Austin, Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz defeat Brian Myers, Eddie Edwards & Moose (11:09)

TNA International Title:
Steve Maclin (c) defeats Eric Young (9:24)

Falls Count Anywhere:
Mike Santana defeats Mustafa Ali via pinfall (19:26)

TNA Knockouts World Title:
Masha Slamovich (c) defeats Tessa Blanchard (13:57)

TNA World Tag Team Titles:
Nic Nemeth & Ryan Nemeth defeated Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy (c) to become new TNA Tag Team Champions (11:59)

TNA World Title: Joe Hendry (c) defeats Ethan Page and Frankie Kazarian (13:40)

TNA News

PWInsider reported on 02/05 that TNA talent have been informed that excessive bleeding and blading will “no longer be permissible” by the promotion, with the Dog Collar match between Steve Maclin and Eric Young taped on 01/05 to be the last of its kind for the foreseeable future.

The announcement was made in a talent meeting, with representatives from TNA telling the media outlet that it was “to protect the health of the talents as well as keeping current and potential advertisers and partners in mind.”

Frankie Kazarian and Ryan Nemeth threw out the first and second pitches at the UC-Irvine/ UCLA baseball game on April 22nd as promotion for the “Rebellion” PPV in the market the Sunday after.

TNA Television has been heavily promoting their new BIOFLEX partnership, which is a red light therapy that aids in athletes recovery.

© TNA Wrestling

Other Results

TNA Unbreakable
17/04/25
Cox Pavillion, Las Vegas, USA
Watch On: TNA+

This show was somewhat of a builder towards “Rebellion” the following week, with the top matches for the PPV displayed in tag form, leaving most of the focus on the tournament for the new TNA International Championship. The danger when most of the focus is on only a few matches is that they had to deliver.

Neither of the two semi finals were anything to write home about, with both going under 10 minutes, with the 2nd semi final the slightly stronger of the two. The final was fine but no more than a passable effort where Steve Maclin was able to become the belt’s first holder, pinning AJ Francis for the win.

Sidney Akeem, who has previously gone under the names “SCRYPTS” and “Reggie” in WWE, debuted on this show, answering Moose’s open challenge.

The highlight of this show, by far, was Chris Bey coming out onto the stage, walking under his own weight and sharing his story with the crowd with Ace Austin by his side. It was truly a heartwarming moment in an otherwise forgettable show.

Results

TNA International Title Tournament:
Eric Young defeats JDC and Zachary Wentz (8:48)

TNA International Title Tournament Semi Final:
Steve Maclin defeats Ace Austin and Eddie Edwards (9:57)

Moose over Sidney Akeem (9:01)

Mike Santana, Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy defeat Mustafa Ali, Nic Nemeth and Ryan Nemeth (12:42)

Joe Hendry & Masha Slamovich defeat Frankie Kazarian & Tessa Blanchard (14:09)

Barbed Wire Massacre:
Sami Callihan defeated Mance Warner (19:22)

TNA International Title Tournament Final:
Steve Maclin defeated Eric Young and AJ Francis (13:39)

© MLW

MLW

MLW have begun announcing matches for their “Azteca Lucha” show on May 10th at the Cicero Stadium in Chicago. The promotion claim the show sold out before a single match was announced.

Atlantis and Esfinge vs Guerrero Maya Jr. and Hechicero was swiftly joined by Satoshi Kojima vs Alex Hammerstone, as well as a 3 way between Templario, Mistico and Ikura Kwon. Kwon is in possession of the MLW Middleweight belt, having run off with it after Mistico’s vacation, but the match is currently not listed to include the Championship.

Matt Riddle will be defending the MLW Heavyweight Title against Donovan Dijak.

Shoko Nakajima is yet to be announced for the card but is working the show. TJPW have confirmed she will miss their May 11th date in order to work this event.

MLW also released tickets this week for their return to California on October 4th, presenting “MLW Slaughterhouse” from Thunder Studios in Long Beach.

