Originally Posted by Jordan X (Post 5235685)

Honestly, that would be fucking awesome. If Cormier came to WWF to fight Lesnar instead of continuing in UFC. Haha, I would love it. Cormier is the man, he would be good as an Authority Figure for WWE or a commentator.

Originally Posted by Observer

Radio station WHTZ 100.3 FM in New York City is running advertisements pushing tickets for the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame and listed Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake among the inductees for the 2019 WWE Hall of Fame class, so there's your final Hall of Famer.

Originally Posted by PWI

The decision to go with the Raw Women's Championship main event is being seen internally as a major victory for the women's division and for everyone involved in that storyline. We are told it was down to the wire between that match and Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins closing the show.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc

As noted, Kurt Angle will have his final match with WWE at WrestleMania 35 this April, facing Baron Corbin one-on-one.

Although there have been rumors of Angle's opponent being reconsidered, the two are currently scheduled to collide on "the grandest stage of them all".

In the meantime, Angle will perform on both RAW and SmackDown, facing opponents from his storied career like AJ Styles, Rey Mysterio and, during last night's RAW, Samoa Joe.

On the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer mentioned that these opponents Angle will be facing during the build to WrestleMania 35 were all personally hand-picked by Angle. Despite the storyline telling fans differently, the one opponent Angle had no input in choosing was his WrestleMania opponent for this year, Corbin.

Originally Posted by Observer

Despite her saying she’s retired on Total Bellas, TMZ reported that Nikki Bella is “definitely open to returning to the ring” and making cameos in the future if the timing is right.

Originally Posted by Observer

Though his return to action for ROH had been announced for Road to G1 Supercard: Baltimore, Flip Gordon won't be able to wrestle at the show.

ROH announced today that Gordon has re-injured his right knee and won't be appearing at the Road to G1 Supercard show on Sunday (March 31). Gordon tweeted yesterday that his knee was "completely locked up" the morning after wrestling for OTT Wrestling in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was able to fly home and had a doctor's appointment scheduled for this morning.

ROH wrote that there's "concern that Gordon may have suffered a 'bucket handle' meniscus tear, which would require surgery and keep him out of action for four-to-six months. The extent of the injury will not be known until the results of Gordon’s MRI exam are in."

Originally Posted by PWI

Main Event Taping:

EC3 beats Tyler Breeze with the One Percenter in about 5 minutes. Awkward match with way too many blown spots.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling

As of Tuesday afternoon, the women’s battle royal and a SmackDown tag title match are both scheduled for the WrestleMania card. If you included those two matches and the pending Daniel Bryan vs. Kofi Kingston announcement that brings the match total to 16.

Originally Posted by PWI

A small correction to make on our Allie reporting last week. Her contract expired in February, at which point she was informed Impact Wrestling was not renewing her deal. We had initially reported late January, but it was actually last month.

In following up on Eli Drake, PWInsider.com has confirmed his current deal expires in late May.

There has been a big push to sign LAX to new deals and lock them in long-term as a top act for the company.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc

Announced earlier today at a press conference, former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez, 36, has signed with AAA.

Velasquez will make his in-ring debut with the promotion on August 3 at TripleMania XXVII, AAA's biggest show of the year. An opponent is yet to be announced.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A

Becky Lynch has been recently offered a new WWE contract, according to Pro Wrestling Sheet.

It’s said to be a multi-year deal that includes a raise and she’s expected to officially sign it soon. It’s not known when her current deal was set to expire.

WWE has been recently trying to lock more of their wrestlers into longer-term contracts, with the specter of AEW being one of the reasons why.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc

A Falls Count Anywhere stipulation has been announced for The Miz vs. Shane McMahon at WrestleMania 35. Miz challenged Shane to the stipulation on tonight's SmackDown and Shane accepted it.

In other WrestleMania 35 news, we noted before how Charlotte Flair shockingly won the SmackDown Women's Title from Asuka on tonight's episode. WWE has confirmed that Flair's title will not be on the line when she faces Becky Lynch and RAW Women's Champion Ronda Rousey in the WrestleMania 35 main event.

Originally Posted by Observer Forums via r/SquaredCircle

Vince changed his mind this afternoon. He didn't want to put Asuka against whomever that nobody cared about in the 17th or 18th match on the show, and instead decided to add another title into the main event. Maybe they figured they had too many matches on the show and it was a way to get rid of one. All I know is it changed this afternoon. You want it to make sense. It doesn't. It can't when you change the story every week.

Originally Posted by Observer

Oney Lorcan is officially part of the 205 Live roster.

