Last month, 59-year-old Mike Jones, best known for his time in WWE as Virgil, shared the unfortunate news that he’d recently suffered two strokes and been diagnosed with dementia. Sadly he has now disclosed further miserable information, revealing he also has stage 2 colon cancer and has requested that fans help him via Paypal. And by clicking the link, he explains he has already spent $5721 on medical bills, and subsequent procedures will cost him $3400. It’s also noted that WWE doesn’t help him and that he currently receives $862 a month from social security to live on. As of writing, he has received $2145 from generous fans.

Jones first began wrestling in 1985 as Soul Train Jones before working as an enhancement talent for WWE in 1986. The following year, after impressing WWE management, he’d be given his big break becoming the bodyguard of Ted DiBiase and was renamed Virgil, which was a shot at Dusty Rhodes, whose real name was Virgil Runnels. Over the next several years, he’d be a heavily featured performer working alongside DiBiase and then feuded with him. Then following his release in the mid-90s and spell on the indies, he’d sign for WCW in 1996, going by the new name Vincent, chosen to mock Vince McMahon.

AEW has repeatedly paid respect to pro wrestling’s past since the company’s launch by bringing in several talents from the 80s and 90s, including Bret Hart, The Rock’ N Roll Express, J.J. Dillon, Greg Valentine, and DDP to make appearances. Yet, one star from the 80s has revealed he has no intention of working with Tony Khan’s promotion if asked. Brutus Beefcake would reveal this during a recent interview with WrestlingINC, saying when asked about working for AEW that he still sees himself as a WWE guy. He would, though, say his grandson is a fan of Jungle Boy, so he has watched some of his matches.

65-year-old Brutus Beefcake worked for WWE between 1984 and 1993. However, he did lose two years of his career following a parasailing accident which resulted in him having his face rebuilt. He would then go on to join his longtime friend Hulk Hogan in WCW between 1994–1996 and again in 1998–1999. After this, he would depart the big leagues and occasionally wrestle on independent shows until his retirement in 2015. Nevertheless, he would return to WWE in 2019 to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame by Hogan.

Ric Flair’s last match was in 2011 when he was part of TNA, and since then, he has suffered various medical issues, including almost dying in 2017. Now though, Dave Meltzer has reported on Wrestling Observer Radio that he was told by Flair himself that he was secretly training for another match. And while the 16-time world champion wouldn’t divulge to the wrestling journalist who he’d be sharing the ring with, Meltzer added the rumor is the match would see Flair team with FTR against the Rock’ n’ Roll Express and an additional competitor.

As of writing, there haven’t been any further reports on who that partner would be. However, Flair has recently shared footage of himself training and taking bumps with Jay Lethal. Therefore, the former ROH Champion could certainly be a candidate, considering their chemistry in TNA when facing off.

While many fans have been horrified by this news considering Flair is 73 years old, it should be noted he did manage to get medically cleared to take bumps while in WWE two years ago. This was because he wanted to be physically involved in the Team Hogan vs. Team Flair match in Saudi Arabia. Unfortunately, though, for Flart, Vince McMahon felt this was too risky and canceled this plan before the show. Despite this, he has gotten involved in a match when at AAA’s Triplemania event last year, he’d chop Kenny Omega and put Konnan in a Figure For Leglock while accompanying his son-in-law Andrade. 

Former Impact Wrestling Champion Tessa Blanchard hasn’t wrestled much since departing Impact in 2020 on bad terms after refusing to cooperate with them. While that would be enough for many promotions not to want to work with her, she has also since been accused of past racist speech and spitting in the face of a fellow wrestler. Despite this, with David McLane, the founder of GLOW, looking to relaunch Women of Wrestling, she was given another opportunity to remain in the wrestling business.

However, it was recently reported that she insulted Samantha Sage, who wrestlers as Americana, during a training session so harshly that other trainees complained to management. Subsequently, classes were canceled until Selina Majors took over, and now according to the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, she missed the first set taping and is believed to no longer be part of the company. Nevertheless, it should be noted that neither Blanchard nor WOW has commented or confirmed this themselves as of writing.

WOW is anticipated to be re-debuting later this year, having been on and off since 2000 as a syndicated weekend television show. Considering many fans on social media vowed not to watch the show due to Blanchard’s involvement, her departure could benefit the company. Although she did have a certain level of name value, and regardless of some people’s opinion of her, she is regarded as an exceptional talent that could have easily made it into the big leagues under different circumstances.

