WWE legend Bob Holly, known for his rugged, no-nonsense look and intense Attitude Era persona, appears strikingly different in a recent photo shared on his wife Linda Howard’s Instagram. The tough-as-nails superstar now shows a softer, more mature appearance that has fans doing double-takes. Standing alongside Linda, a retired Lieutenant Colonel, Holly’s transformation highlights the passage of time and suggests he is now living a much quieter life, following a 33-year in-ring career as a dependable midcard presence.

63-year-old Holly, real name Robert Howard, enjoyed a 15-year run in WWE from 1994 to 2009. He debuted as the NASCAR-inspired Thurman “Sparky” Plugg before evolving into a tough brawler and adopting the Hardcore Holly persona during the Attitude Era. At times a tag team specialist, he won the WWE Tag Team Championships with the 1-2-3 Kid, Crash Holly, and Cody Rhodes, along with the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Bart Gunn. Though never a main event star, he challenged Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship at the 2004 Royal Rumble after sustaining a broken neck from him in 2002.

Current AEW Women’s World Champion and member of the Triangle of Madness stable, Thekla, is one of the promotion’s fastest-rising stars. According to Fightful Select, she has signed a new multi-year contract extension well before her original two-year deal was set to expire. The move underscores how much she has impressed Tony Khan. It’s also noted that she used an agent during negotiations, which is a growing trend in pro wrestling that likely helped her secure a deal reflecting her current market value.

“We’re told that Thekla had originally signed a two-year contract with AEW upon making the jump from Japan. However, AEW was so happy with her performance, they made the move to sign her to a new, multi-year deal not even a full year into the original deal. Thekla used representation to complete the deal.” – Fightful Select

32-year-old Austrian Thekla Kaischauri debuted at 24 in 2017 after training in the local Vienna wrestling scene. She later gained prominence in Japan with promotions like Ice Ribbon and World Wonder Ring Stardom, where she earned the nickname “The Toxic Spider” for her aggressive, artistic in-ring style. Subsequently, he joined All Elite Wrestling in May 2025 and quickly ascended to the top, capturing the AEW Women’s World Championship from Kris Statlander in February 2026.

Earlier this month, The Pretty Reckless announced their fifth studio album “Dear God” and dropped a new single/video for the hard rocking track “When I Wake Up.” Singer Taylor Momsen said of the new tune: “‘When I Wake Up’ is the story of a dream becoming a nightmare. When a life of excess leads you on a rollercoaster that is doomed to crash but you just can’t see it. It’s a good time…”

The Pretty Reckless are currently in South America continuing their long opening trek for AC/DC, but Momsen appeared last week on “Trunk Nation with Eddie Trunk” via SiriusXM to plug the band’s new song and album. Trunk asked her how she decompresses from her often busy schedule, and Momsen revealed her new obsession for relaxing. 

“I try to find time,” she said. “I haven’t really had a break in — I’m not sure how long, but I also spent so much time… With COVID and not getting to fully tour ‘Death By Rock And Roll’ in the traditional sense, the way we normally would tour a record and all that, I feel like I took a long — that almost felt like a hiatus in a weird way. So I feel very good being super busy right now. And I find moments for myself in… I was raised working all the time — I started working at two years old — so I learned to find solace in my own head. And so that’s not a blocked off vacation. It’s not traditional like that. So I find moments — it’s about finding moments with yourself. And my new obsession’s crocheting, and I find it meditative. I crochet for an hour and think in silence or with music. And that’s a break. [Laughs] And it works for me. So I’m cool with that.”

She added: “Someone taught me to crochet on the first tour, and it’s become an obsession of mine in a way that I kind of can’t believe I haven’t done it my whole life. I’m fully addicted to it. It’s like a new meditation tactic for me. So just endless blankets — I can make endless blankets.”

Check out the band’s new song “When I Wake Up” by clicking the “Watch on YouTube” link below. 

Metal legends Metallica have had a slew of memorable and iconic songs throughout their storied career. Perhaps none, however, have been as big and as recognizable as their 1991 track, “Enter Sandman.” Upon its release the song charted across the world, and it also crossed the billion streams mark on Spotify back in 2023. 

Actor Elijah Wood is perhaps most known for his role as Froto in the “Lord Of The Rings” trilogy of movies, and the 45-year-old is currently promoting the comedy-horror film “Ready Or Not 2: Here I Come.” In a new interview with NME plugging the movie, Wood revealed that he can no longer listen to Metallica’s most well-known song, and his son is to blame. “It’s specifically because of my son,” Wood says. “He was about four when I introduced him to it and then it became the only song that he wanted to hear for a very long stretch of time. It’s actually not too inappropriate lyrically. It’s a little scary, but there isn’t anything too gnarly.”