RVD revealed on his “One Of A Kind” podcast that he suffered heel injuries to both feet at the end of last month’s Battle Riot match. Van Dam came off the top to the floor and was unable to break his fall with the barricade. X-rays revealed he had broken both heels.

© GCW Triller+

US Independents

GCW
Joey Janela’s Spring Break 9
18/04/25
Pearl Theater at Palms Casino Resort, Las Vegas, USA
Watch on: Triller+

GCW’s “Spring Break”, now in its 9th year, is the independent show which traditionally gathers the most attention during Wrestlemania week at this point and this one had plenty of major happenings, a couple of really strong matches and a controversial main event in order to continue the streak.

The show opened with Alec Price taking on Violence is Forever all by himself after the Tag Team Champions had injured his tag partner Cole Radrick a month back. Radrick would come out on the stage in the midst of the 2 on 1 handicap and introduce a new partner for Price, in the form of Jordan Oliver. Oliver has been out of action since July 2024 after suffering an ACL injury but looked up to speed here as he and Price defeated Ku and Garrini to become the new GCW Tag Team Champions.

Bozilla made her US debut in a loss to Megan Bayne; however, she looked mightily impressive, getting plenty of offense in on her AEW opponent whilst Zack Sabre Jr. overcame 1 Called Manders in a non title match and Atticus Cogar took the mask of Fuego Del Sol in a mask vs GCW career match. This was a wild brawl with weapons and interference a plenty. Del Sol took his boots off in the ring before leaving.

It was the middle section which was the highlight of this card, with Minoru Suzuki and Matt Tremont going to a no contest not able to match what came before them, while Masha Slamovich managed a relatively quick defense of her JCW championship against Suzu Suzuki. Gabe Kidd bested Mance Warner in a rematch from February, which had previously ended in a no contest. Kerry Morton was declared the loser in the Senior Scramble gimmick match.

Those led up to the main event, where show namesake Joey Janela would face Sabu in a no rope barbed wire match, in what was marketed as potentially being the last match of Sabu’s career.

This match was a tough watch. Sabu did not look like he should be in the ring at this point and even crowd popping distractions in the form of Bill Alfonso and the Sandman were unable to mask it.

In the end, a number of chairshots to Janela’s head and an Arabian Facebuster were enough for Sabu to claim victory but I couldn’t help but feel a little cold towards the match upon the end of it.

Results

GCW Tag Team Titles:
Alec Price & Jordan Oliver defeated Violence Is Forever (Kevin Ku & Dominic Garrini) (c) (6:51)

Dr. Wagner Jr., El Hijo del Dr. Wagner Jr. & Galeno Del Mal defeated Gringo Loco, Arez & Jack Cartwheel (17:04)

Megan Bayne defeated Bozilla (12:12)

Zack Sabre Jr. defeated 1 Called Manders (7:56)

Mask Vs. GCW Career:
Atticus Cogar defeated Fuego Del Sol (17:47)

Matt Tremont vs. Minoru Suzuki- no contest (10:47)

JCW World Title:
Masha Slamovich (c) defeats Suzu Suzuki (9:52)

Gabe Kidd defeats Mance Warner (14:38)

Senior Scramble:
Ricky Morton, Mike Jackson, George South, Damian 666 & Robert Gibson over Kerry Morton (6:14)

No Rope Barbed Wire:
Sabu over Joey Janela (17:07)

© GCW

Brodie Lee Jr. was victorious in his first professional wrestling match after winning the GCW Clusterfuck battle royale during Wrestlemania week. Other names to compete in the match included Super Crazy, Unagi Sayaka, Masha Slamovich, Maven and the Warlord.

Lee Jr. was introduced by Chris Bey and delivered a stunner at the end of the match to Joey Janela to get the win.

For further coverage of the independents during Wrestlemania week, please visit our Features section.

© GCW

The Subculture team of Mark Andrews and Morgan Webster will return to the US for the first time since 2020 on May 3rd as they compete against newly christened GCW Tag Team Champions Jordan Oliver and Alec Price in Los Angeles.