After Lorcan appeared on tonight's 205 Live episode, WWE uploaded a video where Drake Maverick announced that Lorcan has joined the cruiserweight division and will be wrestling on NXT and 205 Live going forward.

Lorcan was involved in the show-closing angle on this week's 205 Live. He came out before the bell rang for Cedric Alexander vs. Ariya Daivari and sat at ringside for the match. After Alexander hit a dive to the floor, he accidentally knocked Lorcan's jacket off of the announce table. Lorcan got mad at Alexander and yelled at him, leading to Daivari rolling up Alexander to win.

Originally Posted by PWI

Vince McMahon sold 3.2 million shares of WWE stock in order to raise $270 million in capital for his new company Alpha Entertainment, which will be re-launching the XFL football league in 2020.

WWE stock dropped 1% in after-hours trading as a result of McMahon's stock sale, according to SeekingAlpha.com.

Originally Posted by PWI

WWE issued an Email blast pushing the 2019 WWE Survivor Series pre-sale in Chicago, advertising the following match for the PPV:

*In a Survivor Series Elimination Match, Team Raw - Roman Reigns & Braun Strowman & Drew McIntyre & Finn Balor & Bobby Lashley vs. Team Smackdown - Kevin Owens & AJ Styles & Randy Orton & Samoa Joe & Rey Mysterio.

Originally Posted by PWI

AXS TV issued the following:

Los Angeles (March 27, 2019) – AXS TV—the exclusive U.S. broadcast home for New Japan Pro Wrestling—is proud to announce it will premiere a two-part special from the sold-out G1 SUPERCARD, a co-promotion between Ring of Honor and NJPW at Madison Square Garden, on Friday, April 12 and Friday, April 19 at 8pE/5pP.

Originally Posted by PWI

Matt M sent this. … Regarding the question about why the champs don't pin each other in a triple threat tag and leave:

Many, many years ago, there was a multi tag team match on Raw when the New Age Outlaws were champs. They did this exact finish and from then on, the commentators would always reference the Outlaw Rule and that you couldn't pin your partner.

Originally Posted by Fightful

The Bella Twins are already teasing a comeback.

On the season finale of Total Bellas this past Sunday, Nikki Bella announced that she would be retiring from wrestling. Earlier this month, Brie Bella also informed fans that she would be stepping away from the ring as well. In the wake of their retirement, the twins announced that they would be starting a new podcast titled The Bellas Podcast.

On the premiere episode, Brie & Nikki revealed that would come back if it meant getting their hands on the Women's Tag Team Titles.

"Nicole and I did tell everyone that we are stepping away from the ring, which is true, we are. But we also said that before the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles came into place," said Brie. "This is the thing, for years we were begging for the Women's Tag Team Titles. Begging. We never thought it could truly be a reality. The fact that it is now, makes it extremely tempting for us to go back and fight for them because we're really the longest reigning, most authentic tag team."

Nikki added, "Overall, we are the only real, true blood, tag team."

Originally Posted by Fightful

Try as they might, WWE won't be able to stop Joey Janela's Spring Break even if they take measures next year.

Janela's third offering of Spring Break sold out both nights quickly, to the point Janela and Game Changer Wrestling are already planning ahead. With unsubstantiated reports of WWE trying to limit independent shows surrounding their WrestleMania 36 show in Tampa, Florida next year, Game Changer wrestling was ahead of the curve.

"We have a contract locked up already. It's already been signed, so there's nothing they can do," Joey Janela told Fightful. "If they kibosh all the other indies that weekend, has nothing to do with me. Brett Lauderdale was ahead of the game. He was in Tampa last week. Deal is done, there's nothing they can do. We're expecting something special next year. It's going to be a wild crowd."

Originally Posted by r/SquaredCircle

WOR: “I’ve been told Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch do very well in the quarter hour ratings, the best of anyone.”

Despite the numbers not being publicly available, Dave Meltzer said today that he was told Ronda Rousey and Becky Lynch do “very well” when it comes to quarter hour ratings, “the best of anyone” he claims.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc

It was confirmed this week that Joey Ryan, Thunder Rosa (Kobra Moon), Ivelisse Velez and El Hijo del Fantasma (King Cuerno) were released from their Lucha Underground contracts.

There's now speculation on King Cuerno possibly going to WWE in the near future. Dave Meltzer noted on Wrestling Observer Radio that Cuerno had an offer from WWE at one point. There's no word yet on if WWE still has interest in the former AAA World Cruiserweight Champion, but it was assumed that the offers still stand.

Cuerno was reportedly offered a spot in the WWE Cruiserweight Classic back in 2016, but Lucha Underground and AAA would not allow him to enter.