Wood also shared the first gig he ever attended when he was just 15 years old. “It was on the ‘Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness’ tour and Garbage opened for them,” he remembered. “I was just about to turn 16 and it was absolutely incredible. It was at that time when Billy (Corgan) basically wore the ‘Zero’ shirt for the better part of two or three years. It was also the first time he shaved his head. I was a huge, huge Pumpkins fan and so for them to be my first concert was so appropriate.”

During a live TikTok session, Tama Tonga has shrugged off the hefty five-figure fine imposed on him last week for sharing unauthorized rehearsal footage online, revealed that he retreated to his “happy place” to stay positive, emphasizing the need to absorb setbacks and keep pushing forward without letting them derail progress. Far from apologetic, the 43-year-old quipped that he has spent his entire life in “the doghouse,” so this latest punishment seems to change nothing regarding his rebellious approach to the business.

“It was worth it. I had to go to my happy place.  After that shenanigans, I had to go to the world’s happiest place to get myself smiling again.  Nah, I’ve been smiling. You know? I think that’s a, the biggest thing is, man, we can’t hit with something. We just take the heat and keep on moving. Can’t let that bring you down. You know? You gotta keep on moving.  Am I in a dog house? I’ve been in a dog house my whole life. No getting out of the dog house. Yeah, I move in life like I’m always in a dog house. Which is why I don’t give a rat…” – Tama Tonga

Tonga, born Alipate Aloisio Leone, is a second-generation wrestler and adopted son of former WWE and WCW star Haku. After serving in the U.S. Air Force, he trained at Team 3D Academy and made his debut on the independent circuit in 2008. From there, he joined NJPW in 2010 and, alongside brother Tanga Loa as Guerrillas of Destiny, dominated as a seven-time IWGP Tag Team Champion while capturing multiple NEVER titles as a singles star. In 2024, he signed with WWE, becoming a key enforcer in Solo Sikoa’s Bloodline/MFT faction on SmackDown, where he has won two WWE Tag Team Championships and continues Haku’s non-nonsense hard-hitting legacy.

Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson, a former WWE NXT signee, has signed a multi-match deal with Real American Freestyle Wrestling. The news was announced on The Ariel Helwani Show on March 25, with Steveson scheduled to make his debut on May 30 at RAF 9 in Dallas, Texas, with the event airing live on Fox Nation. The promotion, founded in 2025, hopes to help Steveson rebuild his career, as his time with WWE failed to meet expectations.

“I’ve confirmed with the good people over at Real American Freestyle Wrestling that they have, in fact, signed the big fish, the one that we thought they would sign from the jump. He’s been quite busy, but he seemed like a natural shoo-in from the start. He is the Olympic gold medalist, the multiple-time national champion, the multiple-time All-American, the future UFC fighter we suspect, Gable Steveson has signed a multi-match deal with RAF, Real American Freestyle Wrestling … He will make his debut at RAF 9, May 30th in Dallas, Texas. Opponent TBD.” – Ariel Helwani

RAF is a professional freestyle wrestling promotion founded in April 2025 and headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Launched by Chad Bronstein, Izzy Martinez, Eric Bischoff, and the late Hulk Hogan. RAF attempts to blend authentic, unscripted freestyle wrestling with entertainment elements, but unlike traditional professional wrestling, it features real competition across men’s and women’s weight classes, highlighting top collegiate, Olympic, and MMA crossover athletes. Events currently air exclusively on Fox Nation, with plans for a weekly television series already underway. 

In heartbreaking news, a GoFundMe campaign has had to be launched to help cover the funeral costs of Daniel Moody, the son of WWE Hall of Famer Paul Bearer. The independent wrestler, who performed as DJ Pringle, was just 39 years old at the time of his passing earlier this week and was the last surviving member of his immediate family, having already lost his mother, Dianna, in 2009, his father in 2013, and his brother Michael in 2014. According to the GoFundMe page, which was originally created to help with medical bills, Moody had been battling ongoing health difficulties and had been hospitalized last year.

“Daniel Moody, aka DJ Pringle, needs your help. Daniel went in the hospital, on November 7th of last year for a procedure and suffered a major health crisis and is now in long term care. My wife and I have been helping his daughter, Danielle, take care of his insurance premiums but the bills are piling up. We need help to make sure he gets the best of care. If you’ve ever went to a show with DJ Pringle on the poster and loved to hate him….please donate. Update Daniel Moody passed away 3/23/26 and we now need help with funeral cost.” – GoFundMe

Following in his father’s footsteps, Moody debuted in 2004–2005 on the Gulf Coast independent wrestling scene. Trained by his dad, he competed for several promotions, including the Southern Wrestling Alliance, X-Generation Wrestling, and SPW, where he captured the SPW Heavyweight Championship in 2007. Billed as “The Future Legend,” he worked both tag team and singles matches across Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, though he had been largely inactive in recent years.