GCW has also scheduled this year’s “Tournament of Survival” for June 7th at the Showboat in New Jersey.

Natalya will challenge Kenzie Page for the NWA Women’s Championship at the Crockett Cup show on May 17th at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. The two had a pull apart following Natalya’s match with Miya Yamashita at Bloodsport to help build interest in the match. Thom Latimer will defend the men’s NWA Title against Rhino on the same show and Alex Hammerstone will also appear.

Adam Priest became the 6th DPW World Champion during Deadlock Pro Wrestling’s mini excursion to Japan early on this week.

Spark Joshi will run “Ignite Texas” from the Baytown Community Center in Baytown, Texas on June 29th. Wrestling Revolver will be running in the state the night before.

Yuka Sakazaki will also be making her way to the Lonestar State when she appears at New Texas Pro Wrestling on June 1st.

House of Glory are running Cedric Alexander vs HoG Champion Mike Santana at their “Waging War” event in Chicago on May 9th. Santana retained his title at last week’s “Isolation” event in New York against Konosuke Takeshita after the match went to a no contest following interference from Charles Mason.

Indi Hartwell vs Miyu Yamashita and Charles Mason vs Rich Swann have also been announced for the card.

House of Glory are also holding a Puerto Rico weekend on the 7th of June for a second straight year, with their marketing fully around Santana.

© WWE

AAA

In what was the most shocking news of the past 2 weeks, WWE announced during the pre show of “Wrestlemania” Night 1 that they had acquired Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide. Present for the announcement were AAA CEO Dorian Roldán, AAA President Marisela Peña, Paul Levesque, AAA wrestler El Hijo del Vikingo as well as WWE talents Rey Mysterio, Penta and Stephanie Vaquer. Vikingo was the only AAA wrestler present, despite Psycho Clown and Laredo Kid both being in Las Vegas at the same time.

Despite the announcement, the acquisition is not yet fully completed, with the expectation currently that this will occur in Quarter 3 of 2025. The deal involves a sports investment and holding firm known as Fillip. There is not a huge amount of detail on WWE’s new partners, with an X account and website launched over the last few months that holds very little information. AAA have worked with other sports ventures over the past year that Fillip has invested in, which would be another indicator that this has been in the works for some time.

Post Wrestling had agreed to interview Bárbara González Briseño, Co-CEO of Fillip, to discuss the acquisition but the CEO pulled out just a half hour before the scheduled interview start time. The outlet later confirmed that TKO was involved in the withdrawal.

WWE released a press release, formally confirming the transaction:

Lucha Libre Online, owned by former WWE and AAA commentator Hugo Sanovich, claimed that WWE and AAA had been in negotiations since 2019, when AAA opted instead for a relationship with AEW. The report went on to claim that WWE changed its attention to CMLL but any viability of a potential sale fell through due to different estimations over the value of commercial buildings CMLL owns. AAA has no such property as part of their offering.

AAA and WWE are then said to have begun talking again in 2022 with the website claiming that an agreement was reached prior to AEW’s Mexico City announcement. Dave Meltzer reported a far earlier beginning to relations between the two sides, with talks going as far back as 2007 and that WWE personnel were present for the “Rey de Reyes” show in Mexico City last month.

There are questions over WWE’s understanding of what AAA is, with Paul Levesque stating on the “Wrestlemania” post show that he is looking to keep ‘traditional Lucha Libre as traditional Lucha Libre’ when AAA’s purpose since its outset in 1992 by Antonio Peña was to be an alternative form of lucha libre that was more modern and also incorporated more of the American “sports entertainment” style. The job of balancing these aspects, in regards to AAA creative, is reported to have been given to Jeremy Borash, who has previously worked with AAA during his time with TNA Wrestling. Borash was also on hand at the last show in Mexico City and will work, for now, with AAA booker Konnan.