Regarding Velez possibly coming to WWE, Meltzer noted that she has had behind-the-scenes issues with people in WWE in the past, which is why she's not there now. There's been no recent talk of Velez possibly returning to WWE, but that could change as WWE looks to sign as many talents from the indies as they can ...

There's been rumors on Lucha Underground being done, but that's not official yet.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A

WWE ring announcer JoJo announced on Instagram that she’s expecting a baby, who will be named Knash, in June.

Bray Wyatt also posted a photo of his arms holding JoJo’s stomach, with the hashtag “#Knash” on his Instagram. Wyatt and JoJo have been dating for a couple of years.

JoJo has been off of WWE TV all year for what were previously said to be “personal reasons.” In her Instagram post, she said, “Oh and WWE universe WE will be back when the time is right.”

Originally Posted by SlickyTrickyDamon (Post 5236859)

Is Cena ok to go? He missed Royal Rumble.

Originally Posted by Noid (Post 5236880)

What do you think they see in Corbin? He’s probably a “hard worker,” but what has he shown? This is like them really trying to push Chainz to the top. I don’t get it.

Originally Posted by Innovator (Post 5236934)

Agile big man, not afraid to get heat. Belly button can wink.

Originally Posted by Observer

WWE announced that a seven-plus-hour livestream of the greatest modern-day WrestleMania matches will air on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube starting at noon Eastern time on Friday, March 29. The matches will range from WrestleMania XIX until today.

Originally Posted by Observer

Before he closed out Thursday's NXT conference call, WWE COO Paul "HHH" Levesque confirmed NXT is returning to San Jose, CA, on Saturday, June 8th.

Without explicitly saying it's a TakeOver event, WWE confirmed it will be.

The event will be at the SJSU Event Center where the brand has previously held TV tapings and house shows.

Originally Posted by PWI

World Wrestling Entertainment has locked in plans to return to Madison Square Garden, PWInsider.com can exclusively confirm.

WWE, which last ran the venue in December 2018, will return to MSG on 9/9 and 9/10 for back to back Raw and Smackdown Live tapings, we have confirmed with multiple sources.

The dates will be the first WWE TV tapings in the Garden since a Raw taping on 11/16/09.

Originally Posted by PWI

AAA will be holding a press conference next Thursday 4/5 at Madison Square Garden.

A press advisory issued regarding the conference noted AAA was coming to the United States in September 2019 and that the conference would include an opportunity for "AAA’s top executive share his vision for Lucha Libre’s next chapter."

Originally Posted by PWI

I read in This Day in History that Hogan fought as the Hulk Machine in the mid 80's. Why was this? Wasnt he WWF Champion and Hulkamania running wild at the time?

Yes, but he worked a few tag matches as "Hulk Machine" playing off the Machines tag team as a house show gimmick. They never hid it was Hogan and he would do a deal where he took the mask off to show the crowd it was him but pull it down in front of the referee. George Steele and Roddy Piper did some house shows as the "Piper Machine" and “The Animal Machine” as well. It was just a house show attraction, like “Juan Cena” a few years ago.


Is it true pro wrestling was once almost banned in NYC?

Not in NYC, but all of New York State. There was a riot on 11/19/57 following Argentina Rocca & Eduord Carpentier beating Dick the Bruiser and Dr. Jerry Graham in Madison Square Garden with fans damaging the building, storming the ring and even fighting with police. This led to $2,600 in fines (which was a lot of money back then), a November show being canceled and the State of New York actually coming close to banning pro wrestling. Oddly enough, the local press reported on the script going too far, so even back then, for all the talk of protecting the business, it was still being skewered for being a work by certain corners of the media.

Originally Posted by PWI

Sting has been announced as signing for Wrestlemania AXXESS on Sunday, which led to the vendor bringing in Sting at Wrestlecon canceling his appearance.. Fans who pre-paid for autographs and photo-ops at Wrestlecon have received refunds already. Wrestlecon is trying to step in and work out Sting appearing at another time next weekend but nothing has been locked in. It should be interesting to see if WWE requires any other talents who are scheduled for Wrestlecon to be pulled from the event.

Wrestlecon is among a number of entities having issues locking in venue in the Tampa area as WWE already has agreements locked in via their partnership with the city preventing competing pro wrestling events in certain venues in that market over Wrestlemania 36 week. WWN will obviously be running and will have no issues due to their relationship with WWE. We are told that Game Changer Wrestling has locked in Tampa plans. Everyone else is still up in the air.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter

WWE announced officially that the Ronda Rousey vs. Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte Flair women’s match would be the main event on this year’s WrestleMania. The decision officially makes it the first women’s main event in WrestleMania history, a subject that was brought up one year ago when the idea was for Rousey vs. Flair to headline the show.That match changed forms multiple times over the past year, and the day after the announcement and the media publicity, did once more as to promote it as the biggest women’s match in WWE history, they are pushing a “Winner Take All” theme, or perhaps an “All On The Line” theme with both the Raw and Smackdown women’s titles at stake.