In a recent interview with GamesHub, Chris Jericho reflected on his remarkable 35-year career and voiced a major concern about the current generation of wrestlers’ inability to match his longevity. The former WWE Champion fears that today’s high-risk, physically demanding style is making long careers increasingly difficult. He points out that serious injuries, such as neck surgeries, can end a wrestler’s career almost overnight. Jericho reveals he learned this lesson early on when, during a 1993 match against the luchador Masakre, his opponent failed to catch him, resulting in him landing on bolted-down arena chairs, an incident that taught him to choose his risks more carefully.

“What worries me about the guys working today is here I am at 55, 35 years in, with still some career left to go. I don’t know if it’s a year, two years, or four years,  I’m not sure. But I don’t know how many of the guys working now will have the option to go 35 years. Hopefully, all of them. But you can already see what serious injuries do, a bad neck surgery changes everything … I remember the first time I ever got hurt. I thought I was invincible. I was in León, Mexico, did a dive over the top rope, and the guy who was supposed to catch me, a guy called Masakre, he just stepped aside. I landed on old-school bolted-down arena chairs. I messed up my arm, and I thought, oh, I could actually get hurt doing this. And if a guy doesn’t want to catch you, that’s even worse. After that, I started getting smart about which moves were worth the risk. The guys who figure that out early are the ones who get the longevity.” – Chris Jericho

Jericho’s formative years in Mexico from 1993 to 1995 laid the foundation for his legendary career. Wrestling as Corazón de León, for CMLL in 1993, he shared the ring with many of the era’s top stars and future legends. However, his time in Mexico was cut short later because both WCW and WWE ran shows there sporadically, reducing his availability. Still, thanks to AEW’s working relationship with the legendary lucha libre promotion, Jericho stepped back into CMLL’s Arena México to face Mistico in 2024 for a highly anticipated dream match, which made wrestling headlines all over the world.

While appearing on Real 92.3 LA, AEW’s Thunder Rosa revealed that when WWE offered her a referee position in 2019, the annual salary was $60,000. At the time, the constant financial instability of life on the independent circuit had left her exhausted and burned out. The steady paycheck was genuinely tempting, but delays with her tryout caused the opportunity to slip away quietly. Looking back, Rosa now believes it was fate, as not attending allowed her to stay in the ring and eventually rise to the top in AEW, where she captured the AEW Women’s World Championship.

“In 2019, they called me, and they were like, are you ready to hang up the boots? I needed money. I needed steady money because, brother, being an independent professional wrestler, when you’re talking about hustle, it’s a hustle. I had a job when I was in the Bay Area, but when I decided to do wrestling full-time, I was depending on my ex-husband and my hustle. I was hustling all the time, and I was tired. Like hustling after seven years, you’re like, man, I need a job or something. They offered me like $60,000 a year, which at the time, it was like, all right, it’s better than what I was making …There was a hurricane that happened, and then they just keep pushing my tryout and then it never happened, but it was meant to be that way.” – Thunder Rosa

39-year-old Melissa Cervantes, whose real name is Melissa Cervantes, made her professional wrestling debut in late 2014 after working in social care. She quickly made a name for herself on the independent scene, competing for promotions like Stardom in Japan and Lucha Underground. In 2019, she became the first Mexican-born woman to win the NWA World Women’s Championship, and thanks to Billy Corgan’s company having a working relationship with AEW at the time, it opened the door for her to work for both promotions simultaneously.

During a recent interview with VGC to promote the inclusion of Hardcore Heaven ’94 in WWE 2K26, former ECW head honcho Paul Heyman didn’t mince words about the 2006 WWE revival of the iconic promotion. He bluntly described the entire experience as “one absolutely abhorrent, miserable experience for everybody involved,” indicating that for him the experiment remains a painful chapter best left forgotten. The WWE Hall of Famer stressed that when fans chant “ECW” today, they’re honoring the original revolutionary promotion, not the watered-down, WWE-lite version that followed.