AAA has been talking about additional financial backing consistently over the past several years, with signs of cost cutting being easy to spot in regards to usage of talent, production and a pulling back of international broadcasting. There are no real material assets in the purchase but the brand name does have value in both Mexico and the US. It also gives WWE an easy route into the market, rather than having to establish their own presence from scratch. They will also now own the trademarks for wrestlers like Penta and Rey Fenix and have access to gimmicks like La Parka.

The announcement was the second one of the day, with WWE promoting a joint show between NXT and AAA on June 7th at the Kia Forum with the “When Worlds Collide” branding. This was seen as a direct response to AEW’s announcement of a “Grand Slam” show at Arena Mexico, which has seemingly caught WWE out/ spurred them into action.

The show will be the first of two on June 7th, with the WWE PLE “Money in the Bank” running from the nearby Intuit Dome later on in the day. WWE are selling combo tickets for both events.

The live announcements were not finished there, as AAA made a very late announcement for “Triplemania Regia III” for Arena Monterrey on June 15th, the weekend before AEW’s Mexico City show and CMLL’s combined shows with AEW, Ring of Honor, RevPro and New Japan.

Recent years have seen multiple Triplemania events across the summer, however the announcement of a solo Triplemania in Mexico City this year seemed to suggest that this scheduling was at an end. The announcement of the show in Monterey with an immediate ticket onsale is a highly unusual occurrence, even for a somewhat chaotic company like AAA. Fans in Mexico noticed quickly that something else here had changed as well, with this quickly confirmed as a much more expensive ticket offering than the shows which have been held in the city previously.

Whilst the focus of much of the discussion has been on what could be the immediate future of AAA and how it figures into the ongoing global battle WWE is wielding on AEW, the immediate concern from much of the Mexican wrestling media was around how WWE’s move will impact the wider wrestling infrastructure in the country, particularly in regard to how WWE successfully disrupted the UK wrestling scene towards the end of the 2010’s, preventing the scene from ever growing back to the same level.

AAA is not a promotion with heavy talent contracts, with both Rob Viper and the Cubs Fan stating that they have been shown a list of talent under contract which was 13 names in length, however, the way that the business operates within the Mexican system is the key. AAA contracted talent (or talent who wrestle using a AAA gimmick) are loaned out to promotions across the country, allowing them to use AAA branding for their shows, whilst AAA takes a significant cut of the gate and also from the performers fee for those who use their gimmicks in other promotions.

This makes up a large part of AAA’s business model at current but also is essential to the existence of promotions across the country, which could be severely damaged, almost immediately, if there were any changes to this process. If AAA reduced the availability of talent or cut off these relationships it would have the potential to cause a cratering of the Mexican independant scene.

NXT UK began with the contracted wrestlers not having any restrictions on their usage, similar to how WWE ID talent are being described at current, however, that soon changed, with results, who they could face and eventually, which promotions they could work for all coming into play. This is the most immediate threat to this transaction causing damage to the wider scene.

Ernesto Ocampo, from Super Luchas, wrote the following on the subject:

Mexican talent are not well paid by American standards and the current WWE ID deals are a large step up in terms of wage compared to the NXT UK contracts, meaning WWE could also have the ability to pick up huge realms of talent quite cheaply in Mexico if they choose to do so. It is also highly likely that they will look to acquire top CMLL talent in order to damage the most successful promotion in the country at current. A rapid signing of talent, from rival promotions or from the regionals, would also cause significant challenges for smaller local promotions and could see wrestlers dramatically reduce their outputs.

The longer term issue is WWE’s aim to create a homogeneous style and training system across the globe that ensures wrestlers everywhere are trained for the WWE from the outset, eradicating the local style and ways of training, whilst restricting the ability of any other promotion in a set market from gaining enough momentum to challenge them in regards of market share and ideology.