The decision was made on 3/26 according to multiple sources in creative, that McMahon had agreed to a major change, basically putting the Smackdown title on Flair, which happened later that night as she beat Asuka for that title at the Mohegan Sun Casino. The original plan for the show was to have Asuka defend the title against the winner of a match on the 3/26 Smackdown show with Naomi, Carmella, Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville. Rose was booked to win that match and have a rematch with Asuka, who had beaten her at Fastlane. The decision was made on a show already overloaded with matches to remove that match that really had little interest and instead make the main event stronger. There was no indication Rose was winning that match.

The plan is also to come out of this match with a clear direction for next year’s WrestleMania, whether that means Rousey returns for a singles match with Lynch, or Flair vs. Lynch. Granted this 2019-20 Vince McMahon, meaning it’ll probably change five times or more during the year, especially since all of the top three matches this year were determined by fans and circumstances and were change of the long-term ideas. The women’s match changed multiple times, from the death of Jim Neidhart, to the huge rise in popularity of Lynch and different angles and scenarios with Flair. The only constant was that it was probably going to be the first women’s main event, and the only constant in the story was it being the climax of Rousey’s one-year run.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter

What “Winner Take All,” the theme we’ve heard from a few people as the probable tag line entails is not clear, although will be finalized on Raw on 4/1 in Washington, DC. The plan is not to unify or merge the championships, at least long-term.

As things stand, the idea seems to be that if Rousey or Flair lose, the person who beats them gets their title. It in theory is possible that Rousey or Flair end up with both belts, but the more likely scenario is Lynch can now win either the Raw or Smackdown belt. It is always possible that could change by Monday, but we’re told that is very unlikely as they do want each brand to have a separate champion. Obviously this decision comes down to whether this will be Rousey’s last match with the promotion for now. If Rousey finishes at Mania, the date that was the plan as her tentative final date for the last few months, then the scenario that makes the most sense would be Lynch over Rousey. If Rousey is staying longer, then Lynch can beat Flair and they could do Lynch vs. Rousey later, since it only makes sense for Rousey to lose once, in her final match for now, and for Lynch to be the one who beats her.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter

As every WrestleMania shows, Vince McMahon often changes his mind, based on his thoughts on crowd reactions or even if he thinks too many people have the outcome pegged. If he believes the social media outrage on Flair is real heat, he could switch to her winning. If Rousey is convinced to stay a little while longer just because he thinks people think he’s leaving, we’ve seen enough Brock Lesnar finishes to know what could happen. Still, Lynch has to be the favorite to win. By making the announcement public, we’re now in a position that McMahon can’t change his mind as to what match to put on last.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter

Regarding the internal politics in New Japan regarding the Dallas and London dichotomy mentioned last week, the U.S. expansion to this point has been in the hands of Kaname Tezuka and Bushiroad U.S. Harold Meij’s team were hoping to promote the U.S. market. The Madison Square Garden show was more ROH but Dallas is pure New Japan promotion. Tezuka’s Bushiroad had been promoting the U.S. market and wanted to keep it, so it ended up as a territorial split where Meij’s team gets U.K. and Australia and Tezuka’s team gets the U.S. Basically from both sides is the Tezuka side has more experience promoting wrestling which the Meij side doesn’t, but Meij has done business all over the world and his team speaks English, with him having being educated in the U.S. and Michael Craven being from Canada

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter

The Labor Day weekend All In 2, as it’s being called, will be on 8/31 back at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, IL. That was hinted on BTE the last time The Young Bucks went to Chicago and they showed the plaque in front of that arena which talked about All In. It was known all along it would be in Chicago, just a question as to what building as they sold out the Sears Center instantly last year, and the Allstate Arena, the WWE’s main venue, is a little larger and the United Center is a lot larger. In theory it should be harder to draw for a traveling fan show when they’ve already done Las Vegas this year, although lots of theories about what draws ticket money have been blown out of the water already

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter

Sadie Gibbs suffered an injured back powerlifting and pulled out of matches this past weekend. She said the injury has left her short of breath and she doesn’t know the extent of the problem.