Last weekend, Roman Reigns would trend on Twitter after telling a house show crowd in New Jersey that he was not sure he’d be returning to the venue again. With it known, he has aspirations to break into movies, and WWE’s Nick Khan, having previously stated they had a plan for this, many thought Reigns could be stepping away from wrestling. Later though, Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio revealed that Reigns had recently signed a new WWE contract that had effectively made him a part-timer like Brock Lesnar, explaining why he said what he did.

However, it appears now Reigns is set to miss more than just house shows, as WWE has updated the poster for June’s Hell in a Cell event and removed Reigns from the poster. And while everyone else remains in the same position on the updated version, Cody Rhodes has been added front and center, as you can see below. So seemingly not only confirming Reigns won’t be appearing, but WWE is serious about pushing Rhodes following his jump from AEW.

As house shows are one of WWE’s least profitable revenue streams, it is doubtful that having Reigns miss those shows will be a significant issue. Yet, missing a big how like Hell in A Cell is unexpected, and there have been reports Reigns may be set to be away for up to ten weeks in total. Nevertheless, this has provided a massive opportunity for Rhodes to become a genuine WWE main-eventer capable of being the face of the company.

Following her arrest last Friday evening, Tammy Lynn Sytch, known best to wrestling fans as Sunny, posted $227,500 bail on Saturday after a bail bond agent who typically requires a 10% guarantee worked with her. This subsequently allowed her to resume her life on the outside while she awaited trial. This was despite her shockingly being 3 ½ times the legal drinking limit permitted while operating a motor vehicle when she hit another car resulting in death. Now though, after a hearing on Friday morning, Judge Karen Foxman has rescinded her bond mentioned above, and she is now back in custody.

Since the crash, Sytch has stated that despite eyewitnesses refuting this, she wasn’t speeding, and a seizure caused her to crash. However, considering she has at least six known previous DUI and had a blood-alcohol level of 0.280 at the time, many people challenge this. In total, she faces eight charges (previously reported as nine), with DUI manslaughter being the most serious. If found guilty on all charges, she faces up to 30 years in prison. Additionally, she and her boyfriend are being sued by the victim’s family, although it is likely the least of her concerns given the prison time she faces.

In 2020 Jake Roberts was hospitalized with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which affects the lungs. And since then, he has been spotted by fans in a wheelchair and receiving oxygen through a tube. Obviously, this is worrying for fans, and in a recent episode of his Grilling JR podcast, AEW commentator Jim Ross divulged that Roberts was still in poor health and needed further surgeries. However, Roberts has now taken to Twitter to refute Ross’ update and said reports of his poor health are “totally untrue” and assured everyone that he is “going to be around a long time.“

How Ross managed to incorrectly think Roberts was in poor health isn’t known, but it’s great to hear the healthiness of the 66-year-old isn’t as bad as first feared. Therefore, fans will get to enjoy him as an on-screen AEW character and his incredible mic skills for some time to come, as his contract lasts until July 2023.

Earlier this week, former WWE wrestler and trainer Bill DeMott issued a press release stating that Sunny should be removed from the WWE Hall of Fame following her DUI manslaughter arrest. DeMott did this because his 20-year-old daughter Keri Anne was killed by a drunk driver in 2015, so he feels deeply about the subject. Yet, despite having more important matters to deal with, Sunny was clearly bothered by DeMott’s request and has fired back in a series of tweets where she brought up the past allegations made against DeMott, which cost him his WWE trainer job. Subsequently, DeMott would make his Twitter account private, apparently not wanting to deal with the backlash.

For those unaware, in 2015, it became known that several wrestlers, including Curt Hawkins, EC3, Luchasaurus, Ivelisse Vélez, Ryan Nemeth, and Kenny Omega, had previously accused DeMott of mistreating them in WWE’s developmental system. This led to #FireDeMott trending on Twitter. Still, WWE stated they’d investigated the claims and found no misconduct. Nevertheless, this was questioned when Nemeth declared he hadn’t been spoken to by WWE.

Although he’d received WWE’s support, on March 6th, DeMott took to social media to announce he’d resigned to avoid any further embarrassment to the company while denying the allegations. Since then, and after the tragic death of his daughter, he has focused his time on launching the Keri Anne Demott Foundation to honor his daughter’s memory and motivate people to make the right decisions in life.