WWE have denied that it is their aim to change the promotion into a feeder system that affects wrestling culture in Mexico, only to have these claims completely undermined by AAA booker Konnan, who went straight onto his “Keepin’ It 100” podcast the week after the announcement and laid out how AAA will now be a pipeline for Mexican talent to become stars for WWE, firstly in Mexico and then in the US, and how they will be ‘encouraged’ to learn English and to adapt to the American style.

The immediate attention though, going forward, will be on the next show in Mexico City on May 3rd for any upgrades in production and any WWE wrestler appearances. The show also features the in ring debut of the new version of La Parka. After that, eyes will turn to Triplemania Regia and the Los Angeles show to establish what the viability of immediate success is from the venture.

One wrestler whose presence at the press conference was the most surprising was Stephanie Vacquer. Vacquer’s abuser was present at the last AAA show in Mexico City and the Chilean wrestler is understood to still have a restraining order against members of the Dinamitas and Hiedra groups, which includes the current AAA Tag Champions. WWE will need to ensure she is protected alongside their new partnership. There are also questions over AAA Champion Alberto Del Rio who WWE have avoided working with in recent years and who has been heavily critical of WWE leadership, and HHH in particular.

© NJPW/CMLL

CMLL

Mistico’s first Friday back after injury at Arena Mexico will be the AAA vs MLW show on May 2nd. Mistico will face Kushida, who has been part of a number of shows over the past two weeks and working the press as much as possible on top. The Mistico return will now provide a large additional draw for the show, which feels like a weak lineup on paper compared to the standard Friday night showings.

Mistico’s first show back in CMLL was on Sunday night. After weeks of stating he would wait until he was healed before returning, he came out for the special kids event on Sunday wearing an arm brace. His actual return to the ring was for a US independent the previous night. Sunday’s show is available for free on Youtube.

CMLL put tickets on sale for their “CMLL vs RoH/ AEW” show on June 17th and the “Fantasticamania” show on June 20th. Tickets are moving well but not at the pass of the AEW show on Wednesday night. The promotion advertised the on sale at last Friday’s show, which is an unusual occurrence for any show outside of the Anniversary show in the fall.

RUSH, Dralistico and the Beast Mortos are among the Mexican AEW talent who will currently not be involved in proceedings. One wrestler who has been able to overcome the politics is Bandido, who is now being advertised for the AEW show and will be available for the CMLL events in the same week.

CMLL responded to the WWE counter programming by emphasizing their role in lucha libre and that of Arena Mexico. The video for the 69th Anniversary show for the building ended with the tagline “As long as Arena Mexico exists, lucha libre will never die.” A “100% Mexicana” tagline is now present on all CMLL promotional materials. With CMLL such a key tourist institution in Mexico City as well as the historical nature of the promotion and the current political climate, it makes sense to make the most of their role in preserving the sport within the country and now being the only major company not under American ownership.

CMLL will have been boosted by selling out shows at all 4 of their buildings during the same week for the first time this year in the week following WWE and AAA’s announcement.

Billie Starkz replaced an injured Taya Valkyrie for last weekend’s shows. Starkz was then herself pulled from the Sunday show and Lady Frost wrestled singles instead on the night.

© CMLL

CMLL Domingo Familiar
25/04/2025
Arena Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
Watch On: CMLL Youtube

The April 25th Friday night show at Arena Mexico celebrated the 69th Anniversary of the historic building with the semi finals and the final of this year’s Universal Title Tournament.

In the first semi final it was Titan who emerged, defeating Stigma and Mephisto. He was joined in the final by Esfinge, who came past Niebla Roja and Akuma, and Angel de Oro who bested Flip Gordon and Euforia.

The three would do battle in the main event of the show in elimination fashion, Esfinge was the first one out, submitting to La Campena from Angel de Oro, leading to a frenetic back and forth between the final 2. In the end, it was Titan with a La Campena of his own that got the submission and earned him the first win in the Tournament of his career, having been a losing finalist in 2022 and 2024.

The CMLL Welterweight Champion was also confirmed as the CMLL entrant for New Japan’s upcoming “Best of the Super Juniors” Tournament which begins on May 10th.