Originally Posted by Observer Newsletter

FOX’s Friday night lineup this past week averaged 3,418,000 viewers and that’s going up against a ton of NCAA basketball games

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc

WrestleMania 35 is just days away which also means NXT TakeOver: New York is also days away. NXT is Triple H's baby and The Game conducted an NXT media call ahead of the big event ...

Sullivan was supposed to debut on Raw along with other main roster call-ups such as Tommaso Ciampa. Ciampa had a brief run with the main roster before recently undergoing neck surgery and Triple H talked about what was known about Ciampa's injury prior to his debut.

"We knew about it. We knew it was going to be a necessity going forward," admitted Triple H. "The decision was still made to move him to the main roster and get him some exposure. Then he'll take the time off, get fixed up and be back better than ever.

"Unfortunately with the type of injury he had, it went from one thing to another very rapidly. It changed from something being manageable to being a risk we're not willing to take."

Originally Posted by Simple Fan (Post 5237083)

Kind of dumb Becky can't come out Undisputed Women's Champion. If anything they could make her drop one the next night.

Originally Posted by Noid (Post 5237115)

What is the point of Charlotte holding up a belt after she loses a singles match?

Originally Posted by Droford (Post 5237091)

Beckys clearly winning cause Rondas running off and it gets her off SD where charlotte can continue to be champion

Originally Posted by erickman (Post 5237108)

now ronda has to take the pin instead of charlotte

Originally Posted by Splaya (Post 5237136)

Really? Did you use your own logic for this or did you rely on the dirt sheets?

Originally Posted by Droford (Post 5237137)

Becky Pins Charlotte so Ronda can have the "you never tapped me out or pinned me" storyline whenever she comes back

Originally Posted by Splaya (Post 5237139)

But then Becky gets the SD title

Originally Posted by Droford (Post 5237170)

Th big news from that is that starting with Survivor Series the Big 5 pre ppv SD will be in the same arena not the Post. Which means the post WM SD will be in a different city although the historically pointless pre WM SD will be. You can see it in the schedule since Amalie Arena is booked Fr-Sat-Mon. Also means they might not be doing the HOF next year.

Originally Posted by Emperor Smeat (Post 5237181)

Current speculation is WWE likely holds it on Thursdays going forward. Maybe Wednesday but can't be earlier in the week since those two days are when the bulk of wrestling fans and tourists arrive for Mania week.

Originally Posted by PWI

WWE Hall of Famer Hacksaw Jim Duggan, 65, posted the following on his Instagram:

"On my way to the hospital for a planned heart procedure, will be in over night. Then back HOOOOOING. Any good thoughts and prayers will be appreciated. See you down the road."

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling

Grammy Award winner Yolanda Adams will be performing “America the Beautiful” at WrestleMania at MetLife Stadium.

Originally Posted by Observer

Regarding John Cena, there is a deal on the table that Cena is expected to agree to for a match at WrestleMania. It is not with Kurt Angle.

Originally Posted by Fightful

There were initial pushes for the women's tag team match to be a ladder match at WrestleMania, but that was quickly shot down. There are pushes still going for a ladder match of some kind to happen, but others were saying "it's a mess they don't want." I'm not quite sure what that means, but that was the explanation I was given.

Originally Posted by Fightful

There's a lot to get into on the Women's Smackdown Title situation. As of two weeks ago, a giant portion of women on the Smackdown Live roster had no idea what they'd be doing at WrestleMania. In fact, a few of them weren't aware of the big changes to the show until early this week. WWE was keeping the situation very quiet almost all afternoon, and when it had to be explained what was happening, it was done in much more confusing fashion than it actually ended up being.

Originally Posted by Observer

With the show taking place in Florida, several NXT wrestlers will be appearing at EVOLVE 126.

Four NXT vs. EVOLVE matches have been announced for the show, which will be held at The Orpheum in Ybor City, Florida on Saturday, April 13. Those matches are:

EVOLVE Champion Austin Theory defending against NXT's Raul Mendoza
NXT's Angelo Dawkins vs. Eddie Kingston
NXT's Shane Thorne vs. Curt Stallion
NXT's Adrian Jaoude vs. Anthony Henry

Originally Posted by Observer

Dragon Gate wrestlers have been pulled from next week’s WrestleCon due to visa issues.