Cesaro departed WWE on February 24th, 2022, after 11 years with the company, having opted not to sign a new contract. And with him having no non-compete clause, he was free to join any promotion at any time. Still, despite this, he is yet to return to the ring for anyone, and now Fightful Select has reported that his high asking price has resulted in him missing out on some bookings. Additionally, they suggest that it may be because he purposely wants to take a break, which is typically how other wrestlers handle this.

Based on trademark filings and his updated social media handles, the former WWE star is assumed to be going under the name Claudio CSRO when he competes again. And while his next major promotion is unknown, Tony Khan has previously spoken highly of him, so many anticipate he’ll turn up in AEW or even ROH, given his history with the recently purchased company. But, of course, given his ring style, both Impact Wrestling and New Japan likely see him as a perfect fit for them, so there definitely won’t be a shortage of suitors for the 41-year-old.

It’s sadly been known for some time that Jake “The Snake” Roberts has been dealing with health issues after fans would see him in a wheelchair and receiving oxygen through a tube. Due to him having been hospitalized in 2020 with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which affects the lungs, it was assumed this was related. Nevertheless, it had been hoped his heath would improve over time.

However, during his Grilling JR podcast, Jim Ross revealed that Roberts remains in poor health and needs further surgeries. While not specified by Ross, it’s understood one of these surgeries will be for a hip replacement, which will actually be the third time he has undergone such a procedure.

Roberts first debuted for AEW during their The Road to All Out special in 2019. He’d then appear on the March 4th, 2020, episode of Dynamite confronting Cody Rhodes. Initially, he was on a short-term deal that kept being extended, but Tony Khan was so happy with his work that he signed him to a multi-year contract. Sadly Roberts’ breathing and hip issues have since restricted his television time, although his health obviously comes first, and he still has time to become a regular on-screen character again for AEW before his deal expires in July 2023.

During the March 2nd edition of Dynamite, AEW head-honcho Tony Khan announced he’d purchased Ring of Honor. Reportedly he paid between $30-40 million for the promotion, with it known, he intended to keep it going as a separate entity, unlike when WWE previously purchased WCW. Since then, ROH has run one show, which the previous owners scheduled, and it’s understood Khan is working on a television deal, using the ROH brand on AEW television until then. Now showing that things are progressing, a trademark application has been filed for a brand new logo under the company name ROH Acquisition Co., LLC, with a basic mockup shown.

Rob Feinstein founded ring of Honor in 2002 to make up the revenue he lost selling ECW tapes when they closed. Yet, due to serious accusations made against him, tarnishing the brand, he would relinquish the company to longtime friend Doug Gentry. Despite this, the promotion continued to struggle financially, and ticket broker Cary Silkin bought them in 2004 and kept them afloat until selling to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in 2011. Interestingly, at one point, CM Punk, who was with WWE at the time, also inquired about purchasing the company himself in 2010 but never received a reply to his text.

Ultimately though, with the launch of AEW, ROH was no longer considered essential viewing for those who wanted an alternative to WWE’s sports entertainment. Subsequently, there were concerns the promotion was set to fold when they announced they were going on hiatus and releasing all wrestlers from their contracts. However, that would open the door for Khan to step in and purchase himself a second brand and a massive tape library featuring many of his AEW stars.

Antonio Inoki is one of Japan’s most well-known cultural icons, having founded New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 1972 in addition to being one of the top wrestlers of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. He is like both Hulk Hogan and Vince McMahon combined and helped make pro wrestling in Japan the phenomenon it once was. Sadly though, the 79-year-old has been hospitalized on and off for the past few years for multiple reasons, including diabetes and the buildup of abnormal amyloid proteins in the heart, kidneys, liver, or other organs. Now, the living legend has spoken to Tokyo Sports and provided an update, sadly revealing that over recent years he has almost died four times.

Inoki has lived an extraordinary and enthralling life. Apart from his wrestling career, he also faced off against boxer Muhammad Ali in a mixed martial arts fight before the term was commonly known and entered politics in 1989. This even led to him traveling to Iraq to successfully negotiate with Saddam Hussein the release of Japanese hostages. So while everyone hopes the day still remains some way off, when Inoki does pass, it will be a dark day for Japan and the world of wrestling as a whole.