In the semi main event, Kushida defeated Ultimo Guerrero ahead of his match with Mistico this week.

Full Results

Billie Starkz & Lady Frost defeat Las Infernales (Dark Silueta & Zeuxis) (7:04)

Campeon Universal Del CMLL 2025 Semi Final:
Titan defeats Mephisto and Stigma (6:54)

Campeon Universal Del CMLL 2025 Semi Final:
Esfinge defeats Akuma and Niebla Roja (14:51)

Campeon Universal Del CMLL 2025 Semi Final:
Angel de Oro defeats Euforia and Flip Gordon (11:05)

Kushida defeats Ultimo Guerrero (15:50)

Campeon Universal Del CMLL 2025 Final:
Titan defeats Angel de Oro and Esfinge (13:45)

Mexico News

Masked Republic is releasing a children’s book starring Dragon Lee. “La Dinastia Munoz! Dragon Lee and the Monster of Salty River” will be available from their website.

Masked Republic are also joining with Prestige and PW Revolution for “Portland Cinco de Mayo Fiesta” on the 3rd and 4th of May. Lucha bouts will take place between 12-8pm.

Masked Mania have now cancelled the shows that were scheduled for Atlanta and Charlotte on May 3rd and 4th. Tickets sales for both events never reached a 1,000 on either occasion in what were ambitiously sized venues.Talent such as Dr. Wagner Jr. and LA Park were booked for the two date tour.

Riot have added a six man to their May 17th show in Monterey. Arez Toxin and Latigo will take on the “Fly Forever” team of Epydemius Jr, Noisy Boy and Spider Fly.

Cedric Alexander will appear for The Crash in Tijuana on May 16th in one of his first dates post his WWE release.

Other news from the Americas

Canada

Maple Leaf Pro have continued to flesh out their “Northern Rising” on May 10th with the additions of QT Marshall vs Josh Alexander, a three way between Gabe Kidd, Michael Oku and “Speedball” Mike Bailey and a debut in the promotion for the Good Brothers.

Stu Grayson will challenge Thom Latimer for the NWA World Championship whilst Giselle Shaw and Kylie Rae will face off with the aim of becoming the first MLP Women’s Champion.

Don Callis will be back on commentary alongside Mauro Ranallo for the show from the former Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The show will stream live on Triller as a PPV.

The company also announced the signing of 3 Legends deals with the families of Bruiser Brody, Bulldog Brower and Dave McKigney.

Top Talent Wrestling in Edmonton have Aeroboy and Tommy Billington booked for a show which also includes Jonathan Gresham vs Gabriel Lestat and Miya Yamashita vs Ava Lawless.

C4 have announced that their next date following last week’s “Collateral Damage” will be May 30th in Ottawa. Last week’s show is now available on IWTV.

Trey Miguel will return to Alpha-1 for this week’s show on May 4th that also features the Omega ladder match.

Caribbean

All Caribean Wrestling have announced that their flagship TV show, “Saturday Night Vibe” will now broadcast worldwide via Triller+ in addition to linear television on Saturday nights across the Caribean.

The show will air at 6pm ET and will feature ACW World Champion Elijah Burke, ACW Women’s Champion Kaylia Capri as well as local favourites such as the Baha Boys.

Chile

Fred Rosser is the latest US talent who is heading to Santiago, Chile. Rosser will be part of Legion Lucha Libre’s “Supervivencia 2025” show in the Chilean capital on June 1st.

48 hours in Las Vegas

Chris Whitehead takes us along with him on a whistle stop tour of the independents and global promotions who made Las Vegas their home during Wrestlemania week.

Naito

It is hard not to overemphasize how much this week feels like a truly momentous one for New Japan Pro Wrestling as the top draw for most of the last decade and the most popular wrestler in the company…

Recommendations From A History Man

David Finlay will make the first challenge in his career for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis on April 5th after winning this year’s New Japan Cup, defeating Shota Umino in the final in Nagaoka.