WrestleCon announced this afternoon in a press release that they had worked with an immigration attorney to directly work with Dragon Gate to bring wrestlers to the US. Despite negotiations through the proper channels, it still wasn’t able to be done.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling

Curry Baker, an analyst with Guggenheim has placed a target price of $105 for the WWE stock following a meeting with the company on their forthcoming initiatives. In his report, Guggenheim is projecting the television renewal in the U.K. to be “flattish” while estimating a “fivefold increase” in India. Both deals expire after 2019. Additionally, the outlet believes the WWE could better monetize a third hour of the SmackDown tapings, which is currently used for 205 Live and Mixed Match Challenge throughout the year. They believe that a third hour of SmackDown on Fox could add $75 million in annual OIBDA, although that becomes tougher on network television with news affiliates running immediately after.

I would be very cautious about extending SmackDown by an hour especially when it’s unchartered territory regarding how the two-hour show will perform on the network this October. George Barrios has spoken about the third hour of the Tuesday tapings and there are various ways to utilize that hour. Curry added that better sponsorship deals for the company could add $50-100 million in OIBDA. The focus of this analysis is that the WWE has untapped value beyond their television content and with the stock priced around $87, most believe it is undervalued.

Originally Posted by Fightful

An update on the status of NXT UK star Jinny.

Squared Circle Sirens is reporting that Jinny is currently out of action with an undisclosed injury. There is no confirmation on what the injury might be. According to the report, Jinny's status for the upcoming NXT UK television tapings at WrestleMania Axxess is currently up in the air. Jinny was not officially announced as being part of the NXT UK tapings at Axxess.

Originally Posted by Fightful

Fightful is sad to report that former wrestler, MMA fighter, and sumo Koji Kitao has passed away. He was 55 ...

Kitao is perhaps best known in wrestling circles for his April 1, 1991 bout against John Tenta in Super World of Sports, which ended up turning into a shoot fight. After the match, Kitao told the audience that wrestling is fake and was subsequently fired by SWS. Kitao had previously worked for NJPW, wrestling the likes of Vader, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Scott Hall. He was fired from NJPW for using an ethnic slur towards Riki Choshu. He competed at WrestleMania 7, teaming with Tenryu to defeat Demolition. He spent the last half of his career competing in WAR.

Originally Posted by Observer

There have now been 29 entrants confirmed for this year's Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.

WWE added 26 wrestlers to the match today, with them joining Braun Strowman and Saturday Night Live's Michael Che & Colin Jost as entrants confirmed for the battle royal.

Notably, Matt & Jeff Hardy will both be part of the battle royal. Andrade, Ali, and Bobby Roode & Chad Gable are also among the entrants for the match ...

Here's the updated list of Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal participants:
Braun Strowman
Michael Che
Colin Jost
Andrade
Apollo Crews
Titus O’Neil
Tyler Breeze
Jinder Mahal
No Way Jose
Bobby Roode
Chad Gable
Kalisto
Gran Metalik
Lince Dorado
Bo Dallas
Curtis Axel
Heath Slater
Rhyno
Viktor
Konnor
Ali
Shelton Benjamin
Luke Gallows
Karl Anderson
Matt Hardy
Jeff Hardy
Otis
Tucker
EC3

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A

Viceland released the first trailer for its six episode wrestling documentary series, “Dark Side of the Ring.”

The first episode will debut on Wednesday, April 10 at 9 PM ET on Viceland, and the remaining five episodes will debut on each Wednesday after that.

Originally Posted by #1-wwf-fan (Post 5237366)

Are they really gonna have Cena, the biggest star at their disposal, have a match at WrestleMania with zero promotion for the second year in a row?

Genius.

Originally Posted by Droford (Post 5237446)

the only ones that looks even somewhat happy is nikki cross and carmella

Lana's picture is outdated

Originally Posted by Noid (Post 5237528)

It either needs to be two days, or they really need to focus on the shit that matters. Jamming people on the card makes no one feel more special and everything feel less. This could have been the WM card:

* Raw Women’s Title
* Brock vs. Seth
* Bryan vs. Kofi
* Triple H vs. Batista
* Orton vs. Styles
* Sasha & Bayley vs. Nattie & Beth
* Cena vs. Joe
* Rey vs. Andrade
* Usos vs. Owens & Zayn

I’ve pulled a lot of that out of my ass, but that’s nine matches that could have had stories and people might have had reason to watch. If you don’t make the card? Hopefully you’re more crucial next year.

Originally Posted by Noid (Post 5237528)

It either needs to be two days, or they really need to focus on the shit that matters. Jamming people on the card makes no one feel more special and everything feel less. This could have been the WM card:

* Raw Women’s Title
* Brock vs. Seth
* Bryan vs. Kofi
* Triple H vs. Batista
* Orton vs. Styles
* Sasha & Bayley vs. Nattie & Beth
* Cena vs. Joe
* Rey vs. Andrade
* Usos vs. Owens & Zayn

I’ve pulled a lot of that out of my ass, but that’s nine matches that could have had stories and people might have had reason to watch. If you don’t make the card? Hopefully you’re more crucial next year.