“I don’t think anybody that chants ECW in 2026 ever is thinking about the WWE-ized version of 2006, which was one absolutely abhorrent, miserable experience for everybody involved. When people chant ECW, they chant from the period of September 1993 to January 2001.“ – Paul Heyman

Founded in 1993 and running until its closure in 2001, the original ECW was a gritty, independent revolution that shattered wrestling conventions with its raw, unfiltered hardcore style, barbed-wire matches, flaming tables, and intense adult-oriented storylines. It introduced groundbreaking talents like Sabu, RVD, and The Dudley Boyz to a wider audience and played a key role in sparking WWE’s Attitude Era. In stark contrast, the 2006 WWE relaunch transformed ECW into a sanitized third brand airing on Syfy. Under corporate control, the violence was heavily toned down, weapons were restricted, and generic booking stripped away the rebellious soul that had made the original so special.

Andy “The Butcher” Williams did a new interview with Web Is Jericho via Youngstown Studio discussing the origin and sound of his new band, Atomic Rule. The group is the latest project to feature an ex-member of metalcore legends Every Time I Die, and the band also recently announced a handful of tour dates in the Midwest set for next month.

Williams also briefly discussed where he’s at in his wrestling career and his status with All Elite Wrestling. Late last month, he shared a post via his X account revealing that it had been more than a year since he last wrestled a match for AEW. “Last time I wrestled an @aew match was a year and 7 days ago. Would love to get back out there either with Blade or just myself. Best shape of my life and no dance partners.”

Williams elaborated on his status with the company sharing that despite not being used by AEW in recent memory, he’s still under contract and also still grateful to AEW CEO Tony Khan. “Still under contract,” he said. “Blade, that was the big thing, is Blade has his back fused. So like, as a tag team wrestler, it’s like, how many times can you send a guy out there in singles matches and then they lose. You know what I mean? You kind of have to shelve them.”

He continued: “And I kind of understand and try to be humble with that. It does seep into your head like, ‘Dude, what did I do wrong.’ You know what I mean? Cause like no one talks to you. It’s not like they’re checking up on me every week going, ‘How you doing dude?’” 

“It’s just like, ‘We’ll call you when we need you.’ And that kind of is like a head f*ck. But at the same time, I’m so grateful because I get paid every two weeks. Blade is now healthy, so we can work Indies and stuff like that. Just waiting for the call for a return and hopefully it happens soon. I know that there’s a lot of injuries going on now in AEW. That’s usually an indicator that they’re probably gonna bring some guys back that they’re sitting.” 

Check out The Butcher’s full interview below.

Back in 2022, metalcore legends Every Time I Die went through a highly publicized split, and the band members branched off into their own musical projects. Jordan Buckley, Stephen Micciche and Clayton “Goose” Holyoak went on to form Better Lovers, and singer Keith Buckley started up Many Eyes.  

Guitarist Andy Williams, who wrestles as “The Butcher” for AEW and on the independent wrestling scene, had a standing invite to join Better Lovers but revealed in a new interview with Web Is Jericho via Youngstown Studio that he had something else in mind. 

“When (ETID) broke up, Better Lovers had started out of that,” Williams said. “I think that was the first band out of all the three bands that came out of ETID. I was kind of entertaining the idea of doing that with those guys. We had a couple practices, and it was fine, but just like, I think it was more like the slate is clean, and I wanted to do something different. I just didn’t know what I wanted to do.” 

Williams said he put his focus on wrestling at the time, but admitted he still felt a little jaded about the whole situation. “You have this relationship of almost 30 years doing this thing where that’s what my main focus was creatively,” he explained. “I didn’t play guitar for like two years. I did those Better Lovers practices, and then after that I just kind of like was, ‘I’m gonna focus on wrestling, and when the guitar speaks to me, it’ll speak to me.’”

To get back into the groove of music, Williams initially started strumming his girlfriend’s acoustic guitar looking for inspiration. It eventually struck. He was soon writing new riffs and parts which he later took to the electric guitar to become the basis of the sound of his new band, Atomic Rule. 

“The music is really for a journey,” he said. “It’s not for people who want to hear like a 2-minute song. We want to put you in a place where it’s, ‘Oh man, that’s heavy,’ but then like two seconds later, it’s like we’ll hit you with a pretty part or a jazzy part. It’s music for us, but we hope people like it.”

Talking more specifically about the Atomic Rule sound, Williams said he turned to a specific guitar tuning that he used for select songs with Every Time I Die. “We had a few songs in this tuning,” he said. “So the tuning I’m doing is like a little weird. It’s like a low A but with standard tuning . So you get this low, droney note over everything, but you still get all the pretty stuff of a higher tuning. ETID had a couple songs … there was a song called ‘Indian Giver,’ and on the last record there was like four or five songs in this low A tuning. My ear just likes hearing that. So once I kind of picked it up, I was like how can I use that low note more and still give people something to listen to. I like to say it’s like King Crimson in 2026.”

Check out Williams’ full interview discussing Atomic Rule, where he’s currently at in his wrestling career and much more.