Originally Posted by Emperor Smeat (Post 5237583)

Rumor going around the net hints that there is a strong possibility Becky doesn't leave Mania with the RAW belt. Supposedly Vince still hasn't made up his mind on the finish but is leaning on not wanting Becky to be on RAW.

Could be looking at the possibility of Ronda getting the Brock treatment as champ after Mania and RAW Women's Belt being a non-factor till at least SummerSlam or Survivor Series.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">According to <a href="https://twitter.com/Colohue?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Colohue</a>, a source close to <a href="https://twitter.com/divadirt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@divadirt</a> w/sources in WWE, the main event at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleMania?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WrestleMania</a> features both titles in order to keep options open for Vince, after the shakeup. Vince is not yet convinced he wants Lynch on Raw after SDLive moves to FOX.<br><br>Article to follow!</p>&mdash; Diva Dirt (@divadirt) <a href="https://twitter.com/divadirt/status/1111693805814759424?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Originally Posted by Observer

So yet another WrestleMania update. It will not be (unless things change tomorrow) The Revival vs. Aleister Black & Ricochet at WrestleMania. Right now that match on Raw is designed to build to a different title defense and have a way to get a new program going. The Revival's title defense was added to the show on Tuesday to replace the Smackdown women's title match. The Usos are defending the Smackdown tag titles in a multiple person match at Mania. We don't know who the teams will be, but do know that in an internal lineup before the changes that were made this past Tuesday, it was a four-team match with Usos, Black & Ricochet, Big E & Xavier Woods and Sheamus & Cesaro. However, on house shows this weekend, which one would think would be getting guys comfortable, you had Rusev & Nakamura in with the Usos and Bar. Rusev & Nakamura haven't been announced for the Battle Royal, nor have Black & Ricochet. With Black & Ricochet having two non-title wins over The Revival, they would make the most sense for Sunday, except we're told that is not happening now.

Originally Posted by Noid (Post 5237795)

So Black & Ricochet lose in a title match and then automatically get another? It’ll be Usos vs. Nakamura & Rusev vs. The Bar vs. Xavier Woods & Big E.

Originally Posted by Droford (Post 5237632)

stephanie adding herself to the triple threat match and winning...

Originally Posted by Observer

Raw's go-home show for WrestlMania 35 averaged 2.64 million viewers on the USA Network last night, up two percent from last week ...

The bad news was the 15 percent drop in viewers in hour three. The third hour decline was far stronger with women (22 percent in the 18-49 demo) than men (ten percent in the 18-49 demo).

Last year at this time Raw did 3.35 million viewers, and that was going head-to-head with the NCAA basketball finals, so it's a 21 percent year-to-year drop on a night with far easier competition ...

The three hours were:

8 p.m. 2.75 million viewers
9 p.m. 2.79 million viewers
10 p.m. 2.37 million viewers

Originally Posted by PWI

We are told the NYC skyline is figured into the Wrestlemania 35 set design. The set up began over the weekend. The Barclays Center already has tons of WWE-related signage up and will open a WWE-themed pop-up shop this weekend.

Originally Posted by Observer

Speaking to CBS Sports, Triple H seemed confident that Chyna would get her own induction into the WWE Hall of Fame one day. When asked about her induction within DX, he replied "It's awesome. I'm thrilled for her as the human being that I knew, for her family and for her sister, who I knew. There is probably not a woman who has ever made as big of an impact as she did. Somebody that transcended the business on her own and I'm sure will be in the Hall of Fame sometime on her own. I think it's fitting she is in there with DX in the beginning because it's how she started, and I think it's what it should be."

Originally Posted by PWI

Several Impact Wrestling executives will be in attendance at Thursday's AAA press conference at Madison Square Garden in NYC.

Originally Posted by PWI

Karl Anderson's trademark application which he started back in January this year has been 'suspended' due to WWE's active ongoing trademark application. So nothing will be done with his application until WWE's is either rejected or registered. If WWE gets the trademark registered, Anderson's filing would likely be rejected due to pontential confusion in the marketplace.

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling

Sunday’s episode of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO focusing on the WWE averaged 868,000 viewers. Their previous episodes from did 946,000 viewers on March 17th and 1,079,000 viewers on March 10th. It was their sixth episode of the current season and second-lowest viewership average.

Originally Posted by Fightful

As reported on Fightful Select earlier today, Fightful spoke to several members of the WWE roster about the episode. While it was a hot topic at yesterday's Hershey live event, it didn't seem like a "must watch," as several we heard from skipped out on it.

One (who admitted they only read the recap online) considered the piece "hacky" and said that "at least he's good at saying he's a fan." Another told us they watched, and enjoyed the segment and considered it informative, but said that the people who helped him research the piece probably should have let him know about Roman Reigns' condition before delivering a now-controversial joke about him. Outside of that, the long-time talent said it was a "home run."

Originally Posted by Post Wrestling

Amazing Red (Jonathan Figueroa) announced Monday that he is retiring effective immediately and will not be wrestling this weekend as part of WrestleMania Week. Red had been scheduled to wrestle for the Destiny and Fight Club Pro event on Thursday teaming with Puma King and Robbie Eagles against Kid Lykos, Chris Brookes, and Kyle Fletcher as well as for his own House of Glory event against Fenix on Saturday. Red stated his body was in too much pain, noting issues with his neck, back, ankles, and knees and needed to step away now. He added that he will continue to train talent at the House of Glory gym.

Originally Posted by PWI

The following press release was issued ...

In “350Days,” pro wrestling legends Bret Hart, Superstar Billy Graham and dozens more peel back the curtain on the severe toll working on the road 350 days a year took on their bodies, families, marriages and psyches.

Set for release April 2, 2019, “350 Days” is now available for pre-order on iTunes (https://apple.co/2IkUzLn), as well as on BluRay and DVD at Walmart.com, Amazon.com and other online retail sites. Release dates for additional streaming platforms will be announced soon.

This compelling documentary chronicles their struggles to survive the chaos of 1980s era wrestling. Living a rock and roll lifestyle, they faced nightly temptations, battled their vices, and were absentee parents and spouses while chasing dreams of fame and fortune.

In their own words, with the cutting insight and sharp wit one would expect from such legendary icons including Bret “Hitman” Hart, “Superstar” Billy Graham, “Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, JJ Dillon, Tito Santana, Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka, George “The Animal” Steele, Abdullah The Butcher, Wendi Richter, Lex Luger, Paul “Mr. Wonderful” Orndorff, Marty Jannetty, Lanny Poffo, “The Masked Superstar” Bill Eadie and Ox Baker, these gentle giants tell their harrowing (yet often darkly humorous) tales as marriages dissolve and relationships with their children are strained, sometimes permanently.

Originally Posted by Fightful

This is a real thing that you can do if you're in New York for WrestleMania weekend

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">By popular request; “YOU CAN TOUCH IT!” Pro Photo Ops available at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WrestleCon?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WrestleCon</a> weekend. Go to <a href="https://t.co/Kh6JlgLEoo">https://t.co/Kh6JlgLEoo</a> under “Pro Photos” in the menu tab to preorder. <a href="https://t.co/FyCzVHXABa">pic.twitter.com/FyCzVHXABa</a></p>&mdash; Joey Ryan (@JoeyRyanOnline) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoeyRyanOnline/status/1113140632409665536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 2, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Originally Posted by Fightful

Days after Tenille Dashwood announced that she's now a free agent, it looks like Ring of Honor could have a name to fill the void. Fightful Select reported on Monday that it was expected from those within the company that Maria Manic could receive a contract offer soon, if she hasn't already.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc

It looks like we could see Elias tangle with another WWE Superstar at WrestleMania 35.

There is a plan in place for someone to "shut Elias up" during his performance at WrestleMania 35, according to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio. There's no word yet on who may work the angle with Elias, but everyone from John Cena to The Undertaker to Bray Wyatt are being rumored.

Originally Posted by WrestlingInc

On the latest Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer revealed that there is now talk within the WWE to potentially add a third hour to SmackDown once it makes the transition over to Friday nights on FOX. The feeling among higher ups is that since they have to continue filming for 205 Live, a show that never grew as successful as WWE hoped, it may be beneficial to do the expected first two hours from 8 pm - 10 pm on FOX and then continue from 10 pm - 11 pm on FOX's affiliate, FS1.

WWE can reportedly gain upwards of $50,000,000 a year from FOX if this is the route they ultimately choose to take. It is by no means a done deal at this point, but the momentum backstage apparently has people within the financial community expecting this aspect of the deal to come together.

Originally Posted by TPWW Frontpage via Triple A

The Brock Lesnar and Seth Rollins segment on Raw last night was changed by Vince McMahon hours before the show, according to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio.

Seth Rollins ended up coming out on top last night, but the original Raw script called for Brock Lesnar to go over on Rollins. Vince McMahon decided to flip things around and Rollins gave Lesnar two low blows and laid him out with The Stomp.